There’s a great song that goes something like this: "Venus—have you seen us? I can hardly see ya." The only place I’ve heard it is on KEXP (90.3)—a prized local station; I’ll try to find a link for any unfortunate souls who have never had the pleasure of hearing this song. It’s an interesting question: what if Venus could "see" us?
But meanwhile, that song always makes me wonder; what is life? Who has eyes? Chief Seattle, when talking to white man said, "I do not know. Our ways are different than your ways."
Sometimes when I look around, especially lately, I often feel that way too. Of course, the feeling passes when I realize I’m only using my eyes, but that’s another story.
Speaking of eyes, here’s some rather unusual footage:
I know, I know, but I can't embed it. Please click it--it's really wonderful to watch. I promise.
http://www.sonnyradio.com/...
So, after watching this, I wondered what does this mean? Is this what Jesus meant? Love thy neighbor as thyself. Turn the other cheek . . . But the video above and this diary have nothing to do with religion. Because this video--I mean, what does it mean to be a cat or a crow? What does it mean to be a human being?
So, I go back to my question: what is life? Who is intelligent? Who believes in the golden rule? Well, obviously cats, crows, and people are life forms, and smart ones, so let’s not quibble, right?
But what if something we don’t really recognize as even being "alive" was actually alive? What if it was intelligent? People often wonder what aliens would think of us, watching humans kill and torture each other, robbing our neighbors, spoiling our own nest. Even Stephen Hawking, a renowned author and astrophysicist, has recently doubted how any super-intelligent alien could seek peace with our kind and have both sides survive the encounter.
What if this is it?—that über-intelligent life form we’ve all been seeking "somewhere out there" and yet fear equally as much?
All I can ask is: How would any mother feel if someone dug a giant metal needle into one of her major veins to suck out her blood (oil), while at the same fouling up her milk (water), and then sent that blood (oil) careening the wrong way through all of her arteries (wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes). To top it off, at the same time, her child adds insult to injury, killing all the symbiotic organisms (innocent animal and plant inhabitants) along the way in the now terribly failed experiment to redirect her bloodstream.
Hmmm, I wouldn’t mess with that mother. I’d start showing some respect and quick.
Wouldn’t you just cut the cord with a child who did this to you?
And yet, we "live" another day. What we live on, in, under, and above—I mean the big "we"—all life as we know it—is a very special and, as yet, very secret garden. And we, well, we are very spoiled children.
If she’s alive, let’s hope she’ll hear us sing her praises rather than continue to plunder her privileges, and, please, we plead with you--spare us the full force of your rod.
I hope you don't mind, Turkana, but I have to quote this as my inspiration:
We have to be rid of fossil fuels. We are junkies, and we are dying. We are killing not only ourselves, but so many of the beautiful and wondrous creatures with whom we share this spinning blue garden oasis. If a biosphere fails in a far corner of an obscure galaxy on a distant edge of what may be but one of countless Universes, will anybody hear? This is us. This is on us. No one will rescue us. There will be no redeeming such a catastrophic collective failure. Myths and fantasies will not save us.
I know my tale about a living earth is a bit of a myth or a fanatasy, as far as hard science is concerned, although we've all heard of the Gaia theories, and seen Avatar.
All I do know is this: I need myth and fantasy to survive--if that makes me weak or foolish, so be it. I'm hardwired that way, and I can't stop who I am, unless I cease to be.
To elaborate on what earlier I was unable to deal with. What is man?
(05-02) 15:10 PDT GUATEMALA CITY, (AP) --
A Guatemalan immigrant who died defending a woman under attack in New York City has been buried in his native country.
Hugo Tale Yax's death in Queens provoked outrage after surveillance camera footage showed several people walking past his bleeding body without stopping to help.
Police say the 31-year-old homeless man was stabbed to death after intervening in an argument between a man and a woman that turned physical.
His body was flown to Guatemala, where he was buried Saturday in his hometown of Esperanza.
His father, Juan Pablo Tale, says his son was "truly a hero. He defended someone he did not know. It's a lesson for everyone."
Municipal authorities delivered U.S. and Guatemalan flags to the family.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/... [Emphasis mine]
Special thanks to The San Francisco Chronicle for following up on this story. I have used your whole piece because this is my memorial to Hugo Tale Yax, a Guatemalan hero. Please contact me if you have a problem with it. Aside--I wish AP had told us which municipalities gave him the American and Guatamalan flags.
P.S. Please buy paper copies of the newspaper and insist they use recycled paper. Do the same with your favorite magazines. Thank you.
For more on the inner life of crows. Thanks chuckvw.