Palin Pause, Pose and Listen to Nyong'o

Prof Anyang' Nyong'o wrote in yesterday Sunday Standard that Sarah Palin's new book portends ill for America and the world.

In America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag, Palin, argues Nyong'o, re-ignites rascist tendencies.

The good Prof faults Palin for having issues with Michelle Obama's assertion that after campaigning for her husband, "for the first time in her adult lifetime she was really proud of her country."

Nyong'o reminds Palin of the America of the sixties and seventies. He however is skeptical and wonders whether Palin with "her common garden philosophy and ruther rustic junior school civics, ...remember who Dr Martin Luther King Jr was and how he relates to what Michelle says today".

My knowledge of African American literature stirs in my misty soul the painful experiences of Blacks right from the days of slavery.

Palin can have free lessons from me as to the nature of slavery, how it was sustained and what the Blacks thought and think of it.

Back to Nyong'o. For him, Palin's 'philosophies' smacks of "the spectre of the pure but violated Aryan race".

He warns that "when mediocrity climbs the ladder of power, and pretends to dine with philosophers like Plato, then we should know that Armageddon is beckoning to prey on our worst fears and to unleash some of the most intolerant ideas into the lexicon of governance in the world's most powerful nation. It will come in the guise of patriotism, exceptionalism or some form of populism not yet known to humankind".

Lets hope she has heard. And somebody needs to tell that to these Kenyan tribal chiefs!

The Four Noble Truths: A Budhist Insight into Life

A few experiences in my life and that of others, some recent and others old, move me towards sharing this with you.

With your tacit indulgence, let me take you briefly through four truths of life as understood by Budhists.

First, life is suffering. Nothing new there, I guess. Pain and agony characterise life.

Second, suffering is due to attachment. Imperfection and impermanence is the juice of our reality. Clinging to things of this world, which can never last nor be perfect, is the best recipe to hurting.

Third, suffering can be overcome. Sigh of relief. Choose not to be attached and choose not to suffer.

Fourth, there is away of doing this (three above). Follow the eightfold path. Google!

Examine your life. Find out whether at the root of your suffering, lies attachment to fleeting things and experiences. Now, what about a paradigm shift?