Desi In Toronto

Well, well, well….so the Bush administration has finally done it. The short of it is as follows :-

In America, if you cannot resolve your family problems you go to court. If the courts resolve the matter which the current government does not like, a legislature will be passed to force the court to reconsider the matter!! In other words the government will butt into your family matters

I think this is the beginning of the slide. Why oh why is the government trying to upstage the rule of the law as stated by the state’s judiciary? What does that mean? The current administration tried to do this in the gay-marriage rights and now it done it in Terri’s case. What could happen?

This means that each time you do something that the current administration (and the “moral” right) does not like, you will have to face the might of the government. No matter that it’s none of their business to begin with. The funny thing is that the current administration has taken such a strong exception to this case but what about the hundreds of similar cases?

Over the last few days numerous cases have come to light (CJR Daily) in which the hospitals in Texas, with the backing of the Texas Futile Care Law introduced by none other than G. W. Bush, have actually pulled the plug!! No one wants to talk about those cases. This shows how mindless and narrow minded we have all become. And how convenient for the networks…..as soon the Peterson’s trial is over (with a verdict) and Jackson’s trial dragging on, comes this new sensational news bit. Green Day says the truth when they say “…one nation controlled by the media…”. What media says we do.

This case is not about what is the right thing to do. It is about how the politicians have grabbed this issue for their own political needs. I had always thought that no one can go lower that an Indian politician in esteem but I am beginning to reassess that line of thought.

But what are my personal thoughts on this case?

Death is such a complex issue and there is no black or white in this matter. When such a situation, as the one with the Schiavos, occurs it’s best to let the courts maintain the rule of the law. Mind you, this is not a decision that was made over-night. This issue has been going around in circles for the last 7 years. After all the reviews, testimonies, interviews, etc. were done, the courts ruled in favour of letting Terri die. What then is a complex issue has been resolved by the courts. But I can understand Terri’s parents as well. It is infinitely more difficult for parents to let go than the spouse. And this complicates matters. But do they really want to see their vivacious child of theirs live out the rest of her life in a sedentary, empty way that she has been living for the past 15 years?

How do people post on their blogs every single day? In the last three days, today is the first time that I have had to write a post and that too between projects. But I do get some time to read the blogs. It’s quite amazing how important the blogs have become in my life. I used to read only the MSM sites until last month. But now I have noticed that I turn more and more towards the blogs. I do visit the MSM sites but not as often as I used to. Why?

I have always been a sucker for op-ed in the news sites. I have always wanted to know the details behind a news item. So it would be quite frustrating at times to see that some of the new sites never cover the topic I am interested in or cover it in passing. Also, I think it has to do with the fact that blogs are a lot more personal. It’s always nice to read a post that you can relate to and think that the person who has written it is like you in some ways and then again you might read a post that you despise and want to smash that person’s teeth in. I don’t think these emotions come out when I read an op-ed on a news site.

In this regard my favourite site is dailykos. This site has numerous discussions on a range of topics going on at the same time. The good thing about this site is that it’s not a rant like mine. Kos lets everyone put in their 2 cents and that’s the thing I really like. Then there is The Decembrist. This guy is THOROUGH. He takes an issue and puts on a microscope and studies the details. That’s what I really like about him. Having said that I really cannot relate to his current topic - Social Security. I also try and read a a few conservative blogs like Power Line, Howard Hugh, Belmont Club etc. I quite enjoy Belmont even though I disagree with quite a bit he/she says but atleast this person does not rant like Powerline or H. Hugh sometimes do. It’s amazing to see the difference in a conservative blog and a liberal blog. The first thing you notice is that levels of “bashing” the other side are considerably higher on the conservative blog. They trash not only the issue but also the person who is associated with the issue. This I do find on the liberal blogs but not on the same level. for example LFG. This site is hateful to the core. They have one motto and one motto only….USA is the best and the rest are garbage. I do go over to this site whenever I want to have a good laugh at some of the comments left by US “loving” citizens.

One of my favourite sites for laughs is dooce. She is hilarious!! All she does is put her life on the internet but she does it in such a way that you can’t help but laugh at her posts. Another one that I follow religiously is India uncut. This guy is obsessed with cricket (I think he is one of the contributers to cricinfo) Apart from cricket his coverage of Tsunami effort was excellent as well.

What about my blog? Like I said, I rarely get time to spend with my daughter and wife let on sit down and mull about something. So even though there is so much I want to say, I barely get the time for it. But I guess it’s the same with everyone.

The age old topic is in my head….again Euthanasia. Is it morally wrong for a person to kill himself? Is it a crime against humans as a whole? Is it a crime for a person to support (and sometime even assist) a person to commit suicide?

I don’t even know where to begin. One part of me says that I am flat out FOR a person to end his life. A decision to end one’s life is a very personal one and it is no ones business to butt in. Having said that, I also believe that a deranged or a depressed person needs to be counselled against committing suicide. I know this idea tramples on quite a few people’s sensibilities and religious convictions but the truth of the matter is that no one can tell me how to live and how to die. And I assume that it holds true for most of the people around the world. To die is to release yourself from the objectivity of life and enter the realm of unknown. This form of unknown could be hell, heaven, nirvana or re-birth. It’s the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

But what about the case when one’s mind and health is failing and the person does not want to continue with his life? Does that not fall under deranged/depressed category? The answer is NO. When a person’s health and mind begins to fail and the person knows that this is a road to nowhere, the person is within his “human” rights to end his life. But what if he cannot end his life himself? What then? Do we just let the person suffer? This is where we all have different opinions. I for one am FOR a person to request assistance in dying if he cannot do so. Is it more morally wrong to let the person suffer to death or morally wrong to help that person attain peace? I choose peace.

But my other half says that the life of a human being is the utmost expression of the self and this idea should be protected at all cost. This is exactly where the controversy lies. Should we protect human life at all cost or should be allow people to decide when they want to die? The moral problem here is that if you help in a suicide are you assisting a suicide or are you in fact killing? The answer to this question has so many ifs, buts, whys and whens that it’s not worth answering.

I can understand why no government would touch this issue because once you make a law, it is going to be a very slippery slide. The only government to have dabbled in euthanasia is Netherlands. But even there, the issue was passed to the courts where a patient requests to die repeatedly and family doctor, in consultation with other physicians, can administer a lethal drug dosage to the patient. And after a few years of implementation of this court decision, a statistical study pointed out that even though on the whole the decision was a successful decision there were over 400 cases in which (after a thorough review), euthanasia was not required.

So where does that leave us. Believe it or not I think it should be kept in limbo. We are not yet mature enough to decide to be in favour of euthanasia or against it. It clearly depends on a case by case basis and even then there are so many instances where moral objections can and will be raised. I know one thing for sure that if a loved one was going through pain and was suffering and requested me to help him/her die. I would. I mean I think I would. I mean maybe. I mean perhaps not. I mean definitely not. I mean……know what I mean?

For a long time now I have this question in the back of my mind…..what does OM mean? What is the significance of this innocuous word. I have read books, articles, have had conversations with a range of people but I have always been unsatisfied with the answer. I tried reading the gita, mahabharta and other books on hinduism but could never really complete them. Then a few days back I came across the following the other day and then then meaning was a little clearer.

Krishna to Arjun upon being asked to describe himself

WOW!! OK I take back what I said earlier. I am beginning to SEE the beginning of the meaning of OM. OM encapsulates everything. It encapsulates life; It encapsulates death. It is the beginning and the end. Read the rest and you will see what I mean : -

Isn’t that amazing? OM is not a word, it’s a feeling. Whatever you feel at this moment or have felt or are going to feel is - OM. OM is everywhere around us. I had always equated OM to a religious connotation but how wrong I was. It equates to love, life and death.

We have a situation my fellow Canadians. We do not have leadership worth his/her salt!!!!

Wherever you look - high, low, under, over - you will see that we are surrounded by weak politicians. The three “leaders” we have at the moment Martin, Harper & Layton all seem grasping at straws in the wind at the moment. None of them seem to have a plan, none of them is charismatic, their parties are out to lunch each time an important issue comes up, each one has shown no inclination to work with one another and the list just goes on.

Take the example of Missile defense. What exactly happened here. Canada was asked to assist in National Missile Defense plan (basically a watered down version of Strategic Defense Initiative) in both political and active-participation terms. The system was deployed in the fall of 2004 and so far has met with mixed success in rigged-for-success tests. US made it clear to the Canadian government in 2002 about the deployment phase in 2004 and asked for it’s feedback. And what happened after that? “Definitely”, “maybe”, “perhaps”, “not at all”, “we must” etc. etc. etc. Each one of the leader’s took one of the previous positions one time or the other i.e. no one took a stand on this issue. Harper was always pro-missile defense but did not make iota of an attempt at selling. Layton was vehemently opposed but he was never vocal about it which just increased our doubts as to his position on the matter. And our dear PM. He displayed why he dillies and dallies on an issue until it’s ready to explode on his face. It’s the Canadian citizens who made up the minds for these politicians and not the other way around (which actually is quite refreshing in this era of politics). Canadians have been said to be truely altruistic about missiles in space but I think it’s more to do with opposing Bush than anything else.

So where does that leave us? I think we will be following US’s example and follow the party lines. I personally would love to see Layton take charge but so far I do not think of him much as a political strategist. Martin started of with a lot of promise but each of Cheretin’s warnings about him have been true. I think Liberals are really going to suffer in the coming months. And Harper, he always seems to be aloof. He always seems to be wishing himself in some other place.

God help Canada.

This sunday I and Rhea were enjoying a lazy sunday evening. We were playing (running after each other), eating (she insists on me taking a bite from everything she has including the drooled on biscuit) and dancing to the Live Aid dvd. In a little while I was pooped and lay on the carpet and was watching The Return Of The King. Rhea then came to me and lay down next to me and we had the following conversation :-

“deeshboogooya?”

“That’s Aragon, Rhea, and he is a good guy”

Pointing to the TV, “tumaguya?”

“That’s Frodo and he is trying to destroy the ring”

“isbooopitaguraahmotiya?”

“Yeah. Gollum is a bad guy”

“aliotiogullamoniguya?”

“I know, isn’t Liv Tyler hot?”

And this went on for quite a while. It was one of the best 15 minutes of my life. My daughter lying next to me and asking me silly things, holding onto my finger the whole time and insisting on resting her head on my arms.