Sunday, April 22

The curse of an upgrade

It has come to me lately, that there is a conspiracy. Hardware producers make a product that might work well, then the software geniuses create more app's and bulk in order to force the hardware-computer manufacturers to have to upgrade their hardware. An endless vicious circle, where the one hand washes the other just to make a profit.
In the process we are being dehumanized, forced or persuaded to buy the latest gadget, the latest prank. It is truly amazing how peoples desire for an "upgrade" motivates their daily existence. The best, the fastest, the coolest.
In this kind of world of technical progress we as humans seem to digress. No longer is the computer a tool for research, and then the iPhone replaces the void of being next to another and we are playing cryptic games when there is no music. We have become so dissociated, it is not funny anymore.
My "upgrade" is therefore a downgrade. The carrot in front of the donkey might be tempting, but I am neither a donkey nor a mule, and I refuse to go for it any longer. 

Tuesday, April 10

Günter Grass and his upsetting poem

Günter Grass, a German writer, sculptor, painter who also happened to have received the Nobel Price for literature, wrote this poem last week, had it published in a major news-outlet. Now he is banned to enter Israel - basically put on a black list. I will try to sloppily translate this into English (below).
I don't have too much to say about the poem itself ... other than that, that Israel as a state does not gel with me either. The people there are often superb, talented, witty and fine and inspired and positive towards life and are peaceful immigrants. But this "promised land" ideology of orthodox Jews kills it all. There is no promised land. The land is where you put your tent up, you respect it, but you do not own it. After that, you will search for common spirituality, a gate to that which connects us all in equal terms. On such grounds I can understand Günter Grass's frustration with the state of Israel.
Actually, I will skip the translation part - have other things to do. This would take too much of my time, sorry.
__________________________________________________________________
Warum schweige ich, verschweige zu lange,
was offensichtlich ist und in Planspielen
geübt wurde, an deren Ende als Überlebende
wir allenfalls Fußnoten sind.
Es ist das behauptete Recht auf den Erstschlag,
der das von einem Maulhelden unterjochte
und zum organisierten Jubel gelenkte
iranische Volk auslöschen könnte,
weil in dessen Machtbereich der Bau
einer Atombombe vermutet wird.
Doch warum untersage ich mir,
jenes andere Land beim Namen zu nennen,
in dem seit Jahren - wenn auch geheimgehalten -
ein wachsend nukleares Potential verfügbar
aber außer Kontrolle, weil keiner Prüfung
zugänglich ist?
Das allgemeine Verschweigen dieses Tatbestandes,
dem sich mein Schweigen untergeordnet hat,
empfinde ich als belastende Lüge
und Zwang, der Strafe in Aussicht stellt,
sobald er missachtet wird;
das Verdikt "Antisemitismus" ist geläufig.
Jetzt aber, weil aus meinem Land,
das von ureigenen Verbrechen,
die ohne Vergleich sind,
Mal um Mal eingeholt und zur Rede gestellt wird,
wiederum und rein geschäftsmäßig, wenn auch
mit flinker Lippe als Wiedergutmachung deklariert,
ein weiteres U-Boot nach Israel
geliefert werden soll, dessen Spezialität
darin besteht, allesvernichtende Sprengköpfe
dorthin lenken zu können, wo die Existenz
einer einzigen Atombombe unbewiesen ist,
doch als Befürchtung von Beweiskraft sein will,
sage ich, was gesagt werden muss.
Warum aber schwieg ich bislang?
Weil ich meinte, meine Herkunft,
die von nie zu tilgendem Makel behaftet ist,
verbiete, diese Tatsache als ausgesprochene Wahrheit
dem Land Israel, dem ich verbunden bin
und bleiben will, zuzumuten.
Warum sage ich jetzt erst,
gealtert und mit letzter Tinte:
Die Atommacht Israel gefährdet
den ohnehin brüchigen Weltfrieden?
Weil gesagt werden muss,
was schon morgen zu spät sein könnte;
auch weil wir - als Deutsche belastet genug -
Zulieferer eines Verbrechens werden könnten,
das voraussehbar ist, weshalb unsere Mitschuld
durch keine der üblichen Ausreden
zu tilgen wäre.
Und zugegeben: ich schweige nicht mehr,
weil ich der Heuchelei des Westens
überdrüssig bin; zudem ist zu hoffen,
es mögen sich viele vom Schweigen befreien,
den Verursacher der erkennbaren Gefahr
zum Verzicht auf Gewalt auffordern und
gleichfalls darauf bestehen,
dass eine unbehinderte und permanente Kontrolle
des israelischen atomaren Potentials
und der iranischen Atomanlagen
durch eine internationale Instanz
von den Regierungen beider Länder zugelassen wird.
Nur so ist allen, den Israelis und Palästinensern,
mehr noch, allen Menschen, die in dieser
vom Wahn okkupierten Region
dicht bei dicht verfeindet leben
und letztlich auch uns zu helfen."

Monday, April 9

News

News these days have it all wrong, they are a psychotic drug who paint Armageddon every single day and it leaves an imprint on every human being.
Instead they should focus on achievements, report about the betterments of society. That I would find exciting! 
But no, we hear about Syria on and on, we hear about the latest traffic accidents, we hear about floods and other disasters, we read about financial concerns, hyped by banks and global companies. Then we follow sports news, thereafter the weather-forecast. 
My adrenaline for this shit is used up. It is an all in one brainwash factory. Though I must admit, my own habits and curiosity still prevail, and I check into the news-channels every day, but I get a lingering feeling of self-disgust. 
What the world needs is not bad news, but good news! You can not make anything better when you continuously spread the message of destruction and decay - that is in esoteric terms: Black Magic.
Instead the news should concentrate on stories like how one neighbor helped an other in need, how one instrumental achievement was made in technology, perpetuating the safety of our planet, how a child looked at a flower and found the sun in her eyes.
By all means, I am not a flower-child myself or a "hippie". Still, at least some concentration on the good in this world could propel an other atmosphere of togetherness amongst people.
The Press and News destroy all this ... every day.
Hail to an area when News become human again and not the mouthpiece of cooperate and national interests who's intent is to brain-wash - and create unsolicited fear. 
Until then, I will consciously refuse to have negative or bad news enter my soul.

Sunday, April 8

I did not see the bunny

I did not see the Easter-Bunny, so I went to this shopping center last Saturday before Easter to find dye for my eggs. I guess I had to take over.
It was hilarious, people were stuffing their carts and baskets as if the end of time had come, a catastrophe around the corner, a disaster around the bend. Actually it made me almost puke, at least I lost my appetite.
I guess I have to admit, I also often bye  "extra things" I hadn't planed to purchase.  Because of the surrounding atmosphere of panic and greed, I stuck to my original plan: Colors for eggs, nothing else.
Finally I found the section where they have that stuff.
Went home, and prepared the Easter baskets for the families in my house. I do not know if they believed that there is a "replacement bunny" - but I know for sure I got a kick out of it.
The intention of this story is - that sometimes less is more, that a gesture that comes with well intent can build a bridge. The rush and greed of consumerism is just a "cheap" compensation of that what actually should flow from heart to heart. In that sense I try to make a difference, but not in all times I succeed. But I will keep trying, and so may you my friend.