SOLIDARITY FAST FOR ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe has descended to an almost unimaginable state of desperation. Most of Zimbabwe's 11 million people eat one meal a day—or less. But as pressure rises at home, in the region, and around the world, Mugabe's grip on power may be slipping. Click below and join the one day global solidarity fast -(from sun up to sun down)- the more of us that fast the stronger the call for justice and democracy

Pledge to fast for a day sun up to sun down, if you are able.
Thank you,
Michael

France proposes Tax on Coca Cola,

Didn't know that Bush's administration tripled the import tariff on Roquefort.
Save Roquefort Cheese

Zen the movie on Master Dogen coming soon.

My Zen teacher recommended this but it is in Japanese only and not showing here, yet. It just opened on the 10th of January in Tokyo.
Here is a preview.

They're leaving Califonia in droves.

For the fourth year running, more residents left California than moved there from other states. In the year ending July 1, 2008, the state lost 144,000 people, more than any other US state, according to census estimates.

The most popular destinations for those quitting California are Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Washington state, the U-Haul truck rental company told the Los Angeles Times.

I have read locally that we may lose a seat in Congress due to the shrinking population. Read the whole story here from the Telegraph in the UK.
On the same subject of cost of living, You can compare your cost of living with other cities by using this calculator.

Beautiful music from a Louis Vuitton commercial, " Where will life take you?"

This guitar piece by Gustavo Santaolalla, is romantic, sad and hauntingly beautiful at the same time, I can't hear it enough.
Crank up the sound, excellent photography.

A bird made my day less stressful.

Red shouldered hawk.

Keep reminding myself

Theraputic lying is acceptable..

There is no doubt that care giving a parent is extremely stressful. A few days ago I finally convinced my mother to get her hair done at the salon that I have been taking her to for about 5 years. This was very difficult to convince her go, it had been many months.
Recently her dementia has become worse and she insisted that she didn't need a flu shot, because she already had one. I would ask her when and where did you get it? and her reply was "I just did."
After her hair work was done and I had her in the car, we drove to her doctor's office, (I secretly made an appointment for a flu shot) she was not happy. She got her shot. I then took her for some soup at the bakery, she panicked a little, and telling her I wanted to show her off with her new white hair "do", softened her up a little. She can barely walk even with a walker every move takes time, I am a very patient person and have been all my life, to the dismay of many of my "type A" personality family and friends. We had a nice lunch and I was able to get some sunlight on her, she prefers to be inside with all window blinds shut. That's another story.
Tricking her for her own benefit is OK, and I felt better after reading this from the Family Caregiver Alliance website:

Therapeutic Lying Reduces Stress. We tend to be meticulously honest with people. However, when someone has dementia, honesty can lead to distress both for us and the one we are caring for. Does it really matter that your loved one thinks she is the volunteer at the day care center? Is it okay to tell your loved one that the two of you are going out to lunch and then “coincidentally” stop by the doctor’s office on the way home to pick something up as a way to get her to the doctor?

Remnants of Buddha Found in 1,000-year-old Asoka Pagoda

Archeologists on Saturday removed an about 1,000-year-old miniature pagoda, believed to hold the top part of Buddha's skull, from an iron case found at a former temple site in Nanjing in July.
It is believed to be one of the 84,000 "pagodas of King Asoka (273 BC - 236 BC) that contain Sakyamuni's sarira, or his remains found in the cremation ash. Sarira are highly sacred for Buddhists.
Asoka was an Indian emperor who converted to Buddhism after a bloody war with a king in the eastern part of the country. According to Buddhist records, Asoka collected all the parts of Buddha's sarira, divided them into 84,000 parts, and stored each one of them in a pagoda-shaped shrine. Then he sent the sacred relics to different parts of the world. China is considered to have 19 of them.

Photos and full story here from. Sina English