Here we go!

Give me back the Berlin Wall, give me Stalin and St. Paul, I've seen the future, brother, it is murder......Leonard Cohen

Whoops, guess this sign was wrong, I lived to see my 21st birthday in 1992.

There's a fella on this here Inter-Web-Thingie who's claiming that the End of All Things is at hand, apparently set to begin on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 6pm. Now, the reasonable person can reason that because 6pm on May 21st will occur in Australia prior to (say) 6pm in New York City, that we here in the USA will have at least some warning of the coming catastrophe.

Which is very unfortunate for the Australians, the New Zealanders, and those living in Papua New Guinea. I mean, you're having dinner watching the kangaroos hop around the outback and putting shrimp on your barbie and..........what happens? I suppose, if the fellow is correct, nothing good.

Religious types can talk all they like about doing good works and bringing about a more peaceful and happy world, but what really gets folks in the pews is a good Apocalypse full of fire and brimstone. That really gets people's attention, a good story about mass-killing wherein the wicked shall meet a fiery and painful end and the righteous shall be lifted away from the carnage because....well because they were good, that's why.

As always, it appeals to the simple. I'm no theologian but I seem to recall something about us little-brains not needing to know the day or the hour - - just know that it'll happen, and be ready for that.

Good, old-fashioned fear. Nothing like it to motivate folks to act like a bunch of knuckleheads.

Off the cuff, here, I've seen movies or TV shows about meteors, asteroids, weather-related disasters, earthquakes, nuclear holocausts, alien invasions, and zombie apocalypses......it seems pretty evident that there's a market for entertainment relating to the extinction of the human race - or, at the very least - the final act in mankind's devolution. The death of civilization, a return to the Garden, a restoration of our place a little lower down on the food chain. This stuff sells tickets, right?

(and here I must toss in my own sheepish admission that I enjoyed "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and watched all of George Romero's zombie flicks. And "The Walking Dead" is a pretty great TV show but the schedule sucks...who has a 6-episode season? )

I don't mean to suggest that the world will not end this-coming Saturday, either. Of course it could. Maybe Friday, instead. I think, if and when it ends, it's not really for any of us to say. I'll probably either be working or helping to coach my son's tee-ball team. Maybe you'll be at the mall, or enjoying time off from work at your own domicile. Heck, what else would we be doing on a Saturday afternoon in May? But I'm pretty certain that hoarding of canned goods and bottled water won't do a whole hell of a lot to prevent Armageddon - in whatever form it decides to take.

And, if I'm wrong about all this and they're right.....'bye

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I've gotta put a coda here to close out the Last Ride of Roscoe, our beagle who was somewhat memorably taken off to the Humane Society earlier this year.....I've been very busy of late and keep making a mental note to add this to the blog and have continuously forgotten to do so.

Some weeks ago I got a call from a family who had adopted the little bastard. The nice lady called to let me know so that I could let the kids know that their dog was OK. He's now living with another beagle in Baltimore County and is pleased as a pig in sh&t. This nice lady also asked me how much I'd house-trained him........I admitted that I had tried but that I could have tried harder. I guess. My advice: buy a mop.

So, for the few people who asked....Roscoe the Peeing Doggie is just fine and dandy. And I don't have to clean up after him any longer. A win-win.

...and a second opinion

It should be evident that I write these things without any planning whatsoever, and the results can be mixed. Sometimes I think I write a good one, and others---not so much.

To revisit the UBL blog from yesterday, I'll start by saying what's obvious: I'm no Saint nor Seer. I'm no better than anyone else and in fact am probably worse than all the folks who read this. And I'm certainly not a qualified preacher.

Put me in the mansion near Islamabad with a rifle in my hand and the scopes trained on the bastard whose orders resulted in the murder of thousands. And while I'm clicking the safety to the OFF position I'm recalling how disturbing it was to see the Pentagon in flames, the Twin Towers collapse, and the crash in Shanksburg, PA. I'm recalling how scared I was for my family, my wife and children all occupying space in a Federal building near Baltimore.

And, perhaps most of all, I'm remembering the children who lost parents and the parents who lost children. My countrymen, brothers and sisters.

Yeah, I remember all this and pull the trigger. And sleep soundly. I'm lucky...we all are, really.. to live in a country where we have brave men and women who volunteer to put their lives in danger for our benefit. The killing of UBL has silenced only one voice, but it was an influential voice that spewed a dogma of fear, anger, and hate. Look at the suffering that one voice caused.

I think my only problem with the reports of UBL's death is the extent to which people are celebrating it. Certainly, this world is better off without his anger and hatred. But it seems to me that responding to senseless anger and hatred with anger and hatred does nothing to heal the wounds.

I agree with those who view this as a coda to September 11th, an appropriate closing of the tragic story. His bad deeds did not go unpunished in this life. I think there's a sense of fairness there, and he certainly got what he deserved.

I also think that his anger and hatred are - perhaps- slowly losing their influence. For evidence of this I'll point out the peaceful protests that shook Egypt to it's foundations. There is hope, and change can occur without bloodshed. Maybe. And maybe that's just far too optimistic. Fear, anger, and hate are so much easier to fall for. They're a seductive form of evil, and something that -at some point in his life- Usama bin-Laden came to see as the only response to what he felt.

For the rest of us, let's not end up like that.

This just aint' right

How does this kind of "celebration" make us look any better than a mob of Arabs burning flags or Presidents-in-effigy? Looks pretty damned similar to me.

Usama bin-Laden was shot and killed sometime in the past 24 hours by brave U.S. Navy Seals, and his passing has left the world none the poorer. A violent man met a violent end, as they are more often than not wont to do. Emphasis may be placed on the fact that this particular man rained misery down upon many of his fellow human beings. At some point, I'm willing to bet that Mr. bin-Laden was given a choice between surrender and death --- something none of his victims were given. He availed himself of the path of least resistance.

I can't blame the SEAL who shot the man, bin-Laden was most likely (I wasn't there) armed and dangerous. But simply because a killing is "justifiable" by way of self-defense does not mean that the killing of Usama bin-Laden was "justice."

To believe that is to pervert the word, and the virtue behind it. You don't know what I'm driving at here? Read "The Republic." Take a 100-level philosophy course. Or read your New Testament. Any one will do.

Mr. bin-Laden, at some point in his life, perverted the message of Islam into a message of suffering, murder, and death. He was instrumental in creating multiple human tragedies in NY City, and around the world. Perhaps the final tragedy is all of the good he could have accomplished with his money, power, and charisma. He was obviously a gifted man, who misused his gifts in service of his zealotry.

And now...this. Americans chanting U-S-A, cheering his death, calling it God's wrath and "justice." The people choosing to react this way look no different than the rabble overseas burning flags.

I am no biblical scholar but I am Catholic. I don't recall - in any of Jesus' teachings - a single endorsement of violence. Not one. To claim that this was God's judgment is a perversion. At every turn Jesus rejected violence and vengeance, even when his murderers were putting hands on him. Period.

I am not blind or immune from an emotional response, that somehow Mr. bin-Laden's death closes the circle for some people - especially those who lost loved ones on September 11th. That was an awful day to be an American, and it's very easy to watch the news reports that show the Twin Towers falling and feel "you know what, the bastard got what he had coming to him." If you're reading this and you suffered a grievous loss on that dark day, I hope that today's news made you feel better.

Others are claiming that this was justice. While I agree that it was a justifiable killing, I cannot see where justice was served here.

What is justice? Again, I'll simply refer to The Republic. It's not simple fairness, or "eye for an eye." Would it have been more "just" to imprison the man? To try him and then execute him? Or to see him live long enough to see his own murderous acts as reprehensible and evil?

Who's to say? If you want easy answers, just trot along with the angry mob - they seem to know a lot.

Did this make the US and its' allies safer? Most certainly not. Terrorists appear to operate like the mythical Hydra, lop off one head and two spring up to take it's place. These guys see easy answers in blaming America for their societal ills. These guys see office buildings as military targets. To truly destroy "terrorism" you would have to destroy thought itself. Good luck with that, but I guess we're on our way if people's behavior is any indication.

Again, I'm Catholic and I have my biases. Death, in all of its' forms, is an anathema.....a black and empty hole that swallows the living. Reject it, there is no joy in death. Mr. bin-Laden will receive justice soon enough, in the only way justice is truly served. Embrace life.