(As posted in The Buddha Diairies.)
Trading "The Bush Diaires" for "The Buddha Diaires" did not mean, of course, eschewing all expression of political opinion. I just don't plan to spend so much time in that arena.
Yesterday's release of the Bush budget proposal needs some response in these pages in view of its distinctly un-Buddhist approach to national and international priorities. It seems clear at this point in time that the military-industrial complex about which Eisenhower warned us all those years ago has triumphed, and that the reverse Robin Hood budgetary philosophy of the Bush administration is to be aggressively pursued in flagrant denial of the wishes of the American electorate when they returned a Democratic majority to both houses of Congress. The profligate generosity extended to the military, in the form of budget increases, and to the very wealthy in the form of tax benefit extensions is matched only by the mean-spirited parsimony when it comes to the poor and the oppressed. On the global front, the dismissively short shrift it gives to the most urgent problem facing our planet--the stabilization of our environment--is mind-boggling.
So where is the compassion? Where is the mindfulness of well-established realities? Where is the recognition of urgent problems needing resolution? I am left with the bleak hope that the power to which this sadly ovine country has entrusted a president apparently bereft of a human heart and the requisite listening skills to govern is not, now, such that even the Congress of the United States in unable to thwart it. The Bush budget proposal is an arrogant kiss-off to every basic humanitarian value, and a shameful statement about our country to the world. Its unambiguous message is that we care more for the acquisition of needless weaponry and excessive wealth than we do for the well-being of our own people and the survival of our species. It is, in a word, disgraceful.
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2 comments:
Not to mention that I read today in TruthOut that he's going to cut the military medical too! By 2 Billion, just as more and more are coming back wounded physically and mentally. He's a real piece of work isn't he? We need a 'million march' on Washington. And if he escapes, we need another million waiting for him in Texas...
Currently, most of us are using mobile phones. True to our nature, we have used the different features of these sophisticated gadgets to put a smile on our faces and that of others. We are sending text messages that are really humorous and listening to ring tones that would tickle our funny bones, every time the phone rings.
At present, a multitude of ring tones are easily available and can be downloaded in different models of mobile phone handsets. Mobile phone users can choose from monophonic ring tones, polyphonic ring tones, true tones, real tones, SMS ring tones, buddy name tones, caller id tunes, etc., according to their specific requirements. With the technological advances achieved in this sector, a high degree of customization of ring tones has also become possible. Users of mobile phones can give vent to their creativity and design some witty and humorous ring tones in many of the latest models of handsets. For instance, users are free to use their own voices or any other sound to create a number of personalized ring tones! Depending on their intelligence, wit and comic timing, they would be able to create some hilarious ring tones that are guaranteed to put a smile on the lips of anyone who happens to hear them.
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