MindWindow

Ukraine has the front seat in the news yet, closer to home in Venezuela, a massacre in the making is largely ignored by the national media. Venezuela is not my country of origin; I come from the other one, the one which is basically causing all the trouble over there. Including flying shock troops by the planeload to “show” the Venezuelan army and thug police how they must deal with the dissidents. No matter these are unarmed students and mothers whose only political sin is to ask for their basic freedoms and question the terrible state in which their country and society are, as well as give voice to their utter hopelessness for a better future. The current government cannot give coherent answers to these questions for the simple reason they don’t have any to give; the same government which created the chaos cannot possibly give hope of a better future when they can’t even manage the present. Faced with this, students and protesters refuse to back down, despite the fact these ...

We know all about the “Cost of Living” but … what about the “Cost of Life”? The past is a nice place to visit but not one in which to dwell for long periods of time. That is, unless you suffer from that terrible malady called Alzheimer’s. Then it becomes a state of life. However, as the years do keep on piling on, sometimes it does give us a little comfort in the form of wishful thinking. The Cost of Life cannot be readily measured in actual cash. We know there are many folk who will swear that “money is important” ( yes, it is… to a point ) and some even will go as far as saying it is “everything” ( no, it definitely is not! ) and then, there is another group of folk (including me, I guess… ) who will say that the “pursuit of happiness” and the “pursuit of money” are not one and the same. A simpler life was had by those of us who grew up several ( not to say a whole lot of ) years ago. In fact, all the goodies which now plague our existence, were created by many who share...

A very special day, when a long awaited dream finally comes through… As the morning arrived we were up, a little earlier than usual. There was a feeling of anticipation in the air, almost an electric feeling created by events that would take place this particular morning. After many years of decision making process… of debating pros and cons… of delaying what should have been done long before, my wife was finally becoming a US citizen. Once we arrived at the court building where the ceremony was to take place, we were greeted by a rainbow of colors and sounds; a mix of people and languages that represented at least 18 countries from around the world. On a day like this, some 45 years ago, I was in a similar courthouse at the lower end of Manhattan, receiving my oath to become a citizen of this grand country. I relived the feeling of that day, as we waited for the proceedings to begin. I looked around and saw the same eager faces with some of those present trying to hid...