George W Bush has just said that the judiciary should always err on the side of life. This is meant only to apply to one vegitative woman in Florida - not to the hundreds of people on death row or to the suspected enemies of America all around the globe. They have removed the feeding tube from a woman who lost all quality of life many years ago while children in Asia are actually starving to death, completely cognizant of their situation. It seems Bush wants to keep the American people in an irreversable state of vegitation, fed only lies and hyperboly. Halliburton's subsidiary bilks the american people out of one hundred million dollars, (a tenth of a billion) but we must worry about steroid abuse in an illegal monopoly and some poor family's legal battles with natural death. Bush and his cronies have stated clearly that they do not support youth in Asia; well I do support them and I think that they need to be hooked up to a hundred million dollar feeding tube. (All youth deserve this but I am making fun of the idiots who keep talking about euthanasia as if they understood the fucking word.)
In Nazi Germany the term "euthanasia" (Euthanasie) referred to the systematic killing of disabled children and adults under the T-4 Euthanasia Program. This has tainted the word in German-speaking countries; the alternate term is "Sterbehilfe", which means "help to die." Any time that medical personnel determine on behalf of a sentient and responsible individual that his or her life is not worth living, the medical killing of such a person as it is considered to be done for the prevention of suffering is involuntary euthanasia. This is not to be confused with medical killing in cases of capital punishment or as part of genocide. - wikipedia
Not to be confused because capital punishment and genocide* as practiced by the Bush administration is good while letting someone die of natural causes is evil. Up is down and two plus two equals five. Double plus good.
I've been back a few days and I'm cured of my optimism.
* When I say genocide I realize that Bush has not technically begun his program of extermination (that we know of) but it took Hitler eight years to get his under full steam.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Story
J. B. was just as you would imagine, only a little taller. She lived in a plastic cube that had wheels and was attached to a trike of her own design. In fact it was all of her own design. She built the cube and made it comfortable for both her and Jake. Jake was not at all like you would imagine, he was big and covered with soft black fur. He had big ears that usually stood up straight and a crescent shaped tail that wagged to and fro constantly. He was unusual even for a dog. Other dogs might look at him and wonder, "what an odd dog". But Jake paid no heed as he was convinced he was human like Janiva Beyer (that's her full name-not J.B.), his loyal companion. There was room in the cube for both Jake and Janiva so they didn't need a blanket or a pillow- Jake would just curl up around her. The two of them would travel from commune to commune - she pedaling her trike and he padding along beside. They were never hurried and would often stop to pet the cows that might graze near the path or pick flowers to trade at the next market on down the road.
Janiva was independant like most eleven year olds, but she travelled more than most. Her mother lived in Grass Valley, so named because it is a valley covered in pretty blue-green grass, and her father lived in Sandy Beach, so named because it is by the shore and covered in pretty white sand. Janiva tried to spend an equal amount of time with both so she and Jake travelled back and forth often. She enjoyed stopping along the way and she had many friends all over the Pacific Coast.
Usually the only unusual occurances on her journeys involved wild animals, although Jake would have a word with them and they would go on about their business. On this trip, however, a very odd thing crossed their path.
It was grey from head to foot with goggles for eyes and a black rubber hose where a nose and mouth should be. Janiva was sure it was a man in some strange costume but Jake wasn’t so sure. It waved at them from the side of the path. Janiva stopped her trike beside him and Jake circled around the grey man until he was downwind and could get a good whiff of clues about the stranger. The man raised his goggles and Janiva was proven correct.
“Mumble, mumble...” said the man, and awaited a reply.
Janiva cocked her head the way Jake does when you try a new word on him. The man unhooked his rubber breathing apparatus.
“Hello, Hans am I.” He said unmuffled.
“Hello, my name is Janiva.”
“Woof”
“And this is Jake”
“Pleased. I am pilot of plane. Landed over there.” He pointed over the hill.
“Nice to meet you.”
Jake made a low grunting noise.
“Is town near? I am run out of fuel.”
“Island View is just down the road, about thirty minutes as the dog pads. We are on our way there.”
Janiva wasn’t sure what a ‘plane’ was, and she had never heard of anyone running out of ‘fuel’, but she didsn’t want to let on about this.
“What sort of fuel are you in need of?” She asked assuredly.
“Gasoline, of course.” Said the pilot.
“Well, I don’t think they have that.” Said Janiva trying to look contemplative, as if she were considering other towns that might have this thing she had never heard of.
“This area was known as a producer of gasoline...From the air I have seen trains running out to platforms on the sea...”
“You must mean the monorail. That runs out to the Channel Towns. They harvest seaweed and farm fish, then they trade with the towns along the monorail.”
“They don’t trade oil?”
“Oh, there is a market for fish oil and olive oil and a couple other oils. The communes on the other side of these mountains grow grapes and olives, they trade milk and wine and stuff like that.”
“This monorail it must need fuel, no?”
“I don’t think so...it makes electricity from solar panels on its roof. I can walk faster than it moves, but I could never carry all those fish. It has never run out of ‘fuel’ that I know of.”
“Yes, well, perhaps you take me to this town and we find someone who can explain a solution to my problem.”
“O.K., I’ll pedal slow.” Janiva got on her trike. “It has special gears for going slow, it practically drives itself.”
“It is a very smart looking vehicle.” Said Hans, admiringly.
“Thanks, its of my own design.”
The three rode, padded, and walked along in silence for awhile.
“You live in this village?” Asked Hans.
“Nope, just passing through.”
“You are very young to be travelling by yourself.”
“Well I’m old enough to vote, I should be able to come and go as I please.”
Hans looked at her strangely, “You vote for the leaders of your village?”
“Well, yes, for our representatives, and for any laws that are about to expire. We vote for the entire Sydicated Communities Of the Pacific Association, SCOPA for short. The laws passed by the general assembly all have expiration dates, the more votes a law gets the longer it lasts, and when it expires the general population votes to keep it or let it go. I’ve been voting since I was nine.”
“This SCOPA, it is many communities?”
“It is the entire Pacific Rim, from here in California up to Alaska, to Kamchatcka, China, Japan, Australia, Chile, all the way up the coast back to California, and all the islands inbetween. There are big ships with metal sails that travel back and forth accross the ocean. I think it takes about a month to traverse the Pacific. Along the coast there are also great Airships that stop in the larger cities.” As Janiva was talking to Hans she noticed he was limping slightly. “Are you injured?”
“I hurt my knee when I landed, not too bad.”
“Would you like some money?”
“Money? For my knee?”
“Yes, I have some analgesic notes, they are for my great uncle, but you can have one.” She reached behind her into a pouch hanging from her cube and withdrew a folder. “I should have asked if you were hungry, I have some nutrition notes too, here’s a dollar of analgesic and five food dollars.”
“I, uh, thank you.” Hans looked closely at the money.
“You just eat them, they taste good. They print on seaweed with inks made of vitamins or medicine. Five dollars should be like a nice big dinner. Not as nice as having a nice big dinner but the same nutrition you know.”
Hans ate the money, saving one of the food dollars, “For later...” He said.
“So you must be from far away...” Janiva proposed.
“Yes, from New Germany I come...”
“Oh! I know that, I’ve seen it on maps. It is beyond the great Wasteland and over the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Ach, no that is the old Germany. New Germany is much further...”
“It must have taken months in that plane of yours.”
“The plane I have only been flying from this Wasteland of yours, from the Atlantic city called Cape Canavaral. It is not so long by plane.”
“I haven’t met anyone who has been to the Wasteland.”
“Yes well, the people of the place call themselves Republicans and they mostly live on the coast in the south. I did not travel north as they said it was unhealthy. But I found much of this Republic to be unhealthy. That is why I borrowed the plane to get over the desert and mountains to you.”
“Woof,” said Jake.
“To you and Jake, I mean.”
“Are you trying to get home then? To New Germany?”
“Perhaps...maybe this is impossible. If I cannot even get fuel for my borrowed plane...”
“We’ll ask my great uncle about that. He lives in Island View”.
The three walked on in silence until they came upon a monorail station. It was just some stairs leading up to a platform that sat astride the single rail that passed over the path, curving from the mountains towards the sea.
“We could wait for the next one if your knee is still bothering you.” Said Janiva.
“My knee is fine, thank you. We can walk.”
“Good, because it would take twice as long, and it usually smells of fish.”
“This transport costs money?”
“Oh no, it’s free. That’s one of the laws that didn’t expire.” Janiva smiled.
Over the next hill, the town of Island View appeared. It was nestled between the foothills of the mountains and a shallow curved bay with a low mesa at one end. The houses were all spead about and intermingled with trees and parkscape. Larger buildings were clustered near the shore where the harbor was. Lights were just starting to twinkle as the sun began to set.
“Uncle Mark lives on the Mesa overlooking the harbor - he is a teacher at the university.”
“It is very pretty, this town.”
“Woof, woof,” Said Jake.
“Jake has lots of girlfriends here.”
“We go to your uncle’s direct?” Asked Hans.
“Yeah, I’ll let him know we are comming.” Janiva took a small device from he jacket pocket and held it in front of her face like it was a pocket mirror. “Uncle Mark, Island View.” She spoke to the device. It made a few beeps and then played a little tune. The visage of an old man appeared in the screen of the vidphone.
“Janiva, how nice to see you!” Said Uncle Mark.
“Hi! Me and Jake are just comming into town.”
“Always at the last minute! You couldn’t have called from Grass Valley?”
“But that would spoil the surprise!”
“Yes, yes, you are just like your mother, planning always spoiled the adventure. Well, come on over, I see Sophie has perked up her ears. We’ll throw together some impromptu feast and have the neighbors over!” The old man was a big smile on the little phone.
“O.K. be there in five. Oh and by the way, we picked up a friend along the way. He wants to ask for your help regarding his plane.”
“Plane, huh? Well, all are welcome to ask, come along...”
“See you soon.”
“Right.”
Janiva flipped off the vidphone and tucked it away.
“All set,” She said to Hans, “Sophie is a dog in case you were wondering.”
“Woof, woof, woof,” said Jake.
Four minutes later they were at the front door of Mark’s house. It was a very organic looking house, all curved surfaces and natural building materials, mostly wood. Mark opened the large ornately carved door and Janiva jumped into his arms, “Welcome, welcome!” Sophie darted in-between his legs and went straight to Jake wagging her tail furiously, Jake played it cool so she went up to the stranger in gray and after a quick sussing out gave her human welcome routine. Mark swung Janiva over the threshold into the house and set her down, then offered his hand to Hans, “Hello,” said Mark, “pleased to meet you.”
Hans shook hands, “Hello, I am Hans, pleased to aquaint you.”
“Well, do come in, make yourself comfy.”
Soon they were all settled into the large living room in front of a stone fireplace with a small fire going. Jake curled up next to Sophie while she nibbled at his big ears and he pretended not to like it. Tea was served and biscuits eaten.
“You’re not from these parts, I can see that. Your wearing an old pilot’s outfit, and ‘niva here mentioned you needed help with a plane. Just what kind of plane?”
“An old prop plane, a Cessna. It has run out of gasoline.”
“Crashed?”
“No, a near crash landing.”
“I like that - like a near miss,” Mark slapped his hands together, “bang! nearly missed” He chuckled to himself, then noticed the blank reactions, “Sorry, showing my age - that was an old George Carlin joke.”
“If I may ask, how many years have you?” Hans asked politely.
“Ninety one come next April, this time around.” Mark answered with a glint of pride.
“Ach so! Impressive. You look only forty.”
“Well, there are fewer things to age one, these days. You’ll find many people are older than they look. There is an easy pace to life here.”
“How do you mean by this time around?”
“Well, you know about reincarnation?” Hans nodded. “Well in my last life I was a dog, not unlike Jake here. I led a pretty good life for a dog but I had some lessons to learn as a human so here I am, still learning. You see, Jake was a dog in a previous life and he was pretty good at it and he decided to stay a dog. I think I am still doing pretty good for a dog as a human. Sophie here was Janiva’s Grandmother in a previous life, that’s actually the only way me and ‘niva are related. I live with her grandma, whom I loved as a human and love still as my companion.” Janiva stole a glance at Hans and rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, I’ve been around the block. I know a thing or two. As far as gasoline, I’m afraid it’s nonexistent - this side of the Rockies.”
The doorbell chimed. “The guests!” Mark jumped up and headed for the door, turning momentarily to say, “I’m sure that we will be able to help you someway, Hans.” Sophie and Jake scrambled quickly to the door barking with glee. One by one as the guests came in, some carrying fresh produce or flowers, they were introduced to Hans by Janiva.
[I sort of wrote myself into a corner so, until the paint dries on the inside of my mind, I will proceed in snippets:]
Some time later, all were seated around a great long dining table. Several of the guests had brought food and helped in the preparations.
Clare, the honorable Ambassador from Mozambique
Matt, head of the craft guild
Heddy, village healer
Luka, inventor
London, chief of police
April, head de-domesticator of animals
Tai, inventor of the intanet
Nilsson, music loving dog
“I see you are admiring the painting.” Hans nodded. “That is by the famed artist, Arosha Buddhabelly - it is a depiction of the turning point in the battle for the defense of Island View. ‘At The Barricades’; there you see Sarita Queens with the flag and bared breast, next to her with the black hair and the fiery eyes is Arun Sunray, there is Ken Mugg with the machine gun and Lou Generous, there. All great heroes. Of these, Lou was the only one to survive, if you look closely you can see he is holding a water pistol.” Hans looked again at the painting.
“You see, a lot of the technology of the 20th century was developed initially for warfare - then adapted for civilian use. So these inventions had an inherent yang energy. Take the jet airplane; invented at the end of the second world war, soon it was the principle mode of transportation, and although at first it may have striven for some level of comfort for the passengers, people would even dress up like they were embarking on a ship, in no time jets were nothing more than flying missiles with people crammed inside. There was no way to correct the essential design. They have been replaced by Airships (Zeppelins you would say), and great Sailing Ships, which may take longer to arrive, but are perfectly safe and enjoyable ways to travel.”
“The arrival of true democracy and global suffrage was the real turning point. It, by it’s nature, could not allow poverty or pollution. And without poverty or pollution things slowed down considerably.”
“They used to use a thing called statistics as a way of guaging the relative safety of most things. Jet Airplanes were considered safe because only one in ten thousand people die from using them. Or one in a thousand are killed by cars. The problem was that statistics failed to address the basic problem that these vehicles were travelling too fast to be safe. I mean, you walk down the street and you bump into somebody - according to statistics you would have a one in a gigillion chance of mortal injury, and they would conclude that it is relatively safer to walk, but then they add all kinds of data and divide by the time it takes to get somewhere and how many labor hours are wasted and suddenly being propelled throught the void in an aluminum casket at 500 miles an hour makes economic sense.”
“The Shift came in 2012, just as the Mayans and Magellan had predicted. Not Magellan the explorer, but Frank Magellan, a friend of mine. He was able to decrypt the hidden truths in cartography - from ancient times to the Space Age. He decoded the Nazca Lines, he saw that ancient maps were more than just navigational tools, at the time of thier creation they were embeded with secret knowledge, just as myths are maps of our evolving subconscious, his maps were myths and he was able to tap into this collective knowledge and predict the Shift. His goal was to actually prevent the Shift but by the time he finished his ultimate treatise it was too late. He was in Antartica when it happened. he went down there with a special drilling rig and was set to release a massive pocket of magma building up under the ice. The followers of Magellan believe the Shift would have been worse but for his efforts. I count myslef among those - and you need only read his book to decide for yourself. At the least his warnings saved a lot of people.
“His wife, Kim, was a great advocate for children before the Shift
- she made award-winning documentaries about poverty stricken children around the world. After the Shift (Frank wouldn’t let her go with him on his expedition to Antartica) she began the movement to begin universal suffrage at age 14. This has been improved upon over the years - now it is at age 9. I think once certain animal species are given the vote that human children as young as can talk will be given suffrage.”
“You would allow animals to vote?” Hans asked.
“Well it’s only at a nascent stage. Communication has to improve. Jake-” Jake rose to attention, “would you vote for Hans here? One bark; yes, two barks; no.” Jake sort of grumbled. “See? He hasn’t made up his mind. You will have to give him a stump speech later.”
“It seems like a...a...” Hans searched for a word.
“Jake, do you think you should be able to vote?” Jake barked once. “Should cats be allowed to unionize?” Jake barked twice. “See? an informed electorate is all that is required.” Mark smiled at Hans.
“And Jake will not be swayed by table scraps as he believes he has a right to those," Janiva put in, "although they might work on Nilsson.”
Janiva was independant like most eleven year olds, but she travelled more than most. Her mother lived in Grass Valley, so named because it is a valley covered in pretty blue-green grass, and her father lived in Sandy Beach, so named because it is by the shore and covered in pretty white sand. Janiva tried to spend an equal amount of time with both so she and Jake travelled back and forth often. She enjoyed stopping along the way and she had many friends all over the Pacific Coast.
Usually the only unusual occurances on her journeys involved wild animals, although Jake would have a word with them and they would go on about their business. On this trip, however, a very odd thing crossed their path.
It was grey from head to foot with goggles for eyes and a black rubber hose where a nose and mouth should be. Janiva was sure it was a man in some strange costume but Jake wasn’t so sure. It waved at them from the side of the path. Janiva stopped her trike beside him and Jake circled around the grey man until he was downwind and could get a good whiff of clues about the stranger. The man raised his goggles and Janiva was proven correct.
“Mumble, mumble...” said the man, and awaited a reply.
Janiva cocked her head the way Jake does when you try a new word on him. The man unhooked his rubber breathing apparatus.
“Hello, Hans am I.” He said unmuffled.
“Hello, my name is Janiva.”
“Woof”
“And this is Jake”
“Pleased. I am pilot of plane. Landed over there.” He pointed over the hill.
“Nice to meet you.”
Jake made a low grunting noise.
“Is town near? I am run out of fuel.”
“Island View is just down the road, about thirty minutes as the dog pads. We are on our way there.”
Janiva wasn’t sure what a ‘plane’ was, and she had never heard of anyone running out of ‘fuel’, but she didsn’t want to let on about this.
“What sort of fuel are you in need of?” She asked assuredly.
“Gasoline, of course.” Said the pilot.
“Well, I don’t think they have that.” Said Janiva trying to look contemplative, as if she were considering other towns that might have this thing she had never heard of.
“This area was known as a producer of gasoline...From the air I have seen trains running out to platforms on the sea...”
“You must mean the monorail. That runs out to the Channel Towns. They harvest seaweed and farm fish, then they trade with the towns along the monorail.”
“They don’t trade oil?”
“Oh, there is a market for fish oil and olive oil and a couple other oils. The communes on the other side of these mountains grow grapes and olives, they trade milk and wine and stuff like that.”
“This monorail it must need fuel, no?”
“I don’t think so...it makes electricity from solar panels on its roof. I can walk faster than it moves, but I could never carry all those fish. It has never run out of ‘fuel’ that I know of.”
“Yes, well, perhaps you take me to this town and we find someone who can explain a solution to my problem.”
“O.K., I’ll pedal slow.” Janiva got on her trike. “It has special gears for going slow, it practically drives itself.”
“It is a very smart looking vehicle.” Said Hans, admiringly.
“Thanks, its of my own design.”
The three rode, padded, and walked along in silence for awhile.
“You live in this village?” Asked Hans.
“Nope, just passing through.”
“You are very young to be travelling by yourself.”
“Well I’m old enough to vote, I should be able to come and go as I please.”
Hans looked at her strangely, “You vote for the leaders of your village?”
“Well, yes, for our representatives, and for any laws that are about to expire. We vote for the entire Sydicated Communities Of the Pacific Association, SCOPA for short. The laws passed by the general assembly all have expiration dates, the more votes a law gets the longer it lasts, and when it expires the general population votes to keep it or let it go. I’ve been voting since I was nine.”
“This SCOPA, it is many communities?”
“It is the entire Pacific Rim, from here in California up to Alaska, to Kamchatcka, China, Japan, Australia, Chile, all the way up the coast back to California, and all the islands inbetween. There are big ships with metal sails that travel back and forth accross the ocean. I think it takes about a month to traverse the Pacific. Along the coast there are also great Airships that stop in the larger cities.” As Janiva was talking to Hans she noticed he was limping slightly. “Are you injured?”
“I hurt my knee when I landed, not too bad.”
“Would you like some money?”
“Money? For my knee?”
“Yes, I have some analgesic notes, they are for my great uncle, but you can have one.” She reached behind her into a pouch hanging from her cube and withdrew a folder. “I should have asked if you were hungry, I have some nutrition notes too, here’s a dollar of analgesic and five food dollars.”
“I, uh, thank you.” Hans looked closely at the money.
“You just eat them, they taste good. They print on seaweed with inks made of vitamins or medicine. Five dollars should be like a nice big dinner. Not as nice as having a nice big dinner but the same nutrition you know.”
Hans ate the money, saving one of the food dollars, “For later...” He said.
“So you must be from far away...” Janiva proposed.
“Yes, from New Germany I come...”
“Oh! I know that, I’ve seen it on maps. It is beyond the great Wasteland and over the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Ach, no that is the old Germany. New Germany is much further...”
“It must have taken months in that plane of yours.”
“The plane I have only been flying from this Wasteland of yours, from the Atlantic city called Cape Canavaral. It is not so long by plane.”
“I haven’t met anyone who has been to the Wasteland.”
“Yes well, the people of the place call themselves Republicans and they mostly live on the coast in the south. I did not travel north as they said it was unhealthy. But I found much of this Republic to be unhealthy. That is why I borrowed the plane to get over the desert and mountains to you.”
“Woof,” said Jake.
“To you and Jake, I mean.”
“Are you trying to get home then? To New Germany?”
“Perhaps...maybe this is impossible. If I cannot even get fuel for my borrowed plane...”
“We’ll ask my great uncle about that. He lives in Island View”.
The three walked on in silence until they came upon a monorail station. It was just some stairs leading up to a platform that sat astride the single rail that passed over the path, curving from the mountains towards the sea.
“We could wait for the next one if your knee is still bothering you.” Said Janiva.
“My knee is fine, thank you. We can walk.”
“Good, because it would take twice as long, and it usually smells of fish.”
“This transport costs money?”
“Oh no, it’s free. That’s one of the laws that didn’t expire.” Janiva smiled.
Over the next hill, the town of Island View appeared. It was nestled between the foothills of the mountains and a shallow curved bay with a low mesa at one end. The houses were all spead about and intermingled with trees and parkscape. Larger buildings were clustered near the shore where the harbor was. Lights were just starting to twinkle as the sun began to set.
“Uncle Mark lives on the Mesa overlooking the harbor - he is a teacher at the university.”
“It is very pretty, this town.”
“Woof, woof,” Said Jake.
“Jake has lots of girlfriends here.”
“We go to your uncle’s direct?” Asked Hans.
“Yeah, I’ll let him know we are comming.” Janiva took a small device from he jacket pocket and held it in front of her face like it was a pocket mirror. “Uncle Mark, Island View.” She spoke to the device. It made a few beeps and then played a little tune. The visage of an old man appeared in the screen of the vidphone.
“Janiva, how nice to see you!” Said Uncle Mark.
“Hi! Me and Jake are just comming into town.”
“Always at the last minute! You couldn’t have called from Grass Valley?”
“But that would spoil the surprise!”
“Yes, yes, you are just like your mother, planning always spoiled the adventure. Well, come on over, I see Sophie has perked up her ears. We’ll throw together some impromptu feast and have the neighbors over!” The old man was a big smile on the little phone.
“O.K. be there in five. Oh and by the way, we picked up a friend along the way. He wants to ask for your help regarding his plane.”
“Plane, huh? Well, all are welcome to ask, come along...”
“See you soon.”
“Right.”
Janiva flipped off the vidphone and tucked it away.
“All set,” She said to Hans, “Sophie is a dog in case you were wondering.”
“Woof, woof, woof,” said Jake.
Four minutes later they were at the front door of Mark’s house. It was a very organic looking house, all curved surfaces and natural building materials, mostly wood. Mark opened the large ornately carved door and Janiva jumped into his arms, “Welcome, welcome!” Sophie darted in-between his legs and went straight to Jake wagging her tail furiously, Jake played it cool so she went up to the stranger in gray and after a quick sussing out gave her human welcome routine. Mark swung Janiva over the threshold into the house and set her down, then offered his hand to Hans, “Hello,” said Mark, “pleased to meet you.”
Hans shook hands, “Hello, I am Hans, pleased to aquaint you.”
“Well, do come in, make yourself comfy.”
Soon they were all settled into the large living room in front of a stone fireplace with a small fire going. Jake curled up next to Sophie while she nibbled at his big ears and he pretended not to like it. Tea was served and biscuits eaten.
“You’re not from these parts, I can see that. Your wearing an old pilot’s outfit, and ‘niva here mentioned you needed help with a plane. Just what kind of plane?”
“An old prop plane, a Cessna. It has run out of gasoline.”
“Crashed?”
“No, a near crash landing.”
“I like that - like a near miss,” Mark slapped his hands together, “bang! nearly missed” He chuckled to himself, then noticed the blank reactions, “Sorry, showing my age - that was an old George Carlin joke.”
“If I may ask, how many years have you?” Hans asked politely.
“Ninety one come next April, this time around.” Mark answered with a glint of pride.
“Ach so! Impressive. You look only forty.”
“Well, there are fewer things to age one, these days. You’ll find many people are older than they look. There is an easy pace to life here.”
“How do you mean by this time around?”
“Well, you know about reincarnation?” Hans nodded. “Well in my last life I was a dog, not unlike Jake here. I led a pretty good life for a dog but I had some lessons to learn as a human so here I am, still learning. You see, Jake was a dog in a previous life and he was pretty good at it and he decided to stay a dog. I think I am still doing pretty good for a dog as a human. Sophie here was Janiva’s Grandmother in a previous life, that’s actually the only way me and ‘niva are related. I live with her grandma, whom I loved as a human and love still as my companion.” Janiva stole a glance at Hans and rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, I’ve been around the block. I know a thing or two. As far as gasoline, I’m afraid it’s nonexistent - this side of the Rockies.”
The doorbell chimed. “The guests!” Mark jumped up and headed for the door, turning momentarily to say, “I’m sure that we will be able to help you someway, Hans.” Sophie and Jake scrambled quickly to the door barking with glee. One by one as the guests came in, some carrying fresh produce or flowers, they were introduced to Hans by Janiva.
[I sort of wrote myself into a corner so, until the paint dries on the inside of my mind, I will proceed in snippets:]
Some time later, all were seated around a great long dining table. Several of the guests had brought food and helped in the preparations.
Clare, the honorable Ambassador from Mozambique
Matt, head of the craft guild
Heddy, village healer
Luka, inventor
London, chief of police
April, head de-domesticator of animals
Tai, inventor of the intanet
Nilsson, music loving dog
“I see you are admiring the painting.” Hans nodded. “That is by the famed artist, Arosha Buddhabelly - it is a depiction of the turning point in the battle for the defense of Island View. ‘At The Barricades’; there you see Sarita Queens with the flag and bared breast, next to her with the black hair and the fiery eyes is Arun Sunray, there is Ken Mugg with the machine gun and Lou Generous, there. All great heroes. Of these, Lou was the only one to survive, if you look closely you can see he is holding a water pistol.” Hans looked again at the painting.
“You see, a lot of the technology of the 20th century was developed initially for warfare - then adapted for civilian use. So these inventions had an inherent yang energy. Take the jet airplane; invented at the end of the second world war, soon it was the principle mode of transportation, and although at first it may have striven for some level of comfort for the passengers, people would even dress up like they were embarking on a ship, in no time jets were nothing more than flying missiles with people crammed inside. There was no way to correct the essential design. They have been replaced by Airships (Zeppelins you would say), and great Sailing Ships, which may take longer to arrive, but are perfectly safe and enjoyable ways to travel.”
“The arrival of true democracy and global suffrage was the real turning point. It, by it’s nature, could not allow poverty or pollution. And without poverty or pollution things slowed down considerably.”
“They used to use a thing called statistics as a way of guaging the relative safety of most things. Jet Airplanes were considered safe because only one in ten thousand people die from using them. Or one in a thousand are killed by cars. The problem was that statistics failed to address the basic problem that these vehicles were travelling too fast to be safe. I mean, you walk down the street and you bump into somebody - according to statistics you would have a one in a gigillion chance of mortal injury, and they would conclude that it is relatively safer to walk, but then they add all kinds of data and divide by the time it takes to get somewhere and how many labor hours are wasted and suddenly being propelled throught the void in an aluminum casket at 500 miles an hour makes economic sense.”
“The Shift came in 2012, just as the Mayans and Magellan had predicted. Not Magellan the explorer, but Frank Magellan, a friend of mine. He was able to decrypt the hidden truths in cartography - from ancient times to the Space Age. He decoded the Nazca Lines, he saw that ancient maps were more than just navigational tools, at the time of thier creation they were embeded with secret knowledge, just as myths are maps of our evolving subconscious, his maps were myths and he was able to tap into this collective knowledge and predict the Shift. His goal was to actually prevent the Shift but by the time he finished his ultimate treatise it was too late. He was in Antartica when it happened. he went down there with a special drilling rig and was set to release a massive pocket of magma building up under the ice. The followers of Magellan believe the Shift would have been worse but for his efforts. I count myslef among those - and you need only read his book to decide for yourself. At the least his warnings saved a lot of people.
“His wife, Kim, was a great advocate for children before the Shift
- she made award-winning documentaries about poverty stricken children around the world. After the Shift (Frank wouldn’t let her go with him on his expedition to Antartica) she began the movement to begin universal suffrage at age 14. This has been improved upon over the years - now it is at age 9. I think once certain animal species are given the vote that human children as young as can talk will be given suffrage.”
“You would allow animals to vote?” Hans asked.
“Well it’s only at a nascent stage. Communication has to improve. Jake-” Jake rose to attention, “would you vote for Hans here? One bark; yes, two barks; no.” Jake sort of grumbled. “See? He hasn’t made up his mind. You will have to give him a stump speech later.”
“It seems like a...a...” Hans searched for a word.
“Jake, do you think you should be able to vote?” Jake barked once. “Should cats be allowed to unionize?” Jake barked twice. “See? an informed electorate is all that is required.” Mark smiled at Hans.
“And Jake will not be swayed by table scraps as he believes he has a right to those," Janiva put in, "although they might work on Nilsson.”
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