-TANGO-KONTINUUM (Edition Tarantel)

von am 6. Juli 2021 um 2:45
Veröffentlicht in: Translations

Edition Tarantel

Lidio Mosca-Bustamante
Tango Kontinuum
Von Machos, Malevos und Vermaledeiten

Manfred Chobot : Der Tango

 

Der Tango ist nicht nur ein argentinischer Tanz, sondern zugleich auch eine Lebenseinstellung, ein Lebensgefühl, das sich vor einem kulturellen Hintergrund entwickelt hat; so manche Möglichkeit ist vorgegeben, um sein Leben zu gestalten, damit zurecht, ins Reine, zu kommen. „Das Leben ist ein Weg, den wir immer weitergehen. Hindernisse zwingen uns dazu anzuhalten, einen Schritt zur Seite zu tun, zurückzugehen, sich zu drehen, um eine andere Richtung einzuschlagen, hie und da eine Firulete zu machen – eine Tangofigur, bei der die Tänzer vorgeben, eine bestimmte Bewegung zu machen, um dann eine andere auszuführen.“
Und schon zeigt sich: „Das Leben ist ein Tango“, schreibt Lidio Mosca-Bustamante…

Manfred Chobot: The Tango

 

*  *  *  *  *

 

The Tango is not only an Argentine dance, but also an attitude towards life, an attitude that has developed before a cultural background; many opportunities confront us, presenting us with choices to shape our future and come to terms with life. “Life consists of a path we always have to travel. Obstacles cause us to stop, step aside, move back, then pivot, going in another direction. We feign to make a certain movement and then seem to make another, changing course again.”
Thus: „Life is a Tango“, says Lidio Mosca-Bustamante…

Translation: Herbert Kuhne

Edition Tarantel

Wien 2021

ISBN-978-3-9504898-3-5

 

 

 

 

-Off Limits for European Pizza-Lovers

von am 13. Juni 2021 um 0:06
Veröffentlicht in: Poetry, Polemics

Off Limits for European Pizza-Lovers

Listen, you, European pizza-lovers,
you must avoid New Jersey!

If you don’t follow my advice
and find yourself in the Garden State,
in which I spent 14 years of my life,
stay away from Pizza Parlors!
Otherwise you will be fated to enjoy
their tomato and cheese delights.

Pizza is the Ambrosia of the Garden State.
And get this – there’s no soft underbelly
in the center – It’s crisp all the way around.

So better bypass New Jersey,
and if you do find yourself there,
avoid Italian restaurants and pizza parlors!
For after having ingested the spherical delights
served up in these venues, you’ll never be able
to ingest the soggy European variety again.

New Jersey, Pizza Capital of the World!

– Herbert Kuhner

 

 

-Don and Ron – Polly-Andrews

von am 4. Mai 2021 um 15:19
Veröffentlicht in: Poetry, Polemics, Politics

Don and Ron – Polly-Andrews

We need a male equivalent
of Pollyanna!
I just concocted one:
“Polly-Andrew”

Here’s Senator Ron Johnson:
“Jan. 6th didn’t feel like an armed insurrection
to me. I knew those were people that loved this country,
that truly respect law enforcement
and would never do anything to break a law,
and so I wasn’t concerned.”

Here’s our man Don
“It was zero threat, right from the start,
it was zero threat…Some of them went in,
and they are hugging and kissing
the police and the guards, you know,
they had great relationships,
and a lot of the people were waved in,
and then they walked in and they walked out.”

 

All for Show

A gallows may have been set up,
and there may have been shouts of
“Hang Mike Pence!”
but this was all for “show!”

 

Our Guys

Our guys may be a bit
on the scrungy side,
but we’ll take care of that!

Barbers are on the way
to trim matted hair
and shave mangy beards,
and we’ve ordered
suits, shirts and ties
from haberdashers
to spruce them up.

Some of our guys
may have failed to vote
last time around,
but at the next go,
we’ll have advisors
show them
how to cast a ballot,
and if need be,
how to fiddle a bit
with the voting paraphernalia.

 

 

– Herbert Kuhner

-Don the Don and His Gal

von am 2. Mai 2021 um 14:36
Veröffentlicht in: Polemics, Politics

Don the Don and His Gal

“Don may no longer be in the saddle
of the House that’s White, but he’s still
galloping for our Party on his steed.

Here’s the rub: “He egged our brothers on
to invade the Big Building, which is anything
but treason, since we’re in the Right.

“We may not be able to tip the scales,
the next  time around on our own,
but we can do that and more with
our QAnon brother and sisters,
and their ilk.

We’re off to a good start with Marjorie,
the QAnon-gal, who’s taking care of
education in our learning venues.

Our invaders may be a bit
side,on the scrungy side,
but we’ll take care of that!

A bunch of barbers are on the way
to trim matted hair and to shave
mangy beards, and we’ve ordered
suits, shirts and ties to spruce up
our shabby brood

Our right-wing nerds failed to vote,
but we’ve got instructors to tach them
what to do with a ballot, and an advisor
go with them to cast a ballot, and if need be,
to fiddle a bit with the voting machine.

Now as for Don, he may favor the Klan
and our homegrown brown-brood.
His family may not quite be Simon-pure
But so what?! There’s a simple solution:
We’ll cleanse them of all impurities
and welcome them into the fold!

The next time around, our Don
will have it in the bag. And if
if there’s a snag our gal Marjorie
will have it in the bag.

 

 

Mad or Bad

Does Trump really believe that he won the election?
That is a moot question. Is he mad or bad?
Or mad and bad? (In my view the latter is valid.)

 

 

“Fine People”

During a Klu-Klux-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, August 11 to 12, 2017,
civil rights activist Heather Heyer was killed when a Klu-Kluxer
rammed his car into anti-fascist demonstrators.

Donald Trump comments:
“You had people that were very fine people
on both sides.” [1]

Why be “soft” on the “very fine” people
on the far right? You don’t want to upset
sure-fire voters, do you, Don?

They may have chanted “Jews will not replace us!”
as they marched. They may be a bit put off
by the fact that Don’s family is not Simon-pure,
but then nobody’s perfect.

“You know what I am? I’m a nationalist,
OK? I’m a nationalist.” says our man. Thank you Don!
At last a true word! – actually ten words.
We’ve been waiting, but we have not been waiting in vain.

On January 6th some “very fine people”
took over the nation’s Capitol.
At who’s behest? Trump in a nutshell:
“Looking out at all the amazing patriots
here today, I have never been more confident
in our nation’s future.”

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol
We’re going to cheer on our brave senators
and Congressmen and women,”
Trump told the crowd, speaking
with the Capitol as a backdrop.

 

– Herbert Kuhner

 

 

-Clamoring at the Southern Gates

von am 2. April 2021 um 18:33
Veröffentlicht in: Polemics, Politics

Clamoring at the Southern Gates

 

Why are hordes of migrants clamoring at the southern border with nothing
but the clothes on their backs and a few belongings?

We’ve been coddling Right-wing dictators down in South America for years,
and we’ve engaged in our share of hanky-panky.
Remember the mining of Nicaragua City Harbor in 1984!
That of course was okay, since the government consisted of a bunch of commies.
Ditto for Salvador Allende!

As far as maiming, murder and rape were concerned, the Contras took the cake.
Their spokesmen gave gory accounts of how they dealt
with the peasants and villagers they came upon in their forays.[1]

Reagan’s assessment:
“The Contras are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers.”

Yeah, Ron, they are splendid fellows. Were those Fathers torturers, rapists, murderers and
marauders?

Here’s Ron, the compassionate conservative:

 

Ron:

“We were told four years ago that 17 million people
went to bed hungry every night.
Well, that was probably true.
They were all on a diet.” [2]
quote/              berkeley.edu/news/media

Smelser, assistant chancellor for educational development at the time Reagan ran for office, recalled that „Reagan took aim at the university for being irresponsible for failing to punish these dissident students. He said, ‚Get them out of there. Throw them out. They are spoiled and don’t deserve the education they are getting. „They don’t have a right to take advantage of our system of education.“

 

Child Sacrificed

 

A ten-year-old girl in Paraguay is pregnant after having been raped by her stepfather.
The child been denied an abortion by the conservative Catholic authorities
installed by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis in Rome is silent.

The child is being sacrificed in order to confirm that life is “sacred” from conception on.

I call his action, or rather inaction, the epitome of cruelty.
In the future I want nothing whatsoever to do with an institution
that interprets the Deity’s wishes in this barbaric manner.

Pope Francis in the Holy City is mum
and he remained mum when he visited Paraguay.

In July, Pope Francis spent three days in Paraguay. He met with officials, toured a slum outside Asuncion and celebrated two Masses.
While activists had hoped to bring up the case of the pregnant girl, Francis did not speak about it or focus on abortion in any of his speeches.

This is a previous policy statement by Pope Francis:
“The moral problem of abortion is of a pre-religious nature because the genetic code is written in a person at the moment of conception.
A human being is there. I separate the topic of abortion from any specifically religious notions. It is a scientific problem.
Not to allow the further development of a being which already has all the genetic code of a human being is not ethical.
The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.”[3]

Fox News reports: “According to health statistics, 680 Paraguayan girls between 10 and 14 years old gave birth in 2014.”

Bishop Romero’s Successors

In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed Fernando Sáenz Lacalle, an Opus Dei member, archbishop for San Salvador.
Lacalle was instrumental in having harsh anti-abortion laws established. A woman who has had abortion can be sentenced to thirty years in prison.

If a woman is brought to a hospital, and she suspected of having undergone a botched abortion, she is tied to her bed,
and serves as an exhibit of the crime committed.[4]

Humanism on the March

Henry Kissinger on democracy: “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people.
The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.” And here he is on mass murder in Cambodia after our “incursion”:
“Why should we flagellate ourselves for what the Cambodians did to each other?”

Nixon to Kissinger on civilian casualties in Vietnam: “You’re so goddamned concerned about the civilians, and I don’t give a damn.”

The migrants are trying to escape the locations that were certainly not improved by the leaders of the location they are attempting to enter.

 

– Herbert Kuhner

 

* * * * *

 

[1] consortiumnews.com
[2] Ronald Reagan, TV speech, October 27, 1964.
[3] lifenews.com
[4] Sam Harris: Letter to a Christian Nation, Alfred Knopf, New York. 2006; Jack Hitt: “Pro-Life Nation,” New York Times, April 9, 2006.