‘How do I know that the love of life is not a delusion?
and that the dislike of death is not like a young person’s losing his way,
and not knowing that he is (really) going home?

Lî Kî was a daughter of the border Warden of Âi.
When (the ruler of) the state of Tsin first got possession of her,
she wept till the tears wetted all the front of her dress. But when she came
to the place of the king, shared with him his luxurious couch,
and ate his grain and grass-fed meat,
then she regretted that she had wept.

How do I know that the dead do not repent
of their former craving for life?

‘Those who dream of (the pleasures of) drinking
may in the morning wail and weep;
those who dream of wailing and weeping may
in the morning be going out to hunt.

When they were dreaming
they did not know it was a dream;
in their dream they may even have tried to interpret it;
but when they awoke
they knew that it was a dream.

And there is the great awaking,
after which we shall know that this life was a great dream.
All the while, the stupid think they are awake,
and with nice discrimination insist on their knowledge;
now playing the part of rulers, and now of grooms.

Bigoted was that Khiû!
He and you are both dreaming.

I who say that you are dreaming am dreaming myself.

Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou, trans. by James Legge, The Adjustment of Controversies

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Flush with cash, U.S. immigration agency expands weaponry and surveillance

The agency overseeing Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown is spending tens of millions of dollars on guns, ammunition, body armor and surveillance technology, procurement records show.

Spending across the categories is vastly higher than under both the Biden presidency and the first Trump administration.

ICE — the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency — has been tasked with deporting an unprecedented number of unauthorized migrants from the United States.

Data gleaned from federal contracts shows an agency that critics say is transforming itself into a paramilitary force, aided by a budget that now equals or surpasses the military spending of many smaller nations.     – By Corin FAIFE The Japan Times

The right song helps get one through the darkness. This one is a favorite. True Devotion by the BoDeans.

Before you go to sleep tonight
Say a prayer for me, yeah

And all the other wasted souls
Drowning definitely