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| Original artwork by Geninne at http://www.geninne.com/ |
Every little thing gonna be alright...
That is, if you are not polishing a pomegranate on your denim pants in the Finest Supermarket in Kabul, Afghanistan, or hunting for the ripest mango at the outdoor marketplace in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan, or getting your blood pressure checked at a health center in Fallujah, Iraq, or maybe, just maybe, tossing organic eggplant into your wicker basket at Marché Raspail in Paris' 6th arrondissement, or riding the tube in London when some cult-trained child on a suicidal mission—inspired by the recent martyrdom of Osama bin Laden, or directed by the Taliban or some other crazed, radical militia—decides to tug the cord on his vest.
Every little thing gonna be alright...
Have you seen the headlines today? Bin Laden's computer has been hacked and analyzed, revealing master terrorism plans. Bin Laden was more than just a figurehead. This, and months of secret surveillance by the CIA prior to the assassination. So, while I'm still unsettled, I've got to give props to our men and women over there—in the mountains, plains and deserts of the Middle East—a place, at the moment, I would not choose to be. Those who choose to serve have my greatest appreciation.
Every little thing gonna be alright...
My aunt and uncle flew from Paris back to their comfortable, coastal New England home earlier this week. With heightened security post bin Laden execution, they were most likely far safer on that Airbus A380 than some folks on ground. In particular places on this earth.
Every little thing gonna be alright...
A man's life can be cut short by just about anything. By war, by accident, by crime, by stupidity, by failure to take care of ones body or soul, or by stealth, arbitrary war, against whose armament—hungry, hostile mutants that consume body—we have no defense.
In that manner, the last, cancer, we lost the man who inspires today's Frolic. A man at the very top of my son's "Favorite" music list. A man who knew that war does not prevent terrorism.
What war does, he understood, is to grease the axles of the bellicose and twisted machinations maculating the world, thus extending their useful life.
What he gave us will last many lifetimes, and many more wars.
And the absolute rule of venal leaders. And the world's insistence for expiation.
Until.
Every little thing gonna be alright...
