The School Of Hard Knocks Graduates Another Student

Charles Tatum: "What do you know about Yogi Berra, Miss Deverich?" 

Miss Deverich: "I beg your pardon?" 

Charles Tatum: "Yogi Berra!" 

Miss Deverich: "Yogi? Why, it's a sort of religion, isn't it?"

-- Ace In The Hole, 1951, when they knew the difference between a spiritual ritual and exercise.

And, if you've been raised to think Russia was atheist, think again:

For those not schooled in New Age prophecy, there are rumours the world will end on December 21, 2012, when a 5125-year cycle known as the Long Count in the Mayan calendar supposedly comes to a close. Russia, a nation with a penchant for mystical thinking, has taken notice.

The question is why Americans haven't "taken notice." Offline and on, I get hit with so much NewAge malarky, and plain ol' misinformation, I sometimes wonder how our society functions at all. Like, when I read Your federal tax dollars are being used to prepare for the zombie apocalypse,…well, let's just say those all-important "fiscal cliff" talks take on a whole new dimension, and it ain't good.

Let's see, a former “Good Morning America” producer is a perv, an Amish cult leader is being called O.G. (Original Gangsta) in prison, some London-based Nigerian con artists ran a £2.7million lotto scam that led to a murder-suicide, and Burning Man has finally adopted a "cargo cult" theme to make the point they've always been toying with even clearer. Simply put:

I need a break - bad. 

♬It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day for a neighbor, 

would you be my, could you be my,…♬