Death Squad (poem)

Death Squad
    by Genki, 2012

They come with no warning
Weasels in the darkness
Killing truth in its front alcove
Or bustling to nothingness
Teacher
Reporter
Stubborn priest
Now missing forever

Of course the greedy wealthy
Fund such cleanup
Keeping great privilege
Above reproach.
Wielding shadows, corporate baffles
Slimy informers

Master might witness
Murder or mayhem
But probably not.
Dirty work's assigned to others

His Majesty in white cashmere
Calm at his polo club
As hundreds in the barrio
Curse his dark heart

Horror -- miscalculated
like a snake strike
Injudicious questioner
Union helper
Unruly teen
Opposition's sister
All fall.
Sudden, Startled, Scowling, Screaming
In a moment's fury.
As unthreatened power
Parades demure.

An orphan sniffles
A granny weeps
Good God what a nightmare
Wraiths & wind

Livin' the Loophole

Romney doesn't work - He's a parasite, who'll consume your dreams. His $20 million annual income is taxed proportionately little. Most Americans pay a bigger share, of far smaller salaries. Those Americans work.

Mitt's spends life "livin' the loophole"

Smartly he's been paid-off well in advance. His crafty backers now position him for power. Expect big trouble.

Mitt's a petulant weasel, unwilling to help anyone but himself.  Send the bum back to Aruba to live with his wealth -- he ain't wanted in America.

Justice Doggie-style

Sweden, the UK, and Ecuador actively wrestle over Julian Assange of Wikileaks, while in the undergrowth Australia and America lurk & leer.

Five nations plus world media deflect attention from dozens (millions?) of crimes, including murder, mayhem and genocide -- detailed by Wikileaks reports. 

Those crimes against humanity: waging wars, manipulating mass millions, theft, forgery, assassinations, destabilization, remain unanswered. No charges are filed. The public continues doing business with the same political hacks & banksters who cheated them, destroyed & stole their savings, and enabled decades of Madoff frauds. Banks & finance firms isolate Wikileaks and cut-off public donation routes. The butchers and profiteers roam free.

The BBC created a timeline of the allegations against Mr. Assange (link). Here we see both women say "what started as consensual sex became non-consensual." We read Assange spent weeks in Sweden subsequent to these affairs, that he met with police, and of official blundering concerning filing charges.

The allegations against Assange are serious. We should be hostile to sexual criminals. Yet while Mr. Assange is not yet convicted, neither have the butchers Bush & Blair been indicted. Illegally invading Iraq is not forgiven, but attention is deflected by stupidity. Thousands of war-mongers continue their dirty manipulations. Proven criminals continue to breed more crimes.

Bung-hole justice. The rich treat the rest of us, the 99%, with contempt.
Justice Doggie-style...

Slow Boat to ...Where?

Bustling Korea is becoming known (link) for "Pali Pali" (빨리빨리) - a culture of hurrying, keeping moving, go go go don't know where but go go ...

Japan has some of the same pressures: workaholic lifestyles, and feeling slow equals lazy. The Japanese phrase karōshi - 過労死 or "death from overtime work" is now adopted into English (great!).

But some people are deliberately changing. Here's a great article (slow to load) by Steve Trautlein about how some people in Japan are working to live a slower life...

Of course, all is relative: a deliberately slower Korean lifestyle may be still faster than that of most Americans, while most of us in Northern Europe enjoy even slower lives - five to nine weeks of holiday time per year, with strong emphasis on nature & enjoying simple pleasures, preferably free pleasures.

Koreans work an average of 500 hours more each year than Swedes. It's likely in fact the gap is bigger than official statistics show. I deliberately seek balance and to savor life! It often ain't easy... but living otherwise is worse.

Fuckyushima too

We live in a capitalist world.

What's happening to the vegetables and produce (such as mushrooms) growing in Japan's poisoned nuclear zone? How much tainted meat & fish enters the market - in Japan or abroad?

Irradiated items are basically indistinguishable from untainted food after leaving the danger area. Few of us can test our meals or supermarket items for radiation. Desperate or profit-hungry people can hide the source of bad & dangerous foods.

Perhaps you believe such things couldn't happen ... Unknowingly, you bet your life.

Here's an article about food scandals in Japan (link). And here (link) is another.

Here's a great article about the nuclear disaster zone in Fukushima and what's growing there now (link)

Fuckushima

The nuclear disaster at Fukushima is ongoing, but industry and their political puppets still try to spin the story in a positive light.

The bottom line is that earth, air & sea are horribly poisoned, towns & homes tragically abandoned, industries & neighborhoods destroyed, over 300,000 people evacuated, and 9400 hectares (over 23,000 acres) of crowded Japan remains off-limits.

What do we do with such news?

Is it simply "Fuck You" to local people? Or will a deadly, poorly-engineered industry be forced to redesign and pay for its mistakes?

US Death Squads

Is it proper that without legal due process the USA is assassinating assorted individuals and those who happen to be around them?

I believe this killing is wrong. It's bad if done by knife or gun, it's worse when done by drone -- striking a home or shop or vehicle, killing unidentified family members and acquaintances as well as (or instead of) the persons targeted.

The USA Death Squads operate from military bases around the world. Other nations and law-abiding peoples should strongly pressure the US government to stop extrajudicial summary killings.

Such murders are cowardly & despicable. Official US Government Death Squads dishonor our nation, our laws, our predecessors, and the legacy of this whole generation. When fighting seemingly evil villains, even Harry Potter characters discuss "we face the choice between what is right, and what is easy." Our use of Death Squads is just plain wrong.

Photos of South American "Disappeared" (supplied by mothers of the dead)

Olympian Death Threat

Athletes can be seen on TV in London's Olympic Stadium walking across infield areas strewn with electric cables (for cameras, clocks, lights, etc.). Athlete spiked footwear could penetrate wiring insulation, bringing sudden shock or death.

The grass is greener & more dangerous at London 2012...

Are these competitors warned of electrocution threat? How sad if an Olympian focused on sport is zapped dead before all the world ...

We Can Do Better...

US Medicine: We Can Do Better Than This   Please read this (link) heartfelt appeal by Dr. Dave Dvorak for more humane American health care. Sadly, we need more victims: domestic poster boys & girls -- wholesome people oozing suffering through the media -- to impress America's rulers and the AMA (American Medical Association). The American people have been misinformed that their nation can thrive on a low tax, poor public services regime. Cooperation these days is British English. Wake up America - only 1% have the American dream -- the rest live a daily nightmare.

Sikh, Sikh, Sikh

Yesterday seven people were murdered in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, USA.

How can the USA be regularly rocked by insult & attack fueled by ignorance? We live in the 21st century, with great tools & resources for public education. What contributes to vicious intolerance and race-baiting in America?

In my opinion, here are top American weaknesses:

1) Deliberate neglect
America's underclass grows together with poor communities, lack of jobs, and limited civic opportunities. Shit neighborhoods and stupid neighbors shape too many dud citizens. It's acceptable to grow-up an idiot.

2) Fox News
Hearing aggressive commentary from assholes such as Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity & Ann Coulter make savagery and foolishness OK. Ghosts of the slaughtered innocent should haunt Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, and other shortsighted programmers. TV people made me do it!

3) Political gridlock
US Republican strategy has been to minimize regulatory oversight and privatize all social services, though with each big scandal the goal slips backward. Because of poor checks & balances, Jack Abramoff, international banksters, Enron & Arthur Andersen, Blackwater & Halliburton, Bernie Madoff, etc., grew hugely powerful via corruption and greed. But poor public funding has nonetheless emasculated public services. Too many Americans stopped investing in their communities; bare-bones taxation has hurt everyone.

4) Overseas adventurism
It's long past time to demilitarize. Few in America truly expect public help - you must survive on your own. Iraqis, Afghans & Israelis should fend for themselves.

Civil War & The UN

How much should the community of nations interfere in regional political affairs? The present strife in Syria has been condemned by a UN General Assembly resolution (document A/66/L.57; passed 133 to 12, with 31 abstentions). But the resolutions has no binding legal sanctions. Past resolutions seeking peace elsewhere in the Middle East have too often done nothing. What might the UN General Assembly have done in the case of the American Civil War? The Confederate States of America ultimately was re-amalgamated into the Union, but after horrible losses of perhaps a million dead overall. Efforts to trigger European intervention & mediation had little impact.

The United Nations Charter prohibits member nations from aggressive attacks against others. The idea is good, but many such attacks have taken place since WWII. Chapter VII of the UN Charter gives the Security Council the possibility of imposing military power "to maintain or restore international peace and security." But any of the UN Security Council's five unelected members (China, France, Russia, UK, USA) can veto intervention. In the case of Syria, both Russia & China have strongly resisted intervention. But judging from past unlawful interference elsewhere by big military powers, (which remains largely unpunished), surely surreptitious destabilization is underway now.