"Winning gives birth to hostility.
Losing, one lies down in pain.
The calmed lie down with ease,
having set
winning & losing
aside."

-Dhammapada, 15, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
--------------------------------------------------------------

I should remind myself of the above Buddhist quotation when my competitive side gets the best of me.

Poem: "What We Want," by Linda Pastan, from Carnival Evening. © W.W. Norton. Reprinted with permission.

What We Want

What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names--
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don't remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.

"Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It's what everything else isn't." Theodore Roethke

Singaporeans enter the gum-chewing 21st century - but only if they register

John Aglionby, South-east Asia correspondent
Wednesday May 26, 2004
The Guardian

The good news for Singapore's secret army of clandestine chewers: gum is going on sale legally for the first time in 12 years. The bad news: if you want some you will have to register as a gum user and show an identity card every time you buy a packet.
The arch-symbol of the American way of life was outlawed by Singapore's senior minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1992.

He took the unique measure - dreamed of in vain by public cleaning departments throughout the rest of the world - in outrage at the splats of used gum dotting the country's otherwise pristine streets.

Nineteen "medicinal" brands of gum such as Nicorettes will now be available as part of a free trade agreement with America, but only on strict and tightly-policed conditions. Any-one found trading illicitly will risk two years in jail and a S$5,000 (£1,650) fine.

Sale is also limited to chemists with some brands at prices designed to deter non-medicinal use.

The relaxation will be welcomed by the US and American visitors to Singapore, who take pride in the global success - and remarkable history - of chewing gum. The jaw-exercising goo is so honoured in the US that the role of the Mexican general Santa Anna, conqueror of Davy Crockett at the Alamo and national enemy number one in his day, is acknowledged. He introduced the gum's inventor Thomas Adams to its main ingredient, Mexican chicle root, in 1860.

Singapore's cautious move has met considerable mockery, with many locals highlighting the fact that visiting prostitutes are less regulated than buying gum. The local Straits Times newspaper, widely regarded as a government mouthpiece, gave the only brief report of the new rules which focused on cleaning companies' intense dislike of gum splats.

"Gum is gum, whether it's for smokers or not," Colim Lim, managing director of Tapisteam Cleaning Services told the paper. "Coffee and other stains are bad enough. Having to remove gum stuck on carpet and floors is an awful task."

"Were we to choose our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth. I believe . . . that for someone who has read a lot of Dickens to shoot his like in the name of an idea is harder than for someone who has read no Dickens." - Joseph Brodsky

Majority of Canadians surveyed say homophobia is as bad as racism

MONTREAL (CP) - Almost 60 per cent of Canadians surveyed indicated they believe being homophobic is as bad as being racist or anti-Semitic, says a new poll.

The Leger Marketing poll found five per cent of respondents indicated they viewed homophobia as worse than racism or anti-Semitism, 58 per cent thought they were comparable, while 24 per cent said homophobia was not as bad. About 14 per cent of respondents said they did not know or refused to answer.

British Columbia, at 65 per cent, had the highest level of respondents who thought being homophobic was as bad as being racist or anti-Semitic.

Alberta, at 47 per cent, had the lowest level.

The question was: Personally, do you think that being homophobic is worse than being racist or anti-Semitic; as bad as being racist or anti-Semitic; or not as bad as being racist or anti-Semitic?

The poll of 1,511 Canadians was conducted April 6-11. When national figures are taken as representative of the country at large, the poll is considered accurate within 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The survey also suggested that Canadians were divided on whether they favoured same-sex marriages. Forty-three per cent of respondents supported the idea, while 47 per cent were opposed.

Fifty-one per cent of Quebecers were in favour of same-sex marriages. At the other end of the scale were Albertans, at 36 per cent.

Leger Marketing also asked respondents if they thought homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals.

Seventy-four per cent said Yes, 20 per cent replied No and six per cent didn't know or refused to answer.