A Native American elder was asked how he handled his own inner struggles about his abilities and achieving his intentions for himself and his people.
He replied: “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is unhappy, insecure and full of doubt. The other dog is joyful and confident. The doubtful dog fights the confident dog all the time.”
When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied,
“The one I feed the most.”
This long weekend I spent a few days with Gorran and Lisa and little Chanel at the farm. We did a lot of swimming and boating.
The division of days and nights is not for me, nor that of months and years. For me, the stream of time has stopped, on whose waves dances the world, like straws and twigs. In this dark cave I am alone, merged in myself, – and the eternal night is still, like a mountain lake afraid of its own depth. Water oozes and drips from the cracks, and in the pools float the ancient frogs. I sit chanting the incantation of nothingness. The world’s limits recede, line after line. – The stars, like sparks of fire, flown from the anvil of time, are extinct; and that joy is mine which comes to the God Shiva, when, after aeons of dream, He wakes up to find Himself alone in the heart of the infinite annihilation. I am free, I am the great solitary One.
When I was thy slave, O Nature, thou didst set my heart against itself, and in madness it carried the fierce war of suicide through its world. Desires, that have no other ends but to feed upon themselves and all that comes to their mouths, lashed me into fury. I ran about, madly chasing my shadow. Thou drovest me with thy lightning lashes of pleasure into the void of satiety. And the hungers, who are thy decoys, ever led me into the endless famine, where food turned into dust, and drink into vapour.
Till when my world was spotted with tears and ashes, I took my oath that I would have revenge upon thee, interminable Appearance, mistress of endless disguises. I took shelter in the darkness, – the castle of the Infinite, – and fought the deceitful light, day after day, till it lost all its weapons and lay powerless at my feet. Now when I am free of fear and desires, when the mist has vanished, and my reason shines pure and bright, let me go out into the kingdom of lies, and sit upon its heart, untouched and unmoved.
My uncle Geoff
Two of my cousins – Tom + Miranda and Daniel
Charlie, the friendliest dog on Earth
Mike Huckabee summed it up well a few days ago on his TV show.
He said that his parents’ generation made great sacrifices for his generation. The current generation is borrowing heavily and will pass this massive debt on to future generations.
Consequence: Self-inflicted death to USA by way of debt and consumerism.
In its “Oral History of the Bush White House,” Vanity Fair hears from Lawrence Wilkerson. The former top aide to Colin Powell compares our current president to none other than Sarah Palin:
Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: We had this confluence of characters–and I use that term very carefully–that included people like Powell, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, and so forth, which allowed one perception to be “the dream team.” It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president–because, let’s face it, that’s what he was–was going to be protected by this national- security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire. What in effect happened was that a very astute, probably the most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur I’ve ever run into in my life became the vice president of the United States.
Spencer Ackerman asks whether this comparison is more insulting to Bush or to Palin. Matthew Yglesias says its no contest:
I’m going to say “more insulting to Palin.” Palin’s something of a laughingstock, but Bush is a villain. I mean, he wrecked the world economy, he led to millions of Iraqis being forced to flee their homes, he’s a total disaster and a disgrace. Palin gave bad answers in TV interviews. There’s no real comparison.
Steve Benen counters that Palin hasn’t had her chance:
[I]f we put aside the question of corollaries and consider Bush’s and Palin’s characteristics as politicians and would-be leaders, the comparison isn’t too far-fetched. Both were out of their depth seeking national office, both are strikingly uninformed, both suffer from an eerie misguided confidence, and both seem to consider policy details as minor annoyances to be ignored.
Sure, Palin wasn’t able to do serious national (and international) damage, but isn’t it fair to say both she and Bush are cut from the same cloth?
