copeland morris BALAO

The rain and shadow of raindrops, tinsel curtain,

Refrain and shadows
Of raindrops fall.

The gone man is a thief of all to be certain:

Shangri-La, Balao,
The Fillmore, Dreamland.

He could fill them up now; his fingers fly

Like redbuds, crepe myrtle,
Whipped by the wind.

He meets his love on the little square in Balao.

An owl endowed
With tender hoots,

A tiny shiver, watches their awkwardness die.

WITH DEMOCRACY GONE, ...JUSTICE ITSELF IS UNDER PRIOR RESTRAINT

...Too much freedom wandering around loose in the streets and too many people having thoughts of their own undermine the ambitions of the state; long before the evil date of 9/11, the rapidly metastasizing national security agencies were separating the homegrown damned from the homegrown saved. The recent and even more rapid technological upgrades attest to the pathology of a government so afraid of its own citizens that it classifies them as probable enemies.

   Hydra-headed databanks target schoolchildren and the mothers of schoolchildren, church congregations, credit card members, and Facebook friends, anybody at work or at play with a tracking device sold under the label of an iPhone. An NSA device code-named COTTONMOUTH-I can remotely monitor anybody's computer; the CANDYGRAM asset is capable of setting up a telephone tripwire to mimic a cell phone tower. Tens of thousands of surveillance cameras conduct "truth maintenance" and  "event prediction". If all goes well, what comes up on the screens is an American democracy as safely dead as a pheasant under glass.

--Lewis H. Lapham, LAPHAM'S QUARTERLY, Winter 2015, Volume VIII, #1

 At this hour, the US Senate is locked in a debate over the renewal of the PATRIOT ACT, or the retiring of it, (it's sunset clause fulfilled at midnight), May 31st, 2015. 

Come July, JADE HELM 2015, a three month military exercise, is due to be conducted across parts of Texas , Utah, and California; and as such, it will  spread over a huge swath of land. It is seen as practice for civil unrest, --interacting with civilian population,--which is something quite unusual. Yet while it may be the butt of jokes, at the expense of those who are projecting their political agendas and ambitions onto it; there surely must be some valid reasons to inquire about its nature,  its objectives. The very scale of it geographically, and the duration from July to September, is meant to teach a number of specialists what?--about confronting enraged civilians, about arresting and detaining civilians? "Mastering the human domain" is its sales pitch--whatever in the hell that means!

Well, we have enough bugs in our bonnets already without troubling ourselves unduly about our own military, rumbling around in our rural communities, trying to gauge the level of our "permissiveness", how it feels having special forces troops milling around amongst us, as they go about their business hobnobbing with crisis actors: just a big training exercise for a time when--heaven forbid--they should have to subdue, arrest, and detain civilians. But enough about that.

The question is about democracy that expires in the presence of absolute surveillance, and about the prior restraint that is placed on justice, in that repressive sort of environment.

Justice, after all, is about the treatment of persons. Justice is an ideal toward which we must strive as a community. There is a question of a competing balance of rights, as one would weigh two claims upon a scale: the right of those who are injured, against the rights of those accused of doing the injury.

One looks in vain to find justice in a surveillance state. What disappears is that side of the scale which respects the rights of the accused. The rights of the injured can be ignored too, as everyone is treated like a bug under a microscope

Surveillance information is used to ensnare people with trivial arrest records or trouble with immigration; and the FBI or other intelligence services coerce them into working as informants. Being blackmailed this way,  these unlucky are sometimes put in dangerous situations. The justice that should be afforded to them is sacrificed. Sometimes they are sacrificed as patsies, so that a political trick or illusion can further beguile the public.

And so the state breaks the laws, shreds our civil rights, grinds the pawns and small fry into dust, and keeps on recording all our personal data and our conversations. The state looks over our shoulders, as technology permits, to glean what they may from our thoughts. 

PRESIDENT MADURO WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO U.S. CITIZENS

LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES: VENEZUELA IS NOT A THREAT

We are the people of Simon Bolívar , our people believe in peace and respect for all nations.

Freedom and independence

More than two centuries ago, our fathers founded a Republic on the basis that all persons are free and equal under the law.

Our nation made the greatest sacrifices to guarantee South American people their right to choose their rulers and to enforce their own laws today. The historical legacy of our father, Simón Bolívar, is always remembered. Bolívar was a man who gave his life so we would inherit a nation of justice and equality.

We believe in Peace, National Sovereignty and International Law

We are a peaceful people. In two centuries of independence, we have never attacked another nation. Our people live in a region of peace, free of weapons of mass destruction, and in freedom to practice all religions. We uphold respect for international law and the sovereignty of all people of the world.

We are an Open Society

We are a working people, we care for our families, and we have freedom of religion. Immigrants from around the world, live among us, whose diversity is respected. We have freedom of the press and we are enthusiastic users of social media.

We are friends of the American people

The histories of our people have been connected since the beginnings of our struggle for freedom. Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan hero, fought with the American people during their independence fight. We share the idea that freedom and independence are fundamental elements for the development of our nations.

The relations between our peoples has always been peaceful and respectful. Historically, we have shared business relations in strategic areas. Venezuela has always been a responsible and trustful energy provider for the American people. Since 2005, Venezuela has provided "heating oil"  through subsidies for low-income communities in the United States, thanks to our company, CITGO. This contribution has helped tens of thousands of American citizens survive in harsh conditions, giving them relief, and necessary support in times of need, evidencing how solidarity can create powerful alliances across borders.

Incredibly, the US government  has declared our country a threat to its national security and foreign policy

In a disproportionate action, the government of Obama has issued a "National Emergency" declaring Venezuela as a threat to its national security (Executive Order, 03-09-2015). This unilateral and aggressive measure taken by the United States Government against our country is not only unfounded and in violation of basic principles of sovereignty and self-determination under international law, but also has been unanimously rejected by all 33nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the twelve member states of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). In a statement made on March 14, 2015, UNASUR reiterated its firm rejection of these coercive measures that do not contribute to the peace, stability and democracy in our region and called on President Obama to revoke his Executive Order against Venezuela.

We reject unilateralism and interventionism

President Obama, without any authority to interfere in our internal affairs, unilaterally issued a set of sanctions against Venezuelan officials with potentially far-reaching implications, interfering in our constitutional order and our justice system.

We advocate for a multipolar world

We believe that our world must be based on the rules of international law, without interference in the internal affairs of other countries. We are convinced that the relationship of respect between all the nations is the only path for strengthening peace and coexistence, as well as for ensuring a more just world.

We honor our freedoms and uphold our rights

Never before in the history of our nations, has a president of the United States attempted to govern Venezuelans by decree. It is a tyrannical and imperial order and it pushes us back into the darkest days of the relationship between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the name of our long-term friendship we alert our American brothers and sisters, lovers of justice and freedom, of the illegal aggression committed by your government on your behalf. We will not allow our friendship with the people of the United States to be affected by this senseless and groundless decision by President Obama.

We demand:

1- The U.S government immediately cease hostile actions against Venezuelan people and democracy.

2- President Obama abolish the Executive Order that declares Venezuela a threat to U.S. national security, as has been requested by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

3- The U.S. Government retract its libelous and defamatory statements against the honorable Venezuelan officials who have just obeyed our laws and our constitution.

Our sovereignty is sacred

The principles of the founding fathers of the United States of America are followed today with the same dignity by the people of Simón Bolívar. In the name of our mutual love for national independence we want the government of President Obama to think about and rectify this dangerous precedent.

We are convinced that the defense of our freedom is a right that we shall never give up because the future of the humanity lies also in our country. As Simon Bolivar said, "The freedom of the New World is the hope of the universe".

"Venezuela is not a threat, but a hope...Independence or nothing" --Simon Bolivar

We are the people of Simon Bolívar, our people believe in peace and respect for all nations.

This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuelas-Maduro-Writes-Letter-to-US-Citizens-20150317-0011.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english

copeland morris THE YEARNING

Serene and beautiful winter be considerate of us,
Shining of intricate clouds, the saffron and crimson,
Flight and foraging of little sparrows and doves.
It opens a scene where lovers have words, avoid
Further words, and depart. See the bodies shrink,
As small and almost as tense as the birds', at times:
Fault lines under the horns of the moon and Venus.

When skies were whited-out we looked for snow
Hoping winter would treat us at once with mercy
After the Norther blew itself out; and strangely
The yearning fit perfectly in place, when flurries
That whirled lay still, and it was just barely morning.
So the fire and the warm house invite our thoughts;
Yet the sky, so fixed and gray, is still sleeping.

GREEK PRIME MINISTER, ALEXIS TSIPRAS, AND SYRIZA PARTY, MAY FOIL BANKSTER'S CRIMINAL CARTEL

The scofflaws of Wall Street and their criminal cohorts within the FED, the Central Bank administrations in Europe, the IMF and their international, vampire-like partners, are openly embarked on a grab for political power. This, of course, involves the seizure of as much money, and as many fiscal and physical objects as their can lay their hands on. So they proceed, right under our noses,  in their attempt to reduce everything, including human rights, national sovereignty, individual and natural assets, --even including the fundamental health and well being of all of us,-- into mere toys for amusement,  and objects at their disposal.

They have bought and sold governments. But Prime Minister Tsipras and the Syriza Party say that Greece and its legacy will not be sold off.

It is shocking that these criminal forces have gotten as far as they have: traffickers in human flesh, ghouls who have dismembered whole societies with military and financial weapons at the ready. These are people who have had nations plundered, and who arrange or foment devastating wars; and indeed, they have tried to turn organized, industrial scale murder into a cultural artifact, a perpetual cost of doing business.

But the resistance to this empire is global, and people have become more conscious of its methods, and of what is at stake, in terms of basic human decency, democratic process, and justice.

Austerity regimes, imposed by criminal financial institutions, are not constructed in order to help any nation pay off its debt; but rather austerity is designed to further weaken and disable the target nation, the victim of the scam, and to suppress that nation's economic growth, while pretending to bolster it with further loan installments. The so-called "bail-out" project is  insidiously designed to force the country to sell off its assets, as well as its effective sovereignty, and turns the country into another stock to be traded on the market. What was unique, beautiful, the people's dignity and history, cultural autonomy, self-determination, possessions, lands, even monuments, would be liquidated on the auction floor.

Let us resolve not to let this happen! In whatever country we call our own, a promise must be made to oppose, to resist this kind of oppression.

The system of government must become honest again, and reflect the honesty and exertions of its people, their insistence on the rule of law, their own just laws. It is up to them, in a democracy, to see that the laws are just, and are applied equally.

Prime Minister Tsipras, and Syriza, have inspired many others beyond the borders of Greece. Now is the time to remember what was said about the importance of Greeks, the spirit and fulfillment of human possibilities, when they stood to enter the European Union. A French politician remembered  the ancient democracy, what Greek democracy means everywhere, and its heritage. He said the event should not be described as their entry into the Union; but rather that "Europe has joined Greece".

This is one promise that has yet to be redeemed.