Haiku 102209

miles high
the left wing slices
dense clouds


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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “Italian court convicts 23 Americans in CIA rendition case” by Craig Whitlock

“An Italian court on Wednesday convicted 22 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force colonel of orchestrating the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003 and flying him to Egypt, where he said he was later tortured….”

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And we thought:

… Will the policy makers and decision makers at that time be made accountable, too -- for the thick web of lies they spun?....

Haiku 092409

coffee break
she scoops a cupful
of the lake

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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...’ "

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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

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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…”

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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

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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…”

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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 082509

the sign says
no boat wakes please
a pair of loons

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: "Cheney uncloaks his frustration with Bush" by Barton Gellman

“Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes his old boss, President George W. Bush, gradually turned away from his advice during their second term in the White House, showing a surprising independence as he started taking more flexible positions on a range of issues, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"Cheney, often described as the most influential vice president in U.S. history, has been discussing his years in office in informal talks with authors, diplomats, policy experts and past colleagues, the Post said, as he works on a memoir due out in 2011 from Simon & Schuster's Threshold Editions…

" ‘When the president made decisions that I didn't agree with, I still supported him and didn't go out and undercut him,’ Cheney said, according to Stephen Hayes, his authorized biographer. ‘Now we're talking about after we've left office. I have strong feelings about what happened... And I don't have any reason not to forthrightly express those views.’

"According to the author of the Post piece, Barton Gellman, who earlier wrote a book on Cheney called ‘Angler,’ the former vice president believes Bush made concessions to public sentiment, something Cheney views as moral weakness. After years of praising Bush as a man of resolve, Cheney now intimates that the former president turned out to be more like an ordinary politician in the end, Gellman says…”


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And we thought:

…Is Cheney getting back at Bush due to the latter’s refusal to pardon Scooter Libby?

Or is Cheney subtly trying a bit of historical revisionism? Is he trying to portray himself as the de facto man of the house during the first part of the Bush-Cheney reign? Is he trying to exonerate Bush for the bumblings of their first term? Is he trying to portray Bush as being a better President during their second term, one who has become his own man?

But -- why is it that when Cheney says one thing, you actually believe the opposite? Makes you want to take an aspirin.

No doubt the real story will be told. Bush and Cheney will be judged soon enough. Facts are stubborn things and time has a way of surfacing them. The masses of the American people will know at some point for sure what happened during the eight years of the Bush-Cheney household. For now, the majority of the American people appear to just want Cheney to go away. Bush has already accepted his place in the current scheme of things...

Haiku 062209

a squirrel's nest
of twigs and leaves...
summer home

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post : “Reporters Escape Taliban Captors” by Keith Richburg

"A New York Times reporter kidnapped by the Taliban and held for seven months in the rugged mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border escaped Friday, along with a local Afghan reporter, by climbing over a wall and finding a nearby Pakistani army base, according to the newspaper, U.S. officials and the journalist's family.

"David Rohde, 41, was taken captive Nov. 10 along with local reporter Tahir Ludin, 35, and their driver while Rohde was researching a book on Afghanistan. News organizations, including The Washington Post, did not report on the abduction at the request of the Times and Rohde's relatives, who feared that publication of the news could endanger the lives of the captives....

"According to sources, the FBI worked closely with the Times in Afghanistan to negotiate his release. There were intermittent communications with the kidnappers, who also provided several 'proof of life' videos confirming Rohde was alive. But sources said the family insisted on using private security consultants to resolve the case, and it was those consultants who insisted on an absolute news blackout…"

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And we thought:

…Rohde's escape is fortunate. But what's most fortunate is he’s a member of a fraternity that has great resources (influence, connections, funds) and takes care of its own. Just wondering -- would this media fraternity agree as well to a “news blackout” for a private individual or a public figure, given the same "life-or-death" situation? Why do some of us doubt it will?...

Haiku 061409

at six-thirty
the truck starts idling...
wake-up call

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “U.N. Imposes Tough New Sanctions on North Korea” by Colum Lynch

“The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Friday to impose a broad range of additional financial, military and trade sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and called on states for the first time to seize banned North Korean cargo on the high seas….

“The resolution would restrict Pyongyang's access to international grants, financial assistance and low-interest loans. It would also reinvigorate efforts to enforce a range of sanctions imposed on North Korea after its first nuclear test in October 2006….

“The current push for tough sanctions has generated skepticism among some observers, who recall that the Security Council never enforced sanctions on North Korea following its first nuclear test in October 2006.

“In fact, North Korea's overseas trade has grown substantially since then, with trade volumes last year at their highest levels since 1990, when a far more prosperous and less isolated North Korea was heavily subsidized by the Soviet Union, according to an analysis by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, a government-funded organization in Seoul.

“North Korean exports surged 23 percent last year, compared with the previous year, and imports jumped 33 percent, the agency said. It found that China's share of overseas trade with the North is soaring, up from 33 percent in 2003 to 73 percent last year….”

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And we thought:

….North Korea’s escalating provocation seems another ploy to extract new concessions down the road....

Haiku 061009

all day rain
the car wash money
goes to pizza

Haiku 060409

drifting clouds
of cottonwood seeds...
spring blizzard

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “Tiller killing puts spotlight on Fox's O'Reilly” by David Bauder (AP)

“The shooting death of abortion provider George Tiller has put Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly in the media spotlight because of stories he did about the Kansas doctor over the past few years.

“Liberal commentators have questioned whether O'Reilly's words, including calling the doctor 'Tiller the baby killer,' were too incendiary. O'Reilly condemned Tiller's killing and said his opponents are exploiting the murder to attack Fox and stifle criticism of people like Tiller.

“Tiller was gunned down Sunday while at church services in Wichita. He had operated a clinic that was one of three in the nation to perform abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy, when the fetus is considered viable, and had survived a previous shooting….

“Before Tiller's death, O'Reilly had talked about him on his top-rated ‘The O'Reilly Factor’ some 29 times since February 2005, according to Salon magazine Monday. Twice he sent producers to Kansas to report on the story. In June 2007, Fox's Porter Barry confronted Tiller in the street and asked, ‘they call you Tiller the baby killer. Is that appropriate?’ Tiller was shown calling 911 and saying he was being accosted by an O'Reilly producer. Last July, Fox's Jesse Waters followed then-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in the street to ask about Tiller.

“Salon's Gabriel Winant wrote that ‘O'Reilly didn't tell anyone to do anything violent, but he did put Tiller in the public eye, and help make him the focus of a movement with a history of violence against exactly these kinds of targets.’

“Frank Schaeffer, who with his father Francis in the 1980s said that force could sometimes be justified in fighting abortions, wrote in The Huffington Post that he and the religious right ‘all contributed to this killing by our foolish and incendiary words. I am very sorry....’

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And we thought:

….Wasn’t Hitler accountable when his Jew-hating followers in fact carried out the killing of Jews in the millions?

Curiously, even if many hold O’Reilly accountable for sowing hatred for “Tiller the baby-killer,” some question if it’s “his fault if some abortion-hating fanatic decides to kill another human being.” How could O’Reilly be held blameless otherwise? It was his repeated verbal assaults against Tiller’s person that one of O'Reilly's viewers/followers finally played out. At the least he bears some responsibility for Tiller’s killing.

O’Reilly, over the years, fomented hatred against Tiller, the person. His relentless name-calling and personal attacks obviously just clouded the issues and obscured the legal paths anti-abortionists might take. He could have remained focused on Tiller’s acts -- the abortions he performed that O’Reilly hated -- and the law and court opinions that allowed those acts. This would have been the more responsible, public behavior for O’Reilly.

O’Reilly reportedly holds sway over 3.3 million viewers. He should certainly be careful about what he says on the air. Who knows – maybe Tiller’s killer took one of O’Reilly’s “hate” labels for Tiller as code word to kill….

Haiku 060109

more grass shoots…
watering the lawn
after mass

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “Leftist Takes El Salvador Helm” by Mary Beth Sheridan

“Nearly two decades after the end of a U.S.-backed war against El Salvador's rebels, a representative of the former guerrilla movement took power on Monday -- with a top American official applauding.

“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the inauguration of Mauricio Funes, dressed in bright red, the color of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front. It was an image that would have been unthinkable in the 1980s, when the United States poured $6 billion into El Salvador to fight the rebel group backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union….

“Clinton, however, told reporters here that she expects ‘a positive relationship’ with Funes, who is considered by many Latin Americans to be a moderate. Her visit signaled the Obama administration's effort to reach out to a more assertive Latin America altered by a ‘pink tide’ of socialist victories in recent years….

“In his inaugural speech at an amphitheater packed with men in red ties and women in red jackets, Funes hailed his two political heroes: President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, a moderate leftist, and President Obama….

“Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said the FMLN has a democratic track record, holding many mayor's offices and congressional seats in recent years. ‘The FMLN has been part of the architecture of representative democracy in El Salvador. El Salvador's resemblance to other countries in Latin America governed by the populist left are quite minimal, she said….

“Funes's inauguration was deeply emotional for many Salvadorans who suffered through the 12-year civil war, which left 75,000 dead. ‘We fought the battle so we could have this change,’ said Cecilia Hermin Navarro, 68, a tiny woman in a red shirt who said she was tortured by police during the conflict….”

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And we thought:

….After three decades since the FMLN’s formation, spring harvest! No doubt change is a protracted process. Moving forward, Mauricio Funes inherits 20 years of bungling by ARENA, an ultra right-wing party in El Salvador founded by the late Roberto D’Abuisson.

[D’Abuisson was the Salvadoran army major who organized and led the death squads that tortured and killed thousands of civilians during the Salvadoran civil war. Among his victims was San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass. The archibishop was known widely for his denunciations of human rights violations during the Salvadoran civil war and for his advocacy on behalf of the Salvadoran poor.]

Funes and the FMLN face a tough road ahead. What could -- and would -- the FMLN do in the next five years to put reforms in place, based on its ideal of “preferential option for the poor”? Hope the changes would be enough to earn the FMLN an extended run, five years hence, as it pursues its goals of economic and social justice in El Salvador. One expects the FMLN already has the late Archbishop's blessings ….

Haiku 052909

whirly seeds
attacking the yard –
spring winds

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “Pope on Facebook in attempt to woo young believers” by Philip Pullella

“You won't get an email saying Pope Benedict added you as a friend and you can't ‘poke’ him or write on his wall, but the Vatican is still keen to use the networking site Facebook to woo young people back to church.

“A new Vatican website, http://www.pope2you.net/ , has gone live, offering an application called ‘The pope meets you on Facebook,’ and another allowing the faithful to see the Pope's speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods.

“The Vatican's World Communications Day this Sunday is devoted to communicating the gospel with new technologies.

" ‘We recognize that a church that does not communicate ceases to be a church,’ said Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Social Communications department. ‘Many young people today are not turning to traditional media like newspapers and magazines any more for information and entertainment. They are looking to a different media culture, and this is our effort to ensure that the Church is present in that communications culture.’

“Users of the new site can select from more than a dozen ‘virtual postcards’ with pictures of the pope and messages from him on faith, love and life specifically aimed at young people, and send them to other users.

“The Catholic Church, which has seen vocations to religious life decline and church attendance fall, has already turned to the Internet. Last January the pope became one of the oldest people to have his own YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/vaticanit. The pope, known to write most of his speeches by hand, while his aides manage his forays into cyberspace, has even admitted that the Vatican does not use the Internet enough.

“The Vatican got egg on its face in January when the pope admitted that, if the Church had surfed the web more, it might have known that a traditionalist bishop whose excommunication was lifted had for years been a Holocaust denier.

“The new applications are currently available in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Dutch.”

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And we thought:

….The Vatican into Facebook, YouTube, messaging via iPhones and iPods, etc. -- all meant to reach out to young people. Is this part of some grand public relations offensive or media blitz by the Vatican? Communications-wise, this looks like the equivalent of saturation-bombing by the Holy See.

Hope the point of it all is to provide timely and concrete guidance for the youth -- and the rest of us -- about the Vatican’s positions on a variety of our “worldly” concerns and how to address them as believers. What’s the Vatican’s position on pedophile priests? Its position on hunger and child malnutrition? On regional conflicts, human rights abuses, and global climate change? On nuclear proliferation and rogue states? What’s the Vatican doing about these secular concerns -- given the wealth, authority, and influence that it has? How is it being relevant?….



a contemporary haiku and current events blog. occasional notes on [and pokes at] nature and society. and some of their maddening stuff…like the economy finance capital mergers energy health care insurers jobs retirement politics government congress courts conflicts united nations human rights peace culture& society education alienation religion erving goffman artifacts history social change twitter scientific method sports travel environment wildlife carbon footprint global warming earth...

Haiku 051909

waiting still
on the patio chair –
a cardinal

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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: “After Years of Fighting, Questions of Reconciliation” by Emily Wax

"In a triumphant address to parliament Tuesday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that his country had been ‘liberated’ from terrorism with the reported death of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, one of the world's most ruthless and elusive rebel leaders.

“Even as a spokesman for the rebel group insisted that Prabhakaran was still alive, Rajapaksa reached out to the country's ethnic Tamil minority, using their native language during his victory speech to promise that after nearly 30 years of civil war, ‘we all must now live as equals in this free country'....

“Top military commanders bearing bouquets of flowers met Rajapaksa in his living room Monday to deliver the news that the war was over. The Tamil Tigers, who had been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland, were officially defeated, they said, and the entire island was reunited under one flag….

" ‘The end of this war is something that we genuinely didn't think could ever happen,’ said Rajinda Jayasinghe, 27, a civil society leader who is Sinhalese and works in the northern Tamil aid camps. ‘With the death of Prabhakaran, the symbol of the divisions between Sri Lankan people is gone. The real question now is, will there be goodwill towards Tamils? Will Tamils feel the government has their best interest in their hearts?’….

“Prabhakaran was widely seen by Tamils as their only hope against the discrimination and alleged human rights abuses by the Sinhalese-dominated government....

“The Sri Lankan government has been criticized by human rights groups for overstepping its powers. Officials marshaled public opinion to their cause by painting the conflict as a war against terrorism…. They skirted dissent by journalists, aid workers and civil society groups, denouncing their scrutiny of the government and its war efforts as treasonous, rights groups said. ‘There needs to be a look at the real causes of this war,’ said Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka. ‘Otherwise there could be a second Prabhakaran….”

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And we thought:

….What Mr. Perera of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka said is worth repeating: Unless the root causes of the Tamil disaffection with the central government are addressed, there will be others who will take Prabhakaran’s place. History has taught us this lesson very well.

If the Tamils want a separate homeland, why wouldn’t that be a better situation overall than the continuing tension and conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils? As it is, Sri Lanka will continue to be “one island” only in geographic terms. And it will remain so until the minority Tamils feel they are being treated fairly and equally.

Hopefully, the Tamils will not have to wait too long for concrete changes to their situation this time around. Otherwise it should come as no surprise that the idea of a separate Tamil homeland will refuse to die....

Haiku 051509

moonless spring sky
in inky darkness --
my eyes closed

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Washington Post: "Priestly Celibacy: A Self-Inflicted Wound" (by Susan Jacoby)

“Should the Catholic priesthood be restricted to single, celibate men? Do clergy restrictions based on gender, marital status or sexual orientation make sense these days?

“… Palestinians and Israelis are going to embrace one another in a joint ceremony at the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock before the rigid old men who run the Vatican open up the doors of the priesthood to people who want to serve their god and enter into the full experience of loving and being loved by another human being….

“The vast majority of American Catholics see no need for priestly celibacy and support the ordination of women…. Pope Benedict XVI will not change his position on female priests or on priestly celibacy. One of the most ridiculous rationales for priestly celibacy used by the church has always been the notion that the celibacy requirement is not just about sex but about the need for a priest to be fully free to devote himself to the spiritual needs of his parishioners…

“This church, with no room in its priesthood for women or for men who simply wanted to love and live with another adult, then proceeded to turn a blind eye to the pedophile predators whose evil deeds were covered up by the hierarchy for decades….

“In the U.S., an astonishing 25 percent of those raised as Catholics have left the church. Priestly celibacy, like the church's position on birth control and female priests, is part of the mix that has led so many once-loyal Catholics out of the church….”

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….Ditto. It just seems that the Vatican has stubbornly been turning a blind eye to a reality that an increasingly greater number of its flock finds compelling. More and more are seeing that the times need a revisiting of “dogmas” that appear to be so illogical, silly, and no longer in touch with its flock and its needs. Perhaps the times are ripe for a Third Vatican Council. Not under this pope though....

Haiku 051109

earthworm
in the robin's beak
setting sun

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Washington Post: "Sweet, salty and fatty foods -- A new form of mind control?" (by Lyndsay Layton)

"Former FDA commissioner David Kessler warns in a new book that those substances can change brain chemistry enough to make people overeat.

"He went in the middle of the night, long after the last employee had locked up the Chili's Grill & Bar. He'd steer his car around back, check to make sure no one was around and then quietly approach the dumpster...

"The high-octane career path of David Kessler, the Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had come to this: nocturnal dumpster diving. It took many of these forays until Kessler emerged with his prize: ingredient labels affixed to empty cardboard boxes that spelled out the fats, salt and sugar used to make the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Shanghai Wings and other dishes served by the nation's second-largest restaurant chain.

"Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can't resist certain foods….

"His resulting theory, described in his new book, "The End of Overeating," is startling: Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. "Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology -- what's going on in our body," he said. 'The real question is what's going on in our brain.'….

"Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt-fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner's brain to crave more, he said. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want, Kessler found."

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....Mind control through highly palatable foods? Perhaps, fast food chains and restaurants are perpetrating “conditioned overeating”, but shouldn’t we be looking at ourselves in the mirror?

Kessler suggests that “the key to stopping the cycle [of overeating] is to rewire the brain’s response to food.” This suggestion, however, makes it seem like every one of us behaves completely out of habit and conditioning. On the contrary, Kessler himself noted that about 15 percent of the population appears unaffected by the syndrome of “conditioned overeating” and that “more research is needed to understand what makes them immune.”

Would such research go into free will and self-control? Or the role of family upbringing in nurturing good (or bad) eating habits (indeed, a form of brain-wiring itself)? We certainly can’t discount these variables.

Meanwhile, we could increase the amount and frequency of information available to people about healthy and unhealthy foods to enable them to make informed choices. Similar to the efforts to curb cigarette smoking….

Haiku 050109

wind chimes
an empty porch --
spring breeze

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Washington Post: "Europeans rally on May Day amid economic worries" (by Jenny Barchfield)

"Hundreds of thousands of European workers feeling the pinch of the economic crisis rallied at May Day protests Friday from Moscow to Berlin to Istanbul….

"But overall participation fell short of what many countries' unions had hoped for on May Day, a public holiday in many countries that has long celebrated the social and economic achievements of labor movements. Many of the protesters complained about rising unemployment and lost benefits, but few specifics appeared to emerge from the demonstrations about what governments should be doing to fight the global crisis….

"In Italy, union leaders shifted May Day rallies from major cities to the earthquake-stricken town of L'Aquila as a sign of solidarity with thousands who lost their jobs when businesses crumbled in last month's quake.

"Spain — which has gone from being one of Europe's strongest economies to having its highest unemployment rate — saw tens of thousands of people demonstrate….

"In Turkey, which only last week declared the international labor day a public holiday, unionists rallied at a previously banned site where dozens died during a May Day demonstration three decades ago….

"A protest in the German capital turned violent as leftists hurled bottles and burning objects at police….

"In neighboring Austria, officials said five people were arrested and more than 20 injured in clashes between protesters and police at a rally in the northern city of Linz, organized by the local branch of the Communist Party.

"Greek officers used flash grenades to disperse violent protesters in Athens after attacks on banks and traffic cameras….

"It was the first May Day since the advent of the global financial crisis, and Russia police were out in force as Communists and liberals gathered to criticize the government…"

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…. Many porches were empty today, International Labor Day. The boulevards and plazas of protest were the day’s porches. Around the world today, along with the European workers, millions more gathered to voice their aspirations for a fairer deal, a better life, and ultimately -- in spite of some violent confrontations with the authorities -- a peaceful world.

In fact, the Labor Day rallyists were sending a common message to the rest of the world: “…never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee….”