A labor day in America

Bushisms

Since the onset of Bush era, I have had many an occasion to ponder on epistemology. For wherein sprouts the fount of information to feed the hungry public with often dubious doctrines as undisputed truth? Yet, though my mind may repudiate the explanation, but I was swayed as the rest of the American public, to question“Bushism” is tantamount to unpatriotic behavior. Dixie chicks, need I say more?

So I soldiered on, and accepted the whole truth of Iraq being the next “nuclear power” and Saddam Hussein being the next Hitler and that oil never ever entered the equation. Time has elapsed since the shock and awe attack and the desperately seeking weapons of mass destructions. Year rolled into another with nary an explanation to give credence to the unnecessary war and the best pearl of wisdom to date on the war was Donald Rumsfeld‘s typical Bushism we were programmed to accept

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know." — Donald Rumsfeld

Yes, now I quite understand.

The war does not put a strain on the economical climes. No, the additional troops sent frequently to the war riddled countries are incidentals. The hike in oil prices due to the unrest in the Middle Eastern countries and the looming recession are quite inconsequential, and definitely the channeling of food to produce biofuel and climatic changes has absolutely no bearing on the current world food crisis
No, it is the rise in the middle class in India and China that has put such a burden on the world food supply. An unequivocal truth. President Bush, as usual has been my source of enlightenment.

Put the Donkey in Jail!

In Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, a donkey was arrested on assault and battery charges and is being held in prison until its owner Mauro Gutierrez, can pay the fine of $420, to cover the medical bills of the two men it attacked. Until the monies are paid and debt cleared, the donkey will remain behind bars.

According to the Chiapas police, this is not a rare occurrence and they have thrown other animals in jail before. Once a bull for destroying the corn crops and as recently as 2006, a dog was locked up for 12 days after biting someone. Their philosophy? Anyone who breaks the law will feel the long arm of the law, be it man or beast.

Unfortunately, not even an iota of this sentiment has travelled to the streets of India, where one can clearly evince the sentiment; there are more chances of being attacked by an animal than being in a plane crash. The news is littered with articles of animal attacks. It is purported the animal attacks is on the rise in India. The streets of Bangalore fell under the threat of pack of rabid street dogs, which terrorized the children playing in the streets and the innocent bystanders. India has been reported to have the dubious honor of having the highest rate of human rabies in the world, according to Wikipedia. But the threat is not just from one quarter, but the cities were also attacked by monkeys that have gleefully joined the ranks of animals behaving badly. According to one report, if the dogs are cleared from the streets their place would soon be occupied by the monkeys, which can now roam unhindered by dogs. Recently the deputy mayor of New Delhi was killed when he fell off the balcony trying to ward off a group of angry monkeys and ended up on Yahoo’s buzz worthy odd news.

Former Indian minister of animal welfare and People for Animals founder Menaka Gandhi on May 1, 2007 testified to the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission that "the monkey menace in residential localities could be eliminated if people stop feeding monkeys,” Yes maybe, but would not the monkeys in all likelihood be tempted to attack the hand that fed it, now that the hand is reluctant to do so?. To most people, poisoning the animals would be too barbaric to bear and quite offensive. So to those people I say, “Jail the beast!”

Silent Courting: How do you know if someone likes you?

I met my friend for lunch this week and we got to discussing work, clothes and worked our way into dating or lack of in our lives. Placing her sandwich down, meticulously arranging it on her plate,she paused a while.Judging from her carefully controlled movements, I knew she had something of import to divulge. We have been friends for a while and in our years of friendships we have come to read each other's tell tale signs.

Settling back on my seat, I took a sip of water and waited for her to speak. With a serious deadpan face, she announced softly" I am ready to get married!". That definitely caught me by surprise!. I did not even know she was dating anyone much less discussing marriage. Doing a fine impression of goldfish I intelligently uttered" well!... oh... well!".

Still in a serious tone she looked at me and said" I don't know if he is the one but I like him". Snapping out of shock, I smiled at her " If you like him, then the major part of the battle is over!. so why the doubts?".
" well, he is younger than me".
Here was the tricky part.From being youngest in the group, we have slowly progressed to become not that young to this fine state.Fantastic quotes of age raced through my mind but before I could impart my pearls of wisdom, I wanted to make sure of the age gap. It could be Demi/Ashton or minor. One would need to come with the ideal response or it may blow up in your face. Keeping that in mind I asked cautiously" Under 5?"
" No"
That was no help!.
I prodded" Under 10 years?"
"Yes"
well we were getting somewhere!.
" He is 8 years younger"
"That is not so bad, I would have told you to think twice if he was ten years younger or more, since he'd be in a different generation and all. but 8? phoo..phoo!! that is nothing!. I'd say, in maturity, you would be just about even!. yesssire..this is nothing to worry about!"
she shrugged.
o.k., I guess there is more" so what is the other hindrance?"
She toyed with her water glass, then looked at me and said" I am not sure about his feelings. He treats me as if I am younger than him. He teases me and we have a good time when we hang out together. I am very comfortable with him, but I don't know if he considers me as his pal or girlfriend and I am so afraid to find out! what should I do?"
Normally, it would be so easy for me to pump up my friend and would be quoting " Carpe Diem",until I was blue in the face, but this was not just anybody. This is my friend, who would break if she took the leap only to fall flat on her face. Besides, she would have to see him after that, as they attended the same social group. It would be an excruciatingly painful embarrassment!.
I had no advise for her!. What does one do? How can you tell if someone likes you?. How can you tell apart the various forms of liking?. I obviously did not have a clue!. so I did the next best thing, I empathized with her and mouthed platitudes.

To My Mom

Bob Marley's love song to his mother.

Quote:
I'll be by your side.

I heard her praying, praying, praying
I said, I heard my mother,
She was praying
And the words that she said,
They still linger in my head,
She said, "A child is born in this world,
He needs protection,
God, guide and protect us,
When we're wrong, please correct us.
And stand by me." yeah!

In high seas or in low seas,
I'm gonna be your friend,
He said, "I'm gonna be your friend."
And, baby, in high tide or low tide,
I'll be by your side"

unquote:

The words so poignant and moving depicting a mother's eternal love for her child. Both Jack Johnson and Ben Harper does this piece great justice. Dedicating this song to my mum.

The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic- music for your soul

Declaration of Independence

I was having my usual week-end catch up with my sister.I look forward to our long interesting chats. we start with our usual conversation starters of new cooking recipes,progress to the best cleaning products in the market and end up discussing Jane Austen to Poirot and lets not leave out the ever faithful Sherlock Holmes and round it all up with politics. Today was one such day.

Something my sister mentioned led us to discuss how we sometimes feel guilty for being happy when someone we know is having a hard time. The reason being, your happiness is unmerited in the whole scheme of things. It made me question this ingrained trait.Sure,I believe we all need to support each other through the hard times, but should we forfeit our personal happiness to show we are there for them? to prove the adage " Misery loves company"?

Or! can we not empathize and still retain the sublime state of happiness without the added baggage of guilt?. Suddenly bright neon lights lit up in my head with this scene from the movie" Pursuit of Happyness', playing in my head. The lead character Chris Gardner quotes the declaration of Independence" Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".

It is as simple and as beautiful as that.

Declaration of Independence:July 4Th 1776, the governing forefathers made this fantastic declaration!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

So,today, Jan 13Th, 2008. I make my Declaration of Independence! I will live my life pursuing my ideals of Life, Liberty and Happiness as my God given right!.

Happy New Year

Time stood still
A second.. a pregnant pause...
My mind played scenes of my life
This year - 2007....
glorious..sad..heart broken..disillusioned..happy..disappointed.
Life happened.
The arm moved.
The ball dropped
welcoming New Year.

I wait for Life to happen