Is the glass really half full

I am thankful for so many things in a selfish way. We just celebrated Thanksgiving with our loved ones. I am truly thankful for what I have. Yet it saddens to know that so many hearts are broken, so much turmoil, so much chaos, and so many unnecessary deaths in the world.

Someone committed suicide for unnecessary deaths in Iraq stating ``Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country,'' he wrote in his suicide note. ``... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country.''

Some New York City police officers killed an unarmed man on the day of his wedding, firing dozens of shots that also wounded two of the man's friends.

A friend and a lively person who entertained us with her melodious songs during our community gatherings died of cancer yesterday in Peterborough, Canada.

How do I thank, whom do I thank for such sad occasions? Am I supposed to be a Buddha with no feelings or attachment or am I supposed to just hide my feelings?

Technology: how our expectations have changed

My niece complained about not being able to talk to her parents in India, because the phone wasn’t working back home and her parents’ Internet was down too. We have come a long way. Only 30 years ago I could not talk to my folks because they did not even own a phone. Telegram, if it came, usually carried bad news. 40 years ago I used to travel by train packed with people inside, outside and on the roof, because that’s all we could afford. Transistor was invented only 50 years ago. After the discovery of fire and the wheel, this perhaps has had the most profound affect on the modern world. Without semiconductor, there won’t be modern day computer, cell phone, internet, video game, HDTV, live display of a distant war, ipod, Utube, html, C++, and so on. But we have gotten used to it. If you tell a kid that we did not have radio, they would perhaps wonder why we did not watch TV. And I don’t think I am quite that antique yet.

I grew up with longhand calculation, slide rule, vacuum tube, mechanical calculator, chart recorder. Then graduated through heterodyne AM radio, FM, PCM, HF/VHF transmission, discrete circuit, integrated circuit, LSI, magnetic core memory, solid state memory, logic circuits, analog-to-digital conversion, Fortran, Assembly language, etc. Now, hardly anyone talks about those either. Now even babies who can barely talk or walk grow up using a hi-tech talking or giggling toy.

Now we have more gadgets than we know what to do with. There are people babbling on cell phones, chatting on Internet, playing video games, dating a stranger from an alien land, clicking remotes to change hundreds of channels (and that’s not enough) on a huge screen TV, playing poker, sexual predator prowling for innocent victim. People can today relate better to gadgets than they can relate to other people. They love things and use people instead of being the other way around. Parents have no time for children, so they try to make up by showering more hi-tech gifts.

Oh, how far we have succumbed to technology! We can’t live without it. If there is a catastrophe sending us back to primitive era, shall we be able to survive without these modern day miracles? Or shall we disappear like many advanced species of the past? Technology is like fire. It is extremely useful, but if we abuse it, it can burn.

Iron Man under the weather

I am not an Iron Man, but I feel like one at times and do the stupid things like running in a cold, windy morning or wearing summer clothes in winter. So, I am under the weather for the last couple of days with cold, cough, and stuffy nose - the stuff that’s annoying. It feels good to be sitting in the hot tub in the gym after work, but that’s temporary.

As weekend rolls around and I don’t feel like doing much, I am listening to the Headset
It’s a new four some band from New York. They sound pretty good and have received rave reviews. They just released a new CD on Nov 16. We know one of the guys fairly well.

Earlier I was also playing an LP (it’s funny how record players have almost become antique in 30 years), Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights”. I suppose music has no barrier. Taste of diverse music is like good, diverse ethnic food. You want to taste them all. So, I listen to jazz, blues, country western, Indian "Ghazals”, Assamese melodies, and on and on. The Sound of Music lets me temporarily forget the nagging cold or the turbulence and cruelty around us.

Thanksgiving is almost here. I certainly am Thankful for everything including the music I can hear. Love and music have disappeared in places like Darfur, Iraq, Palestine, …

Now what

Tired of extreme rhetoric and senseless action, sensible America spoke quietly but firmly at the poll. Now the Democrats must ensure that the extreme right or the extreme left does not ever take over. They must focus on the real issues else America will speak again. Let us work on deficit, health care, education, energy, crime, world poverty & hunger, and child labor. Migration will stop if we help improve the economy of the less fortunate countries. No fence, security force can stop migration; only financial freedom will.

The new Congress must ensure that war is not a game. It is America’s last choice. They must ensure that we earn respect and leadership doing the right thing for humanity. Only the morally weak demands respect through and rules by force. They must remember, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind”. They must remember, “the earth provides enough to satisfy everybody’s need, but not for anybody’s greed”. They must put people ahead of the party. We must truly practice equality, justice, and fairness for all people everywhere on earth.

The time is now

It’s time to take this country back from the grips of the extreme right. Lies, deception, arrogance, war, death, torture, religious fanaticism, wire tapping – they do it all, and then they spin it to make a mockery of others who believe in American values. They go to another country univited, destroy it, cause death to hundreds of thousands and then blame those angry, cynical people for not taking care of their own people. You have the power to kick these people out of their throne on November 7.

It’s time to get back to the glory days. It’s time to focus on deficit, health care, education, social security, civil liberty, and root cause analysis & conflict resolution through dialog. America once again must be run by a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and not by someone acting like a king.

Halloween night

It’s me on Halloween night. Little angels, princesses, Darth Vader, monsters, alligators appeared at my door. “Trick or treat” softly they would say holding a bag of goodies in front. I dropped a few more candies and they left happily. “Thank you” they said quietly as they left. A few were nervous at the door holding onto their parent’s hand for security. One even cried seeing a feathered Indian. Another confidently addressed this man with a bowl full of candies, “Hello Indian”. The night wasn’t scary at all. They had their loot and I was glad to make their face a little brighter. Halloween comes only once a year and these little people deserve a night like this.