Noted in passing:
Vehicles, even when smaller, seem consistently high off the ground, with the profile
of a tank or a SUV, giving them an aggressive, unfriendly appearance.
The air conditioning is painful. It feels as if tiny needles are piercing the skin.
The sun and heat in the afternoon is oppressive and tiring.
Around 4pm every day, I get a headache.
I've had enough sun to last a lifetime, and would gladly return to a month of clouds in Central Europe.
Lastly, I have discovered that the Internet is much faster in the Czech Republic than here.
It is not pleasant to be here. The airline staff who repeatedly used that word (during my flight over) must have been crazy. They must have forgotten what that word means. There is nothing pleasant about the food, or the crowded space, or the thousands of tiny screens in an airplane. All very awful.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Am I too demanding?
My mother has just returned after spending the night at a sleep clinic. Soon she will be sleeping better with the assistance of a machine.
I would have liked to have a description, in writing, of my mother's condition. I've not gotten that. True enough, I did not accompany my mother; instead her care-giver did so. So, I relied upon what the care-giver told me.
Of course, I can go to the internet and read about sleep apnea. That's not what I want. It's too general--like the manufacturer-supplied-book I once had telling me about features of the automobile I owned, which also described features of automobiles I did not own.
Is the sleep doctor so busy or so illiterate that he can't type up a short report of my mother's condition in understandable language?
I don't think I'm too demanding, and I don't think this system of medical care is acceptable.
But I've forgotten the most important thing: The care-giver did did come home with documents: a sort of form which discharged my mother from the facility, and directions on cleaning the machine she'll be using.
I repeat myself: Would it really be too much to ask for a paragraph explaining my mother's condition and the functioning of the machine? Is that so hard? So time-consuming? I think not. It is indicative of the impersonal nature of the system.
I would have liked to have a description, in writing, of my mother's condition. I've not gotten that. True enough, I did not accompany my mother; instead her care-giver did so. So, I relied upon what the care-giver told me.
Of course, I can go to the internet and read about sleep apnea. That's not what I want. It's too general--like the manufacturer-supplied-book I once had telling me about features of the automobile I owned, which also described features of automobiles I did not own.
Is the sleep doctor so busy or so illiterate that he can't type up a short report of my mother's condition in understandable language?
I don't think I'm too demanding, and I don't think this system of medical care is acceptable.
But I've forgotten the most important thing: The care-giver did did come home with documents: a sort of form which discharged my mother from the facility, and directions on cleaning the machine she'll be using.
I repeat myself: Would it really be too much to ask for a paragraph explaining my mother's condition and the functioning of the machine? Is that so hard? So time-consuming? I think not. It is indicative of the impersonal nature of the system.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
A Parable
They sit huddled under the walls which
protect the palace.
The winds howl and a storm is brewing.
Their clothes are tattered.
Their faces grimy.
But their conversation is lively.
They discuss the latest news:
War in a distant land,
or rumors of a coming famine.
The farmers have, once again,
failed to produce enough food to feed
us all,
and so they argue about who should go
hungry.
I am amazed to hear how their reasonableness,
consists in repeating the words of
those sleeping comfortably behind the tall walls.
It would be unreasonable to say that the wars are
unnecessary,
or that the coming famine is not the
fault of the farmers.
but not here.
It is reasonable to blame the latest defeat on the incompetence of our allies,
--a sorry lot,
who we, from the purest of motives,
only wanted to help.
It is reasonable to blame the latest defeat on the incompetence of our allies,
--a sorry lot,
who we, from the purest of motives,
only wanted to help.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Wisdom (East-West Dialogue)
In Texas, a wise man told me that,
he'd been around guns all of his life,
and he knew what to do with them.
If he felt threatened,
he brought his gun along.
But you wouldn't kill anyone,
would you?,
I asked.
And he said,
If you take out your gun,
you shoot to kill;
aim at the heart.
In a country which once proclaimed itself to be 'socialist',
a wise woman told me,
that money is the goal of life,
and all you need is money.
And I asked,
But what about those unhappy people
who have more money than they know what to do with?
And she said,
Well if people don't know what to do with their money,
then that's not the fault of the money.
he'd been around guns all of his life,
and he knew what to do with them.
If he felt threatened,
he brought his gun along.
But you wouldn't kill anyone,
would you?,
I asked.
And he said,
If you take out your gun,
you shoot to kill;
aim at the heart.
In a country which once proclaimed itself to be 'socialist',
a wise woman told me,
that money is the goal of life,
and all you need is money.
And I asked,
But what about those unhappy people
who have more money than they know what to do with?
And she said,
Well if people don't know what to do with their money,
then that's not the fault of the money.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Crowded train
Women of a certain age,
when youth is lost,
cloak themselves in a stinking cloud,
With pretty names,
Poison becomes beauty in our troubled world.
when youth is lost,
cloak themselves in a stinking cloud,
With pretty names,
Poison becomes beauty in our troubled world.
What is ugliness? The place where I buy food....
What is ugliness?
Ugliness is a grocery store located in a basement,
with no natural light.
When you enter,
a man in uniform stares at you as if you were a thief.
He inspects you,
regards you coldly, callously,
indifferent to your humanity.
As you enter the store,
your ears are assaulted by false-happy noises,
cheerfully urging you to buy crap,
because it's such a bargain,
and telling you to be grateful.
Inside the fruit and vegetables are not fresh,
but who can really tell in the artificial light?
Everything has an unnatural glow.
Yes, I've purchased this fresh-appearing stuff,
and after a day,
it seems to deteriorate,
and mold grows,
all that phony freshness disappearing,
like a paper-mache toy that's gotten wet.
When you pay,
they will bother you with joining the list
of their loyal customers.
--If that's what loyalty is,
then disloyalty is a virtue.
And they will bother you every time.
The poor slaves who work there are unhappy.
I know it, and you know it too.
How can we even dare to look them in the face?
Maybe because we feel like slaves too?
Then there are the shopping bags,
with their lies,
saying that this crap place suits my taste!
What an arrogant insult!
Or claiming they are "ecological",
when we know they are no such things.
Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Ugliness is a grocery store located in a basement,
with no natural light.
When you enter,
a man in uniform stares at you as if you were a thief.
He inspects you,
regards you coldly, callously,
indifferent to your humanity.
As you enter the store,
your ears are assaulted by false-happy noises,
cheerfully urging you to buy crap,
because it's such a bargain,
and telling you to be grateful.
Inside the fruit and vegetables are not fresh,
but who can really tell in the artificial light?
Everything has an unnatural glow.
Yes, I've purchased this fresh-appearing stuff,
and after a day,
it seems to deteriorate,
and mold grows,
all that phony freshness disappearing,
like a paper-mache toy that's gotten wet.
When you pay,
they will bother you with joining the list
of their loyal customers.
--If that's what loyalty is,
then disloyalty is a virtue.
And they will bother you every time.
The poor slaves who work there are unhappy.
I know it, and you know it too.
How can we even dare to look them in the face?
Maybe because we feel like slaves too?
Then there are the shopping bags,
with their lies,
saying that this crap place suits my taste!
What an arrogant insult!
Or claiming they are "ecological",
when we know they are no such things.
Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Czechs and human rights
I wanted to make a comment on a Czech government Minister's remarks about human rights.
But my post hasn't shown up at the paper where he was interviewed.
That's odd because I wrote a longer post, and then a short correction. The correction showed up, but the original did not, which produced a strange sort of incoherence.
So, I'm going to post my (reconstructed) longer post here and now, with a link to the original article.
3. The USA should cease its sanctions against Cuba--but not for the reasons that the Minister gives. The USA has no business trying to overthrow governments. And, in any case, the victims of the sanctions have been ordinary people. That was perfectly predictable, and is the reason why no such sanctions should have ever been put in place.
But my post hasn't shown up at the paper where he was interviewed.
That's odd because I wrote a longer post, and then a short correction. The correction showed up, but the original did not, which produced a strange sort of incoherence.
So, I'm going to post my (reconstructed) longer post here and now, with a link to the original article.
1.
The Minister speaks as though human rights were a fiction, something
invented by privileged or lucky people. That's not true.
Workers in the Czech Republic and China and the USA can agree that
they deserve health care, safety in the workplace (which is not
provided for many Chinese, including those who make Apple products),
and education for their children.
2. The Minister obscurely
suggests that some unique Chinese culture or values justify what goes
on in Tibet. The truth is that he is simply in the business of
bowing toward power. He doesn't want to offend the rulers in
China. But those same rulers don't care very much about whether
a person dies of burns in a factory run by FoxConn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all
3. The USA should cease its sanctions against Cuba--but not for the reasons that the Minister gives. The USA has no business trying to overthrow governments. And, in any case, the victims of the sanctions have been ordinary people. That was perfectly predictable, and is the reason why no such sanctions should have ever been put in place.
4. Lastly, the Minister's actual
suggestions might well have led the New York Times never to publish
the article cited above, out of fear of offending a powerful
person. It is very clear where such obeisance leads--to the death of young soldiers in imperial wars. Jaroslav Hašek could have told you that.
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