Dreamways

Sarah Palin has suddenly, spectacularly and confrontationally leaped onto the stage of national American politics. Her name and image have quickly taken up an enormous space in the American psyche, much like a powerful and disturbing sleep-dream image. Like a dream image, Ms Palin’s appearance has disrupted the American status quo. Her selection as the Republican vice presidential candidate has stirred things up. She evokes extremely powerful reactions, both positive and negative.

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“Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services. What could be scarcer or more precious than love? It is rare, hard to come by and often fragile.” With these words economic writer Ben Stein introduces some guidelines for what he calls “the economics of love,” combining financial savviness with wisdom about love. ( “Lessons in Love, by Way of Economics,” The New York Times, 13 Jul 08)

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Bella, sent off to finish high school in the state of Washington, “catches the eye of a gorgeous boy in her biology class named Edward. He turns out to be a member of a commune of vampires, who have banded together to fight their inclination to drink human blood." So begins Gail Collins’ synopsis of “The Twilight Saga,” a series of extraordinarily popular books by Stephenie Meyer (“A Virginal Goth Girl,” The New York Times, 12 Jul 08).

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When it comes to chronic physical health problems, "the single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise,“ Frank Hu, epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, states in Harvard Magazine. This quote appears in health columnist Jane E. Brody‘s article on the multi-facted roles of exercise in healing ("You Name It, and Exercise Helps It,“ The New York Times, 29 Apr 08).  read more »

“Vilnius is a city of dreams.” This compelling assertion appears in an article about the capital city of Lithuania (“Vilnius: Dreaming with Eyes Wide Open,” Baltic Outlook, October/November 2007). Indeed, both Lithuania and its capital have had a number of major dreams come true, with significant goals realized and long-held ideals made manifest.  read more »

"The instructions are simple: 'Read the Prayer … / Drink the Water … / Believe in God! / Believe in Yourself!‘ Spiritual Water, the faith-inspired venture of two Sunrise, Fla., businessmen, offers its drinkers clearer focus, positive thinking and connection to a higher power.“ This fascinating waking dream is desribed by Audra D.S. Burch in her article "Sip your way to salvations with Spiritual Water?“ (The Denver Post, 06 May 08).
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"If you can’t tell which futures are better than others, it’s hard to find happiness. The truth is, bad things don’t affect us as profoundly as we expect them to. That’s true of good things, too.  read more »

The post-waking-nightmare dream was grandiose. "In March 2007, city officials finally unveiled their plan to redevelop New Orleans and begin the move out of the post-hurricane morass. It was billed as the plan to end all plans, with Paris-like streetscape renderings and promises of parks, playgrounds and 'cranes on the skyline' within months." However, more than a year later, it seems that the dream has not gained much waking-life traction, as reported by Adam Nossiter in  read more »

"Finding guilt-free food for our menus – food that’s clean, green and humane – is about as easy as securing a housing loan. And we’re suddenly paying more - 75 percent more in the last six years – to stock our pantries. Around the world, from Cairo to Port-au-Prince, increases in food prices have governments facing riots born of shortage and hunger.“ This is the waking nightmare recounted by Dan Barber in his article "Change We Can Stomach“ (The New York Times, 11 May 08).

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