One Great Day

When we first arrived in Hanoi my son and I were at first struck by the never ending stream of traffic. There are about 6.5 million people living in Hanoi and also about 1.5 million motorcycles. What makes it fun is that most streets don’t have stop lights. We later learned that some tourists were so intimidated by this that they hired taxis to take them across the street. If you should ever find yourself in Hanoi the secret to crossing the street is to just walk across without stopping. If you do this all the drivers will simply go around you. If you stop they won’t expect that and it could get very interesting.

When my son was 18 I bought a motorcycle in order to spend some time with him. It worked perfectly as instead of having to schedule an appointment to see him he would ask me to go for a ride. So in the presence of all these bikes and chaos we knew we had to rent cycles and head out to the countryside.

I must admit that the first morning we set out on our bikes we were a bit nervous. We knew that we’d get lost as none of the signs were in English. After about 20 minutes of driving this nervousness turned into a whole lot of fun. I quickly learned that if instead of trying to drive/steer my bike I just “went with the force” I was able to drive wonderfully fast in a sea of anything on wheels that you could imagine.

Our destination was the Perfume Pagoda. In order to get there we road for about 3 hours and then hired a boat. This boat was like a large row boat. The motor was a Vietnamese woman who rowed with her feet. About an hour later she dropped us off at a dock and we learned that we would now have to climb about 400 steps to get to the pagoda. About half we up we came upon an elderly blind woman who was begging. This woman had a monkey. My son loves monkeys so we stopped and he played with it for awhile. The monkey was quite fascinated with my son’s tattoos. He tried to pick them and eat them. Before we left I decided to pet the monkey myself. Well this monkey immediately jumped on my shoulder and did an excellent job of looking for tics or lice. After petting the monkey for awhile it was time to leave. This is not at all what the monkey had in mind. It immediately wrapped its arms and legs around me, started screaming, and wouldn’t let me leave. I wish that I had this effect on human women. It was extremely adorable. Finally I extricated myself from my new girlfriend and we continued up the mountain. When we got to the top we found ourselves at the top of a large flight of stairs. The Perfume Pagoda is in a cave. So much to my non-delight we had to go down the stairs. The interior of the cave was not extraordinarily special. However as we were leaving the cave a marvelous image was there waiting for us. So that’s how this shot came into being.

Before I close I want to emphasize that I found Vietnam to be a place of exquisite beauty. But what really blew me away was the absence of anger towards Americans among the Vietnamese. I went looking for this anger and I couldn’t find it. We have much to learn about their ability to forgive.

The Pump

Last Thursday morning I was is a place named Franz Joseph Glacier on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. As I was packing to leave I turned on my TV and was delighted to see Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer playing the last hole of the par 3 tournement at the Masters. As they walked up the fairway it was obvious that the years had taken their toll on them all. Yet all 3 had managed to play respectable shots. I found myself tearing up as I watched them together for perhaps the last time. As a young teenager my passion was for golf. I used to putt imitating Palmer's unique knock kneed stance. I might even have be seen flicking a cigarette with the same pinanche that Palmer had. I wasn't sure why I became emotional at this site. I have found that as I age I'm becomming more emotional about such things.

As Palmer got set to putt on what had to be at least a 65 footer he was surrounded by the same kind of crowd as he was in the 60's and 70's. He stroked the ball with authority and the crowd hushed as it started to appear that we were about to witness yet another truly magical moment. I have no idea what etherial GPS was guiding that sphere but somehow that putt found the bottom of the hole! I'm sure I alarmed a few of my neighbors with the sounds that came out of me at that moment. It was so wonderful to see Arnie when he began to realize that it just might go in. And before the sound of that sphere hitting the bottom of the cup could be heard there was Arnie pumping that right fist one more time.

My whole being swells when I experience myself in the presence of excellence of any sort. The tears were streaming down my face when I saw that pump (as they are as I write this now). Thank you Arnie for that moment. At my age I don't know if I have any fist pumps left in my tank but it sure is great to see that it's possible.

Have You No Shame?

During the early 1950's Senator Eugene McCarthy conducted a series of inquiries under the pretext of rooting out communism from our society. These congressional hearings were some of the most reprehensible moments in our history. As the hearings progressed Senator McCarthy gained ever increasing power that he wielded to ruin many careers. Then one day he was confronted by a lawyer named Joseph Welch. In a very famous encounter with McCarthy, Mr. Welch was able to end McCarthy's reign by confronting him with these words, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last have you left no sense of decency?" I doubt that in our current cultural context such words would have any effect but I sure wish that some one in a position of power within the Republican Party would have the guts and integrity to take such a stand.

I can remember growing up and watching either David Susskind or William F. Buckley, Jr. on PBS. Susskind was cool because he smoked and had sexy people on his show. Buckley was also cool because he was an intellectual and was able to articulate positions in an eloquent and reasoned manner. As I watched his tongue I was also stimulated to think and respond to what was normally a differing opinion presented in very fine fashion. I may not have agreed with many of his conservative views but I clearly could respect his style and opinion.

Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and I'm sorry to say way too many more, appeal to the lowest common denominator. They prey on ignorance, fear, racism, and the blind trust that too many of us put in them. I'm sure that the tea bag movement has within its ranks many who are truly concerned about our country. Sadly they appear to have no awareness that they serve as cannon fodder for those that manipulate them for their own selfish ends.

During the last presidential campaign we learned that Barack Obama was both a Muslim and not really an American citizen. This has further degenerated into portraying him both as a Socialist and Hitler. Yet the Republican party remains not only silent about the absurdity of these assertions they actively encourage them. To which I reply with what many think Welch said, Have you no shame?

When during the State of the Union address Joe Wilson shouted out "You lie" there was no condemnation from the Republican leaders. Now we have another Mensa member from Texas yelling out "Baby Killer" to Bart Stupak. I wonder how far down the food chain of civility and respect we have to slide before integrity and decency will again have some meaning? Who needs to be killed by some poor schlemiel before we get a wake up call?

As My Heart Breaks

I've been consciously trying to avoid watching too much of the devastation in Haiti as every time I do I start to cry. Today I saw a clip of our soldiers giving water to kids that haven't eaten in days. The kids said a thank you that was absolutely believable. I am so struck by: 1) The contrast of these kids getting water and our kids who are so dissatisfied unless they have an iPhone with unlimited texting. and 2) How much of a better use of our might and money giving out water is than killing people in Afghanistan.

I'm watching the predictions that the Democrats might lose the senate race in Massachusetts. I must confess to a sense of gratitude about this. I hope she does lose. Not because I'm in favor of the Neanderthal that is running against her. But rather I hope it serves as a wake up call to the Obama administration. My very sad experience is that Obama has been only slightly better than "Bush light". He is indeed prettier and far more intelligent. He even knows how to speak the language. But in matters of real substance the Republican status quo prevails. There are now more Blackwater types in Afghanistan than in the Bush years. Wall Street firms have continued the same practices that brought about our devastation. Only now we're paying the bill while they get massive bonuses. The health care legislation is a bad joke that gives the major insurers 30 to 40 million more policies and forces people to buy them. The "financial reform" legislation is so watered down it is an insult. Democrats make really bad Republicans so I don't blame the people of Massachusetts for electing a real Republican. Obama promised us "transparency" in government. He promised us that the health care debate would be televised. While none of this happened it is becoming far more flagrant that it is the large corporations that are running the country.

I wonder what it will take to get the American people out of their comatose state. I still don't understand why people will vote against their own selfish best interests and exactly what it will take for us to stop the gross inequities in our system. It has been demonstrated that frogs will allow themselves to be cooked to death if the water is gradually heated around them. I wonder how bad it will have to get before us frogs begin to revolt.

Gaia Housecleaning

I've just spent the last 8 days in Costa Rica. It is gorgeous and the people are quite friendly. They have a wonderful sense of humor and love to laugh. I will never cease to be amazed and reminded how much joy I experience in underdeveloped countries. Much of Costa Rica is geared towards eco-tourism. As I've gone through the rain and tropical forests my guides have pointed out the extraordinary ways that nature has of protecting itself. For example some trees have grown sharp edges to prevent animals from climbing them. Others grow poisonous leaves at the bottom to protect their foliage.

Our arrogance in the world causes us to think that we are somehow above the innate intelligence in the universe. We repeatedly make short sighted decisions without regard for the consequences. Global warming along with wasting so many natural resources are the obvious examples. Within every eco-system whenever an imbalance occurs, as for example, when one predator's population becomes too large and threatens the balance, another predator enters the scene and soon re-establishes the balance that is needed for long term survival. On a micro level the coming emergence of China and India may be the new predators that will put the United States back into a position of of one of the countries of the planet rather than the bully. I'm now starting to wonder about the macro level. The eco system of the earth will soon become threatened by over population and pollution. Our arrogance and ignorance causes us to think that it is only the "enlightened" among us that are concerned about "the solution". I'm starting to think that there are probably forces that we cannot even imagine that are already gearing up to take care of "the problem". For those of us who don't believe in life after death this might be a good time to begin thinking about getting a few extra charge cards and begin to max them out. For every one else, it might be a good idea to keep your spiritual passports up to date as we might soon be going on a trip.

Seasons Greetings

Opportunity for growth often comes cloaked in tragedy and pain.

Our task is to grieve and then seek out the potential lesson to learn.

So often we are the co-creator of our experience and not merely the victim.

On the other hand, if 2012 is really Sarah’s year

Darwin was wrong and the Myans just might be right.

Happy Holidays

With love,

Bob

Hillary: A Second Chance for Redemption

I have been angry with Hillary Clinton ever since she didn't leave Bill for that Monica Lewinski thing. What Bill does with his cigars is really none of our business. An individual's approach to fidelity is really none of our business (just ask Tiger). What should have been our concern was that Bill's sin was an abuse of power and position. It was a boundary violation that pervades many aspects of our society. But I digress. I was angry with Hillary for staying with Bill after it became public knowledge. What kind of message did she give her daughter? How did her inaction in any way support the truth that women are capable of supporting themselves and being "some one" even without a man. But now she has a second chance.
The events of last week have removed the notion from my mind that President Obama is a wimp. The decision to increase our troop strength in Afghanistan along with the defeat of the drug re-importation bill, the removal of the Medicare 55 and older buy-in, and no public option, for me reveal a very different reality. I previously thought that Obama was able to win the election because of an amazing convergence of unique forces: Bush sucked, the economy was tanking, and Palin was removing any chance that McCain could win. I am now beginning to believe that Obama was allowed to win because he represented no threat to the real powers behind the throne. His policies have rewarded Wall Street. His "healthcare reform" will reward the industry with 30 million more customers. The defense contractors are running at full steam. There are now more Blackwater types in Iraq and Afghanistan than under the Bush Administration. None of our constitutional rights have been restored. The new Attorney General has a brain yet chooses to not pursue prosecution of all the abuses of the past administration or even replace the obvious political appointees across the country. What works in the good cop/bad cop scenarios is that we are lured into the false belief that the good guy is our friend. Obama's pursuit of "bipartisan support" actually gives him cover to appear to have a different agenda and a "bad cop" to point to when the end result is so disappointing to the fooled masses. Well the thrill is gone and the honeymoon is over. Mr. President, I am no longer seduced by your words.
Madame Secretary of State I ask you to make a statement by resigning your position. You've been great in the position. Please do what Colin Powell didn't have the guts to do. Obama pummeled you with his not voting for the Iraq war. Now it's your opportunity to vote no. Healthcare reform was your baby and this administration has made a mockery of it. This administration has done nothing to help the working people. I realize that quitting would mean giving up a marvelous opportunity and that in your present position you may be able to do some outstanding work. However I am still very much in touch with the passion that was aroused in me and many others by candidate Obama. I saw how our youth were able to come out of their narcissistic entitlement for a moment and actively work towards a dream of change. As it becomes more apparent how much of a mass hallucination candidate Obama was my passion is turning into anger and disappointment and our youth will not so easily be fooled or mobilized in the future.
Your candidacy aroused a great deal of passion among your supporters. I believe that the liberal/progressive people of our country will soon be quite angry. It would be a great service to love, decency, compassion, and just the right thing to do, if you could take this moment in time and help direct that anger towards truly correcting the gross inequities in our society. Quit and declare your candidacy for 2012. Start working towards the election of candidates across the country who will provide us with real reform. I realize that my scenario sounds like a ridiculous pipe dream. It's almost as bizarre as thinking in 2005 of electing a Black president with a middle name of Hussein.