Ok... So by definition, the Ides of March are merely the marking of the 15th day of that said month, however, both Caeser and Shakespeare did make that a rather ominous saying. In all, this past mid March has been an interesting and somber time in the worlds news. Let's see... So far:
*Japan was rocked with a 7+ quake;
*Terri Shiavo is literally a withering vegetable and her husband sits and waits for the big payoff when she dies. Rumour and innuendo point out a possible history of abuse;
*In Minnesota, Native American Neo-Nazi (now THERE'S a confused lad) racist purist Jeff Weise, the "todesengel", takes the lives of 10 including himself in the worst school spree shooting since Columbine;
*Little 9 year Jessica Lunsfords body is found buried 150 yards from the home Cooey abducted her from. Just the words "we found all of her" suggest something rather disgusting, especially when they've yet to reveal more from the autopsy than there's "evidence of sexual abuse".;
*The "Vampire of the Desert", Muhammed Bijeh is gleefully tied to an iron girder post and lashed 100 times then publicly hung writhing from a crane in Iran for drugging, raping, killing and leaving to rot 17 young Iranian boys, eating the leg of one. Now THERE'S justice if you ever saw it. Perhaps BTK should suffer the same fate.
All in all... Big business for the newscasters, but a sad state of affairs for our time. Inflation rises, gas fuel is at an all time inflationary high, the Pope is practically on his deathbed, Congress is involved in moral issues where government intervention should not tread. You'll rarely see good news on TV because happiness doesn't sell papers or get ratings in the news hour. I've been glued the last 4 days to the cable news channels and came up with this affirmation... It's a really twisted world.
Now this just gets odder and odder. As what seems to be a wave of mass depression across the lands, you can see it in the faces and furrowed brows of passers by. On the one hand, some are turning to christian gods. The religious right media bandwagon is out in full force, beating its drums trying to turn people to their god even when their own pontif is at deaths door.
I wonder... How well does this faith uplift the masses it serves? I mean, let's say you pray and pray and pray and nothing happens? The bible preaches that man was born with "free will" which is what allegedly sets him apart from the animals. I think it's just their gods way of letting himself off the hook for not answering prayers. Sort of his celestial legal loophole. You can almost hear the excuse:" I gave you free will... You used it to make your bed, now LIE in it."
"Know thy enemy". Ok... Try this take. What if you can't beat 'em? Is joining them really so bad? By that I don't mean becoming a serial rapist, no. What if you can't fight the ails of today? Are you going to wallow in it's negative messages? I think if you altered your thought patterns a wee bit, you may enjoy what wretched times we must inhabit this dustbowl for. Embrace the darkness a little. I think if people did that more, there would be less death and spree-killing in the world. Take Columbines "Trenchcoat Mafia" and Jeff Weise. Had they known souls that understood their feelings of solitude or pain... Had they been accepted rather than outcast... had someone listened... Had they had had an outlet...Had someone spoken for them...been their voice... Would there be so many dead today?
I'm not saying our society should live in gothic gloom, nor am I saying that rose is the only color our glasses should be... I'm saying it's time to stop trying to pave over our underworld and trying to paint a gods ideals over our cracked plaster walls. Don't ignore what society calls "freaks", because they're more numerous in today's "normal" world than you think. They say we figuratively made them with tv, video game and movie violence, but it's been this way for centuries. The media just tries to keep up with the times.
And if it's really so bad, why are statistics saying most kids today are on a better track? Less casual sex, drugs and smoking... I wonder if these kids actually lied...considering the state of todays society.
I need to go now... I think I feel another song coming on.
Posted by at March 23, 2005 01:50 PM