Sorry this took an extra day, but here we are!  The plot thickens, as they say.

I turned 35 this weekend, and as seems to be the pattern the past few years, my birthday was marked by international violence, with hostages taken in Sydney by some fundamentalist sociopath, and a lunatic running around my home town of Philadelphia killing off his ex-family members, police brutalizing poor people trying to make ends meet, and selfish politicos exploiting it all as they continue to grasp for power.  Naturally, human nature being what it is these days that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg.  In an age where atrocities have become a kind of sought-after public spectacle, what’s really to be expected?  I have nothing to add to all this, except to say that it’s just capping off a year that’s really been depressing and disappointing to everyone who believes in non-aggression, non-violence and human solidarity, worldwide.  This is a world desperately in need of a little more shame.

Surely some revelation is at hand.

Anyway, I’m turning in.  All the best, everyone.