Snatch

The Poet snatches time
As focus, appreciation, reverie...
Give way to work,
cleaning, grooming,
social camaraderie,
family affairs

The Poet snatches time
To describe, interpret, transcribe
Beauty of Living
Challenge

Perhaps for a time-snatcher
Moments of Appreciation
Become longer or more frequent.
But focus, joy and emotions
Are experienced by all
Natural understanding.

Hawaiian people need help

Korea and Kuwait were occupied nations that regained independence. But the Korean and Kuwaiti people do little for those nations & peoples still subject to Colonialism.

Hawaiian people need help.
Hawaiian lands are occupied, stolen without compensation.

Clarify Hawaiian inheritance.
link:   HI Alliance

Price Gouging?

A Boston store was accused of "price gouging" for pricing a case of water at $16. We normally would say, "so what?" - if a potential customer doesn't like prices, they can go elsewhere.

(article here)

Why should this case be any different? Boston was facing a water emergency... does that mean nobody offering drink can profit? It seems "price gouging" is always all around us; it's the basis of capitalism.

Perhaps life & death situations might be different, but otherwise, the pursuit of private profit is the bedrock of U.S. society. Income motivates work, and resources shift to take advantage of high returns. Of course, some people feel a moral focus to volunteer, or to help others without receiving payment. But can we demand selflessness from everyone? Is it right that society confiscates and reallocates valuable resources that some people prepare with risk and foresight? Is the US capitalistic? Needs are motivators. Capitalism is cruel & indifferent...

(Florida's price gouging law)

(Illegal price gouging in Texas)

Let's Tea Party !

The USA "Tea Party" movement against wasteful big government is gaining momentum. But a key problem is that many don't recognize the benefits received from collective action. Taxes pay for public services. Libertarians hoping to pay less tax find that overall costs can quickly rise - as they're preyed upon by the unscrupulous, and buffeted by natural selection, accident and disaster.

Taxes pay for public safety. Taxes protect public health. Taxes provide the regulators who verify standards for food, water, air and other necessities. When fueling a private vehicle, we can't each verify receiving a claimed fuel volume at proper octane - we trust the pump, in part thanks to regulatory inspection. Putting ourselves at the mercy of corporate providers is a poor solution. As we cut-corners, we're more likely to crash & burn, becoming pickings for scavengers or better-organized pirates. Beware!

Haiku

Great Satan makes war
Indefinite detention
Without charge or trial

------------------------------

Today I noticed
Hundreds of joys in living
Small significance

------------------------------

"Elect another..."
No accountability!
Crooked statesmen scum

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Now home is quiet
Each day I close the shutters
Detached Encroachment

Aggressive War

The British Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot has been generating revisionist arguments over the invasion of Iraq. Some people now claim they were ignorant at that time, or that they were deceived. But in mid-March 2003 it was very clear that arguments for invasion were a sham.

The invasion of Iraq was planned with no clear & present danger, and without multilateral agreement. The governments of Britain and USA knew they were embarking on an illegal war, and key people were communicating this to the wider population. When British MP Robin Cook resigned on 17 March 2003 as Leader of the House of Commons in protest over the planned invasion of Iraq, he delivered a well-reasoned and impassioned speech to Parliament. Cook's speech (which received a standing ovation from both sides of the House) is crystal clear, and condemns the planned war.

Here is an mp3 version of that famous speech:
Robin Cook resigns over Iraq attack plan 2003-03-17.mp3

and a transcript:
Robin Cook resignation speech

This was a mainstream warning by a key insider against unilateralism, bullying and wielding war in doubtful circumstances (Robin Cook had been Foreign Secretary for more than four years under PM Tony Blair). Those who ignored his warnings, and waged illegal war, should be convicted of criminal acts.

Just War

When U.S. President Barack Obama grabbed his Nobel Peace Prize last month, he attempted to justify U.S. involvement in its wars. He spoke directly of the concept of "just war" and necessary use of force.

(US government transcript)

Nobel Laureate Obama spoke about right conduct in war, and about brutalization. He bluntly claimed "America has never fought a war against a democracy..." -- which is a rich lie, yet his polite audience barely fluttered.

He next praised the wonders of hope.

"Clear eyed" and facing "the world as it is" we must recognize that America's ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are wrong. They are illegal and unwinnable, against bogeyman enemies such as foreign "weapons of mass destruction" (weapons more horrible than our own?) or the bad bad man Saddam Hussein (captured 7 years ago, executed 3 years ago - yet still our forces remain in Iraq)...

Obama has committed America to fund a military surge in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Growing armament funding & materials flows are directed to dozens of places around the globe, for social control, often at great cost to local populations (with costs America can't afford). America itself is being dumbed-down and locked-down, splitting the domestic funding scraps between law & order, policing & prisons. Little money remains for schools, parks, or people. Science & technology, and the arts, are afterthoughts - except if linked to warfare.

Yes our industries thrive on the violence. Yes our contractors profit. Where is the redesign of Baghdad's huge US Embassy Precinct, or reversion of US-colonized military bases around the world to local use by local people?

Obama's wars are   "just wars" -- just, only, simply wars.

Nightmare: USA

Imagine you live in a lawless region - assorted bandits & warlords fight for control, and kill for the wealth & resources of your people. You organize a response: those entering your region must disarm. You define a perimeter, post lookouts. You organize a guard. You seek neighborhood safety.

One day a convoy refuses to stop. There's no discussion to disarm. Your team communicates "trouble has arrived" as a flash in the sky heralds immanent death: an unmanned combat air vehicle operated by the US military (or its civilian contractors) launches heat-seeking destruction.

Death perhaps is quick - compliments of U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama, and U.S. Army General Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force coalition. Thank also the US Air Force and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (formerly owned by Gulf Oil, Shell Oil, and Chevron). A fine aloha also from the taxpayers of the USA, main sponsors of the deployment / invasion... You made a new Bananastan: corrupt & deadly. Welcome to a nightmare.

Health Care's Willy Horton

Bluster circulates in the U.S. Congress about health care. Industrial lobbyists work hard to develop proper reform - in other words, a new format for sustained profits.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans are poorly insured, or uninsured.

Our human tales of woe are poorly publicized, though they erupt every day. Let's see & hear details: actual citizens suffering through the system, treated no better than a shitball.

Senator Bernie Sanders and supporters of true reform need to find the "Willie Horton" of American health care. Put a face on the pain.

Bogeyman: Dreams of Terror

Horrible Terrorists "seek to destroy our way of life."

Bullshit. The enemy are sometimes military, sometimes criminals. Some are misguided. Some seek revenge. Some protect their homeland & family.

The story of Terrorist Bogeyman, of crazed zealotry, is a sham. But some interests are served by the dark dream. Few people ask: "Why are they after us?"

Privatized Military?

Many functions of the U.S. military have been outsourced to private corporations. This trend is frightening in terms of accountability; what happens when highly-armed militias go rogue? Yet some key contradictions emerge. U.S. Republicans have repeatedly attacked public services for supposed padded budgets, unreasonable job security, and entitlements at taxpayer expense. But these perfectly describe the perks of U.S. military leaders.

Most American people proudly voice support for the armed services. Military people put themselves in harm's way, they deserve better than they now receive. But the military's top brass are insulated from all that: conversely, they keep themselves perhaps safest of any of us, with vast resources under their control.

Elected leaders are ultimately responsible for military command & oversight. But I believe proper administration is often a failure. We need new & better checks & balances.