Birth and Death and other things

Well, here it is again, as Leonard Cohen famously sang, the end of December. James Brown is gone, blessed soul father of practically everything that is popular culture, gone to the God in which he so heartily believed. Rest in Peace; you were one of a kind. Meanwhile, the world has gotten a lot more dangerous, O my brothers (and sisters) and only friends. Iran is playing Nuclear brinkmanship with a American President too stupid to resist that final, fatal course...and Africa is about to burn very brightly, once again, upon the international stage. The new year dawns, with no angel present to assuage our poor beleagured world. So long, Godfather. Rest in peace, and intercede with Him for peace in our troubled world. And go brightly.