Holiday Thoughts

By now it's tradition, and must be observed.

Holiday weight gain's no fable

I resist as much as I'm able

But festive eating

Is diet defeating

With temptation laid out on the table.

Chicago Cubs fans waited close to a century for a reason to celebrate.  Let's hope the Democrat's suffering is over much more quickly.

It was bad but the end is now here

I apprehend the next one with fear

The Trump situation 

Will dampen celebration

But I wish you a Happy New Year!

Last Minute Shipping

Don't have the time to finish all your holiday tasks?  How about delivering packages to a huge number of children all before sunrise?

Santa's delivery operation

Depends on outmoded transportation

His whole research team

Is pursuing his dream

Of quantum teleportation.

Gifts and guests may add to the stress, and then there's all that food you eat 'just to be polite.'

The holidays fill some with anxiety

Others take time to feel piety

After weeks of good cheer

We greet the New Year

And some may feel bloated and diety.

Solstice

If short days and long nights have got you down, relief is on it's way.  

Daylight’s at it's annual low

As all the astronomers know

From now through the Spring

Daylight's returning

The sun will be up more tomorrow.

No matter what other Holiday you observe, the winter solstice is a reason to celebrate!

Post Post Truth Post

Post Truth - word of the Year?  Really?  Post Truth: an adjective defined as 'relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’  

I think it’s much simpler than that. 

I often like verbal invention

‘Post truth’ received undue attention

Emotional appeal

Does NOT make it  real

It’s just lies wrapped up in pretension.

Years ago, a masterful storyteller and novelist, writing under an assumed name, had an important insight about truth and lies.

Samuel Clemens had a fact centered view

As Mark Twain he said stick to what’s true

Lies and fabrications

Create complications

Honesty is easier to do.

Post Truth

The Oxford Dictionary announced a couple weeks ago that "post-truth" is its 2016 word of the year.  According to the dictionary's website, the word is "an adjective defined as 'relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.' "

Reality is now circumvented

No need to have facts documented

If you can conceive it

And people believe it

That is now truth - reinvented.

According to one well placed campaign manager, truth is not important what counts is that people believe it.

Oh what a web people weave

When people lie and deceive

Now all the proof

That is needed for truth

Is if other people believe.

Fake News

This is #Fake_News:  

(Stratford on Avon)  Nov. 29, 2016    Edward Lear has always been credited with the invention of the limerick, but recently discovered notebooks cast doubt on the origin of that often juvenile poetic form.  The notebooks were hidden in a box under the floorboards of an old school building in Stratford on Avon.  While experts are still examining the handwritten poems, some scholars believe them to be the work of a young William Shakespeare, or a teenage boy or girl later calling himself or herself Shakespeare, or a collaborative work of several youths later writing under the name of William Shakespeare.  Below are two samples (with modern spelling) which were later reworked into popular and successful plays.

What light do I see in that window

''Tis the east where those brilliant rays show

Dawn is not here yet

The radiance is Juliet

And the moon seems so pale next her glow.

To exist or desist is the question

To suffer the arrows of fortune

Or sleep, eternally,

To dream, possibly

Who knows what we see when life's done?

Lies and Nonsense You Had Better Believe 

You can’t trust a word he says, but you had better believe it.

He lost in the popular vote,

But he’s at the helm of this boat

With his beliefs

We are heading for reefs

So, how can we keep it afloat?

I don’t think legalizing marijuana will solve the problem.

Recovery may take quite a while

The rhetoric was vicious and vile,

The wounds of division

Are met with derision

How long can I maintain denial?

With Friends Like These

After Trump called Hillary Clinton the most corrupt politician in this country’s history, and accused her of treason, Kellyanne Conway criticized Harry Reid’s description of Trump as a sexual predator, saying “be very careful about the way you characterize somebody.”

A warning from Kellyanne Conway - 

Harry Reid, you should watch what you say,

That’s slanderous opinion.

Accusing Clinton

Of corruption and treason’s OK.

Either he’s a sexual predator, or he’s a bigger liar than we realized.  And his first appointments do not bode well for being “President for all Americans”

Donald Trump has just loaded a cannon

For advisor he put his own man in

As chief strategist

An overt misogynist -

Breitbart dot com’s Stephen Bannon,

Repeat 7 times, changing line 4 to: 

A white supremacist

Self-proclaimed Leninist

A bigoted racist

Anti Islamist

Alt right journalist

A spousal abusist

A conspiracy theorist

I will really miss Gwen Ifill.

R.I.P. - Republicans in Power

The G.O.P declares a mandate, on account of losing the popular vote, losing seats in both the Senate and the House, and wants us to sit back, relax and enjoy the spite.

They tell us to proffer respect

To the man who is President Elect

But first let’s recall,

They gave Barack none at all

A precedent they hope we’ll reject.

It didn’t take long.  So far the promised change seems to be to bring back the lobbyists and former government officials who created the war in Iraq and the Great Recession.  

He vows to take our country ‘back’,

Obama says cut him some slack.

If he picks Giuliani

Gingrich or Christie

He’s a long way down the wrong track.

United Divided States  - R.I.P. 

I missed the support that was forming

I missed all the signs and the warning

So last night was hell

I didn’t sleep well

And woke up this morning in mourning.

It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over, and It Won’t Be Over Then 

I hope someday before I’m senile, that I’ll be able to forget about him.

I can’t cope with Donald Trump’s views

I so hope the gasbag will lose

A horrid nightmare

Who appears everywhere

As he gropes for more ways to abuse.

Standard run of the mill lie:  “I never said Obama wasn’t born in the USA.”

Next level lie.  “I just asked why so many people thought Obama wasn’t born in the USA.”

Up one more level:  “Hillary Clinton was the first person to question whether Obama was born in the USA.”

Almost there:  “Hillary Clinton sent a staff member to Kenya to try to find Obama’s birth certificate.”

What do you call this?:  “Obama should thank me, because I put an end to the rumor that Hillary started that he wasn’t born in the USA.”

If the truth is the ground, Donald’s flying

He hits orbital height without trying

It’s so damn absurd

We need a new word

An expression for On Beyond Lying.

 Remember the Dr. Suess book On Beyond Zebra, where he extends the alphabet beyond Z?  That territory was much more pleasant.

FBI - Fools Barge In

So, the FBI isn’t supposed to try to influence any election, it is against policy to talk about ongoing investigations, or release information so close to an election, but the unverified suspicion that e mails on a computer that Clinton never used, that Huma Abedin rarely used, were most likely on devices already reviewed by the FBI, that the FBI has no idea about their relevance because they haven’t looked at them, because if they looked at them without a warrant they would be inadmissible, that was enough for Comey to announce to the world, through the Republican Congressional Committee Chairmen, that the FBI had finally found something to skewer Hillary Clinton with.  And he had the Chutzpah to say he was in a bind, so he covered his ass.  Sorry, I’m pissed.

I’m in a bind, you hear Comey howl!

Clinton wins - there’s no harm and no foul

But if Comey’s gift

Gives Donald a lift

Then Jimmy is Don’s lifelong pal.

And Comey was wrong about one more thing.  It’s not Wiener’s LAPTOP, it’s his CROTCHTOP computer.

The crap slinging has moved up a notch

Anthony Wiener will anxiously watch

As the FBI gropes

I’m sure that he hopes

Something big will emerge from his crotch.

Please Vote!

Ghosties and Ghoulies

Megyn Kelly interviews Newt - thrice married, dumper of a seriously ill wife, adulterer with an intern, nothing but policy, motor mouth - Gingrich about Donald - thrice …. - Trump.  And Newt says she’s obsessed with sex.

Newt, can’t you figure it out?

There’s no question, ambivalence, or doubt

It isn’t complex

He’s not boasting of sex

It’s assault that he’s bragging about.

Then James Comey, FBI Director, asks the House Republican Committee Chairmen to wish Hillary a Happy Halloween.  

After this what can Hillary do?

The e mails may show nothing new,

But the vague cryptic memo

With undisguised innuendo

Amounts to an FBI coup.

And this is the Guy Gingrich and Comey are supporting and enabling.

I, Alone - a campaign song

Less Than Two Weeks To Go

Remember this when you cast your vote.

Did you notice the article in

The Journal of Political Medicine?

The study says you can

Increase your life span

By voting for Democrats to win.

Just another beat you over the head political message.  This is almost past its sell-by date.

I posted a song weeks ago

That version was long and too slow

The lyrics I fear

Were too hard to hear

There’s a new version below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KD_pO3pOUY

His Royal Aloneness

Why does anyone believe he would work to improve their lives?  Why would anyone take his word over that of 10 women, or even one?  Why would anyone believe his denials of his statements on tape?    Why would anyone believe he’d help the down ticket candidates get elected?  Why would anyone believe he deserved an Emmy for his performance?

He claims to be populist because

He craves the cheers and applause

The hate he is using

Brings on the losing

And now he is grasping at straws.

We here at Conspiracy Headquarters are working overtime to bring him down.

His policies are vapid and brief

His denials beggar belief

But despite his mistakes

He’s got what it takes

To be our Complainer-in-Chief.

Show and Tell

He claims he has good judgement.  Is this an example?  As the owner of a beauty pageant he walked into the dressing room as the contestants were changing, and exercised his ‘good judgement’?

He barged in to watch them undress

Some wore panties, some wore even less.

He owned the show

And wanted them to know

He kept a close eye on his ‘business’.

Does he or doesn’t he?  Or is it just words, all talk and no action?

It’s the video clip of the hour

'Locker room banter' gone sour

The grab he discussed 

Is less about lust

Than an insecure man’s grab for power.

Heavy Issues

Back to Politics 

He's a buffoon, a gloomer and doomer

His campaign is innuendo and rumor

Incitement, insults,

If a huge loss results

Then maybe I'll find some more humor.

He complains that Miss Universe gained weight, and describes some 400 lb. computer hacker, and claims he’s the fittest candidate ever to run for the presidency.

He says he's the fittest candidate

Six foot three and two thirty eight

His BMI’s high

He’s a big guy

And he's thirty eight pounds overweight.

Alright, so maybe I lied.  His medical information says he’s only 236 lb.  But from what I read he has always been 6’ 2” up until this year.  6’ 2”  and 236 is considered OBESE.

Character Matters

I sometimes wonder what my limericks reveal about me, so I decided to try to write a couple from a different point of view.

An investor was heard to opine

”I guess that limericks are fine.

I don’t really care

What content is there

But I do like a good bottom line.”

There was a young sprinter named Dan

Who wrote the same way that he ran

He’d start off in a burst

And he’d finish first.

My thought for the day before the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate. - Thomas Jefferson.

An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people - Thomas Jefferson

Unfortunately he did not say anything about the necessity for informed candidates.

Encore Performance

This was attached to my last post.  Here it is again as the featured content:

To Music:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6CBIwXBWI

Text Alone:

I Alone

I don’t need no policy experts to make this country great

I’m my own best advisor and win when I negotiate

I just use my common sense, I decide and I act

And I don’t let my judgement get clouded by fact.

I'll make America great once again

I’ll solve it’s problems with the stroke of my pen

All along the border I will build a wall

And I will make Mexico pay for it all.

USA’s the greatest brand in modern history

We’ll license the name for a huge, huge fee

Like I did with the steaks and the University

I, alone, can guarantee our prosperity,

I’ll make America great once again

We’ll make a profit while I am President

I’ll cut your taxes and we’ll be debt free

No one handles debt better than me.

Those losers who got drafted thought that war was rough

At home I fought battles that were twice as tough

They were dodging bullets fired by Vietnamese

While I was dodging taxes and venereal disease.

I’ll make America great once again

I’ll make it safe for rich old white men

I’ll deport every Muslim and Mexican

And all the women who are less than a ten.

People call me misogynistic, I’m absolutely not

I love and respect broads, as long as they're hot

They work hard for me when I give them a shot

And the best of it is, I don't pay them a lot.

I’ll make America great once again

Congress will pass any bill I recommend

No one knows the system better than I do

I know much more than those Generals too.

I didn’t rent to Blacks, that’s business strategy

I've done more than anyone for diversity

I opened my club to anybody

Who pays the 100 thousand membership fee.

I’ll make America great once again

Our stupid leaders have left it broken

I’ve seen the polls and my numbers are huge

A rigged election’s the only way I can lose.

I alone can save us all from the sorry state we’re in

I alone have what it takes to win, win, win and win

I alone know what to do, I alone can lead

I am your voice, I am your Twitter feed.

I am your voice, and I alone will speak for you

I am your voice, the only voice I’ll listen to.

No Names

I apologize. dear reader, for the spate

Of political limericks of late

But there’s one candidate

Who makes me irate

And whose campaign is driven by hate.

Sometimes I will write a song

But the gestation period is long

I’ve been working since June

To finish this tune

Before its relevance is gone.

Please feel free to pass it on.  Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6CBIwXBWI

Something Different

Lately I’ve been absorbed by politics, so I thought I would offer something only remotely connected to politics.

Intelligence has many parts

There’s science, language and arts

Athletics and math

But often the path

To success is through people smarts.

People do think differently.

A mathematician named Joan

Wrote limericks in a style of her own

They were formulaic

And all algebraic

Her final rhyme was X, the unknown.

Don’t Play It Again, Sam

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -  George Santayana (16 December 1863 Madrid, Spain – 26 September 1952 Rome, Italy) philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist.

That’s been repeated so many times it must be true.

You may have recently read about our outspoken Governor in Maine.  Please remember  - he was elected with less than 40% of the votes.

His language is crude and profane

His ignorance of policy is plain

His percent (38)

Of the votes in the state

Made LePage the governor of Maine.

His opponents thought he was a fool

‘Cause he spewed lots of male bovine stool

But by splitting support

Both opponents fell short

And we live with minority rule.

It happened twice.  Twice.  It’s your vote.  Don’t throw it away.

Both Sides Now

They’ve already investigated her role in Benghazi more thoroughly than Iraq’s WMD, now Congress wants her e mails.  Colin Powell used an AOL account for some of his e mails and said it was faster and more efficient than the State Dept. System.  (I had to look hard to find that on a credible web site.)

They complain, they scream and they howl

Lock her up, she’s crooked, she’s foul

They fail to recall

Private e mail protocol

Was employed by Colin L. Powell.

Now there’s the Clinton Foundation.  

A donor wanted to meet with Hillary to get a visa for a soccer player - didn’t happen.  LOCK HER UP.  

Paul Manafort worked for pro Russian Ukranians and funneled money illegally to US lobbying firms and the Republican platform was changed to favor Putin’s intentions in the Ukraine.  YAWN.

Hillary’s record’s not pure

And Congressional committees are sure

If they continue to dig

They’ll find something big

In her petty peccadillos du jour.

August Vacation

It’s August vacation for Congress so we can’t really expect much from them right now.  For them August runs from July 18th to September 5th.  They will take a few more days off for the election (October 10 to Nov. 11th) when they return just in time to recess for the week of Thanksgiving.  So when would they have time to replace a Supreme Court Justice anyhow?  It’s just gonna have to wait.

Scalia’s been dead for six months

And Congress decided at once

To obstruct and delay

Because that is the way

Of McConnell the Majority Dunce.

McConnell said he will not play nice

And would hold Garland’s job in a vice

“The people should be heard”

Which is kind of absurd

Those people voted Obama in twice.

 Through the Looking Glass - Very Darkly

QUOTATION: “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” 

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” 

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

ATTRIBUTION: LEWIS CARROLL (Charles L. Dodgson (1832–98)), Through the Looking-Glass, chapter 6, p. 205 (1934). First published in 1872.

Mr. Dumpty was the original egg head

He was confident in all that he said

The words were his servant

And every word meant

Exactly what Humpty intended.

Humpty’s meaning was sometimes oblique

His word use was often unique

Their meaning was bent

To Humpty’s intent

He was the master of political speak.

Any resemblance to any person living or dead, in the public eye or running for public office is unintentional and purely coincidental.  That’s #Sarcasm!

 Day 6 and On and Off

Last of the ship’s blogs from way back in June.

On a terrace cooled by the breeze

Eat a dinner guaranteed to please

A stone's throw from Arki

On tiny Marathi

A dot in the Dodecanese

The fisherman give Pantelis a call

He picks out the best of their haul

It's grilled to perfection

Served with a selection

Of tasty delights - home cooked - all.

Remember to see the real story check sy-thetis.org.  This year’s trips probably won’t be on until fall, but you can check out earlier voyages.

Just one week behind Thetis' mast

Our journey was over too fast

We did all we could do

To be relied on as crew

But mostly we acted as ballast.

Does Anyone Know What Victim Means?

From this week’s The Week magazine …”a growing sexual harassment scandal forced [Roger Ailes] to accept a multi-million-dollar severance package from the network.”  

It’s rumored to be $ 40,000,000.  Who’s the victim here?

The Roger Ailes ‘settlement’ sucks

It totally misses the the crux

Of fairness and justice -

His power play lust is

Rewarded with millions of Bucks.

Now right wingers are complaining that without Roger Ailes at FOX ‘news’ there is no counterbalance to the ‘liberal’ press.  

That ‘liberal’ press that gave Trump more coverage than Hillary or Bernie and the Republicans 63% of all political coverage.  That ‘liberal’ press whose stories on Trump in 2015 ranged from a low 63% positive in the New York Times to 74% positive in USA Today.  (The National Enquirer was not part of the study.)  That ‘liberal’ press whose positive stories on Hillary in the same period were about 33%.  Though Bernie got less coverage than Trump or Clinton, roughly 75% of the stories about him were positive.  Yes that ‘liberal’ press.

see news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/06/the-making-of-the-campaign-2016/

Will Fox lose it’s edge on the air

When Ailes is no longer there?

It’s been feeding the nation

Misinformation

And calling it balanced and fair.

Gloves Off

Now that the campaign is for real He’s going to take the gloves off.

The conventions are over, Thank God

The first one was a little bit odd

The G.O.P stars

Want Hillary behind bars

Or shot by a firing squad.

Was he wearing gloves so that no one could find the fingerprints on Michelle’s 2008 speech?

Trump thought his convention went well

He outlined his vision of Hell

He was praised by family - 

(Though wife number three

Used a speech that was made by Michelle.)

I hope I am not alone is disagreeing with his assessment, his claims, his version of ‘truth’, …

Trump claimed that disaster is near

He listed the issues to fear

He claimed he’s THE CHOICE

He claims he’s OUR VOICE

It’s the only voice he likes to hear.

Days 4 and 5 - Long, Long Ago

This was just over a month ago, but since then … Dallas, Baton Rouge, the attempted coup in Turkey, the G.O.P. unConvention starring Michelle Obama, Lucifer, a juiced up Giuliani, a returned from the dead Chris Christie, the Trump half-siblings, and a liberal sprinkling of lies.  So back to June, a simpler time.

In Lipsi I wasn't too thrilled

With the menu choice  - octopus, grilled

But they were delicious,

With a few other dishes

Our palates satisfied, stomachs filled.

Followed by a stop at a wonderful local bakery for dessert, and then a walk back to the boat under a full moon.

Arki has 40 inhabitants.  We walked by an unfinished compound enclosed by a stone wall.  It was planned as a luxury eco-tourism retreat near a quiet cove.  The view of the sea was blocked by the wall and the only guests were some sheep, not known for splurging on expensive vacations.

On Arki there's not much to report

But an unfinished Eco resort 

A stone walled compound 

Closed to beauty around

And abandoned when money got short.

Truth and Consequences

According to Donald Trump “Hillary is a liar.”  According to the fact checkers her campaign statements were true more often than any other candidate this year ( over 50% true), and Donald’s were the farthest from the truth ( less than 10% true).  Only that doesn’t seem to matter.

They scream when Hillary’s not truthful

But for Donald the truth isn’t crucial

There’s no hullabaloo

When his statements aren’t true

And ninety percent are just bull.

The Convention starts tomorrow and this joke isn’t funny anymore.

We’ve gone far enough down Trump Road

We’ve had more than enough of his load

Of ego and slime

It’s long past the time

When he was supposed to implode.

Ship’s Blog Day 3

The Kambosos family raises sheep and goats on a four square mile island with miles of stone walls to keep the sheep in pasture and the goats running freely.  In summer the population swells to ten because the grandchildren are home from school in Patmos.

Levitha is rocky and bare

And forty kilometers from anywhere

But since 1820

The Kambosos family

Have been the only inhabitants there.

The inlet to the harbor is almost invisible, and the harbor is so deep and rocky that it is very difficult to anchor.  The Kambosos’s installed moorings for visiting yachts.   On a small outdoor terrace they serve dinners of fish, lamb or goat.

Miles from their nearest neighbor

With a deep and protected harbor 

They built a small restaurant

For visitors who want

To eat and to venture ashore.

#Bad Move

ServerGate - another Clinton Scandal!

Hilary Clinton, you fool

It’s too bad that you broke the rule,

The FBI branded

You careless and handed

Reckless Donald a campaigning tool.

It proves she’s crooked!  - Even though:

Colin Powell used a private e-mail server when he was Secretary of State.

The White House Staff sent official government e mails on a private server when George W. Bush was President.

Karl Rove ’s office deleted 22 Million e mails that were required by law to be preserved for the Presidential Archives.

Dick Cheney’s office revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent for political purposes.

That was all very different and can’t be compared to Hillary’s heinous crimes, which apparently were careless, but not against the law.

The Republicans will use it to hit her

But in her defense, please consider

Should their candidate win

The White House will begin

To communicate only on Twitter.

Ship's Blog - Day Two

Paying respect to our hosts.

We start with an SPF massage

Pricey cream all over our bods

The sacrifice we make 

For our poor pale skin's sake

To glorious Apollo the sun god.

As Appollo retires behind the hills.

Moored in a cove off the coast

With ouzo we raise a small toast

To the sea God Poseidon

In whose realm we've been ridin' 

And who's been such a welcoming host.

Remember, for the real story check out sy-thetis.org

Brexit!  Grexit, Texit?

What's next?  Will they hook up with a trophy country?

Britons came out in force

And voted to sue for divorce

They said screw the EU

And its petty rules too,

Let's be friends, with benefits of course!

Is it any surprise that the campaign to Leave left the truth behind?  See the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/opinion/who-is-to-blame-for-brevets-appeal-british-newspapers.html?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-52814-0625-HD&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=

England for the Britons they say
Get the EU out of our way
The vote was resounding
The Pound took a pounding
Many schemes gang aft agley.

Ship's Blog

Somewhat abbreviated and incomplete.  For a more accurate account you will have to wait for the Captain's post on - http://www.sy-thetis.org - probably this fall, after he edits his story of this summer's excursions.  But there is plenty to read and see about earlier trips.

On Saturday we sailed out of Samos
And moored off the island of Patmos
A volcanic crater
That the sea filled up later
During the era of Cronos.

Cronos - Zeus's father and leader of the previous regime.

On Patmos St. John was given
A detailed and world ending vision
Violent and vivid
Because God got livid
With man, in St. John's opinion.

Update

Limericks seem frivolous and inconsequential in the land of Homer and Pythagorus.. Though humor is still essential.

A one hour drive to Bangor
Five bus hours to Logan airport
To Zurich overnight
A seven hour flight
Then Athens in three hours more.

Sixteen hours strapped to a chair
Barreling through the thin air
Our final stop
A one hour hop
To Samos and then we were there.

All I Have To Do Is

I get plenty of exercise because I’m always running - behind.

My to do list preys on my mind

I think that my brain was designed

To postpone and delay

To find a Better Way

That’s why I am so far behind.

Some tasks, like washing dishes, laundry, mowing the lawn, weeding etc. are never done, because they just start up again as soon as you think you are finished.

Zombie tasks are never much fun

Sapping all vigor and animation

Despite all your work

They return and they lurk 

And haunt you, forever undone.

In Other Words

I posted an incomplete limerick about Bernie and Hillary that took me a while to finish.

If the wire is where these two meet

The criticisms they’ve voiced in the heat

May come back to haunt them

Trump will use them to taunt them

And it’s Trump that we have to defeat.

Yeah Him!  - From the NY Times:  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-fundraising.html

But others simply believe Mr. Trump is unfit to serve in the Oval Office. Michael K. Vlock, a Connecticut investor who has given nearly $5 million to Republicans at the federal level since 2014, said he considered Mr. Trump a dangerous person.

“He’s an ignorant, amoral, dishonest and manipulative, misogynistic, philandering, hyper-litigious, isolationist, protectionist blowhard,” Mr. Vlock said.

Mr. Vlock said he might give to Hillary Clinton instead, describing her as “the devil we know.”

He’s a draft dodging war mongering phony

A backstabbing litigious crony

A bigoted, tactless

Bullying, tactless

Spewer of odious baloney.

What Part of Deja Vu Did You Miss?

Just remember when you come to a fork in the road, just take it.

Yogi was one of a kind
In baseball, he said, you will find
The brain is essential
The game's mostly mental
And the rest is all in your mind.

So you wanna hit that new restaurant everyone's talking about?

There are long lines outside the door
There’s no room to move around on the floor
It was a popular spot
But now it is not
It's so crowded no one goes there anymore.

Thank You Yogi

Yogi Berra ( May 12, 1925 - September 22, 2015 ) was one of my heroes when I was young for his baseball skills.  He is still my hero for his verbal skills.  I hope his fans don't mind my mangling his words.

Yogi had a philosopher’s touch
He said the situation is such
That it’s hard to converse
And it’s getting much worse
Because everyone's talking too much.

Before the fat lady starts singing
Pay attention to what's happening
Open your ears and your eyes
It may be a surprise
You can observe a lot by just watching

Primary Problems

It’s been a long primary season and there’s been a disaster on the G.O.P side and a surprise on the Democratic side.

She has experience, connections, desire

He sets the big crowds on fire

She had a big lead

Now it’s harder to read

This race may come down to the wire.

BUT,

Hillary’s the policy master

Bernie wants more change and faster

Whichever you prefer

Either is better 

Than Trump, the shape shifting disaster.

Can you finish this one?  I’ve been struggling without success

If the wire is where the two meet,

line 2

line 3

line 4

But it’s Trump that they need to defeat.

No Wall Will Keep Them Out

Every year you get shocked and awed by an unrelenting band of assailants.

They attack when you step out the door

In a bloody and undeclared war

They remain undeterred

By the casualties incurred

It’s the neighborhood Black Fly Air Corps.

And that’s just the opening salvo in a summer long battle.

It’s spring and the black flies are back

The first wave of the blood letting pack

They bite and dig in

Preparing your skin

For a follow up mosquito attack.

It Used to be Safe to Talk About the Weather

The Chicken Little Climate Change Fantasists have convinced a government (that doesn’t want to spend a dime to improve health care for women) to spend up to one billion dollars to help with ‘climate resilience’.  Just how far are liberals prepared to go with their Global Warming hoax?  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/us/resettling-the-first-american-climate-refugees.html

We’re spending taxpayer dollars to coax

Some sea level Isle dwelling folks

To flee while here’s time

As sea levels climb

Is Climate Change just a liberal hoax?

We are doing too little too late

Global Warming will be our fate

Will we reduce

Our pollution, abuse,

Or will nature just redecorate?

 4 No Trump

No comment.

After nine months out on the stumps

The GOP’s down in the dumps

They’ve handed their branding

To the last bigot standing,

The crudest of curmudgeons and grumps.

Right now it seems Trump is the man.

For everything he has a plan,

He’ll tame his buffoon,

Or we will know soon

What happens when shit hits a fan.

Spring Returns

… to my step?  Maybe a little.  Spring pushes me to start jogging again.  Actually, it removes some of the winter obstacles to jogging, I still have to do the pushing.  The first few times out this spring I walked intermittently, but last week, for the first time in a while…

I jogged the entire three miles

And placed in the upper deciles

Competition was nolo

(I was running solo)

And I finished with gasps and not smiles.

Two in a row.

Today I jogged all the way round

Forty minutes of heels pounding ground

Often gasping for air

Yet many will swear

It’s the way inner peace can be found.

Geography and Pronunciation 101

Welcome to Maine.  I just picked the easy ones.  I mean Eggemoggin is pronounced just the way it’s spelled, but I’ve never actually heard anyone say Passagassawaukeag.

If you rhymed the spelling with palace

A Frenchman might accuse you of malice

If you’re from away

You would call it Calais

But Downeast they call it Calais.

It hurts my ears when people mangle this one.

The name’s pronounced almost like bancorp

It’s an irony no one could plan for

It’s not hanger or banger

Or rancor or anger

Stephen King’s hometown is Ban Gore.

May They Rot in Peace

Our compost pile is a meeting place for vegetable matter from all over the world.  Where else would a pineapple from Hawaii meet a tomato from Mexico, an apple from New Zealand, a weed from Sedgwick, Maine, a cucumber from Chile and a peach from Georgia?  And they all get along.

My compost has an international flair,

Mexican and Chilean produce are there

With tropical fruit

Rotting right next to it

And the local ingredients don’t care.

Much to our own irritation, sometimes we give the process a head start.

We keep produce in the refrigerator

Because that’s what an icebox is for

So I was surprised

The day I realized

That ours has a composting drawer.

 Deadlines

I hope that doesn’t refer to the lines below.  

OK so I finished and filed my taxes on time.  That’s a deadline with some real meaning, because even to file an extension you have to get most of the work done.

With serious consequences in place

There’s pressure to keep up your pace

It’s a delicate art

To know when to start

So it’s pressure, but not panic you face.

But I haven’t prepared the vegetable garden for spring planting, I haven’t picked up the yard debris, I haven’t posted a limerick in over a week, and if I listed all the other evidence of failing to meet self imposed deadlines I’d never ………..

I hate the self imposed deadline

With no penalty, no sanction or fine

Just self induced stress

And the stream of consciousness

Gets dammed up somewhere deep in my mind.

Primary Challenge and Response

Made for TV political theater.

In politics tempers get short

Criticism provokes a retort 

The insults start small

But it’s winner-take-all

Bloodletting full contact sport.

So far much of the blood-letting has been on the Republican side, but with the New York primary coming up, where each claims a home state advantage, Bernie and Hillary are demanding equal time.

Bernie says she’s unqualified

Hillary says Bernie’s tongue-tied

Because he may shirk

Doing his homework.

That’s what happens when egos collide.

Welcome Spring

Whaddya mean, ‘It’s backordered’ ? 

It’s sunny and there’s a light breeze

But no leaves are out on the trees

See, here’s the thing

Although it is Spring

(April 5th) it’s just twenty degrees!

Tax Time

It’s April and our minds turn to what accountants have been thinking about all winter.

It’s April and time to assess

How much money we owe IRS

This pain of the irs

Is made even worse

Since it pays the salaries of Congress.

I do believe in paying my taxes, but it would be nice to get a functional government for my money.  Though my contribution wouldn’t buy much of these guys ‘valuable’ time.

I don’t mind paying my dues

I’d feel better though if I could choose

Where MY money went

It hurts that some’s spent

Paying Issa, McConnell and Cruz.

Who You Gonna Call?

For policy advice Trump says he mostly listens to himself.  Does he? If I heard myself say those things I’d gag myself.

He says he’s his own best advisor

His smartest and best analyzer

With himself to consult

Confirmation’s the result

He’s convinced, but not any wiser.

I sometimes wonder about myself.  I didn’t have to include this next one.  And certainly not in the same post as the one above.  But who could I consult? 

Self reliance is all very nice

There are times when I should seek advice

I might not go along

And admit that I’m wrong

But it might make me stop and think twice.

Who Let the Latin In?

My knowledge of Latin is low

I regret that whenever I go

To where Latin is used

My ego gets bruised

I get no status or quid with my quo.

In an effort to help me, an old friend (poet and word lover Peter Desmond) sent me this:  

“great academic term, for throwing into cocktail party chatter!  OED Online Word of the Day

ad eundem, adv.

To the same degree, rank, or status at another university or institution; by virtue of having previously attained that degree or status at a different university.”

I insulted my friends and annoyed ‘em

When I told them they were not ad eundem

With some college classmates -

Erudite sophisticates -

Who discourse in tones adenoidum.

 Advise and Consent Version 2.016

It’s been a month since Antonin Scalia died while a guest at a Rich Men’s Hangout Hunting, Shooting, Bonding, Secret, Closed Door, No Questions Answered, Retreat in Texas.  Almost before they could get the body out of Texas, the GOP announced it would not ‘Advise and Consent’ on ANY candidate submitted by the President as a replacement for the Justice who believed the Constitution was right about everything.

Within hours of Scalia’s demise

McConnell vowed no compromise

They’ll stall and circumvent 

Constitution and President

With closed minds, closed ears and closed eyes.

The following is not based on verifiable evidence, but on rumor, innuendo and imagination.  It’s publication is protected by the First Amendment and permitted by poetic license (pending).

Those who paid for his Texas retreat

Are irked he vacated his seat

The judge in their pocket

Missed their cases on the docket

Scalia died with his job incomplete.

March Mudness

Yes March is the month of St. Patrick’s Day and the vernal equinox, but…

I know there’s less ice and more thaw

One day’s balmy, but another is raw

Today it is dreary

I’m Cabin Fever weary

And that wasn’t a robin I saw.

Every limerick I start is a dud

I’m overwhelmed by the continuous crud

Of the news every day

It just causes dismay

My Muses are mired in March Mud.

Stupor Tuesday

If the orange haired bigot should win

Then I think that the work should begin

On his Mexican Wall -

We’ll need it after all

To keep thoughtful Americans in.

Win, Win, Win, Win, Win

Trump is an unusual candidate.  Unfortunately, you can’t read this one out loud.

Trump’s prowess - he tends to inflate

Trump’s  facts - he will fabricate

But the fact is

He’s fulfilling one promise,

He’s making  America Grate.

Countdown Reset

Oh! I thought I was so clever, but I was just wrong.  But it would have been more of a shock than Sprat turning up in Edith’s office.

I should have kept my mouth shut

But I opined and rhymed like a nut

I was dead wrong

But I wrote on and on

Mary went and married young Talbot.

Downton Countdown III

Two episodes left.  I wanted to post this as a possibility before the scriptwriters prove me wrong.

Lady Mary still wishes to wed

A rich bloke who is properly bred

I may not be right

But I think one night

Tom Branson may be in her bed.

And why would I think this?  One reason is that Tom Branson treats her like a person, not a trophy to be won.  Another is, who’s left  now that Mary has blown off another ardent admirer?

When Mary has any trouble or care

Tom Branson is always right there

He treats her well

And sees through her shell

And protects the estate for her heir.

I know I’ve gone out on a limb

Of all possible suitors, why him?

There must be a reason

He came back this season

And her prospects elsewhere are now slim.

Click here to comment

Downton Countdown II

Just two episodes left to rinse the soap off this drama.  Last week I complained about Carson, and suggested the writers kill him off.  I still would vote for that in the scriptwriter’s meeting, but in the meantime Ms. Patmore and Ms. Hughes had a brilliant idea.

As he moved round the kitchen he stumbled

He bumbled, he groused and he grumbled

As Carson worked

Mrs. Hughes smirked

But was he sufficiently humbled?

Episode Seven cleared up Moseley’s future, but Barrows’ future is still held tightly in the writers’ hands.  

With Barrows they haven’t a clue

They’re attempting to find something new

He was good at playing bad

Now he’s lonely and sad

He’s survived all that they’ve put him through.

They’ve tried hard to break Barrows free

Of Carson’s overt enmity

They’ve given him the skill set

So the writers could get

Him a job as restaurant maitre d’.

Countdown to Downton Finale

Downton Abbey will end after 3 more episodes.  The scriptwriters have several story lines to resolve.  Here are some of my thoughts:

Since Carson has married his lass

He allows no imperfections to pass

He’ll never retire

So let him expire

I’m tired of the old pompous ass.

Despite that suggestion, I hope the scriptwriters learned better ways to resolve problems after killing off Sybil and Matthew.

And then there are Anna and Bates

Tossed around by malevolent Fates

But they muddle through

They smile and they coo

One’s in trouble and the other one waits.

The Duchess will not compromise

So this is what I would advise

(The world will give thanks)

Fill her script with blanks

And let Maggie Smith improvise.

Jeb!

New Hampshire primary day is here, and the media are saying that Jeb Bush has upped his game.  Decide for yourself.

There was silence, dead air, a long gap

The audience kept their hands in their lap

Jeb Bush went off script

He deftly ad libbed

And said to his listeners “Please clap”.

He wasn’t blowharding, he was refined

He was polite, and a little resigned

But what he did there

No speechwriter would dare

He reimagined their treasured applause line.