Haiku 103009

dinner time
his kite pulls the wind
home






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For One Single Impression, Prompt 87: Elusive



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Recently, we read the following headline: "The wind may carry a solution for Kenya"

Haiku 100809

unmade bed
soiled clothes on the floor
low tide

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Recently, we read the following:

NPR: “France Razes Immigrant Camp Known As 'The Jungle' “ by The Associated Press

“French police cleared out, then bulldozed, a squalid forest camp near the northern city of Calais on Tuesday, detaining hundreds of illegal immigrants who had hoped to slip across the English Channel into Britain.

“French Immigration Minister Eric Besson called the site — known as the ‘Jungle’ — a ‘base camp for human traffickers’ who promise the migrants passage for enormous fees or dump them there after bringing them across Europe.

“The people who camped here — mainly immigrants from Afghanistan — have strained relations between Britain and France and become a symbol of Europe's struggle with illegal immigration…

" ‘This operation is not targeting the migrants themselves, it is targeting the logistics of the human traffickers ... who exploit them,’ he said…

“For France, the Jungle was inhumane and a sign of what is wrong with European immigration policy. The EU's 27 nations each maintain their own immigration policy, complicated by some open borders, creating a confusing mix of laws, accords and bilateral agreements…”

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And we thought:

…Illegal immigration is one of Europe’s dirty laundry. This politico-economic problem -- with human rights implications besides -- has to be addressed by the European Union as a whole. Dumping the problem onto a neighbor's backyard is shortsighted and untenable. Like the financial crisis that hit the world over the last year, resolving illegal immigration requires a multi-stakeholder, collaborative effort…

Haiku 072209

bugs lay siege
on the street lamp
summer night

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Recently, we read the following:

International Press Institute: “Russian Editor-in-Chief Fears Killers of Human Rights Activist and Journalist Won’t Face Justice”

“A Russian editor-in-chief has expressed concern that the killers of a prominent human rights activist and journalist brutally slain on 15 July will never face justice.

“ ‘Unfortunately the Russian authorities, although using hard wording to condemn such crimes, do almost nothing to find their organisers, bring the cases to court and punish the killers,’ Galina Sidorova, editor-in-chief of the Russian monthly Sovershenno Secretno, and a member of the IPI board, told IPI researchers.

”Natalia Estemirova, known for her fearless exposure of human rights abuses in Chechnya and a regular contributor to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was abducted on the morning of 15 July in the Chechen capital, Grozny, while she was on her way to work. Witnesses saw her being forced into a car by four men and heard her shout that she was being kidnapped. About nine hours later, her lifeless body was found in the neighbouring province of Ingushetia. She had been shot twice in the head at short range.

“ ‘Estemirova is the fourth journalist to be killed in Russia this year, in what appears to be a concerted move to eliminate critics of the government,’ said IPI Director David Dadge.


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And we thought:

…. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Still, in non-communist Russia, to write about human rights abuses is to live dangerously. Journalists have become victims themselves of the mindless violence they report to the world....

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 042909

small puddles
i skip over sunlight
and bits of sky


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Recently, we read the following:

Associated Press: “Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive to Jews, Muslims”

"The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

"Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the refe'ence to pigs is offensive to both religions and 'we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel. Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

"Scientists are unsure where the new swine flu virus originally emerged, though it was identified first in the United States. They say there is nothing about the virus that makes it 'Mexican' and worry such a label would be stigmatizing.

"Two Israelis who recently visited Mexico have been hospitalized with symptoms of the flu. Health authorities have not yet confirmed whether they actually have the virus…."

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And we thought:

…. Two things: (1) Why would a mere reference to “swine” be considered offensive by Mr. Litzman? Apparently, it’s simply a term intended to describe a new strain of flu, presumably picked up from swine. Except for Mr. Litzman himself, no one else has been reported making any sort of connection between “swine flu”, on the one hand, and Judaism and Islam, on the other.

And (2) why would Mr. Litzman oppose the use of “swine flu” but, in the same breath, propose that it be called the “Mexican flu”? You wonder whether he thinks it’s not okay to offend Jews and Muslims, but it is okay to offend Mexicans. Hope that was not what he really meant. Otherwise, his perspective on this matter really seems narrow-minded and silly. It looks like he doesn’t care about anything else beyond his bit of the sky.

On the other hand, maybe Mr. Litzman was just kidding.

Anyway, it shouldn't hurt to pause and at least be open-minded about the religious and cultural concerns of others. We need to realize that, really, the sky is bigger than what we see from our part of the world....

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 041009

freezing rain
on pine needles
icicles

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Recently, we read the following:

International Press Institute: "Malaysia Arrests Bloggers, Bans Newspapers in Fresh Assaults on Expression"

“The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern about recent arrests of bloggers, restrictions on news organisations and other breaches of free expression in Malaysia. In the past month, the authorities arrested six bloggers, denied several news organisations access to the dominant political party’s general assembly, and banned two opposition newspapers, according to IPI sources in Malaysia. These actions came as the ruling National Front, which is dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), faced rising public concern over the economy and as Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi prepared to hand over power to his deputy, Najib Razak….

"Malaysia, a nation of 25 million, keeps a tight rein on the media through the use of national security laws and media licensing regulations. The government has also been intolerant of opposition bloggers and has ordered Internet service providers to block critical blogs. Reporters covering political rallies or other events often face harassment from security forces….”


Publisher’s Note: Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

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And we thought:

….Free expression, including the deliberate needling of subjects, may be a pesky beast. (Recall Sarah Palin's press coverage.) But it is a basic human right. Those in public governance need to just develop thick skin and be ready to be teased or criticized.

Or, to preclude being put in harsh light, they could just be decent and do their jobs as public servants. A responsible free press and public exchanges of public information, after all, keep government honest. Well, perhaps, not all the time, which is why we have to keep working at it.

And, perhaps, the Malaysian government holds itself to a different standard -- which would be another story….

Haiku 040909

a budless elm
among budding oaks --
spring funeral


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Recently, we read the following:

Bloomberg.com: "Nations Fail to Offer CO2 Targets at UN Climate Talks"

“The world’s wealthiest nations failed to offer more ambitious carbon-dioxide cuts, stalling United Nations climate talks as developing countries called for funding help and technology to combat global warming…. ‘The industrialized countries have not yet shown the necessary leadership,’ a Danish [delegate] said. ‘Not leadership when it comes to reduction commitments. Not leadership when it comes to finance’….”

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And we thought:

.... One expects that, by now, most understand that the survival of each nation, developed or developing, depends on collective and coordinated action. In the matter of global warming, politics and self interest serve no one ultimately. We have only one planet. It is the one we all inhabit. This game of chicken is silly ....

Haiku 040809

dawn breaking --
a dense tangle
of bare trees


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Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: "Peru's Ex-President Convicted of Rights' Abuses"

"Peru's Supreme Court convicted former President Alberto K. Fujimori of human rights abuses and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The abuses included the killing of 25 people by the Grupo Colina, a military death squad created by Mr. Fujimori in the early 1990s as the country was locked in a bloody civil war…. Specialists in international human rights law closely followed the case because of its implications for other former or current heads of state who might face charges of war crimes and other abuses…."

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And we thought:

.... Karma -- nature's life insurance that things will balance out eventually. Who’s next?....

Haiku 040709

autumn leaves
the young rabbit nudges
her lifeless mom


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Recently, we read the following:

Philippine Daily Inquirer: "New York group hits Davao City vigilante killings"

"An international human rights group has expressed alarm at the reported resurgence of vigilante-style killings by a so-called death squad in Davao City. “What is worrying about the Philippines is that the trend [of killings] is upwards… Over the course of a decade, it is accelerating,” Executive Director Kenneth Roth of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Monday. Roth also said, ” The Philippine people should understand that it is not in their long term interest to countenance this kind of extrajudicial violence....”

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And we thought:

.... In past years, the "favorite" targets of vigilantes were reportedly political activists and journalists. Now, those being killed are supposedly common criminals. One might dismiss the current killings as justified - "they were really bad guys anyway." The issue, however, is the rule of law: Are people willing to take the risk of a complete breakdown? Who decides who's a "proper" target of extra-judicial police actions? Who are they even accountable to?

The sad thing about this is Davao City, in itself, is a beautiful city. It deserves better press. Among Philippine cities, it is one that's truly worthy of a continuous influx of local and international tourists, considering the attractions it offers -- an international airport, fine hotels and restaurants, interesting places to see, a great variety of fresh seafood and local fruits....

Haiku 040309

dead elm
a bird pecking
insect eggs

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Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: "As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists"

"Small, sick, listless children have long been India's scourge — “a national shame,” in the words of its prime minister, Manmohan Singh. But even after a decade of galloping economic growth, child malnutrition rates are worse here than in many sub-Saharan African countries, and they stand out as a paradox in a proud democracy. "

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And we thought:

.... In London, recently, the G-20 nations met to fix the broken global financial system, brought into focus by the effects of the greed and reckless conduct of AIG and its ilk. In contrast, other parts of the world are grappling with a more basic concern -- hunger. For example, even after a decade of economic growth, the Indian government is still facing a horrific child malnutrition rate. Its children under 5 who are underweight – a critical gauge of malnutrition – total almost 43 percent! One wonders how we can help end world hunger .…

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Publisher's Note: Maybe, ten grains at a time.... To donate free rice ten grains at a time, try the Vocabulary Game. It's free and quite entertaining. The game is provided by FreeRice, a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), in partnership with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

“Clicks on the FreeRice vocabulary game from players like you have already translated into WFP food rations for over 20,000 Myanmar refugees, currently living in Bangladesh. Pregnant women in Cambodia, school children in Uganda, and Bhutanese refugees in Nepal are also receiving rice, thanks to the award-winning [FreeRice] site.” (Friends of the World Food Program)

Haiku 040209

spring birdsongs
from the nearby marsh...
mallards, too


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Recently, we read the following:

Washington Post: "Lugar Urges Obama to Open Talks With Cuba, Ease Restrictions"

"... Obama said during the presidential campaign that he would adopt a new strategy toward Cuba, including removing some travel restrictions, but he has said that the embargo should not be lifted until the Cuban government improves its human rights record and holds free elections...."

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And we thought:

…. Why the pre-conditions? Since the 70s, the U.S. has had broad-ranging relations with China. Does China have a better human rights record than Cuba? Does China hold free elections? Something's not sounding right here. Does one suddenly need a hearing aid?….

Haiku 040109

noisy geese
tail the sunset --
a quiet pond

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Recently, we read the following:

In breaking news, hereisthecity.com: "Ex-Wall Street CEOs Lead G20 Protesters"

“A group of disgruntled former Wall Street CEOs led protesters and stormed the barricades in London early Wednesday.”

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And we thought:

.... One wonders what was going in the minds of these Wall Street discards…. Read the article to the end.... Happy April Fool's Day! ....