Endings. Beginnings. Nothing ever beginning or ending. Continuity contains entropy, stasis contains movement. No matter how many times the knife chops, severs, slices, divides, nothing becomes separate. Not this, but not that. Not one, not other. ![]() I've never liked Dickens' books, though I've read them all. Mostly, it's his sentimentality and his clotted prose that puts me off, but there's also his essentially liberal, rather than radical, view; he regards poor people as inferior creatures to be taken care of by their wealthy superiors, but never seems to consider the eradication of poverty. Outstanding poor people are to be rescued by philanthropists. That said, I agree passionately with this article by Pen Vogler. Good, cruelty-free food is a right for everybody, whatever their income or status. It was a radical message to many of his Victorian readers. Do we still need to listen to it? In a country of food banks, children going breakfastless to school, and lifestyle diets that separate rather than unite, perhaps we do. A new blog that's well worth a read is Person of No Rank by Tracy Taggart, itinerant trauma surgeon and Zen practitioner.
The title refers to her Dharma name, and to the koan "Who is the true person of no rank who comes and goes through the gates of your face?" Refuge in the Buddha Refuge in the Dharma Refuge in the Sangha Refuge in the empty spaces Spaces around Spaces between Spaces within Spaces Interesting to see that John Dowd hasn't changed since I witnessed, and wrote about, his bumbling defence of Fife Symington, corrupt then-Governor of Arizona, in 1997. The Guardian reports Dowd is claiming that he erroneously tweeted in the name of his boss, Donald Trump, and he's also arguing that, as President, Trump can't be guilty of obstructing justice. In my book Why I Watch People Die, I wrote: The show starts at 1:15. We all stand as the jury comes in. Symington, lacking the poised, aristocratic demeanor he showed at the trial’s commencement, sits nervously beside John Dowd. What is the paper that came from the North? What is a blanket? What is its worth? What is the monkey that came from the sea? What is the doorway that came from the key? |
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February 2019
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