winter storm

the porch chimes announce
first snowflakes 












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*"From the Notebook," Asahi Haikuist Network, December 18, 2009.

Haiku 112309

autumn storm
the fifth symphony
on FM





First posted in The Four Seasons of Haiku

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Recently, we read the following headline: "In Germany, an ode to joy"

Haiku 072009

the park benches
are half melting
a summer storm

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Recently, we read the following:

Los Angeles Times: “Israel backs East Jerusalem housing construction despite U.S. opposition” By Jeffrey Fleishman and Batsheva Sobelman

"Calling Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem indisputable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today rejected U.S. demands to stop plans to build 20 Jewish-owned apartments in the eastern part of the city that Palestinians regard as key to their future state.

"The decision to allow new housing on land annexed by Israel after the 1967 war probably will further agitate relations with the Obama administration, which has been pressuring Netanyahu to halt the expansion of settlements in hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process and enticing Arab nations to normalize relations with Jewish state...

"While refusing to rule out natural growth in existing settlements, Israel has pledged not to build new settlements and not to confiscate more land. But Israel doesn't consider projects in East Jerusalem to be settlements, but rather legitimate expansions in a section of the city it captured in the Six-Day War…

"Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Netanyahu's comments were a distraction from the peace process and that East Jerusalem, like the West Bank, would one day be freed from occupation to become part of a Palestinian state. Washington and the international community hold that Jewish expansion in disputed East Jerusalem is a major deterrent in solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis…

"The Israeli activist group Peace Now said construction in East Jerusalem is not supported by all Israelis and ‘undermines the chances of the city becoming the joint capital of Israel and the future Palestinian state…’ "

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And we thought:

...Is this a bargaining ploy to exact some concessions from the U.S. and Britain? Or some deadpan design to actually put the brakes on the restarted peace process?...

Haiku 032309

loud drumming
on the shingled roof --
first rainstorm

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Recently, we read the following:

International Herald Tribune: "Administration seeks increase in oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms"

"The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other [financial] companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said. The outlines of the plan are expected to be unveiled this week in preparation for President Obama’s first foreign summit meeting in early April….

"Officials said the proposal would seek a broad new role for the Federal Reserve to oversee large companies, including major hedge funds, whose problems could pose risks to the entire financial system…. The administration has been considering increased oversight of executive pay for some time, but the issue was heightened in recent days as public fury over bonuses spilled into the regulatory effort….

"One proposal could impose greater requirements on company boards to tie executive compensation more closely to corporate performance and to take other steps to ensure that compensation was aligned with the financial interest of the company…. The new rules will cover all financial institutions, including those not now covered by any pay rules because they are not receiving federal bailout money. Officials say the rules could also be applied more broadly to publicly traded companies, which already report about some executive pay practices to the Securities and Exchange Commission…"

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And we thought:

.... Spring cleaning at U.S. financial institutions? The danger for Obama's administration is that it doesn't go far enough in fixing the broken regulatory system and ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders are equally served. It should take advantage of the momentum that public opinion has generated over the last several months. The proposed changes need to be as wide-ranging as possible in terms of the institutions and practices they will cover. And as free of legal and tax loopholes as possible -- no more "ways-out" ....