I open at the close (of 2014. Perhaps.)

The world is a profoundly unjust place.
It always have been and i imagine it always will be.
But that doesn't absolve us of our responsibility to look directly at problems, even if they are painful to look at.
And to try our best to do something to decrease world suck.
- John Green

We are now edging into 2015.
Meaning we are almost 15 years into the 21st  century.
What did we imagine 2014 would be like 10 years ago? 20 years ago?
How big is the difference between what we imagined and reality?

So i was reading this list of events that happened in 2014.
And i have to say, it wasn't a very happy read.
Sure 2014 is the year Germany added another star to their football team logo.
It is also the year the Rosetta spacecraft's probe landed on a certain Comet 67P.
And also the year a 17-year-old girl received the Nobel Prize for Peace, youngest ever laureate, wow!

Happy, happy thoughts.

On the other side of the coin however...
The civil unrest in Ukraine.
Some 276 girls and women abducted in Nigeria.
The disappearance of MH370, 239 people on board.
Capsize of the Korean ferry, 290 people died.
The Boko Haram killing in Nigeria, around 300 people killed.
Ebola virus epidemic, at least 7000 people died.
The so-called "Sunni millitant group" ISIS agenda killing God-knows-how-many.
The Israeli attack on Gaza, called Operation Protective Edge, killing over 2000 people.
The shooting down of MH17, all 298 people on board died.
The killing of 141 people, including 132 children in Peshawar by Taliban gunmen.

Too many killings. Too many preventable deaths.
And these are just some of those that made it to international news.

What will it take for us to see, to really see with our eyes? And to feel, to really feel and understand the situation of this world we're living in?

I mean it's been over 100 years since the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and over 60 years since the development of antibiotic streptomycin, effective against TB, yet 1.5 million people died of TB in 2013 alone, most of which are from low-to-middle income countries.
And what about malaria, one of the oldest disease known? Over 500 000 people died of malaria in 2013, mostly children in Africa. That's like one child a minute. And this is a preventable and curable disease.

Yes, these are very complex matters that involve lots resources and departments and agencies to solve. It's not as easy as it seems.
Heck, even the truths behind them are complicated.
But that's the thing. Truth resists simplicity (another one by John Green).

But is there really nothing we can do?

And here's to hoping for a 2015 of humanity and love. Cheers.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax -

Mistakes, maybe.

Salam 'alaikum. Hi.


A transcript from How I Met Your Mother, S1E20; Milk.

Lily: Come on! It's an adventure.
Ted: No, it's not an adventure. It's a mistake.
Lily: Okay, yes it's a mistake. I know it's a mistake. But there are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it's a mistake is to make the mistake, and look back and say, "Yep, that was a mistake". So, really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you go your whole life not really knowing if something is a mistake or not. And, damn it, i've made no mistakes! I've done all of this - my life, my relationship, my career - mistake-free. Does any of this make sense to you?
Ted: I don't know. You said "mistake" a lot.


There are times when we aren't sure about our lives.
We are torn apart between two choices. We know what we want, and we know what is right.
We may even know it will be a mistake if we do it.
So we weigh the pros and cons.
And we end up doing nothing, out of fear of making mistakes.

We live in an environment where making a mistake is not acceptable. Not even tolerable at times. Well, for some of us, at least.
So we grow up making the "right" choices, the "right" decisions. Mistake-free.
And along the way, we miss out on a lot of things.
We become too afraid to open our minds and widen our views.
Because we don't know what is outside this box we are accustomed to.
And every time we try to step out, the fear of making mistakes engulfs us. Much like agoraphobia.

Sometimes, even if you know something's a mistake, you've got to make it anyway.
Then you will really know it's a mistake.
And you will learn to live with it, to forgive yourself for making that mistake, and to come to peace with it.

I guess.

There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.

- Albus Dumbledore -

Of Pensieve and ending Poverty

Salam alaikum. Hi.


In the Harry Potter world, there's this useful instrument, used quite a lot by Professor Dumbledore. It was first discovered by HP in The Goblet of Fire.
It is useful, but is subjected to potential abuse, which is what Harry himself did the first he saw it.
Well, you know, curiousity. It's a blessing.

Anyway, this instrument is called a Pensieve. For those of you who aren't fans of HP, a Pensieve looks like a shallow basin filled with silvery, cloud-like substance of liquid/gas consistency.
And what, one may ask, is this silvery, cloud-like substance of liquid/gas consistency? It's a bunch of memories, "floating" together after it is siphoned out by their owner. Then, anyone can access it should they find themselves in the vicinity of that Pensieve.

On the one hand, it is useful in the sense that you can siphon out the memories you don't want to forget and retrieve it anytime.
You can use it to connect the dots in your quest for the Holy Grail.
You can use it to show people what happens at a particular time and place. Which would be useful to, say, win an argument. Or even a trial in court. Huh. That would be particularly useful. We should make this Pensieve thing a thing. But then, it can be tampered with, like what Professor Slughorn did to the memory of the conversation between Tom Riddle and him. Which turns out to be an important piece of the how-to-end-Voldemort-forever puzzle.
Or you can use it to simply feel nostalgic and dwell in those memories.

On the other, well, you know. Privacy and abuse and not living life due dwelling in memories and stuff.

And how i wish i have one.
The Pensieve i mean. Not memories.
It'd be too pathetic to desire a memory. Just hoping it would come floating by. Yeah, that's about right.
Not that i have too many great memories that would lead to the end of world poverty and hunger. Or to finding the cure for cancer and AIDS and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Or to increase literacy rate. Or to the access of clean water for every part of the world. Or to reduce the effect of global warming. Or to bring peace in Middle East.

Or maybe there is. Man, i should really start working on it.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

- Albus Dumbledore -