Testing this interesting thingy...

http://www.isoma.net/games/goggles.html?loc=tqstqqtsqtrtqsttrttt

The lonely man, soul cast in wicker strips, carefully woven back and forth back and forth to keep all the water out, still has sand slipping through the sides of him, spilling to the floor. Happiness sits as an hourglass, and he watches as all the time slips away with all the time he had. As the new moon glints in his eye, he smiles as the sand pours and pours. Time can never be re-had, but he wouldn't want it to be so. Where he pours forth, all his life essence, there will one day be a sandy coast, and the impermeable ocean will wash up against what was once his soul.

He knows that he will be gone when the sand is, but it doesn't frighten him. He has long known of the flaws in his manufacturing, but refused to ask the people around him for some cork, afraid of imposing upon a neighbor.

I checked one of the books containing a few of the Dalai Lama's speeches and messages out today while I was incredibly bored at work. I've always been curious about Buddhism, but after reading the introduction to the belief system, I find that I'm only left with more questions about it.

The fleeting pleasures of life (things like sex, food, et cetera) are included in the suffering that is supposed to define life outside of Nirvana. If, then, those are not only temporary pleasures, but pain in disguise, then it is our very nature to cause pain to ourselves. I find it hard to imagine transcending food, but honestly, this is perhaps the easiest thing for me to understand. After all, Buddhism is about transcending the state we live in now, and becoming aware of all things.

However, I find it hard to understand how one can be aware of all things with the total emphasis on the positive that I read about. Negative thoughts and 'corrupted thoughts' (always a warning sign in any belief for me) can damage karma and bring negative energy out into the world. This severely contradicts what I believe, and is probably what will keep me from being Buddhist. I don't think that negativity in the world can be solved by ignoring it. Understanding can only be achieved through experience, and experience must be contemplated in order to understand. It cannot be possible to think only positively about any situation. I believe that thinking that way can influence events and situations, but I do not think that refusing to see the other side of the coin will solve the problems of the world as a whole.

Reality is an impermanent construct. This is fairly true, if you ask me. The physical, however, is not. It is incredibly selfish of humans to assume that we are the fulcrum upon which the world turns. It is the other way around. Were we not here to perceive reality, it would not exist as what we call reality. However, the earth would still exist, and all of the creatures and forces on the earth would still exist. And, if reality is ever supposed to be impermanent, it would require the destruction of the human race. As long as there are humans, the construct will continue to thrive and grow. It is as permanent as we are, and since permanence hinges on our existence, the construct is permanent.

But Thomas, you say, is your critique of Buddhist thought not as asinine as all religious thought you choose to criticize? You are the dreaded H word, you say! Well, no. I am not saying that Buddhism is wrong. I do not believe that there is a wrong, when it comes to the search for divinity that humans all participate in, save those who willingly deny its existence. We all seek the same thing, be it Nirvana, Heaven, et cetera. In this, I do agree with Buddhist thought. We all seek a release from the constraints of human existence in some way. Some appreciate the human existence, and do not want to leave it. Should they ever achieve this, they would be achieving their personal divinity. However, this book, though I will likely read it, has cemented my opinion that the Buddhist path is not my own, though some of the concepts I do find interesting/true.

Today's rune reading;

1. I decided this space would represent my current state. Eerily accurate, as is normal with these runes I have.

Wunjo- Happiness, joy, with what some interpret as a temporary nature. I'm not sure if I agree with that particular view.

2. The near future.

Ingwaz- Balance, groundedness, work with the earth, tranquility.

3. What may prevent me from experiencing said near future positively.

Raidho (inverted)- I suppose the best way to view Raidho inverted would be a lack of movement, or a stopping in a journey, spiritual or maybe physical. I'm still thinking of the proper way to interpret this.

So yeah, I get on my trusty iBook once again (I'm not sure why I never went through with my plans to turn my desktop into a Windows box. I guess it was for the games), and I get to this article on the BBC News about the Tamil Tigers, the separatists in Sri Lanka, and how Canada has stuck them on their country's 'terror list', as it were.

Now, I'm all for denouncing groups that go about killing people, be they military casualties, civilians, et cetera. But, in that case, why don't we put the Sri Lankan army on there too? They certainly have no problems violating the same ceasefire that western countries are always tooting the horns about. Oh, wait, that's right, we won't put governments on that list unless they're from the Middle East.

What harm would it do to negotiate a sovereign region for the Tamils? Dravidians and Indians are different people, with different beliefs and customs, and they're not going to get along well if one feels like they're being subjected by the other. It works like this all around the world, and the Sri Lankan government's cock-swelling rhetoric isn't doing either side any good. If we could get off the fucking 'you're a terrorist' boat and actually try and solve a problem, the world might not be half so fucked up these days.

Just a shorty for now...

'Sadr City Sardonic'

Part One- 'The Chosen'

minnaret phalli pierce
fertile clouds, that
suffer miscarriage
most of the year:

in great cities of men
such as this
mighty mollusks of men
clutch so tightly
thrones of supposition
their shells of paper, perfect
calligraphed words of god
protect these severe revered
from the hells they birthed
for every being but themselves
secretly smiling yellow fangs
in the glow of salvation in solitude

(c)Thomas Gray, 2006

I'm impressed with the opposition parties in Thailand right now.

Quick background: PM Shinawatra has been consistently accused of mass corruption by the opposition and his own party at times, and called for a snap election three years early, in an attempt to put concerns to rest that he still had a mandate to lead. Voting is mandatory in Thailand, and you can get arrested for not doing it. Opposition parties believe the election is bullshit, and so they wanted everyone to check the 'no vote' box in a show of support. Given that there are multiple 'opposition' parties in Thailand, this consolidates their votes into one big 'fuck you' for Shinawatra.

The election's not over yet, but the 'no votes' already exceed Thai Rak Thai votes in almost all of the reporting districts, save rural areas, which support TRT because of a farmer's benefits program. Rural communities worry that the opposition parties would cut funding and deprive them of their livelihood.

But I think it's impressive. Instead of just bitching endlessly about how pathetic of a job their leader was doing, they stood up and fucking did something about it. This is one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience on a political scale that I've ever seen, save the occasional mass labor riot (or whatever riot is happening in Paris lately).

Shinawatra may retain office, but he's pretty much a lame duck already. Thailand has the advantage of not being, you know, not having a fucking crazy government like Myanmar (Burma) does. The citizens there don't HAVE to take shit from their government, because some of their soldiers might take the opposition's side in the case of a fight, and people aren't as poor in Thailand as in neighboring countries.

America, as a comparison, has some of the richest people in the world. For all the people that sit around and complain, we certainly don't do shit to stop the things we see going on around us. Faith-based charities get federal funding, creationism is up for debate as a fucking science, and we're in the middle of a war that's impossible to win because we'll never realize that the enemy's not another army like we have. But what happens? We let Bush win a fucking election legitimately, because the 'opposition' here are a bunch of limp-wristed whiny pricks who couldn't stand up if they had electrodes surreptitiously attached to their asses on the Senate bench.

Left-wing pussyism will not win us the war on ideology. If we really want change, then we must agitate, we must fight, even if it means sacrificing things we hold dear, like the right to vote. Shinawatra will be left with no choice but to resign, or face absolute civil disobedience for the remainder of his legal term. Bush will face no real opposition for... well, forever, because nobody will really stand up.

Dick Durbin tried it, but comparing an AMURRKIN to a COMMUNIST like Stalin, or a NAHTZEE like Hitler is UNAMURRKIN! His liberal pussyist bretheren refused to stand behind him, and he was fed to the neo-con dogs, who proceeded to tear him to shreds. He could have pulled the lid off of the whole fucking prison abuse problem, and instead the fucking Democrats took the side of the mouth-breathers, and it's still going on, and will be, because that's another one of those issues that the people with access to the damning evidence refuse to ever touch.

We should take a lesson from Thailand. It's okay to say 'fuck you, and fuck your system, until you act in a way that's agreeable to the other people in this country, not just people who completely agree with you, we're going to piss in your fucking Wheaties until you give in'. We don't have to take bullshit lying down, but first, we have to distance ourselves from the worthless sacks of shit that call themselves opposition.

The system doesn't work. Fighting, even without lifting a finger, is the only way to real freedom.

"مغ سلام"

Tack!

silence is a fleeting notion
tossed around in the heads
of the rich and lucky
those of us or them perhaps
who don't have to stay here
when the shooting starts

Tack Tack Tack!

there it goes again
distant relatives
if tongues are to be taken
but yet it's unclear
judgments on the past
or fear of the future

Tack!

we can't be allowed
to live here they say
but who are they to tell us
there are no civilians here
or there, but
when blow comes to blow
we'll see whose god is better

Tack Tack Tack Tack!

for now, there's still the option
to finish all of this
but we're told to wait
just don't be hasty
under skys grayed
by flashing points of death
we're running low on generations

Two more miners dead in a non-union mine. But hey, what's it matter when those bosses are getting top dollar for that coal? What's a couple bodies, there's always enough poor folk who'd jump at the chance to have it made as a coal miner, making 60k a year without having to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for college. Hooray for free enterprise!