Thursday, August 29, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
New Book
Apperaing on a new blog www.gladfbooks.com is a new book which is in publication but available on the web Management of Pay in an Ailing Economy.The Impact of wage fragmentation on Industrial Conflict (1975-2000)
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Tink 'bout dis
The Cuban economy, political system and society have survived (even if barely) over forty years of US embargo/economic sanctions . What has Cuba done to the US to be treated this way for so long. Do you recall that Castro was the US choice in 1959? The USSR is long gone and yet the bad blood remains. Why should it? We are friendly with countries which have a worse Human Rights record than Cuba. In any case how would embargo or economic sanctions solve this. It has not worked for all these years. When will it end. Everyone and his grandmother knows that it was the USSR which was trying to use Cuba to pursue their own intentions. How come there was no embargo or economic sanctions levelled against the Soviets. How come Libya is bombed and not Syria. Just asking?
It was Cuba which has been providing training/scholarships for Caribbean and other developing countries in Medicine, technology, agriculture etc where other developed countries refuse to tread (free of cost).Even the US has sent students to study Medicine in Cuba,
The policy of getting rid of leaders which are not liked would not necessarily usher in someone who is liked. 'When one rasta goes another rasta comes to take his place'.Remember Mozambique, Chile,Nicaragua,Panama,Iran,Guyana and a host of others.
Isn't it time for the US to live well with its neighbor Cuba. Remember the US supported Castro over Batista, and do not forget support given to Saddam during the war with Iran!!
It was Cuba which has been providing training/scholarships for Caribbean and other developing countries in Medicine, technology, agriculture etc where other developed countries refuse to tread (free of cost).Even the US has sent students to study Medicine in Cuba,
The policy of getting rid of leaders which are not liked would not necessarily usher in someone who is liked. 'When one rasta goes another rasta comes to take his place'.Remember Mozambique, Chile,Nicaragua,Panama,Iran,Guyana and a host of others.
Isn't it time for the US to live well with its neighbor Cuba. Remember the US supported Castro over Batista, and do not forget support given to Saddam during the war with Iran!!
The Right of the People vs the Judiciary
I always thought and believe that the practice of Democracy is rightly expressed as government for the people, by the people, of the people.. not necessary in that order. Over the years I have however been observing behaviors in these United States and elsewhere which do not seem consistent with this belief or axiom. The United States seem proud of its system of Democracy and sets out to propagate it throughout the world even to places and civilization far older and more experienced in the practice than they are.
We continue to hear pronouncements that when there is an issue in which there is disagreement of any kind...'let the people decide' In effect let the will of the people be the prevail.(The will of the people)?.So we have all over the world the will of the people is being exercised in deciding to change a government and 'elect ' the government it wants. They can do this by collective action (violently) or through the ballot box. The first focus of the American Declearation of Independence of the --------- states:
that :mankind is imbued with certain inalienable rights among them being the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". This Declearation asserts that:
"to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed., that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness".
So we get as a demonstration of these principles the holding of elections where the people decide on their representatives in every area of the nation's activities So- called 'democratic principles' tend to pervade all group activity in an out of the boardroom, from the smallest enclave to the largest grouping. Some countries have practiced some or all these principles for hundreds of years even before the US was born. The US is not the oldest Democracy nor is it the smartest. However there is the prevailing tendency by some 'high up types in the US administration who believe that its brand of democracy can be applied to all countries regardless of their historical, cultural and socio-economic experiences. According to one comedian 'you can't go around trying to force US democratic principles on other countries all willly-nilly'. they do not have confidence in their own democratic practices. at the lowest level where the government of the people begins.
So why when the people vote in favor of or against an issue a move is made to the courts to overturn..the will of the people. Put it on the ballot they say and let the people decide---- is this a joke. one remembers prop 8 in California, Bloomberg ignoring 'the will of the people' who twice voted in favor of term limits to manipulate the council so that he can bypass this 'will.'
Why then does the US try to impose its will on the government of other countries rather than leaving it the 'will' of the people in their particular countries. If they do not like a leader or a leader is not jumping to their music then their destabilation machine kicks in and undermines it until they get their way They impose restricions, embargoes and threaten anyone who dare to exercise their independence/sovernity to go against these restrictions. After forty six years of trade embargo how is Cuba and the Cuban people a threat to the US? Why not let the Cuban people decide.. which they did during the 'Bayof Pigs'.
We continue to hear pronouncements that when there is an issue in which there is disagreement of any kind...'let the people decide' In effect let the will of the people be the prevail.(The will of the people)?.So we have all over the world the will of the people is being exercised in deciding to change a government and 'elect ' the government it wants. They can do this by collective action (violently) or through the ballot box. The first focus of the American Declearation of Independence of the --------- states:
that :mankind is imbued with certain inalienable rights among them being the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". This Declearation asserts that:
"to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed., that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness".
So we get as a demonstration of these principles the holding of elections where the people decide on their representatives in every area of the nation's activities So- called 'democratic principles' tend to pervade all group activity in an out of the boardroom, from the smallest enclave to the largest grouping. Some countries have practiced some or all these principles for hundreds of years even before the US was born. The US is not the oldest Democracy nor is it the smartest. However there is the prevailing tendency by some 'high up types in the US administration who believe that its brand of democracy can be applied to all countries regardless of their historical, cultural and socio-economic experiences. According to one comedian 'you can't go around trying to force US democratic principles on other countries all willly-nilly'. they do not have confidence in their own democratic practices. at the lowest level where the government of the people begins.
So why when the people vote in favor of or against an issue a move is made to the courts to overturn..the will of the people. Put it on the ballot they say and let the people decide---- is this a joke. one remembers prop 8 in California, Bloomberg ignoring 'the will of the people' who twice voted in favor of term limits to manipulate the council so that he can bypass this 'will.'
Why then does the US try to impose its will on the government of other countries rather than leaving it the 'will' of the people in their particular countries. If they do not like a leader or a leader is not jumping to their music then their destabilation machine kicks in and undermines it until they get their way They impose restricions, embargoes and threaten anyone who dare to exercise their independence/sovernity to go against these restrictions. After forty six years of trade embargo how is Cuba and the Cuban people a threat to the US? Why not let the Cuban people decide.. which they did during the 'Bayof Pigs'.
'Al' yu backside inside the stand'
I have been reading and listening to a lot of commentaries and opinions and advice about Guyana. These have been posted mainly on facebook and other parts of the Internet mainly by Guyanese living abroad. Ninety nine percent of these commentaries are levelled at the past and present PPP/C regimes and are exclusively negative in nature and extremely damming. One is bombarded by the vicious attacks on individuals and groups aligned to this party and the conditions in Guyana much of it with justification. Any observer reading the articles or listening to the speeches would conclude that Guyana is the worse country in the world and that there is nothing good happening there.is this fact or propaganda? One would get the impression too, that the economic, social .political and moral tragedy that is Guyana have all been engineered by the PPP/C and its henchmen. Did the PNC do better after twenty six years in office?? 'Kick them out. burn them at the stake, jail them and throw away the key, hang them do anything but get the PPP/C criminals out'. These suggestions reached a very high crescendo before the November elections and continued even after. True, the recent elections only partially succeeded in achieving some of the wishes but it seem to have made matters worse by giving the opposition a one seat majority in the House while leaving the PPP/C in control of the Presidency.
This 'opposition' now consists of three parties: the former PNC, the AFC and the WPA banded under a new name APNU. Why did the PNC (who ruled Guyana for twenty six years) want to hide under this umbrella. Are they ashamed of their identity or their past. Wasn't it Burnham who referred to the WPA as the Worse Possible Alternative? His party (PNC) would have never formed an alliance with any of this bunch while he was alive. He must be turning in his grave!!
Who can contend that the PNC ever 'won' a free and fair elections in Guyana. Don't you think that the PPP/C learned from the PNC as they sat on the sidelines observing all those years while ballot boxes were stuffed at the Army locations or disappeared and were switched in transit? While no one is condoning or supporting any type of electoral/political fraud or misdeeds, both parties and individuals within them) need to be condemned for the failures of the economy and socio- political structure in Guyana.
A number of persons have been asking, why are you bringing up the past they (the PPP/C are responsible now), but one does not have to bring up the past, just look around.... the past is all around in plain sight. Moses Nagamotoo was Information Minister in the PPP Government promoting the same agenda he appears to be against but helped to create. Wasn't he the one who in 1998 advised the Indians to bide their time ,take their insults quietly and wait to exact vengeance on the Afro Guyanese who were 'raping and assaulting his Indian people'. Oscar Clarke is a former Minister of Home Affairs who at one time threatened to call out the GDF on striking UG students. Robert Corbin (affectionately known as the enforcer) is still there, Hamilton Greene still persists and is running the City government. Carl Grenidge as Minister of Finance presided over the worse economy in Guyana' s history re: cassava bread/ rice flour/ banning/contra banning of essential food items. If you criticize Jagdeo for his multi million dollar house (and he was President) how come there is no mention of Grenidge's $28m dollar Porche (and he was the Finance Minister). Then of course David was the Military advisor to Forbes Burnham during the GDF intervention into the ballot boxes and the atrocities in Berbice and elsewhere. David is not a politician Burnham would describe him as 'not having the acumen concomitant with the rascality of high office'. Yes! who can forget the "Paramountcy of the Party Philosophy" where the Party forms and informs the Government. The PPP/C did not create or promote that power philosophy.
Does one have to spell out the era of long and frequent blackouts, water shortages, forceful attendance at the Developers' course, National Service, forced working at Belfield farm of the President, public servants cutting cane to break the strike, spraying of insecticide on wheaten flour bread at the markets and public servants who were taken off the airplanes or forced to escape through the 'backtrack' etc. These acts were not engineered by the PPP government. Sure there are people who are too young or not much older than twenty six years to have known about any other government nor have any experience of these conditions. Some who know prefer to hide under amnesia or tend to brush the experiences aside.'A Nation (People) who forgets (ignores) the past is certainly doomed to repeat it.
Embrace these characters all you want but remember they all have some kind of 'skeletons' and none of them is 'clean'. Just as there are elements in the PPP/C who are and were involved in various questionable and unquestionable acts there are elements in the PNC/R or APNU who have engaged in similar acts as well.
the point here is that all are guilty all are involved all are consumed.
What is needed is a completely new crop of 'competent folks' untouched by philosophy and the 'mud' of the past
Secondly, Guyanese and others who are sitting safely outside (in the stand) should stop trying to influence the state of play from abroad. If you feel so strongly about the conditions in the homeland go back show yourself, join the protests and the fight there. If you can't bat or bowl or field sit your behind in the stand and observe the game as best as you can and let the participants decide the outcome. Let the democratic process be exploited to the fullest.
This 'opposition' now consists of three parties: the former PNC, the AFC and the WPA banded under a new name APNU. Why did the PNC (who ruled Guyana for twenty six years) want to hide under this umbrella. Are they ashamed of their identity or their past. Wasn't it Burnham who referred to the WPA as the Worse Possible Alternative? His party (PNC) would have never formed an alliance with any of this bunch while he was alive. He must be turning in his grave!!
Who can contend that the PNC ever 'won' a free and fair elections in Guyana. Don't you think that the PPP/C learned from the PNC as they sat on the sidelines observing all those years while ballot boxes were stuffed at the Army locations or disappeared and were switched in transit? While no one is condoning or supporting any type of electoral/political fraud or misdeeds, both parties and individuals within them) need to be condemned for the failures of the economy and socio- political structure in Guyana.
A number of persons have been asking, why are you bringing up the past they (the PPP/C are responsible now), but one does not have to bring up the past, just look around.... the past is all around in plain sight. Moses Nagamotoo was Information Minister in the PPP Government promoting the same agenda he appears to be against but helped to create. Wasn't he the one who in 1998 advised the Indians to bide their time ,take their insults quietly and wait to exact vengeance on the Afro Guyanese who were 'raping and assaulting his Indian people'. Oscar Clarke is a former Minister of Home Affairs who at one time threatened to call out the GDF on striking UG students. Robert Corbin (affectionately known as the enforcer) is still there, Hamilton Greene still persists and is running the City government. Carl Grenidge as Minister of Finance presided over the worse economy in Guyana' s history re: cassava bread/ rice flour/ banning/contra banning of essential food items. If you criticize Jagdeo for his multi million dollar house (and he was President) how come there is no mention of Grenidge's $28m dollar Porche (and he was the Finance Minister). Then of course David was the Military advisor to Forbes Burnham during the GDF intervention into the ballot boxes and the atrocities in Berbice and elsewhere. David is not a politician Burnham would describe him as 'not having the acumen concomitant with the rascality of high office'. Yes! who can forget the "Paramountcy of the Party Philosophy" where the Party forms and informs the Government. The PPP/C did not create or promote that power philosophy.
Does one have to spell out the era of long and frequent blackouts, water shortages, forceful attendance at the Developers' course, National Service, forced working at Belfield farm of the President, public servants cutting cane to break the strike, spraying of insecticide on wheaten flour bread at the markets and public servants who were taken off the airplanes or forced to escape through the 'backtrack' etc. These acts were not engineered by the PPP government. Sure there are people who are too young or not much older than twenty six years to have known about any other government nor have any experience of these conditions. Some who know prefer to hide under amnesia or tend to brush the experiences aside.'A Nation (People) who forgets (ignores) the past is certainly doomed to repeat it.
Embrace these characters all you want but remember they all have some kind of 'skeletons' and none of them is 'clean'. Just as there are elements in the PPP/C who are and were involved in various questionable and unquestionable acts there are elements in the PNC/R or APNU who have engaged in similar acts as well.
the point here is that all are guilty all are involved all are consumed.
What is needed is a completely new crop of 'competent folks' untouched by philosophy and the 'mud' of the past
Secondly, Guyanese and others who are sitting safely outside (in the stand) should stop trying to influence the state of play from abroad. If you feel so strongly about the conditions in the homeland go back show yourself, join the protests and the fight there. If you can't bat or bowl or field sit your behind in the stand and observe the game as best as you can and let the participants decide the outcome. Let the democratic process be exploited to the fullest.
New book title-- Caribbean: Economics, Migrants and Control. Available now in all bookstores from Xlibris.com and google.com
Also check out Management of Pay in an ailing Economy at www.gladfbooks.com
Also check out Management of Pay in an ailing Economy at www.gladfbooks.com
Monday, November 7, 2011
Are we outsourcing our Brain?
More and more man is devising gadgets intending to speed up certain activities and make life easier but in fact are making us less dependent on our brain.I come into contact everyday with people who cannot do simple operations without recourse to the calculator.I am one who supports totally the use of technology in everyday life. Not only does it make life easier and more effective but it leaves time to indulge in leisure.I firmly believe that man was not made so that he can work but that he can enjoy leisure and pleasure.(be fruitful and multiply and have dominion) is the only admonitions we were given. But look what technology is doing to us. Not only are we sedentary but we have become 'impersonal and unsocial' Please note that being sedentary is not leisure.Forget about the dog being man's best friend... the electronic gadget is.I recall in my ststistics classes we had to not only remember the formulae but know how they are arrived at These days studying the formula or the times tables in math and committing them to memory is considered corporal punishmnet.I wish I was in grade school these days I would have saved myself a lot of sleepless nights and 'my hide from the tanning'.Name any game and we can sit in our bedroom and play it without even seeing a court, gym or outside.
Modern man cannot find his way around any more without a GPS. True that society has become more complicated than it was back in the day when men followed the elements or looked at a map. Columbus and them would have been very impressed or very lost. We have become so dependent on this technology the we follow it blindly and dont even know when we are lost until the end.
I am afraid that we are developing a less sociable, totally withdrawn species who would not know to live in a group,lack teamwork dynamics and know nothing about how to get along with his neighbor. We are becoming less and less gregarious. This specie will see the demise of what is understood by the word 'society' Is this the individualist, mechanical, animated,robotical, virtual, antisocial civilization we want to construct? No wonder we are trying to destroy each other. Life means nothing if we ar virtual beings. There is no feeling ,love thy neighbor mentality any more.
We no longer have to know our 'times tables' or how to work out our 'areas', 'percentages' etc we have the calculator. We used to figure out how to get from 'here to there'.. we have the GPS even if we get lost periodically. We do not have to know how to cook: no longer we just have the food delivered to our homes.Cars are becoming smart to drive themselves, park themselves because drivers are becoming dumber. Actually it is not smart cars we need but smart drivers. machines are being invented to do every household chore imaginable. We can even have virtual sex.
Our brain is being required to do less and less and we are becoming more dependent on machines. Even going to work is becoming outdated. We can sit in our living room and teach classes of studente hundreds of miles away and acomplish complex tasks which would take less time than if we had to travel to work.
In addition our technologies are being developed abroad and are repaired by technicians in India,Pakistan etc.
Modern man cannot find his way around any more without a GPS. True that society has become more complicated than it was back in the day when men followed the elements or looked at a map. Columbus and them would have been very impressed or very lost. We have become so dependent on this technology the we follow it blindly and dont even know when we are lost until the end.
I am afraid that we are developing a less sociable, totally withdrawn species who would not know to live in a group,lack teamwork dynamics and know nothing about how to get along with his neighbor. We are becoming less and less gregarious. This specie will see the demise of what is understood by the word 'society' Is this the individualist, mechanical, animated,robotical, virtual, antisocial civilization we want to construct? No wonder we are trying to destroy each other. Life means nothing if we ar virtual beings. There is no feeling ,love thy neighbor mentality any more.
We no longer have to know our 'times tables' or how to work out our 'areas', 'percentages' etc we have the calculator. We used to figure out how to get from 'here to there'.. we have the GPS even if we get lost periodically. We do not have to know how to cook: no longer we just have the food delivered to our homes.Cars are becoming smart to drive themselves, park themselves because drivers are becoming dumber. Actually it is not smart cars we need but smart drivers. machines are being invented to do every household chore imaginable. We can even have virtual sex.
Our brain is being required to do less and less and we are becoming more dependent on machines. Even going to work is becoming outdated. We can sit in our living room and teach classes of studente hundreds of miles away and acomplish complex tasks which would take less time than if we had to travel to work.
In addition our technologies are being developed abroad and are repaired by technicians in India,Pakistan etc.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Whats up with dat
There were two reports which caught my attention this past week or so. Individually I might not have been shocked but, coming one after the other like they did, I was stunned---I was for two reasons: a) the minor attention given by the press and b) the insult levelled to concerned New Yorkers on the whole when the one was followed by the other.
The first was the report by Forbes Magazine on 9/20/2011 identifying the 400 richest people in America, among them were also the richest new Yorkers.The report claims the NY mayor is the second richest New yorker with $19.5 billion behind David Koch with $25 Billion. Bloomberg the report stated made $1.5 Billion last year I do not pity or envy the rich- this is the nature of capitalism.
When the second report came out my jaw dropped at the headline of 9/23/201:
"New york city poverty rate rose to an alarming 20.1% in 2010, latest census Bureau figures show."
The report states that food pantry and soup lines are getting longer and Agencies are running out of supplies, people have used up all their emergency savings on food and rent;"if this problem goes untreated you are endandering the entire economic engine that is New York city' ... the report concludes.
The first was the report by Forbes Magazine on 9/20/2011 identifying the 400 richest people in America, among them were also the richest new Yorkers.The report claims the NY mayor is the second richest New yorker with $19.5 billion behind David Koch with $25 Billion. Bloomberg the report stated made $1.5 Billion last year I do not pity or envy the rich- this is the nature of capitalism.
When the second report came out my jaw dropped at the headline of 9/23/201:
"New york city poverty rate rose to an alarming 20.1% in 2010, latest census Bureau figures show."
The report states that food pantry and soup lines are getting longer and Agencies are running out of supplies, people have used up all their emergency savings on food and rent;"if this problem goes untreated you are endandering the entire economic engine that is New York city' ... the report concludes.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Changing nature
In the 1980's Charles Handy offered that very soon the monster of changing nature of work will encompass us. Indeed the world and certainly the US has seen it happen before we realise it.The idea of working for an employer for twenty, thirty and forty years is quickly disappearing.The technological age has redefined 'work' as we know it. People are 'working' away from the 'office' more than ever,Many offices have less and less people on few machines. Some of the most critical decisions are no longer made in the boardrooms or even the bedrooms. Electronic machines have made it possible not only to create/design jobs but to control jobs.What used to take an eight hour day is now taking an eighteen hour week with prolonged leisure time. It is possible to 'work' for many employers from your front porch without having to leave your home. Street sellers/vendors have access to high tech machines where they can check on, order, pay and track the delivery of their products. Multi-billion mergers, acquisitions, trades and contracts are made on the golf course or from a touch screen.
By now everyone knows the dilemma of large companies who give you an '800 number' and you are connected to someone in Pakistan or India and we learn about the joys and pains 'outsourcing'.
So why are we so shocked and angry that 'American' goods and services are made overseas.Certainly the products are made cheaper and in larger quantities elsewhere. The companies become the villain, the foreign countries become the villain and we continue to cry out about the lack of jobs and the mortgaging of the economy in the process. Did I say mortgage.. I hope no one forecloses on us. All kinds of products from sneakers/sports wear, to clothing, spare parts, cars,electronics toys are in America but not made in America the list is endless. We keep oscillating from one economic color to the other... is this is the gray economy.
We are indeed in a dilemma these days. Either let our 'stuff' be made by the Chinese or the Taiwanese or let them be made at home by the Mexicans. You see it?
By now everyone knows the dilemma of large companies who give you an '800 number' and you are connected to someone in Pakistan or India and we learn about the joys and pains 'outsourcing'.
So why are we so shocked and angry that 'American' goods and services are made overseas.Certainly the products are made cheaper and in larger quantities elsewhere. The companies become the villain, the foreign countries become the villain and we continue to cry out about the lack of jobs and the mortgaging of the economy in the process. Did I say mortgage.. I hope no one forecloses on us. All kinds of products from sneakers/sports wear, to clothing, spare parts, cars,electronics toys are in America but not made in America the list is endless. We keep oscillating from one economic color to the other... is this is the gray economy.
We are indeed in a dilemma these days. Either let our 'stuff' be made by the Chinese or the Taiwanese or let them be made at home by the Mexicans. You see it?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Do it for all
It seems that every time the city is in a mess three groups of workers are targetted to help bail them out. Policemen, firemen and teachers. The latter have been the butt of jokes, pressures and every imaginary criticism available. The entire City and State seem to depend on teachers for their existence. If the students dont do their home work blame the teachers, if the students come to school late or not at all blame it on the teachers, if the meals are not nutritious it is the teachers fault, if the child is not getting enough sleep.... and on and on. Dont even talk about the learning environment.The teacher is the classroom wizzard. He has to see everything that is happening in the class and be able to effect control.
I say put these decision makers to teach for one week in schools in the projects not the so called 'show schools'. Put them in a District 75 junior and High school and see how long they would survive. Maybe then they would have a greater appreciation of what some teachers face on a daily basis.
I say put these decision makers to teach for one week in schools in the projects not the so called 'show schools'. Put them in a District 75 junior and High school and see how long they would survive. Maybe then they would have a greater appreciation of what some teachers face on a daily basis.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Always a reason to smile
You show up all dejected
Your face, you look rejected;
Its like you have given up
Even before you wake up.
You spread your dejected looks around
People see you always with a frown.
You are not happy, nothing to smile about
You say, hardly opening your mouth.
Folks say good morning to you
You 'bark' at them like they did you
What's good about the morning you say
I wish I didnt turn up today.
What ails you you fool,
Why not be thankful and cool
You woke up didnt you?
Consider how many others didnt do.
There is always something to smile about
You dont have to open your mouth
Just be thankful God spared you instead
Keep your chin up,look on the bright you could be dead.
Consider how many people dont have a job
Millions are sick some with no arms or legs many in wheelchairs
How many dont have a home nor money to look forward to
Clothes or daily meals you see you are blessed thank God!!
Your face, you look rejected;
Its like you have given up
Even before you wake up.
You spread your dejected looks around
People see you always with a frown.
You are not happy, nothing to smile about
You say, hardly opening your mouth.
Folks say good morning to you
You 'bark' at them like they did you
What's good about the morning you say
I wish I didnt turn up today.
What ails you you fool,
Why not be thankful and cool
You woke up didnt you?
Consider how many others didnt do.
There is always something to smile about
You dont have to open your mouth
Just be thankful God spared you instead
Keep your chin up,look on the bright you could be dead.
Consider how many people dont have a job
Millions are sick some with no arms or legs many in wheelchairs
How many dont have a home nor money to look forward to
Clothes or daily meals you see you are blessed thank God!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A letter from Mike
Dear
Fans: detracters, haters, angry lynching ones, loyal and superficial ones,lying ones,executioners and all who may not fit in any of these categoris. Greetings!
For years you see me on stage,singing dancing entertaining you bought my cd's and videos. You even called me the 'gloved one,' made me 'the king of pop'. For years I brought joy to your hearts and even made some of you rich.Do think I got here by accident. Yes I have talent. But that alone did not get me here. Before you beat me, destroyed me to the point where i had to run away, I went through all of that and more skipping my childhood. Yes! my childhood was taken away from me.
You wouldn't know because you had yours.I was on stage shortly after I learnt to walk, singing and dancing my childhood away..not gently, not peacefully, but with a leather strap, hand, paddle or any instrument of flaggelation. You wouldn't understand because you had your childhood.
You who point your finger at me and accuse me of some of the most horrible and detestable crimes, what do you know? Some of you who idolized me turned around and condemmed me, and then idolize me again after my death. Who are you, fans, friends, enemies or just pure haters. You got what you wanted!!
I can see you now dancing to Bellie Jean, Thriller, Bad, Ben and all the rest even doing the moon -walk while you say crucify him, ridicule him.
Have you had the experiences I had, lived my life. Sure I am
20, 30, 40, 50 years old now, but do you know what I am no.. who I am.
Well let me tell you. There are two of us in here. The one on stage is not the real me. He is the boss, the fake, soring, in control, entertaining, the one you know and want, making you swoon, scream and yell throw your garments at me all in the same moment. On stage I am grown 'the king ...of pop'.
Inside of me off stage I am a kid trying to create a childhood that I wasn't allowed to have and did'nt have.
The child in me wants to be around children, to run and play children's games tgreat o go to the fun Parks, Disney, Great adventures, Coney island etc. That's why I built Neverland not only for children to come and play and have fun, but for me and the child in me.
You were wrong to accuse me of harming children or in any way endangering their lives. I love children, I have children, I lost my childhood and I try to be a child.. to do childish things, play child games,have toys, visit with friends generally enjoy my childhood. You had yours! where is mine.
You think that it was easy for me. Yes children slept on my bed and all over my house, dont children have sleepovers, go on trips etc. Yes I held my child out the window was that reckless did you see how and how long I held it. Look what so called 'developmentally normal' mothers and fathers do to their children in this country everyday. You did not kill them.
You hounded me, mad my life and my children's hell, robbed me of my privacy, peace of mind, drove me to drugs, to seclusion and eventually to death.
I guess you are satisfied now, happy that you cut my life short, robbed my children and my family of the joy of seeing me perform.
But I am in a much peaceful place free from the likes of you.
Remember people whoever you are, you with your childhood, you with your normal childhood you got next . Your turn is coming.
Yours from beyond,
The King of Pop
Fans: detracters, haters, angry lynching ones, loyal and superficial ones,lying ones,executioners and all who may not fit in any of these categoris. Greetings!
For years you see me on stage,singing dancing entertaining you bought my cd's and videos. You even called me the 'gloved one,' made me 'the king of pop'. For years I brought joy to your hearts and even made some of you rich.Do think I got here by accident. Yes I have talent. But that alone did not get me here. Before you beat me, destroyed me to the point where i had to run away, I went through all of that and more skipping my childhood. Yes! my childhood was taken away from me.
You wouldn't know because you had yours.I was on stage shortly after I learnt to walk, singing and dancing my childhood away..not gently, not peacefully, but with a leather strap, hand, paddle or any instrument of flaggelation. You wouldn't understand because you had your childhood.
You who point your finger at me and accuse me of some of the most horrible and detestable crimes, what do you know? Some of you who idolized me turned around and condemmed me, and then idolize me again after my death. Who are you, fans, friends, enemies or just pure haters. You got what you wanted!!
I can see you now dancing to Bellie Jean, Thriller, Bad, Ben and all the rest even doing the moon -walk while you say crucify him, ridicule him.
Have you had the experiences I had, lived my life. Sure I am
20, 30, 40, 50 years old now, but do you know what I am no.. who I am.
Well let me tell you. There are two of us in here. The one on stage is not the real me. He is the boss, the fake, soring, in control, entertaining, the one you know and want, making you swoon, scream and yell throw your garments at me all in the same moment. On stage I am grown 'the king ...of pop'.
Inside of me off stage I am a kid trying to create a childhood that I wasn't allowed to have and did'nt have.
The child in me wants to be around children, to run and play children's games tgreat o go to the fun Parks, Disney, Great adventures, Coney island etc. That's why I built Neverland not only for children to come and play and have fun, but for me and the child in me.
You were wrong to accuse me of harming children or in any way endangering their lives. I love children, I have children, I lost my childhood and I try to be a child.. to do childish things, play child games,have toys, visit with friends generally enjoy my childhood. You had yours! where is mine.
You think that it was easy for me. Yes children slept on my bed and all over my house, dont children have sleepovers, go on trips etc. Yes I held my child out the window was that reckless did you see how and how long I held it. Look what so called 'developmentally normal' mothers and fathers do to their children in this country everyday. You did not kill them.
You hounded me, mad my life and my children's hell, robbed me of my privacy, peace of mind, drove me to drugs, to seclusion and eventually to death.
I guess you are satisfied now, happy that you cut my life short, robbed my children and my family of the joy of seeing me perform.
But I am in a much peaceful place free from the likes of you.
Remember people whoever you are, you with your childhood, you with your normal childhood you got next . Your turn is coming.
Yours from beyond,
The King of Pop
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
In God we Trust? Are we certain?
It would seem to be so since the Pilgrim Fathers left Europe to pursue in an unknown land, peace and their desire to worship and practice their religion freely. They persisted amid untold hardship and perils,face death and destruction to achieve their goal.
This had to be so for Thomas Jefferson to include in the Declaration of Independence the statement 'we are endowed by our creator'
Trust in God must have been preeminent in the minds of those who designed the currency to write the words 'In God We Trust' so that all who use the money can be reminded of it.
This has to be so for the Congress the law makers of the land to include 'prayers' at the commencement of their proceedings.
Trust in God must have been in the minds of the authors of the pledge that they would include the line 'one Nation under God'
Similarly this notion must have occupied the mind of Irving Berlin as he penned the national song 'God Bless America'. Certainly one cannot miss Kathrin Lee Bates emphasis on God in every stanza of her popular patriotic song 'America the Beautiful'.
And what about the National Anthem. The last stanza not only includes the words 'In God is our Trust' but refers to them as the 'national motto'. In addition references are made to the 'heaven rescued land' and 'praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation...'
The consistency in these examples is remarkable. There is no attempt at inclusion by mentioning 'Allah' 'Confucius' 'Ram' 'Zorasta' or any other 'deity'. It is pure, simple and unadulterated 'God'
To suggest therefore that a)'prayer of any kind/religion in schools' contravenes the principle of separation of Church and State; b)to also suggest that putting up the Ten Commandments (which is connected to the same 'God we Trust' in a Federal building contravenes the separation of Church and State is to deny the very principles of consciousness for which 'God' is used so freely in these writings.
The 44th President of the United States recently held a National Prayer Breakfast. He called on the Nation, lawmakers and religious leaders to invoke the Power of Prayer.This while some of his congregation including schools and public employees are forbidden from practicing this invocation in their offices or classrooms. Pray to whom ? I ask. This is the Head of State arguing that, ....'we become numb to day-to-day crises.We become absorbed with our abstract arguments, our ideological disputes, our contests for power and in this tower of babble, we lose the sound of God's voice'. Then we close all our major speeches with the words 'God bless America'.
On April 21,2010 a US Federal District Court Judge ruled that the idea of a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The Court Judge argued that the day 'serves no purpose but to encourage a religious exercise making it difficult for a reasonable observer to see the statute as anything other than a religious endorsement' therefore violating the establishment clause separating Church and State.
On April 26,2010 the United States President (head of State) made a pilgrimage to the North Carolina home of famed evengelist Billy Graham. Graham's son also an evangelist who was present at the meeting reported that his father 'prayed for the Nation and that God would give Obama wisdom in his decisions.... the President prayed to thank God for Billy Graham' Whats up with this Judge?!!!
I contend that the notion of separation of Church and State (blurred in the Presidents' remarks above)does exactly what the President is trying to promote.You can't have it both ways Mr President and Mr American. What is it about Religion,Church, Bible, the Ten commandments, God, Jesus ,the Holy Spirit that is criminal and reprehensible that the nation is so scared of.... when this very country was founded on principles contained in and represented by each of these.
Further, the development of good moral and decent values, so necessary but woefully lacking in our Society if insisted on would provide a foundation which could stymie the lawlessness, inhumanity and lack of Brotherliness that pervades much of the behaviors in the society.
Coupled with this it would usher in Love, Kindness,Peace, Courtesy and Brotherliness, Gentleness,Faith and Fairness against which there is no Law.
This had to be so for Thomas Jefferson to include in the Declaration of Independence the statement 'we are endowed by our creator'
Trust in God must have been preeminent in the minds of those who designed the currency to write the words 'In God We Trust' so that all who use the money can be reminded of it.
This has to be so for the Congress the law makers of the land to include 'prayers' at the commencement of their proceedings.
Trust in God must have been in the minds of the authors of the pledge that they would include the line 'one Nation under God'
Similarly this notion must have occupied the mind of Irving Berlin as he penned the national song 'God Bless America'. Certainly one cannot miss Kathrin Lee Bates emphasis on God in every stanza of her popular patriotic song 'America the Beautiful'.
And what about the National Anthem. The last stanza not only includes the words 'In God is our Trust' but refers to them as the 'national motto'. In addition references are made to the 'heaven rescued land' and 'praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation...'
The consistency in these examples is remarkable. There is no attempt at inclusion by mentioning 'Allah' 'Confucius' 'Ram' 'Zorasta' or any other 'deity'. It is pure, simple and unadulterated 'God'
To suggest therefore that a)'prayer of any kind/religion in schools' contravenes the principle of separation of Church and State; b)to also suggest that putting up the Ten Commandments (which is connected to the same 'God we Trust' in a Federal building contravenes the separation of Church and State is to deny the very principles of consciousness for which 'God' is used so freely in these writings.
The 44th President of the United States recently held a National Prayer Breakfast. He called on the Nation, lawmakers and religious leaders to invoke the Power of Prayer.This while some of his congregation including schools and public employees are forbidden from practicing this invocation in their offices or classrooms. Pray to whom ? I ask. This is the Head of State arguing that, ....'we become numb to day-to-day crises.We become absorbed with our abstract arguments, our ideological disputes, our contests for power and in this tower of babble, we lose the sound of God's voice'. Then we close all our major speeches with the words 'God bless America'.
On April 21,2010 a US Federal District Court Judge ruled that the idea of a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The Court Judge argued that the day 'serves no purpose but to encourage a religious exercise making it difficult for a reasonable observer to see the statute as anything other than a religious endorsement' therefore violating the establishment clause separating Church and State.
On April 26,2010 the United States President (head of State) made a pilgrimage to the North Carolina home of famed evengelist Billy Graham. Graham's son also an evangelist who was present at the meeting reported that his father 'prayed for the Nation and that God would give Obama wisdom in his decisions.... the President prayed to thank God for Billy Graham' Whats up with this Judge?!!!
I contend that the notion of separation of Church and State (blurred in the Presidents' remarks above)does exactly what the President is trying to promote.You can't have it both ways Mr President and Mr American. What is it about Religion,Church, Bible, the Ten commandments, God, Jesus ,the Holy Spirit that is criminal and reprehensible that the nation is so scared of.... when this very country was founded on principles contained in and represented by each of these.
Further, the development of good moral and decent values, so necessary but woefully lacking in our Society if insisted on would provide a foundation which could stymie the lawlessness, inhumanity and lack of Brotherliness that pervades much of the behaviors in the society.
Coupled with this it would usher in Love, Kindness,Peace, Courtesy and Brotherliness, Gentleness,Faith and Fairness against which there is no Law.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Walls
Sometimes blank. lonely, staring creatures.
Dressed in concrete, wood, steel,stone or grenery.
Paint cracking, faded with age or exposure,mildewed,by elements but alive
In its bossom crawling noisy creatures, silent living waiting.
Appear neglected
No honor reflected...dividing.
Empty fly without wings.
Lovers marks, worshippers signs.
Grafittied, skin overgrown
purpose known and unknown.
Wait! there is life therein;
Identification,messages, battles, obstacles,
Territory and communication with spirit,
Even stick-no-bills, with bills plastered on.
Inside its belly, Volumes of history, names, faces
Decorations, presentations,
art memories of worth and worthless,honor and dishonor.
A total world of life and living....complete.
Separation but together, integration.
Death and life,
Rich and Poor.
War and peace.
Success and failure
Night and day.
There is a wailing, sadness and laughter
Of whole family,single, husband and wife and children and God all in one.
Living China wall
Dead Berlin wall
Infant 9:11 wall
Israel building wall
People climbing over,
Digging under wall
Going through wall
No obsticle at all.
Silent, yet speaking loudly about
past, present and future
Open yet closed.
Dressed in concrete, wood, steel,stone or grenery.
Paint cracking, faded with age or exposure,mildewed,by elements but alive
In its bossom crawling noisy creatures, silent living waiting.
Appear neglected
No honor reflected...dividing.
Empty fly without wings.
Lovers marks, worshippers signs.
Grafittied, skin overgrown
purpose known and unknown.
Wait! there is life therein;
Identification,messages, battles, obstacles,
Territory and communication with spirit,
Even stick-no-bills, with bills plastered on.
Inside its belly, Volumes of history, names, faces
Decorations, presentations,
art memories of worth and worthless,honor and dishonor.
A total world of life and living....complete.
Separation but together, integration.
Death and life,
Rich and Poor.
War and peace.
Success and failure
Night and day.
There is a wailing, sadness and laughter
Of whole family,single, husband and wife and children and God all in one.
Living China wall
Dead Berlin wall
Infant 9:11 wall
Israel building wall
People climbing over,
Digging under wall
Going through wall
No obsticle at all.
Silent, yet speaking loudly about
past, present and future
Open yet closed.
Niggaz like shit
There is no missing because you hear it
Like in speech, rap or while expressing views,
The words 'niggaz' and 'shit'.
Are like the main ones they use.
Knowing names are not cool,
But calling them niggaz will fit.
You can do anything in school,
But don't touch my shit.
Its like always niggaz this and niggaz that,
In your mouth just like food.
Its drugs,sex bitches like What?
"I tell you 'dog' this shit is good".
You hear them talking.
When they stand, walk or sit,
Like cheating or robbing,
(gun in your face) "look niggaz give me your shit".
There is shit when you reach the ends,
And shit at the start,
Some niggaz are friends
But this shit has nothing to do with fart.
There are big niggaz, short and tall niggaz,
Niggaz on my block who keep out of sight.
It is like black niggaz and white niggaz,
Some shit is wrong and some is right.
Like in speech, rap or while expressing views,
The words 'niggaz' and 'shit'.
Are like the main ones they use.
Knowing names are not cool,
But calling them niggaz will fit.
You can do anything in school,
But don't touch my shit.
Its like always niggaz this and niggaz that,
In your mouth just like food.
Its drugs,sex bitches like What?
"I tell you 'dog' this shit is good".
You hear them talking.
When they stand, walk or sit,
Like cheating or robbing,
(gun in your face) "look niggaz give me your shit".
There is shit when you reach the ends,
And shit at the start,
Some niggaz are friends
But this shit has nothing to do with fart.
There are big niggaz, short and tall niggaz,
Niggaz on my block who keep out of sight.
It is like black niggaz and white niggaz,
Some shit is wrong and some is right.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The 'A' Student
He comes into class late
Always seems sure of his fate.
Then he moves from seat to seat
Peeking, glancing looking to cheat.
During an activity he keeps moving around
Still looking at paper and frown.
Trying to get a clue.
Any answer will do.
Says the teacher, "Sit and focus
Do not look,
Refrain from taking another's book".
(He mumbles and says)"I'll do what I can to get 'A's
Whether by peeking, asking, copying even cheating
Once I get the 'A's
I've been seeking".
Being helpful to teachers and very nice
Hoping for hints and advice.
Hovering over marking sheets trying to see,
what grade this teacher wiil give me.
Says he "I don't care now
I will get them some how.
By using any or all thes ways
I am bound to end up with my 'A's".
Always seems sure of his fate.
Then he moves from seat to seat
Peeking, glancing looking to cheat.
During an activity he keeps moving around
Still looking at paper and frown.
Trying to get a clue.
Any answer will do.
Says the teacher, "Sit and focus
Do not look,
Refrain from taking another's book".
(He mumbles and says)"I'll do what I can to get 'A's
Whether by peeking, asking, copying even cheating
Once I get the 'A's
I've been seeking".
Being helpful to teachers and very nice
Hoping for hints and advice.
Hovering over marking sheets trying to see,
what grade this teacher wiil give me.
Says he "I don't care now
I will get them some how.
By using any or all thes ways
I am bound to end up with my 'A's".
My exercises
I exercise-------- my willpower
I Jump----------- to conclusions
I dance------------ around the issues
I skip------------ appointments
I twist----------- the meanings opf words/statements
I stretch -------- the truth
T bend----------- the rules
I bend --------backwards to please
I balance------- my budget
I run-------- rings around my opponents
I run----- my mouth often
I kick --------bad habits
I lift------- my spirits
I rock ------the boat of the estabilishment
I play -----the fool------ often
I climb----- the ladder of success
I fight ------the good fight of faith
I exercise----- caution
I I push -------my opinions on others
I push ---------my luck
I side-step------my responsibilities
I keep running down-------my friends
I now have a sculptured body-- I am fit.
I Jump----------- to conclusions
I dance------------ around the issues
I skip------------ appointments
I twist----------- the meanings opf words/statements
I stretch -------- the truth
T bend----------- the rules
I bend --------backwards to please
I balance------- my budget
I run-------- rings around my opponents
I run----- my mouth often
I kick --------bad habits
I lift------- my spirits
I rock ------the boat of the estabilishment
I play -----the fool------ often
I climb----- the ladder of success
I fight ------the good fight of faith
I exercise----- caution
I I push -------my opinions on others
I push ---------my luck
I side-step------my responsibilities
I keep running down-------my friends
I now have a sculptured body-- I am fit.
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