The First of May

There is something about the first of May that has always spoken of promise to me. Even though Spring started back in late March, usually by May first you can see all the buds on the trees, all the early blooming flowers and bushes shining in brilliant color.

I often think back to the old Bee Gees song, The First of May too. It has a sweet sadness to it that reminds me of the promise of Spring. It speaks of the change of seasons, remembering a love that is gone, but will never die.

It's on the first of May that I most remember all the friends I have had in my lifetime. Not all are gone from this earth, just gone from my life. Friends from college and even high school who meant so much to me, but somehow we lost touch. I think this happens to a lot of people, it is just a natural part of the life cycle.

I do have a few friends that I have kept since college. They may now live in other states, but we still keep in touch. Still visit whenever we can. There is something about the shared history that we have with each of these friends that can really brighten a day. I think that is one of the many reasons why the AIDS crisis hit gays so hard. All those memories, shared experiences, they seem to disappear when you have no one to recall them with. That is why I try and hold on to my old friends, no matter what obstacles I may encounter.

Technology certainly helps with this. I can IM friends in Europe or Colorado and chat like we are in the same room. Share a laugh at an old friend's expense (usually mine), or just catch up on the news of the day.

It really seems to re-charge my batteries, and brings a little joy into a usually dull and tedious day.

So kids, here's your advice from Uncle Scotty. Hang on to your friends that are worth keeping for as long as you can. And don't be afraid to make new ones, no matter how old you get. I know making new friends seems to get harder the older you get. But, there are a lot of great people out there that you have yet to meet.

When Will It End?

As our nation grieves over the loss of 33 innocent lives in Virginia, I weep at the horror and senselessness of it all. How can anyone, unless they are deranged, commit such an act of violence on innocent children who were just starting their adult lives?

I am sure, soon, this will become grist for the mill of politics, but now, at this moment, on this first night, let us set all that aside and try to find an answer to this plague of shootings, in offices, and classrooms, dormitories and shopping malls. How did we get to a place in our history where these things only shock us when the body count is high?

Can we blame it on the gun culture, that has been around since the founding of this republic? I don't really think so. Besides, everyone of these men/boys who commit these crimes finds a way around the law, just as most criminals do.

What is it that stirs within a man that can make him think that his and other lives are of so little consequence? Just targets on a video game, who bleed real blood. What problem do they think they are solving with these heinous crimes?

And what of the victims, most of all, who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? All that promise, all that vitality of youth, crushed in a single moment. First, we must weep for them. Weep to the core of our beings, at what the youth of today must face in places once thought safe in generations past. Then we must rise up, and do all that we know how to make sure that this never happens again.

The Crusades

Last night I watched the first part of the PBS series, America at a Crossroads. The series deals with how and why the Middle East has become such a large part of our lives. The first episode dealt with Osama and the birth of his extremist movement. The most alarming part was how we played into Osama's hands with our invasion of Iraq.

After our attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan, Osama and his gang were at their lowest point ever. We had world opinion on our side because of 9/11, and because of the world's disgust with what the Taliban had done to Afghanistan. Then, out of the blue, we invade Iraq.

Now the world had turned on us, Iraq is full of death and destruction, for our forces, and for the Iraqis. The Bush administration thinks that the only way out is through military intervention. They have no plan B. Anyone with half a brain can see that there has to be a political component to this, if we are ever to get our forces out of there, and if Iraq will ever become a stable democracy.

Nancy Pelosi has at least tried talking to the Syrians. Some Republicans from Congress went to Syria the week before, but they did not seem to get any media attention. I think both parties, outside of the White House, see that there must be another way out. Sending more and more of our children there to die is not the answer.

The most frightening thing about the show was the depth and breadth of the hatred the Islamists feel for Americans, and all of Western Culture. They still call us the Crusaders, and plan our downfall by bankrupting our economies through constant war in Muslim countries. So far their plan is working. We can only hope that when someone smarter gets in the White House, that we will find a way out without turning the Middle East into a powder keg.

The real answer is, of course, to find alternate sources of energy and to leave the Middle East to its own devices. Right now, everything that happens there affects the price of fuel, and soon natural gas. We need to stop our reliance on this area, and Bush is right about that. The government needs to make a more concerted effort to find sources of renewable energy.

So, the Crusades may not really be over, even though a thousand years have passed. Let us hope it does not take another thousand years to solve this dilemma.