Category Archives: Intolerance

News Blues

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News Blues

wars, tsunamis
murdered mommies
global warming
cancers forming
mad religions and heretics
engineering our genetics
drug cartels
emptying wells
mounting debt
nuclear threat

I hate to say it
but every day it
is getting worse
this global curse
and human capers
in all the papers
so all in all
it’s an easy call
I find less friction
in reading fiction!

The Prompt:The Great Divide—When reading for fun, do you usually choose fiction or non-fiction? Do you have an idea why you prefer one over the other?

In the Motel Breakfast Room: Poetry by Prescription

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Image

In the Motel Breakfast Room

That little boy
is screaming and mad.
At eight in the morning,
he’s already bad!

He tasted his waffle
and doesn’t want more.
He just dumped his Fruit Loops
all over the floor.

His mom didn’t see
from her side of the room.
The attendant was swift
with her dustpan and broom.

She removed all the cereal
dumped at my feet
by the brattiest child
I ever did meet.

I came to this place
for some coffee and quiet.
I didn’t expect
to encounter a riot.

He’s having a tantrum.
He will not sit down.
His voice at screech level,
his mouth set on frown.

Does he want to go back
to the room? asks his mother
as she struggles to feed
both his sister and brother.

At this breakfast bar set up
for all of the guests,
regrettably, no sign says,
“We don’t serve pests.”

Last night when my friend
went to get us some ice,
“Excuse me, Excuse me,”
the desk clerk said twice

as he ran down the hall
in a manner uncool
heading straight for the door
that leads into the pool.

Now I can imagine this
terrible kid
pushing some button.
(I bet that he did!)

that signaled “Emergency
Call 911!”
watching the panic
and calling it fun.

The manager thinking
“perhaps a cracked head!”
but encountering only
this bad boy instead.

Now this morning my coffee
was ruined by his cries.
This early-day tantrum
a rite I despise.

I started to gather
my coffee and fruit,
then grabbed a few
creamers and sweeteners to boot.

When from my eye’s corner
before I could stand,
at the edge of my table
I saw a small hand.

I looked up to encounter
a smile ear-to-ear.
That horrible child
looked ever so dear!

He flashed me the smile,
for a moment stood near,
then departed the room
nevermore to appear.

When I looked at the table,
an astonishing sight.
He’d left me one Fruit Loop
right there in plain sight.

That child’s behavior
now leaves me in doubt
whether I should remember
the smile or pout.

Was my disapproval
so plain to see
that this tiny child
could see right through me?

And had he the wisdom
to do what he did
simply to remind me
a kid is a kid?

 

Note: The event described in this poem actually happened on May 24 at a motel in Des Moines, IA, where I was attending my nephew’s h.s. graduation party. And yes, this is “the” Fruit Loop, which I still have.  The subject was prescribed by Duckie, who, when I told him what had just happened, said, “You gotta write about this.”  Poetry by Prescription. You suggest the topic.  I will write about it.

Stop stoning of gays and others in Brunei

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Brunei wants to start stoning gay people and other people convicted of ‘crimes’ like adultery.

Brunei is small and wealthy, but has international ties that could influence its leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. He’s linked to some of the world’s most exclusive hotels in the US and Europe. Brunei is also negotiating a high-profile trade agreement with countries like the US. The Beverly Hills Hotel is one!

Together, we could push elites to stop doing business with Brunei while the Sultan lets innocent people be stoned to death – and raise a global outcry against this cruel law.

This part of the law hasn’t gone into effect yet – but it will soon if no one does anything. Will you sign the petition asking global leaders, companies, and celebrities to stop doing business with Brunei in response to these brutal punishments?

Sign now: http://www.allout.org/brunei

Getting governments, companies, and celebrities to loudly pull out of doing any business with Brunei isn’t just about hitting the Sultan financially. Brunei’s setting a dangerous example by adding, rather than ending, the death penalty. If there’s not a massive global outcry, other leaders might do the same, thinking there’s no personal or political cost for them.

Some celebrities and companies have begun to move their events, refusing to give money to the Sultan’s world-famous hotels. But, it’s not enough – the CEO of the hotel chain just went on the record calling the boycott unfair and refused to comment on the law.

If we can get thousands of people from all over the world to sign right now, we could stop travel companies from offering these hotels to their customers. The bigger the protest gets, the more likely the outcry could affect the trade agreement negotiations. We could turn this from a small annoyance for the Sultan to a serious problem that requires him to pay attention to the global condemnation of the new law.

Sign now to get governments, companies, and celebrities to stop doing business as usual with Brunei:
http://www.allout.org/brunei

All Out members all over the world have gotten key corporations to speak out in response to anti-gay laws. During the Olympics in Russia, we helped raise a huge outcry that got some National Olympic Sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay law. And, recently, we got Orange to pull ads from a tabloid that outed lesbian, gay, bi and trans people when the Ugandan anti-gay law passed.

Now we have a chance to really raise the alarm about Brunei’s new death penalty in the media and in the circles that the Sultan and his family move in. Will you speak out now against Brunei allowing gay people and other innocent people to be stoned to death?
http://www.allout.org/brunei