North Korea and Syria

Why are humans such a stupid breed of mammals?
Condemning North Korea for shooting a rocket into space is laughable. Those who hold the known sole imperialistic means to shoot satellites into orbit are angry. Why? What is the real threat?
The threat is that humanity and it's culture is deteriorating - people are obsessed by power and selfishness - hence the crisis in the finance market presently spreading around the globe is eminent, nonreversible.
Syria is an outer example what goes on in the inner works of many human souls. An indescribable despair to find a new road, perhaps even a new horizon.
But it seems like all "the old" has to be first destroyed before the "new" can arise, sad story I know, but I believe it is so.
Humans are in some ways much more stupider than monkeys - the latter at least had group-sex to ease the tension before a settlement of an argument.
Perhaps we still can learn from the apes.

Apocalypse now?

I post this last part of an CNN article here, because I find it to have a genuine conclusion. The Maya calendar stops at 21.12.2012 - hence the hysteria of some of our earth-dwellers to believe that earth-life will come to an end as we know it. Well, so far we are doing our best to make this happen - unfortunately. Has nothing to do with some ancient calendar though!

Just a few years before the rot set in, Maya painters at the site of Bonampak, a small city in Chiapas, Mexico, covered the walls of a small three-room palace with extraordinary murals.

They painted more individuals -- men, mainly, but women and children, too -- than had been rendered before, numbering more than 250. They deployed more fancy pigments than had been used before, more than would ever be used again in ancient Mexico, some 47 vibrant blues, reds and yellows. The paintings reveal the social layers of courtiers and lords, musicians and dwarves, victims and their blade-wielding sacrificers. Musicians, singers and performers lined up to perform on plazas and pyramids.

None of these activities or materials was new, but what was new was the rapidly crumbling world around the Bonampak painters.

No one could change -- the paintings seem to tell us. The Maya ignored the crisis in front of them, instead dancing with great panaches of precious quetzal feathers on pyramids, as if the present would forever hold.

Now in the 21st century, perhaps we have also reached a precipice. Global warming is not just fearful thinking -- it's real. Weeks after Superstorm Sandy, scientists are now predicting the near-term and long-term effects of global warming as more dire that previously thought.

Some, perhaps like our Maya predecessors, would rather not see the writing on the walls of our flooded cities. The crises pile up in front of us, one after another, and we ignore them at our peril. Acknowledging and doing something about the problems in front of us seems hard. Give us more feathers. Build more walls. Stockpile canned goods and buy a generator.

As for December 21, rest easy. This day will pass as if it were nothing more than the Maya Y2K, the nonevent of the decade. We'll wake up on December 22, and the world will still be here.

And so will our pressing environmental challenges.

We need to make some hard decisions and resolve that we will confront our own brewing apocalypse before it's too late.

Appendix

Am I over-thrilled? No. But there is a sigh of relief. Given the choices, Obama needed to stay on. I sure do wish him good luck in his second term. 

it's so funny, money money money, in a rich mans world

When the US presidential election is over estimates say it will end up costing $2.5bn.
That works out to about $20 per vote.The money comes from a variety of sources: from the candidates' own fund raising, to money collected by groups called Super PACs.Super PACs cannot work directly with the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns, but they spend millions on TV ads hoping to influence the electorate.

All of this adds up to the most expensive presidential campaign in US history. (source BBC)

Wow - that much money could have restored most of the infrastructure of lower Manhattan or done some other good elsewhere. What a waste just for the cause of a dualistic conk-battle.

the forgotten quest

I have changed my mind and will vote for Obama. First I didn't care at all who gets voted into office in the US, but the future of the Supreme Court is the forgotten issue in this year's presidential election.

This is surprising and disturbing because a president's picks for the federal judiciary are one of the most long-lasting legacies of any presidency. There is a sharp contrast between the types of individuals that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney would place on the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts, yet neither is saying much about it; perhaps it is hurricane Sandy's fault.
Romney's choices would definitely bring us back to the Stone Ages, or at least to the 19th century where the then so called Mormon leader declared that Christ was an US citizen, an American. I mean, give me a break! 
Hence on forward, I will encourage all US citizens, native or not, to vote for Obama - not so much for Obama's sake, but for the sake of our children who will have to live with Supreme Court rulings for decades to come.

-----

Sorry, I am a bit crude (as usual about faith based outer materialistic religions) - so I need to add this from Wikipedia to dampen the image I described, this is Romney:

Much of the Mormon belief system is oriented geographically around the North and South American continents. Mormons believe the people of the Book of Mormon lived in the western hemisphere, that Christ appeared in the western hemisphere after his death and resurrection, that the true faith was restored in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, that the Garden of Eden was located in North America, and that the New Jerusalem would be built in Missouri. For this and other reasons, including a belief by many Mormons in American exceptionalism, Molly Worthen speculates that this may be why Leo Tolstoy described Mormonism as the "quintessential 'American religion'".

Sandy

It seems occurred and bizarre that the most damaging tropical storms hitting US-mainland are always "woman". After all, hurricanes are named in alternate fashion, male then female and so on. But it is the "females" who gravitate towards death and destruction, much more so than their "male-partners". That is so in outer nature, I guess in human nature it is often the reversed thing. A man, in professional and domestic life still dominates the the stage, despite endless efforts over decades to create balance and equality, may it be salary for equal work done, or sharing the chores at home. It is odd, isn't it, "man" ponders while nature whales, which brings me to SANDY, the storm that hit NYC the hardest in decades.

A couple of years ago I was visiting Manhattan, the lower East-Side, the place that now has no electricity - and even then I noticed how fragile the situation was, the Metro-Subway stopped at Gramercy-Park, my station, but did not continue towards Staten Island, because the rail tracks were flooded. And there was no storm then, just winter weather, nothing unusual.

What do we learn from Sandy, actually ALEXANDRA (SANDRA) or CASSANDRA, the first protects human beings, the second one "entangles" men, because Apollo spelled a curse on her. 
Well, the curse can be lifted - and the protection can be granted, as long as humans in the USA understand that investing resources into their own infrastructure, roads, bridges, waterways, manufacturing jobs, etc... will give a new generation the head start to live a life of plenty and peace. Forget the Middle East, South Korea, Germany and all the other Military Bases around the Globe. it is a waste of money and focus whereby the homeland of the USA suffers. I hope this storm is a wake-up call.

Truthfully, coinciding with this, the upcoming election in the US excites me very little. Whoever gets voted in, it will make no much difference. Capitalism will plow it's corse way down main street until it (or we) will loose our breath.
Until then: How many "Sandy's", "Katrina's" and other hurricanes do we actually need to  finally wake up and make mens with those things that we already have in our homeland and make good on the promise to preserve them.

Nothing but the same old story

Not sure if I ever posted this before, with x100dreds of post you loose track even though the distinct remain in memory, almost as visible as written on blank paper.
I picked this tape up on a grand ferry from Ireland to France, just out of the blue, impulsive I guess, because I was tired to listen to the Clash "London calling" debut album. All this might have been in the beginning 1980‘s or so... The album was called "Last station" or "train station", driving pop music from a former kosher celtic traditional musician.
I arrived in Calais with that ferry, and lo and behold, two hitchhiker-girls were being picked up. My destination was Geneva, then cross Switzerland and land at my homestead in the region of Basel. They had other plans, Mediterranean somewhere. I was young and stupid and was lured south towards the coastline while the music of Brady was resounding on my well kept audiosystem in this mouse grey BMW (do not even have four wheels these days). 
As it turned out, I drove miles on end to place a young lesbian couple to be near the seashore, and when I glanced at their sensual foreplay at the beach where they were tumbling around and about naked, they signaled a clear sign of: "Back off".  So I split, slept on the beach somewhere's until a police woke me up at dawn. Had a coffee at midtown where a persistent gypsy tried to tell me about all my by bad fortunes - and on top of it wanted to get payed. I shooed her off and went my way homeward. All along withe the music of Paul Bradly.

Lebanon versus Syria

Lebanon is like the liver of the Middle-East. It tries to filter and clean what the "body can not tolerate". Talked to a friend in Beirut the other day. Her brief but positive urgency said it all: Do not handle matches if you are not prepared to control a fire. I mean, that is not exactly what she said, but that was the unwritten message between the lines.
From the Phoenician past to the fragile present, Lebanon radiates a magnetic aura.

Syria versus Turkey

That is funny - both countries are denying flights over their territories. That is like saying: Do not play in my sandbox, or else...

nobel price to EU?

I am not sure I understand this.
You win a price for your achievements or the effort to promote peace. Nobel, the Norwegian industrialist and weapon maker thought this up.
But why EU? It is not a person, it is not even a country -
Who will have the honor to receive the price, me? Oh, I forgot, I am not an EU member, so count me out.

I am no Prophet

I do not aspire to be a prophet, nor am I some kind of reincarnate initiate. Far from it, I am a simple man, a man on this earth who shoulders all sufferings, all stupidity, all violence - and sometimes the good moments ... when they come along, by grace.
And as I watch the beastly theater on this globe, I keep thinking two things:

Why can't I do better and give more support where it is needed - and why has it all gone so awry?
Lamed, like a "Wall-Street" demonstrator, I sit here clueless and succumb to this notion: Kiss my ass! Not very helpful either.
The world has become a bizarre playing-ground for the people with money, and hence power - therefore political power. Unfortunately money and  politics are intertwined. It should not be so, but it is so for the time being.
I have no immediate solution, just like these "Wall-Street occupiers" protesting against bestiality within society - but I do know, now being in the middle of Europe (Switzerland) and observing all this first hand, that the future will be decentralization, away from the Euro, away from power-politics. Greece, the cradle of Democracy is a good example. They are dancing with their ship on the thread of an abyss. Odysseys, were he still alive, would have said: Tie yourself to the mast and plug your ears, otherwise you will not survive the Sirens.
Well, he did survive - and so do we.
The Sirens of nowadays are Bankers and Politicians, plug your ears, ignore them, they are all foul. Instead do something that creates prominence in your local community, may it be with the means of agriculture or through art. 


Best, Lukas (akka Zee)

P.S. I just happened to like Hamilton for what he did in imagery - kind of special

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. 

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."

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.

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.

Casualties of war?

John Henry Browne said there was "no forensic evidence" against Staff Sgt Robert Bales and "no confession".

The lawyer representing this US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in their homes has said there is little proof of his client's guilt. (BBC news)

I find this to be disturbing. It is clear to me, that in any kind of war-zone where people are summoned up to comply to this or that by deadly force, a soldier can "loose his mind" and go for a killing spree. It probably happened in every war or violent conflict thus far. 

But to deny that such an incident had happened, or to say there is no "forensic" evidence, is beyond my comprehension. What is the US doing in Afghanistan anyway? Ossama Bin Laden is dead, assassinated by special forces in Pakistan. Wasn't that the goal, to invade Afghanistan to capture him? Now that he is dead, what are US troops doing there - would drive me also insane if I were to be a soldier.

I said it before, but I say it again: Let the Middle East and the Arab World sort out their own issues, without interference from external powers. 

he just dies

This Coptic Pope who just died in Egypt , Shenandua  I believe was his name -

banned members of his congregation from visiting Christian sites in Israel, stating that Christians should only go to Jerusalem hand in hand with Muslims once the conflict between Israel and Arab states was resolved.

That is a stance I haven't heard before!

White can be evil, all about food

Of course there are white witches and wizards who belong to the cast that is above average grey. That is not what I am talking about. Those are cool. I am talking about food.
There has been a study out there the other day, that hepatitis-B is more common amongst people who eat white rice only (to their meal). And that is a majority of people in Asia and in the USA, maybe in other places as well, I don't know.
White should be out-banned in foods in general, except for the occasional exception.
1. Refined white sugar
2. Refined white salt
3. Refined white rice
4. Refined white flower
So, if we sometimes are so gracious to ship bags of rice to African nations who are starving - remember this phrase: White kills white AND also black!
I guess that is a statement that enters the non-food section.
All I wish to say is, "refining" (whitening) foods don't make them better.
Time to go back to the actual harvest, the crop that nature intended to offer.

and so it goes

http://youtu.be/umRRCkspaQU

Lighten up, not all things in life are devious.

Click on at at the title "and so it goes", that is the hot link to the short video.

Filth

Look at this picture one more time, perhaps somewhat more closely. This is a man who happens to have a long neck, a mustache like Hitler - and a third of his brain is cut off. The top of is head is flat like a pan.
Then look at his eyes, narrow, close together, a susceptible sign of zero tolerance. His lower ear-lobes are not free but connected to the skin of the upper cheek. A sign of self-indulgence and self-righteousness.
I could go on forever. And even with the possibility of a death-squad knocking at my door, I will remain honest and tell the world that this guy is evil, always was, always will be. I mean, look at this picture - is this not pitiful?
I do not know what fate brought him to the "throne of Syria", little do I know what is happening there in the present. One thing I do know, this idiot has to go.
Sorry Assad, but you really look like the fool on the hill.

No more

Irrelevant. The pretentious whore turned out to be a filthy, hairy male prostitute, not that she or he was of any interests to me, but I stayed curious. 12:30 in the afternoon, she came back from a smoke outside, and then it (he/she) raised it's arms, revealed a super hairy belly, it almost made me puke at the restaurant in this train station. Transvestites are not my primary choice.And then there was this old  papa, sitting there every-time when I wait for my train connection after I have went shopping. He is absolutely "out of it", derailed, talks sweet nonsense to everyone, starts singing songs at times randomly, well known tunes, with a passion. 
Then I observed a father and a child. They were kind to each other. Very refreshing. I wondered how the mother of this child looks like and where she was hiding, or working?
I know one thing now, perfection is not a pursuit of riches and money which we seek. Instead somehow your blessed palm will capture a sparkle that dropped from the sky. And it sparkled long enough for you to get inspired indefinitely.
That is linear, and this non-linear complexity supported by Einstein's theory of self-persecution, e2-what? You forgot the formula? Perhaps you are an artist! It never mattered anyway - Einstein was a freak, and he never made a secret of it. He was able to compose passion and still keep his posture. And sort of left-handed he jerked out the theorem of relativity. Pretty brilliant move. Do I adore him? Absolutely.


(All imagery is mine of course, soundtrack is stolen from the Web, it happened to be from Whithesnake - cheers!)

Alcohol

What is interesting with these statistics is, that Mushrooms and LSD fair on the bottom of all the habitual poisons of self-destruction, and that alcohol tops it. On top of that, they (the hounds of statistics) found out that LSD will decrease the desire for alcohol, taken just one trip (medium strength) and thereby decrease desire towards alcohol, and the effect will last a year. Funny how one drug cancels out an other. 
I am not advertising Hoffman La Roche's "miracle cure" here, and I am definitely not giving you a green light to try LSD. That drug is not a trip, it is a voyage. And if you do not have a good coach (or several) - taking this substance might turn out to be disastrous to your health and well being - and, you might experience permanent damage.
So said, I have to be honest, I did try it once myself, in 1981. The journey was  spectacular and I found myself crossing borders and opening doors I had never touched before. All inner energy was absolutely focused, you were able to shatter a brick-wall with the blink of your eye, no kidding. And you perceived the future about three seconds before it happened. 
Would I do it again? NO! Once was enough. I do not want to spoil the treat. It can not be redone.
So what do I do now? I silently moved up to the top of the list, namely alcohol, and I hate it! And I am getting rid of it as I speak ... even with help - not my usual style, but I accept!
What is missing on this chart is mescaline, that cactus derived thing. Or maybe I just oversaw it. Never would try it anyway.
One of the more stupid songs of Lennon comes to mind here:
"All you need is love, tatahdadadah". Drug of the future? Maybe.

I am kind of pissed off

I am kind of discombobulated, because the friend who originally invited me to Switzerland to work here, said that all my writings are worth shit, garbage, no purpose. His Zen mastery elevated him to an other plain I guess. You know, give him grief to be able to learn more about Zen, perhaps that will suffice, first suffering, then clarification. You can climb a mountain barefoot, but you can not walk a mountain ridge without shoes.
Snow calms my valleys, but spring will melt the ice.
You all be well.

I am tired about Syria, Israel and Iran

All the time, the BBC reports about Syria, since days and weeks on end. I am sick of it. 
Netanhaho met Obama in the US, and Obama said, Israel will always be supported, no matter what....  no matter what cause, no matter what situation. 
So Iran is the target of Israel now, their so called capability to produce nuclear bombs? 
I am not sure why there is always unconditional, unilateral  support from the US to Israel?!  It actually bothers me. Is it the film industry (mostly Jews), the bankers (mostly Jews), the politicians (mostly Jews)? What makes it possible for the US to always have a blind eye, when it comes to the situation of Israel? What is so special about this British, after WW2 constructed enclave?What is so special about Israel that makes it untouchable?
Obama: "When the chips are down, we will always support Israel. Israel will always be our partner."
Is this a game or a gamble?
Netanhaho: "When it comes to the security of Israel, we will never falter and always pursue our own interests, even if we have to bomb Iran to protect our national security". 
This is a sad line from a country who produced some of the worlds most gifted and talented artists in the past (20th century), writers, musicians, free-thinkers, architects, biologists, scientists. 
Now they are just fighting for their blood, not their geniuses, not their intellectuals, not their artists, not their reasonable common man or woman.
They act just like Nazi's towards Palestine and the local population, kind of queer, if you consider this reversal of history. The promised land is not a state with borders. It is in your heart that you embrace nations without fences. That is the only method. Religions might be important and cute. But in the end, on the bottom line, tolerance and mutual cultural understanding will rule the day.
Hence, Obama and all of the US support systems of Jews is wrong, Netanhaho and Israel is wrong. I do not say this easily, because I respect both sides. 
Welcome to WWIII!
Why don't we simply let regional people figure out their own fate, may it be in the Middle-East or in some other continent without interference. But I guess that is too hard for a cowboy to understand.

What focus?

Now that I am still struggling to find the right stellar constellation in the passing of my own biography, I simply went to the little Zoo in La Chaux de Fonds. Kind of interesting, haven't looked at caged animals for a while. We should stuck some of the human species in there as well, might give it more suspense. These humans who can't even protect themselves with adequate skin or fur. They use cloth instead, very dependent on that stuff. So I saw these purple fishes, and I kept wondering why in all earth they choose to be purple - some kind of vanity maybe?

Then I spied a donkey or a mule with a fine girl, the mule or donkey being free to trot around wherever it wanted. That was more to my liking.

Then I past the snake behind thick glass, a poisonous viper, don't know which hell they came from. If I ever visit a tropical country who harbors nasty snakes, I will get a gun and shoot them all.

I hate snakes

Three churches in one block, what's up with that?

The "old" part 

The "new" part (mini Manhattan)

This animal, some kind of mountain lion, is more to my liking. I wouldn't mind if this beast would catch me and then kill me. A snake NO, this animal YES! I suppose I am a biased creature.
I went to a church today in Langenthal, about two hours away from my place. I do it out of curiosity. I was singing along, text was projected with power-point.
The melodies were simple. But why this structure. Do people really need a church to find the spirit within themselves? I sometimes wonder. On the way home in the train I talked to a Sikh  from India, about religion and Swiss watches, who he does import to India - and of course also about the faltering US economy. I am not sure where this is going, but the kernel is: The west is not (anymore) the best.
There is still innovation "here", but all production is outsourced to Asia. The workers starve, because there is no more job to do, there are no more factories or production centers. The USA has become a wasteland. It is sad - with so much potential... but unfortunately a complete breakdown of all infrastructures. Water, electricity, roadways, trains, etc. It will collapse, and I am truly not a doomsday fagot. All there is left, is to start anew, kind off a bit of a  Eisenhower mood, though I did not particularly liked that President. Obama will probably win second term. But what is he gonna do? There is shambles by his feet, there are ruins in Detroit, (worse than Eastern Europe before the wall came tumbling down) - a health care system that mimics disaster, and 1% who earn 75%, 10% who earn 20% of all other the possible income - and the best of the rest, that thing which was supposed to be called middle class, those forlorn 89% of the population are poor suckers who carry the rich. Pretty disgusting really. Almost 90% people pay, for the rest to get away in glory.
The proposal Obama came up with to tax people fairly who happened to earn more than one million dollar, vanished in quick sand. It didn't gel with the Republicans.
Apple (God bless Steve Jobs) is now the number one company in the world counting assets and income. But what do they do? They invent new projects and designs on the West Coast in the USA, then ship manufacturing to China. Levi's is the same, once a brand-mark or trademark of US pride, now a conglomerate of different factories on mainland China. Nothing against China, they do it the way they have to do it. Nevertheless, it takes my breath away.
More close to my own reality. I carved and copied old carvings for a year, for a museum, earned about 28 US dollars an hour - not a big deal you would say. Now then, after a year, the museum wanted to save money. So they send plaster casts to be worked on to Malaysia, the wooden copies came back, not as refined and as authentic as I had manufactured them, but oh well, they were there, they were cheap, for 15 Dollars a day. Good enough, nobody will notice.  
I am not sure if capitalism in its present form will survive, it acts like a scorpio who is ready at any moment to kill itself. That is not a futile future.
I watched this Australia filmed movie series "Mad Max" - desolation, fear, brutality, anger, despair, complete loss of reality --- I do not need to go there now, but being there, in such a space - this is not who we are. It does not need to end up this way. We are always stronger than  this ghost of self-destruction, who keeps bugging us to succumb to insanity.
We are still humans, and not machines.
We actually can care about each other.
And, we will give it a new try!   




  

Nordic Light

This is a copper relief of mine, pinned up at an outside  wall of a restaurant in south-western Germany. The dimensions are roughly four by five feet. The name "Nordic Light".
It is a bit crowded with forms, I would do it differently now, more simple. 
Simplicity can be a form of life, perhaps a solution to our ever accelerating lifestyle that wastes the focus and essential on the immediate. I do not know much about Zen-Buddhism, but I am attracted by its contemplative simplicity. What is quiet, can also listen. 
I do not want to go into great lengths of this, but no matter what your spiritual outlook, your religion - or even if you are a gnostic (you know, atheists don't really exist, they just think they do) - simplicity in life matters, the beauty is in front of your nose. And that can be spiritual.
With all the accelerating troubles in the world, I wish that you can demonstrate to be a beacon, a true "nordic light" that does shine all over. 
And next time I say it simpler, more in the Zen way.
That's Zee for you today.

Ani Difranco performs Manhole@Bonnaroo

 I am not a super fan of hers, but I do like this life performance. She also did a "song" called Self-evidence short after 9/11, it was brilliant. Sometimes I see her more as a poet (feminine term escapes me right now) than a musician. Though when she hits the strings, it is skillful bouncing all over. A gifted lady indeed!

"Manhole"


I'm holding here a book
Notable, but not the greatest
Stolen for me by the latest
In a long line of thieves
And I'm just about to drop it
Down that manhole of memories
When I realize it doesn't bother me
Like love's mementos usually do
And I look up to see who's different here
The latest me or the latest you


Course, you're the kind of guy who doesn't lie
He just doctors everything
Chooses some unassuming finger
And quietly moves his wedding ring
Who rewrites his autobiography
For any pretty girl who'll sing
But you can't fool the queen, baby
Cuz I married the king


And maybe it was I who betrayed his majesty
With no opposite reality
Like a puddle with no reflection
Of the sky or the trees
But after my dreaded beheading
I tied that sucker back on with a string
And I guess I'm pretty different now
Considering


I kissed you on the street that night
On the far side of four
But I didn't like the taste
In my mouth or yours
And ignoring the persona you wore for my benefit
For once I had the balls to call it
Just call it
But a lesson must be lived
In order to be learned
And the clarity to see and stop this now
That is what I've earned


And maybe it was I who betrayed his majesty
With no opposite reality
Like a puddle with no reflection
Of the sky or the trees
But after my dreaded beheading
I tied that sucker back on with a string
And I guess I'm pretty different now
Considering


I'm holding here a book
Notable, but not the greatest
Stolen for me by the latest
In a long line of thieves
And I'm just about to drop it
Down that manhole of memories
When I realize it doesn't bother me
And heartache not so dire
Cuz I looked up to see integrity
Finally won over desire

as I understand

A woman or a man flew a kite, the picture is fuzzy I know, it was cold. My camera did not obey. Sorry.
But from my window I saw this person struggling with air and wind, amazing!
Sometimes he or she was grounded on the icy snow, just being there ... just contemplating.
How much courage does it take to fly a kite on a midd winter afternoon,  how much energy can we spur up for such a task? It might seem banal and unimportant to you, but I still believe in the finding of the treasure.
Now  - that is this thing, the treasure  is buried in your heart, a golden ray which goes beyond anxieties, beyond worries and pain. The thread becomes the path.
The kite-flyer maybe had no message at all, but what she or he did was to unbound gravity, even if it was just for a moment.

As the Syrian, Egyptian and other Middle Eastern States' struggle to go on - I sometimes wonder and muse about my own directions, what kind of revolution or evolution do I picture and want?
And most importantly, if I happen to have such a vision, even if it is scant, what would it be, how would it be transformed? How can something be implanted which is created in good will to common grounds, for anybody to be picked up. I don't know the answer yet, but it will come to me when I see it. I used to do sculptures with 
a passion, I thought I could meander into peoples mind, cheer them up, make them wonder. It is not anymore so. One of my later creations - which I actually finished, was "Diving for Pearls", a contribution for a girl who actually did that, not in the ocean, but in her heart.


Neil Young, the old junky hippie once wrote a song, it was called: "Searching for a heart of gold" - and on every ending line he said ... and I'm getting old.
That is how I feel, I am getting old - and the world in general grows old on me with all their bullshit, their endless survival techniques to vitalize capitalism and endless growth, instead of capturing that what is in front of their nose, the shiny dew drop that fell from the heavens, sparkling. A gift.
Still, I propose that sculpture is the bond or the link between humans and nature. Many have succeeded to do so, I will try my best to follow suit. 

Stupidity Tax to save the World

I have a new concept, it is called the "stupidity tax".  While Obama raves about normal statue of  taxation for people with over one million Dollar income, the G20 people in Davos chitt chat in hotel rooms of how to solve the "Euro crisis", Brussels will be next, same spiel.
Despite Obama's energetic speech when he addressed the Union, the question remains, and that is a question also to the "occupier movement":
  can emphasis on growth and  a "smart" budget  work? It does not belong into my vocabulary, that you can shrink and be lean and grow at the same time, that is an oxymoron.


They better make up their minds, those politicians and bankers, the CEO's of larger companies, the  investors who invest in blind faith.
Hence I propose a "stupidity tax" - only payed to me, for people who just blab in Davos and other places. I will keep 10% as overhead for the administrative costs, the rest will be donated to viable and needed projects around the world for people in need.


The "stupidity tax" is 5% of your annual income.


Once the world becomes a bit more sane, this tax will not be needed anymore and all goes back to normal. In the mean time - donate!

pastel

The moon rises in the east,
just like the sun
to whom it may concern
reflections have begun.
-----------------------------


I wish you could visit me here again
after you left your wild flowers
gathered on a common pasture,
dried up now, colors still imbued
and life goes faster and faster
we build our own towers
but will they ever sustain?






Now, it is not about moon and flowers
we tend to survive by will and fate
which lies in our heart, a fragile gate


Love is like a broken arrow buried in your flesh
you know it is there, but it is beyond rescue
the whole web of things these days will test you
it is time to escape this mesh


Love is like a Big Mac from MacDonald's
you taste one slice, then you discover number two
will and heart combined
isn't it fascinating?
you will just have to bite through.


I wish you could visit me here again,
after wild flowers have dried
I certainly have tried
but I am still in pain.