Sunday, March 13, 2016

Plants Rock

After a brief attempt to listen to the Sunday morning edition of CNN, the television got switched off as its owner emitted a distinct, "ACHHHH." The endless drone of Trumpism and anti-Trumpism has lost its luster; the news cycles seem more like mental masterbation than information. What happened to the war in Syria, refugees in dire straits, the zika virus, the state of education and endless other news stories that might inform us of the something other than the collective bubble in which we now hibernate?

Seeking solace from the slime-attack of morning news, I sit outside on the terrace appreciating the glorious good mood of the garden. The plants are ecstatic. Doused with buckets of rain in between brilliant sunshine, fed a special organic fish paste twice in the last month, they are standing tall and proud, flaunting gorgeous plumes of orange, yellow, magenta, purple and red. A fact little known to the city slicker or rain forest dweller, California cacti and succulents erupt with long stems of flowers during springtime that could fill a peacock with envy.

Plants seem so much simpler than human beings. Given the right amounts of water, sun, dirt, nutrients, and climatic considerations, they will simply thrive. Granted, there are predator plants; the plant kindgom holds many behavioral patterns that fit the Darwinian model quite neatly.

Nonetheless, the balm of Mother Nature is undeniable. Today I will allow the renewal of Spring to fill my heart and mind as a countermeasure to the culture of insanity perpetrated over the airwaves.


Friday, March 11, 2016

The Crack in the Liberty Bell

If, in his rise to power, Hitler's rallies had been disrupted to the point where he did not speak, would this now be frowned upon, given the deadly consequences of his rhetoric?

Twenty years from now, would we regret not having pushed against a vile, cunning and power-hungry narcissist named Donald J. Trump?

On the other hand, his most prominent GOP rival Ted Cruz presents an equally diabolical alternative. Caught between a rock and a hard spot? In the frying pan versus the fire?

Although the above truisms have lasted for many a decade and still ring true, Senator Lindsey Graham coined a new phrase worthy of recording in the annals of time. He was asked which fellow Republican he would support in the GOP race: Trump or Cruz?

He replied, "You are asking me if I would rather be poisoned or shot!"

Ah yes, the nature of samsara. Our time on this earth is all too short and yet somehow, what we do, what we say, is all so important. 



Resisting Revenge

For decades, Myanmar suffered under the yoke of brutal dictatorships, but from 2011 to 2021, it experienced a brief period of relative freed...