Mother Nature's Many Lives (Poetry)

Mother Nature isn't in danger, she's got more lives than nine cats.  Her life is made from living and dying.  Ours isn't. If we don't live we die. We don't do both and stay alive.  We're going to die anyhow but doing all we can do to meet our fate quicker does not hit me as the right decision to make.  How about you?

It's something to think about.

Some Good Reasons To Expect A Progressive Victory In 2020

The political platform presented by Bernie Sanders is a reflection of the needs not now being met by the present Republican and Democratic administrators of the status quo. The current issues of Medicare for all, fully free education and current education debt forgiveness, an economy that produces employment opportunities enabling the worker to fully participate in the consumer society, an administration directed course of action faithful to the next generation. This moment requires an administration that is fully engaged in addressing the results of changing eco-system viability due to climate change and industrial pollution issues as well as representing America as being a fully inclusive society that does not use race, religion, or gender as a means to determine who the problem causers in society are.

The improvements in society proposed by a Progressive agenda will require government spending in areas long forgotten by Republican and Democratic lawmakers. There is no free lunch you get what you pay for.  At least that is the way it should be.  However it is just the opposite in the U.S. right now.  Right now those who contribute the least financially to society are given the biggest financial rewards by the Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are solely responsible for the way life is unfolding on Main Street.

We should not despair.  The mistakes of the past can be used to pay for social justice today. After all if we are able to provide corporate welfare to those who do not deserve it we can simply put that money to use by giving it back to the taxpayer who paid it to the government in taxes in the first place. That makes a heck of a lot more sense than just handing it willy-nilly to corporate nere-do-wells.

By contributing financially to society I mean the paying of the levied taxes. Everyone who works does this. In contrast there are companies who are able to make untaxed billions in profits because of their donations to the Republican and Democratic lawmakers who make tax loopholes for them.

According to the Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy (ITEP)

"If these companies paid the statutory 21 percent federal tax rate, they would owe $16.4 billion in federal income taxes. Instead, they collectively received $4.3 billion in rebates."

These corporations were allowed to get away without paying their share by Republican and Democratic lawmakers who take contributions from these companies and then make laws to help the companies avoid paying their share making the working and middle classes pay damned near the entire bill.  These companies not paying their fair share are in a big part responsible for the economic malaise Main Street Americans are dying from. With that being the case immediate rectification of this problem is obligatory on the part of lawmakers.

Ducking out on the bill is not the only way these creeps get out of paying their way in the world. Sometimes the Republicans and the Democrats just give them money.  It's called subsidies. Do you know who is being given money hand over fist by Republican and Democratic lawmakers? Below in the link is a short list of these corporate panhandlers.

Only eight of the biggest corporate welfare recipients are revealed in this report from Showbiz CheatSheet.  The report reveals the bureaucratic shenanigans employed by Republican and Democratic lawmakers for moving the tax dollars of the working and middle classes to the balance sheets of corporate welfare beneficiaries.  These welfare recipients are real big international corporations that receive the dollars earned by the sweat of Americans, many working multiple low paying jobs and not able to afford a place to live.  And this list includes merely 8 of these easy riders.

The day is coming there will be a raid on the Banks of Marble that claim the workers wealth as their own. Some are saying that day has arrived, some are saying "No, but it is on the way." One thing is sure, the working class and some in the middle class are slowly becoming aware they've been taken to the cleaners by a second class bunch of Republican and Democratic bullshitters.

What the working class and the middle class long divided by an endless succession of Republican and Democratic Punch and Judy shows will do remains to be seen.  I suspect they will join together on the basis that the Progressive issues are human issues and not political issues. I suspect the working class and the middle class will reclaim their humanity and rebuild the U.S. in a way that reflects human, not corporate, values. The Progressive agenda is fundamentally connected to the bedrock human requirements of life and society in the 21st century, that being the case political barriers to unity are revealed as ridiculous and make a Progressive victory possible in 2020.

The Knowledge of "Good and "Evil"

The Knowledge of "Good and "Evil"

Sometimes I feel as if something different than what we have been told is happening is actually happening. This morning for instance while watching the news report on Democracy Now I saw something that did not seem right. After thinking about what I had seen I determined it was a good example of the knowledge and practice of 'Good' and 'Evil' put on exhibit for the entire world to take notice. The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian revealed the complete hypocrisy of the Christian Right in support of this Administration in the face of so much easily solved human need.

To bring you up to date:

On the southwestern border of the U.S. there has been created a vast and growing humanitarian crisis of disenfranchised  people who are fleeing for their lives and pleading for help on the proverbial doorstep of the U.S.

The U.S. has responded by imprisoning them and breaking up families in the name of law and order and national security.  Instead of employing it's vast wealth to aid these people the U.S. has turned all its energies to their arrival by providing the most dismal and cruel receptions within the Christian borders of the U.S. where the words of Jesus have been ignored. 

I was provoked by the report from Democracy Now this morning and it dawned on me that this anti-human behavior by the U.S. is an excellent example to use when showing the difference between "Good" and "Evil". Jesus himself used the very same example when he taught about the Judgment Day. As a result of seeing what the U.S. is doing right this very moment I made the poster above. 

Update Iran

Since I made the art in the video below the shit has begun hitting the fan.  I thought I'd re-post it after the recent attacks on ships in the Mideast.

Democracy Now fills us in on the situation in a June 14, 2019 report.  

The shit storm is about to begin and Iran is the last Mideast Domino left to fall.  

The Ring of Fire shared this report today.  The report indicates that someone in high places may not be telling the truth. As strange as that may seem that is what was said.

I made the poster below after thinking about the Democracy Now broadcast. 

Iran in the crosshairs

Suffering: a meditation (Poetry)

Suffering: a meditation

suffering explained at this link

A young man parked his car and jumped from the bridge yesterday morning…,

an old man unaware
in the park below

burst into tears

while reminiscing.

The body hasn't been found,

the old man still cries in the park

and the tide keeps coming in

and going out.

© David H. Roche

Iran In The Crosshairs

You know it's true, 

now it's up to you.

Stars In Your Eyes

I got the idea from something I read 

a long time ago about all of us 

being made of stardust.  

So I began to doodle. 

The video below is the end result.

Stars In Your Eyes

Political Solutions: Brexit (political art)

Political Solutions Are No Longer Working

So I was thinking after listening to this talk (at the highlighted link) by Howard Zinn on the topic of patriotism, government and citizens in a democracy.  His words got me to thinking and then I began to write. Listen to his lecture. 

He's an interesting guy who participated willingly in the destruction of Germany during WW2 and became a historian and social critic afterward. At the following highlighted link is Zinn talking about "Three Holy Wars."

Americans and the rest of the people in the world are in the grip of something that is strangling the life out of them. That something is the current economic organization of society which mandates the present world conditions as a likely outcome of the rules governing the economic system. 

"Grin and bear it, it will get better." we have been told.  The experts are not that hopeful anymore even as the politicians hold rallies and avoid confronting reality by selling promises never meant to be kept.
It's a bitter bread they're baking that we the people are being forced to buy and eat.  

The people who were elected have sold us out. Ninety percent of the time lawmakers give the non-voting donor class what it wants. To support this obvious obfuscation the important decisions at the highest levels of our government have produced a propaganda program that has the characteristics of a madcap party hosted by the Marx Brothers, Albert and Costello and Laurel and Hardy. We recognize that madcap party as the Trump Administration along with it's supporters in congress and out.

People are capable of extremes of behavior. We can make war and we can make peace. Is it possible the present economic system does not hold the possibility of peace? So far it has not worked out. You can see that, right? (Smedley Butler at the link)

If you think your civil rights are still intact it might be a good time to begin using as many of them as you can. At the highlighted link is an audio essay by Henry Thoreau.  Thoreau is an American original. This work on THE DUTY of civil disobedience has inspired many. At one time it was required reading. It was time of war with no end in sight leaving only a horrible past to remember and an even more horrible future to imagine. 

Here we are again.

I'll let Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky leave something for your thoughts about what to do with your civil rights.

"The April Fools Movement" (worker satire) APRIL FOOLS ISSUE

After posting I encountered this interview with economist Michael Hudson.

The movement began on the first day of January  with a post on the internet by the eccentric and mysterious billionaire from Zambia, Melon Husk, with an offer of forming a world wide workers union. Husk offered to provide a 'bottomless' strike fund to support the workers while they were on strike.  It was a brief message with a web address where workers anywhere in the world could register and join the union. There was no trouble convincing the labor force to join.

The message said: "If you are underpaid, if the quality of your life is not to your liking join the Worldwide Workers International Labor Collective.

The WWILC will make your life better."

At the website the goals of the WWILC were simple. A living wage, completely paid healthcare, affordable housing, ample free educational opportunities, paid vacations, and one year of fully paid maternity leave for each parent.

The idea spread like a virus in a daycare facility and before the first day of March a billion workers worldwide had joined and more were learning about it and joining daily.  There was to be, on the first day of April, a worldwide strike. And so there was.

On April 1 the entire WWILC membership of slightly more than one billion workers did not show up to work. Instead they were on the sidewalks with informational brochures explaining the strike and the conditions which caused the workers to organize. Around the world commerce ground to a halt.

Banks could not open, no restaurants opened, no gas stations opened, grocery stores were closed, the doctor might be in his office, but his staff was not. Every aspect of life that required labor to provide a service was affected.

It was a successful strike that lasted the entire month of April.  Every sweatshop around the world ceased production and when it was over The People had won. The strike came to be known as "The April Fools Movement" and the first day of April is now celebrated annually and the workers lived happily ever after.

If you have not heard the song "Banks of Marble" listening to it may inspire you to rise up and improve your chances which are growing slimmer every passing day.

Mr. and Mrs. Goose

Mr. and Mrs. Goose returned some time around the first of March.  When they began showing up I was pleased to see them again and began bringing out cracked corn each time they returned.

All was well up until a couple of days ago when a second pair of geese landed in the pond and there was a flurry of interaction between the two pairs of geese.

Later that afternoon only Mr. Goose returned.  Mrs. Goose had flown off with the other pair and abandoned him. 

He came just before dark and called and called for her and she did not answer.  I stood in the yard with him as it grew dark while he called over and over again. His voice was like the sound a saxophone with a split reed makes. His cry brought tears to my eyes because no one answered him. It was a lonely, sorrowful, heartbreaking squawking cry and he repeated it over and over before he flew away alone.

This morning a single goose flew overhead I heard it honking and looked out the window.  Mr. Goose has not come for corn today.  I hope he comes back.

Reflections (poetry)

Reflections

Several times today

in windows and mirrors and memories

I saw my face.

.

The years have taken almost all

of  what was "Me"

and what is left is leaving...

for an eagerly anticipated rendezvous.

Several times today I thought

of a flower gone to seed;

and the time for planting once again

approaching.

 

© David H. Roche 2019

Reality Check (political poster)

An Uncomfortable Truth

after making this post Jimmy Dore presented a timely interview with Norman Finkelstein it can be seen at the link.

I made a poster this morning as a correction of the slanted nature of the corporate news reporting on the atrocities being perpetrated in Palestine. They'd just have to stop and think and it would be plain to see who is the anti-Semite in this equation. The only Semites being persecuted are the Palestinians and they are being persecuted by the State of Israel, a government.

The 'Machine' is broken.

The repairman says it cannot be fixed.

It has to be replaced.

Vespers (Poetry and photography)

Vespers

At dusk Mr. Goose stands guard

as Mrs. Goose eats corn.

This is a protocol I have noticed.

She eats,

he stands guard,

and then he eats.

There will be goslings this spring.

That's what this is all about.

After dinner Mrs. Goose preens

and Mr. Goose eats

before both waddle away

to watch the sunset on the edge of the pond.

© David H. Roche

Cold Snap (nature photography)

I came across the video while looking for one I did not find. You might like it.

                               Cold Snap

Enjoy!

The Sacred And The Profane (poetry)

The Sacred And The Profane

At 7:30 yellow sunshine spreads faintly across the grass and blacktop accompanied by the long pale shadowy hints of trees and rooftops.

Two Canada Geese eat corn sprinkled in the grass. 

One eats and the other stands guard

and then the other eats 

while the mate stands guard.

They make soft grunting sounds,

eating their share and leaving some behind

for the scrappy jays,

the mourning doves and

the red-winged blackbirds.

"Purple-Dee" the red-wings sing.

"Oooo, Oooo" the mourning doves moan

and a chorus of fifty Mallards quack softly while devouring grass and corn. .

It was a beautiful day until 8:30

when I turned on the news

and saw what men were up to. 

(C) David H. Roche 2019

Mr. And Mrs. Goose Return

This morning ten Canada Geese, a much larger bunch of Mallard Ducks, a few Red-winged Blackbirds and a single Flicker showed up for a breakfast of cracked corn.

Last year a pair of Canada Geese mooched off me daily until all at once they left. They did leave, but of the two one returned for several days. It was the male that returned to say good-bye on two or three successive days. Then he was gone.

Both were accustomed to greeting me and would walk up to within a foot or two of me to be fed. I would speak to them. I wanted to touch him, but I didn't dare. They may be birds but they can strike like a cobra. Their snake-like necks are weaponized with beaks that bite like a lightning strike!  Hard! It's amazing to see.  I didn't want any part of that. 

Anyway Mr. and Mrs. Goose left at the end of May last year and I think they may have returned on the first of March.

At this link is a video of Mr. and Mrs. Goose from last spring.  And another from the day of his last visit when he encountered Spot, my cat.

While watching them there began among the geese a conversation that started with honking. I recognized it as the signal to take off.  (Note: As the honking increases it rises into a frenzy until the flock takes off.) Eight of the ten entirely agreed, and flew off.

The two geese remaining have come back for lunch… and afternoon snacks. I'm hoping they're Mr. and Mrs. Goose. I'm hoping they'll be back tomorrow morning.

Enjoy the videos

Daydream By The Riverside

A sunny, bright, frigid morning allowed me to have the Riverwalk to myself with the exception of a seagull. The wooden planks were icy and the sunlight sparkling on the frosty planks and the white caps on the river were blowing my mind.

If reality is a virtual reality then God has made a great video game for us to grow up in.

Daydream By The Riverside

Astoria-Megler Bridge and Riverwalk

Feeding Frenzy: Red-Winged Blackbirds (video and photos)

Feeding Frenzy:

Red-Winged Blackbirds

The red-winged blackbirds generally arrive in a swarm numbering between 50 and 100, give or take a few, individual birds. Unless there is food already in the feeder after arriving they wait in the high branches of the surrounding trees. Their voices repeating 'Purple-dee, Purple-dee', in a stereophonic chorus make an upbeat soundtrack to accompany the morning's coffee.

It seems as if they expect me because within a few seconds of entering the house the flock is usually swarming around the feeding tree. Perhaps they have a circuit they follow and I'm merely one place on the route. They can eat a lot, I'll say that much.

Enjoy the video

Meditations of a Vagabond Spirit (video)