Haiku 093009

autumn dawn
his breath joins
lake fog

***************

Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: “Pope Ends Czech Visit With Warning About Power” by Dan Bilefsky

“Ending a three-day trip here aimed at fighting secularism, Pope Benedict XVI told about 40,000 of the faithful on Monday that the collapse of the Communist system had shown the price paid by those who chase power and deny God.

“ ‘The last century — as this land of yours can bear witness — saw the fall of a number of powerful figures who had apparently risen to almost unattainable heights,’ Benedict, 82, said during an open-air Mass in Stara Boleslav, a town about 15 miles northeast of Prague where the Czech patron St. Wenceslas was slain in the 10th century.

“ ‘Suddenly they found themselves stripped of their power,’ he added, in an allusion to the fall of Communism in 1989.

“The pope came to this decidedly skeptical nation as part of a Continentwide mission to urge the unbelieving out of their collective apathy…”

***************

And we thought:

…The workings of power and politics, perhaps, should not be boiled down like this, as if it were all a simple matter of believing in God or not. The dynamics of political systems and political change is more complex.

The Pope, being a scholar, knows better. Throughout history, a number of political leaders, although believers, had fallen out of power just the same. The people whom the Pope wishes to draw to Catholicism in a more profound way deserve a more thoughtful and well-reasoned discussion of the nexus between secular and religious matters -- not just a convenient, vaporous sound bite…

Haiku 092809

above water
the cattails are astir --
sunfish

***************

Recently, we read the following:

Star Tribune: “Iran says it will allow UN nuclear agency to inspect newly revealed, unfinished nuclear site” by Ali Akbar Dareini (AP)

"Iran said Saturday it will allow U.N. nuclear inspectors to examine its newly revealed, still unfinished uranium enrichment facility as world criticism mounted over the underground site that was developed secretly.

"The presence of a second uranium-enrichment site that could potentially produce material for a nuclear weapon has provided one of the strongest indications yet that Iran has something to hide — despite its repeated assertions that its program is only to generate electric power.

"That impression was reinforced by a close aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said the site will be operational 'soon' and would pose a threat to those who oppose Iran.

" 'This new facility, God willing, will become operational soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies,' Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani told the semi-official Fars news agency.

"The existence of the secret site was first revealed by Western intelligence officials and diplomats on Friday. It is located in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom, inside a heavily guarded, underground facility belonging to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, according to a document sent by the Obama administration to lawmakers…"

***************

And we thought:

…Busted. And still lying…

Haiku 092609

bleached driftwood
retired gentlemen
in the shade

***************

Recently, we read the following:

London Times: “Germany’s Social Democrats exhausted in run-up to Sunday’s ‘don't care’ poll” by Roger Boyes

"Just a few days ago the Brandenburg Gate, Germany’s setting for spectacular moments, was the finishing line for the runners of the Berlin Marathon. Gold, silver and bronze medals were strung around necks as athletes were still panting into the final straight.

“Yesterday it was the turn of FrankWalter Steinmeier, the Social Democrat leader, to use the backdrop of the Gate. But he could not disguise the likelihood that his party followers will be mere stragglers in the campaign to run Germany. In marathon terms, the Social Democrats are the exhausted, well-meaning also-rans, puffing their way to the end to raise money for charity. The party has been in power for 11 years and needs a rest.

“ ‘We are in this together,’ he said in a scratchy voice to the crowd. ‘Our goal is for a strong Social Democratic party, for social justice, and to stop the formation of a socially exploitative alliance between the Christian Democrats and Free Democrats.’ Not a word about the Social Democrats taking power; its declared aim is to block, to shield Germans from unpleasantness, rather than to rule.

“Little wonder that the Social Democrats may be in for a trouncing in the general election tomorrow. Why vote for a party that is losing its will to lead the Left into battle? Why vote for a party whose only chance of government is to creep back into a grand coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats? Why vote at all…?”

***************

And we thought:

…When you’ve lost the passion to fight -- like the Social Democrats -- maybe it’s time to just step aside. No doubt new travelers will step up. Following their own sun, they will blaze a path of their own. One always hopes the next generation will reap a better social order…

Haiku 092409

coffee break
she scoops a cupful
of the lake

***************

Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “In Swat Valley, a Bittersweet Eid” by Pamela Constable

“Girls in bright dresses pushed each other on swings, and boys in pastel tunics played soldier with toy rifles. Neighbors hugged, families gathered and vendors sold scoop after scoop of sweet custard.

“This week is the first time in three years that people in Pakistan's Swat Valley have been able to celebrate Eid al-Fitr -- the joyous three-day festival that follows the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and its daily fasting -- without looking anxiously over their shoulders for armed religious vigilantes in pickup trucks.

“But the Taliban-free holiday has been bittersweet for many Swatis, still shellshocked from the summer-long army operation that drove the Islamist militants from this verdant northwest valley but also left a path of death and destruction and sent hundreds of thousands of inhabitants fleeing for their lives.

" ‘It doesn't really feel like Eid, because we cannot forget so soon,’ said Sadiq Khan, a fruit seller in the town of Batkhela. ‘They are still finding bodies in the Swat River. We had to spend weeks in those hot tents, and some of our women had to give birth on the road as we ran from the fighting. There is too much sorrow and shame for us to celebrate...’ "

***************

And we thought:

…We scoop stuff for different reasons. To hurl in anger and hurt another. To keep as souvenir and remember. For nourishment. To quench thirst. To build or rebuild. To provide for others. To celebrate.

A butcher in Pakistan reportedly had this wish: “We need to have one Eid to unify the country.” Others have expressed a grander vision: “We need to have one Eid a unified world celebrates.”

Like a festival celebrating world peace…

Haiku 092209

open house
a horsefly rubbing
hands and feet

***************

Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “IOC member said Obama's absence would be 'noted' “ by Nancy Armour (AP)

“Obama's absence at next month's vote to award the 2016 Games would be noticed, IOC member Dick Pound said Monday. But he's not sure how it would affect Chicago's chances to bring the Summer Olympics back to the United States for the first time since 1996.

" ‘I don't think there's an IOC member on the planet that wouldn't love to meet your president. He's a transformational figure in the world today,’ Pound said at a symposium on the 2016 Games sponsored by DePaul and the McCormick Foundation. ‘If he can be persuaded to go, I think it makes a huge difference.’

“ ‘Chicago is in a tight contest with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo, and the presence of world leaders has been instrumental in the most recent votes. Tony Blair helped London land the 2012 Games when he met IOC members in Singapore in 2005, and Vladimir Putin traveled to Guatemala City in 2007 to push Sochi's winning bid for the 2014 Winter Games.

“Obama has been an ardent supporter of his adopted hometown's bid for the Olympics, videotaping four messages for IOC members in recent months. But he called IOC president Jacques Rogge - personally - last week to say his priority right now must be the fight to reform the health care system…”

***************

And we thought:

…Tough decision: If President Obama does go to Copenhagen to pitch for Chicago, and Chicago gets the IOC’s nod to host the 2016 Olympics, it would certainly be a great stimulus package for Chicago and the rest of the Midwest.

But if Chicago loses its bid, the president’s detractors would have a field day, criticizing him for wasting his time on a "frivolous pursuit" – in the face of critical issues pre-occupying the American people. And he really can’t be sure anyway about his presence in Copenhagen making a difference.

We think – Pass. It’s not going to be a slam dunk. Besides, it really looks like it’s too soon for the U.S. to host the Olympics again…


Postscript: On October 2, 2009, Rio de Janeiro got the IOC's nod to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Haiku 092009

as I grill
plates line up --
a stray cat

***************

Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: "Taiwan's Ex-President Sentenced to Life Term" by Peter Enav (AP)

“A Taiwanese court sentenced former president Chen Shui-bian to life in prison after convicting him on graft charges Friday, a spectacular fall from grace for a man who rode to power on promises to end decades of corruption and expand the island's de facto independence…

“With the 58-year-old Chen absent from the courtroom -- he chose to stay in the suburban Taipei jail where he has been detained since December -- a three-judge panel declared the former leader guilty of wide-ranging graft offenses.

“Chen had been charged with embezzling $3.15 million from a special presidential fund during his 2000-2008 tenure, receiving bribes worth at least $9 million in connection with a government land deal, laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts and forging documents.

“The court convicted Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, on related graft offenses and sentenced her to life in prison, as well. The two were also fined $15.2 million, a Taipei District Court spokesman said…”

***************

And we thought:

…The Taiwanese people must be pleased that justice has been swiftly served on their former President.

Fast forward to 2010, sometime after the Philippine presidential elections: Would the former Philippine President, Gloria Arroyo, be finally charged with graft and corruption and held accountable? Unfortunately, it seems like a tall order. The Filipino people can be so maddeningly forgiving. Remember what happened – or did not happen – to the Marcos family after their 20-year plunder of the Philippines?

Still, we cross our fingers. History teaches us that cultural change is a protracted process. But when the time is ripe, it does come in a gratifying rush…

Haiku 091809

he yells 'Hey'
at folks fishing --
empty beer cans

***************

Recently, we read the following:

CNN.com: "Joe Wilson says outburst to Obama speech 'spontaneous' "

"The GOP congressman from South Carolina who shouted out during President Obama's health care address to Congress insisted Thursday that his outburst was 'spontaneous…'

"Rep. Joe Wilson shocked many observers Wednesday night when he shouted, 'You lie!' after the president denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants…

"Wilson … cited a report by the Congressional Research Service that he said showed the health care proposals would include illegal aliens…

"A CNN review of the Congressional Research Service report found that the health care legislation does address illegal immigrants. It says that noncitizens who can be considered 'resident aliens' under tax law, which doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, would be required to buy health insurance.

"Yet the proposal clearly says that federal subsidies would go only to U.S. citizens and immigrants who are in the United States legally…"

***************

And we thought:

…Republican Joe Wilson (S.C.) says his heckling was “spontaneous.” It doesn’t make his behavior less rude though. It just confirms what some have characterized as a lack of good breeding. Or maybe, he was just drunk.

What about Republican Wilson’s claim that Obama lied when the latter denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants? In fact, the Congressional Research Service, which Wilson says is his source, refutes Wilson’s claim. The CRS report says: “… [T]he proposal clearly says that federal subsidies would go only to U.S. citizens and immigrants who are in the United States legally.”

Who’s actually lying then? At the least the American people deserve representatives who are intellectually honest. Laws shouldn’t be built on a foundation of lies. Opposition to proposed laws should not be based on distortions of positions and facts. Or outright lies. Or drunken outbursts...

Haiku 091609

summer rain --
some avoid stepping
on the sun

***************

Recently, we read the following:

San Francisco Chronicle: “Abrupt reversal detected in Arctic cooling trend” by David Perlman

"The Arctic climate has been warmer over the past decade than during any 10-year period in 2,000 years, according to a study by an international research team that adds powerful new evidence that human-generated greenhouse gases have speeded the pace of the planet's recent warming.

"The report from an international team of climate scientists concludes that climate change in the Arctic has accelerated since the Industrial Revolution, abruptly reversing a long-term worldwide cooling trend.

" 'The study provides a clear example of how increased greenhouse gases are now changing our climate,' said Caspar Ammann of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., a co-author of the report published Thursday in the journal Science…

"Researchers at other institutions, seeking to look for patterns of climate change even further back in time, used astronomical records to study the well-known wobble of the globe as it spins on its axis. They found that the Northern Hemisphere has long been moving away from the sun's warmth. During the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is now a million kilometers - about 621,000 miles - farther away from the sun than it was 2,000 years ago, according to the scientist's computer models.

"The result was a global period of relative cold that would have continued, the scientists found. But about 1850, at the beginning of the Industrial Age, the planet's climate began overcoming the cooling trend, and the Arctic climate has warmed decade by decade ever since as greenhouse gas emissions have increased, the scientists say…"

***************

And we thought:

… Sadly, since Katie Couric confirmed she doesn’t read at all, we expect that Sarah Palin will be missing another article that might have helped her revisit her position on climate change. Palin will remain thinking that his former running-mate, John McCain, and the 141 Kyoto Protocol country-signatories are wrong about global warming and man’s hand in it…

Haiku 091409

burnt orange
stains the small lake
summer’s end

***************

Recently, we read the following:

NPR: “Why 'GQ' Doesn't Want Russians To Read Its Story” by David Folkenflik

"For war journalist Scott Anderson, the most confounding part of his recent assignment for GQ magazine to explore the root of terrorist acts in Russia a decade ago wasn't the suggestion of treachery and subterfuge he found…

"It was the reception his story ultimately received in the United States.

" 'It was quite mysterious to me,' Anderson says. 'All of a sudden, it became clear that they were going to run the article but they were going to try to bury it under a rock as much as they possibly could…'

"His investigative piece, published in the September American edition of GQ, challenges the official line on a series of bombings that killed hundreds of people in 1999 in Russia. It profiles a former KGB agent who spoke in great detail and on the record, at no small risk to himself. But instead of trumpeting his reporting, GQ's corporate owners went to extraordinary lengths to try to ensure no Russians will ever see it…

" 'Conde Nast management has decided that the September issue of U.S. GQ magazine containing Scott Anderson's article 'Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power' should not be distributed in Russia,' Birenz wrote.

"He ordered that the article could not be posted to the magazine's Web site. No copies of the American edition of the magazine could be sent to Russia or shown in any country to Russian government officials, journalists or advertisers. Additionally, the piece could not be published in other Conde Nast magazines abroad, nor publicized in any way… "

***************

And we thought:

…Conde Nast has decided to sequester significant information for what ends? It's a sad day when Big Business and Big Politics bare their stained teeth and decree that their ends take precedence over Journalism’s obligations...

Haiku 091209

among boats
a toy helo hovers
lily pads

***************

Recently, we read the following:


TIME.com: “Man vs. Goose: Taking the Fight to the Unruly Flock” by Bryan Walsh

“Rikers island has held New York City's tough-guy prisoners for more than a century, but it is also populated by a much flightier group that stands accused of crimes against New Yorkers: Canada geese. Attracted by the vacant fields and easy access to water, thousands of geese have come to live on the fringes of the island, which is less than a mile from La Guardia Airport. But because the big birds have shown a propensity for colliding with jets… on June 11, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to remove up to 2,000 geese from city-owned properties like Rikers…

“Canada geese are also prolific poopers, and with excretions adding up to as much as 1 lb. a day per bird, the health hazards are serious. The birds have been blamed for fecal contamination that has led to beach closings…

“… [B]irds in many areas are being captured and gassed with carbon dioxide. Also, at some airports, workers are being trained to use shotguns, in case birds get too close to active runways…

“But animal lovers are livid over what they see as needless slaughter — a debate repeated almost everywhere Canada geese are being culled… ‘Are we going to extinguish every single bird in the sky?’ asks Edita Birnkrant, New York director of Friends of Animals.

“… There are believed to be some 25,000 resident Canada geese in the New York City area, way more than the 2,000 that officials are sending to permanent dreamland…

“Killing geese because they get in our way is a bit unfair… Canada geese aren't the best neighbors, but that doesn't mean they deserve the death penalty.”

***************

And we thought:

… So where do people want New York City to land in this turf war between man and goose? Why is the culling of 10% of Canada geese in New York City “needless slaughter”, if it means lessening the risk of geese-plane collisions and potential death and injury to thousands of passengers each day? Or avoiding health-related risks caused by 25,000 pounds of geese excretions per day?

Should New York allocate money to find alternate plane routes or build another airport for the planes currently using La Guardia? Should it continue expending resources to clean up after the geese? Or should it instead use increasingly scarce city resources for more critical programs like affordable housing, health care, or similar human services?

Choosing between animal rights, on the one hand, and people’s safety and health, on the other, shouldn’t really be a tough call. Why isn't that a no-brainer?...

Haiku 091009

over water
cellophane drifting
a dragonfly

****************

Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: “Tucked Away in Shanghai, Hidden Lives” by Howard W. French

“For the last couple of months I have spent the first part of each day either teaching at a Chinese university or writing.

“Nearly every afternoon, though … I have set off with camera in hand by motorcycle and subway to some of the fast-disappearing old neighborhoods of this city, to knock on the doors of hundreds of ordinary, working-class people…

“Through the time spent in the cramped, dimly lit homes of my subjects — people whose portraits I’ve taken for a long-term photographic project about the city’s oldest neighborhoods — I may have learned as much about Shanghai and about China as I did in five busy years as a correspondent here…

“… I had not expected to find so much evidence of China’s thriving quasi-underground religious culture here. In house after house, I found people worshiping privately as Christians or Buddhists…

“I think … of the poor and jobless Shanghainese parents in the old garment district who told me of their eagerness to be relocated across the river to Pudong, where the environment would be better…

“Inevitably, the theme of relocation comes up often in encounters like these, given the frantic pace of redevelopment….

“ ‘What they are doing here is simply unfair,’ he said, telling me how thugs had been dispatched to beat up residents who refused to quietly make way for the demolition.

“Others told me the stories of corrupt local officials, whom they said offered higher compensation for relocated people who were willing to pay bribes...”

***************

And we thought:

…In China government corruption, state arrogance, and unequal opportunities appear to remain a way of life – despite having, for more than half a century, a supposedly proletarian and pro-people party at the helm.

Openness and transparency, the capacity to listen to constructive criticism and to engage in dialogue, are necessary to the process of social change. Unfortunately, the Chinese people themselves confirm that their leaders don't practice what they preach. Remember the Tiananmen Square massacre, the repression of the Uighurs...

Haiku 090809

he lies
with a book in bed
a loon's call

***************

Recently, we read the following:

John-Yoko Photo Copyright by Central Press/Getty Images

NPR: “After 40 Years, The Bed-In Reawakens” by Margot Adler

“In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent their honeymoon in bed…

“The Bed-In was a publicity stunt: Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to talk about peace during the height of the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Lennon sang about the event in ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko.’

“Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton. Talking in our beds for a week. The newspapers said, ‘What are you doing in bed?’ I said, "We're only trying to get us some peace."

“Since then, other artists have used the bed to explore similar themes. And this year, an international peace group called The World March for Peace and Nonviolence decided to bring back the bed-in to promote hundreds of global peace events taking place in every continent over the next year. The issue at hand: the spread of nuclear weapons.

“So on Aug. 16, the organizers brought a bed to Central Park and put it near Strawberry Fields — only a short walk from the Dakota apartment building where John Lennon lived and the street where he died. There was a big bed with white sheets, fluffy pillows and flowers. Anyone could take the microphone, sit on the bed and say his or her piece on peace…

“Chris Wells is the North American spokesperson for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

“ ‘John and Yoko had the vision to turn their honeymoon into a call for peace,’ he says. ‘They asked us to imagine a world without violence. It is a call that remains unfulfilled.’

“After their Bed-In, Lennon and Ono sent acorns to heads of state and tried unsuccessfully to meet with them. Wells and the organizers of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence are planning hundreds of events this fall and winter, in the hope that they might have more of an effect.”

***************

And we thought:

… Yoko and John – they evoke love or hate. For what they actually stand for or what people think they stand for. Genuineness. Hypocrisy. Spirituality. Godlessness. Freedom. Anarchy.

Is imagining peace so crazy? For instance, why are some folks so suspicious of John’s “Imagine”? The song’s just saying, certain institutions have historically subverted peace. They have engendered conflict and war: Countries and governments. Religions and traditions. They have created, and continue to perpetuate, “us” and “them.” Can't we imagine other options?

Of course, things are more complex than what "Imagine" tries to distill in several lines. It’s up to us to break things down into elements we can possibly act on for now. Then, it’s up to us to ask, Why not? ...

God's time*

1.
One was taught to expect as I –

With Alienation firmly grasped
in God’s time the people will meld
their political will into a tight fist.

"Led by their advanced ranks
the people will crush the albatross
on their necks."

2
A cleansing wildfire will rage
and across plantations and factories
and inner cities
will blaze a new world unbridled.

The people’s hearts will burn like the sun
purging historical memories, long glutted
with measured lies and co-opted glories.

3.
In God’s time nothing more will there be
to justify weapons and war
and weeping widows.

As above, so below.



*Chapter 7, Fractured Memories

Haiku 090409

the pontoon
backs over the moon
evening's end

***************
Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: “As Japan’s Mediums Die, Ancient Tradition Fades” by Martin Fackler

Its name means the Mountain of Horror, which seems an apt description for this sacred Buddhist site inside the crater of a dormant volcano. The weather-beaten temple here is surrounded by a lifeless lake and a wasteland of naked rock reeking of sulfur that conjures images of Buddhist hell.

But during the mountain’s twice annual religious festivals, visitors come by the busload to line up before a row of small tents in a corner of the temple. Within are the “itako” — elderly, often blind women who hold séance-like ceremonies that customers hope will allow them to commune with spirits of the dead.

These spiritual mediums seem out of place in a hyper-modern nation better known for bullet trains and hybrid cars. Found only in peripheral areas like this volcano on the far northern tip of Japan’s main island, and only dimly known to most Japanese, the itako are among the last remaining adherents to ancient shamanistic beliefs that predate Buddhism and modern forms of Shintoism, Japan’s two main religions, historians say.

They have survived government efforts to stamp them out, as well as the continuing disdain of many Japanese, who look down on them as charlatans who trade in superstition…

Now, however, even these last remaining itako are vanishing. Only four graying itako appeared at Mt. Osore’s weeklong summer festival this year, three having died of old age in the last year…

“We can see a very ancient flame dying out before our eyes,” Ms. Himukai said in a separate interview. “But traditions have to change with the times.”

***************

And we thought:

…In time the full moon fades, giving way to the new. It’s nature’s way. It’s also the way of men and their societies…

Haiku 090209

on the wall
still shadows of leaves
a blackbird cries

***************

Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: “Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Indicted” (Associated Press)

“Israeli authorities indicted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges Sunday, the first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past Israeli prime minister.

“Olmert, who stepped down earlier this year over the corruption issue, is accused of illegally accepting funds from an American backer, double-billing for trips abroad and concealing funds from a government watchdog.

“He faces charges that include fraud and breach of trust.

“The charges filed in a Jerusalem court on Sunday first surfaced when Olmert was still prime minister, although Olmert allegedly committed the offenses while serving as mayor of Jerusalem and later as a Cabinet minister, before being elected prime minister in 2006…

“Two former Cabinet ministers recently sentenced in separate corruption cases have received multiple-year prison sentences. Avraham Hirchson, a former finance minister and an Olmert confidant and appointee, was sentenced to five years for embezzlement in June, and another former Cabinet minister was sentenced to four years for taking bribes…

“In addition to the charges against Olmert's finance minister, another Cabinet minister was convicted of sexual misconduct and the country's former ceremonial president, Moshe Katzav, was charged by several women with rape and sexual harassment and is currently on trial.”

And we thought:

…If former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and his errant cabinet ministers were Filipino government officials, they would be folk heroes of a sort – for committing relatively minor indiscretions while in office.

The current Philippine president, her family and cronies have reportedly raised so high the bar of corruption and abuse in the Philippines that, in comparison, Olmert and his friends would be likened to petty functionaries.

Of course, we're talking about two completely different cultures. The extreme greed and arrogance of Ms. Arroyo and her ilk are of the virulent Marcos strain...