Sandy's No Gas Zones

The New York Times is reporting this good news:

For the first time in five days, power will return to a small sliver of Lower Manhattan, including Wall Street, by midnight Friday, Consolidated Edison officials said.

And all of the utility’s customers in Manhattan who lost power when Hurricane Sandy barreled into the city should expect to have electricity on Saturday,

But at the same time, the Times tells us that gasoline has run out, and it's created yet another Thunderdome:

Though Thursday marked the start of the return to routine for many who commute to work or celebrated the resumption of power, the scenes of long lines, fistfights at gas stations and siphoning at parking lots highlighted the difficult, uneven slog to recovery.

On Friday, the Queens district attorney’s office said a St. Albans man had been arrested after he pointed a pistol at a motorist who complained when he tried to cut a line at a gas station. The man, Sean M. Bailey, 35, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.

May all who are affected by the storm find shelter. May all be happy. May all be well. May all find patience. May all find compassion. And may all find peace.

Metta After Sandy

Breezy Point, Queens

May all beings be happy. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings have equanimity. May all beings be free from hatred. May all beings have the bliss that is beyond suffering. May all beings be well. May all beings be safe. May all beings have refuge. May all beings realize their enlightenment.

Instead Of A Losar Celebration, A Prayer For Peace In Tibet

AP reports:

XIAHE, China (AP) — Only a handful of pilgrims gathered here last weekend at the historic Labrang monastery, normally bustling before the Tibetan New Year.

"There was a war in Lhasa this year. Lots of Tibetans were killed," one resident murmured, referring to protests last March against Chinese rule that broke out in the Tibetan capital and spread to other cities in western China, including Xiahe. The unrest was the largest and most sustained in decades.

"There is no new year festival for us," the woman said.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, called this week on Tibetans to skip festivities surrounding the new year, which begins Wednesday, saying they would be inappropriate after the Chinese government's heavy-handed crackdown on the protests. Tibetans across the region say they are still in mourning.

The Dalai Lama also denounced Chinese-backed celebration plans as "provocations."

Adding to the tension — and authorities' tightening grip on large swathes of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces with sizable Tibetan communities — is the approaching 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising on March 10.

And so, I offer the following prayer for Losar:

May all beings refrain from killing and prevent others from killing. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings be free from hatred. May all beings have equanimity, so they have neither too much grasping or too much aversion. May all beings have the spiritual bliss that is untouched by suffering. May all beings be safe. May all beings be well. May all beings live in peace in Gaza and Israel. May all beings live in peace in China and Tibet. May all beings live in peace throughout the world. May all beings realize their enlightenment.