Rapture

 Writing Stuff  2 Responses »
May 212011
 

By the time this gets posted, it’ll be sometime around mid-afternoon on Saturday, May 21st, 2011.  For those that haven’t been paying attention, today is (was) supposed to be the Christian day of Rapture; where Jesus returns to collect the souls of the faithful and carry them directly to heaven, leaving the “unsaved” behind to continue their empty existences until a massive disaster destroys the world once and for all.  The source of this prediction is Christian broadcaster Harold Camping, who bases his claim on what he refers to as extensive biblical analysis and mathematical research.  Camping had made similar claims before; previously scheduling the Rapture for September of 1994 and declaring he’d made a mathematical error in his calculations when events failed to abide to his schedule.  Then, and now, his followers undertook drastic changes in their lives, preparing for the promised end of times by abandoning their jobs and homes, casting aside friends and non-believing family members, euthanizing pets, and arranging for their finances to exhaust themselves by the last day.  Lives foreclosed by the living. Continue reading »

The Twilight Samurai

 Film Stuff  4 Responses »
May 162011
 

What do you do when the life you thought you were born to live becomes a mere shadow of what you thought it would be? When the dream that once drove you dissipates; replaced by empty routines that perpetuate the way things were more than the way they could be? And what of the evolution of your self? As time passes, and traditions fade, the things that once mattered pale in comparison to the possibilities for change. However, the past doesn’t always relinquish it’s hold so easily, and there are often times when the old ways are summoned forth to address challenges heretofore unmet; presenting obstacles that can interfere with one’s changing attitudes and demand psychological and moral compromises that can upset one’s mental balance. What would you do if such a challenge looked to destroy what appears to be your one true shot at happiness, and peace? Continue reading »

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead – It Ain’t Over Yet

 Political Stuff, Writing Stuff  1 Response »
May 022011
 

Osama Bin Laden is dead.

After countless years, both before and after 9/11. After two poorly conceived and executed wars still lacking the light of resolution. After the loss of 2,340 coalition soldiers, 8,739+ Afghan forces, and tens of thousands of civilians deaths, the world’s most wanted man has been killed by a U.S. operative in a mansion outside of Islamabad in Pakistan.  Should we feel any safer? Does this mean the terror that has gripped the nation for the last ten years will fade? Continue reading »