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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 – Here we go…

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 – Here we go…

I awoke this morning after going to bed at my regular & usual time – I chose NOT to stay up extra late because the adjustment afterwards is just plain too uncomfortable/dysfunctional. Also, I had the AUDACITY of HOPE that New Year 2012 would arrive regardless. So, this morning it has been enjoyable to read, see and listen to reports of the arrival of 2012 during the night. I was MOST SURPRISED to see the headline on an OpEd column on the WASHINGTON POST's website, "The last New Year’s Day in human history is here.” Is it?!

I included the Norwegian Royal Broadcasting (NRK) to get updated New Year’s Day news and read this morning’s Aftenposten (major Oslo newspaper). Remember, NORWAY is 7 hours ahead of us. So, as I am writing this post for my WE THE PEOPLE blog, it is already about 2 pm in Norway.

I did have communications with numerous people in NORWAY via Facebook as they LED THE WAY into New Year 2012. What a fantastic benefit for communications! Do YOU use and enjoy FACEBOOK too?

I listened to the Norwegian King’s New Year’s Eve message streamed from NRK TV. INSPIRING CHORAL opening with the Norwegian Royal Anthem, “Gud sign vaar konge god!” (English = “God bless our good king!”) and then closing with the Norwegian National Anthem, “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (English = “Yes, we love this land/country).

I listened to the KING’s message with much appreciation and was inspired by it. He did talk about the crisis of the 22nd of July 2011 when Anders Behring Breivik is accused of killing 77 persons and injuring 153 persons in his “terrorist” attacks on the government area in Oslo and then shootings on Utoya where the Norwegian Labor Party’s Youth League (AUF) was holding its annual YOUTH CAMP. (IF you need to review the report of that tragedy, I suggest Wikipedia’s article, "2011 Norway attacks. The quality of that part of the message dealing with REAL TRAGEDY was very meaningful, caring, thoughtful and inspiring! GRATITUDE & COMMENDATION to His Majesty King Harald V!

The Norwegian people truly do love and respect their Royal Family. If you want to learn more about the Royal Family of Norway, use this link to the OFFICIAL WEBSITE in NORWEGIAN “Kongehuset” (English = Royal house/family)or if you are limited to ENGLISH, “The Royal Family.”

The message which continues to be broadcast out of NORWAY from the TRAGEDY of 2011 is the one I reported in my WE THE PEOPLE blog on July 31, 2011, “If one man can show so much hate, just think how much love we all together can create.”

HEALTHY & HELPFUL reminder to ALL OF US – WE THE PEOPLE of the whole wide world, as I see it. What is YOUR perspective?

I admit that the headline on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s (JSOnline) editorial today grabbed my attention, “2011 was a year for thinking big.”

VERY INTERESTING SPIN as the editorial provides a wide-ranging overview of 2011 which gave me new information and many reminders from 2011. "THINKING BIG"?! That's NOT my description of our POLITICAL RAMPAGE in WISCONSIN! Is it YOURS?

Having read JSOnline editorials regularly throughout 2011, I was SURPRISED by the NEUTRALITY articulated as this editorial evaluated “big ideas” from 2011. I encourage you to read this editorial to gain MORE information and perspective as we leave 2011 and continue to move into New Year 2012.

I was MOST SHOCKED to NOTICE the feature Outlook OpEd column on the Washington Post's website dated December 27, 2011 – I had NOT noticed the column when reading the Post online every day – until this morning - by Matthew Restall and Amara Solari, the authors of “2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse,” “Is 2012 the end of the world as we know it?”

They hit me between the eyes with the lead statement, “The last New Year’s Day in human history is here.”

The column continues, “You may not believe so, but millions do. They’re convinced that ancient Maya priests calculated Dec. 21, 2012, as the end of the world as we know it. These claims and warnings, prognostications and reassurances are on bookstore shelves, on Web sites, in museum exhibits and in tourist promotions. The global doomsday industry even has a name — 2012ology.” I do NOT believe so - in spite of the “millions” who do believe. Do YOU believe this claim? BE SURE TO READ THE WHOLE COLUMN!

YOU know I have been very CYNICAL about and condemned the fiasco with HAROLD CAMPING asserting THE END during 2011. My first blog post was on May 21, 2011 “'Doomsday ahead, how do you feel?' TODAY!”

And then on May 22, 2011, I noted “GOOOOD MORNING! ALIVE & WELL! Here we go…” I continued on May 23, 2011,

http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/we-people/2011/may/22/gooood-morning-alive-well-here-we-go/ “GOOD MORNING! YES, I really do mean it!”

And then, when CAMPING came back claiming that Friday, the 21st of October 2011 would be “THE END” I alerted readers on Wednesday, October 19, 2011, “BE PREPARED! End of the world on Friday, Oct. 21?!”

YES, on Monday, October 24, 2011, I announced, “GOOD MORNING! The world did NOT end for me…”

Since then, HAROLD CAMPING is reported to have “retired.” I do hope so! Do YOU?

I continue to be scandalized by his abuse of the identity, “Christian.” Harold made MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from his scandal! Forewarned is forearmed! I detest this kind of religious behavior and consider it no less DANGEROUS than a scam like Bernie Madoff’s. WHY is it NOT illegal?

Madoff is in PRISON having been found guilty of 11 federal felonies! SAD, but TRUE – OUR “religious freedom” in the US allows Harold and others to scam thousands – perhaps millions – of persons of $$! It is NOT illegal!! Should it be ILLEGAL? I would assert that it is IMMORAL and truly NOT “Christian.” Would you AGREE? Looking forward to reading your comments.

NOW, back to Matthew Restall and Amara Solari's OpEd column. They are instructors of art history, history and anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. BE SURE YOU READ THE WHOLE COLUMN!

"Is 2012 the end of the world as we know it?" They explain the “MAYA APOCALYPSE” of 2012 with their VALUABLE research which asserts that while the Maya creation mythology recorded tales of a past world, but it did not detail how and when the current world would end — or even if it would. Did YOU note that statement?!

BE SURE YOU READ the WHOLE OUTLOOK column before YOU comment.

I thank Restall and Solari for their book and the WASHINGTON POST for publishing their Outlook column OpEd. We do NOT need another round of apocalyptic craziness in 2012. I believe that this column provides a healthy and NEEDED antidote to “2012ology”! Be careful - FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED! What is YOUR perspective?

Restall and Solari ask in their column, “If the evidence for Maya doomsday predictions is so flimsy — if the impending Maya apocalypse is a mere myth — then why are so many people so willing to believe it is true? Why do some seem to want Dec. 21 to be the long-awaited end of the world?” I ask that question too?

I urge you to read their explanations of this desire to believe in THE END… whether based on Maya apocalypse or other sources, including allegedly Biblical. I myself do NOT believe the Bible projects “THE END” in any way that any human being is able to announce the date! As I asserted in discussion Camping, I am convinced that Jesus’ word that HE HIMSELF – the son – DID NOT KNOW – ONLY GOD. Jesus instructed, “BE PREPARED!” That’s the bottom-line!

I am sure YOU will find the concluding paragraph of Restall and Solari column interesting, meaningful and SURPRISING! Don’t miss reading it! What is YOUR comment?

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012…

Here we go…

Mr. E.

John Eyster lives in the Edgerton area. He is an adjunct professor of political science at UW-Waukesha and an advocate for democracy/civics education in Wisconsin high schools. John is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.