http://thirstyfish.com/ ..Imagery Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1729

"Identity Is An Illusion". I agree wholeheartedly. I've been "identity free" for the better part of a decade now.

• Only Breath
•  
• Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
• Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion
•  
• or cultural system. I am not from the East
• or the West, not out of the ocean or up
•  
• from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
• composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
•  
• am not an entity in this world or in the next,
• did not descend from Adam and Eve or any
•  
• origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
• of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
•  
• I belong to the Beloved, have seen the two
• worlds as one and that one call to and know,
•  
• first, last, outer, inner, only that
• breath breathing human being.
•  
• -- Rumi, from The Essential Rumi

]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1728

There are two ways to judge things: As they are meant or intended to be and as they actually are. New York City as it is today is uninhabitable -at least for a sane person- but it's meant to be "The Capital of the World". Religions, as they are intended to be, are great for the most part, but today they're all pretty much contemptible. As is science nowadays. When ideals -whatever they are- are hijacked by a "prominent" few, especially for gain, the result is always the same.

When two people argue, more often than not, one argues the intent, the other, the content, of course, as they see it. ]]> Mon, 14 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1727

The Fountain of Youth. Everyone's looking for it. No one has found it... Personally I don't mind aging, and it's OK to get sick once in a while. ]]> Sun, 13 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1726

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."
-- Proverbs 31:10

How about a virtuous man? What is virtue anyway? ]]> Sat, 12 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1725

I don't know how McDonald's could be proud of serving "billions and billions". Recently those in the Arabian Peninsula have been "super-sizing" their fast-food and with it comes obesity and a whole bunch of health problems. Fast food sales are declining in America so fast-food chains are targeting pretty much rest of the world. ]]> Fri, 11 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1724

Here she is, with a large garbage bag of cans and bottles. Also see yesterday's post.

If you ask the assholes at Forbes the poverty rate in America is "around and about zero". The real rate is about 50% and climbing. Yes, when you compare it to Africa or India, poor Americans on the average make a lot more, but Africans and Indians don't have to pay over $3,000 rent for a basic two bedroom in Manhattan, and $2,000 in the boroughs. Rent is over 300% higher in New York than - let's pick - Mumbai, India. ]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400 http://thirstyfish.com/index.php?p=1723

Asian lady in red, collecting cans and bottles from a St Mark's Place restaurant. For those who don't know, in New York, there is a 5 cent deposit retailers pay the state who in turn reflect it to their customers. Ideally everyone would claim their deposit back but hardly anyone does, hence the poor rummaging through garbage bins.

"Environmental measures" such as recycling programs or bottle deposits might make us feel good but they're ineffective as evidenced by the plastic garbage patch bigger than Mexico floating in the Pacific. The question ought to be, who is really responsible for plastic litter, companies like Coca-Cola or you? Why, when and how did they externalize costs and shift the responsibility to us? Microplastics in fish? We're killing the world and ourselves while Coca Cola's of the world are harvesting the profits.

Here's some food for thought from Adam Ruins Everything. ]]>