ZiaLink Ink

Vulgarity vs. Reality

October 10, 20161zenwomanLeave a comment

It would be more fun to rant and rave about the outrageous video of #theDonald bragging about how he can grab women and f**k them, or how pathetic his so called apology was during the second Presidential debate. But I would be resorting to the same juvenile antics of this 70 yr old man who clearly is not suitable to be President of our U.S. government in 2016.

People are fond of saying “size matters” but what really matters is the state of our minds and the date on the calendar. It’s 2016 folks, not the 1970s (over 40 years ago) when Hillary represented an Arkansas man accused of rape. Read the FACTS! (Trump supporters love to create their own reality in their fact-free world. It took me less than 2 minutes to find the true story. ) You may ask why it matters that it’s now 2016. Here’s why…

Time passes, we evolve, and societal norms change. Sure there are still people who chain up dogs, or even KIDS, as they used to chain slaves, but in 2016 none of those actions are the “norm.” This is what I suspect Hillary was trying to convey when she called Trump supporters “deplorable.” Labeling people won’t work either — it’s just as passe as chaining up “property.” And that’s my point. Women were chattel (property) in the not too distant past, as were slaves. Many still consider their children and animals to be property that they can treat in any manner they want. Cages and chains, whips and beatings are deplorable behavior. Trump supporters are wearing that label like a badge on twitter. (Search “Deplorable” and you’ll see what I mean.) Name-calling is not a successful way to raise consciousness. I know that and yet find myself so frustrated at times that I still do it. (Even His Holiness the Dalai Lama, our standard-bearer for compassionate behavior, poked fun at Trump for his outlandish behavior. That is a rarity!)

I’m sure more videos and testimony about Trump’s behavior will emerge. He was famous for being a playboy “back in the day.” I already wrote about him and “Slick Willy” in my last post (Sex, Lies and Video tape… or simply scroll down 😉 ) That was THEN and this is now. Former President Bill Clinton simply hangs his head, having been through impeachment hearings 20 years ago mostly for LYING rather than his actual behavior. IF Trump had truly apologized, we might have moved on.

The real problem is that Trump has not moved on. He can’t seem to move on.

He’s stuck along with his 40% (give or take) of “deplorables” and cannot (thankfully) win. That’s because more of us (and I hope this is true) have moved on. Call us “elites” but I prefer to say enlightened. We know that animals have feelings so we don’t chain or beat them. We know that all men (and WOMEN) are created equal and that we all make mistakes. The trick is not to wallow in our past or try to defend it. We learn and move on. Forward, as President Obama said. If we “search our heart” as GOP VP candidate Pence suggested, we might acknowledge that we are less angry, more compassionate, and more aware in 2016… or as Hillary says “Love Trumps Hate.” So, hopefully the majority of voters will SEE Clearly (shameless plug for my book) and we truly can become Stronger Together. No one person can fix the world and to my eye at least Hillary has learned that much.

Sex, lies and video tape…

September 30, 20161zenwomanLeave a comment

Yeah, old and over-used title of a 1980s movie, but spot on for current news. Republican Presidential candidate Trump was ranting and tweeting in the wee hours about a sex tape involving the now famous Miss Universe (Alicia Machado) and still threatening to drag Bill Clinton’s 20 yr old sexcapades back into the light of day. Please don’t. We all remember too much about Slick Willy’s wild ways. It’s one of the main reasons I didn’t want to see or support a Clinton campaign. I knew we’d hear about cigars, blue dresses and probably worse. Returning the Clintons to the White House was sure to be a rough ride — not only the campaign but these tawdry reminders from Repubs will go on and on throughout Her administration. BUT, Trump is so UNFIT, ignorant and disgusting, he makes supporting Hillary pure pleasure! We certainly can’t have Trump in charge of nukes or our nation. (Update: Yes, Trump did go “there” for the second debate and there is no doubt that more vulgar video will emerge about him and probably the former President, too. YECH! I’m addressing old sexual behavior in a new post now… 10.10.2016 )

I called the Orange Goof unfit weeks ago, but now many major newspapers are on board warning readers “anyone but Trump” including USA Today which has not endorsed or opined on a Presidential selection in 40 years! Even more staggering, Trump is now busted for creating a FAKE CHARITY!! That is BREAKING NEWS! (elaboration below) Plus, the bonus admission Thursday, by his PR flack, that Trump spent corporate funds in Cuba back in the 1990s. Newsweek broke that story, but his Campaign Manager (one of the Krazy KayLees as I call his various female PR surrogates) actually tripped up on ABC’s “the View” admitting Trump spent corporate money. While trying to defend the fact he had not “invested” in Cuba, she confirmed he illegally spent corporate funds (nearly 70 grand) on the island when it was totally illegal. Twitter, MSNBC and CNN were on fire Thursday evening over both of these stories which SHOULD finally end the Trump run. He’s more than a liar, he’s embroiled in illegal activity! No wonder he won’t release his audited taxes.

My WaPo Hero (Washington Post reporter) David Fahrenthold (future Pulitzer winner 😉 ) has exposed that the Trump Foundation was never established correctly and is NOT certified as a charity. You can’t make up this stuff! After wasting our time for months with his incessant whining and complaining over the Clinton Foundation (which actually does charitable work worldwide, and is properly certified and registered), Trump is now busted for running a FAKE CHARITY. Read David’s story HERE!!

I had planned to title this “Let’s ALL lie… and cheat our way to the top” even before Fahrenthold posted his fabulous findings Thursday evening. I was going to document more of Trump’s pathological lying, or as Fareed Zakaria (former Time Magazine editor and currently a CNN host, author and WaPo columnist) famously called him a “BullShit Artist.” He is, but no need now to focus on Trump’s con jobs, fake polls and fact-free campaign… he’s exposed as a full fledged criminal and liar. Stay tuned for more fireworks. Let’s see what happens next!!

Gary Johnson & Thoughts

September 7, 20161zenwoman1 Comment

I said I would post about consciousness and examining our thoughts, and I will. In fact, I want to begin with my own obsessive political thoughts. Even though I know it’s unhealthy and damaging to my spiritual practice to get so wound up about the upcoming US Presidential election, I often cannot control my compulsion to tweet about Trump. I can’t seem to refrain from name calling, basically reverting to his childish behavior, when watching CNN or other news updates. After all, he is all they’ve talked about for the past YEAR!

His obvious manipulation of the media was driving me crazy. Trump was able to garner around 2 BILLION dollars worth of free publicity, thanks to the ratings grab and greed by the network and cable corporate executives. Talk about “quid pro quo” and “pay to play” schemes! Enter my solution: #TeamGov — the Libertarian team of two former governors, Gary Johnson from my state of New Mexico and Bill Weld, the admired former Massachusetts governor. I never thought I would support a Republican, but both guys agree that Libertarian values are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I can go for that. Johnson is less hawkish than Hillary, and light years beyond Trump on every issue.

Best of all, I want to support Gary, and that’s so much better than voting against Trump. That’s how I felt about Bernie Sanders. I admired his honesty and integrity and enjoyed his campaign. I wanted to contribute to Bernie’s cause. I feel the same about Gary Johnson. He is not hypocritical, certainly not racist, and Libertarians are not into controlling our behavior. I fear Trump would impose HIS values on everyone and what could be worse? His values are a confused mess. Hillary and hubby Bill are not much better. There has always been a cloud around them, something that is not the case with Gary. I don’t know much about Bill Weld. I suspect he’s had some personal battles, but who hasn’t?

And that’s a perfect segue to the topic of consciousness. It’s a pretty deep subject to tack on in a paragraph or two, but perhaps I can offer a tease and elaborate next time. The most significant insight Buddha had (under the Bodhi Tree in India 2500 years ago) was how our thoughts rule us. He realized that demons, torments and even pain can be banished by gaining control of our thoughts. We don’t have to be slaves to every crazy, impulse that pops into our head. “Seeing Clearly” is when we realize we are more than our thoughts. My own “ah ha” moment came when I realized meditation is not a technique to purge our thoughts immediately, but rather we start by observing them and finding the gap between them.

It’s enough at first to notice that we are not our thoughts. If we are aware of our own ideas and thoughts, then who is the observer? This is where the discussion can get deep and lengthy. So, this is the place to stop for now and leave you with this: in quiet and stillness (meditation) you become mindful. Mindfulness reveals the way. It’s the same with any practice or trade, in doing you learn. Artists and authors were once dabblers, and professional tradesmen were once tinkerers.

Oh, I didn’t explain the image. Trekkies/ Trekkers will recognize the scene where Frank Gorshin (best known for playing the original Riddler on the TV Batman series) on the left, played the bigoted half-whiteface, half-blackface. The half-whitefaced hated the half-blackfaced. It was satire about left/right political arguments. Enough said 😉

Unfit for Office

August 2, 20161zenwomanLeave a comment

President Obama just explained to a reporter why he feels Trump is unfit to be President. He didn’t get animated and yell, which is part of the point. In his usual calm, thoughtful manner President Obama outlined the many reasons. The key point he made is that it’s not about differing policy views or legal matters, it’s Trump’s inability to control his outbursts and “do the job.” He points out that he never claimed that his 2012 GOP opponent Mitt Romney was unfit. Prez O said other Republicans were certainly “fit for office” even if they had very different policy and world views. “That’s not the case here”, Obama said:

“Donald Trump lacks the basic decency, common sense and ability to do the job. He’s not fit to hold office.”

Of course, I completely agree, and that’s the other important point our President made. So do many tried and true Republican public servants and citizens who also see Trump as a national embarrassment. So, how can they endorse the guy for President? Obama asked the same question: “What does this say about your party that this is your standard bearer?” Our Commander-in-Chief continued, “This isn’t a situation where you have an episodic gaffe, this is daily and weekly occurrence where they (Republican leaders) must distance themselves from statements he’s making.”

As I tweeted (after Trump’s scandalous remarks about the Gold Star Kahn family): Only the creepiest CREEP mocks the disabled, POWs & parents of dead soldiers! How could ANYONE support such a creep?

One of my friends recently suggested that Trump may have early to moderate dementia. Don’t laugh. In retrospect, we know Reagan did, and Trump is older now than when Ronnie took office!

It would explain so much. Why he’s not sure if he met Russian President Putin or not. Why he doesn’t want a physical (by a reputable doctor) and won’t release his medical records. We should be more concerned about his health than his taxes! We already know he’s involved in lots of shady business deals, but we know NOTHING about his mental or physical health. Actually anyone who has taken Psychology 101 can see how he projects (his failings onto others.) He also displays delusions of grandeur, which according to the Encyclopedia of Psychology is “a symptom found in psychotic or bipolar disorders, as well as dementia (such as Alzheimer’s).”

REAL Republicans should take another look at the Libertarians on the November ballot. Former Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld served as Republicans and at least are “fit for office”, especially our Iron Man (former New Mexico Governor Johnson who has won and participated in several triathlons.)

Xenophobia

July 23, 20161zenwoman1 Comment

First comes the rant. I must get this out of my system… then I’ll see if I can turn this into a dharma lesson, because I need one after getting embroiled in a twitter storm over Kaine vs. Pence! The “Bernie Bros” may only read this first para, so let me say while I certainly admire your idealism, reality is this: a vote for Jill Stein or even #TeamGov (with my own former Governor Gary Johnson) will help elect the megalomaniac, pathological egotist, Trump. Sadly it’s fact. We can prove that votes for Ralph Nader in 2000 divided Democrats and handed the election to Bush, who truly wrecked the economy and started the current wars. So, as I said with my “mic drop” tweet, even our beloved Bernie will tell you this! (UPDATE: and he did at the Convention.)

Words truly do have meaning. When we say “fascist” (lower case “f”) it stands for an autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader. Trump claims “only I can fix this.” He’s a fascist who fosters Xenophobia. If you think he’ll change, that’s delusion.

The word xenophobia is pronounced zeen-ah phobia. When Hillary said “Zen-a-phobia” I laughed out loud because, after all, I am ZenWoman. It’s a moniker I’ve carried since 1980 when I first needed a “user” name for the original online CompuServe. Back then I was dabbling in Zen, more the philosophy than religion. When I had to come up with an online ID for the computer system, I wanted to convey something about my views and that I was female. Back then computers, like poker, were a man’s domain. If you were playing poker or getting geeky you were either considered a “sassy gal” or a dyke. I fell into the sassy category. Anyway, this is why I chuckled at Hillary saying “zen a phobic” which actually is part of Xenophobia.

Recently when I posted about my new dharma name on FaceBook, friends congratulated me, but I wondered how many reading my post were fearful or bigoted about my involvement with foreign religions and philosophy. That is the meaning of Xenophobia. It’s a fear of foreign ideas, concepts or religions.

The purpose of a dharma name for a Buddhist is kind of like baptism or taking an oath, but not exactly. While it is part of an initiation ceremony and confirms that one is “officially” a Buddhist, it can also reflect what we need to focus on as part of our Practice (that being our meditation and contemplation practice, as well as carrying out our precepts.) I’m taking time to define each term to avoid the kind of confusion I’ve seen on Twitter where Muslim names are being associated with terrorist pledges. People are confusing social media IDs (like my ZenWoman) or made-up names, like cop-killer Gavin Long’s Cosmo Setepenra, as a Muslim name. This is how conspiracy theories begin. “That’s his Muslim name.” (I saw posted more than once online!) NO! Long gave himself that name and promoted himself online as a “lifestyle guru” who praised polygamy. That has NOTHING to do with Islam or Buddhism.

A primary Buddhist precept is non-violence and no killing. And, we mean NO killing. That applies to animals, birds, reptiles and insects, as well as humans. All are considered sentient beings. Sentience is defined as awareness or consciousness. Now we can have some pretty rousing dharma debates about who and what is sentient. I’m not sure #theDonald is sentient (just kidding) but I know my yard lizards are. They are certainly aware of me. Bugs are also aware. Ants and beetles scurry away to avoid being hurt. Part of the definition of sentience is avoiding pain. No one wants to suffer, and in my opinion that applies to plants and microscopic life forms, too.

I know this is getting into the “weeds” (which are also aware in a Quantum way), but let’s end with the most important point: why not embrace diversity rather than reject it? Why is “knowing stuff” considered elitist or bad? Why hate people based on their religion or skin color? I’m not thrilled that we have only “white people” running for President, but at least Tim Kaine lived in Honduras, learned to love Caribbean culture and speaks Spanish (in addition to his “amazing” work resume.) I trust him to be a more tolerant leader, as one who has witnessed dictators close up, and knows how dangerous Xenophobia can be!

Let’s keep our diverse Democracy and not hand it over to a fear mongering “strong man” who prefers to sit on a golden throne. After all, that’s why we broke away from England in the first place!