War mongering and needling and provoking
Threatening
Enforcement of tribal mentality
Developed in antiquity
When time speeded up
Driven by technology
We struggle to adjust to sudden change
That would have taken thousands of years
At previous rates of cultural change
Brought about by technology
Peace takes self control
Evidently lacking in warlike policy
What is a prenegotiation demand?
Is this like a preemptive strike?
Let the younger leaders come forward
Was anybody raised to vengeance
Immune from the sins of the fathers?
What facet of God shines upon us?
Begin again take a free breath
Learn from the past
But do not let the past
Control your future.
Prenegotiation means fatal prejudice
Sequence the negotiation format.
Accept the representatives they send.
If a group wishes to send a negotiator
Then so be it
All choose their own negotiator
Each negotiator will present grievances
No walkouts or absentee all listen to all
A second round of speakers addressing grievances
Each negotiator will then present desired rebuttals
To what was said
And so on until all grievances
Have been addressed.
All must have a voice for justice to be served.
Freedom of speech means
You will hear that which you do not like
You will hear what you do like
People you dislike
Can speak as can you
Threatening speech is criminal remember
Monday, February 26, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Israelis and Palestinians
Schoolyard State Department Lacks Leadership
Remember playground politics when an aggressive individual would decree who could talk to whom and would control followers’ personal spaces to prevent the exchange of information. Should you find out something about this bully person? Are secrets being kept from you? If so, why? Why should we not talk to all parties in any issue?
If Mr. David Welch did turn down the new Palestinian Platform, then there are at least two things wrong about this scene. A duly elected Democratic government is in power and has actively compromised with rivals and is now constructing a more permanent arrangement that will lead to peace. If Mr. Welch, an apparent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, feels free to prematurely denounce these efforts, then he is foolish in his choice of actions. If he already named to whom he would not speak, perhaps he should resign and position himself where he cannot harm so many diligent efforts. Perhaps he should look up compromise in the dictionary and try to imagine the place of it in ‘his’ foreign policy that unfortunately represents the great United States of America.
Support this truly democratic effort, do not interfere in the negotiations and respect the government they choose to construct using those democratic principles so precious to the people. Dictation of what this new government may say is antithetical to the precepts we so hold dear, even if large toes are stepped upon. Bow out and allow the proceedings on the world stage rather than behind doors of our closing.
Peace comes from civilized dialogue, however spirited it may be. Since Mr. Welch is evidently a soothsayer or is making a faulty attempt to direct the course of events, perhaps a more unilateral approach should be taken, in order to reestablish our prestige in the world as a champion of freedom and individual rights of self expression. We must now prove a lack of hypocrisy as our president offers freedom to the people. We must be prepared to hear that which we did not expect to hear. One cannot dictate like a King and offer believable elections.
This compromise is a real chance for peace. The decisions concerning this delicate time should be allowed considerable more study, lest the world think we are constructing puppet governments.
Remember playground politics when an aggressive individual would decree who could talk to whom and would control followers’ personal spaces to prevent the exchange of information. Should you find out something about this bully person? Are secrets being kept from you? If so, why? Why should we not talk to all parties in any issue?
If Mr. David Welch did turn down the new Palestinian Platform, then there are at least two things wrong about this scene. A duly elected Democratic government is in power and has actively compromised with rivals and is now constructing a more permanent arrangement that will lead to peace. If Mr. Welch, an apparent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, feels free to prematurely denounce these efforts, then he is foolish in his choice of actions. If he already named to whom he would not speak, perhaps he should resign and position himself where he cannot harm so many diligent efforts. Perhaps he should look up compromise in the dictionary and try to imagine the place of it in ‘his’ foreign policy that unfortunately represents the great United States of America.
Support this truly democratic effort, do not interfere in the negotiations and respect the government they choose to construct using those democratic principles so precious to the people. Dictation of what this new government may say is antithetical to the precepts we so hold dear, even if large toes are stepped upon. Bow out and allow the proceedings on the world stage rather than behind doors of our closing.
Peace comes from civilized dialogue, however spirited it may be. Since Mr. Welch is evidently a soothsayer or is making a faulty attempt to direct the course of events, perhaps a more unilateral approach should be taken, in order to reestablish our prestige in the world as a champion of freedom and individual rights of self expression. We must now prove a lack of hypocrisy as our president offers freedom to the people. We must be prepared to hear that which we did not expect to hear. One cannot dictate like a King and offer believable elections.
This compromise is a real chance for peace. The decisions concerning this delicate time should be allowed considerable more study, lest the world think we are constructing puppet governments.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Let Them Each Bring A Stone
Stop unilateral construction
Set local differences aside
And let pilgrims in with stones
To pave this disputed way
Let them each bring a stone
One each for the dead
Both Jew and Palestinian
And any others so died
In this strife
Pave the way to these sacred sites
With these stones
While praying for the end of conflict
So the new generation
Will understand peace.
Set local differences aside
And let pilgrims in with stones
To pave this disputed way
Let them each bring a stone
One each for the dead
Both Jew and Palestinian
And any others so died
In this strife
Pave the way to these sacred sites
With these stones
While praying for the end of conflict
So the new generation
Will understand peace.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Control of the Future
Control of the Future
Palestinians must halt hostilities to others and to each other
Truce must hold peace is the goal first
Before commerce dependent on other than war trade only can develop
Peaceful trade corridors fanatics must yield or cease influence
Leaders step forward war acts set aside
Emerge to lead and control your criminals restore civil order
Or let a savage junta rule your violent future
Cast this aside
Welcome a new beginning
Stop the violence
Now is the time
To achieve peace
Resolve pullout timeline
And hold to it
Munitions profiteering
Begins to pale
Dawn of the end of petroleum
Commands technological investment
Rather than a wasting war
Iraq has an elected leader
Us must cede to his assessments
If he does not want more troops
Bide his decision
Lest he be considered a puppet
Either that or hold an election
Including Baathists.
End these wasteful wars
Death in the name of religion
Must not torment the human community
By the end of the first decade second millennium after Christ
The leaders of our world do not feel obligated
To work towards world peace
They still must show accomplishments in the name of humanity
Or vanish in brief ignomy
No matter what your professed religion
Unfetter yourself from inherited hatred
And welcome a new beginning
By the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium
Our claim to fame our legacy.
Palestinians must halt hostilities to others and to each other
Truce must hold peace is the goal first
Before commerce dependent on other than war trade only can develop
Peaceful trade corridors fanatics must yield or cease influence
Leaders step forward war acts set aside
Emerge to lead and control your criminals restore civil order
Or let a savage junta rule your violent future
Cast this aside
Welcome a new beginning
Stop the violence
Now is the time
To achieve peace
Resolve pullout timeline
And hold to it
Munitions profiteering
Begins to pale
Dawn of the end of petroleum
Commands technological investment
Rather than a wasting war
Iraq has an elected leader
Us must cede to his assessments
If he does not want more troops
Bide his decision
Lest he be considered a puppet
Either that or hold an election
Including Baathists.
End these wasteful wars
Death in the name of religion
Must not torment the human community
By the end of the first decade second millennium after Christ
The leaders of our world do not feel obligated
To work towards world peace
They still must show accomplishments in the name of humanity
Or vanish in brief ignomy
No matter what your professed religion
Unfetter yourself from inherited hatred
And welcome a new beginning
By the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium
Our claim to fame our legacy.
Monday, January 22, 2007
It's Just How You Look At It
Come on let’s get real about the value of experience in understanding alternative economic development. Living in other communities doesn’t condemn one to never understanding what it is to be a Tucsonan. Oldtimers and newtimers alike can relate to a military friend of mine who returned from overseas and said we must be thankful for our way of life. Transplants to Tucson are a prodigious influx of fine minds from all over the world. The quality of their experience is not to be underestimated.
Take the late local real estate boom and the hovering specter of deflation in housing prices as viewed by the speculators. It’s kind of like buying petroleum at $70 a barrel and looking at current prices at $50 a barrel while wondering where the investment went. Speculators and small owners are keeping home prices higher while holding out for a surge in home buying when the only people left who want to buy are wealthy or credit risks. It reminds me of Houston during the 1980s where empty subdivisions sat molding on mud while buyers avoided the area.
New Orleans residents are being charged high insurance rates while insurance company profits mount and payouts lag. New Orleans is an example of how local conditions can affect the local housing market in that too many expenses to the buyer can prohibit a sale. Many sales are lost as costs like interest rates, taxes, insurance and utilities rise. Potential buyers vanish in the wake of these floods while citizens pay more for expected conditions, some forced to pick and choose, eliminating discretionary spending in luxury and service areas. Credit card and home mortgage defaults rise as credit charges accumulate. Some of this applies to Tucson as well.
Tucson real estate? Just think what would happen to the existing market if a water emergency were declared amid water shortages or even if water rationing were instituted! The bottom would drop out of the housing market as these longed for emigrants fail to arrive to buy the new houses because they don’t want to live out of a gallon jug of water. Some people might even pull up stakes and move out, leaving behind inflated mortgages for the credit people to absorb. If property values drop, tax valuations must also, leaving the government with less money generated and a horrendous water problem to solve.
We need to seriously discuss issues that affect property values and taxes. The quality of life and the open spaces upgrade property values in Pima County. The possibility of another copper mine in this area brings to mind a long time strategy of preserving our natural resources whenever possible. What happened to that idea? Is there a copper shortage? Let’s see what our congressmen and women and senators can do to save the Santa Rita Mountains from becoming another mine dump. Shall we sully Davidson Canyon in order to sell more cement to build more houses to bring more population who will use up the water supply? Public policy needs to reflect common sense.
I suggest that people sit back and think about what there is about Pima County that either brought us here or kept us here. I am a Tucson native who returned home because I learned, like the prodigal son, that there is no place like home. My idea of home is the wide open spaces, cultural events, multicultural atmosphere, and proximity to Mexico. Our future Tucson is in the making and citizens have the freedom to speak out. Elected officials and policymakers need to listen or find another address.
Take the late local real estate boom and the hovering specter of deflation in housing prices as viewed by the speculators. It’s kind of like buying petroleum at $70 a barrel and looking at current prices at $50 a barrel while wondering where the investment went. Speculators and small owners are keeping home prices higher while holding out for a surge in home buying when the only people left who want to buy are wealthy or credit risks. It reminds me of Houston during the 1980s where empty subdivisions sat molding on mud while buyers avoided the area.
New Orleans residents are being charged high insurance rates while insurance company profits mount and payouts lag. New Orleans is an example of how local conditions can affect the local housing market in that too many expenses to the buyer can prohibit a sale. Many sales are lost as costs like interest rates, taxes, insurance and utilities rise. Potential buyers vanish in the wake of these floods while citizens pay more for expected conditions, some forced to pick and choose, eliminating discretionary spending in luxury and service areas. Credit card and home mortgage defaults rise as credit charges accumulate. Some of this applies to Tucson as well.
Tucson real estate? Just think what would happen to the existing market if a water emergency were declared amid water shortages or even if water rationing were instituted! The bottom would drop out of the housing market as these longed for emigrants fail to arrive to buy the new houses because they don’t want to live out of a gallon jug of water. Some people might even pull up stakes and move out, leaving behind inflated mortgages for the credit people to absorb. If property values drop, tax valuations must also, leaving the government with less money generated and a horrendous water problem to solve.
We need to seriously discuss issues that affect property values and taxes. The quality of life and the open spaces upgrade property values in Pima County. The possibility of another copper mine in this area brings to mind a long time strategy of preserving our natural resources whenever possible. What happened to that idea? Is there a copper shortage? Let’s see what our congressmen and women and senators can do to save the Santa Rita Mountains from becoming another mine dump. Shall we sully Davidson Canyon in order to sell more cement to build more houses to bring more population who will use up the water supply? Public policy needs to reflect common sense.
I suggest that people sit back and think about what there is about Pima County that either brought us here or kept us here. I am a Tucson native who returned home because I learned, like the prodigal son, that there is no place like home. My idea of home is the wide open spaces, cultural events, multicultural atmosphere, and proximity to Mexico. Our future Tucson is in the making and citizens have the freedom to speak out. Elected officials and policymakers need to listen or find another address.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Iraq Commentary
The Sins of the Fathers
Animosities ancient beyond our own beginnings as a coherent people
Bubbled to the surface if a withdrawal of new forces took place
Proving Saddam’s iron fist the only master
To your vengeance
Time to gamble on peace.
We offer sanctuary for political refugees
As Vegas of future options
Which will lead to peace
Define and control inherited feuds
The sins of the fathers controlling no more.
Communicate with combatant groups
List grievances on all sides
Al Sadr saw the foe of his father slain
No prior demands
Time to talk.
Baathists have a right to vote
Where went the spoils of war?
Call for a new election.
Distribute the oil wealth to the people
Like Indian casino money.
The human cost of is irretrievable
The course of history directed
Logic dictates endgame
Time to fold ‘em
While death holds the winning hand.
Animosities ancient beyond our own beginnings as a coherent people
Bubbled to the surface if a withdrawal of new forces took place
Proving Saddam’s iron fist the only master
To your vengeance
Time to gamble on peace.
We offer sanctuary for political refugees
As Vegas of future options
Which will lead to peace
Define and control inherited feuds
The sins of the fathers controlling no more.
Communicate with combatant groups
List grievances on all sides
Al Sadr saw the foe of his father slain
No prior demands
Time to talk.
Baathists have a right to vote
Where went the spoils of war?
Call for a new election.
Distribute the oil wealth to the people
Like Indian casino money.
The human cost of is irretrievable
The course of history directed
Logic dictates endgame
Time to fold ‘em
While death holds the winning hand.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Nuclear Warfare
Commentary on “Focus: Mission Iran” London Times, January 07, 2007
Assuming the London Times story “Focus: Mission Iran” is accurate, this idea poses several ethical questions, the first among them is the new doctrine of preemptive paranoia, sometimes called starting wars among the more rational in society. Has our world lost any semblance of ethics as the lovely blonde woman on the news assures us that the nuclear device to be dropped on Iran by Israel would be low yield? What are we now expected to accept?
Using nuclear weapons is not acceptable by any standard. Why has the United Nations not sent nuclear weapons observers into Israel yet expects others accede to this demand? How did Israel acquire nuclear technology? Shall we review that story? Threatening the use of nuclear weapons is irresponsible. If such a nuclear strike takes place, the number of warlike regimes in the world will multiply. What then? More nuclear strikes?
To counteract this warlike attitude, I suggest a United Nations resolution that retribution shall not be taken beyond what was given. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Not an eye for a brain. So it is written in the Old Testament and the words are meaningful and those who break that word of their religion are condemned to eternal warfare, the reason for the resolution.
To give this Resolution impetus, once the retribution allowance has been exceeded, immediate member economic boycott will ensue against the offender. Nobody wants to be called greedy, yet even too much retribution is a form of greed.
Warfare is a foolish waste of resources and as such must be stopped, if not for humanitarian reasons that boggle the mind with pain. Threatening a nuclear hit is moral bankruptcy no matter who does it.
Assuming the London Times story “Focus: Mission Iran” is accurate, this idea poses several ethical questions, the first among them is the new doctrine of preemptive paranoia, sometimes called starting wars among the more rational in society. Has our world lost any semblance of ethics as the lovely blonde woman on the news assures us that the nuclear device to be dropped on Iran by Israel would be low yield? What are we now expected to accept?
Using nuclear weapons is not acceptable by any standard. Why has the United Nations not sent nuclear weapons observers into Israel yet expects others accede to this demand? How did Israel acquire nuclear technology? Shall we review that story? Threatening the use of nuclear weapons is irresponsible. If such a nuclear strike takes place, the number of warlike regimes in the world will multiply. What then? More nuclear strikes?
To counteract this warlike attitude, I suggest a United Nations resolution that retribution shall not be taken beyond what was given. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Not an eye for a brain. So it is written in the Old Testament and the words are meaningful and those who break that word of their religion are condemned to eternal warfare, the reason for the resolution.
To give this Resolution impetus, once the retribution allowance has been exceeded, immediate member economic boycott will ensue against the offender. Nobody wants to be called greedy, yet even too much retribution is a form of greed.
Warfare is a foolish waste of resources and as such must be stopped, if not for humanitarian reasons that boggle the mind with pain. Threatening a nuclear hit is moral bankruptcy no matter who does it.
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