Where Is He?

Settling in and thinking about what to write this evening, several thoughts entered my mind. There have been times I struggled to pull the proverbial fish out of the sea. But that is not the case tonight. No, for once, ideas aplenty abound, including:

Former Duke Lacrosse players seeking a $30 million dollar settlement – that certainly oozes with possibilities. In fact, stick a pin in that; it’s a definite keeper.

The troubling matter of otherwise precocious Black kids “dumbing down” to avoid peer pressure and avert the, oh so not cool, label, “acting white"

The ever volatile topic of hip hop and the foul language and misogyny associated with the genre, masked under the guise of “keeping it real”

Erosion of the erstwhile American psyche due to recently released statistics that reveal ten percent of Counties in the United States are now majority minority

An infectiously polarizing hot potato otherwise known as immigration reform

A rapidly aging prison population and all the implications that accrue, including transitioning sections of Correctional Facilities into Nursing Homes

Consideration of the wide-spread (and getting wider) phenomenon of overweight Americans, especially children

All these topics possess that certain je ne sais quoi, necessary to form a catalyst for robust conversation and debate. But those are thoughts to be explored some other time. None of them will likely be resolved before next week, right?

But today…today was Patriot Day, a Tuesday, September 11th, just as that fateful Tuesday in 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day). Patriot Day is observed on September 11th, and was designated in memory of the nearly three thousand people who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks. As Americans, we are enamored with symbolism. There is little that could be considered more apropos to write about and discuss today than some aspect, in fact, almost any facet, of “Nine-Eleven (9/11).” Wouldn’t you agree?

To keep this discussion brief, I will make it a précis of one simple question. Well, at least it will be one question. You can decide if it is simple. The query of the day: Where is Osama?

In many ways, this is one of the quintessential questions of the day. We are told bin Laden, the 50-year old Saudi Arabian-born militant Islamist, and Commander-in-Chief of al Qaeda, is the principal culprit and mastermind behind “Nine-Eleven (9/11).” Some reports say bin Laden’s father had 22 wives (though no more than four at one time), and 55 children. I guess you could say the elder “Mr. B” had a big family, and a healthy (sexual) appetite.

But let’s get back to the main question. Where Is He? Let me make one point perfectly clear. I don’t know where Osama is, nor will I offer any theories about where to find him. OK, that’s two points.

Here’s what I can tell you. We now live in what is known as the Intangible Economy, and the Age of Technology. The Intangible Economy was preceded by the Knowledge Economy, which followed the Information Age.

In this first decade of the 21st Century, we are armed with an arsenal of technology and genius so sophisticated (How sophisticated is it?) that we have sent and seen 12 men, on six separate expeditions, walk on the moon…though interestingly none since December, 1972. We have designed functional computer chips microscopically small. We have developed satellites which can guide Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to any address anywhere in the world. We know when NBA referees gamble, when NFL players participate in dog fighting, and when Major League Baseball players use steroids.

So why, pray tell, can’t someone tell me where Osama bin Laden is hiding. Cedric Antonio Kyles, better known to some as Cedric the Entertainer, has called bin Laden, “The King of Hide and Go Seek.” There are, of course, many theories about why this elusive terrorist has not been apprehended. Some say he’s already dead, a la Jimmy Hoffa, while others say he’s just so incredibly smart, while yet another group maintains he has enlisted the aid of a loyal and complex network of operatives to help shield himself from the clutches of the “Ugly Americans.

Where Is He...I'm talking 'bout Osama? What do you say?

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