karma

the Butterfly Effect

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Without a long academic analysis of the phenomenon called the Butterfly Effect, I want to use the concept to bring together two divergent viewpoints–  the enlightened approach versus what we now call #Trumpism. Definitions will emerge, just as a butterfly does.

I used the term Butterfly Effect while writing about my current intense grief over losing my 17 1/2 year old. She was my K9, but that does not diminish my sadness. Rather than call everyone I know to cry and lament over my loss, I tried to take a more zen approach. Continue reading →

a fit over Fire & Fury

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Thank you Michael Wolff! You’ve given us a classic in the genre of  ‘What’s good for the goose…’ ; not a battle of the sexes but showman to showman. Bravo!  fire-and-fury-wolff

As you can see, BILLIONS of us–more than have read any other book in the history of words <or glyphs> from ALL corners of this planet (and probably several other orbs) are not only reading, but reveling in #FireandFury. Lies and hyperbole are all the rage at the fact-free WhiteHouse, so how can #Fake45 and crew complain about anything Mr. Wolff writes?  🤡  Continue reading →

and now Charlie…

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Illustration for Home Digest by Rui Ramalheiro
Illustration by Rui Ramalheiro

Kind of odd and creepy that I’ve been writing about Charlie. One of the main characters in my fiction (work in progress) is named Charlie. He’s a robot repair guy, not a journalist and not intentionally named after Mr. Rose. However, I’ve spent a lot of time with Rose over the past couple of years.  He’s the first person I see every day (on CBS Morning) and I’ve watched his late-night PBS show for at least 20 years.

With current comparison’s to the Pandora’s Box myth, I feel compelled to say that the aBoP (listed on my pinned post, of books and projects) is a reference to that myth.  I’ll  post an excerpt of my intro that explains why, but first I want to say how #SAD I’m feeling to learn of this dark side of Charlie Rose.
We all wrestle with addictions and kleshas (Buddhist term for our habituated tendencies) but so tragic to see a lifetime career in shreds over uncontrolled behavior.

Rose has discussed turning to meditation (over the past year or so.) Let’s hope he continues and that it provides relief and insight.  As I posted on twitter:  “We are definitely at an inflection point. Constant focus on sex and power in movies, TV and social media needs serious analysis and contemplation.”  We must also look at the intense violence that we constantly feed our youth.  These issues are all inter-related and entwined.  A society that favors explicit pornography, horrific violence and rarely focuses on positive values is doomed.

History does repeat, so take a look at the downfall of past great civilizations like Rome and Greece to see where we are headed.

With that, the Pandora story is very apropos so I will share how I explain it in the intro of my in-progress fiction:

“In the famous Greek myth, the god Zeus had a daughter named Pandora. When the time came for her to be wed, the king of fate and thunder gave his daughter, and her husband-to-be, a locked box (actually it was a large clay jar or pithos, but in translation it’s always been called a box.) The important part is the admonition that Zeus gave the couple: to assure your happiness, DO NOT OPEN!  Pandora couldn’t believe that her father would give her a gift she could not enjoy. So sometime after the marriage, while her husband was away, curiosity got the best of Pandora and she opened the gift. The most horrid things came flying out. She had unleashed all the evils of the world.

There are many variations of the story known as Pandora’s Box. I like the one that implies Zeus had locked up all the world’s troubles and entrusted his daughter to keep humanity safe.

What are the consequences of our 21st Century society’s lust, greed, and endless obsession for more (of everything)? How far can we go before everything collapses? Can we change our fate by changing our attitude? and what if we don’t? Perhaps this story will prompt you to ponder these possibilities.

So, why did I choose to call my story “a Box of Pandoras”? One of our favorite New Mexico governors, Bruce King, once warned our state legislators, ‘If you pass that bill you’ll be opening up a whole box of Pandoras.’  It became one of his trademark sayings. Rest his soul, we still laugh about it. But he (and Zeus) were right to warn about unleashing the world’s troubles.”  (c) 2015 – 2017

Now, I better get back to writing…

#antifa ?

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Good grief, the mess in the US has become so bad I can’t even keep up with the factions and hateful hashtags!  aka # "what?"

The horrific clash in Charlottesville, VA (August 11 – 13) where an innocent woman was killed and many more injured has exposed yet another aspect of our national nightmare… an alleged violent far Left which the racists, neo-nazis and our so-called POTUS are calling #antifa.  I had never heard of it until this past weekend.  Apparently I’m not alone.  Just typing  “what is…  ” into the search bar, before I got any further, brought up hundreds of references to #antifa.  Use of this 1930s term appears to be a backlash to the term “Alt-Right”  (or Alt-Reich, as some have taken to calling extreme Trumpers.)  antifa

Antifa stands for anti-fascist. The original European movement was formed to resist the rise of Hitler and Mussolini.  The use of #antifa on social media seems to have gained momentum here in the US around the time of the early 2017 Berkeley protests where hate speech was not tolerated on that campus. Extreme white Nationalists, Trumpers and those labeled “Alt-Right” claim the violent left is the problem.  (Doing my best to report this in a factual way, but about to “go rogue.”)

The problem with blaming the left is that Trump encouraged violence at his campaign rallies whenever peaceful protesters dared to show up.  He penned reporters in cages and taunted his supporters to boo and hiss at them. Since allegedly winning (or being propped up by Putin) he has done nothing to calm any of the factions. In fact, he has plucked former subculture extremists, skinheads like Stephen Miller and blatant racists like Bannon, and put them on the Federal payroll in our White House!  Trump aligns himself with what had previously been a small, unstable faction. The REAL trouble, IMHO developed when conservative Republicans supported this sick movement in a greedy play to get their diabolic legislation passed.  Repubs were so desperate to get a “conservative” SCOTUS on the bench that they literally sold their souls.  The only thing after that you need to hear is Trump reciting “The Snake” poem and you’ve got the complete picture.  Anyone who voted for Trump should have listened more carefully about relying on a snake.

Back to a more balanced view, if some counter protesters in #Charlottesville were planning for violent clashes, wearing #antifa badges to incite trouble and especially if they came with weapons, then I hope local authorities get to the bottom of that.  We must see clearly that violence begets more violence.  Hate and intolerance is not a solution– only peaceful protesting can work.  We’re truly in a mess and the only way out is going to be a diverse, bipartisan coalition that can calm anxieties and fears on both sides.

For now, Karma is in control…

Good Karma?

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On the first day, actually in the first hour, of Anthony Scaramucci’s new gig as #Fake45’s White House Communications Director, he claimed Trump has “really good karma.” What? 😵
The hedge fund manager turned communicator is not Seeing Clearly* how karma works.

CNN’s lovable Jake Tapper wasn’t much clearer claiming karma “takes place in the next life.” Not necessarily.

It’s trendy thinking that yoga is primarily poses and postures and karma is only tied to the afterlife, but actually neither is true.  Yoga refers to practice, usually a spiritual practice, and karma is cause and effect (which can ripen immediately or much later.) Either way Trump is FAR from generating “good karma.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/jake-tapper-hilariously-mocks-scaramucci-for-insisting-trump-has-really-good-karma/

Nothing limits karmic consequences to a future life…  in fact, “extreme thoughts of malice” often ripen quickly (in this lifetime.) We can “purify” (clear karma) or continue on mindlessly, uncontrollably repeating our patterns (sound like our fearless leader?)  While “negative” actions can result in a miserable future life, in Buddhist thinking it’s also possible to prevent future rebirths through beneficial actions in this life. Who knew karma was so complicated, Moochie!

As you can see, it’s basically impossible for me to write about Trump without generating angst, anger and karmic consequence for myself.  It’s why I stopped blogging about him. I’m convinced the candidate and and his campaign colluded in Russian espionage to get into the White House and don’t understand why the “MSM” is so willing to accept that he won legitimately. Let #Mueller or a totally independent, bipartisan commission decide that.

Why am I and others so suspicious of Trump’s Russian connections? 1) there are an INCREDIBLE number of ties and links (to use Trump lingo) so many that a Buddhist might call it “auspicious” (but that exalted term is reserved for “good karma” not dirty tricks. ) 2) follow the money. Financial trails are quite revealing. In this case, after the Donald had stiffed all the U.S. banks (call that “bad karma”), he found friendlier funding sources through Deutsche Bank, Chinese and Russian banks and maybe some in Cypress.

And, it’s impossible to search Trump topics without encountering nefarious web sites. Russian and Ukrainian hackers and bots have created so many #FakeNews sites, that unless you are a savvy web user, you can easily get sucked into scam sites and stories. I’ve noticed that if I click on some of these dubious links I get virus warnings (from my non-Russian security software) and often my VOIP (internet-based) phone rings! This happens on my desktop PC. I don’t know what the karmic consequences are of following such links on a phone or tablet.  I try not to.

Bottom line: the difference between real news and #FakeNews is not what Donald Trump thinks; it’s actual, factual information on established news sites not made-up stories created by hackers. When reporters or journalists use the term “sourced” part of the sourcing is knowing who you are speaking to (okay, “to whom”– Trumpism is wearing down my standards.)

I could go on and on, but let me close where we began, with karma.  When asked about the Chinese military torturing and killing Tibetan monks, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has commented:  “No I don’t hate Chinese people for the terrible human rights violations their government engages in. But, I do feel compassion for the future suffering they are creating for themselves.” That answer, my friends, is good karma.

*Shameless plug for my book  😇