The End Of '12

Against the expectations of a fair number of Apocalypticals we seem to have made it.

The World-As-We-Know-It didn't end, but 2012 soon will.

Many good people will have gone with it.  The World has shed some famous souls this year past, and their passing will be sorely felt, as will the more private gaps left by their fellow-travelers into the mists - those who were known only to their friends and family, or who gained a brief notoriety from the circumstances of their deaths.

Many are gone, but the World goes on.  And we should hope for a better year in 2013.

Not that 2012 was a complete disaster.  We didn't have another super-tsunami, and the US re-election of Barack Obama seemed to buoy the spirits of many.

But 2012 won't be missed.  'Superstorm' Sandy reminded us of our fragility. Conflicts continued in Afghanistan and Syria; Congressional deadlock and the 'fiscal cliff' left US leaders with the well-earned contempt of the general public; and Hollywood continued to release '3D' movies.

Of course, we don't yet know what 2013 will bring us.  It's been a hundred years since we last lived a year with '13' in it's name, and 1913 was a mixed bag (1913 events).  It's amazing how true it is that the more things change, the more they remain the same, but I sure hope 2013 doesn't sow the seeds of global war as 1913 did.  Or should I say, I hope those of us living in 2013 are better at avoiding the pitfalls of arrogance and blind self-interest than those of 1913 were.  (Well, OK, it's a long-shot.)

No matter what comes next, it's safe to say that we have once again persevered another transit about the Sun.  What the next roundtrip will bring shouldn't worry us too much as we celebrate on December 31, 2012.

Happy New Year

14 December 2012

If you were anticipating the approach of the Mayan Apocalypse, or just looking for signs it was on schedule for the 21st of this December; then you would have seen and heard hard evidence in every news outlet in America on the 14th.

Even if you don't believe the World is Ending on December 21, 2012, you would be forgiven for believing that American Public Innocence - or rather the popular myth of it, had ended with the deaths of those 20 children and their teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

For certain it wasn't just the people at the school, the 20-year old gunman, or his mother the first victim, who died on the 14th; we all of us lost something that we might never get back.

If we are to have a chance at redemption after this tragedy, we must finally heed the calls that began in earnest with Columbine, but have lapsed to barely register in public discourse.

Somehow, some way, we must get to a point where these mass killings by guns can no longer happen as easily as they seem to do.

We can't fail in this.

Not if we want the memory of the 14th of December, 2012, to mean something more than just another step down the road to our Apocalypse.

12-12-12

It's not often a day assumes once-a-century significance on nothing more than its name, but then there's Wednesday, December 12, 2012, or 12-12-12.

The coincidence of having all digits the same has been a yearly experience since the second year of the new millennium (2001), but the run is over.  After tomorrow, we won't see the like again until 01-01-2101, some 89 years in the future.

I haven't got 89 years in the tank, do you?  If you are old enough tomorrow to understand what's up, probably not.

So this is it.

Make the most of it.

Engaged?  Move up the wedding.

Getting Divorced?  Why not add a little more significance.

If you have to sign checks this week, do them all tomorrow.

Save a newspaper (double-bonus: you can get one now, but in 2101?)

If Wednesday is your Birthday take lots of pictures with date stamps visible.

Planning to sign a contract for a new car or house soon? Do that tomorrow.

Whatever you do to mark this Wednesday, 12-12-12, as special, enjoy the precipitous vibe.  It'll prepare you for (1) the Fiscal Cliff, and (2) the Mayan Apocalypse (whichever gets us first).

Stay Safe

'Be Safe' is what parents tell their kids whenever they head out on their own to do God Knows What with their friends.

'Stay Safe' is the equivalent phrase motorcyclists use when our fellow riders are about to head out and place themselves into God Knows What sorts of dangers.

Actually, when it comes to motorcycles, we do know what dangers are out there, and they are myriad, but mostly manageable.

Most two-wheeled risks are known and accepted as part of the potential price of our enjoyment, but that doesn't lessen the worry (much) of our family and non-riding friends when they see us go out for a ride.  And the more in-the-know about your motorcycling habits these family and friends are, the more worried they'll be.

The same goes I guess for parents and their kids.  The more details you know about what they will be doing, the more you may be likely to worry.  It's sure that way for me. If you want me not to worry, I tell them, please don't relate that you'll be trying out bungee jumping on that school field trip.

My family is pretty good with me and my motorcycling obsession. After a rocky start in which a bike purchase gravely endangered my marriage, all has been well, even though I've increased the number of bikes I own to three, raising the resulting spend rate to Warp 9.

In general, my family recognizes the (mentally) therapeutic affect of a ride, and they don't question the cost-benefit equation. After all, I could be spending that time and money on psychological counseling and prozac.

But if they were to know the gritty details of where and how I ride, they might feel a bit differently.  It's hard for non-riders to understand that riding at the clip I do on weekends around mountain curves is actually pretty safe, because all they can reference is their four-wheel experience.

So it's better they not know the details.  The fact that I've come home unscathed from 11 consecutive years of weekly rides makes them believe what I do is safe enough.

And so it is, for the most part.

But I still say 'Stay Safe' to my riding friends, as they leave our mountain hangout for home, and trust I'll see them again.  We who ride may know the dangers, but we also know we are not invincible and there are idiots out there whose mistakes may end us.  And then there's just plain bad luck.

So, 'Stay Safe' and 'Be Safe' to Riders and Kids everywhere, and doubly so to those of you who are Both.  And remember, when it comes to friends and family - lose the details!

No Man's Land

If time flies by when you are having fun, will you live forever if you are miserable?

A Really Close Landslide - The actual tally in the recent election would indicate an electorate just about evenly split, with a slight majority opting to continue the status quo (with a little Hope on the side) versus a re-boot of pre-Obamian republicanism.  But to hear it from the pundits, both left and right, this squeaker was a 'landslide'.  Either to pump up a marginal mandate, or to emphasize the scope of loss to seize power within a squabbling party, this is ridiculous. For the demos to govern or repubs to regroup with any positive effect, both sides need to accept the divided nature of this country and seek to find common ground (that's not a battlefield).

Benghazi Mon Amour - The republicans incessant attempts to make a national referendum on Obama's reelection out of the question of whether the government erred in calling the embassy attack an act of terrorism or an act of protest, is getting freakishly weird.  As if it wasn't strange enough to focus on what the event was called, instead of why there wasn't effective preparation or an effective response, now the republicans have added the sex-and-threats scandal of former General (and now former CIA chief) David Petraeus to the mix.  Was the General's sexual peccadillo outed to prevent (or impune) his testimony on Benghazi? Small minds everywhere want to know.

To Ghaza, Again - Once more those of us - sitting comfortably in our homes and offices everywhere in the World except the Middle East, must watch the Hamas-led Ghazan Palestinians clash in deadly combat with the Likud-led Israelis. We will never understand it, not even when advised by our Jewish friends - sometimes not even when we are Jewish ourselves. Not even if we are descended from former middle-easterners,  or practice Islam. It is beyond understanding in this modern age of instant communication how two populations can be so intent on each other's destruction. Oh, wait, I forgot politics (see above).

It's said that Misery Loves Company.  We might all live forever...

On The Eve of Dysfunction

I don't want to be negative, really I don't.

When the sun sets on tomorrow's election, I'd like to believe that all hands will come on deck, hoist sail, and set this Nation on a true course towards a benevolent future.

That's silly and unrealistic, I know, but I'd like to believe it rather than succumb to the gnawing certainty that this country's political and governmental dysfunction will continue.

Does anyone out there believe that John Boehner and Harry Reid can ever agree on anything? (Except that they both love their government-paid full coverage health insurance and other perks)

Does anyone believe that Mitt Romney actually cares about that 47%, even remotely as much as he does the fabled 1%?

Does anyone believe that Barack Obama can make the change happen, that he just couldn't before?

Does anyone believe that Fox News (or on the other side MSNBC) will ever stop being a propaganda mouthpiece and stray closer to the facts?

I don't want to be negative, really I don't.  But it's been hard not to.

Let's hope what unfolds on the 6th of November, 2012, will be to our mutual benefit, and not just one more offering on the altar of futility.  (That shit is getting old.)

I wish us all the very best of Luck.

Obama V Romney: We Are In Such Trouble

Having sat through two of the three planned Presidential Debates, I'm not sure I have the strength to watch the third, which airs (I'm told) tomorrow night (Monday, 22 October).

It's not just that they are boring (they are), that they don't cover any topics we really need to know about (they don't).  No, what really disappoints is they showcase how little we have to look forward to in the next four years.

If Romney wins, we'll have a President who's better qualified to be Lobbyist-in-Chief than Commander-in-Chief; and he will come to office beholden to the most conservative factions in the Republican party, no matter what he might try to sell us in the debates. And he'll have Karl Rove and his Bushnik Brigade right behind him; in the shadows behind the curtain maybe, but right there nonetheless, whispering in his ear.

If Obama wins, we'll have a President who won't have any more success breaking the Congressional deadlock than he's already had; less perhaps, since he'll be a Lame Duck (can you have less than none?). Those Republican Congressional Leaders who said they would work to make him a one-term President, won't have a change of heart just because they missed that goal.

Most distressing perhaps, is that neither man has told us any more during the debates than what's in their campaign materials, and neither has inspired much hope for a better future.  Just words that sound like promises but are nothing more than crafted soundbites.

I've no doubt the correct choice is to stick with Obama; but it's no longer a passionate choice for change, rather it's a concession that staying the course with the current somewhat navigationally-challenged Captain is better than handing the wheel over to a seasick landlubber being remote-controlled from shore.