The Dream of Obama

Take a look at the Election Day victory speech of Barack Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJfGx4G8tjo

Hope expressed by the crowd, and by the President-elect, is gone. It seems so long ago. "The Dream" remained ephemeral. Not much has changed in America's foreign wars. Most Americans remain under the boot of corporate systems, knowing not what keeps them down. Ultra-right extremist activism continues to subvert the Middle East and the USA.

Obama spoke well prior to taking office, his acts since then are feeble. His failure to inspire America is heartbreaking.

Jesse Hagopian was a public elementary school teacher in South East Washington, D.C. who complains (link here) of political mischief:

"...the cynicism of our nation’s ability to bomb children halfway around the world but not able care for them in the shadow of the White House. Soon too, it became apparent in all of the No Child Left Behind rhetoric about accountability that I was being asked, from inside of the classroom, to correct for all of the mistaken priorities of the politicians."

Fat cat politicians, bloated oil executives, rogue bankers and shifty defense contractors share riches... while public school teachers getting minimal resources are blamed for America's decline...

-------------------
Excellent comments here:
When Did Teachers Become Bums?

Insurance Marketing

Allstate Insurance: the Mayhem Campaign is creepy. Total protection -- if it were possible, great... but impossible, and unaffordable. Thanks for the disquiet -- - not.

Wax Poetica

Wax Poetica
by Genki

The joys of living
Too often overlooked
Fun is simple
Underrated

What's the Business of Leisure?
Opportunities abound
Free time increasing
Yet unstructured living
offers challenge

Patterning enthralls
Planning predominates
Yet try hang loose attitude
Makes all weather good weather
Hawaiian climate

Living. or:
Living it up?
Living large?
Each a growth possibility
But best is simple
Concentration
Awareness

Exercize
Stretch
Be.

Local enthusiasm
Move, or don't
...maybe sleep
Yet appreciate:
this chance now
is fleeting
Dig deep
Admire
Living art
An extra breath or two
Here & there
Adds into a Life
Spiritual
b4u no it

Terrorist Agents?

Disguised foreign agents infiltrated USA communities. Pundits joke of meager risk to important intelligence. We uncomfortably recognize the familiar is not as it seems. An extensive admitted conspiracy is declared ended via government negotiation; we’re stung by deceit. How many other such people remain undetected, perhaps trained to kill? Such people can control the émigré community or widely destabilize. Should illegal agents or assassins be so quickly released? Speedy extradition is insufficient deterrence to criminal espionage. The face of terror remains among us, a young family on a shaded street, true mission unknown.

Promises, Promises

Now visiting the USA. I quickly notice consumers should exercise great caution. Many services are scams. Expensive pitfalls are everywhere.

I notice a strong tendency to over-promise. In advertisements and speeches we're promised much, but delivery is often much more feeble.

American people are accustomed to being fleeced. Nobody wishes to be labeled a sucker or schmuck, yet as sheeple bleat of cheating, we allow it to happen again.

Politicians, financial service firms, military recruiters: all adept at the flim flam...

Yankee Stay Home

USA warfare and overseas occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq must stop. The "helpful hand" of the Yankee is not. Our forces are bumbling and deadly; the people of those nations don't want our solutions; our own nation has become improverished by foolish wars and lack of attention to domestic infrastructural gaps.

Thousands have died. Let's not sacrifice more. Bring home the US Armed Forces.

President Obama and other scheming weasel politicians who fail to promote peace should never be reelected.

Those voting against the Obey-McGovern-Jones amendment (that sought to schedule a wind-down in Afghanistan) are wasting American money & lives. Vote them out of office.

Health Insurance is not Health Care

Health insurance is not health care.
We suffer.

False promises add more suffering.

Korean Hostilities Ignored

Received this morning from the Korea Tourism Organization LA Office (Newsletter):
"Please be assured that it is completely safe for foreign visitors to enjoy their tour in South Korea even though there is a bit of tension between South and North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean ship. A daily average of 20,000 foreigners continue to visit Korea without any inconvenience or exposure to any type of harm. If you have any questions about the safety of traveling in Korea, please feel free to contact us, and we will do our best to provide you with the most accurate information. Thank you."

I was in South Korea last week, and the great majority of people are (as typically) unconcerned about the possibilities of sudden hostilities.

This does not mean there's no danger. Most people in Seoul and throughout South Korea live with strong urgency, busy being busy; onward & upward, often to unknown purpose. "Groupthink" is strong. Many cultures systemically ignore or neglect warnings & problems, but the security threat on the Korean peninsula is substantial. If trouble occurs, the foreign tourist is highly exposed, without good survival tools, liable to harm from any direction.

North Korea is unpredictable, and KTO's "bit of tension" could suddenly erupt into shooting or invasion. As mentioned, I was there last week. But make no mistake, there's danger of death or injury; the threat is recently elevated.

Settlers or Squatters?

Settlers or Squatters?
Imposing a New Order.
Grandma is perplexed

New maps, new place names
Refashioned by media
We're redeveloped.

Tribal heritage
Vies with consumer mindspace
I go to the mall.

The Mavi Marmara Massacre

Israeli commandos have stormed a group of ships bringing aid to the people of Gaza. Many people on board the Mavi Marmara were killed; hundreds more are now held in Israeli custody. It seems they tried to resist highly-armed commandos forcibly boarding their ship underway in the Mediterranean Sea. In the USA we're told the ship passengers are activists, radicals, militants and terrorists... as are the people of Gaza. Welcome to the land of spin. Yes, we live in spin.

Squatting in Arizona

Regulate
Human migration?
Is it proper a community restricts access to its resources?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

These words are not part of the International Declaration of Human Rights, or the U.S. Constitution, but are from a sonnet contributed in 1883 by 34-year old Emma Lazarus toward building New York's Statue of Liberty. The poem offers "world-wide welcome" for the homeless. So are communities in the USA now obligated to accept all comers?

I don't think so.

Miss Emma had no authority to open the land to everyone. At that time, many indigenous communities and nations within the Americas were being forcibly subdued, destroyed or purged. Large-scale ethnic cleansing was taking place; settlers were wanted to repopulate native territories. Asian and "colored" prospective settlers were discouraged.

Another dimension is continuing community investment since colonization. Community members invest in roads, bridges and other infrastructure through taxes. Some provide time & sweat, some are killed for defense. When sacrifice is disregarded, people become discouraged from participation and community-building. Big government for big corporate interests has sucked the vitality of local communities. Americans are taxed to support wars in the Middle East and Asia; they are taxed to bailout giant corporations, while their own communities are dismantled, services cut, resources extracted. Expect some people to fight - protecting the little they have.