!43LongIslandNostalgia

Every news broadcast, headline and article seems to challenge my tranquility. These were supposed to be our golden years. Yet, our investments have declined dramatically during the past two years and the tragedy in the Middle East continues on and on and the war on terrorism appears to be stagnating with the United States apparently "deserving" what it got, in the opinion of the rest of the world. Each day, we are exposed to new tales of Corporate unethical or illegal behavior. Even, one of the so-called independent auditors, Arthur Andersen, got caught up in the greed of the moment allowing both Enron and WorldCom to go under taking their shareholders to the cleaners. Our environment continues to be assaulted and we currently have a government whose basic policy is either to ignore the issue or to encourage the exploiters.
Our athletes ( like the multimillionaire baseball players who threatened to strike again this year if they didn't receive another unconscionable increase) and entertainers are paid exorbitant amounts of money while our school teachers and nurses remain grossly underpaid. Our value system is very suspect, and I definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!

The first image is a cartoon of Enron's poor Ken Lay telling the world how poor he is. The second image is a classic Marshall Ramsey cartoon about WorldCom. The third shows the book cover of Robert Slater's biography of Jack Welch who apparently walked away from GE with a lifetime supply of millions of dollars per year of perks that were never disclosed to GE stockholders. The fourth image is a photo of the very successful yet irrelevant Madonna showing her in one of her usual tasteful performances. The cartoon of Mike Tyson is appropriately placed next to a picture of Osama bin Laden. The photo of President Bush and Saddam Hussein shows both men apparently in complete agreement on oil policy. The frightening photos of two Jerusalem bus bombings, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Yasser Arafat, and the remains of his compound in Ramallah, say it all!

My Nerves Are Frazzled

           Stock Markets, tanked, remain depressed,
           So WorldCom's Books, ranked, 'Truly Messed';
           Though Lay, himself, had not confessed,
           Till Enron's Folks, inane, digressed;
           Still Andersen can’t pass the Test,
           They swept up Dirt; squelched Facts, suppressed;
           Jack Welch, adept, Wall Street impressed,
           He's kept those 'Perks' and won't divest;
           Yet none amongst them, has transgressed,
           Now, no one knows, where to invest!

           Madonna’s Talent’s, self-professed,
           Her Style Sense barely stays abreast;
           She plays in Tights and Pumps, half-dressed,
           Then bumps or grinds, Peroxide-tressed;
           Mike Tyson curses, thumps his Chest,
           He fights, for Purses, on Request;
           His Bites, big Talk, were just in Jest;
           Ball Players balk; for Money, pressed;
           Our Teachers’ Earnings stayed compressed,
           With Nurses underpaid, at best!

           Iran sells Rugs, we would suggest,
           To help Bin Laden, fly the Nest,
           Al Qaeda’s Thugs, we must detest;
           Sly, Saudi doth, too much, protest,
           The Monarchy, unjust, repressed;
           George Bush, with Saddam, is obsessed,
           Dire Accusations, well-expressed,
           To justify, each bloody Quest;
           Our Congress, has again, recessed,
           I guess we're under House Arrest!

           Israelis bombed, in Pain, oppressed,
           Choose Lands of Arabs, dispossessed,
           No Settler's been, a welcomed Guest;
           Whose Sands were whose, they'll e'er contest,
           Still, Arafat won’t lose his Zest,
           Civility, is ne'er addressed;
           Mad Martyrs, insane, think they're blessed,
           Sad, Victims, slain, are laid to Rest;
           Oil Prices jump, OPEC’s Bequest;
           The UN's always out-finessed!

           This Drought drags on, from East to West,
           While Europe’s Floods are past their Crest;
           The Ozone Layer’s quite distressed;
           West Nile’s Mosquitos, might infest;
           More shameless Priests, young Flocks, molest,
           A blameless Church, blocks out Inquest;
           As heinous Crimes, go unassessed,
           Poor Children lost; Rights acquiesced;
           Our Value System's second-guessed,
           Is there some Doubt, we'd all be stressed?

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