Saturday, October 31, 2009

Missing the Big Picture

One of the profound paradoxes of life is that the average person can see through an issue with a clarity that eludes the best and the brightest.

Such is the case with deploying more troops to Afghanistan. What exactly is the strategic importance of Afghanistan to the United States at this time? The Soviet empire has collapsed, so there is no question of any contest for supremacy there. A reminder for Iran to behave and Pakistan to crack down on the Taliban? Questionable. To stop Al-Qaeda from returning to that graveyard of empires? What a laugh!

Yet our leaders and military commanders continue to act as if saving Afghanistan from Osama Bin Laden and warring warlords will translate into making the world safe for democracy.

What would happen if America were to withdraw from Afghanistan or reduce its footprint? Tom Friedman of the New York Times offers this analysis: In the Middle East, all politics happens the morning after the morning after. Be patient. Yes, the morning after we shrink down in Afghanistan, the Taliban will celebrate, Pakistan will quake and Bin Laden will issue an exultant video. And the morning after the morning after, the Taliban factions will start fighting each other, the Pakistani Army will have to destroy their Taliban, or be destroyed by them, Afghanistan’s warlords will carve up the country ..."

Judging from nationwide polls, this seems to be how many Americans feel. Yet President Obama is weighing requests by his top military commanders to send more troops and deepen America’s involvement in Afghanistan. Given his penchant for consensus, the president will probably not send as many troops as requested but overall, is likely to prolong the war there. Note that by 2010, America will have been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviets were in their catastrophic attempt to bring the country under their control.

Consider another perspective by Nicholas Kristof, also a columnist for the New York Times. “One of the most compelling arguments against more troops rests on this stunning trade-off: For the cost of a single additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, we could build roughly 20 schools there. It is hard to do the calculation precisely, but for the cost of 40,000 troops over a few years – well, we could just about turn every Afghan into a Ph.D.”

Kristof also notes that “Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed."

So there you have it. But an “expert” may say, “Well, these guys are not on the ground. They are armchair generals, as most of you are, so you really don’t understand the complexity and that’s why you offer these simplistic solutions.

Not quite. Consider Matthew Hoh, the Foreign Service officer and former marine captain, who resigned from a civilian post in Afghanistan this week to protest U.S. policy. We can’t win, he said in his resignation letter, and our presence is only fueling the insurgency. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

Indeed, why and to what end? The stark truth: There is none. Yet the cost in lives and wasted resources in Afghanistan are beyond calculation.

And democracy? Impartial observers have confirmed that Hamid Karzai stole the recent election and that his brother has been on CIA's payroll all along. “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"

We return, then, to the paradox: How is it that the smartest brains cannot see the forest for the trees, particularly when their claim to fame is that that’s precisely where they tower above you and me?

Is it because power and an inflated sense of self blind one to the obvious? Can it be because they think that the fate of the world depends on them and that their decisions today will change the course of history tomorrow? Or is it because they are such believers in technological superiority and manifest destiny that they have become immune to history’s lessons?

Humility and a sense of the big picture seem to be missing from our leaders and commanders. The solution: heed the wisdom of the average citizen, do not be goaded into prolonging this war by the exhortations of rabid right-wingers, and know that history keeps its own timetable, indifferent to the might and machinery of mere mortals.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Happiness and Terror

Which is stronger, happiness or terror?

It must be terror because each occurrence of it bears its unique unexpectedness, its singular set of demons and diabolical characters. Happiness, on the other hand, is more fleeting, its source more common. And therefore, more easy to miss. The contrast is similar to how Tolstoy described happy and unhappy families in Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Substitute terror for unhappy families and Tolstoy's insight remains equally compelling.

I got to thinking of this after watching "Where the Wild Things Are." Maurice Sendak's 1963 classic has been turned into a movie and shows Max fleeing from his "monstrous" mother into the arms of wild things who are torn between eating him and hugging him (well-meaning relatives who pull your ears and squeeze your cheeks, selfish siblings who have no time for you, absent father, hectoring teachers, bullying neighbors - take your pick). But Max manages to convince them that he is their king and so the wild rumpus starts.

It is not all play and amusement, however, as the presence of Max brings to light hidden wounds and grievances among the wild things, leading to murderous rage and rampage. Cowering in fear with a kindly being in a cave, Max is told that "being a family is not easy."

At that moment, the thought of home fills his heart and Max sets sail across the ocean for suburban life with mother and sister.

Max fled terror, experienced terror and some happiness with wild things , and returned willingly to his family. Once back, he sees his mother in a new light of love. The daily terror of living in an adult world with its autocratic and cruel ways will certainly continue but now there is a difference. It's okay, it's bearable, because now there is love.

And like Max, we suddenly realize that terror, both internal and external, is what makes happiness possible, however elusive it may be.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Wonder of Stargazing

Jupiter shone like the full moon and four of its satellites - Lo, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - hung beneath it like pearls on a pendant.


I was viewing the celestial wonders through a 7” refractor telescope at the Montgomery Hill Observatory of Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, California.


Once every month, the astronomy department organizes a “star party” for interested viewers when conditions are suitable.


On this warm October night, the sky was clear and moonless and about 20 families from around the area had gathered for a glimpse of the universe. Parents were having difficulty keeping up with excited, voluble children discovering the treasures beckoning from above.


A 5-meter dome building houses the 7” telescope. Next to it is a 16' x 16' roll-off roof building that houses a 14” reflector telescope. Its targets tonight were the Andromeda Galaxy to the north and the Ring Nebula to the west.


Once we had our fill of telescopic viewings, the real fun began. We scanned the sky with unaided eyes. Dr. Celso Batalha, astronomy professor at the college and the main organizer of the event, was ready with his laser pointer. One by one he traced the Aries constellation, the Pleiades star cluster ("we also call them Seven Sisters") visible just above the hills, the W-shaped Cassiopeia constellation to its left and the Pole Star that could be located by drawing a line from one of its stars, and the Pegasus constellation overhead.


There was hushed awe as the voyage progressed through the stars blazing in the darkness, along and beyond the arc of the Zodiac.


What’s most impressive about the monthly star parties at Evergreen is the sense of wonder they evoke among visitors, particularly among the young. This is how scientists, and poets, are born.

The thought must strike us who flock to the observatory that we can roam the universe on any dark, clear night of the year. All we need to do is step out of the house and gaze upwards. The stars will do the rest.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Give the Body a Chance to Heal Itself

The sharp pain in my right ear made me wince. I was having difficulty eating. My throat was hurting. Should I or should I not? Call the doctor, that is. Since the weekend was coming up, I reluctantly made the call. I have a bias against burdening an over-burdened system.

The kind and compassionate doctor checked my throat and ear. "No infection in the ear," she said with relief, "but your jaw muscles are inflamed." One possible reason was that I had visited my dentist two day earlier, and opening the mouth wide and clenching for x-ray might have caused the inflammation.

She prescribed the tablets that would cure me of my pain and I left with gratitude. Normally, I go straight to my neighborhood pharmacy. But this time I had an idea. Why not give the body one more day to see if it heals itself. I could put up with the pain for 24 hours but not any longer.

It worked. The pain began to subside and within 72 hours there was no pain whatsoever.

I am not trying to draw any general, high-sounding conclusion from this. It is always better to err on the side of caution than to be cavalier about one's health. Certainly, and in most cases, one should consult the doctor and take the prescribed medication.

But too often we underestimate our body when it comes to common ailments. At the slightest hint of a sniffle or a headache, we panic and think that without a doctor's intervention, or without some medicine, we will fall apart physically.

The body has its own natural, check-up mechanisms, and as long as we eat healthy food, do not overeat and do some form of regular exercise, the occasional flare-up is actually no cause for concern. The best medicine in such situations is probably to wait for a day or two while taking commonsensical precautions.As ancient cultures know and have practiced for generations, the body has the capacity to heal itself far more than we give it credit for.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Nobel Barrier is Falling

This year, a record number of women were awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel committees have been overlooking worthy female candidates for some time now, with the possible exception of the literature prize, and their acknowledgment of the oversight is good news for all.

In Physiology or Medicine, two of the three winners were Elizabeth H. Blackburn (60) and Carol W. Greider (48) who, along with Jack W. Sozstak (57), were honored for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

In Chemistry, one of the three winners was Ada Yunath (70) who, along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (57) and Thomas Steitz (69), was awarded the prize for "studies of the structure and function of ribosome."

Herta Muller (56) won the Literature prize, "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."

And finally, one of the two winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was Elinor Ostrom (76) who was cited "for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons." The first woman to win the Economics prize, she shared the honor with Oliver E. Williamson (77).

Only Physics and the Peace prizes were without women laureates this year.

A total of 5 out of 13 winners in 2009 may not seem much but when you consider that the Nobel committees honored a total of only 41 women from 1901 to 2009 for the various prizes, you can see what a breakthrough year 2009 has been. Of the 41 winners, Marie Curie was honored twice, first for Physics in 1903 and then for Chemistry in 1911. So, in reality, the Nobel committees awarded the prize to just 40 women until now.

You can expect to see more female laureates from now onwards, a recognition by Nobel committees that women have been ignored and denied the prizes for too long. You can also lay to rest all those stereotypes about women not being good enough to compete with men in the sciences. Such myths have persisted for too long. Let the best women, and men, win!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Pastoral City

It's in October that cities takes on a pastoral look. Pumpkins on bales of hay in front of grocery stores and in stalls set up on empty lots by the roadside. Orange on yellow evokes autumn, as do falling sycamore, maple and sweet gum leaves. Cars drive over and the leaves swirl, rise, and descend like confetti, only to rise and fall again as other cars follow.

You can see the anxiety on people's faces as the uncertain times claim their toll. Morning mist there's aplenty in the city but mellow fruitfulness seems a thing of the past. Children bundle up against rain and wind. They too sense the struggle confronting mom and dad and do not smile like before.

Yes, falling leaves continue to remind us of our mortality. And yes, the times are tough. The way out, though, is to shed old thinking and to reinvent oneself. The temptation is strong to settle for a job, any job, that will put food on the table and help make the minimum payment on credit cards, but that will be extraordinarily shortsighted. Go through the hardship but resolve not to work at a thankless, passionless job ever again. For everyone, there is a second act in America that promises to be better than the first. If there ever was a time to be an entrepreneur that reflects one's passion, this is it. We cannot achieve our dreams unless we burn the old bridges and begin anew. What's there to lose?

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Muse of the Romantic Poet

The star in "Bright Star" is Fannie Brawne, the love of Romantic poet John Keats's (1795-1821) life. On the screen, it is Australian actress Abbie Cornish, whose luminous, heart-breaking performance as Fannie makes her the star of this lovely, lyrical, poignant movie.

Keats died of tuberculosis when he was only 26. You can sense the tragedy developing frame by frame between the poet and his muse as the lovers desperately try to overcome poverty and prejudice to consummate their love. But it is not to be, and as played by Cornish's Fannie, far more than British actor Ben Whishaw's Keats, the pathos is almost unbearable throughout the movie.

Fannie is a self-assured seamstress but to win Keats's love, she attempts to learn the finer points of poetry from the young master himself. In one of the lessons, she tells Keats that she is going to "work" the poems, no matter how long it takes. An exasperated Keats exclaims: You don't dive into a lake to reach the other shore. You dive in to feel the sensation of body meeting water, to feel only the presence of the water. You don't work the lake!"

Keats could not make money with his poems to support himself, which was why he could not marry Fannie, and died in distant Rome away from his beloved, convinced that he was a failure. Time has redeemed him and many of his poems are considered among the finest ever written in the English language. Fannie lived with her beloved's memory for the rest of her life. In the very last and long scene, she is seen taking a walk in the snowy woods, reciting the lines of "Bright Star."

Each line of the poem evokes a distinct expression on her face, sorrow and longing combining to convey how love can conquer time and space. As she recites the last lines of the poem, "Pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast/To feel for ever its soft fall and swell/Awake for ever in a sweet unrest/Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath/And so live ever - or swoon to death," we become believers in timeless love ourselves.