Life goes on as it must.  Patterns are established, habits ingrained, the inexorable impetus of cause and effect.  Can I imagine our ancestors sense of dread at a time when they felt the gods were working against them?  Has not science removed that burden?  Hardly.

I had a brief conversation with a friend and investment manager yesterday.  He recommended that GE stock be sold, as the company is in trouble with under-funded pension obligations.  I agreed, feeling some sadness.   GE is a storied American manufacturing company.  Recently I read of their continuing development of jet engines, a product for which they are well-regarded.

The “bar fight” continues in the White House.  The presidents press secretary, Sean Spicer was fired.  The newly hired communications director, Anthony Scaramucci used profanity during a New Yorker interview.

I had a flash back to the opening scene in the Gladiator movie, which depicts the Roman infantry line of battle.  The Romans were adept at conflict as their empire was held together by the threat of force.  The method of combat was to have a line of infantry advance, slaughter and be slaughtered for a few minutes.  After a brief period of hand to hand combat the survivors would rotate to the rear.  They’d be replaced by fresh troops to slaughter and be slaughtered.

Sean Spicer’s replacement will be used up and replaced.  The scrum continues.

I attended the Lake County Fair last night.  I felt sad at the diminished number of farm animals in the animal barns.  I enjoy the variety of the animals.  I wish that I had enough land to care for some chickens, and perhaps a goat or two.  Animals are fewer at the fair as development envelops small farms.

We live in a period of extremes.  Extreme positions produce conflict.  If I believed in the old gods, I’d conclude the gods are set in opposition to us.

Here is a statement of rare insight upon the zeitgeist of our country.

It is easy for the mind to indulge.  The opposite is also easy, to renounce.  To move to the extreme is easy for the mind.  To remain in the middle, exactly in the middle, is the most difficult thing for the mind because it is suicide for the mind.  The mind dies in the middle, and no-mind arises.

–Osho

Osho (11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990) was an Indian thinker.  His syncretic teachings emphasize the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, courage, creativity, and humor—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition, and socialization. Osho’s teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought,  and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.  -Wikipedia