Opinion
As I write this column, it’s been a week since the world, as we know it, tilted. We all feel off center, disoriented, like we’re in an alternate reality/a horror show. But, no, it’s real! And now we have to deal with it.
Personally, my emotions are raw. I have an underlying feeling of depression and despair. So much is out of my control and I’m anxious about what comes next. Waiting for the next shoe to drop. I imagine most of y’all can relate.
And I’m a yogi. My practice is full of strategies for coping with reality, for being in the present moment. I’ll try to share a few with y’all.
One definition of yoga is: “Making different shapes in which to explore the breath.” It is a breath-based practice. So, what does that breath look like? Think of your body as a balloon. You know, when you blow up a balloon, you get the air all the way to the bottom, and then you inflate it up to the top from there.
Corporations are obsessed with their public image, intensely concerned with how they appear to both customers and prospective customers alike. And for some corporations, good community relations are also vital. One example of a Central Ohio corporation which has strived to establish community relations is the Honda Motor Corporation, which has one major plant in the region.
Honda has brought thousands of decent jobs to our area, albeit non-union. But you may not be aware of their civic engagement. For example, Honda partnered in the completion of a much-needed domestic violence shelter for Delaware City. They are the largest annual sponsor of Columbus’s Festival Latino, which draws nearly 200,000 people over two days. And they are the major sponsor of the Ohio Wildlife Center and Hospital in Dublin.
On a national level, Honda is working directly to aid in areas such as environmental management, waste reduction, renewable energy, and reduction of CO2. They also make their environmental reports and goals publicly available.
Global Warming:
The most damage will be done not to country but to the planet. Global Warming (renamed benignly as Climate Change) is already upon us in the form of Hurricane Helene flooding in the Appalachian mountains (Asheville, NC area), forest fire infernos in Maui, Hawaii and Paradise, California and the current fires in Santa Paula area of California. Epic flooding has occurred in Spain, Italy, Thailand, Bangladesh, Morocco and Algeria. Flooding in Africa has affected Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Typhoon Yagi struck China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It was the first Category 4 or stronger typhoon to make landfall in Vietnam.
This article first appeard on Reel Time with Richard Ades
Growing up with a degenerative muscular disease, Mats Steen found it harder and harder to take part in everyday life. As a result, the young Norwegian spent most of his time playing video games.
“His world seemed so limited,” said his father, Robert.
Finally, at the age of 25, Mats succumbed to his condition. That’s when Robert and his wife, Trude, realized that their son’s world hadn’t been so limited after all.
The reason is revealed in Benjamin Ree’s unconventional documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.
The film explains that Robert, after losing Mats in 2014, announced the sad news to followers of his son’s blog, “Musings of Life.” The grieving father expected that to be the end of it, but he soon was inundated with condolences from people around the world who had come to know Mats through their shared love of the video game World of Warcraft.
https://worldbeyondwar.org/join-the-world-not-the-u-s-empire/
Remarks upon acceptance of Real Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, Norway, November 10, 2024.
It’s wonderful to be here with many of you whose work I’ve known but whom I’ve rarely if ever been with in person. I am very grateful to John Jones and Tomas Magnusson for arranging this event. I am thrilled to be here at the start of what I expect will be years of terrific work by the Lay Down Your Arms Foundation — an appropriate name here in the House of Literature. The great Fredrik Heffermehl, who has been gone from us for nearly a year now, often stressed the influence on Alfred Nobel in the creation of the Nobel Peace Prize by Bertha von Suttner, the author of the 1889 novel Lay Down Your Arms.
