Haiku 101609

she ducks
behind wild bushes
delay of game

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Recently, we read the following:

San Francisco Chronicle: “Uruguay Supreme Court rules out dirty war amnesty” by Raul O Garces (AP)

"Uruguay's Supreme Court on Monday declared unconstitutional a law that has provided amnesty to military officials accused of murders, disappearances and other human rights violations during the country's dictatorship.

"Ruling in the case of a young communist detained and slain by the military in 1974, the justices said the amnesty law violates Uruguay's separation of powers and failed to pass by a required supermajority — arguments sure to be made in other dirty war prosecutions.

"The law remains on the books, but the ruling could swing voters in favor of overturning it altogether in a plebiscite being held Sunday along with presidential elections. Until now, polls have shown the plebiscite failing.

"Former vice president and constitutional scholar Gonzalo Aguirre told The Associated Press that the ruling 'supports the conviction that on Sunday the law should be annulled by popular vote and that this will lead to the reopening of dozens of cases that could not be prosecuted because of the amnesty…'

"Amnesties for human rights violators were key to enabling democracies to emerge from the dictatorship era in South America, but they have been increasingly challenged recently…"

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And we thought:

… Human rights violators who had run brutal dictatorships like Uruguay back in the 70s and 80s cannot be allowed to duck behind anomalous laws passed to shield them from prosecution. For the people of Uruguay to realize peace and progress, justice and democracy must be allowed to play out at some point. Reason dictates that the process of justice and democracy cannot be delayed indefinitely...

Haiku 091609

summer rain --
some avoid stepping
on the sun

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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…"

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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 082909

the deer jumps
back into the woods
speeding car

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Recently, we read the following:

San Francisco Chronicle: "Drug testing trumped by gender testing" by Gwen Knapp

“Albert Pujols knows that, on every home run, his swing connects with suspicion. So many people want to believe in him, to imagine each homer sweeping baseball's doping scandals further into the past. Pujols can't definitively prove that he is different, that he is clean.

“Usain Bolt crushes the 100-meter world record again. He is dazzling, a showman with rock-star panache who promises to revive track and field. But like Pujols, he is stalked by an ugly history.

“Three of the last eight men (Ben Johnson, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin) to break the 100-meter record have been banned for doping. Montgomery kept the mark for almost three years before federal agents uncovered what the drug tests missed.

“So Bolt and Pujols are stuck answering for the sins of their predecessors. But in this era of profound skepticism, they should be grateful for one thing: Nobody will ever watch them excel and then accuse them of not being real men.

“South African teenager Caster Semenya, the winner of the women's 800-meter race at the world championships, has been undergoing gender-verification testing. She must be examined by, among others, a gynecologist, psychologist and endocrinologist…

“It's not enough for her to undergo the very intrusive drug testing (the sample collector is supposed to watch every second, up close and personal, in the bathroom). Semenya has to endure a fairly medieval practice, a remnant from the days when all female athletes were deemed abnormal...

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And we thought:

… Pretty soon you'll have a nut-job stepping up and wondering earnestly: "What if it’s not about drugs or gender re-engineering? What if they’re not really human -- but extra-terrestials?" Things could get sillier...