Earth Day 2008

A salute to Karl Albrecht and Brain Power
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Feeling stupified by complexities of life?
Overwhelmed by choices, large or small?
Don't give in to external or internal strife,
You do not have to suffer a mental fall.
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Just crack open a book called "Brain Power,"
Written by lecturer-consultant Karl Albrecht;
Learn about ways to make creativity flower,
Sharpening skills like a scholastic veteran.
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Spend time daily setting better habits,
Making freewheeling associations;
Twiddling knobs on your concepts,
Improving memory and visualization.
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Go out and try new things,
Do puzzles and play games;
Give your imagination wings,
Stoke your creative flames.
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Problem solving, Crap Detecting,
Learn to think on your feet.
Modify paths you are selecting,
Never acknowledging defeat.
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Building cognitive skills,
Enhancing your brain power;
Finding new mental thrills,
Read it all in a few hours!
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So here is a big salute to Mr. Albrecht,
For causing us to take a look;
Inside our brains, all wired and wet
With one simple yet critical book.
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Some of the origins of digital revolution,
Computers, Internet, devices galore,
Surely derives from thought evolution,
Outlined in this one information store.
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Want to unleash your true, hidden potential,
Inventions, ideas that could change the world?
Read "Brain Power," gain your credentials,
As another innovator, shining mental power unfurled.
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Every adult in the USA should try and get, read, study this book.

Scoring bananas
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Payday finally arrives, just in time,
I've been broke, charging on my Visa;
For work change, down to my last dimes,
Finances more precarious than Tower of Pisa.
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Big paycheck generates weekday excursion,
Trip to Hell-Vee for cash and groceries;
Was reminded of my personal aversion,
To this location for scoring necessities.
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Verbal jabs coming at me out of nowhere,
Confused teen clerks trying to multitask;
Shoppers queuing up in lines everywhere,
Twitching, glaring, fidgeting, moving up at last.
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Once again, a simple attempt at shopping,
Finds me wading into pile of problems popping.
Clutching bananas, made my escape at last,
Abandoning problems intractable and vast.
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A train was going by on my road home,
Resultant delay failed to perturb my mood,
Grocery store stupidities will fire my hormones,
More than any railroad delay will make me brood.
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Whew!
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One fine April day,
My crazy cat, feeling like going astray,
Leaped out an opened door, happy and gay,
Stalking through the snow, looking for prey.
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My silly, stubborn Snick.....

Midwestern Precipitation

Spring rains keep coming down,
Falling in unceasing waves;
Weather keeps a perpetual frown,
On exhausted midwest wage slaves .

Other bad news adding to misery,
Economic meltdown, bank foreclosures;
Oil prices continue to increase rapidly,
Joblessness conspires to upset our composures.

Midwestern folk keep getting deluged,
Bad news, worse events keep conspiring;
People beaten down, seeking refuge,
Lousy things just seem to keep transpiring.
Gives new meaning to definition of Midwestern stoic,
Getting through a normal day can be downright heroic!

Sonnet on the continual rain of bad news nowadays.

Stuff of Space and Time
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I recently read a science-fiction novel,
In which material was made of "space-time"
Rules of mathematics, physics wobble,
As one moves across a surface sublime.
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Humans discovered artificial construct,
Upon entering giant conical asteroid;
Journeying through levels, were struck,
With changing values in encased void.
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Reality is, everything made of substance,
Spacial stuff combined with linear timeline;
Houses, cars, ships all attain permanence,
Through craft combined with material design.
Physical values remain, unique forms manifested,
Each made of Space-Time, differently suggested.
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The books were Greg Bears "Eon" and Eternity".

MLK assasination 40th anniversary


Grainy, black and white footage shown,
Marchers arm in arm, singing and chanting;
Police cars, dogs hover, as teargas blown
Across peace activists, angry bullhorns ranting.

Social justice changed hearts and minds,
Bought at high price in blood and tears;
A preacher left his church, commited acts divine,
Won equality and justice, despite threats and jeers.

Dr. Martin Luther King and his peers,
Changed history, paying the ultimate price;
America stayed intact, despite peoples fears,
King went to memphis, ignoring safety advice;
By giving his life in peaceful martyrdom,
He gave an entire race new hope and freedoms.



Written on Friday, april 4th, 40th anniversary of MLK assassination.

One in Fifty


Helpless infants, one week old,
Only control they have is crying;
Burly, badass boyfriends, ever so bold,
Find their incessant noises trying.

So they pick up baby, slam into a wall,
Shake it, kick it, slap it around;
Anything to stop that confounded bawl,
Throw it up, let it drop to the ground!

So many broken families today,
Single parents caring for little ones;
High-risk boyfriends come over to play,
Frustrations taken out on daughters and sons.
One in fifty kids today are neglected or abused,
Grim statistic on our society, we all stand accused.


Did this after hearing about this today on the news.

Lofty and mundane


Reading science fiction, watching science fact,
Brain cells illuminated with remote possibilities;
Mind travels back and forth, across factual tracts,
Landscapes of ascendant technological probabilites.

Then one comes crashing back to Earth.
Got to get chores done, get a damn haircut;
Meet society's expectations, prove one's worth,
Clean house, clean car, pay bills, make the cut.

Forced to intermingle with judgmental beings,
Needing, requesting, paying for their services;
Fighting traffic, struggling with computers, seeing
That yesteryears' miracles are todays nervousness.
As I slog through daily trials with bitches and glitches,
Lofty predictions of futuristic ease leave me in stitches!


Another sonnet about the shitskies of daily living.

Everything is Tentative

Life is so ephemeral,
Fleeting like the wind;
One day you are a juvenile,
The next struggling to get thin.

Those long, endless days of youth,
Afternoon hours stretching sunnily,
Little thought given to status or couth,
Traversing moments, hours, days happily.

Another friend passed away the other day,
Commonality, acquaintance all too brief;
Add him to the list, those who have gone away,
Building ever larger my internal store of grief.
A seven-month battle with cancer, Randy finally lost --
I still live, older, having survived fate's coin toss.


In Memory and honor of Randy Van Hosen, who passed away recently.

Financial Gyrations


Markets swinging up and down,
Moving to latest buzz or news;
Business analysts smile or frown,
Pontificating latest Wall Street views.

Federal Reserve pumping money in,
Inflating hopes and stock prices alike;
Cutting interest rates, hoping to win
Economic battle, aiding banks plight.

Foolish lending standards started it all;
Giving money to poorly-qualified borrowers;
Bad loans led to subprime mortgage freefall,
Housing defaults burning bond insurers.

Stocks of banking institutions tumbled,
Losses and red ink multiplied;
Freezing effect left CFO's humbled,
Stock, derivative traders petrified.

When, how will this all end?
Recent Fed actions seem to help;
More positive signals to send,
To battered consumers needing help!

Those struggling with high prices,
Scrounging to pay for gas;
Giving up treats and vices,
Slogging through economic morass.

Future looking bleak for common folk,
Outsourcing, plant closings crushing blows;
Endless Iraq warfare diminishing any hope,
Sapping U.S. commodity and oil flows.

Alternative energy our only glimmer,
Single bright spot on the horizon;
Motorists forced to drive slimmer,
Give up those giant expeditions!

Trade in SUV's for compact transportation,
Cut back on usage of heat, lights,
Welcome to 21st century consumption,
Everyone affected by Fossil Fuel plight.

Possible that citizenry will come out ahead,
May well be that USA will be far better off;
Clean enviornment, energy independent,
Our hopes and dreams once again aloft!



Lets hope so anyway. (c) 2008 Mike Wilson

Lunch with friends


Ate lunch with friends today,
Managed to fire off some words,
Personal experiences, opinions --
Listened to their offerings,
Soaking in, savoring hot,
Tasty food and juicy information.

Saw an old ex-employer,
Had lost his legs, sat in a wheelchair,
Wounded in past, wasteful conflict...
Now just another burden on taxpayers.
But their table seemed happy, too.

A romantic interest was there,
Invited me out Saturday night --
Good, something else to anticipate,
Circus of life continues to revolve,
in a not-too-unpleasant fashion.


This was actually written yesterday, after a Sunday lunch with friends.

Spring


Sun escapes continual cloud cover,
Bursting forth in blinding brilliance;
Air feels balmy, like arms of a lover,
Ice cover melting, leaving wet translucence.

Birdsong begins pervading the air,
Flitting shapes colonizing awakening trees,
Blades of grass segue into green, here and there,
Bitter colds' harshness yields to warmths' ease.

There is promise of better days ahead,
Despite drumbeat of dire financial news;
Surviving hard-frozen winter dread,
Summer plans, hopes begin to fuse.
Made it through another dark, harsh Iowa winter,
Lighthearted, longing for rewards of warm Summer!



Cannot wait until summer vacation this year!

Another Beach


Another medical problem appears,
Pain, palpitations, or passing out;
Bodily health, once again in arrears,
As latest condition rears its ugly snout.

As Dad gets older, crosses boundaries,
He keeps encountering new conditions;
Sturdy body still presenting quandries,
The ex-Marine commences another mission:

Another beach to hit, positions to take,
Another objective to reach, fort to breach;
Enemy Gunners relentless, hot lead rakes,
Lobbing Anyurisms, Strokes, anything within reach!
This determined Marine, today, surely will prevail...
All the other beaches he has taken, how can he possibly fail?



For my father in Florida, now facing more health issues in the hospital.

Reading is vital


Reading is important, for the whole person,
Illuminate your mind with possibilities;
Planting multitudes of mental seeds,
Sprouting into future potentialities.

Aside from the present benefits,
Granting mental release and adventure;
Brain made fertile, nutrified with ideas,
Providing future knowledge nodules.

High school, college classes alike,
Tap into, interconnect the nodules.
Even as more reading is required,
Then writing assignments, summaries.
Early reading fully prepares mental soil,
For rich harvest of ideas, knowledge later.
Older adults, too, can keep their minds sharp,
Bathing in flow of information, soaking in ideas.


In honor of local reading programs, and for Susan.

What the hell?


It started with persistent pain,
Down deep within my lungs...
Not a muscle pull, this was sustained.
Asbestos, Cancer fears swirled, unsung.

Then the cough, sore throat began.
Was hoping it was a minor cold;
Pain and cough meds lent helping hand,
Flu-like symptoms making me feel weak, old.

Ironically, rest of life is going well,
Finances holding steady, writings published.
If could just get through this flu hell,
Life become a banquet, to be relished...
Cruel, subminiature strands of DNA,
Robbing me of time to live, work and play.


Just when I thought I'd make it thru the winter without catching another bug, comes this....Yuk.

CanUSAda


Two monumental nations, vast resources,
Shared dedication to democracy;
Frontiers tamed with wagons and horses,
Pioneers escaping rule of aristocracy.

Two entities facing common tests,
Energy, global warming, immigration;
Terrorists, other enemies will not rest,
Keep trying to provoke conflagration.

Perhaps an all-encompassing solution,
Novel, cheeky, bold new proposal:
Merger of equals, ending any confusion,
On who is the most powerful nation on Earth.
CanUSAda, the new collossus formed,
Leads the world to a bright new morning.


We should do it, the sooner the better.

Bragging Rights


While friends struggle to get employed,
An acquaintance quit over salary dispute;
Meanwhile I'm feeling somewhat bouyed,
Although holding a position of low repute.

The economy is sinking into recession,
Unemployment rate creeping higher;
Foreclosures spiking, engenders depression,
Situation is beginning to look pretty dire.

But, I stuck it out through early years,
Now have seniority and higher wages;
Good rapport with office eases fears,
Retirement security for advanced ages.
By sticking it out with a good company,
Am safe and sound, even in a bad economy!



Was feeling pretty good (at least most of the day) after our FBG ESOP celebration last Saturday. Too bad I cought a minor cold somewhere along the line as well - s--t happens I guess.

Moving a Mountain


Multitude of wheels, all turning, synchronized,
Eighteen windows, peering with empty gaze.
Company's goal, developers' dream realized,
Soon, on High Street, moving building will amaze.

It was constructed in 1902 as elegant living,
Murillo Apartments, grand three-story edifice;
Condos attempted there, markets unforgiving,
New office project finally pushed it over precipice.

Now, it is time for the old dame to travel,
Better that, than face the wrecking ball --
Condominium dreams having unravelled,
Will be basic housing, a roof and four walls.
Finally coming to rest just a few blocks away,
New Sherman Hill place to live, work and play.


Moving a large, old apartment building, the whole thing, a few blocks to make way for a new Insurance building in downtown Des Moines. Weighs something like 500 tons.

Kabookie Dance


Funding for Space
Difficult at best,
In a conundrum.

Shuttle program ending,
Orion still in development,
Astronauts soon grounded.

Should we buy more Soyuz craft?
Could we rely on civilian Transports?
Some unfunded capsule by Boeing?

Congress grilling NASA,
Administrator struggling,
At a loss for answers.

Unless US astronauts
Magically sprout thrusters,
They will be stuck on Terra Firma.


- with apologies to all involved, watched the congressional hearing today on NASA-TV,
when the congressman said "Kabookie Dance" I just had to write something about it *grin*.

In praise of prose


Free prose diction from form of fiction,
Set yourself off in a new direction;
Let loose one's poetry from restriction,
Explore virgin worlds without protection.

Shakespeare waving wand of discipline,
Petrarch insisting on romantic minglings?
Milton inscribing formalistic epistles,
Even Lear formatting Limerick jinglings --

Rather, launch creative verbiage outward,
String sentences in various combinations;
Focus one's mental seeing eye inward,
Document resulting fascinating revelations.
Savor novel essences of unique verse wines,
Liberated from formal prison of meter and rhyme!

How about that, a sonnet about not writing sonnets.

Petrarchian playground


Writing poetry in Sonnets is fun,
Whether preferred form is Shakespearean,
Or if your pleasure is Petrarchian,
Can cover any subject under the sun.

Close, intense battle between Clinton, McCain?
Continuing warfare, bombings in Iraq?
Other worldwide extremist terror attacks?
High gas prices driving one insane?

Just get out pen and paper,
No reason to hesitate --
Cast out all your emotions...

Writing passions never waver,
Use the medium to initiate,
Deeper, thoughtful human convocations.

An experiment in alternate sonneteering.

Unquenched desire for springtime


Cold, grey snow crunches underfoot,
Air steams out of my aching lungs,
Knives of chill assault exposed skin,
Breathing ragged, head faint, hurrying inside.

Another brutal winter morning,
Headed into work, no choice,
Would so much rather stay in bed,
Warm, saturated with pleasant dreams.

Dreams of sunshine, warm green grass,
Birdsong, kids playing outside, flowers.
Masses of flowers swaying and scenting
Balmy breezes, caressing ones hopes,
Sweetening vision, magic summer skies.

I make it inside, relieved --
Gasp for breath, momentarily thankful
Just to be alive. Rapidly, though,
Fantasize warm, beautiful springtime,
Evanescing through my busy workaday mind.


Hope the weatherman is right about a coming warming trend!

$100.00 Oil


We rise each day, struggle to get ready,
Hustle any kids to school, hurl selves to workplaces;
Slog through assignments, keeping tempers steady,
Bosses, kids, daily requirements put us through paces.

Prices keep going up, wages lagging behind,
We take another job, tighten our financial belts;
Home heating products price continues to climb,
We watch our financial hopes and dreams melt.

Amidst our struggles, shadowy traders lurk,
Bidding and selling oil futures, deriviatives;
Keep buying, driving up crude prices, the jerks,
Causing drivers to pay more, spew out expletives.
These greedy, criminal trading entities,
Causing an American economic catastrophe.


Time to go shopping for a bicycle.

Below Zero


Global Warming is coming, Beware!
So the refrain is yelled and screamed;
Every nation, pay attention, be very scared,
Real change, not just an enviornmental dream.

Air pollution, fossil fuel overconsumption,
Obviously a bad idea. Renewable
Energy technology neccessary, valid assumption,
Need for some change is not debatable.

But, our roads are coated with snow so cold,
Icemelting chemicals do not even work;
Bitter winds cutting through anyone so bold,
To venture out to job, store or church!
Seems like we could use a dose of Global Warming,
Because here in the Midwest, we are really freezing!


Come on already, Springtime, and hurry!

White s--t


Heavy, wet stuff, clumping and coagulating,
Some sticking on shovel, some sliding off --
Some light, some heavier --
Perfect snowman construction consistency.
Brilliant flashes of sunlight break, glimmer.
Wind a persistent gale, constantly groaning,
Telling me, Do not even think about leaving today!

But, the neighbor made it out okay...
Damn them anyway,
I mutter, hefting the shovel.

Relating to, "But Outer Space" by Robert Frost.


Personal Spaceflight around the corner,
Bigelow and Rutan building new ships;
Paying passengers cross Khazak border,
Ride Soyuz craft for their ISS trips.

International Space Station coming together,
Shuttles visiting, adding more components;
Europeans Columbus vessel making it better,
Pleasing space habitation proponents.

All this noise and hullabaloo,
Generates exitement and adrenaline.
If one could live a century or two,
Could see some of it come to fruition.
Reality is agonizingly slow progress,
Fits and starts, and occasional successes.


-written for a poetry contest, so I put it here too.

Shrinking Thinking Machines


One human generation ago, computers were mainframes.
Hulking core memory, transistored, tubed goliaths.
Giant rooms, air conditioning tonnage, thick cables;
Operators, Programmers, acolytes serving a machine-god.
Common folk saw only printed invoices, punch cards.

Suddenly, first Personal Computers emerged.
Radio Shack, Commodore, Apple I, Altair;
Tiny memories, limited abilities, huge prices.
First, one had to program them, and then run them!
Cellphones and Internet were still laboratory infants.

Big Blue waded into the fray, IBM PC appeared.
Standardization, some useful software, increased deployment.
Industry shakeout, smaller players dissapearing.
Commodore, Radio Shack perservered, struggling...
Memory and disk capacities increasing, displays improving.

Cellular phones propagated far and wide,
First bricks, gradually giving way to flip-phones.
Rudimentary cellular datacommunications appeared;
Multimedia PC's, CD-ROMs, Modems made their debut.
Windowing software, mice made them easier to use!

Finally, worldwide Internet made universal appearance,
WWW and E-mail taking the world by storm.
PC and Macintosh hardware capabilities increasing,
Moore's Law confirming their assault on Mainframe power.
Cellphones became handheld multimedia entertainment centers.

Today we live in a wired, wireless world.
Audio-video entertainment over IP networks,
Discretely-switched copper yielded fast,
Enmeshed with soft-switched optical grids;
Terabyte-tweaked reality now straining wetware brains!


One human generation, many machine iterations :-)

Floating a hundred miles up in Space,
A secret Soviet ship spied quietly;
Designed while the US was winning Moon race,
Almaz helped the Soviet Union move ahead militarily.

Cosmonauts could photogragh anywhere they wanted,
Untouchable, protected with an onboard cannon;
Rendered US Space technology, once so vaunted,
Second Fiddle in Space Station technology canon.

Still, US managed to develop the Space Shuttle,
Able to deliver, and retrieve, giant satellites.
Once this program got underway, US able to whittle,
Any perceived lagging, its flexibility in world spotlight.
With an American Shuttle and a Russian Space station,
Earth got itself a giant new complex, useful to many nations.


This, after watching the fascinating NOVA program on MOL tonight.

Floating a hundred miles up in Space,
A secret Soviet ship spied quietly;
Designed while the US was winning Moon race,
Almaz helped the Soviet Union move ahead militarily.

Cosmonauts could photogragh anywhere they wanted,
Untouchable, protected with an onboard cannon;
Rendered US Space technology, once so vaunted,
Second Fiddle in Space Station technology canon.

Still, US managed to develop the Space Shuttle,
Able to deliver, and retrieve, giant satellites.
Once this program got underway, US able to whittle,
Any perceived lagging, its flexibility in world spotlight.
With an American Shuttle and a Russian Space station,
Earth got itself a giant new complex, useful to many nations.


This, after watching the fascinating NOVA program on MOL tonight.

Snowflakes


A thousand fat, fluffy flakes falling,
A thousand tears dropping for inhumanity;
A thousand regrets for failure to pursue a calling,
A thousand memories flowing inside an entity.

Snow, adding to endless white blanket, coating desolation
Covering wounds and pain on this barren plain;
Hiding thoughts of past pleasures, masking frustration --
Constant shovelling and salting can drive one insane!


For some, this Valentine's day, white flakes bring promise,
A thousand happy smiles, fleeting moments of joy;
Chocolates, flowers, dining out, giving gifts with bliss,
A thousand sweet nothings, and no need to be coy.
But for others, it is just another cold February day,
One to be endured, heading springtime's way.


Snow was descending gently and regularly outside the windows, prompting this.

Little by Little


One module at a time, we are building history,
Slow, graceful ballet, 210 miles above the Earth;
Stark, hostile, beautiful place of mystery,
Humans still discovering Outer Space's worth.

Bolt by bolt, minute by hour, day by week --
Creeping steadily closer to a permanent habitat;
Expansion, discovery of new vistas we seek,
Where we are going determines where we are at.

Long after I've left this old Earth,
Our planetary system will be studded with colonies;
People travelling to tourist worldlets with mirth,
More extraterrestrial, than Earthside, municipalities --
The Solar System itself will be our new conveyance,
Cruising the Galactic arm, watching for other intelligences.


A Sonnet triggered by the construction going on overhead (210 miles or so),
while they are installing Columbus module on the ISS.

Salute to our troops in Iraq.



Ever wondered what the worst job was?
Sometimes ours must seem that way;
Well I got news for you, cuz...
Our soldiers in Iraq do it every day.

Patrolling streets in vulnerable Humvees,
Attacking strongholds, defending weak areas;
Al-Queda or muslim fanatics will not be appeased,
No job for anyone weak, or prone to hysteria!

Although their job seems to be getting better,
As terror cells and groups are destroyed,
Suicide bombers will suddenly make them wetter,
Blood sprayed about, as Osamas' proxies deployed.
Any employment here in our safe, war-free country,
Has to be better than this hazardous, yet honorable, duty.


Sonnet to honor our people in uniform.

The Waver


Walking to work in the morning,
Cold, dark trudge in a tired mood;
Another dreary, routine day a'borning,
The week sure seems long, I brood.

Out of nowhere, the grey four-door roars,
Window down, hand out waving, horn honking --
One bright soul greeting a friend or paramour,
His heartfelt greeting intercepted by me in passing.

Some good souls exist like this,
In varying places around downtown --
Brightening peoples morale, unconditionally,
They are not afraid to publicly clown around.
Releasing tensions and amusing us "normal" folk,
Thank goodness for their bold gestures, granting hope.


The guy rolls down his window and waves, even on very cold days.

Overpopulation


Earth's human population is busy multiplying,
Adding more people at a prodigious rate;
The rate at which resources used is increasing,
Putting the planet in a precarious state.

Differing races have differing outlooks,
On how many kids should be in the family;
In India, a Victorian philosophy was mistook,
Uncontrolled breeding is wreaking a tragedy.

China is trying to keep it's numbers down,
Other Asian countries mostly the same;
Catholic Hispanics refuse to slow down,
Ancient religion's lessons mostly to blame.

If we, all races, keep procreating irresponsibly,
We will end up destroying our future, irrevocably!

A somber thought for today - Overpopulation kills!

Here is a beautiful write from a friend, enjoy!
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The Symphony of Homo Sapiens Sapiens

Since ceaseless fluctuations
are the rule, not the exception --
the only rule was change
from the dawn of Earth's conception.

A kaleidoscope of meanings
paints a symphony in words,
a synaesthesia of music ...
alike from angels and from birds.

Constellations swarm the heavens --
groups almost as old as Time,
and they symbolize the pinnacle
towards which our race must climb.

From the sharpening of that first stick
to landfall upon the moon --
the triumph of four million years
sings the naked ape's proud tune.

Will the human race forge onward
to explore our Universe,
or will "space-ship" Earth degenerate
to a black, death-ridden hearse?

Each journey starts with one first step,
yet we're narrowing our choices.
Can our actions withstand scrutiny
from all creation's voices?

Global warming and pollution
could soon make our world too hot.
We should treat old Earth more gently:
she's still the only home we've got.

(c) James Dunlap 2008
--------------------------------------------------
I will feature poems from other writers here from time to time.

Super Tuesday 2008

And, the results are in, folks!

Alabama became the Obama-rama, and Huckabee hicks ruled,
Arkansas, lots of cheap land, and they liked Clinton and McCain,
Arizona - Hillary was Hottest, and McCain sizzled;
California - Hillary and McCain were the brightest stars;
Conneticut - Barack and John McCain made the cut;
Delaware - Obama and McCain incorporated wins there;
Georgia - Obama and Huckabee Both did peachy here;
Illinois - Obama and McCain won the Land of Lincoln;
Massachusetts - Clinton and Romney won over the patriots;
Missouri - Obama and McCain really showed them here;
New Jersey - Clinton and McCain charmed the jerseyites;
New Mexico - Hillary Clinton managed to enchant them here;
New York - Clinton and McCain both bit the Big Apple;
Oklahoma - Clinton and McCain both struck it big;
Tennessee - Clinton and Huckabee both volunteered to win here;
Utah - Obama won them over, Romney got annoited by his fellows;
Alaska - Barack Obama, Mitt Romney soared over this massive state;
Colorado - Obama and Romney reached the highest pinnacle;
Idaho - Barack Obama won all the potatoes here;
Kansas - Barack Obama ruled the land of Oz;
Minnesota - Obama picked up 10,000 lakes, Romney reeled them in;
Montana - The wide open ranges went to Mitt Romney;
North Dakota - Obama and Romney swept the great plains;
And last but not least (well ok, maybe least), is...
West Virginia, where Huckabee mined out the most delegates!

Still a ways to go, but one big outcome is that John McCain has emerged as the
Republican front-runner in this race. Should be interesting in the weeks ahead!

Nation-building 21st century style.


Once, great powers colonized a new continent,
Sent out mighty ships, laden with people and supplies,
Established toeholds, then cities on virgin firmament,
Suceeding despite losses, to the natives' surprise.

Eventually the new colonies became independent,
Coalescing and growing stronger over the years;
Resulting nations equalled or surpassed the parents,
In one case leading the world, first among peers.

Similarly, fledgling space colonies started,
Once established, self-sufficient and thriving;
May grow, prosper, any attacks thwarted --
To become greater than any nation surviving.
Perhaps one day this extraterrestrial meta-nation,
Will come to Earth's rescue, says this meditation.


Europe----> America ------> Mars?

Self Evolution

Humanity, the first species to evolve itself,
Ever since social organization arose;
Over many thousands of years, selecting
On a self-imposed basis of trading success.

A new survival of the fittest,
If you could rise to the top,
Survive the ordeal of slavery, or
Still procreate after enduring untold hardships.

If you could compete in cutthroat business arenas,
Wage war on opponents in a real or an economic
Mode, and win over many obstacles, then procreate.
Competitive commerce sorted the winners from losers.

Humanity accelerated its own evolution,
Raising the bar repeatedly, academically;
Brainpower forced to get more capacious,
By self-imposed competitions and restrictions.

The end product had better have a premonition,
Too much competition could lead to our extinction.
Stewards of a planet full of other species growing,
We should make sure we do not end it for everyone.

Young and Old


Once a youngster, distainful of hired help,
All those older waitrons, maids, dishwashers;
They seemed like losers, sidetracked by life ---
Just wreckage on the economic highway.
Pitied, perhaps, and then passed on,
Fading rapidly away as one speeds
Ahead to a bright future, full of promise.

The view seems a lot different,
From the side of the road.
Missed turns, missteps, mistakes.
Now I wear the serving uniform,
I, the older waitron, custodain --
Cleaning up after bright, young
Attractive, smiling faces - speeding
Toward their percieved bright futures.
The shoe is on the other foot --
Even now, it does
Not seem to fit very good.


Imagine that - no sonnet today.
They will be back, trust me:-)

The Eagle is Tired


This old bird is looking mighty frazzled,
Talons worn down from too many tangles;
Proud, dominant form that once could dazzle,
Needing all of the monetary help it can wangle.

Hundreds of billions owed around the world,
Peoples' futures squandered on fruitless wars;
When latest peace initiative were unfurled,
Our own mistakes, failures were abhorred.

When those smiling, confident Republicans parade,
Across public stages and places in front of cameras;
Remember, they launched these financial charades,
Bankrupting the country with these terror chimeras.

Please, vote for Change this year in the White House,
Before our tired old eagle is reduced to a sick mouse!


I have this feeling that B. Obama will take the nomination - he
definitely will get my vote, a vote for Change!

Surprises in the race


John Edwards dropped out of the race,
Deciding to yield to history's blaze;
Now it is down to just two faces,
Which candidate will his delegates raise?

John McCain sweeps to victory again,
Becoming front-runner, winning key state;
Mitt Romney drops to second, losing early gains,
It is obvious who may head Republican slate.

Guliani dropped out, throwing support to mcCain,
Edwards telling his supporters to keep fighting;
Remaining campaigners straining to lay claim,
To a job that, to me, would be frightening!

Super Tuesday is coming, make or break time.
Lucky two will win, a victory sublime.
With a thousand delegates in the pocket,
Their campaign will take off like a rocket.


Wonder who will face the former POW, the A-A or the Woman?

Clobbered by weather

Enjoyed the balmy January day,
Highs in the fifties, a sweet surprise;
The next day, clobbered in a nasty way,
Bitter cold temps descended by sunrise!

Walking into work, one day enjoyable,
Tortuous the next, the cold wind biting;
Ventured out later, weather was horrible,
A fifty-degree temp drop can be frightening.

No matter how joyful one's state of mind,
Nor how optimistic an attittued feels --
Bitter cold, blowing snow renders one blind,
Outdoors spreading icemelt robs job appeal!

Wild weather gyrations increasing winter frustrations,
Want to flee, escape these climactic perturbations!

Traffic woes

What will I face driving home today?
Cellphone yakker pulling out without looking?
Wait, is that a train blocking my way,
Potholes jarring my car, prompting swearing.

Brain feeling tired, eyelids feeling heavy,
Not easy paying attention when feeling drowsy --
Despite tailgaters pushing, trying to keep steady,
Those slowpokes ahead are the ones driving lousy!

Yet alternatives exist to all of this aggravation,
Riding a metro transit bus is one possibility;
A scooter can be fair-weather transportation,
Conserving gas, cutting pollution all a responsibility.

Any way you slice it, it is not easy to get around;
I need to find alternative ways to get into town.

South Carolina

Hillary Clintons' latest politics,
Have an unsettling amount of dirty tricks;
John Edwards' relentless attacks,
Cannot seemingly prevent his falling back --
Seems like only Barack Obama,
Stirred them up in South Carolina.

A new, different, minority President,
May indeed indicate popular sentiments!
If so, then godspeed, Mr. future president,
Hope you can get us out of our economic predicament.

Accellerate learning!

A Fiery-eyed young entrepeneur,
Product of the staid American Midwest;
Boldly launches his venture, seizing the future,
Helping area youths become their mental best.

A new approach to brain improvement,
Raising peoples' I.Q. with personal trainers;
Students can reach new levels of achievement,
Maybe could help Iowa restrain a brain drain.

These optimistic youthful risk-takers,
Skip competitive brawls by leaping ahead;
Old benchmarks shattered by new standard makers,
Re-firing an economy that looked nearly dead.
The higher power must really be feeling beneficent,
Geniuses helping us escape our economic predicament.
-
-
Poem sparked by article in the Des Moines Register about an
entrepeneur and his new venture, called LearningRX .

http://icanhascheezburger.com/


This website has loads of cute animal pics.

Some harmless fun on a Saturday morning *grin*

Just watched the national news today, and some hilarious events prompted this sonnet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another day in the Presidential campaign

The wild campaign circus is under way,
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton trading charges;
Hillary needs to find out how to hold Bill at bay,
His sound bites, and star power, looming a bit too large.
-
Dennis Kucinich decided to transit out of the race,
Mike Huckabee finds himself sliding to third place;
Repubs hoping McCain can occupy White House space,
Guliani and Edwards struggling just to keep up the pace.
-
Whether betting it all, or transiting out,
Sicking Rambo on Walker, Texas Ranger --
The remaining contenders are all hoping for a rout,
I don't think I've seen an election year stranger...
-
Whomever manages to be the last candidate standing,
Had better help our US economy make a soft landing!



-----We can only hope----------

Lets just skip it.

United States is spending more and more on defense,
Paying for wars and revamping old technology;
China and Russia building up arms in reaction to Us,
We in turn react and build up even more.
-
Wait, I have an idea: Lets skip it.
Lets just skip the inevitable world war.
How about if we do something different this time around.
Try international peace on for size.
Look at all the advantages of skipping another world brawl:
We can jump ahead to new scientific advances,
We could skip right to surging economic recoveries,
Consumers revamping their whole households.
No war reparations need be charged or paid.
No giant reconstruction projeccts for the losers.
Because there would be no baby boom,
Like there have been after other wars,
We would be keeping the population under control.
-
I know it is a radical concept, but
we should all wage peace upon one another!
Join in united efforts to wipe out disease and hunger,
Colonize the Solar system,
Develop new sources of clean energy,
Save our fragile spaceship Earth from global warming destruction.
But we'll probably do the same old stupid things we have always done --

(We never seem to learn. *sigh*)

Just this once, I wish we would try peace instead.

John Lennon

Was he more popular than Jesus?
In his heyday he was red-hot,
Was sure tragic he had to leave us,
His last released album really hit the spot.

Starting out as one mophead among four,
Put in his years of hard, grueling touring;
Skillful and unique songwriting came to the fore,
Knocked American groups from top 40 moorings!

As the Sixties progressed, the hits kept coming.
Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts;
Lennons' creativity had the longhaired fans really loving,
Everything the Beatles produced, until they split apart.
John, with his unique voice, was the 60's utimate freak --
His music and activism helped our culture really peak!

Writtten for John Lennon contest on Allpoetry.com

-

Up Your Attitude

My ancestors were enslaved by white people,
They gave everything to this bigoted nation --
Three hundred years of abusing black people,
Our human rights were on a permanent vacation.
-
So now I ask, 'why should I work?'
'Why sweat it, why give a damn, I don't care' --
'Aint gonna prop up a country for any white jerks!'
'Think I'll chuck it all, live on permanent welfare.'
-
But the time for retribution is now long past,
Dr. King would have us working in harmony,
If this multicutural nation is ever to last,
We, all races, need to pull together, in unity --
Selfish, angry, lazy attitudes will lead us to anarchy.
We must rise, rise above our hatreds, work for universal prosperity!

- written in honor of the principles and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King.

En memoriam - Bobby Fischer

64 years, one for each square --
Time advancing more stealthily than enemy pawn;
No more hostile press stares,
Last great match played on heavens lawn?
-
Eccentric, yet brilliant to the core,
Defeating all comers with aggresive attacks;
His international matches were never a bore,
Took out grandmaster after making comeback.
-
For a moment in time he was the king,
Travelling the world, mental games' hero;
Not sure why, afterwards, he didn't do a thing,
Post-victory chessplay reduced to near-zero.
His attainment of chess highest honor no mystery,
Will always be remembered throughout history.


(A Sonnet to honor a great chessplayer. It is a shame he had to become so embittered in later years. He lived 64 years, one for each square of the chessboard - ironic)

Rare Winter Treat


Brutal Mother Nature doing her worst,
Numbing cold, heaping snow, howling wind;
Just when we recover, we get another burst,
Wintertime, we're really taking it on the chin.

Deep-frozen mornings, trying to start the car,
Brushing off and scraping windows if it does;
Spinning, sliding and fishtailing, near and far,
Winter commuting as bad as it ever was.

Yet same cruel dame put on a show today,
Bright morning sunshine illuminated ice --
Numerous twinkling flashes, crystals at play
Fluttering outside windows, looking quite nice.

Benumbed, cold-weary soul today got reprieve,
Brilliant sparkling show gave hungry eyes relief!



1-18-2008

The ending that wasn't
-
Was telling a friend the other day,
Relating a dark yet funny movie,
The ending went a certain way,
Bad guy was stopped in his tracks.
Surprised when my version was disputed,
Alternate ending was verbally conveyed.
Then I saw the movie again,
Discovered my erroneous memory firsthand.
-
-
Why did I remember this and not that?
Brought home the need to check and verify,
Now I can no longer trust my memory,
Capricious and intermittent in its ways.
Beginning long downward trek to Alzheimers?
Or is this is just middle-aged Sometimers?
-
-
More and more information pours over me,
Via books, email, Internet, movies...
If I can hold onto less and less,
The need to be selective is great!
-

What was your name again?


- gold trophy winner on Allpoetry.com a couple weeks ago, thought I'd share it.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time
-

Turning onto Dean Avenue,
Tired from work, ready for bed;
Suddenly bright flashing clouded my view,
Spinning lights, reflecting blue and red.
-

Police car! I pull over and stop,
Turn signal on, roll window down;
Hand license over to a polite cop,
"A store just got robbed in this part of town!"
-

"You are in the wrong place at the wrong time,"
I was informed solemnly,
"We don't think you did this crime."
But my car was still searched, thoroughly.
-
No contraband found in my little black car,
So I was set free from inside the squad car!
I hope they catch those robbing crooks,
And let us black coupe drivers off the hook!
-

Very tongue-in-cheek, but it was an interesting experience:-)
(heck, it inspired a poem.)

Blame Star Wars
-
-
First time I saw it I was only 19.
The lightsabers, the color, the technology.
The Force. Ahh, the Force.
All so magical, so different from what came before it.
I was captivated.
-
Over ensuing years, I moved, changed jobs.
Fell in and out of love.
Became poor, became well off, became poor again.
Lukasfilms would release another gem every so often.
Enthralled once again, I retuned to that wondrous
Magical oh so convenient-tech Star Wars universe.
Robots did your bidding unasked,
Doors glided open with compliant hisses.
Antigravity conveyances were everywhere.
-

Leaving the theater, faced with ugly 20th century reality.
It was never the same.
I always had to eat, urinate, defecate or have sex.
I always was afraid, or cocky, or misreading someones' intentions
I would misinterpret, or be paranoid, or a host of other frailities.
I _was_ a stranger to The Force. Still am, for that matter.
-

Did Star Wars and all its sequels ruin me?
Can I blame failure to achieve financial orbit on Vader, the Wookies, the Jedi?
Was I misled into thinking that everything could be solved
By a swish of a lightsaber, or a leap, or a well-placed kick?
That is why I'm now 50, broke, tired and facing bleak career.
It is all the Bounty Hunters' fault - he had a rocket pack.
All I have is bowel gasses, and then not always that.
-

Maybe if I had watched Little House on the Prairie more...?

My Sweetheart today

.

.

.

.

.

Snick

.

She is poetry in motion,
A song that grooms itself.
Tufts of fur sticking out every which way,
Color and shape dependent on how she catches light.

.

Compact container of multitudinous meows,
Perpetual noise machine that follows me.
I begrudge her soft cat food,
She begrudges me affection --
We seem to tolerate each other pretty well.

.

My little sonnet with flickering tail,
Daddy has another treat for you today --
Come land on my lap, you short story with claws,
We'll entertain one another warmly this January day.

.

.

*disclaimer* The following post in no way intends to be a true prediction or description of the Jerry Springer show or any of it's principals, owners, assignees, etc, etc. it is only presented as a humorous observation of our society today and in the future. *end of disclaimer*

Jerry Springer 2008
-
A juggler hovers on side of the stage,
Spinning plates, balancing on a ball, and juggling pins.
A midget with no legs walks around the stage on the palms of his hands.
Sometimes smiling, sometimes grim, he leans on a guest;
Tugs at their pant leg, smiling - audience laughs.
Guests recount relationship problems;
Other guests are brought on, and the fighting begins.
Girls and girls, guys and guys, girls and guys -
Wildly swinging, flailing away, ripping off clothing.
Sound effects include a 'dinging' like at boxing matches;
Pulling hair, calling names, punching at each other.
Audience shouts instructions, like "pull up your shirt!"
Girls (and guys) pull up their shirts, showing breasts.
Sometimes, a guy shows off his thong - and then flashes the audience.
Showing everything. Raunchy - but at the end, all are smiling, and no blood is drawn.
-
-
Jerry Springer 2012
-
-
A knife-thrower plys their trade just offstage.
Guests come at each other, screaming, punching, pulling hair.
Hard contact can be heard as punches land home.
Security makes little effort to separate them.
At end of each segment, one or both of the guests is bloodied.
Security wears headguards.
Guests show everything, taking off clothing at a whim,
Egging audience on as audience hoots, in some cases stripping too.
Some fight naked, and get cuts and bruises.
Fights break out in the audience.
There is occasional urinating or defecating on stage.
Animals are brought out on occasion.
-
-
Jerry Springer 2020
-
-
There is a medic on scene.
Jerry is showing his age, has an apprentice helping him.
Guests begin tamely enough, then produce weapons and attack each other.
Knives, clubs, sticks, whatever. But no guns.
Soon they are beating the tar out of each other, and smacking security on occasion.
Blood is everywhere. At the end of a segment, more often than not, someone is Carried off stage. More aggresive animals, like pit bulls, are held offstage, Sometimes allowed to bite the fighters. Fights break out in the audience also.
Tallies of broken bones and injuries are shown on the show.
-
-
Jerry Springer 2025 - end
-
-
Jerry allows small guns and machetes; then, shortly is shot in a "freak accident."
Body count is tallied at end of each show.
Guests have gunfights in an enlarged stage.
Sometimes the audience is shot, or fires back, or fires on each other.
Blood is everywhere, carnage rampant.
The show runs one more year, then is cancelled.
They could not get any more "guests", or audience members, to visit the show.
Trailer parks nationwide saw a significant decrease in population.
-
-2025 or thereabouts
-
-
Soon, "Springer parties" began occuring before and after sporting events.
Groups in the crowd would produce knives, clubs, machetes, small weapons of every description. They would riot and maul each other until exhausted, or beated senseless, injured too severely, or in some rare cases, separated by a well-armed and armored security force. Welcome to the new Rome. Killing the new national pastime, Springermania took over the United States. And the rest, as the say, is history...

*big grin here*

-

-

- ICEBALLS

-

-

-

-

Grey, ugly-looking fierce thing,

Just dropped off a passing car;

Rolled edgeward, sides glittering,

Impregnated with dirt and tar.

-

How strong it is to roll this far,

Kicking it renders toe a numbing blow;

Facets of white reflections marred,

Streetlights still making it glow.

-

As long as winters' subzero remains,

This tough surviver will linger;

Pedestrians, motorists will refrain,

Lifting them and chilling their fingers.

Sharp-edged feral survivors these,

Remaining all winter, no matter who is displeased!

-

FUN STUFF

Hillary Billary Dock;
Contenders ran up the clock;
The clock struck one,
The race was run,
Clintons tumbled off the clock!

---------------------------------------------------------
There once was a woman named Hillary;
In the past her husband was pilloried;
She forges ahead without fear,
Though occasionally shedding a tear,
This ice queen may win nuclear armory!

----------------------------------------------------

There is that Senator from Carolina,
Supporters declare theres none finer (fina),
Although Obama is roaring in from Illinois,
And his backers are makin' hellacious noise,
Edwards will persist, he is not no whiner!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

New Hampshire Primary

New Hampshire Arena, Main Event,
New American Gladiators in the ring;
In this corner, Hillary, will try and prevent,
Obama from swiping any Presidential Bling-bling.

-
Romney lacing up the boxing mitts,
Gonna take hard jabs at Huckabee,
Pollsters and pundits are having fits,
Watching jostling of these wannabees.

-
Whomever takes home the prize,
May think twice when they occupy,
The Oval Office, target of world's eyes,
Any lesser mortal would be terrified.
Thousandfold problems weighing on their chest,
Whomever wins this contest will get no rest!

Politics is sooooo much fun!

FRAGMENTS

Tight corners of converging realities,

Realizations of fragility, vulnerability;

Frightening rapidity of acceleration of time.

Grasp, grab at those fleeting moments of pleasure --

The delightful tunes, the shared laughter of a joke;

Illumination of beautiful morning scenes, eye pleasures,

Rapidly speeding over towards the afternoons...

Dusk finally setting on one's hopes once again.

Tomorrow arrives soon enough to repeat the process!

TRUE COLORS

Pontificating about the surge in Iraq,
Promising energy independence;
Opponents not experienced, they attack,
Continuing to offer Terror War's vengeance.

Yet their true characters were revealed,
Our country's malaise affirmed --
Rule-breaking difficult to conceal,
Network television cameras confirmed.

Flowery language offering new solutions,
Earnest demeanors on every patrician face;
They offered up proposals in profusion,
Yes, anything goes to win this race!

Their Achilles Heel revealed to all,
Speechifying on, though time limit called.
Suited gentlemen reveal primitive archetypes,
Animals underneath showing their true stripes

(originally sent as a letter to the editor on December 17, 2007).
by me.

Dumbing down


The friendly chatter, the wholesome smile;
Chatting amiably about things military and civilian.
Teasing banter, twinkling eyes. Our buddy,
Back from a long absence, with us again.


Soon, the controversy begins.
Positions taken contrary to our own.
Preposterous theories advanced.
These stated in terms that are soon dumbed down.
Sprinkled with truisms and simplistic anecdote.
The religious agenda reveals itself gradually,
positions taken and beliefs advanced.
Camoflauged with simpleton banter,
Still the bigoted beliefs peek out,
Just enough to be spotted and id'd.


Truly we sat down with a zealot type,
Indeed the wolf in sheeps clothing.
Too bad for him we are too sharp,
Try as he might to sink in his bite,
He snaps at air only -
We are quick and away!

Exitement exitement
Throngs of people jamming into the tiny school library.
The same two ladies running everything.
Tonight, a couple of helpers jumped in to expedite the process.
The head count was confusing.
The sign-in was a mess.
It was chaos - but somehow, everyone got signed in.
Everyone got counted -although the count was off by three.
Close enough, everyone decided - lets move on.
Envelope was passed around, money got donated.
Everyone took their places according to candidate of their choice.
Then, count was taken of supporters of each candidate.
The top three, Edwards, Obama and Clinton got to divide the rest of the people -
The ones not viable were divided up, or in one case opted to leave.
Then, each group chose delegates and alternates to the county convention.
After that, we were free to go, or to stay and listen to other Party business.
I had been standing for over an hour, so I decided it was time to go.
A fascinating process, my first time in a caucus.
I was able to speak at one point, an interesting feeling to be sure.
Soon, it was all over...
Quite the night - the Iowa caucus of 2008.
One I will not soon forget.

After all those months of noise, it is finally over. Now they are slugging it out in the media, in New Hampshire. Good by, good luck and a twinge of good riddance...
We will see if our front-runners can hold, or get beaten back. Until next time in 2012.

DISPATCH FROM DES MOINES.


You can tell that we are at ground zero for something big. The candidates are swarming all over the place, getting in those last handshakes and hugs. One candidate even vowed to do a 36-hour marathon - go John Edwards! The Satellite trucks are moving in, barricading off spaces, setting up their dishes. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN - they are all here in little ol' Des Moines, Iowa. A fascinating spectacle for sure. My feeling is that, if these people expend even a fraction of the energy running the country as president, that they expend rushing around day and night as candidates, most any one of them will do a pretty good job! And all for a humble few votes here. Makes me (us?) feel downright special.


Come January fourth, we will be standing around like the bride holding the wilted flowers, wondering where the groom and photogs are. We will be like the flowers wilting in the cold shadows in October, wondering where that Sun went. But...not for long! Then we will (or at least I will) be exulting in thoughts like "No more political ads on TV! No phone calls. No flyers in the mailbox. No more blocked off streets or strange cars from Michigan, no more odd trucks of every description, displaying company names that could only have been created for the occasion." The it will be three Hurrahs and a loud "Good Riddance!" Until next time, that is. We are not dummies, after all. Why else would we move the date back to the 3rd in the first place? The bars and restuarants, and other businesses, will be happily counting the cash registers for awhile.


In the meantime, I think I'll go caucus. My one chance to bask in a bit of the limelight, to grasp at the soiled brass ring of politics, to feel a smidgen of importance. My chance to participate in this giant, imperfect but still functioning democracy called the United States of America, by trundling off to the school library in subzero cold and making my voice heard, and my one meager vote count! Here goes nothing *grin*.

It occured to me today while driving to the grocery store, musing about news and such. The news from places like Pakistan is always so grim. And yet I get in my car, drive over smooth roads to one of many grocery stores. Food and sundries plentiful in all of them - many running specials. No burning tires or rioting crowds in the streets. Just the morning sun, a few other cars, leftover snow from Fridays' snowfall. I go and transact mybusiness, spending a little over $20.00 for my weeks needs (yes I am just one single person, with me and my cat only to feed). The underlying assumptions of trust and goodwill hold strong, as my items are scanned up. I watch the provided display. Every item purchased scans up correctly. The cashier does not try and steal from me, or any such thing. Instead, she wishes me to 'have a nice day'.

In a way we are spoiled. Spoiled by the fruits of living in a free society, with an economic system built upon trust, law, rational, courteous behavior. The only riots around here are for the last-minute Christmas sales, or after christmas ones. No government is pointing a gun at us, saying we will do this or we must do that. We are free to make our own mistakes, free to feel foolish about them, free to learn, pick up ourselves and move on. In a totalitarian system, there is no such freedom. Therefore, it seems to me, as inefficient and cumbersome our system sometimes seems, it is so much preferable to a total Theoracy like Iran, or a Totalitarian didctatorship such as Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. When everyone is used to the idea that, like it or not, we all need to play by the rules, think of the other person once in awhile (or more often than that), and at least strive towards honesty, economic miracles can result. A true democracy seems to reflect the idea that the majority of people sense what is good and right, and muddle their way forward. No one group should remain ascendant, whether they be the Religious Right, or the Ultraliberal Left. Truth always seems to occur somewhere in between.

When the number-crunching wonks sound alarms about credit crunches and meltdowns, it reminds me that these were the same fools trumpeting balloon mortages and your house making a million dollars for you a couple years ago. It is getting so I don't trust anyone in a suit with a fake grin pasted to his face. Ah well, so many deep thoughts *grin*. That is all the rambling for today.

In Honor of Benazir Bhutto, a true hero.


Democracy mourns loss of key soldier,
Only emptiness and wondering remain;
Evil legions growing bloodier and bolder,
Entire world seems to be going insane.

Crazed zealots bombing by truck,
Killing almost hundreds a day;
Crowds of haters running amok,
Civilized discourse held at bay.

Tempting to issue loud, strident calls,
"Death to all evildoers, extremist or not!"
Civil society itself must needs fall?
Sweet revenge at cost of rationality bought.
Instead, we must use our highest brain function,
Locate, secure Peace, Democracy's conjunction.


She would want it that way.

'nuff said.

The good Christian candidate showed his true killing colors today. He goes out and shoots little birds that cower in the bushes, for the fun of it. Kind of like that other candidate who shot a captive Oryx, rare African antelope, just for "sport".

Really, it is no surprise that much of the rest of the world sees us as murderous barbarians. Something is really wrong with this picture.

Should be an interesting election. I'm supporting John Edwards. He seems to be the best candidate all around to lead this wounded nation at least on some semblance of a steady path. Hope he can counter the waves of unmitigated greed that have eroded the middle class, and impoverished the lower classes even more. (Glitzy electronic toys are a poor substitute for decent housing, transportation and employment! ) We are the first generation that will be poorer than our parents. Organizations that are yelling for more aid to combat world poeverty and disease would do well to turn their attentions home here, in Amerika.

Until every individual adult has full medical care, transportation, food, and a decent place to live, we should not give one penny to any country overseas. Our unwed mothers with children, our single people, our elderly especially, are getting in worse shape, and having to really struggle just to make ends meet. Perhaps John Edwards can begin to turn the tide of greed and help the 98% of us that are not rich. If we continue down this road, someday we will be called the United States of Mexico. Five families will own everything (just like you-know-where),and the rest of us will be eating corn tortillas, jammed ten or twenty to a hut. These oil megaliths do not need billions upon billions of profit. nationalize the bastards. Enough is enough! Sick of all the crap here. All for now.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE USA.

All of the candidates for president answered a question about Global Warming tonight on CBS news. All but one believes there is global warming, and that major action should be taken immediately. Many suggested that MPG ratings need to be upped in automobiles produced here, by government mandate (the auto industry could be helped by subsidies here). Only Fred Thompson hedged, saying the whole global warming issue could be cyclical actions of nature, and needed to be studied further. John McCain made a good point when he said, in effect, that even if global warming were not real, and if we still took actions like cleaned up the air and adopted green, clean techs, we would still be leaving the world a far better place for our grandchildren!

Of course, the Democrats were all on board, believeing that Global Warming is not being taken seriously enough, and proposing radical actions. So - refreshing wisdom from our candidates. ( Only special, big business interests stand in the way, according to one Republican candidate! )

So, why is this such good news? Because the USA has demonstrated in many past crises, a stubborn resilience and ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. We weathered a major Depression, and instead of ending up some third-world welfare case, went on to win the Second World war (with our allies help, of course) and emerged a superpower. We went from being woefully, hopelessly behind in the Space Race to landing the men on the moon, in 10 years or so. From last place to first place in ten years! Our economy was anemic, sick, on the ropes in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Things looked bleak indeed. But by the late 1990's, there was that Irrational Exhuberance in the air, as dot-com billionaires sprouted like weeds in the forest. 9/11/2001 things looked pretty bad. TV was nothing but Terror footage for days on end. And, in a year or so, the Dow had returned to normal, and the economy was picking up steam again.

Sure, there are details and mitigating circumstances here, But my point is, we always seem to bounce back. And all these politicians singing the same tune, as it were, augers for more good news on the Energy front. We know what we have to do. We know we have to start Now! So it is just a matter of all putting our shoulder to the wheel and getting going. After tonights' news interviews, I have faith that we will suceed.

Time to let go of the past - Energy and Peace Policy.

or "A bicycle economy to a motor vehicle economy...and back again."


I Recently read a quote in the current book out, written by Alan Greenspan (called The Age of Turbulence), about China moving from a “bicycle economy to a motor vehicle economy, and all that that implies.” And this got me thinking…

Seems to me that a better thing, in this day and age, would be to move back on that scale, at least somewhat. A "bicycle economy" means residents do not burn as much fossil fuel, or pollute as much. They are less obese, due to riding bikes or walking. They get more physical exercise due to having to walk or ride a bike, and so are thinner and healthier. Granted, some of the other features of a backward economy, like burning lots of wood and coal, are unhealthy, especially to fragile human lungs. But in the case of transportation, we may need to move backwards to go forward. Back to biking and walking, to go forward to cleaner air and less reliance on fossil fuels.


Another break we need to make from the past is going from centralized power generation to more diffuse power/energy production. In the past and present, massive, centralized power generating facilities produce megawatts of electricity. Using coal, which is a major polluter, or nuclear, which has many safety issues. Decentralized power production, such as wind and solar power, locates the source of production closer to the consumer. The advantage here is less loss of power via lengthy transmission lines, and more redundancy in the whole power grid. We are obviously moving in this direction with all the construction of wind turbines and solar power plants. I hope and pray this continues in a big way. Jobs are created, fossil fuels are conserved, and air quality is improved. We may always want to have a relatively small number of large power facilities around for just-in-case scenarios, (like a tornado ripping up a wind turbine facility or somesuch), and backups. But we should strive to get the vast majority of our power from renewable sources. This is generally known, and we seem to be moving on this, thank goodness.

Yet another break from the past is the way we teach our children about their interaction with the world. Below is a journal entry from 1994 I scribbled down after hearing of atrocities in Bosnia. It illustrates my thoughts on war and peace pretty well.
Quote: "SNAPSHOT 2/5/1994

Bosnia - As throngs of people gathered in the central square, to buy what little food there was left, or to trade used clothing, an agent of evil was at work. Some unknown cruel subhuman fired a (artillery) shell from the surrounding hills - the shell exploded right in the middle of the people. Hundreds were killed, maimed or gored. It created a huge, bloody, gorey mess - a human slaughterhouse. Why oh why do people slaughter each others so senselessly? Why is there so much cruelty and hatred? We all need a human peace manifesto or movement strong enough to match the military establishments. " Real men don't make war. It takes guts to make peace on your neighbor. Be all you can be - work for peace!"

Create a Department of Peace - spend a few billion on doing good works. (the peace corps?!) Make world peace a high priority. Declare a 20-year moratorium on war. Engage in international efforts of a constructive nature. People should be educated in school, for an hour or so a day, to channel their aggressions into peaceful, constructive endeavours. Fighting, jealousy, hatred, mischevious conduct, theft, vandalism, cruelty to others, etc, is wrong. Constructive compulsions like sports, arts, projects, crafts & hobbies, science projects - are correct and good and need to be promoted, encouraged. Tolerance for different points of view should also be tought. Not everyone looks alike, acts alike or thinks alike. It's a free country. As long as no one is harmed, let's be free to each other. Blacks, other races, Gays, Christians, etc. All need to learn the magic word: TOLERANCE. We are all here. We are all human. So let’s learn to live with each other." Unquote.

We are human after all, we can learn from our mistakes and evolve mentally. I hope we do so, for all our sakes.

Americans do not have to be boorish, ignorant bullies who only care for themselves and their own greed. We can be an enlightened people. Using our dwindling resources more wisely. Caring for our livingspace better. Practicing the science of peace at least as vigorously as the science of warfare. Striving for cooperation at least as much as striving for domination. Including all nations in friendship at least as much as singling out any one country to be this weeks’ enemy of the state for ***insert lame excuse here*** reasons. Welcoming intelligently designed compact people moving devices on the highways of the ignoramus SUV. We can do this! Hope is up to us all. Time to break from the past.

So anyway, this morning I was struggling with a new email client I recently downloaded. Trying to get it to send an email out, as well as download them from out there. And it occured to me what a struggle it is anymore to do somehting as simple as send and recieve email. At some point in the past, I used some text program like PINE, and started it, got my email saved to my local machine as text files, readable by human eyes. Nowadays, there are so many settings, layers of authentication and protection and filering. Then it saves it in some encrypted garbled crap. Oh sure, I realize they are all there to protect me, the poor defensless user from the big bad wolves of spam and virii circling about in cyberspace, waiting to pounce upon the unwary. But it is sometimes such a struggle just to get to where one wants to be anymore. Want to edit a webpage? Log in, go thru authentication protocols, navigate through two or three pages to your file manager. Want to write a blog? Get ready to jump through some hoops if you haven't been there in awhile (oh, and now they make you use another login for that too). Want to write some poetry or somesuch? better have it done long beforehand, as you'll be spending an hour at the computer, going through password exercises, clicking "okay" or "not now" on automatic update boxes, and such, trying just to get to where you need to be to actually DO something effective. Before all this came about, I Used to read science fiction books. And enjoy reading about other people doing the struggling with recalcitrant technologies. Now I do it every day, trying to read email that is, ultimately, meaningless and useless in the long run. What a waste of time! Guess I'm a "Mad Kitty" today (see above graphic). Oh well, hey at least it is Saturday :-)

THE SUICIDE BOMBER


Rasheed collected his tattered essence.
Coalescing before a great shining gate.
Awareness fast returning, he managed an 'ahah!'
'This must be paradise, my reward surely lies within!'
Jagged edges of his soul essence shivered, anticipating...
Suddenly, a voice filled all of space, thundering "NO!"
"You shall not pass! You are destined for eternal torment!"
Rasheed, experiencing shock, managed a 'why not?'
'I have sacrificed myself for the cause, given my life in the Jihad?'
"YOU have murdered many innocent people!"
"YOUR KIND is sapping the will and hope of a batttered populace."
"All they desire is Peace and Freedom - all you bring is DESPAIR!"
YOUR cause is a Jihad of evil, your harvest is nothing more than
Hatred, Pain, Misery, Death."
"For THESE SINS, Rasheed, you will only know eternal torment. Now Begone!"
And with that, two winged creatures, with terrible countenances, bore
What was left of Rasheed away and down, downward.....


No rhyme or meter, but it gets the point across.

MORE...
Dubya down on bended Knee,
Begging Saudis for more oil;
They reply, "Build more refineries!"
Financial markets in turmoil.

Detroit rolls out biggest and best,
V-8 behemoths proving ones' worth;
Derricks arise over tundra wilderness,
Increasing cunsumption matches our girth.

More congested highways,
More air pollution;
More fouled waterways,
Greed their only solution.

Abandoning civilization, Worshipping privatization,
Handing over regulatory agencies;
Blinded to any realization,
Earth is gagging on our version of democracy.

Lauding the passing of Americas' left wing,
While polluting and fouling our planet,
Profiteering legions are really swinging;
Enviornments' destruction will be Justices final dragnet.
Let the rivers burn, let the forests die,
I got my Hummer, I ain't gonna cry.




Please copy this poem, spread it like a disease -
Mother Earth is crying, and she won't be appeased.

ROBOTS.
No soft flesh nor coursing blood here,
No trickling, spurting or surging fluids;
Gashed skin will yield no blood,
Hard spills impact looses no flood.

For these creatures are silicon and steel,
Full of wire and fiber and artifice;
Tough polymers, plastics acrylic encase,
Pulsing microelectronic intelligence throughout.

Prepare yourselves, oh current generations,
They are coming, just around the corner;
In trickles, then droves, with many mutations,
Gleaming hordes society's new brick and mortar.

New help to clean homes and offices,
Put away groceries, Stock the shelves;
New companions for the elderly,
Cheaper subs for convenience store duty.

How often will we see fellow human beings,
Surrounded by electro-surrogates fulfilling our needs?
You will know the end is presaged,
When I try to marry my faithful machine!

(c) cranky mike, 2005

SURVIVOR: THE SICKNESS CONTINUES.

The hit show "Survivor" seems to be an accurate metaphor for the state of the USA today. More and more wage-earners are "surviving" the loss of jobs that have been outsourced overseas. More families are surviving the loss of a breadwinner or loved one to the continuing bloodbath, er, war in Iraq. Many are surviving rising insurance costs and benefit cuts. Some are surviving corporate scandals. We are all 'surviving' a right-wing faith-based administration bent on obeying some mysterious direction of (their) God. I feel our best chance of Survival at this point is to Vote Nov 2nd for John Kerry, and vote the rascals out!

Evil Empire revisited

All of the pictures of naked Iraquis in the Abu Ghraib prison are an unfortunate black eye to the USA. I admit, it is kind of funny to see Islamic dudes forced to shed their clothes and be posed in, er, very compromising positions. Until one stops and thinks of the ramifications of such acts. The revenge factor is a major problem here - witness the beheading of that American prisoner recently. Also, the inflaming of public opinion amongst the entire Islamic world against the USA. Now, I am as patriotic as the next fellow, and I like to think I support our troops. But, c'mon now, really. I would like to slap some of the involved goons across the face and yell, "you morons!" . Now, in the mind of the average Iraqi, we are no better than Saddam. Worse, actually, because we are in their country telling them what to do and what kind of government to have. How would we feel towards some occupying troops on our soil, torturing our citizenry, many of whom have been jailed without trial for no particular reason? I suspect we would also be taking up arms against the invaders. Can't wait to see what happens after June 30th. At least the truth is out, and investigations are ongoing.

I just hope we can get a Democrat in the White House, and clean up this mess.

ME WIPING EGG OFF MY FACE...


A few days after posting last, I read a lengthy article on the whole school funding issue in the Des Moines Register. Evidently the Schools have lost a lot of state and federal funding in the last few years. So they have been forced to do the same or more, with a lot less money. This sheds some new light on things, and I have a little different outlook on things. I sympathize with their plight - but still, in the corner of my mind, a small voice is saying, "But WE learned how to read, write and do math without expensive computers and etc..." But I'm sure they are realizing these things too. Things are never simple, black and white. Everything is complex nowadays, especially public funding of necessities. Sorry for the gaffe.

LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD ANNOUNCES MORE LAYOFFS

It never ends. Every year, the litany of hand-wringing about our schools not having any money. In the 1980's, a state lottery was sold to the public, partly, on the promise of more money for schools. Ditto gambling at the local horse track. And a local option sales tax was passed, to help get more money for the schools. Yet, still, there is not enough. There never seems to be enough. Where is this money going? This seems like more than simpleminded incompetence. Such gross failure to manage school finances is taking on the appearance of outwright fraud. No matter how much money gets funneled to these bozos, they cannot manage it. Maintenance is shortchanged. Teachers are buying classroom supplies. Can you imagine working in any corporation today, and be expected to buy your own office supplies, etc? This is ridiculous. It is getting to be time for the federal Justice department to investigate the Des Moines Public School System for out and out fraud, deception, and embezzling of funds. Heads ought to roll. Someone belongs in prison! Our teachers and our kids are being screwed over, and noone sems to know how to stop this. What a sick, pathetic joke of a system. No wonder our society is on a mad downward spiral to the bottom. Sheesh!

CREATIVITY



In the gallery’s light

We speak quietly, as paintings

Flaunt their textures,

More bold than we who hold a palette

And hesitate to pick up a brush.



In a world

Rampant with hatred,

We resist, striking back,

Cry in our frustration,

It makes no sense.



We who march

Because we know not what else to do,

Who long for love to be free . . .

Know the depth of death.



Creativity is not a choice

For those in the underworld.

We who walk on clouds, see

A world with wings,

Feel the pain of birth.



In the light of the gallery

We, the conflicted, speak

Of darkness, as if those who hate

Are created on a different canvas.


Draft by Debbie Dembinski 2003

UNSUNG HEROES


Entering buildings late in the evenings,
After the swarming crowds have left;
Arranging equipment for nighttime cleaning,
They have barrels to line, vaccuums to heft.

Arrival of starting time greeted with team
Moving out onto floors, dusters flashing;
Waste containers emptied, then vaccuuming,
Restrooms swept, sanitized with flushing.

Tile floors swept and mopped,
Scraped free of scuffs and tar;
Occasionally wax is stripped and re-topped,
Leaving mirrored surfaces without mark or mar.

This A-team against dirt and grime,
Swoops in, dispatches duties quickly;
Transforming dingy cubicles to digs sublime,
Brightening dull facades efficiently.
Corporations are lucky to have contract cleaners,
So they can sparkle and gleam, while staying leaner.


(c) 2003 MSW

ASCENTION


Gas ball bouncing, rolling across surface,
Stops, deflates, unfolds, extracts --
Solar panels unfurl, charging batteries,
Internal systems brought to life.

Cameras record vistas, rover rolls;
Rocks and dirt studies and sampled.
Successful mission paves way for more,
Landers, rovers, finally sample-return.

Humanity folows close on heels,
Colonizing in fits and starts.
Small cities bloom and interconnect,
Supporting missions further out.

Jupiter's moons one day host colonies,
Increasingly populated solar system expanding;
Transports move steadily between habitations,
Sustaining humanity's toeholds out there.
One day entire system colonized,
Time to migrate to the stars!


(c) 2003 MSW

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE QUIK-LUBE


Greeted by attendant with eyes piercing blue,
"Good morning sir, are you familiar with our service?"
I think to myself, if he only knew --
Hiding lasciviousness inside, I try not to be nervous.

Entering the shop, I opt for basic selection.
Taking a seat, leafing through newspapers --
Other customers present, engaged in conversation.
I settle in for a wait, read about troublemakers.

Man recounts tale of hitting seven deer,
Couple enters in, guy with stunning profile;
Trying not to stare, they might realize I'm queer,
Sure nice scenery here, I ponder with a smile.
People come and go, and soon my car is done --
Saturday morning at the Quik-lube, vignette in time, then time to run.


(c) MSW 2003 - a sonnet

HOT AIR


Dean takes center stage,
Cooly, dispassionately recounts facts;
Gephart, Kerry showing their rage,
Vigorously launch their attacks.

Kucinich, Edwards join the fray,
Leiberman, Moseley-Braun remain aside;
Let the others strut and bray,
Remaining ones quietly taking it in stride.

Dean, Kerry, Gephart jabbing,
Rebutting, countering, ducking & dodging;
Occasionally they rise above gabbing,
Goal is democratic White House lodging.

Now hypothetical taxes get cut,
Discussing free healthcare for all;
Promising to get USA out of a rut,
Lofty statements hold supporters in thrall.
Sure looking forward to this summer,
When I can escape the hot air of all these runners!


(c) MSW 2003

SUDDEN EVENT


What does one do,
Followed and attacked;
New point of view,
Robbed by two hacks.

They demanded my money,
I yelled, "Go Away!";
Then they commited feloney,
Struck me, to my dismay.

Brain fogged by denial,
Finally managed throwing my change;
Driven by need for survival,
I hastened away from the 'exchange'.

Moral must be, throw them money,
Evil, victimizing though they be;
Cheaper to lose small sum of money,
Than a beaten corpse on a slab be.
Violence totally permeates our society,
It finally reached out and found me.


(c) 2003 MSW

JEANS


Lucky Jeans claim they are "America's Brand",
Many other makers trumpet their own virtues;
Numerous claims made out-of-hand,
Still, all are imitations - Levi Strauss was first.

Some are boot-cut, some are flared,
Pre-washed, stone-washed, worn or stained;
The one thing that they all share,
Copying a flattery without shame.

Constant ugly variations on a theme,
Costing large amounts of money;
Manufacturers' multipule marketing schemes,
Resulting in duds that look really funny.

Give me a pair of old Levi's,
Still dark blue, with button fly.
I'll take the real thing, please,
Original product only will appease.
Grotesque green-stained knock-offs,
Are only the latest youth rip-off.


(c) 2003 MSW

VAMPIRES


Sharp, glittering teeth at ready,
They arise from coffin beds at night;
Insatiable, evil thirst to feed on many,
Pouncing on luckless, victims in hopeless plight.

Running, flying, flitting about,
Singly or in ragged groups they go;
Attacking suitable victims caught out,
How many join their legions I do not know.

Falling hungrily upon their prey,
They bite swift and deep;
Draining lifeblood without delay,
Another victim's life they reap.

Who can escape these denizens of night,
Avoid the lustful lethal bite,
Escape eternal darkness plight?
Always try to stay in the light!
Bring silver bullets and wooden stakes to the fight --
Buffy the Vampire Slayer shows how to do it right!


(c) MSW 2003

CHANGE

Hair turns grey to silver,
Living quarters get re-arranged;
Economic recovery starts to glimmer,
Stock markets act all deranged.

New duties on both jobs,
More techniques to master;
Cleaning up after office mobs,
Repairing their daily disasters.

Weather turning cold, overcast,
Time to prepare winter implements;
Balmy weather now in the past,
Coats and gloves the new requirements.

Intel rolling out more proccessors,
Dell, Gateway bring forth latest models;
No longer content with predecessors,
Consumers goaded to grab newest models.

Cityscape changes with each new crane,
All this chaos driving me insane!


(c) MSW 2003

RAIN


Rapidly spitting, spraying drops,
Battering my windshield ferociously;
Wipers on high barely clearing the plops,
Sqinting to see, visibility reduced hopelessly.

Trucks speed past, blinding with their spray,
I swerve a bit, curse and pray;
Not construction slowing me today,
Endless rain scrambling rush hour fray.

Lightning flashes, thunder rumbles,
Brief letup gives way to renewed burst;
Car hood and roof severely pummeled,
Mother Nature trying to do her worst.

Finally find my exit through haze and maze,
Little miracle engine purring onward,
I come to a stop sign in a daze,
Continue towards home and dry warmth.
Looking forward to recliner lazing,
Whilst outside raindrops continue to swarm.

(c) MSW 2003