susurrations of change

today, history has been written. today, humankind takes one step towards maturity. today, president barrack hussein obama becomes the 44th president of the united states.

through years of rallying, through speeches of countless victories, obama has emerged in a time of crises and in a world in rapture. with the economy on the brink of a declivity so steep, thousands will suffer. with the war and suicidal maniacs threatening the peace of the world. with the environment declining and global warming fast becoming a reality, this newly inaugarated president has a lot on his hands (and head too for if he does not live up to the high expectations looming on him, his head would definitely be chopped on the board of management) indeed.

and being the first african american president does not make things easier on his head either. the world would scrutinize him, monitor his every move and the slightest mistake that he makes would be reason enough for the axe. on the other hand, the fact that he is of a different race and religion inspires thoughts of changes and with the added assurances and promises that he delivered, the ebullience of the people will only be matched by the actual implementations of these plans, promises delivered.

i, for one hope that changes do arrive with this man. for if he were to fail, future confidence in a leader of a different race, sex, religion, or creed would certainly falter and then it would defeat the purpose of this historic moment, moving humankind backwards. as a species we have taken thousands of years to mature, to emerge from that state of darkness. by winning the elections, barrack obama has stamped a time capsule as evidence for our society that we have matured again as a species on the whole. we have come to accept the ostensible physical differences and embrace what is essentially the same in all of us, a person. barrack obama has become more than a president; he has become a symbol, a symbol of change and hope for our generation.

for that, he must not fail.

good luck, mr. president.

urban stampede

nothing could be more contrary than the holiday that is thanksgiving. how does one justify eating turkey (not to mention the fact that at least 50 million turkeys are slaughtered during thanksgiving each year) as giving thanks and being grateful for the year that has passed? how is thanksgiving a religious holiday when it was actually celebrated by a bunch of settlers from europe 400 years ago? most importantly, how do you give thanks and count your blessings and be happy with what you have when a few hours later, almost every american family goes off on a spending spree as if they are not happy with what they presently have and must have even more after devouring their turkeys. it's as if a hunger of a different sort has awaken within them when they feast on the poor birds.

this hunger shows us how ugly the human species can become when they turn selfish and greedy. it is sad to see that thousands of people trampled a walmart employee to death out of the need to save a couple of hundred of dollars. it is even sadder to see that, out of that thousand of people, not one stopped to help the worker or to seek medical attention for him. instead, all of them rushed in and stepped on even more employees who had tried to help their colleague.

while americans feasted on stuffed birds and celebrated a holiday, hundreds of people were killed in the streets of mumbai. i wonder how many americans were actually aware of this unfortunate event and actually stopped to mourn for the dead and counting their blessings instead of rushing off to the nearest electronic store.

the dark nature in us is always there, hidden sometimes by a facade of kindness towards the people we care. but the truth is, the dark nature is always there. while we deny it, we know that we are nice to the people we love because these people are somewhat "our own". we hardly care what happens to the people over in iraq or the girl who was raped or the store that closed down because of the economy. no, we do not care much for these at all because we are all selfish in nature. i do not deny that there are selfless individuals who make the world a better place but in reality, all of us are only human and no matter what, everyone is greedy, snobbish and self-centered to a certain degree. i only hope that the people who were in the walmart store, who had caused the death of another are human enough to feel miserable and sorry for what they have done.

fire fire your pants on fire

wind-whipped flames rolled through brea this sunny afternoon. clouds of smoke dominated the sky as i drove down the 57. they were grayish white in color and blended extremely well with the sunny sky i thought they were clouds. it wasn't until i got to the cal poly field (for footie =) ) that i found out homes in brea and yorba linda were ablaze. i thought about the traffic due to freeways being closed. i thought about the envirornment due to the smoke. i thought of the poor now-homeless victims of the fire. what started as an innocent brush fire quickly spread to communities due to the eager strong winds coming in from the south. an innocent fire, causing heartaches, lives, property losses and environmental damages. an innocent fire appearing to be totally harmless can easily devastate thousands of lives.

it seems that such a fire exists too in the social web that is our relationship to the people who matters the most to us. like the brush fire, small at first, harmless at first but there, ready to set everything in its path aflame with the right push. this fire, this tendency to hurt is there. sometimes even without the strong winds, this fire can spread without reason and explanation. being burned hurts especially if the burning is done by someone you thought close to you. yet, like the fire in brea, the fires of the heart can be doused with a simple spray of water. forgivance is always within me that i can always look past what has been done. distrustfulness is a trait i find hard to obtain. yet, to be fire-proof, a sense of distance should be instilled. perhaps, i should learn a lesson in cynicism. maybe there is a "cynicism for dummies" book out there that i could pick up...