Loving Thy Neighbor

What an ugly day it has been. Time to put all of that behind.

I need to send love to friends as well as enemies, and that includes Sarah Palin who lends prettiness to ugliness, who is so inexplicably capable of saying ugly things with a pretty mouth. Pretty face, ugly soul. I do really fault her for making divisive rhetoric attractive.

But that is beside the point. Time for a peace chant: "Om shanti, shanti, shanti."

Breath in. Breath out. OM.

Tea Parties and Other Hypocrisies

The date of April 15th could not have been more fortuitous to those opposed to taxes in Wilmington, NC, to hold a "tea party." There had been another "tea party" a few days earlier on April 7th on the steps of the Federal Court House over the issue of annexation of a tract of land within New Hanover County by the City of Wilmington, the county seat.




Hundreds of protesters gathered both inside and outside the City Hall to voice their opinion that annexation is taxation without representation. Those in favor of annexation, including the City Council members, see annexation as the mechanism by which Wilmington, and other cities throughout the State of North Carolina, is able continue to grow and to draw income to stay viable.

The right to annex by cities is guaranteed by law in the State of North Carolina, and it has played a great role in preventing urban decay and prevented cities from dying by allowing them to continually grow its tax base. Without such right, one can easily imagine a city like Detroit that, as the citizens and their businesses flee from the city into the suburbs and elsewhere, is left without a tax base. In North Carolina, however, because the cities are permitted to annex, they have been able to continually grow their tax base, stay viable, and provide services to their citizens.

The latest attempt by the City of Wilmington has been marred by protests. As it turns out, most of the protesters were not even from the area to be annexed. They were those who came to the steps of the City Hall to protest taxes in general. These protests continued on April 15th, on tax day, and the word "tax" continue to be the anathema to them.

But what exactly are they protesting? This report from the local newspaper Wilmington Start News
says it all:

" 'Bail me Out!' That was the message written on Paul Mason's blue poster board that he held up to cars passing through the intersection of College Road and Oleander Drive at rush hour Wednesday evening.

'Bail me out instead of bailing everybody else out,' Mason said. 'I'm a hard-working, tax-paying citizen. Bail me out.;"

This is a curious statement by someone who joined the protesters to oppose to taxes, bail-outs, and other government spending. However, the above statement reveals a curious and hypocritical thinking in many of those who are opposed to taxes: "It is ok to bail me out, but it is not ok to bail others out. Money spent on me is not a waste, only the money spent on others."

This is the kind of ill logic that Keith Olberman exposed in Sarah Palin back in March when she refused the stimulus money for education.

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It is that kind of weird logic:" taxes are bad if I have to pay them, they are good if others pay to help me out; stimulus is bad is it happens to others, it is good if it happens to me."

As the drama of these "tea parties" unfolds, some things remain certain. Some Americans just don't like to pay taxes. No matter how the taxes are used, even the word "taxes" is an anathema to some.

It is a critical time for politicians to be responsible. Those politicians who are fueling this fire of anger over taxes are not doing the nation any good. At a time when we need to all come together as a nation and see through the economic crisis, this is not the kind of rhetoric that we need. Rick Perry's insinuation at a secession, Michele Bachmann's charges of anti-American activities within the Congress, all of those who are jumping on the bandwagon, need to seriously look at what is happening and stop fomenting civil unrest.

I suggest that Sarah Palin, who so divided America during the election between pro- and anti-Americas, would be a person to start the process.

Dreaming While Awake

I had an interesting experience during savasana at the end of my vinyasa practice today.

It is said that savasana is the most important part of your practice because it is the time during which you ruse over your practice to rejuvenate mind and body and to bring them together to find stillness. Until today, whenever I thought I was entering a deep relaxed state, I always fell asleep. Today, I was able to stave off sleep and dream while I was awake. Wow, that's some weird stuff.

As I lay there, I was thinking about the things that still lay ahead. My body felt really heavy after an hour and a half while still curiously feeling pretty energetic still. My mind started to wander, and I started to think about my department chair and the topic that I would like to talk to him about tomorrow. And then it happened. I went into a kind of a trance, I was really talking to him as if he were there in front of me, and then the whole room came alive. I remember thinking, wow, this is something. This light shone throughout the whole room, and then I was gazing upon myself.

I am not sure if this is something that is supposed to happen. The purpose of meditation is to clear your mind of all thoughts so that you have nothing but that very moment to focus. That is why there is such a huge emphasis on concentrating on breathing, on audible breathing so that that becomes the only thing on which to focus your attention on.

However, today, I definitely went somewhere where I hadn't been before. It was funky, it was bright, and it was surreal. And I liked it.

Can You Believe This Sticker?

It really didn't take long. Some people know where there is money to be made.

Just today, I saw a bumper sticker on a car that read, "Don't blame me. I voted for Palin." Now that is seriously disturbed. It didn't reveal anything about what is going on, it only revealed the ignorance of the owner of the car, who, by the way, was a woman in her 50's.

I object to this bumper sticker on many fronts. The first is that you don't vote for vice-president. That is, unless you secretly wish for the president to die, in which case the vice president would step up. So she had a death wish for McCain because she really wanted Sarah Palin to be the president. Unless, of course, she thought that Palin would have McCain wrapped around her finger? Perhaps. She seems to have an effect on older men, but really, really?

The second is that the bumper sticker assumes that things are getting worse. Don't make a mistake about it. Obama inherited this mess. Things were already going downhill when Obama took over. In fact, the stock market has rallied since the inauguration. Doesn't that at least indicate that Obama brought hope?

The third is, what does Palin really stand for? I am an educator, and whenever Palin speaks, I am just dumbfounded. She leaves dangling modifiers, she leaves out entire main clauses, she uses words wrongly, her speech is just a mess. So, let's say she is a fiscal conservative. Shows fiscal restraint. Well, what about the bridge to nowhere? How about her refusal to take the stimulus money for education? Remember, she said she would a friend to all with special needs children? And the seditious speeches she gave! The brawl at these events! That was not someone that needs to be on a national stage. That just is not someone I would be proud to present as representing us. No way. No how.

I am just wondering how much money the sticker maker is making. Probably some. Like I said, some people just know where there is money to be made. Even if it is at the cost of civility.