Sometimes tragedies can bring diverse peoples closer together. Think of this month’s narrowly averted Russian submarine disaster, in which the UK, the US and other nations rallied to rescue the suffocating sailors to avoid a repeat of last year’s Russian sub disaster. (Note to self: stay off Russian subs.) Or the news from Indonesia today that the government has signed a truce with the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement after the longterm enemies were brought together in the wake of the devastation of last December’s tsunami. Or the way in which the rest of the world rallied around the US after 9.11…

Never mind.

After July’s subway bombings in London I read a number of articles about the disaffected youth of the UK that included references to NEET, a term the British govt. uses to define young people Not in Education Employment or Training. Yes, it’s lame and I can’t imagine any but the most pudding-headed bureaucrat thinking that the acronym NEET was neat and not, in fact, hopelessly naff. The context was that the young bombers were supposedly among the Neetniks.

For a minute I thought I had key to unlock the mystery of the lyrics to The Damned’s “Neat Neat Neat.” It was one of England’s first bonafide punk singles and one we used to pogo to in SF with no idea what it was about (“It can’t be found no way at all”). But as anachronistic as it seems, NEET is a post-Thatcher and hence post-punk creation so like most great rock songs, “Neat Neat Neat” remains unresolved. Your guess is as good as mine.

Makes me wonder though: have these disaffected young Muslims considered punk rock as a means of expression? Drummer Rat Scabies conveys plenty of fury on ‘Neat Neat Neat,” even 28 years after the fact, and that kind of rage might actually win these losers some sympathy. Anger is an energy, like Johnny Rotten said, but it’s all in what you do with it.