Lost In Translation
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Sometimes we need what can’t be bought,
What cannot be stolen,
But which must be received as a gift.
And the benefactor is as blessed as the beneficiary.
These most precious presents, these beatific bequests,
So freely transferred, so freely received,
Always multiplying, never diminishing,
Mystically making more than pieces of some providential pie
Somehow managing to take two incomplete parts
Or two shattered hearts
And send them away whole, even more than that.
Send them away to be together apart.
Apart so they can carry the blessings farther.
Selflessly sacrificing fleeting passion
For a chance to carry higher love to even more souls.
And even this sacrifice multiplies the blessings back upon the giver.
It kindles new flames in the life of she who would loose herself
So that others could win.
It breathes fresh air into the chest of he who would discard from himself
Whatever might harm someone else.
And what precious stones are distributed this way?
Peace of mind, freely given love,
and understanding acceptance.
Truly, friendship.
And friendship needs no translation.
Nunya [8:25 AM]
I.P.O.
America has been sold
in an Initial Private Offering
to the party with the right of first refusal,
the United Corporations of the World.
The brain trust of this corporate cabal
has set up a new world economy
with puppet governments in foreign nations
and all fifty states.
So now our politicians are really just the inner circle
of stockholders in the house of representatives
and the brain trust of the corrupt camarilla sits in the senate.
There are no more citizens in this newly sold country;
there are only consumers.
The newest incarnation of the company store recycles currency
through mindless masses of humanity
while producing the maximum gross national product
for export to the highest bidder.
Bodies that cannot produce are eliminated through attrition
by way of unaffordable health care
and laughable social security bennefits.
Potential liabilities are avoided via abortions
provided en masse to the lowest socioeconomic strata.
The beauty of the system is its transparency;
no one seems to see it in place.
Elections are still held; vote for the CEO or Chairman of the Board.
It's completely a corporately controlled free choice
and the constitutional right of every consumer.
Everything is propped up with a stopwatch and a calendar.
The stores are selling 24-7.
Factories work around the clock.
Workers continue producing and earning
so that they can continue consuming and yearning.
It's all about time.
It's about time for a change.
Nunya [8:15 AM]
Wal Mart
Wal Mart has been taking some shit from communities across the nation lately. And rightly so. But their most vocal opponents are always the businesses who Wal Mart competes with.
I don't like the fact that Wal Mart doesn't provide living wage jobs for bread winners. They make no bones about it. When they tell you that they will bring two hundred new jobs to town, they admit that they will be low wage part time jobs for housewives and college students who want "flexible schedules". They are less vocal about the jobs that the community looses when smaller companies can't compete. Those often are bread winner positions that included benefits such as health insurance.
But I am not sure that Wal Mart is completely to blame. Recently I bought an automobile adapter for my cell phone at Wall Mart for seven dollars (yes, I feel guilty) but my cell provider wanted almost twenty five dollars for their adapter.
That's greed too. Yes Wal Mart is screwing their help to make a buck. And some small (or not so small) businesses screw their customers instead.
My wife has a small retail business, pays her help well, provides health insurance, and competes with big box stores on her prices. Business is brisk, profits are slim. I work another job to pay the bills. Follow the money people. Who is eating hot dogs, who is eating lamb?
They say pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. I'm not sure I like the analogy, but small local business better get the message. That slogan, Lower Prices, Always. Remember the Always. Once "They" come in they don't leave.
Nunya [6:08 AM]