Ramblin' with Roger

Refugees, a poem by Brian Bilston

The world can be looked at another way

For United Nations Day, I decided to post a poem entitled Refugees by Brian Bilston. I came across it on Facebook in 2018, though the author first posted in March 2016. It was buried in my email until now.

It is used with permission of the author. As he says, “Please bear with it.”

They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way

(now read from bottom to top)

UN Day

Here’s the Secretary-General’s Message from 2018;

United Nations Day marks the birthday of our founding Charter – the landmark document that embodies the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of “we the peoples”.

Every day, the women and men of the United Nations work to give practical meaning to that Charter.

Despite the odds and the obstacles, we never give up.

Extreme poverty is being reduced but we see inequality growing.

Yet we don’t give up because we know by reducing inequality we increase hope and opportunity and peace around the world.

Climate change is moving faster than we are, but we don’t give up because we know that climate action is the only path.

Human rights are being violated in so many places. But we don’t give up because we know respect for human rights and human dignity is a basic condition for peace.

Conflicts are multiplying – people are suffering. But we don’t give up because we know every man, woman, and child deserves a life of peace.

On United Nations Day, let us reaffirm our commitment.

To repair broken trust.

To heal our planet.

To leave no one behind.

To uphold dignity for one and all, as united nations.

António Guterres

See also the Refugee Rights section from the Human Rights Watch page.

Musical review: SpongeBob SquarePants

The dance will remind old-timers of Tommy Tune

The first show in the 2019-2020 Proctors Theatre package in Schenectady, NY was SpongeBob SquarePants. I could have traded in the ticket for another show not in the subscription series, but I decided to see it.

In case you’re unfamiliar, SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated comedy television series. It was created by Stephen Hillenburg, a marine science educator, and animator, who died in November 2018. “The series chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his aquatic friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom.”

I went alone on a Thursday afternoon, in part because that is the cheapest time to go. Did I mention I was retired? The house was maybe 2/3s full. I suspect some of my fellow retirees opted out.

Before writing this, I explained the highlights to my wife. “Oh, I heard a guy on the radio who pointed out the same things that you liked.” Being the lazy blogger I am, I quickly found Bob Goepfert’s review for The Troy Record that she heard on WAMC.

“I actually enjoyed the cleverly staged mountain climbing sequence.” This is actually quite extraordinary visually, with our title hero hanging upside down on a ladder more than once. And the look, in general, is a lot of fun.

“There’s a sensational tap number that lasts for about 8 minutes that is breathtaking. Performed by the tall and lanky Cody Coolie (who plays Squidward) the dance will remind old-timers of Tommy Tune… ‘I’m Not a Loser,’ by They Might Be Giants was made meaningful by the already mentioned tap number.

“[T]he musical uses the tale of friendship and heroic actions to teach some fine values – like believing in yourself, being a loyal friend, trusting in individuality and encouraging diversity.” It also addressed fearmongering among politicians, cult followings, and panic.

Avoidance

I enjoyed it far more than Goepfert did, and he’s explained why: “Over the years, no matter how much they begged or cajoled, I avoided watching a single episode of the Nickelodeon television cartoon series with my grandchildren. I refused to go with them to any of SpongeBob films, and they knew better than to ask me to take them to the musical when it played on Broadway. Seeing the show on Wednesday evening at Proctors proved I was right.”

I had wondered right after seeing the show whether someone who was not familiar with the cartoon could make the transition to the stage version. With a now teenaged daughter, I’ve seen more than my share of episodes.

SpongeBob was not in a sponge costume, but rather wore a shirt, tie and shorts. Squidwardhad a pair of slacks and shoes, and another pair of same attached to the back. It’s easier to appreciate that if you can see the cartoon visual in your mind.

That said, the second act was stronger than the first. I first became really involved when Pearl the Whale, the daughter of Mr. Krabs, played by Meami Maszewski, sang Daddy Knows Best in Act 1.

Before the show even began, there were cast members playing some Hawaiian music with a slide dulcimer, fiddle, kazoos, and various sound effects, played by the guy who was also onstage for much of the actual show.

Proctors Theatre was the first stop on the tour for SpongeBob SquarePants, and I suspect the show will only get better. Here’s a favorable review in Nippertown. It’s not Fiddler on the Roof, which is briefly referenced, but it should be entertaining when it comes to a theater near you.

Pennsylvania, clutch

grits

Pennsylvania.map Binghamton, my hometown on the Southern Tier of New York, is less than 20 miles from the northern border of Pennsylvania. I have a lot of connection to the Keystone State.

My maternal grandmother has family from the state. My paternal grandfather was born there. For all I know, my father may have been born there as well; it remains a mystery.

When I was growing up, the parents of my friend Carol, who I’ve now known only about six decades, had a cottage on a lake just across the border. Our whole class went there a few times.

I have this fuzzy recollection of taking a bus, possibly with one or both sisters, to someone’s house in Philadelphia, where my parents already were located. First time I ever tried grits; didn’t like ’em. I have an ex, and a brother-in-law and his family who live in the eastern part of the state.

Yet my sports rooting interests, beyond the New York teams, tend to be for the teams in Pittsburgh, western Pennsylvania, the Pirates (baseball) and Steelers (football). Two all-time greats on the Steelers share my birthday, running back Franco Harris and wide receiver Lynn Swann.

My father liked to drive down to Intercourse, PA, in Amish country so we could all have some shoefly pie.

I once saw a Rand-McNally map of Pennsylvania that spelled Binghamton as Binghampton.

PA Pennsylvania, a mid-Atlantic state (commonwealth) in the US. Usual historic abbreviations were Penn., Penna. Capital: Harrisburg. Largest city: Philadelphia, home of the Liberty Bell.

PE Prince Edward Island, a maritime province in Canada. French: Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Historically, P.E.I./Î.-P.-É. It’s the smallest province of Canada in both land area and population, but the most densely populated. Capital and largest city: Charlottetown.

PR Puerto Rico, an Insular area, a different sense of commonwealth, in the Caribbean Sea. My sister and her family lived there for about seven years, and I regret never having visited.

PW Palau, a freely associated state in the Pacific Ocean.

For ABC Wednesday

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM, 70

accused of meddling with an Israeli telecom company merger

When I looked at a list of all of the people turning 70 in 2019, I had decided NOT to write about Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

Then, in February 2019, he was indicted on one case of bribery and two cases of fraud and breach of trust. This involves allegedly planning to help a newspaper disadvantage its competition to get good press in return. Also, he is accused of meddling with an Israeli telecom company merger in exchange for positive coverage on its news site. The prime minister, in the midst of a tough election contest, denied any wrongdoing.

The guy living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue started insinuating himself into the Israeli electoral process. This is possibly beyond what his base was looking for.

In the election of April 9, Bibi seemed set to win a fifth term after vowing to annex the West Bank, part of a so-called American peace plan.

The huge problem is that millions of Palestinians live in the area captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians want to make it part of their future state. This campaign promise is sure to raise tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The right-wing Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t win enough seats to govern. He attempted to form a coalition government, but it failed. By late May, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) voted to dissolve itself and redo the election.

Try, try again

Ahead of Israeli’s do-over election in September, the Prime Minister faced opposition from the left and the right.

President Rivlin tasked Netanyahu with forming a government when unity talks With Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan reached a stalemate.

There COULD be a third round of voting if this doesn’t work out, and as of this writing, here’s no real government. What are Netanyahu’s recent liabilities? They may be:

-criminal allegations, and the sense that a win could get him immunity.
-the American’s apparently-canceled wish to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as the Israeli prime minister insisted that Iran was developing its nuclear program

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Israeli officials “played” his ex-boss. He warned that a “healthy amount of skepticism” is needed in dealings with Israel’s prime minister.

“They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys,’” Tillerson said, according to the Harvard Gazette. “We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played.'”

Benjamin Netanyahu turns 70.

Early voting, and the Political Compass

vote in “off-year” elections

Lots of people don’t vote in “off-year” elections, but I always do, because Math. In a local race, my ballot has a much greater impact in a smaller geography, with lesser participation. It’s diminished in a statewide race, such as for governor, US Senator or President, which of course, is a bunch of state races.

For the first time, there is early voting in New York State this year. Here are the times and places in Albany County, and the rest of the state, starting October 26.

Left? Right?

In a conversation about politics on Facebook, someone wondered if I had taken the Political Compass test, or something like it. “I’m referring to ones that compare results to party; or comparable ideology. I’m curious what a guy like you gets from it.”

I’ve certainly taken a similar test, maybe even this very one. As the folks behind it note: “Our weakest point is commercialism, so it was always inevitable that others with those skills would tinker a little around the edges of our basic concept — and even our name — and repackage it as a national issues-based tool for commercial sponsorship for a few weeks during national elections.”

After all, “The Political Compass has been on the internet since 2001… Our essential point is that Left and Right, although far from obsolete, are essentially a measure of economics.

“As political establishments adopt either enthusiastically or reluctantly the prevailing economic orthodoxy — the neo-liberal strain of capitalism — the Left-Right division between mainstream parties becomes increasingly blurred. Instead, party differences tend to be more about identity issues. In the narrowing debate, our social scale is more crucial than ever.

“We believe that, in an age of diminishing ideology, The Political Compass helps a new generation in particular to get a better idea of where they stand politically — and the sort of political company they keep.”

Take the test if you want; it appears to be anonymous, and the responses are not logged. Check out the other pages as well.

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