Sunday, October 26, 2008

Anger Management for McCain

If I wasn't stuck in a weekend meditation retreat, I would be one of those patriots standing at the Denver Civic Center rally for Obama, the "One" who will bring America together and restore our country's international reputation!

I am in the middle of a 2-week Advanced Yoga Teacher Intensive with my teacher on the subject of "The Bhagavad Gita." He called this yoga training "The Middle Path of Love". This is the second time I am studying this great text with my teacher. It's a fascinating read but very challenging to understand and process, at least for me!

Because of the intensity of my study, I haven't caught up on my news briefings lately, except a glimpse of headlines such as:
  • McCain's new pal, Joe the plumber, who is not really a plumber and his name is not really "Joe", and he can't really "read", so he couldn't understand Obama's economic plan!
  • Palin and her anti-intellectual supporters who do not comprehend the difference between capitalism and socialism! BTW, socialism to some degree, in my mind, isn't a bad idea! Those Palin people seem pretty happy receiving stimulus checks from our government - where do they think the money came from! Unfortunately those checks weren't from our tax revenue, but from money borrowed from China!
  • Palin's "hockey-mom" image subverted by $150,000 worth of "elitist" designer outfits!
  • Palin's ignorance on the "job description" of Vice President (again)!
Wow... what else? I guess there's a good reason I am in this yoga training!

Couple days ago, I turned on the news when I got home from my training, and there's McCain's angry face and his angry crowd. He was shouting on my TV screen about fighting, something like- we gotta fight, we gotta stand up and fight for our country, and.. I will always fight for you....

I wanted to ask him, "Who and what are you exactly fighting with"? 

Here I will offer him and his angry mobs 2 verses from "The Bhagavad Gita". Consider this as my free of charge "Anger Management" therapy to the McCain Camp.

Chapter 2,
Verse 62:
For a man dwelling on the objects of the senses,
An attachment to them is born;
From attachment, desire is born;
From desire, anger is born;
Verse 63:
From anger arises delusion;
From delusion, loss of the memory;
From loss of memory, destruction of discrimination;
From destruction of discrimination, one is lost.

The object of McCain's senses is his strong desire to the presidency at ANY cost! It's never Country First for him. This is McCain's tragic flaw! He will live to regret it for the rest of his life.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Right to Life! Choose wisely!

For all the women out there who watched the debate last night, isn't the choice crystal clear?

Which candidate is for YOU! "That One". The one who respects the right of women to choose. The one who fights hard to protect the "health" of a woman.

For the first time in this election, the subject of Roe v. Wade was directly asked to both candidates in a presidential debate. I was sad to see Senator McCain's disdain for women's right to choose! Especially when he condescendingly hand-gestured quotes for "health" in regards to Senator Obama's stand on an exception for "protecting the health" of a woman in banning late-term abortion. McCain continues to argue that these words "health of a mother" was stretched by liberal or pro-abortion to include almost anything. Is he trying to say that women can't be trusted to decide what's the best interest for their own health!

I just want to make this very clear to those pro-life advocates, get your facts straight! NO ONE is pro-abortion! You have no idea what women go through to make tough decision like this. For whatever reasons that prompted their choice, every one of those women carry the burdens and consequences of their decisions for the rest of their lives. No one takes this matter lightly! I respect these women who have the courage to go through with this tough choice. Isn't this what living is about?

I suppose, the easiest way is to toss my hands up in the air, and let "God" decide, and let the All-Mighty carry all of my burdens and sins, so I can pretend to live a self-righteous, moral, and ethical life as usual!

Absolutely not.

I choose to live my own life, to live with my own choices, and to live with my own consequences. l appreciate the beauty of life and of this world so much more when I can see it with my own eyes and not through God's.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fear Not...

Came across this video on Youtube.


Are these the citizens of this fine country? What went wrong there? 

I know, sometimes my peers and I have sneered and chuckled, okay, maybe laughed out loud, at people from the middle of America, who have never been outside of their small town, who have never read anything other than their local papers and their bible, who only watch Fox News and shop at WalMart, who think patriotism is never criticizing our country for its wrongdoings, and who think elected officials should be like "one of us", even if they possess no apparent qualifications to hold a government position. (I can really go on and on about this!) 

BUT... I never wish any ill fate to them. I only wish that they would open their minds to accept what the world already is - a world of "DIVERSITY", whether they like it or not. Their hatred to Arabs and Muslims (which are not quite the same), and, I dare say, anyone who is not WHITE, stems from blind fear propagated by their own lack of knowledge, and partly instigated by our current administration, is a disgrace to the human race.

I know our government in its current state is not a perfect one, with two main parties, Democratic and Republican, each holding their own views of what direction our country needs to go. This is indeed the time when we need a leader, a president, who is able to strike a balance to bring both parties together regardless of the differences in ideology, strategy, or policy. 

Looking at these ill-informed supporters waiting to enter a McCain-Palin rally, is even more of a confirmation that we CANNOT have leaders like McCain and Palin, whose current campaign strategy attempts to instill fear of diversity and to further divide our country!

We just simply can't allow that!
 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Palin-Land, NOT for me!

As a yoga teacher, I learn and try not to judge people by the choices they make. I really am trying so hard to understand where people are coming from, and the reasons for their decisions. But no matter how, what, or why, I simply am shocked at the overwhelming support from some, almost to a point of worship, of Sarah Palin. Is it her homecoming queen charms? Is it her simpleton girlish talk? Is it her promises to lead everyone in this country to the "Promised Land"? 



What would the likelihood for her to label yoga as "devil worship" if she becomes President? Yaaaah, only a heart beat away!!!!! 

Just the thought of her willingness to ban books makes me wonder, what would stop her from censoring all kinds of practices?

Does she represent the democracy that this country needs? People from Palin-Land, look outside the box (Bible)! There is a whole new world worth exploring, and I am absolutely, positively sure, that Jesus would want you to.

Monday, October 6, 2008

It's show time!

Dirty campaigning is getting muddier.

While McCain-Palin are not talking about the economy, because they just don't get it. And having nothing substantial to offer to the nation, they've decided to make the remainder of their campaign a referendum on Obama.

Palin has brought up anew the connection between Obama and Bill Ayers, and she's ready to be the nasty pit bull trying to sink her rotten jaws onto Obama's former relationship with Reverend Wright.

I say "Bring it on, Barbie! If she really thinks that McCain and herself can come out squeaky clean in their time as public officials, then, it's show time!

Does the "Keating Five" scandal of 1989-1991 jar your memory? No wonder McCain doesn't want to talk about economy!


I recently read a blog post by Matt Taibbi, a writer for Rolling Stone, about Sarah Palin's convention speech. He pretty much sums up what she is or is not, and the pitfall is half of America sees her as someone they can relate to, and they're willing to look pass her caricature performance. Here is the article: 


Let's focus on the positives. I have faith that a lot of people are smarter than McCain and Palin think. Their lies and smears are not going anywhere with thinkers and fact checkers. 

Think positive: Obama-Biden 08

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Let Her Eat Cake!

The Vice Presidential debate is officially over! And the Obama-Biden ticket is pulling ahead. Thank goodness for Joe Biden's solid performance, but also hands down to Sarah Palin's entertaining "Joe six-pack/hockey mom" act.

Yes, she's a quick study, and McCain's snide advisors prepared her well. If she isn't a small town mayor/governor, and if she EXPOSES herself to more national and international affairs, READS a broader range of journalistic information in addition to her Bible, plus SURROUNDS herself with intelligent staff instead of her high school classmates, she might have been a feared debater. As we can see from Thursday's debate, she was as oily "slick" as Dick Cheney!

Let her keep winking at the American people. As a Republican Strategist from Indiana at Larry King put it: "that's how women in Indiana talk, there's nothing wrong with that, and people relate to that". Let's see if she can wink her way through nuclear proliferation negotiations. Or perhaps this charming trait is her asset to gain "allies" from Middle East countries, or leaders, like Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari.

Let her keep sounding the rally cry for victory in Iraq War. Her idea that proposing an exit strategy for the Iraq War is like "waving a white flag of surrender" is so old school. The fact is our presence in Iraq has nothing to do with victory vs. defeat anymore. The truth is: this unnecessary war from the get-go is costing americans $1.8 billion a week. It is contributing to our economic crisis right now. Let her keep on talking about victory in Iraq War. It's a reflection of the McCain-Palin's lack of vision for America's economy and a major cause of "defeat" in the American financial system.

Let her keep on chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" For someone like Palin who claims to be an expert on energy, she should read up on FACTS. As a study released this past Tuesday by the U.S. Energy Department states, opening the Alaska wildlife refuge to drilling would only reduce our dependency on foreign oil by "less than 50 cents" per barrel. The relief for gas prices may not come until as early as 2025, and the crude produced from Alaska Wildlife Refuge is estimated to reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day within just 8 years from the start of pumping if congress approves the measure. This deeply reflects her lack of understanding of our natural resources and reserves, and her irresponsibility with respect to the environment. 

I don't expect people who are smitten by her homegrown/Alaskan-belle charm to look pass her pretenses. I don't expect people who are blindly in favor of the Iraq War or any "preemptive" war, to look past their fear. I don't expect people who are so dependent on gas, to think about alternative means of transportation or other energy sources. These people are lost in their own illusion of reality. On the bright side, as now indicated by the poll numbers, there are plenty of people out there who are able to think wisely for our nation as a whole, both now and for the future. It's a good sign and let's just cross our fingers until Nov. 4th.

So, let her eat cake!