T P O

T   P   O
The Patient Ox (aka Hénock Gugsa)

G r e e t i n g s !

** TPO **
A personal blog with diverse topicality and multiple interests!


On the menu ... politics, music, poetry, and other good stuff.
There is humor, but there is blunt seriousness here as well!


Parfois, on parle français ici aussi. Je suis un francophile .... Bienvenue à tous!

* Your comments and evaluations are appreciated ! *

Showing posts with label My Scrapbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Scrapbook. Show all posts

Saturday, December 17, 2016

"Presenting Ethiopia" ~ by Hénock Gugsa


"Presenting Ethiopia" 
~ by Hénock Gugsa ~
Here is a video I hurriedly put together.  It is something less dispiriting and less somber with which to end the year.  I am hopeful you will find it fun, interesting, and maybe even wistfully diverting.  It is a bird's eye-view of an ancient land, its people and its history!

Incidentally, this is actually the 1,000th post or entry in this blog.  I began TPO in 2009.  Unfortunately, this could very well be my last posting as I am beginning to slowly lose interest.  Sadly, there has been very little encouragement for my efforts from any corner.  For the most part, I have actually not been getting any reaction of any kind whatsoever!  As a result, from this point on, my posting will definitely and markedly be reduced or suspended indefinitely!

My thanks to all the people near and far who have read or viewed any of the posts here over the years!!!


Presenting Ethiopia - the Video from Hénock on Vimeo.
==================================================================
Please  NOTE !
=============
I suggest when you're watching the video and it gets to a text frame, pause the video. That way you can read  the text without any rush.  Also, it is good to put the video in "full window" state.  You should find the feature right on the frame, just hover your mouse over little icons you might see around there.  When you're done, hit the ESC key on your keyboard, it will bring you back to normal viewing.


Thursday, December 15, 2016

Very Troubling Indeed ! - by Hénock Gugsa


Ilhan Omar
 Very Troubling Indeed ! 
~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

From: The Star Tribune , December 12,2016 * 

State Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar, DFL-Minneapolis, said Monday that she reported to Washington, D.C., authorities an incident from last week in which she said she was harassed and threatened by a cabdriver ....
Omar, who will become the country's first Somali-American state legislator, was in the nation's capital last week for a conference attended by other state lawmakers. In a post on Facebook and Twitter last Wednesday, Omar said that she and her sister endured harassment the day before by a D.C. cabdriver after she attended a training at the White House.
The driver, Omar said, called her "ISIS" and threatened to remove her hijab.  [In] her Monday statement she described [the cabdriver] as an "African immigrant."
"It is essential we recognize what happened to me is not an isolated incident ...."  Omar said she has not filed a police report "because I believe criminalizing hate is not a solution and will only strengthen individual malice. Bigotry is a product of ignorance; by educating people, we will move toward respect and understanding." 

 * Source: Star Tribune, December 12,2016
====================================
  I find this report of the allegation by Ilhan Omar very confusing and troubling!  My reasons (or questions) are as follows ...  

1 - Why does she not consider this a "criminal" act ?  Does she not consider "Hate" a serious offense tantamount to crime?  Is she maybe acknowledging there has also been a lot of "Hate" and resentment inside her own [the Somali] community for quite some time now?  
2 - Does she think that the fact [?] the cabdriver is an African mitigates the seriousness of the issue?  Would she be more concerned if he had been a non-black person?  
3 - Has it ever occurred to Ilhan Omar that when she chose the path of public office, especially in the prevailing political climate, that she is fair game from all sides including her own?!   
4 - Does she recognize that her duty now is mainly to work within her own community (changing minds, attitudes, and rigid beliefs) and then to liaise with the rest of society to bring about improved understanding and agreement?

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Good Notes to Self - by Hénock Gugsa


============= Good Notes to Self =============
by 
Hénock Gugsa

This past week, I had a good exchange with a friend on Facebook ....

HG ===> At another post, a friend suggests that starting January 1st ... how about logging down on paper (in a file somewhere) only the good things that happen in your life. Then, at the end of the year, go back and read them and smile.  Life has got to offer some good things even in the bleakest of times!

DK ===> I named my office my "I love me room!"  I have a wall of acknowledgments to remind me that I can stand for things worthy the effort, and I have a file drawer full of notes from former students, parents, colleagues and people in the community.  When I find the world bearing down on me and feeling hopeless, I open that drawer and humbly wrap myself in gratitude for the blessings life has brought me.  It helps when things seem their bleakest to have a touch stone.

HG ===> Thank you, Dan. Life indeed is a worthwhile undertaking in the hands of a wise person.  Above all, the learning, the sharing, and the caring is what I find most blissful and satisfying.  And if "memory" or the capacity for it remains in tact, then we can say that sanity is achievable ... humor and balance will stay in place!


Monday, December 5, 2016

The Multitude Are Wrong! - by Hénock Gugsa


The Multitude Are Wrong! 
~ by Hénock Gugsa ~
Recently on Facebook, I responded to somebody named CG [initials] who made the following inane comment to the posted picture meme ....

CG ===> I absolutely love how ironic this picture is, and you all are proving it. It is simply saying ALL issues aren't so simple and everyone needs to be well informed. Nowhere does it mention politics, but what do so many of you do? You simply the issue to a "Democrats vs Republicans."
For fuck sakes, get your head out of the politician's assholes and THINK for yourself.
_______________________________
[ and I responded to CG as follows ...]

HG ===> Curtis: Couldn't you just simply give us only your take on the message in the meme instead of your snarky commentary about the world? I do not get anything of value from your commentary here, but I want you to know that I like and agree with the message in the meme. I don't have to give anyone a reason why ... do you give your reason for everything you do or for your beliefs and judgements?!

HG ===> ... and oh, incidentally, I see that  286  people have given your commentary a thumbs up.  I believe this proves that indeed the multitude seem to prefer taking the wrong path as stated by the meme.  This is a perfect example of "res ipse loquitur" ["the thing speaks for itself"].
 


Dame Maggie Smith ("The Dowager")

Friday, December 2, 2016

[Choices and Pitfalls of] Decision Making ~~ by TPO



[Choices and Pitfalls of] Decision Making *
======= // =======
<<....  In 2006, J. Edward Russo, a psychologist specializing in decision making at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, ran a series of experiments to illustrate just how easy it would be to get us to go against our own best interest with just a bit of clever framing.  First, he and his colleagues asked a group of students about their restaurant preferences for two pairs of fictional restaurants that were described according to ten different attributes (atmosphere, daily specials, driving distance, speed of service, and the like).  Two weeks later, they asked  everyone to come in for a follow-up.  This time, the list of attributes was modified and ordered in a very specific way.  The information was identical, but now the characteristic that most favored the inferior restaurant was placed first -- and the less favorable last.  Everyone was next asked to rate the restaurants a second time, and then to say how confident they were of their choices on a scale of zero (uncertain) to one-hundred (completely certain), where fifty represents a toss-up.

This time around, a majority of people -- 62 percent -- favored the previously inferior choices.  The fact that the first attribute supported it skewed all subsequent information.  In fact, after the first attribute alone, a full 76 percent said the inferior choice was the leader.  What's more, they had no idea  they were doing it.  People were choosing a restaurant they would not have naturally liked nearly as much as other options, but they remained equally confident in their choice no matter what option they'd picked.>>
_________________________________________

* Source: "The Confidence Game" by Maria Konnikova (Viking Press, 2016). 

                  ~~ Page 160 ~~
  
James Coburn (left) and Steve McQueen ~ The Magnificent 7

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

"The Don't-Know Mind" [A clean slate] ~~ by Zen Master Seung Sahn Soen-sa


"The Don't-Know Mind" 
[A clean slate] 
 by Zen Master Seung Sahn Soen-sa

Throw away all opinions, all likes and dislikes, and only keep the mind that doesn’t know… Your before-thinking mind, my before-thinking mind, all people’s before-thinking minds are the same. This is your substance. Your substance, my substance, and the substance of the whole universe become one. So the tree, the mountain, the cloud, and you become one… The mind that becomes one with the universe is before thinking. Before thinking there are no words. “Same” and “different” are opposites words; they are from the mind that separates all things.

The Three Pillars of Zen's Don't-Know Mind :

Zen Practice … requires great faith, great courage, and great questioning.
What is great faith? Great faith means that at all times you keep the mind which decided to practice, no matter what. It is like a hen sitting on her eggs. She sits on them constantly, caring for them and giving them warmth, so that they will hatch. If she becomes careless or negligent, the eggs will not hatch and become chicks. So Zen mind means always and everywhere believing in myself….

Great Courage … means bringing all your energy to one point. It is like a cat hunting a mouse. The mouse has retreated into its hole, but the cat waits outside the hole for hours on end without the slightest movement. It is totally concentrated on the mouse-hole. This is Zen mind — cutting off all thinking and directing all your energy to one point.
Great Questioning … If you question with great sincerity, there will only be don’t-know mind.
 



Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Assessment and Prognostication - by Hénock Gugsa


Assessment and Prognostication 
~ by Hénock Gugsa ~
A Seriously Damaged Party:

The Democratic Party has taken a severe blow in the gut.  
The anger and frustration (hopelessness, helplessness) of the "working class" was not sufficiently addressed.  Hillary was never really there, and Obama was misguided in his unnecessary and (I believe wrong) advocacy of TPP* ~~~ both Clinton and Obama, thereby damaging the Democrat brand.  Hillary never picked up Bernie's cry, instead she chose the bland and uninspiring route. Big miscalculation!

And as for Donald Trump ... he's just an opportunist and a wild card! He stole the fire that should have been in the Democratic Party's camp!


Beginning of the Future: 

If things don't go well for this new Republican administration, you can bet your bottom dollar that indiscriminate scapegoating will be the order of the day. What's more, since Mr. Trump's agenda is obscure and not even seriously thought-out, there is great potential for self-propagating failure. I do not see clear skies in the horizon. 

In the global sphere, I am envisioning the world as conceived by George Orwell in his book, "1984".

The setting of Orwell's book  is the futuristic, fictional country of Oceania .  When Orwell wrote the book in 1948, the future he envisioned was 1984 ... hence the title of the book.
Oceania is one of three world powers; the other two are Eurasia and Eastasia. War with one or the other world power is a constant reality. 
It is always an alignment of two powers against one.
 

I am now envisioning the Americas as Oceania ... Eurasia as being all of Europe including Russia ... and Eastasia as China, India, etc.
 

Currently, with the Putin and Trump friendship, can you see the beginning of an alignment between Oceania and Eurasia against the "current" threat, Eastasia?  


------------------------------------------------------------------
*  TPP = Trans Pacific Partnership (trade pact)
 

Thursday, November 10, 2016

"Still I Rise" - by Maya Angelou


 Still I Rise
by 
Maya Angelou
================ 
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.



Saturday, November 5, 2016

The Latest Statin Scare - by Hénock Gugsa


Click the image to tnlarge

Yet another prescription drug quagmire! 

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Statin Use Linked to Increased Parkinson's Risk"

- by Nancy A. Melville, Medscape Medical News, 10/26/2016 -
(http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/870996?nlid=110304_2981)
//// Contrary to previous research, a new study shows a higher, rather than lower, risk for Parkinson's disease associated with statins. ////
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My take on the Latest Statin Scare
~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

A few years ago, Lipitor was prescribed for me to curb my high cholesterol count. When I started having serious joint problems, I complained to my Doctor. He changed the prescription to Pravastatin, but I have been so traumatized by such types of "medicine" that I'm naturally gun-shy about taking it. I only take it for about three days before the next check-up so my lab-test results would show a passing grade or better.

Aside from the joy of being a rebel, I have over the years grown to seriously question the wisdom of those in the medical profession. So, in that vein, may I here offer a piece of Ethiopian wisdom: "Nobody knows about the self better than the self!" .... That should answer your puzzlement as to why, although these doctors keep asking you questions, their own answers (understandings) are in the end no better than guesses !!!


George C Scott

Monday, October 31, 2016

" En hiver la terre pleure; ..." ~ Victor Hugo



En hiver la terre pleure
Poème de VICTOR HUGO
~~~~~~ **** ~~~~~~

En hiver la terre pleure ;
Le soleil froid, pâle et doux,
Vient tard, et part de bonne heure,
Ennuyé du rendezvous.

Leurs idylles sont moroses.
Soleil ! aimons ! Essayons.
O terre, où donc sont tes roses ?
Astre, où donc sont tes rayons ?

Il prend un prétexte, grêle,
Vent, nuage noir ou blanc,
Et dit : C'est la nuit, ma belle !
Et la fait en s'en allant ;

Comme un amant qui retire
Chaque jour son coeur du noeud,
Et, ne sachant plus que dire,
S'en va le plus tôt qu'il peut.


Saturday, October 29, 2016

A Mental Hurdle ?! - by Anonymous


A Mental Hurdle ?!
~~ by Anonymous ~~
====================
During a visit to the mental asylum, I asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because its bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

Winona Ryder


Monday, October 24, 2016

The Demise of Language - by Hénock Gugsa


"Through a glass darkly"
The Demise of Language 
- by Hénock Gugsa -
======== **** ========
// Someone asked on Facebook  (and I paraphrase):  How does the citizenry get dumbed down so effectively, so fast? ....  And the same someone answered (again I paraphrase):  By the systematic decline and neglect of the national language within the educational structures  ....  Then, a bit later, the same person wrapped up the discourse with a reference to the story of the Tower of Babel. //
~~~~ 
My response:  I don't believe Government has ever made a conscious and deliberate move similar to God when He was punishing humanity for their pride, and their insolence toward Him.  And if Government ever had any such nefarious  designs on its citizens, it would certainly not have been so lucky as to have willing accomplices like science and technology.  In this day and age of acronyms, emoticons, icons, and the vehicles of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.), the destruction of our language by abbreviations and punctuation marks is inevitable and unavoidable.

The limited boundaries set in Twitter, for instance, are emblematic of a society already addled by attention-deficit-disorder.  But then again, even in ordinary situations of police reporting or doctors' or nurses' medical chart reports, the English language is so stilted and mechanical-sounding, it does not even sound human.  Strangely, the police may surprise you with their vocabulary which may include the word: "semaphore" ... but then at another point, they would confound you with: "vic", or "unsub".  


Conclusion:  I don't think the Government has cursed us into the situation we are in.  I think that, much the same as in the time of Babel,  we ourselves are our own ruination! 
~~~~ 
Robert Downey, Jr.

 

Friday, October 21, 2016

Trying Times! - by Hénock Gugsa


Trying Times!
- by Hénock Gugsa -

In these crazy Orwellian days, of-course anything goes.  Right is wrong, and wrong is right!  The crazies have indeed been calling the shots.  Yes, I'm talking about the national epidemic of "unreason" being spread around by Wall Street, Financial Institutions, governments, the police, the mass media, and political institutions.  Tell me: Has anybody stopped to ask the most fundamental questions to explain the irrational actions or thoughts that are affecting our lives now and will in the future?  So let us now ask:  W H Y  ???

~~ Why are lies being spread about the economy? -- To destroy what has been achieved and to profit from the ruin. 
 

~~ Why are immigrants, and minorities targeted as enemies? -- Because scapegoats are always needed when legitimate reasons are not evident for the perceived problems, and immediate solutions are scant.
 

~~ Why are decency and civility cast aside? -- Because they get in the way of the quick and easy .... "Political Correctness" is seen as denial of freedom of speech by some, and coverup of "truth" (reality) by others.
 

~~ Why are people (normal everyday people) so upset and het up by the "Black Lives Matter" movement? -- It's not really because they don't understand or that they disagree with the movement ... they are not even willing to sit at the table to discuss the burning issues.  No, I just thought of a reason, and it is radical and inflammatory:  I submit to you it is because, deep down, they believe that "black lives" don't really matter at all !

********************************************************************************** 
The conservatives have been outed ... they are the destructives!
Can anything good be salvaged?  Will the nation survive?          
-- Answer:  Yes, it has before, and it will again!
**********************************************************************************


Monday, October 17, 2016

Insane Asylum Admission Criteria - by TPO


Insane Asylum Admission Criteria *
=== by TPO ===
Some of these reasons are, IMO, possibly applicable to the orange-headed Presidential candidate of 2016 .... By order of strength of validity ===>
~~ Egotism
~~ Bad habits and political excitment
~~ Greediness
~~ Gathering in the head [very appropriately so!]
~~ Brain fever
~~ Intemperance and business trouble
~~ Immoral life
~~ Excessive sexual abuse
~~ Dissolute habits
~~ Vicious vices
~~ Feebleness of intellect
-------------------------------------------------------------
* log book of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, 
archived by West Virginia Division of Culture and History 

Friday, October 14, 2016

Common Pitfalls of Sudden Wealth - by The Onion


Common Pitfalls Of Sudden Wealth  *
-- by The Onion --

~~ No longer any need to partake in thrilling hunt of finding cheapest airfare.  
~~ IRS suddenly beating down your door to snatch away huge portions of your  hard-inherited money.
~~ Have to purchase 1,436 mattresses to store your fortune.
~~ Exterminator can’t do anything about the members of Congress in your living room.  
~~ No excuse for your face to still look like that.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
* Source: The Onion, 9/28/2016

Hilarious?! ... Right?!


Monday, October 10, 2016

My Takeaway ~~ by Hénock Gugsa


click on image to enlarge
My Takeaway
(of the Presidential Debate, 10/9/2016)
- by Hénock Gugsa -
========================
Spellbinding!  Fantastic !!
I have for a long time opted to watch these debates on C-Span for the basic reason that you get an unalloyed, unfiltered presentation of the events first-hand.  As a result, I am able to formulate my opinions or to describe my impressions as my own with a clear and uncluttered mind.  

So, here is my summarized take of last night's debate participants ...  ************************************************************
Last night's Presidential debate between Hillary and Donald was, in my opinion, unique and for the ages. It was historical (on many levels) and educational for everybody, young and old.
Donald Trump ===> unfocused, petulant, petty, insolent, bullish, and stubbornly unremorseful.
Hillary Clinton ===> polished, in-control, knowledgeable, confident, unperturbed, and worthy of high respect.
************************************************************
 
 

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

How to Hit the Powerball - by Tim Torkildson


How to Hit the Powerball *
(a sure-fire formula, Guaranteed!)
- by Tim Torkildson -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
I aim to hit the Powerball just once in my short span;
and I have got a logical and foolproof master plan.

First I take my birth date and divide it by 16,
then I add that number to the price of Ovaltine.

Next I take the license plate of any car I pass
and multiply it by the days until I mow my grass.

Finally I cast my horoscope with a hand of Uno,
and divide it by the temperature up there in snowy Juneau.
I come up with a number that is guaranteed to win,
and write it down upon a piece of certified buckskin.
I’ll share my system with you for a negligible fee
(since I have been quite broke since back in ’63…).

----------------------------------------------------------------

*Bulletin Board, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, October 2, 2016
Christopher Walken
 

Monday, October 3, 2016

Marriage, Old Testament Style! - by Hénock Gugsa


Marriage, Old Testament Style !
- by Hénock Gugsa -

Please click inside the picture to enlarge.

The wise king, Solomon, had 700 wives and 300 concubines !!
All those women ...
and he would be hard pressed to visit anyone of them more than 2.74 times a year on a fair rotation system !!!

uh wah ...