What makes a great person?

I think truly great people appear just a few times during the course of our lives.

They’re the ones who inspire others.

They’re the ones who change the courses of our life.

They’re the ones who turn normal people into great people.

And when they’re gone – they don’t leave an empty void – rather a garden of other great people forged in their essence.

On Death by Kahlil Gibran

Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."

And he said:

You would know the secret of death.

But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?

The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

The Scopes Monkey on Our Back

If we assume that man actually does resemble God, then we are forced into the impossible theory that God is a coward, an idiot, and a bounder. 

I like to quote H.L. Mencken because his words cut to the bone. And because my Great Aunt had an affair with him in the days of Vaudeville - a fact my mother vehemently denies, but how else would she have gotten his photo autographed  with a tinge of romance?

Where are the H.L. Mencken's today? Scared of telling the truth? Fearful of being labeled a racist/sexist/antitheist?

And what would he think of our society now?

Would he be pleased to know that the Republican presidential nominee believes in evolution? Or would he observe the same "degraded nonsense which country preachers are ramming and hammering into yokel skulls" that he did during the Scopes trial?

I believe that his final notions of the trial are as pertinent today as they were in 1925.

It serves notice on the country that Neanderthal man is organizing in these forlorn backwaters of the land, led by a fanatic, rid of sense and devoid of conscience.

Well Said H.L. Mencken

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." 
-H.L. Mencken

Extortion of Humanity

Stepping back and taking a look at the symphony of shit that is the existence of humanity really gets you thinking.

Exhortation in Red Ring - Veer Munshi

Seriously - we've based our entire existence - every second of our limited time here - on an intrinsically meaningless piece of paper? Spoken like some who's broke - I know. But what the fuck?

Oh - it's backed by gold though. Or maybe even oil. Or maybe the good intentions of a nuclear arsenal.

So we have a meaningless piece of paper, backed by an aesthetically pleasing, but ultimately meaningless mineral, backed by perhaps the bane of human existence, backed by probably the destroyer of humanity.

Yes - technology is great. And without decomposed bio-material we'd be so much less than human - right? Where would we be without our iPhones? Maybe having a real conversation with someone? Hunting for dinner? Tending our crops? Slaughtering our enemies like savages? I don't know.

But I do know that technology keeps us civil. Without technology there would be mass famine, war, disease, corruption, oppression, and slavery. OK - so maybe we still have all that shit. But money and technology sure help me avoid it.

Bill Hicks - It's Just a Ride

Gingrich-Cain 2012

If the Mayan prophecy is accurate, then the GOP ticket will likely be Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain.

With Perry's campaign implosion and the unlikelihood of Romney garnering weary swing voters and evangelicals who find Mormonism out of the mainstream coupled with each being GOP establishment outsiders - winning the nomination seems increasingly unlikely for them.

This brings me to the conclusion - albeit a horrifying one - that good ole' boy and  resilient GOP veteran - who has thus far sustained little damage from Perry and Romney's squabbles - will snatch the nomination and take a token African American running mate with him to contest Obama for the presidency.

Newt is already gambling on a controversial immigration stance - perhaps courting the increasingly important Latino swing voters in the process - while his campaign is also stealing valuable media coverage from Perry and co.

So, the question now is will the economy tank President Obama's chances of re-election or will killing Osama Bin Laden and pulling out of Iraq be enough to save his aspirations?

My Goldfish Died

He was a good fish, though at times gluttonous. He was strong too, outlasting his shoal mates by a good four months.

In the end Bangkok's fetid tap water probably killed him (yes - I dechlorinated the water and let it sit for a few days - and yes I should have used bottled water but with the recent shortage it seemed too valuable of a commodity).

I was saddened by the realization that perhaps my selfishness caused his death. I saw his death as a dark omen.

But then I realized - he was not really gone - he simply went back to the place from where he came from.

Although his corporeal form is no longer - his life force will be passed on. Maybe a street cat will consume his corpse (it was too big to be flushed) and gain enough energy to survive the night. In time that cat too will perish - but maybe its body will be composted and come back as some flowers - or even some grass that a cow will eat.

And one day that cow too will die - and perhaps some starving child will consume its flesh - thus keeping him alive for just one more night. And maybe that child will go on to change the world - all because of the life force passed on from my goldfish.

The Terrifying 2012 Presidential Election

There is roughly a year before the next U.S. Presidential Election - and things are starting to look scary. Very scary.

With much of President Obama's liberal base disfranchised by what has been perceived as a lackluster performance - reelection seems less and less likely.

First - civil discontent is growing by leaps and bounds everywhere in the United States. Protesters have taken to the streets in almost every major city demanding financial equality. Unfortunately for Mr. Obama much of the discontentment lies within a key demographic - young voters. Many of these young voters are pissed. Many will not vote for Obama or any candidate for that matter.

Second - the Electoral College has been quietly altered as have some important election laws in key states.

"Eight States (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington) gained votes, due to reapportionment based on the 2010 Census. Similarly ten States (Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania) lost votes."

"In 2011, several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Party's presidential prospects. Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia made their early voting periods shorter. Florida and Iowa barred all ex-felons from voting. Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots." Source.

Bill Clinton denounced it, saying, "There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today". He said the moves would effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal, college students, Blacks, and Latinos.

Finally - the Republican candidates are frightening. Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann. Need I say more?

A Few Hemingway Quotes

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." 

 

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." 

"Fear of death increases in exact proportion to increase in wealth." 

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." 

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." 

"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."