Been a long, busy day. Loads of interesting encounters…

found a mummified gecko under an old safe…

Had a blazing day’s end…

And we got our Honiara Cmas tree up… yep, it’s a palm tree…

Good day had by all, except the gecko…

It’s about 80 degrees and heating up. A gun-metal grey sky and the slate flat sea speak of weather coming. The brisk breeze has a hint of rain in it. The skies could open and dump at any moment. or it could be a very warm and humid day here in Honiara.

Wind is picking up. May have to run inside soon.

That “Islands Sunday” quiet hangs over the morning. Most people are moving slowly. Off to church. The trials of smoke where motu fires are cooking are numerous. Faint choruses of hymns can be heard from the valleys.

A nice Sunday morn to ruminate…

I must comment… The following report appears to disregard the facts:

Quick calcs give us that there is a 90% discrepancy/ excess in consumption by the overweight, thus, a 70% short fall is easy to cover, “if we tighten our belts”.

UN report: World must produce more food

I just watched Obama give his speech on Iran. I hear a lot of rhetoric. Little of substance. Kerry is taking now and he is trying to be tough. I think he is a bit of a wuss… I’d like him better if he still wore his old duffel coat.

Obama, I feel, is floundering. And the bad thing about this is his administration has some years to go. It may well be a long, painful death by drowning. But a lot of damage can take place in the mean time.

I have stated that I dislike the general bashing and character assault and mud-slinging that is the status quo in our modern media/ life style. I consider it to be part of the “in your face” generation that stood up for their rights but failed to learn old fashioned respect. I find that being respectful brings barriers down faster than a swift kick in the family jewels.

I had to turn Kerry off. Geeze… all I can say is GEEZE!

So, who really killed JFK? (I changed the TV channel)… (tongue in cheek) … perhaps he committed suicide. Suicide may well be the only plausible theory NOT yet put forward.

found a UFC rerun… Much better that Gov’t Propaganda, better than a 50 year old conspiracy theory rehashed again and again. Honest competitive blood and guts works for me.

Just was reviewing global stats and found this…

interesting that there are more overweight people on the planet than undernourished people.

I have been studying this and I am convinced that the world does not have a lack of food problem but rather the distribution of resources is the problem.

But try explain this to folks who are indeed starving.

More later

Common Sense, 1776 – 2013

Shall be Dearly Missed

After a long time on life-support, Common Sense has passed away. Cause of death is noted as being “injury suffered from blunt force trauma”. The accident which led to the death occurred in Washington DC after a white House sponsored frat-party led to the members of Congress and Senate trampling Common Sense in their frenzied effort to all gain the podium at the same time.

Common Sense was known for his ability to think clearly and to cross partisan lines.

His life-long example of fairness, and reasoned thought shall be with us always.

It is how I see things in the US. The situation is constipated. Basically there is shit that needs to come out but it ain’t out yet…

And until it is out the situational status is “constipated”.

Let me say a few things…

1) A bit of socialism is OK. Don’t be afraid of communalism, not to be confused with communism. Being socially minded is a positive thing. We need more social mindedness in our world. No republican is an island. No democrats is an inexhaustible ATM. The Electorate is not a spineless mindless herd of bovine.

2) I am so frustrated by the fact that we all fail to see we are on the same team. I digress to my middle school years and an old story of two flies on a turd in the toilet bowel… we are those two flies… and when the log rolls over neither team is a winner, both teams are losers.

3) I love how my fellow citizenry  is so efficient at donning their rose-coloured glasses each and every morning. Republican have their rose-coloured glasses as do democrats as to the tea party as do the beer party as do the dope party… you get the point… which is… we are on the same team. No one is right until everyone is right. There are no winners unless we are all winners. Consensus is hard but the best path forward.

4) Success is communal, not individual. I know from experience that a mansion with security guards in the middle of a nasty inner city where poverty and crime abounds is not a nice place to live. You want a little house on a nice corner with good neighbors and a relaxed environment. SUCCESS IS COMMUNAL!

5) The lowest common denominator cannot dictate the Status Quo. Society, global society, must really rise above the petty mammalian mindset that keep us in the gutter.

6) The baby boomers are the problem but we did not create the problem. All them horny soldiers coming back from WWII and their fair lasses rolled in the clover far too much and someone has to pay. Our folks had a reasonable base to retire on but the BOOMERS are simply SOL… they did not have enough kids to ensure there will be funds for their future, especially noting our old folks who had the fun that started this are still alive as their numerous children are retiring… a double whammy?

7) If my thoughts and questions bother you then I feel real good. I see far too much constipated complacency in the USA.

More later

I joined the Peace Corps in late 1980. I have lived overseas since early 1981. As an expat for decades I have learned that an inevitable sense of patriotism attaches to you when you depart the shores of your birth. Additionally, as an expat, I have found that I have been more than normally interested and aware in the daily news of the planet. Being “away” made it imperative I stayed informed.

To date it has been my habit to watch, listen to and read a fair bit of news. My modern life gives me a variety of visual opinions such as FOX, CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, local and cable network news. I read hard and online versions of The Guardian, The Economist, Time, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and review various local papers like The Des Moines Register, The Strait Times, La Monde, The Age and, of course, the Solomon Star.

Right now my study has been focused on how confused the USA is and how lost and delusional the Obama Administration is. And I follow what I see as a social dilemma within the US of A. Perhaps even a crisis of identity of sorts?

I don’t want to go into detailed discussion or review stats or what has happened. Rather I wish to try to muddle through a  big WTF I have.

One thing that has stuck with me as an expat is the contrast between the attitudes and values of different Anglophone societies. I offer a simple dictum that I learned young… just because we all speak the same basic language does not mean have a lot in common.

I have a residence in Australia and note this as being the most regulated land I have ever lived in. Australians are a funny group which I am still studying. They almost expect to be told what to do. They want, vote for and shall continue to expect a socialistic, even paternalistic government. It is important to note here that there is a lot I like about the Land Down Under and enjoy my safe, suburbian, old fart life style.

I have a residence in the Solomons which, as  a LDC, purports to have socialized services such as education, medicine, etc but only so far as the very limited and resource poor system allows. The place is such a basket case that there is no effective police force in the country. The main city is pathetic. Sewer systems do not exist. Roads are a nightmare… If you can’t offer basic communal services or safety and security, an administration is doomed to fail when trying to do “much more”. So suffice it to say that, for the wrong reasons, the Socialist Attitude the Solomons was founded on, inherited from the Brit model, simply is not working.

I am a supporter of a medical system that offers care for all. A society as a whole can only be civilised if and when it cares for all members of that society. But how, where, when?

The immediate flaw in any such system is that many who CAN indeed contribute positively to society choose to become dependant. If it is easy to see a Doctor for my sore back I may end up going a lot. Indeed, if it is easy to kick back and be cared for by the Nanny-State, then why work?

So, where is the USA? I believe the USA spends more per head for medicine than any country in the world.

And we need to spend more.

Ok, that’s ok, but who pays for it? The bloated government systems are unaffordable as is. Why or how can we increase the cost of government, now?

I guess, when describing my political leanings, I am probably best described as a conservative hippie. Whats that? Well, to begin with I ain’t a liberal hippie.

I was raised very old-fashioned. A large family in the midwest. Of immigrant stock. Shallow roots, really. And the melting pot meant the mixed ethnic heritage was diluted into a positive sense of Americanism. A midwestern sense of conservatism as defined by hard work, unrestricted opportunities in life, and the ability to feel proud of what one has achieved through their own ability and initiative.

What can be more American than being from Iowa. The Bible-Belt? the land of grain and seasonal labour?

Bred, born and buried in Iowa, that’s the family I come from. I am a rare example of an Iowan that got out. Not many do.

My parents are celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary this month. All up, counting all in-laws and outlaws, they have well over 100 off spring. My father used the GI Bill to get a degree. Worked a white-collar job during the day and tended bar at night. When asked why, he said “..it got me through university, guess it’ll work to educate my kids too”. He was the essence of midwestern conservatism and voted republican as often as he did democrat. Welcome to Iowa.

My mother was always working/ cooking somewhere. Her thing was cooking and she was always in demand for weddings, and such. She sent 3 sons  into the US military and one into the Peace Corps. She, like my father, grew up in the depression era, knew what a tough life was and worked hard for a better life.

Medical bills were the bane of our household. My father’s white-collar job was with the Government so he never made much and his benefits were minimal at best. A trip to the hospital tossed any monthly budget into a spin. And with o many kids there were very regular trips to the Doctor’s Office and the ER. We were very well conditioned to NOT run off to the Doctor’s. A visit to the Doctor’s was a last resort sort’a gig. And that’s how folks in my neck of the woods lived. No one was exempt.

So, I agree that the US needs a change in the health care system. But I don’t think we are anywhere  near being where we need to be.

Times change. Demographics change.

And now the Central Government/ The political party in control is making what appears to be a paternalistic decision in regards to what THEY think is best for the rest of us.

And it was done by what I see as “sleight of hand”.

This is where I start getting this WTF feeling.

We need to be discussing choices and option not trampling on civil liberties.

Liberties which founded the USA.

As a Conservative Hippie I am not real keen on government control, censorship or, dare I say it… Political manipulation through lies and conjecture to achieve political and social gains. I have little trust for government. My life’s experience is that politics and politicians have evoked more harm and damage on those whom they serve than one may measure.

So WTF? Something like 600 million has been spent with no return what so ever. Someone somewhere has gotten very wealthy over all this but they have not performed. If you take pay for non-performance it becomes a con-game.

It all sounds like a con…

And who pays?

???

I’ll give a bit of a hint… before any of the DOHC jap-bikes, when these first hit the streets, they awed us with their quickness…

The rest of the story… Was tinkering and finally got this beast to fire up today. A lot easier than it should have been and it damn near idles… made me inordinately happy.

Funny, weatherriffic sorta’ day… Thunderstorms north n south of us, lots of weather off the coast and in the hinterland, lots of energy all around us. I was mowing the backyard until about 1pm when the lightning and wind and rain swooped in. I had the mower mowing and ear plugs in and didn’t hear a thing then stopped to move some deadfall when I first heard and saw the storm bearing down on us. We had some impressive hail. Not real, real big but plenty of it… first time for the boys to experience hail.

The weather, the wind and the rain and hail shook things up. After the rain the birds were out in force, foraging on the various insects dislodged and disrupted by the storm. I found this nice little, silky jewel still glistening with beads of rain… The rain, considering it has been pretty dry for about 3 months, made the garden smile …

Lots of little gems lost, buried in the tiny suburbian yard, all rejuvenated by the weather.

The passion fruit are doing fabulously…

Everything in today’s travel was delayed… computers were blamed for the hour delay for the final manifest before we could take off, rain at Brisbane put us in a holding pattern for over an hour, once landed it took thirty minutes to get the door open. It was one of the LDC-world scenes… people all cranky over missed flights and the such. The airline staff were terribly stressed with the 100 or so p’d-off passengers. I think there was 101 people onboard… Lucky for me I was not in any hurry and happily sat and watched life’s magical circus rock on by..

taking off from Henderson

over G’canal the light through the clouds was impressive

Flying high: the  clouds become a prairie

Packing up to fly back to Aus. I’m staying up at our place above town, at Tasahe. This is a property I  built years ago. I haven’t been up here for ages and I’ve never lived up here… I dig the morning views, though a bit of a hazzy day, the horizons are inspiring… Though fudged up, dysfunctional and traveling on a downhill path, this remains a grand, magic filled land.

Paul’s 25th Bday…

… at the time…

Now we got a lottsa little pieces to clean, polish and reassemble…

Without, as Monk suggests, too many bits left over…

there is poetry in motion

there is poetry in sound

there is poetry in silence

The kookaburra’s noisy boisterousness

The 5:42 train from Brisbane, the rattle n shake of the cars on the track, the horn as it pulls into the station

The poetry of a neighbor wasting his time and water on the parched lawn, knowing it is supposed to rain tomorrow

The children of mixed ages as they play on the corner of our cul-de-sac

The wheels on skates n scooters and bikes and boards, a rolling poetry, a poetry of risk and pending injury

The poetry of flight, of wheels off the ground, risky business, but a good buzz

The poetry of burnt green which is the yard, rustled by the chilled wind, promising much-needed moisture

The poetry of brilliant colours, the drought resistant flowers of purple, red, white, pink and more

There Is Poetry