La Palma's Volcanic Activity ~ TIME

 

La Palma's Volcanic Activity 

~ TIME ~

     time -- Ten days of volcanic activity on La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, has forced thousands of people to flee and led to the destruction of hundreds of homes and buildings. 

     The Canaries’ government chief Ángel Víctor Torres described the area impacted by the Sept. 19 eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano as a “catastrophe zone.” 

     Officials said on Sept. 28 that lava had reached La  Palma’s shoreline and was spilling into the Atlantic Ocean, releasing huge steam clouds and potentially toxic gases. In this photograph: horses roam on a farm in Tacande de Abajo on Sept. 27.

 

The Game of Why (Gateway to Anxiety) ~ by TPO

 

The Game of Why (Gateway to Anxiety)

[ excerpted from "How to be anxious" by David Egan* ]

~ by TPO ~ 

     As a starting point for getting a grip on the concept of anxiety, imagine being a five-year-old again. You might remember that game where a child discovers that there’s no explanation that can’t be met with the question ‘Why?’:

    – What are you doing?
    – I’m sending an email to my boss.
    – Why?
    – Because I want to update her on the project that I’m working on.
    – Why?
    – Because I want to stay on my boss’s good side.
    – Why?
    – Because I don’t want to lose my job.
    – Why?
    – Because I don’t want to have to worry about money.
    – Why?

     Usually in these games, the grown-up runs out of patience before the child does. Persistent questioning can be annoying – consider what happened to Socrates. But it can also be instructive. If you’re willing to play along, the child can help you realize that financial security is a significant motivator in your life – and confront you with the question of whether it should be.

     Try playing both sides of this game with yourself. Start with any ordinary activity – what you were doing at this time yesterday, what you plan to do this evening – and ask yourself why you’re doing (or did) that. Keep probing and see where you get. Try to answer each ‘Why?’ question as concretely as you can, and frame it in the first-person: I’m asking why I am invested in these activities.

     The child’s discovery of the potentially bottomless series of ‘Why?’ questions reveals something about the structure of our reasons: there’s no definitive ‘Because…’ Whatever reasons you think you have for living in the way that you are, in odd moments those reasons might cease to have a grip on you. Your sense of purpose can swirl away into a vortex of ‘Why?’ like water swirling down a drain.
____________________________________________________________________
* Source : "https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-be-anxious-like-kierkegaard-sartre-and-heidegger?utm_source=pocket-newtab" 

 

La Société Inclusive ~ TPO

 

La Société Inclusive

 ~ TPO ~

Please click on image to magnify! // Cliquez sur l'image pour l'agrandir!

Just for Laughs ~ by Nino Gigolashvili

 

      Just for Laughs !

    by Nino Gigolashvili, Townlife Magazine
    ================================

     After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to the local grocery store. Unfortunately, like most men; I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter, from the local store manager:
     Dear Mrs. Harris:
Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion, in our store.
We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to, ban both of you from the store.
Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras:
     1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.
     2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
     3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
     4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money. We don't have a Code 3.
     5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.
     6. August 14: Moved a, 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
     7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.
     8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.
     9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
     10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
     11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while, loudly humming the, 'Mission Impossible' theme.
     12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his, 'Madonna Look' using different sizes of funnels.
     13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
     14. October 22: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed;
'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'
     15. Took a box of condoms to the checkout clerk and asked where is the fitting room?
And last, but not least:
     16. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile; then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

 

A Walking Tree ~ by TPO

 

A Walking Tree ~ by TPO 

() () () () () () ()

     "I came upon a child of God
     He was walking along the road
     And I asked him where are you going
     And this he told me
     I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm *
     I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
     I'm going to camp out on the land
     I'm going to try an' get my soul free ." ~ Joni Mitchell 1970 🌟
__________________________________________
     * Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York.


 

Germany's Annalena Baerbock ~ by TIME

  

Germany's Annalena Baerbock ~ by TIME

%%% === %%% 

     In person as well as in policy, Annalena Baerbock, the Chancellor candidate for Germany's Green party, is the clearest change candidate the country has seen in decades, writes Ciara Nugent.  At 40, she is the second youngest person—and the second woman after Angela Merkel, who is preparing to step down after 16 years in power—to run for Chancellor. In Germany, boring might be best, though. 

     Candidates promising sweeping, swift transformations have struggled in the country since World War II, according to Jeff Rathke, president of the Washington-based American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.  "Campaigns often have drawn on the trauma of Germany's past to provide cautious voters with an agenda of continuity," he says, citing an early campaign slogan by 1950's Chancellor Konrad Adenauer ("No Experiments!") and Merkel's own 2013 slogan: "You know me."  

     Baerbock's key message is that change is coming, whether Germans want it or not.  That change is not only Merkel’s departure.  It is visible in the villages swept away by the worst floods in 500 years in July, or the enormous pressure weighing on the economically important German car industry.  In that context, the Greens say a bet on Baerbock is safer than sticking with establishment parties who have failed to future-proof the country.  "The big challenge for me," Baerbock says, "is to make people trust that the change is stable." 

....  🇩🇪  🇩🇪  🇩🇪  ....

_____________________________________________________
 Source: Instagram.com

 

A Madman's Ramblings ~ by Eli Weiss

 

A Madman's Ramblings *

~ by Eli Weiss~

 

     "I never understood wind. 

     You know, I know
     windmills very much.
     I have studied it
     better than anybody
     else. It’s very expensive.
     They are made in China
     and Germany mostly.
     —Very few made here, almost none,
     but they are manufactured, tremendous
     —if you are into this—
     tremendous fumes. Gases are
     spewing into the atmosphere. You know
     we have a world
     right?
     So the world
     is tiny
     compared to the universe.
     So tremendous, tremendous
     amount of fumes and everything.
     You talk about
     the carbon footprint
     — fumes are spewing into the air.
     Right? Spewing.
     Whether it’s in China,
     Germany, it’s going into the air.
     It’s our air
     their air
     everything — right?
     A windmill will kill many bald eagles.
     After a certain number
     they make you turn the windmill off.
     That is true.
     —By the way
      they make you turn it off.
     And yet, if you killed one
     they put you in jail.
     That is OK.
     You want to see a bird graveyard?
     You just go.
     Take a look.
     A bird graveyard.
     Go under a windmill someday,
     you’ll see
     more birds
     than you’ve ever seen
     in your life."

_________________________

* D. Trump 

12/21/2019

Asheville Poetry Review

    

 

Elsa's Eyes ~ by Louis Aragon

 

Elsa's Eyes
by Louis Aragon (1897-1982)

  Your eyes are so deep that leaning down to drink
    I saw all suns mirrored in them
    All desperate souls hurled deathward from their brink
    Your eyes are so deep my memory is lost there

    In the shadow of birds the ocean roars
    Then suddenly the day clears and your eyes change
    Summer carves the clouds on the angels’ pinafore
    The sky’s never as blue as it is above grain

    In vain the winds pursue the azure’s griefs
    Your eyes are brighter, even through a veil of tears,
    And your eyes make the heavens jealous after a shower:
    Glass is never so blue as it is when it breaks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tes yeux sont si profonds qu'en me penchant pour boire
J'ai vu tous les soleils y venir se mirer
S'y jeter à mourir tous les désespérés
Tes yeux sont si profonds que j'y perds la mémoire

À l'ombre des oiseaux c'est l'océan troublé
Puis le beau temps soudain se lève et tes yeux changent
L'été taille la nue au tablier des anges
Le ciel n'est jamais bleu comme il l'est sur les blés

Les vents chassent en vain les chagrins de l'azur
Tes yeux plus clairs que lui lorsqu'une larme y luit
Tes yeux rendent jaloux le ciel d'après la pluie
Le verre n'est jamais si bleu qu'à sa brisure 

 

Life Is Good ~ by Jodi Orgill Brown

 

Life Is Good ~ by Jodi Orgill Brown 

[on Facebook, August 28,2021] 

{} {} {} {} {} {} {} 

     I bought rocks yesterday. A 10 or 11 year-old girl stood in front of her apartment with a sign, “Rocks for sale.” My first thought was, “if she’s selling rocks, she must not have much else to sell”.  

     I got out of my car and went to ask about her rocks. She said she’d been there for 2 hours, but no one had even stopped. And that was after she had already gone door to door trying to sell the rocks. Her sign said that each rock was $5, so I grabbed a $20 bill and handed it to her. She sheepishly responded that she didn’t have change for $20. I told her change was not needed as I was going to buy 4 of her beautiful rocks.

     Immediately she started to cry. As tears streamed down her face she told me that her family had a cat, but they didn’t have enough money to take care of it. Her mom said the only way they could keep it was if she earned the money for the cat food. She couldn’t believe I was going to buy 4 rocks, but that with the money she would be able to keep her favorite pet. She thanked me profusely, but the tears had already rewarded me well. As I left, she packed up her table and treasures and went inside. All day I thought about the difference $20 made in her life. I think I’ll keep those rocks forever.
     When I had my brain tumor, even a little text message could give me hope to keep fighting. No act of kindness is “little” when you are in need. I wish I could buy rocks everyday. 

                                                                         💙💙 ❤️❤️ 💙💙

 

"Hung out to die !" ~ by Natureismetal on Instagram

  

"Hung out to die !" 

~ by Natureismetal on Instagram ~

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] 

     The remains of a long dead caribou, straightened out by gravity after having paid his debt to the earth.
     It is one thing to have bad luck, which is what I would call the act of tripping/slipping into that gap in the first place, but it is quite another to have the unholy misfortune of being forced to endure your eventual demise, minute by minute, hour by hour, instead of just falling to your death.
     I seriously hope my hypothetical scenario is incorrect, and that the caribou broke its neck on impact, because I would not wish such a terrible fate on my most hated nemesis.