The Universe Is Just a Big Bubble

I am still angry that I received a “C-" in Astrophysics 300. But, I got an “A” on my oral presentation: “Fast Velocity Clouds and the Magellanic Stream.” After 20 years, I still think that was an unfair grade … oh well.

However, as my friend, who is now an Assistant Attorney General of Maine, says: “Grades don’t matter. It matters what you learn.”

So, therefore:

The universe is just a big bubble with galaxy clusters moving in concert with the force of gravity keeping clusters in place with one another (in tandem with the grand breadth of space between each cluster like Christmas ornaments on a tree – hanging).

If one had the ability to travel from one spot in the universe and move in one direction perpetually, then this individual would end up in the same spot eventually. This means that space is really curved. But, that’s obvious, right?

On Lawrence and Pum

Ten years ago, Lawrence, “my little brother,” and I used to play chicken with the cars on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC during rush hour. Imagine zigzagging through moving traffic with three lanes in each direction. One mistake and one knows the outcome.

One evening, Lawrence chased a bicycle thief down Connecticut Avenue after we exited Four Provinces in Cleveland Park. He ran so fast and almost caught the bandit who furiously rode away on the stolen merchandise.

However, emotional strength – not physical strength – is what propels the athlete, the artist, the musician, or the scientist for that matter.

After an ice storm during the winter of 1998, at 8:30 PM, I ran sprints on my favorite field adjacent to Howard Law School. The night sky was black without stars, and I ran for 45 minutes after the ice had coagulated on the grass. I’m sure if anyone had seen me slip on a concrete walkway en route to the field, they would surely think me crazy especially when I laughed after falling on my back. But, the experience was cathartic. In fact, when I stop smoking, I’ll do it again.

Lawrence and I used to silently sit for hours at a time. Then, one of us turned to the other to share a thought or conclusion. There may have been an exchange of two-to-four sentences at times. Lawrence said often: “I’m writing a book in my head. Everyone has a valid perspective, and every perspective should be regarded.” As a result, I've become a collector of perspectives, which means that you have to talk to a lot of people openly and honestly.

For the Knights at HippoParamus’ Round Table

I’ve been working all my life; I had a newspaper route when I was 14 (my mother, a doctor, was making 250K during the early 80’s at that time). But, my father taught me the value of honest, hard work.

A toast to my friends:

1. Rid clutter – superfluous material items clutter the mind and prevent effectiveness. Some people, like my Mom, just pile things upon things and papers upon papers without ever remembering what items are at the bottom or even the middle of the pile.

2. In sight, in mind. Therefore, lay out the most vital, prioritized items in line-of-sight (LOS) just as a butler lines up his master’s clothing and items in view. Again: in sight, in mind. When one sees items and lists of responsibility, one remembers - real power is power over one's weaknesses.

3. Make lists constantly and check off things upon completion.

4. Prioritize and perform the most vital, check-listed items first.

5. Constantly reorganize, reassess, and reassemble oneself.

[Aside: Intention is only 1/10th of the game; execution is everything else (9/10ths).]

Team HippoParamus: Pum’s Declaration

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil [or the un-fulfillment of undiluted vision] is that good men [and women] do nothing.” – Edmond Burke

This essay is the basis for my new company, Team HippoParamus. I basically rewrote the Declaration of Independence to be the ethos of my company – but it’s not about a single individual but rather the TEAM.

I underscore here that this light-hearted piece reflects a deep respect for one of our greatest of Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, who firmly believed that the free transfer of knowledge and real art is the greatest asset of every society. By my blithe borrowing and respectful attribution, I hope you recount what a wonderful man helped build our democratic foundation. Incidentally, he tried to abolish slavery in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence but was thwarted by his colleagues – some of the founding fathers.

Because everyone now holds the copyright to the “Declaration,” we have full right to mimic his words. We have always owned the privilege to preserve, protect, and parrot his ethos.

Declaration of Responsibility

Preamble

Why not use our God-given talents to produce bounty? To fulfill a child’s dream and create lifelong reminiscences of the most innocent memories can be our gainful ultimate legitimacy. We hold these truths to be self-evident that our country is the source of our souls and triumph.

A Declaration of Privileges

That to perfect these dreams, virtuous foundations and organizations are created by magnanimous individuals, orchestrating generous acts for the joy of the greater good. That whenever any Form of scarcity becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to abolish this vacuum, institute a constructive body, laying its charity on such principles and molding its potential in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect Safety and Happiness for our breathtaking.

Generosity, indeed, will dictate that organizations firmly established on these standards shall never be corrupted by less than wholesome causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown, that we are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long, model train of shortage, pursuing a different object verifies a reality that smashes dreams because of relative scarcity, it is our duty, to seal this abyss, and provide new Guards for our posterity’s present happiness and future security.

A Measure of Inadequacy

Such has been the patient suffering of many who are lacking; and such is now the necessity that persuades us to institute a policy of hope for bounty for all. The history of our country contains the truth of unfulfilled needs and insecurity for many deserving, hard-working people. The proof is our collective experience that speaks to a potentially candid world.

A Statement of Accountability

In every stage of experience, we have petitioned for redress in humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been unanswered by our own inability to perhaps notice and act. Non-action has spanked our dreams into bitter unfulfillment and is an unfit course for good men and women.

On My Favorite CEO

He was the nicest of men; but, unfortunately, Walt Disney cryogenically froze himself.

Well? What should we do?

Scenarios:

1) Walt's soul has escaped from his body. He could be unfrozen from his cryogenic state. But, the problem is that the body without a soul becomes a Frankenstein (i.e., Mary Shelly).

2) We could unfreeze him, and his soul might then escape from this cryogenic state to a better place.

3) His soul is indeed frozen within his body; therefore, if we unfreeze him, we’ll bring his soul and body back to earth.

I don’t want to create a Frankenstein, but then again, I don’t want Walt's soul to be blocked from infinite development.

Yours,

Pum

P.S. - Don't you think that a $146 million Golden Parachute for a recent Disney CEO who miserably failed during his first year at the helm is ridiculous? What about fiduciary responsibility to stockholders? I guess that notion went out the window. The problem is that the "corporate veil" has become an iron mask of deceit for many executives. Sorrowful; simply and despicably sad. : (

On Some Artifacts

Artifacts are just artifacts: emblems of the human spirit ignited by the GRAND SPIRIT.

Now, I believe in the human spirit more than anything else. When is an artifact more important than the human spirit? NEVER: Sirs and Madams.

We don’t have enough time to search for material items. At least, I don’t have time to do that. In no particular order:

1) The Spear of Longinus is in Vienna, Austria.

2) The Ark of the Covenant is in Axum, Ethiopia.

3) The Bhudda’s Tooth is in China.

Enough, for now.

Things are not important: people are.

Yours,

Pum

Legal Losers – How Corporate Law Really Works

As a summer associate in 1997, the partners at a “large” law firm in D.C. helped derail my law career. When I became so disenchanted with their modus operandi, I chose to JET from the profession (which was my mistake, unfortunately – I admit it wholeheartedly now).

[Aside: I should have worked for the Justice Department – whose attorneys are thrown into court right away; know the rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence inside and out; and are not afraid to enter a courtroom to support their clients with the right cause (as Radar said to Hawkeye: “Ah, Bach!" Alas!).]

Simply and frankly stated: large law firms use their law associates and partners to assault the courts with bogus, frivolous motions to simultaneously draw the resources of their opponents’ monetary supplies while billing, billing, and milking their own clients’ coffers - thereby clogging the court systems.

They are afraid to go to court because they don’t know the Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence, and because they try to bill hours before each darn case ever gets into Discovery.

I complained to two firm partners that a client docket in Pre-discovery Phase contained six (2-inch) binders. They looked at me like I was a stupid idiot, then peered at my legs (that’s why I don’t wear dresses or skirts anymore); and thereafter ordered salmon and salads at Jaleo’s Restaurant on 7th Street near the Navy Memorial in D.C..

At a firm shindig at a partner’s home in Potomac, Maryland, I turned to the firm’s hiring partner and off-handedly remarked: “This is a nice house.” The hiring partner knew I had thrown in the towel with that stupid law firm. He directly looked into my eyes and with the swiftness and arrogance of a dying dragon’s breath declared: “This is an average house of an average young partner at [the name of the stupid firm]."

I wasn’t impressed. Simply put: I grew up in a much more beautiful house on Château Drive and another one on Piney Meetinghouse Court just down the road from this average young partner’s home in Potomac.

No matter: “the size of the house does not matter – what matters is who lives there.”

On Choosing Friends Wisely

Our real friends will make us feel comfortable and safe; will make us feel wholesomely good and give the right advice when we are doing things incorrectly. Your real friend is your teacher and your student.

We should not choose friends that appear beautiful, smart, or wealthy – then we are not looking for the truth, and we are trifling with ourselves.

Look into the eyes of your friend and see whether he or she appreciates you or not. When one is trying the best one can, and it is unappreciated then we are not with the right friend.

I have seen so many relationships that are one sided. We don’t have enough time anymore to trifle with ourselves. Build a garden of friends based on those you trust and those who trust you.

That’s what I’m doing . . . .

Why Everyone Should Go to Law School

Law school education is like reading a whole bunch of short stories about what makes people and groups in the world become angry with one another. It is the history of conflict and justice in our society. There is also commentary enclosed in the form of legal opinion, which seems, at times, to fall short of the actual nature of justice.

Justice in the form of legal commentary seems to be a coin toss based on the variables of a particular situation – the temperament and inner motivations of the judge; the interests of the parties and their respective abilities to purchase hired guns; the strategic and oral delivery of attorneys; the nature and personalities of the courtroom setting or settlement proceedings; and the historical significance/leaning (i.e., precedent) of what has happened before in this fractious and fractal world.

In my opinion, in general, the longer the “opinion,” the shorter the meniscus of justice. Words can be very pretty tools but also dangerous bazookas. Then again, if one knows how to use words with one's heart, how can one ever lie?

The first year of law school is very scary. As the saying goes: “The first year, they scare you to death; the second year, they work to you death; the third year, they bore you to death.”

Why does a learning process have to be referred to as death? Maybe, the phrase should go: “The first year, they scare you to life; the second year, they work you to life; the third year, they bore you to life.”

If we are pitted against each other, why not take the challenge eagerly and know that if you are last in your class, you are right next to the “penultimate” person in your class?

There is also another saying: “The people who get A’s in law school, become the judges; the people who get B’s, become the law professors; and, the people who get C’s, make the most money.”

So, if you are last in your class, maybe you will make the most money? But, what does that outcome matter anyway? It’s the learning that counts; the experience; and the ability to learn to defend your friends, your family, and yourself in the “heat of adversity.”

Cheers,

Pum

On Beaded Necklaces of Experience

When I was eight years old, what wonders and horrors I witnessed in Punjab, Northern India, which is actually the better off portion of that country seeped in a hell bejeweled with fabulous empirical necklaces.

At the Maharaja Rajendra Joginder Singh’s palace in Patalia, India, I witnessed the most fabulous gem I have ever seen in my life: a grain of rice erected on a pin magnified to illuminate approximately 311 words painted flawlessly on its tiny surface.

Many more items of beauty and wonder I will not share here within this mental jogging area, but my friends are welcome to open my experience to their intended pleasure.

Also, near the time of such wonder was close at hand utter horror. I was sitting in a bus approached by a beggar.

The particular features of this poor man included the use of only one available limb to push what remained of a one-limbed, weathered torso on a flat cart made of splintered wood and bent wheels: he was a LEPER.

I cried for him that day when I was eight years old. And, I’m still crying for him as I write this post.

On Global Development

Our former friends are now our enemies because our former enemies are now positioned to be our potential friends. Players on the economic battleground are defining, re-defining, and stealing intellectual property, and wanton economic interests lay waste to natural resources.

Meanwhile in the interests of capitalism, in communism, in whatever derivation, unhealthy competition has created spiritual and material depletions in our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, our nation-states, our oceans, and, worst of all, in our minds and hearts. To be whole and satisfied, we must compete healthfully. When we stop cheating to get ahead at the expense of others, maybe we'll all win? (Game Theory)

The Hopi’s have a prophecy that is centered around the power of the land underneath the Four Corners region in the South West. This spot is the only place in the US where four states geographically meet. The prophecy recounts that there are four original races– Black, Red, Yellow, and White. Within each of those races, a particular culture safeguards a set of two sacred books. For the Black Race, the Kukuyu at the base of Mount Kenya; for the Red, the Hopi at Four Corners; for the Yellow, the Tibetans in the Himalayas; for the White, the Swiss in the Alps. Please note that each of these cultures borders a mountain or mountainous range.

The prophecy foretells that when the races of the earth finally get on the same page, the human race will receive two more holy books so that there will be a total of 10 books in the set. Perhaps, if we start treating each other with more respect instead of insisting that color does matter, we will receive two more holy books. This reunion may be the potential for our global resurrection.

Saint Gabriel (Virudhaka) has been with the Black in the South; Saint Michael (Dhritarashthra) has been with the Yellow in the East; Saint Oriel (Virupaksha) has been with the Red in the West; and Saint Raphael (Vaishravana) has been with the White in the North. Do we understand now that the seeds have been SEWN?

Please don’t think that I am going to get loopy on you and start talking about UFOs. I don’t know if there is any connection between Roswell, Four Corners, and the Pyramids at Giza or Cheops for that matter. But, if aliens do exist, I think that they would be “opposed to all forms of deceit and cunning.”

On My Childhood

Simply put - I'm still in it . . . and what a wonderful childhood.

I eat like a bird; listen and stomp like an elephant; run like a tiger; and sting like an eel.

My father always said: "horses are even more loyal than dogs."

Then, by that transitive ultimatum, I am your race horse . . . and I am running for this world.

Yours,

Pum

On the Global Three-dimensional Chess Match

When you weather the winds and wander with me and Avi, my son, throughout all seasons, everyone will know . . . .

I wish I could have had a simple life - like that of a lawyer, doctor, or an artist or "just picking fruits and vegetables."

Now, I'm playing the three-demensional Global Chess Match. And, I will checkmate every opponent.

Yours,

Pum Pum (your Princess without territory but only grand thoughts and the ability to follow through and execute).

On Separation of Religion and State – for the American People

Let’s take a look around: the Federal Reserve prints on most every bill: “In God We Trust.” So, every day, there is an imprint of God in every monetary transaction in the U.S. (except for credit card purchases, check payments, and bank transfers).

The Washington Monument is the center of the symbol of a Cross, the Lincoln Monument sits on top; the Jefferson Monument sits on one side of the Washington Monument; the Capitol, on the bottom; and, oh yeah, that bozo Bushs’ rental unit – the White House – on the other side of Jefferson’s Monument.

Unfortunately, Bill Clinton was the only president since Eisenhower who did not consult Billy Graham as a spiritual adviser. His adviser was Jesse Jackson – not a bad man but a cheater, nonetheless. And, Jesse turned on the false waterworks when Obama won on November 4, 2008 even though Jackson disparaged him in a secretive smirk about Barack caught by television audio.

Yes, I do believe that the executive branch has gotten a little whacked and out of control but everything is rectifiable if we try hard enough. We need to preserve the constitutional ethos of separation of the three branches of the Federal Government and unify these branches with our collective integrity.

On Encryption

Although every encryption code is theoretically breakable with enough computing power, in actuality, there is no encrypted message that is breakable.

All someone has to do is double, triple, encrypt etc. to encode a message that would then become practically unbreakable.

Now, we are all vulnerable.

If we don’t start communicating with each other right now; yes, I believe, that there will be mutually assured destruction. It is our choice. Well?

What do you think, Team HippoParamus?

Yours truly,

Pum

P.S.: Once again: “I am opposed to all forms of deceit and cunning.”

On Nuclear War and Disarmament

“Skene kai ta bios.” – Herodotus or “All the world is a stage.” – Bill Shakespeare

France tested two nuclear bombs in the South Pacific in either 1995 or 1996. The island that the French chose for the tests was beautiful and surrounded with emerald and blue water and soft, white sand. At the time, CNN broadcasted an aerial view of the nuclear tests. If the French are so beautiful, why did they destroy something that was beautiful?

Also, why did the French choose to pick a distant island and not perform the testing on their own land? As a child would say: “That was mean.” However, despite this violent ejaculation of national pride by French warmongers, “the French people are still beautiful.”

Bechtel Corporation built two nuclear reactors in China during the 1990s. A byproduct from nuclear reactors is nuclear-grade bomb fuel. China supplied medium-range nuclear warheads to Pakistan. Pakistan and India were on the brink of a nuclear war because of historical animosity i.e., – they don’t like each other very much. Pakistan has interests in the Middle East and Israel.

The U.S. has obvious interests in the Middle East in concert with Israel. The U.S. Pressler Amendment operated to prevent the delivery of F-16s to Pakistan; Pakistan had paid the U.S. for those fighter planes; and the U.S. did not return that money to Pakistan, undoubtedly, to prevent Pakistan from purchasing fighters from a different source.

However, I don’t know if Pakistan eventually received the planes (maybe that nation-state received those F-16s considering its support of the U.S.' current rebel problem in Afghanistan.)

If Pakistan’s Air Force surpassed the capability of India’s, there is a possibility that Pakistan could “win” a war with India. Then, there is Iran and North Korea. Geez! And, also Putin. Golly!

Yes, we are on the “precipice of insecurity.” If we don’t calm the situation down, we might as well be shooting ourselves in the feet, hands, eyes, nose, and heart. Now, do we get the picture?

If we dismantle the nuclear warheads, institute an international policy against the usage of nuclear reactors to meet energy needs, and figure out a clean way to get rid of the bomb-grade uranium, then we can clothe ourselves in real security.

Without an international commitment to peace and the global introduction of cleaner sources of energy that are currently available, there will always be nation-states that can bring regional instability to a level of international insecurity. All parties are at fault in this situation - the United States, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan, Iran, and North Korea.

What happens in Pakistan and India affects what happens in the United States. What Bechtel Corporation has built to increase its bottom line in China affects regional instability in the Middle East and the entire world’s security. With Putin's simultaneous support of Israel's satellite capabilities and Iran's nuclear capacity, the situation worsens.

I only hope that we did not act in such a way so that, ultimately, we become our own victims. Let us pray for international peace, PLEASE.

The Best Law School in the World

Howard University Law School is so generous. Because Howard gifted me with a scholarship, I received a great law school education for only 6 thousand dollars!

Howard’s ethos is: “Make them twice as good.” – because Howard understands the forces at work that beat down against the success of Black Lawyers. Of course, this vicious racism will change with Obama’s victory and forthcoming presidency. Yeah!!!

Every student receives the best education there, and the professors are the coolest and the sweetest.

I’d rather be a salmon swimming upstream than a carp floating down. Pain is the remedy; comfort the disease. As the Scottish saying goes: “What’s fer ya’ won’t go by ya’.”

Cheers,

Pum

On Taxation

What a sucky and somewhat necessary historical institution - the institutionalized pseudo-artist that continually degenerates behind good intent falling victim to the bureaucratic serial killer.

The original intent of any institution, whether it be religious, political, or social, over time decays to the rituals of false security; those seeking power manipulating their present-day institutions to gain security in the form of power. Unfortunately, the ritualized institution becomes self-sustaining with the original ethos ebbing away as the high tide deposits colorful shells of deceit upon a tainted shoreline.

A prime example is the modern bureaucracy. Over time, the underlying intent for creating the institution may fall victim to unwholesome interests. The bureaucracy tends to grow with time and different subdivisions may be added to support those that existed before - recruiting the unwary to support a gigantic enterprise resting on a foundation that is not its own.

In 1913, when Colonel House convinced President Wilson to institute the first federal tax, the U.S. Government promised the American people that federal taxes would never increase over 1% of each person’s yearly income. Twenty years ago, one out of every five dollars a person earned went to the Federal Government. Now, it is one of every three. Yes, as a child would say: “Liars, Liars!”

The U.S. Constitution states that every agency of the Federal Government “shall give an accounting of the monies that it spends.” In 1974, the Supreme Court declined allowing a taxpayer to receive an accounting (how much?) of the CIA’s expenditure [United States v. Richardson, 418 U.S. 166 (1974): http://supreme.justia.com/us/418/166/case.html].

Do we know how much they are spending and why do they have to keep it secret? As a child would ask: “Maybe, they are mean?”

A flat tax or some simple graduated two-level system may solve the problem. Simple rules rather than volumes of loopholes are easier to preserve. When accountants stop being bean counters, I believe, they will start becoming artists.

Whew! What does Team HippoParamus think?

On Hitler

The Frenchman and visionary, Nostradamus, predicted that there will be a child born near the banks of the Danube.

“Hister,” as Nostradamus referred to the child, wanted to be an artist so badly and just because he was rejected from art school in Vienna – he decided to avoid the artistic ethos to create beauty from vacuum. When living in Austria, the bastard visited the museum in Vienna daily to stare for hours at the Spear of Longinus – responsible for the fatal blow that killed Jesus Christ on the Cross. Incidentally, only the nail embedded within the sword has been carbon-dated to the period during which Jesus of Nazareth existed. The other features of the sword, which passed through the hands of Marcus Aurelius, did not exist during the life of Jesus.

During his rampage throughout Europe, Hister promised Shuschnigg, the Chancellor of Austria at that time, that he would refrain from attack of Austria if the nation-state released the Austrian Nazis from prison and ignored Hister’s crazy run throughout Europe. Hister squeezed this promise out of Shuschnigg by chasing Shuschnigg throughout the Bergoff. Then Hister, of course, lied and attacked Austria anyway.

At the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, I witnessed the contents of Hister’s bunker, which the Russians sent on tour to the United States in 1998. I realized that Hister was indeed a nut; he placed a grotesque caricature of Goebels sitting on his desk.

However, Hister displayed an artistic sensibility as well. The other items in his bunker were carefully selected: his laced, Gestapo black boots, his uniformed jacket, and a bright, rather intricate tapestry, among other items.

Apparently, Hister was a big hit with the German ladies. During Hister’s speeches, women swooned and fainted. He may be the biggest anomaly of the 20th century. His niece committed suicide after he deliberately and purposely shunned her.

If only Hister had stared at a painting like Salvador Dali’s “Last Supper” or Bazille’s “Edmond Maitre” or Renoir’s “Nina con un aro” - he may have realized that he should paint people instead of enormous, pale city blocks without any citizens. What use is a city block without people to populate it? What use is an artist who uses charm and talent to hide insecurity and self-disgust and wreak mayhem and disorder?

Ironically enough, the Nazi’s borrowed the symbol of the swastika from the East Indians as well as two other ancient cultures, including the Celts and an African culture. All three groups developed the swastika – the symbol for male power – independently.

Another irony is that Hitler’s eventual loss in Europe catapulted the United States, our grand democratic experiment, to superpower status and led to the creation of the State of Israel and the sorrowful displacement of the Palestinians. [Aside: Hitler’s maternal grandmother was Jewish.] Ironies abound in the historical morass of the Age of Pisces, the age of dissension and warfare.

On Materialism and Generosity

If you think you own "it" – it really owns you.

I obtain an endorphin rush when I give a stranger a gift whether it is in the form of information or object. Then, I get another emotive quantum (“rush”) when that friend appreciates the gift. The richest people in the world are the one’s who give the most. The artist, inventor, teacher, and the philanthropist are one and the same - we are on the VANGUARD and not in the rearguard.

Value is everywhere. The least valuable items are the ones that are displayed in the shop windows at the shopping mall. Those items are there to take away our spirit, and they are not there for our benefit but at times for someone else’s greed.

Go to the consignment store or the junkyard, and we will find real value there.

As Nandita taught me many years ago, the only thing that we can truly own is something that we have created ourselves whether it is an airplane model, a drawing, a poem, a conversation, a smile at a stranger, or a game of chess or tennis or hopscotch.

So, if we are hoarding goods in our homes because we perceive these items as being our possessions, then we are spending too much thought and time on acquisition and not enough on creating a work of art that we can truly own.

Speak to me: “I am opposed to all forms of deceit and cunning.”

-HippoParamus

Transitive Properties

Darlings:

Time is more important than money because we can always make more money but we can not get time back.

Now, I pose this transitive property: Life is even more important than time and money combined.

Thus, by this transitive combination, can not we conclude, within the directness of Plato's CAVE: "Every LIFE is more important than all the money in the world?"

Yours,

General Pumpum (a.k.a Bacchus/HippoParamus)

Two Business Principles for Team HippoParamus

1] "Maximum utilization of all resources with minimal wastage."

2] "Every problem is really an opportunity ripe for resolution."

Cheers,

- Pum

On Unified Field Theory

Physicists have been working on “Unified Field Theory” – trying to discover the fifth force – which is the most important of the “five.”

When I was studying Physics at Vassar, I argued with my Professors b/c they made the study of the most artistic of sciences more difficult than necessary.

It’s quite simple:

The fifth force – every human knows intuitively. What is it?!?

The five forces:

1) Gravity: F = the gravitational (G) constant times mass1 and mass2 divided by the distance between the two objects (whether they are orbital formations or milestones in molecules). Sorry, again, the limitations of this website prevents me from depicting the actual equation.

2) The second force is the “Weak Force.” It is the force between the electrons and the nucleus of each atom. Remember: the human body produces 300 billion cells per day. So, imagine the body's capacity for healing.

3) The third force is the “Strong Force.” This force is the one that holds the protons and neutrons together within an atomic nucleus.

4) The fourth force is the “Nuclear Force.” It is the force that holds the protons with the other protons together in the “nuclear coin.”

The fifth force is …our hearts….but you know…it’s really something much more important and the most decent force of all of us.

Your benefactor, your teacher, and well-wisher,

Pumpum

On Health

There are four (4) principles for maintaining one’s health:

1) Maintain alkalinity (drink AlkaLife: www.alkalife.com).
2) Maintain happiness, kindness, sweetness, and honesty.
3) Maintain hormonal balance by practicing physical balance (through martial arts and regular exercise).
4) Maintain your Mountain of Freedom by preserving your Innocence in the "heat of adversity."

Yours,

Pumpum

A Cure for Cancer and AIDS

Very simple: ozone, a pretty molecule. (O3)

Doctors should read about ozone and retake the Hippocratic oath.

Ozone protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

Don’t you think that it is time to start applying our scientific knowledge instead of wasting it away?

Please read Dr. Sartori’s book on ozone.

-HippoParamus

P.S. - the "3" on the ozone molecule should be in superscript rather than subscript. I apologize; the limitations of the website functionalities prevents me from depicting the correct appellation of my favorite molecule. : (

P.S.S. - I'm just a big GEEK. But, "uno momento," a "CHIC GEEK" or rather a "SIKH GEEK." : )

Plato's Cave

Pain is the remedy; comfort the disease. Actually, pain and acknowledgement of our own and that of others’ suffering is the path toward real comfort.

Perfection is trying to be perfect. Forget about what Plato said because he totally missed the mark – perfection is not in the cave, it is in the development of our hearts. By opening our hearts to the world, we will all see that we are artists and free children, with the sweet breath of experience, guiding our path to discovering how we can produce the innocent end-fruit of the perfect vision we had when we were children.

I hope you will read the rest of what I have to say because it is enveloped in the gentleness that we really deserve.

Please read Silas Marner (by George S. Elliot). The way I sum it up is: Here is a man that has undergone such hardship in his life and, as a result, his heart closes up. He works as a weaver in a distant village with little contact with anyone else. He lives his life very solitarily and exists this way for 20 years.

Then, one day, a little girl appears at his door. She is less than 10 years old. The story is about how Silas renews his artistic heart after it has been shattered.

When I think about this book, I realize that I am "Silas Marner" – that my heart closed up because of all of the disappointment that I perceived when I was little and all along the way. I try to live my life the best that I can. Perhaps it is perceived differently – most likely.

I think that most people in the world are like Silas Marner right now. Most can not recognize their own suffering being bottled up children and if we don’t – we always will be stuck in the back of Plato’s cave - "we will be in the reargaurd."

The irony is also that when we don’t recognize our own suffering and that of others, we will always ensure the loss of the potential for excellence.

If we learn to open our hearts to the world, only then will we be able to experience adventure and holistically perceive the real inner beauty of this world. However, just remember that we are all in different modes of existing as Silas Marner; in the interplay of forgetting and remembering the true nature of our souls, so we should be very sweet to each other.

The Sufi’s have a saying: “What you fear and hate will come to you.” Then, one should say to oneself : “Do not fear and hate anything.”

If we say this to ourselves again and again, everyday, then we will become fearless and strong and able to open our hearts to the world.

On Spiritual Development

This is a short, terse summation of what is forthcoming:

“There will be a Spiritual Revolution, ignited by the REAL artists and the REAL intellectuals. And, Team HippoParamus is on the Vanguard.

We will leave the rearguard behind because they have no "Courage, Character, or Consistency.”

My friends, “on the vanguard,” SPEAK TO ME: “I am opposed to all forms of deceit and cunning.”

- HippoParamus

Crater Lake Is Even More Beautiful than the Himalayas

My brother, Amrit Singh Bajwa, and I were barreling down the Himalayan Mountains during the 911 Crisis – we had no idea about the “crisis.” The bus was tumbling against the mountainside.

I was sitting next to a Jewish kid who was 23 when I was 33 - he was nice but slightly condescending. (Aside – 60,000 kids vacation in India every year b/c back then it was cheap).

He had no idea that my Great Uncle is the National Hero of India – Bhagat Singh (who Gandhi outed to the Britishers – and had him subsequently hung for Ghandi’s own political expediency).

“Mind you” – there is a 1,000-foot drop on all sides of the road. The bus tumbled down in a spiral pattern down the mountain – my knees were knocking against the steel backdrop and the Jewish kids knees. But, he was sweet: He was nice and kind. And, I learned that all can be learned. However, all “PEOPLE ARE CHOSEN.”

Now, descend upon CRATER LAKE, OREGON: http://www.dustydavis.com/blogimages/crater_lake_large.jpg

PumPum

On Umberto Eco

Simply put: He is brilliant. I highly recommend "Foucault's Pendulum."

Then check out his wickipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco

Cheers and your well-wisher,

Pum (a.k.a Bacchus)

On the Meaning of HippoParamus

With the best wishes to all,

HippoParamus is my name embedded in Hippocrates' name. Because, you see, I took the Hippocratic oath, “to do no harm,” a long time ago.

And, it is also a joke against myself (Hippopotamus) – because I’m always trying to lose weight.

There is also a third meaning, which I will only reveal on completion of my book, "Courage, Character, and Consistency."

Better hang on … I’ve got a million chapters in my head. So, therefore, I apologize; it will take a long time. ; )

- HippoParamus

On Economics

The great thinker, Adam Smith (“Mr. Chips”) posited that, if every nation produced the products and services that it was best or better suited to, laissez-faire trade via the “Invisible Hand” ultimately would lead to a boon for world citizenry. He termed this economic coup, “Comparative Advantage (“CA”),” which allows one nation-state, dependent on a set of limited resources, whether those resources are comprised of natural, capital, or human resources, to economically take advantage of those assets.

The crux of the theory of CA is that, if the individual focuses on specializing on what he or she is best at, the aggregate effect of the national and international production of the “best of the best” will lead to consumption of the best goods and services by individuals and, aggregately, nation-states. Mr. Chips concluded that natural market forces prevail over time - the demand for better goods and services increasing on an international scale fueled by the innate human desire for creating and consuming and gravitating toward the best products.

Poor Mr. Chips, I wish he was here today. I think he would be very upset at the creative industry of Madison Avenue for helping to fashion artificial, en masse demand for inferior products; seemingly illogical, en masse desire for profit (i.e. capital accretion resulting in spiritual stagnation) prevailing over the desire to create and provide a better product at the same price – that is – ultimately, value migration coupled with wealth concentration and consumption of the best products by a greedy few.

Very interesting to note, as Patrick and Brent pointed out to me, are that the last words of the Father of Capitalism, are completely ignored by those whose grand ethos has become a mantra-like imperative: “PENETRATE THE MARKET.” Mr. Chips concluded in the last chapter of his last book that specialization on the individual level would lead to spiritual demoralization and antipathy for the end-product of the INDIVIDUAL’S endeavor. In other words, hit the nail on the head over and over again, and we will all be bored out of our minds - our innate creativity wasted for someone else’s desire for a few extra bucks. Well?

Another great thinker, the Frenchman, Bastiat, wrote economic “theory” in the mid-nineteenth century. He concluded that the wealth of a nation is not in the capital resources at its disposal but in the quality and quantity of the goods that its citizenry consumes. That idea may be plausible.

In other words, individuals within the United States are aggregately producing more (reflected by both unemployment rates and productivity assessments) but also consuming more (reflected by our increasing trade deficit and relatively low-priced foreign goods - despite oil prices). Notwithstanding the fact that Eurodollars are swimming overseas on an increasing basis, it would seem that Bastiat is correct – that the wealth of nations can be measured by the quantity and quality of goods consumed by that nation’s citizenry.

On Bill Gates and Soros

Bill Gates is acting like the big kid in the sandbox, who negotiates a stick of gum for a Tonka Truck by virtue of the size of his virtual empire and capital resources. Size does not matter; the development of character matters.

Gates may be the gatekeeper of the Internet but now maybe he should pass on the digital signature key of TRUST. He is excellent at recognizing value in the work of others; wonderful at synthesizing and implementing technological application in terms of historical significance; and great at signing big contracts with non-competition and exclusivity clauses.

He is a very smart dude but I think he should now enroll at Howard University and study economics and anti-trust law as well as becoming a philanthropist on the level of George Soros and Warren Buffett. At least, Warren publicly announced when he thought Berkshire Hathaway shares were definitely overvalued, and Soros donated $100,000,000 for unused, clean needles to drug users. What nice men!

Soros made a nice comment on a television show once: “Business is amoral, not immoral.” I think he was speaking about a wish couched in the circumstances of his own experience after he escaped from the Nazis when he was 14 years old.

Cheers,

Pum

On Anarchy

Bad Cream of Broccoli

Anarchy, I think, is a word with no meaning – does anyone who is half-way intelligent really believe that any society can exist without laws?

I attended the so-called “protest” in 1999 in Eugene, Oregon. I was ready to consider the cause if it had any backbone, of course, very wary of the methodology. Then, the non-ethos of the anarchists erupted in my total dissatisfaction with their cause and modus operandi. No cause. Fight for no cause, and the anarchist is the loser. Disturb the peace, and the anarchist gets non-results. Does being arrested make one feel like there is a cause? If so, then the anarchists of yesterday had their cause – they got arrested for disturbing the peace. They got to yell. They got to scream and say bad words to the police. They got to pretend for some, small, minute moment in time that they are guardians of the Constitution of the United States.

I don’t think so. Freedom of Speech is a constitutional right. Disturbing the peace, however, is not. Try to marry the truth with lunacy and one gets the worst tasting cream of broccoli soup in the world.

Anarchists: I challenge you to act correctly. Peaceful protest for constitutional rights is the answer. Disturbing the peace for a ray of hope for attention is not, I would say, productive. Not one protestor passed out any pamphlets or venture to offer any explanation of ideology. Furthermore, in Seattle, the anarchists in 1999 threw tear gas indiscriminately on anyone who was wearing a business suit and, in Eugene, a year ago, anarchists broke store windows and windshields. I don’t think it is fair to cry foul now after you have proven yourselves to be disorderly and destructive in the past.

If one wants to have real power: “Learn to think like Socrates, speak like Pericles, and write like Sophocles.” (Professor Chandler, Howard University School of Law). Read the Constitution of the United States before calling a policeman, “a pig,” or smashing a working man’s store window or windshield. Take a class in Constitutional Law before running down the streets in masks just like the Klu Klux Klan.

On Gandhi

First Statement: This man had my Great Uncle killed. My Great Uncle was Bhagat Singh: the first to challenge the British but not the last. ; )

Which statement is worse: “If you don’t do this, I will kill you.” Or “If you don’t do this, I will kill myself?” Gandhi mystified the latter statement by trying to fight fire with polluted water in the garb a saint. Churchill referred to Gandhi as a “half-naked fakir who is constantly obsessed with the ingress and egress of his bodily functions.”

Gandhi had quite a career but little spiritual inclination. He studied law at Oxford and then returned to South Africa, where he had grown up, and secured second-class citizenship for the Indians by helping the Boars smother the Zulu uprisings.

Gandhi then went to India and paraded around as a religious politico all the while eagerly coaxing the British and Lord Montbatton to pass the White Elephant that they had created from multiple principalities and kingdoms into the hands of his political party. His modus operandi entailed promising the 400,000,000 UNTOUCHABLES in India a quantum leap from shit to crap – that is – a “higher” caste that was still at the bottom of the socio-cultural hierarchy. I guess that words can be very pretty tools.

Indira Gandhi commissioned the movie, “Gandhi,” in which the British actor, Ben Kingsley, portrayed the beloved hero. When the director completed the movie, Indira was upset at the result so she banned the movie in “democratic” India. Strange enough, I have seen the movie, and I thought that Ben Kingsley did a wonderful job at portraying Gandhi in the light that Gandhi wanted to portray himself to the world. Meanwhile, I have been told that Gandhi tested his spiritual mettle by sleeping next to 12-year old girls.

I wish my grandfather, a colonel in the Indian army, had not cried for Gandhi after that “wily lawyer” was assassinated. But, I also know that Nehru, Indira’s father, who she betrayed by changing her last name from Nehru to Gandhi for political expediency, was more of a real advocate for the people (even though he had an affair with Montbatton’s wife).

On Adults and Children

The family is the most sacred of institutions – all other institutions – nation-states consumed in nationalism, corporations, business partnerships, are meaningless and ephemeral like The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. Our jobs or the largeness of our homes are never more important than our families.

A Child never lies.

Here are some cute stories:

Danny is three or four years old. His grandparents own a women’s clothing boutique in New York City. They have Danny wrapped in one of their arms. He sees a famous clothing designer berating a beleaguered employee, who sits there in silence. Then, the famous designer comes to greet Danny and his grandparents. Danny blurts out without hesitation, “You are a mean man!” His grandparents are silent in embarrassment but they know that the little boy has spoken the truth. And, what can a famous designer say to the truth if it hurts?

Another one: I heard this one 12 years ago from a classmate at Vassar. Here is a five-year old child that hears Santa Claus climbing down the chimney. He sneaks downstairs and sees his parents laying presents underneath the Christmas Tree. The boy yells, “Liars, liars, you are liars!

Poor parents: What can they do?

The parent has to develop empathy for the growing child and the child, as he or she grows into adulthood, must remember everything that the parent did for its emotional and physical safety. This role is obviously difficult because generally we’re all playing with an incomplete deck. If we learn to appreciate before we judge how it could have been better, we can learn to make it better.

So, if you are angry at your child for being less than your vision of him or her in your version of him or her in Plato’s cave, tell your child how much the world had a hand at smashing some of your dreams and hopes. If you are a child angry with your parent for being too strict or too absent, remember what has been done for you. If your family is for you, who can be against you?

George William Wallace Is Brilliant

“Class is part of the absurdity of reality,” says Baudrillard; however, according to Reicher, it is not so much class that is part of the absurdity of reality, but rather the economy, and hence the collapse, of class. It could be said that many materialisms concerning the role of the artist as reader exist.

“Sexual identity is intrinsically unattainable,” says Lacan. If semiotic discourse holds, we have to choose between neocultural capitalist theory and Sartreist absurdity. However, Derrida uses the term ‘objectivism’ to denote the common ground between class and sexual identity.

The main theme of Hanfkopf’s critique of dialectic dematerialism is the absurdity, and subsequent futility, of subconstructivist class. The primary theme of the works of Pynchon is a capitalist paradox. Therefore, Baudrillard suggests the use of semiotic discourse to modify society.

“Class is part of the absurdity of truth,” says Marx; however, according to Dietrich, it is not so much class that is part of the absurdity of truth, but rather the rubicon, and eventually the futility, of class. The premise of objectivism suggests that academe is elitist. But Buxton states that we have to choose between semiotic discourse and Sontagist camp.

The characteristic theme of Brophy’s model of dialectic dematerialism is the role of the artist as writer. Marx promotes the use of objectivism to deconstruct archaic, colonialist perceptions of sexual identity. It could be said that Bataille uses the term ‘the posttextual paradigm of consensus’ to denote a self-justifying whole.

The primary theme of the works of Gibson is the role of the artist as writer. Thus, in Neuromancer, Gibson analyses semiotic discourse; in Mona Lisa Overdrive he affirms objectivism.

Lyotard suggests the use of dialectic dematerialism to analyse and attack society. However, Baudrillard uses the term ‘dialectic narrative’ to denote not theory, as semiotic discourse suggests, but neotheory.

If dialectic dematerialism holds, we have to choose between semiotic discourse and Marxist capitalism. But a number of narratives concerning dialectic dematerialism may be revealed.

The destruction/creation distinction depicted in Gibson’s Neuromancer is also evident in All Tomorrow’s Parties, although in a more postmaterial sense. In a sense, the characteristic theme of Wilson’s critique of semiotic discourse is a self-falsifying totality.

In Count Zero, Gibson examines dialectic dematerialism; in Idoru, although, he affirms textual prepatriarchial theory. However, Sontag uses the term ‘dialectic dematerialism’ to denote not, in fact, narrative, but neonarrative.

Hubbard holds that we have to choose between semiotic discourse and predialectic discourse. In a sense, the primary theme of the works of Gibson is the role of the poet as writer.

If one examines structural neocapitalist theory, one is faced with a choice: either accept objectivism or conclude that reality is used to marginalize the Other. Derrida uses the term ‘dialectic dematerialism’ to denote not sublimation per se, but subsublimation. Therefore, the subject is interpolated into a that includes culture as a reality.

In the works of Gibson, a predominant concept is the concept of semioticist reality. Sontag promotes the use of dialectic dematerialism to deconstruct hierarchy. However, Lacan uses the term ’semiotic discourse’ to denote the bridge between class and society.

“Narrativity is part of the rubicon of reality,” says Marx. Lyotard suggests the use of the neodialectic paradigm of narrative to read class. It could be said that the subject is contextualised into a that includes narrativity as a paradox.

If semiotic discourse holds, we have to choose between dialectic dematerialism and textual theory. Thus, Derrida promotes the use of presemantic deconstruction to attack outdated perceptions of sexual identity.

The characteristic theme of Hubbard’s essay on semiotic discourse is the paradigm of neodeconstructive art. Therefore, the subject is interpolated into a cultural paradigm of consensus that includes reality as a reality.

The primary theme of the works of Gibson is not theory, but pretheory. Thus, several narratives concerning a neodialectic totality exist.

Semiotic discourse states that sexuality is fundamentally impossible. It could be said that many theories concerning textual socialism may be discovered.

The premise of semiotic discourse suggests that narrative is a product of communication, but only if reality is distinct from narrativity. But Abian holds that we have to choose between the neodialectic paradigm of narrative and modern precultural theory.

The characteristic theme of Dahmus’s analysis of dialectic dematerialism is the common ground between sexual identity and class. Debord suggests the use of semiotic discourse to modify and challenge society. Therefore, Derrida uses the term ‘dialectic dematerialism’ to denote the role of the reader as poet.

“Consciousness is elitist,” says Foucault. An abundance of desublimations concerning a mythopoetical whole exist. Thus, Lacan uses the term ’semiotic discourse’ to denote not theory, as dialectic objectivism suggests, but posttheory.

Debord promotes the use of dialectic dematerialism to deconstruct class divisions. It could be said that the subject is contextualised into a that includes art as a reality.

The main theme of the works of Gibson is the role of the reader as participant. However, the collapse, and eventually the genre, of dialectic dematerialism which is a central theme of Gibson’s Neuromancer emerges again in Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Lyotard suggests the use of semiotic discourse to analyse society. It could be said that the subject is interpolated into a that includes consciousness as a paradox.

Neocultural discourse implies that the State is intrinsically a legal fiction. But the primary theme of Tilton’s critique of objectivism is the difference between narrativity and society.

- George William Wallace (or Geo; HippoParamus' nickname for Georgipoopoo)

On Sensitivity

My friend, Kai, and I were conversing about our particular habit of being able to forget completely when we get hurt – or rather to toss the memory away like an empty bag of potato chips as if the events and the actors just stopped existing in our minds. We concluded that we had this ability because we had both moved to different places many times as children. Thus, this ability, we realized, was a function of our need for flexibility and a survival technique adopted as children.

Then, I jetted off to talk to one of my favorite Professors, who has a real keen sensibility and a sweet demeanor. The Professor of Contracts, Sir Boyer, has a perfect photographic memory with which he sweetly teases his students. With one sweeping glance of a lecture hall filled with 80 students, he can quickly determine which students are absent. He also knows exactly how many classes each student misses throughout the entire year. What an unbelievable ability to remember detail – what most think is impossible is merely customary for Professor Boyer.

I recounted the former conversation that I had just been lucky enough to experience and presented the conclusion to Professor Boyer – and then I found out that I had another lesson to learn.

Professor Boyer told me the truth. He said that this ability to make a person, who has hurt you, a “non-person,” is a function of sensitivity and that really sensitive people use this mechanism because they get hurt, and the hurt overcomes them. Maybe, a function of sensitivity in a hostile environment is to shut down? But, if the environment is hostile, how can we be artists? And, if the environment becomes safe, will we all become artists? I believe so.

On Sisyphus - A True Story

A summer associate from Howard School of Law was working at a Washington, D.C. law firm, which shall remain nameless. At a firm shindig at one of the partner’s homes in Potomac, Maryland, a firm partner introduced “a triplet” of summer interns to a named partner of famous appellation and democratic heritage. Although this partner had retired in theory; he still represented the firm on an on-call basis at firm events requiring the prestige of the partner’s surname.

Here is the story:

Partner “1” first introduced partner “S” to a summer associate attending Harvard University: “ . . . and this is such and such, who is attending Harvard.”

“S” responds: “What a wonderful school! Many of my family have attended that excellent institution. We are very proud to have you come aboard and sincerely hope that this summer experience is delightful . . . .”

Partner “1”: “. . . and this is so and so, who is attending Yale Law School.”

“S”: “An equally wonderful institution. I have attended many a sporting event at Yale and have always enjoyed myself immensely on every occasion. We welcome you to our firm . . . .”

Partner “1”: “. . . and this is blah blah, who is attending Howard Law School.”

“S”: Aren’t you excited to be making so much money this summer?”

Unfortunately for “S,” the student from Howard replies: “Well, actually no. I have worked on Wall Street for 13 years before attending law school, and, well, to say the least, that is not the case from my perspective.”

***Silence***

Later, a profoundly repentant “S” maneuvers to the buffet table where the Howard Law student is standing. “S” obsequiously explains how his family has championed Civil Rights in the United States since the early 1960s, and then he saunters back to the humming arena of the room.

A job well executed with "band-aid relief."

Aside: What do you think?

On Teachers and Students

The student is the teacher, and the teacher is the student. Both are in constant interaction with each other. And, it is the interaction, the imparting of wisdom and the imparting of innocence that makes both minds grow so that each can close in on the truth as a hummingbird nourishes itself on the nectar of a flower.

I think that Mr. Chips would agree that the Socratic method is excellent for teaching the truth but why can’t the student answer Socrates with a question? I have so many questions and, perhaps, a few answers. Maybe, I am the teacher and I am the student?

If we’re playing with half a deck how can we think STRAIGHT and, why is it, then, that when we’re playing with more of a full deck, we may appear FLUSHED?

Mr. Chips, et. al., all my teachers: Thank you so much!

On Minimum Wage

Law is fundamentally about what is fair – what is equitable for our society, as it exists now. However, the strict application of the letter of the law in a changing society may not always be equitable although the “law” is correctly applied but the desired end result remains unconsummated in a particular instant in time.

Hopefully, new law can prescribe an old policy – what is good for society - but is required usually due to gross inequities created by the application of the old policy in a changing environment. In turn, as the letter of the law strives for equity, economic policy should strive for efficiency – making a better product for less money – with the overall good of providing the best product at the least cost, hence, the perennial term, “best value.”

Free market principles are fundamentally inefficient at the extremities of society – that is – the lowest wage earners and those who have the most wealth. The lowest wages are set not by market principles but presumably by the lack of knowledge of low paid workers and the tendency of employers to seek employees who accept the least wages - with the end result works against the society and community as a whole.

Generosity must emanate at all levels. At the other end, the highest earning groups or individuals can create inefficiencies in the market by inequitably using capital as a leverage to create monopolies. America has fairly well-defined, effective anti-trust laws – the corollary being that we should have a threshold or balance at the lower level.

Higher costs of goods/services inherently create market forces where the best goods/services will persevere over less efficient, best-value goods. This subtlety of human nature – trying to get the most out of limited resources - forces the consumer to be more discerning.

A higher minimum wage sets a higher standard for all of society – higher pay at the lowest economic level/pay scale means that the lowest-paid individuals can afford more that society offers. And, is not this goal good for all?

Furthermore, lower minimum wage create a greater burden on the Federal Government – where the Government picks up the tab for individuals at the bottom of the rung. Simply, a minimum wage, which results in an annual salary below the poverty line, actually hurts society – where workers in minimum wage jobs suffer the indignities of their station, and thus, the result creates an environment for rampant crime (i.e., Brazil).

On Putin, Vladimir

As Cheney delivers a bit of a rebuke to Putin, the world just wonders and wonders….

And, there is sweetness in unfolding. Of course, Putin is not Russian royalty and neither is Bush an American royal (the ethos of noblesse oblige sorely bleeding upon the souls of everyone) – their blood does not run blue but somewhat muddy and endangeringly a self-absorbing, self-detioriating RED.

When warmongers try to pretend that they have real power – the puppies lose. That is – real power comes from having power over the SELF. And, in the unfolding incidents, the poor puppies preen and power themselves as if they were careening peacocks with colorful bazookas at their beck and call.

Prince Bam Bam and the Tibetan Warrior

In ancient times when kings protected populaces with hired armies and Celtic magicians counseled royal families on culture, the ways of fickle gods, and decorum, dragons hovered over the lands. These dragons – some noble and some wicked – fought one another for dominion over the skies and retreated to mystical sanctuaries never viewed by human eyes.

During these magic times, most subjects lived in villages and toiled the fields with ox-driven plows while the royals enjoyed the accoutrements of arts, silk robes, and velvet slippers – their stomachs filled with the finest pheasant and sweetest red wine. This separation of position manifested itself with not even a casual word exchanged between peasant and nobility.

In the midst of this backdrop of having and losing, Prince Bam Bam lived with his mother, not in a palace behind buttressed walls, but abutting a village in a humble cottage made of stone and a thatched roof. The four rooms of the cottage although not opulent were neither bare; a rivulet ran through the expanse of the cottage’s backside with moss lining the tree trunks that fortified the stream’s banks. The scene, rather idyllic, echoed a pleasant calm.

And, when the rain fell, the cottage’s roof leaked into copper pots placed by Bam Bam’s mother atop the cottage’s wooden floor. Even during a heavy downpour, the sound of the water hitting the copper pots echoed a charming staccato as the lightning flickered like blinking warning signals from a light house atop a craggily, dangerous rock.

Here, Prince Bam Bam learned of the arts and fortitude from soiled books weathered by centuries of use. While his nature was quiet and thoughtful, he could also entertain a throng of children with versions of the stories his mother told him. He made drawings of charcoal and mixed bark on darkened parchment of warriors fighting dragons although he had never actually seen a dragon or a warrior for that matter. His drawings, although at first rudimentary, resonated a certain sophistication of shading and detail. As he grew older, his drawings became finer and his repertoire broader as he began drawing the village folk happily toiling in the fields waste deep behind tall grains.

One day, playing with his friends, Prince Bam Bam stumbled upon an unusual sight: a simple, yet elegant man sitting cross-legged underneath a stone pine tree. He wore a light blue robe reaching to his knees and flaxen, silken knickers that extended to his ankles; shoes that tapered at the toes upward in a curl; his hair, jet black, straight, and extending just above his shoulders. His face was clean as if his facial hair did not grow but he had an air of an ascetic old man although he looked only 25. His eyebrows were noticeably bushy and arched, and his eyes were deep azure blue, bright, keen, but un-menacing – almost kind. His skin was slightly golden.

As the young man opened one eye, espying the children who surrounded him in a near half-circle, he moved his palms behind him, leaned forward, and let out a short, high-pitched scream. The children scattered instantly while only Bam Bam moved closer, looked straight into the man’s eyes, and then darted right as fast he could to the field nearby on the heels of the other children.

The next day, Bam Bam and his friends, once again, ventured to the same tree, finding their strange acquaintance sitting there as the day before, cross-legged, his eyes closed calmly, and his hands clasped in front of him with his thumbs almost touching. The children, timid from yesterday’s fanfare, peaked behind surrounding trees, and, this time, tiptoed towards him….

…The Blue Dragon alighted on an ocean-side cliff. With her wings arched at first, she pulled them back to measure her weight against the surly rock face. She let out a sigh that ruffled the nearby long grass as she felt the ocean breeze against her magnificent spine. While the rocks cracked under her claws, she could feel the moss as it deepened in color towards the long grass. And, the muted sun, sinking now below the distant ocean line, harmonized the water’s waves, swimming closer to the shoreline, with the light’s orange and pink rays.

Perched along the cliffside, the eternal Baj, haunting the craggily rock, spread her wings, gently curling her feet underneath her belly, and flew toward the dimming sun.

The black-haired gentleman opened one eye and said: “My name is Milarepa. I am a simple man and a traveler.” And, yet, the children did not believe him. He was not simple in any form of the word – this man had no home, no possessions, and seemed quite satisfied fishing food out of the stream and eating clovers and berries. Whereas other grown-ups laughed only at certain points during the day, this man never frowned and laughed unexpectedly from morning to night. He was simply charming and confusing but definitely not simple.

Then, Bam Bam spoke up: “Why do you sit underneath this tree all day doing nothing with your eyes closed?”

Milarepa: “I am emptying myself; I am meditating.”

Bam Bam: “How can you be emptying yourself and also thinking at the same time? This does not make sense.”

Milarepa: “Perhaps I am not emptying myself, perhaps you are right. Let me rephrase: I am calming myself.”

Bam Bam: “Why do you need to calm yourself?”

Milarepa: “So that I can slow my perceptions to really understand how things work.”

Bam Bam: “But, yet, this again is not an answer.”

Milarepa: “I am sorry. What I mean to say is that I slow myself down for a moment so that I can speed myself up again.”

Bam Bam: “Like water that speeds itself around the rocks in the stream?”

Milarepa: “Somewhat. Yes. Correct. You are right.”

The other children smiled together looking at one another. As their excitement mounted, the wind blew downward toward the stone pine’s trunk where the children surrounded Milarepa almost hovering around him, some sitting with their legs cross-legged and others with knees bent on the mossy soil. As the wind now lifted toward the tree’s leaves, Milarepa said: “Now it is time to play.”

Bam Bam: “Tell us more. How do your thoughts move like the water and the wind?”

And, with a sweet smile, Milarepa said: “Child, you ask too many questions all at once. But, the answer is quite boring. First, you control your breathing in a way that seems quite unnatural. When you breathe in through your nose, push your stomach out. And, when you breathe out your nose, push your stomach in.”

Bam Bam: “That seems quite easy.”

Milarepa: “Let me continue – and, when you breathe in, imagine the air as the pure light from a candle in the darkness. And, then, when you breathe out, imagine the air taking everything bad out of your body, like smoke from the fire.”

Bam Bam: “This is very easy indeed.”

Milarepa: “Simply, all in all, breath out, push your stomach in. Breathe in, push your stomach out.

Bam Bam: “What of the candlelight and the smoke?”

Milarepa: Breath in, imagine the air as candlelight, push your stomach in. Breath out, the air as smoke, push your stomach in. It is simple; this is the first step to make your thoughts like water and the wind, and you will become like water and the wind.”

With the last word passing through his lips, Milarepa sprang up almost softly and began climbing the tree limb by limb faster than anyone the children had ever seen. He disappeared under the foliage and then suddenly, the wind stopped blowing and the air became very still. Bam Bam cried out to Milarepa, but his inquisition was only met with silence.

…The blue dragon felt the wind carry its weight as it flew through the clouds; its lungs still as if filled with condensation. Like a lone albatross gliding across the ocean line, the Baj flew into a cloud...breathed in and then sighed as gently as a hummingbird’s wings fluttering over a flower petal….

From the dense foliage of the treetops, a blue dragon flew forth. Prince Bam Bam and the children looked up in awe as the blue dragon seemed to hover above them. Prince Bam Bam fearing for the safety of his new found friend, Milarepa, called out to him: “Milarepa, Milarepa, where are you? Are you safe? Milarepa, do you see the blue dragon hovering above the trees? Milarepa, why don’t you answer? Milarepa, where are you?”

The seemingly unending silence came to an end when Prince Bam Bam and the children heard Milarepa’s voice echoing down from above. “Children I am fine, I am here above you. Do not be afraid!”

Prince Bam Bam said: “Milarepa, where are you? I hear you but I cannot see you:”

Milarepa answered: “But of course you can see me, I am here, hovering above you, I am the blue dragon that you can see, I am the voice that you hear.”

Courage, Character, & Consistency 3xC

- A set of essays written by HippoParamus.

Please note that the font of the title is in “jokerman.” Derrick Freeman donated the superscript portion of the title. This book is written in essay format so that each chapter is easily digestible. If a chapter does not suit your fancy, please move onto the next chapter/essay. Also, please note that the chapters are in no particular order. After the book is completed, and I have received the proper editorial comments and incorporated these in this humorous jaunt through the garden in my mind, the essays will be reordered for clarity and coherence. Read on, and, above all, have fun whatever you do. The second chapter, "On Artists and Critics," may be written in “bombastic” language, as my mother perceived. Yet, I ask your forgiveness at my inability to use words that can inhabit your heart more gently. The rest of the chapters are intended for the readers’ pleasure and comfort.

On How to Rescue a Relationship

Failed relationships are like a sailboat that has lost its white sail; a canary clipping its wings on the edge of an opening of a mine on its way out to the sun; me losing my Bolshi to a reckless Green Civic; a Courageous Warrior who saved a deer because a part of its body had been crushed … and the sorrows go on.

Here is why I like music without words the most – because music never lies. Words can never express the million notes of affection we feel a second if we love someone. Look at James Joyce’s scratch-hand first rendition of the Dubliners – it looks like a disorganized mess of scratchy nonsense. When you see the final product, one realizes that the intent of creating beauty started from the beginning even though there may have been disappointment along the way. Effort is our best editor and, if we stop trying, then everyone loses.

Love is a promise spoken and then unspoken, then expected, then saddened, and then resurrected – if we try hard enough. Time is not important; love is important. Say sorry a million times if you have to. That’s what I am learning to do.