Pill Popping

Pharma's poster child,

Flying nun pushes bone scare.

Smile and pop a pill.

I fear the pharmaceutical industry

is playing fast and loose with our

bodies in order to make inordinate

amounts of money. I guess Sally Field

 just couldn't refuse the pay for 

 being the Boniva spokeswoman.

Who would question the flying nun?

 Be wary of the pharmaceuticals and

the drugs they push. PharmedOut is

a public funded project that promotes

evidence based medicine. Check it out. 

www.pharmedout.org 

IDIOTS

Climate change doubters

May swim in boiling ponds

With three-headed frogs.

The cover of a recent issue of Rollingstone

Magazine read, in large and bold letters,

IDIOTS.  The feature story was about the 

cast of greed mongers who were perpetuating

the myth that climate change is a liberal scam.

I use frogs in the haiku because they have come

to be considered bioindicators of environmental

health, since they are especially susceptible to

 environmental disturbances due to the permeability

 of their skin. 

"And what is there to life if a man cannot hear

the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments

of the frogs around a pond at night?" Chief Seattle

1854.

Healthy Eating

Urban organics

Sustain seasonal bounty

Earthworms are welcome.

Religion

Karl Marx addendum:

Opium of the people

Is Sunday football.

Karl Marx got it right. And had NFL football

existed in 1843 when he wrote the "Critique

of Hegel's Philosophy of Right," he would

certainly have inserted "football" in place

of "religion". The full quote is as follows:

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart

of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.

It is the opium of the people.

Well, all of us addicts (I'm including myself

although I don't care for football) better get

ready to experience the DT's (as opposed to

the LT's) because it's over. The Chargers lost

Sunday, perhaps slowing their bid to have a

financially bleeding city help them pay for a

new, unneeded cathedral, I mean stadium,

so they can make more money. Power to

the people.

Bugged

Critters of the wood

Prompt toxic retribution

Acid rain prevails.

We are after some termites that

appear to be tunneling a maze

through our duplex. Ironic how

these wee winged creatures can

bring us to our knees, literally, if

the house falls down, prompting us

to  spew sundry toxins their way and end

up slowly poisoning ourselves.

Weed Whacked

Maryjane debuts

As decade's snake oil, cure-all.

Got a runny nose?

I passed a  new cafe the other day that looked

odd to me because there was a security

guard on duty and no espresso machines.

It dawned on me that it wasn't a cafe at

all but rather a medical marijuana 

dispensary.  I guess the telltale leaf next to 

the Rx was the giveaway, although the 

steaming cup of java was confusing. In the

economic downturn these dispensaries seem

to be doing well.  Perhaps Starbuck's should

jump on board.

Haiti

Bloodied child stands dazed.

High definition horror

Turns politics quaint.

I watch the devastation of the Haiti

earthquake unfold. I have given to

UNICEF USA. Shock and awe comes

in many forms, all of which destroy

lives.

Cheerio TUK

Punk rock hideaway

Beacon of English hipness

Loses lease on life.

A mainstay of Hillcrest shopping for

the past 20 years was the TUK shop.

Very punk, very English, very hip.

Purveyors of Ben Sherman, Fred

Perry, Doc Martens, and lots of

obscure English band tees, unknown

to many on this side of the Atlantic.

Sadly, in this economic downturn

TUK wasn't able to hang onto its

lease. I anticipate its former digs

going vacant for months, which begs

the question why not just keep the

rent reasonable. Ah, the not so mysterious

workings of capitalism. TUK will leave

the brick and mortar world for internet

commerce and I will mourn the loss

of shopping diversity. I wish TUK good

cheer. www.TUKshoes.com

Song Riddle

Weird arpeggios.

Head swims upstream like Fishes.

Radio delights.

Walked home from a coffee shop this

morning listening to this tune on my

new itouch. Great tune. What's the

name of the group and the song?

All the pieces are there.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Brilliance soaked in booze

F. Scott left poignant musings

"As big as the Ritz."

My only real New Year's resolution is to read

all of the fiction of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just

finished his short stories, "Babylon Revisited

And Other Stories", my favorite story being the

one entitled, "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz," hence

my reference to that in the haiku. I have now moved

on to "The Pat Hobby Stories," a collection of 17 

stories that feature the same comedic, washed-out 

screenwriter, Pat Hobby, who lives in Hollywood and is hanging

on to his career by the skin of his teeth.  Awesome stories.

What a shame we lost F. Scott so early; he was just 44.

Shuttle

Quick furtive glances,

Across the aisle, a stranger.

Our eyes lock, we smile.

I ride on the UCSD shuttle a few days a week to work.

It is the only shuttle bus in the entire UC system that

is run on 100% bio-diesel fuel. Veggie oil to be exact.

More info: http://sustain.ucsd.edu/initiatives/green-line.html

Dinner with Phoebe and Maddie

Raw exuberance

Over pinot and pasta

Childhood friends make plans.