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Einstein's miraculous centenary - "A century after Einstein's miracle year, most people still do not understand exactly what it was he did. Here, we attempt to elucidate." [oh and, also see :]

Fake "New Year" and the Failure of the Blogs One of the most striking things I've noticed by pegging my own seasonal observances to the true beginning of the next astronomical year (the winter solstice) is how irrelevant my most-read progressive blogs became, all in the twinkling of an eye. Vacations are one thing, failure to detach one's point of awareness from the Great Animal quite another. This is more of a feeling than any kind of analysis, but it truly does get my attention. At any rate, in the area of more traditional year-end summations (even if the "year" is imperfectly aligned with the orbit of the earth), you won't do much better than to read Peter Schrag's column from the Sacramento Bee entitled "Say Goodbye to 2004, Another Year of Living Stupidly." Although he leaves out what I consider the most overriding sin of the Bush administration, he gathers in the rest quite well and does capture the sense of foreboding or "waiting" so many sensitive souls have felt. (An anxious anticipation with a promise of change and hope, I might add, though the flip side is lacking here.) As he puts it in his opening paragraphs,

But never in the memory of the living generation have the errors, falsifications and unreason of policy come in such rapid and overwhelming succession that each buries its predecessor before it's even partially absorbed, much less understood. The result is an historic dynamic of error, dishonesty and corruption that's far more frightening than any individual event. The counterpoint of revelations of flawed and myopic foreign policy decisions against the deepening quagmire overseas is itself so overwhelming that most people must have trouble keeping track of it.

I continue to believe that everyone has a chance, although it feels as if the current flow of events will "attract" a big surprise. The desire is primeval and lives inside the hearts of fundamentalists and progressives alike. That's why I think it's important, now more than ever, to hold onto a personal vision of how the pieces of a happier, sustainable world society, staring with everyone's own home and neighborhood, should fall into place. "Where is your water?" the Hopi elders asked. It's a very relevant question. (There isn't any in Fallujah or Aceh, you know, at least not potable.) It doesn't come from a pipe, except as an afterthought, so "Where is your water," indeed! When the know-it-alls get back from vacation cruises on the Titanic, maybe one will risk an answer.