08 Apr Condolences
A dear subscriber to our blog "had a very good friend who recently passed away from a heart attack while riding his bike. He was in his late 60's." And now, "the void...
17 Mar Leftist Cities
New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are leftist cities; those who still live there are politically on the left and those who aren't have left. It's like a virus, either you are the virus (you are left) or you've had enough of the virus and have left. Those who know the consequences of having the virus for a long period leave to live in other cities. Those who are the virus are hopefully slow in their migration to other cities. The virus is an ideology. Those who conform and live according to the left ideology are not human; they are the ideology. Those who can observe and reflect on how real life unfolds know the impracticality of the left ideology. They are generally ok humoring the ideology but don't want to be prisoners of it. Those who have left may find the foregoing funny, unless those who are left have invaded their reasonably well-functioning cities. Those who are left cannot find it funny because viruses don't have a sense of humor. Governments created the virus in a lab. The work of highly educated people....
16 Mar Irish Catholic Boys School, Late 19th Century
"There once was a beautiful nun who didn't have any fun taking boys for a run because she had none." Merry Saint Patrick's Day...
07 Mar Bactrian Silver Trumpet, Late 3rd – Early 2nd Millennium BC
At first sight, this object engaged my attention; great presence (which has not diminished with time), surreal, and enigmatic as it seemed to have an ambiguous utility function. Initially, I thought it was a hearing aid; the top inserted in the ear and the bottom the mouthpiece. Others have guessed it a spout for pouring wine or an implement used for snuffing out a candle. However, notwithstanding other creative uses, it's a mini trumpet a shepherd would use to get the attention of another shepherd in the distance. Now, I see it metaphorically; a mouthpiece through which the breath of God enters a human head which processes the breath into sounds. The sounds are music. The sounds are signals, like words. An apt description of this blog as I, your humble writer, am just here to convert the breath of God into words for all to hear....
23 Feb Smart Guys, Wise Guys
Educational institutions identify smart guys who society ushers into jobs that make laws and rules. The smart guys painstakingly work at rule-making, take themselves very seriously and get quite upset when people break or find ways around their rules. Wise guys figure ways around laws and rules and invariably laugh, for relatively less effort they are better remunerated than smart guys. When wise guys figure ways around rules, smart guys eventually take notice and write more rules to thwart the wise guys. Of course, the wise guys figure ways around the new rules. This minor cycle continues until at some point the rules cause the wise guys to work relatively longer and for less renumeration than the smart guys. Then, the wise guys move on to other venues for better opportunities. Soon after, price goes up and quality goes down for the goods or services subject to the rule-making. Ultimately, it’s clear that the smart guys weren’t so smart. They’re fired from the organization at which they worked and their rules are abolished. A new system emerges with limited rules, causing prices to go down and quality to rise. However, soon after, smart guys are hired again to make rules. A new grand cycle then begins....
21 Feb Buddha Or Psychopath
There is a Buddha parable that goes like this: One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.” Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?” The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.” The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger is yours to deal with." At that moment, the angry young man awoke and became a lifelong disciple of Buddha. This story is reminiscent of my relationship with my father. From the time I was 13 until I went to college, my father was often angry with me; frustrated that I questioned his authority and mocked his core social and political beliefs. He screamed at me and on occasion hit me (not to hurt me but to vent his frustration). One time he said: "I wish you were never born." To which I replied: "That's your problem." Was my reply reflective of a Buddha nature or a psychopathic mental disorder? My father would likely say the latter (he at times called me a "sadist") as my reply didn't bring him to see the light; it just made him more angry. After my father's untimely transition from life at 60 years old, I was once overwhelmed by sadness and tears; reflecting on not having awakened father to experience life as it is and not solely as he was....
20 Feb Lying To The Public
Lying to a government official is a criminal matter. Yet, when governments lie to the public, that is not a crime; though it often leads to disastrous results like wars, wide scale prosecutions and poor health outcomes (drug laws) and political repression. If lies promulgated by governments were a crime, governments would dramatically shrink in size as many government workers and politicians would be imprisoned; especially the most dangerous ones, those who are truly sincere, the ones lying to themselves....
18 Feb Soul
Image of the soul created by artificial intelligence. The image suggests the soul is like a sun that our body shrouds in darkness. The soul represents love as it resides as does our heart in the center of our upper body. In the stillness of meditation, we realize our soul is but one of an infinite number of eternal stars (a universe of infinite centers) and our body (the personal self) is nothing but empty space....
17 Feb It Is What It Is Whatever It Is
Our mind is quicker than our eyes in defining what we see. It's funny when our eyes prove our mind wrong. Unfortunately, we rarely open our eyes; otherwise, much of what our mind sees would be funny....
16 Feb Atrocities
There have been and are now countless atrocities mankind has committed against mankind. We have created many stories about these horrors, such as who should be blamed for causing them. Yet, the horrors will continue until we collectively accept them as a reminder that we have much about which to be grateful in our current circumstances. Gratitude is an essential element of happiness. Happy people don't commit atrocities....