I have always loved to play with words. Now that lifetime of experience is helpful when I want to express myself in poetry. Some poems just write themselves like the three below. When I must struggle, the results are not as pleasing. Two of these poems were written for fun. The third, In Afghanistan, is an attempt to distill about a dozen books into a few lines. It incorporates what I have learned from The Kite Runner, An Unexpected Light and others into what I think is a successful poem. I tried something different in Minneola. The rhyme between tangerine and orange is not in the words, but in the flavors.How
How black was the catHow blue was the kazooHow brown was the noseHow red was the roseHow pink was the skinkHow orange was the bowlHow purple was the grapeHow great was the apeHow tall was the giraffeHow later was the alligatorHow wide was the riverHow high was the skyHow round was the ballHow square was the nerdHow bright was the sunHow dark was the nightWhat did the Indian say?How
Minneola
Minneola, Osceola, tangerineLemon, lime, orangeSprite, 7Up, Diet CokeDr. Pepper, Dr. ThunderMr. Pibb, root beerBud, Miller, HeinekenPut mine in a steinPlease pass the chips.
In Afghanistan
In AfghanistanBright light, great heightIn AfghanistanBobbing kites take flightIn AfghanistanWarring tribes always fightIn AfghanistanThey pray to AllahIn AfghanistanMuslim faith, infidels bewareIn AfghanistanTaliban means student zealIn AfghanistanOutsiders welcome if invitedIn AfghanistanInvaders must convert or dieIn AfghanistanEngland, Russia and USAIn AfghanistanConfront destruction/defeatIn Afghanistan.
As a service project, I collect trash from nearby BLM land and I have been doing that since January 19 when Barack asked all Americans for a day of service. I have found all of the following: a large tree stump, palm fronds, construction material, aluminum awnings, a dead dog wrapped in a hospital blanket, paper and plastic cups, auto parts, broken glass galore, empty cartridges, both printer and gun, cans and today currency. I now know that the favorite beverage of the litterer is Bud Light. Like dogs, some litterers try to bury their trash but most don't bother.
How to prevent this mess? I have two suggestions. Prohibit the sale of beer in bottles. Cans are much easier to pick up and less glass means fewer flat tires and cuts. Secondly, make trash pickup free. I believe that some dumping is an effort to save money. Make trash pickup at home more convenient by responding to phone calls for special pickups.
Utahns want to have more of Utah under state control, rather than Federal control that now exists over much of the state. Will Utah control of our undeveloped lands lead to better care of those lands?
Like dogs, empty beer bottles travel in groups called packs, usually six in number, sometimes more. When I find an empty bottle, I usually can expect to find five more. Does someone drink six bottles at one place in the road? I think not. They just unload by throwing the empties from the window of a moving vehicle. If I am lucky, the bottle has had a soft landing. Otherwise, there are dozens of pieces that can cause potential harm. If the penalty for throwing bottles from a car were greater than for having them in the car, people would think twice before dumping their trash.
I support a living wage, which varies depending on where you live, and is approximately double the minimum wage. The living wage is defined as the amount needed to bring a family of four up to the federal poverty line. Why do I support it? If the minimum wage were increased to a living wage, all other wages would be increased and all of us would enjoy a higher standard of living. Detractors point out that some entry level jobs would disappear. That is true. I would train those lacking jobs to fill higher paying skilled jobs.
The question that needs to be asked and no one is asking is: who is willing, are you or are we, to be associated with an economy that forces millions to work for near starvation wages? I am NOT. This nation has the resources to provide a dignified life for all who work. If a job is worth doing, it is worth paying a living wage for its performance.
Barack has accomplished nothing say his critics. If he had accomplished anything, they would have opposed it. If he had accomplished nothing, then much of the reason is the opposition of so many in Congress.
On the contrary, I say he has accomplished a great deal in nine months and the prospects for more look excellent. Jobs and homes have been saved and more is on the way. Relations with the world are improving. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and possibly Pakistan are receiving a hard look. Neglected reform and infrastructure here in the US are receiving the attention they need.
I am reading Let Freedom Ring by Sean Hannity and I could not wait until I had finished the book to write the following. I am sure I will have more to say when I finish the book.
Hannity blames the Clinton administration for not preventing 9-11. I am sure that with 20-20 hindsight anyone would have tried harder to capture bin Laden. Hannity does not blame the Bush administration for their 8 months of neglect of the terrorism issue. I would assign blame to both Clinton and Bush. Remember that this is a nation of laws and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty to a judge and jury. This is not Orwell's 1984 with thought police. We do not have preventive detention in this country nor do we assassinate our enemies without overwhelming cause. If you follow Hannity's logic, you would blame FDR for WW2 because he did not order Hitler's death before the war began.
In the near future, the Obama administration is going to produce substantial progress in settling the decades-old conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinian Arabs. If you want to increase your background knowledge at this time about the founding of Israel, I suggest two novels by Leon Uris, an American Jew who passed away in 2003. The books are The Haj and Exodus. Exodus is the better known book which was made into a movie starring Paul Newman in 1960.
Both books are novels that read like history that reads like life. Neither is dry or dusty. I suggest reading The Haj first which describes the events leading to the founding of Israel before WW2 mostly through Palestinian Arab eyes, while Exodus is mostly post WW2 through Jewish eyes. I like to read several books on a subject at the same time to meld varying viewpoints. In this case, it is better to read the books in chronological sequence, although Exodus is the better book and written first.
Uris is very pessimistic about the chances for peace with the Palestinians. Of course, his is only one view and it is the opinion of a Jewish writer. It would be interesting to get the viewpoints of Palestinian Muslim Arabs. In any case, the Obama administration is poised to facilitate negotiations between the two sides.
There once was a musical, The Music Man, which was a play and then a movie. One of the songs was There's Trouble in River City and was sung by the male lead, the music man. The gist was that a pool table in town would lead the male children astray and lead to other graver sins. His solution was to set up a boys' band to occupy the youth with wholesome activity. Of course, the parents would purchase the instruments and band uniforms from him. He was a confidence man, pure and simple.
My point is that we examine what the health care reform opponents are selling and why. What is their agenda? Who will benefit if health care reform is blocked? Surely not you and I and the approximately 50 million who lack health insurance.
Where in the world is Osama bin Laden? Pakistan probably, acting as a magnet to draw the US into another war we cannot win.
We invaded Afghanistan to punish the Taliban for harboring bin Laden. It is a Muslim country and bin Laden was a Muslim guest. Treating guests well, even enemies, is paramount with the Afghans. To expect them to surrender him to the unbelievers of the West was not realistic.
Then to show off his mojo, George W. Bush led us into Iraq where al-Qaeda and bin Laden were not. Now we think that bin Laden is in that part of Pakistan that was once part of Afghanistan. The British made it into a buffer zone when they incorporated it into India, now Pakistan. The people inhabiting that area still regard it as part of Afghanistan. To them the tribe comes first, then religion second, and country a distant third.
Obama is sending more troops to Afghanistan. A stategy that will not work unless we are very lucky and more skillful than the British and Russians before us. Bin Laden is hoping that our actions destroy the fragile balance that is Pakistan. I hope that Barack has a better strategy for Pakistan. Let's outsmart bin Laden this time with a plan that does not rely on the use of force.
My thoughts below are not the official position of the Obama administration.
I favor a living wage, not a minimum wage, a living wage for all workers in the US. A living wage will push up everyone's standard of living just as employers currently use undocumented aliens as a way to hold wages down. All of us can have a better life. They know how to spread the wealth around in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. We can learn from them.
Shades of socialism. They will use that argument against it. Our business owners require incentives to produce jobs and hire workers. The question is how much incentive is enough? For a hedge fund owner, isn't $100 million per year enough and he/she could forgo another $900 million which could be used to better so many lives.
Money is power and this isn't so much about money and incentives as it is about power. This is supposed to be a democracy. Do we really want to accept rule by a few super wealthy individuals. That is not democracy.
I lie
He/she lies
You lie
We lie
They lie
Who tells the truth?
Who do you trust?
Barack Obama
My two favorite presidents have been Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Strange combination you say. Well yes in a way but both led or are leading the way in a new cycle of American politics. Both speak the truth and lead in a positive manner.
American politics is cyclical, conservative for 25-30 years and then liberal for 25-30 years. Reagan began the conservative cycle in 1980 which ended badly when George W. Bush went off the rails. Barack Obama is beginning a liberal cycle which will probably end in 25-30 years. Let's hope it does not end with the Democratic equivalent of George W. Bush. The Republicans just are unable to recognize the change. They will eventually get the message. It is in our interest to speed that day.
