the wall

There was a young man from Oaxaca

Who said it was all foolish talka

To think that a wall

Be built up to stall

The flow North to work and play socca.

French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours

From the Washington Post:   French workers rang in a new year at midnight — as well as a “right to disconnect” law that grants employees in the country the legal right to ignore work emails outside of typical working hours, according to the Guardian.

There once was a clerk in Marseilles 

who threw all her emails away

on Saturday night

with giant delight,

while drinking a sweet cabernet. 

Prayer

  And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.

Doctrine & Covenants. Section 19:28

To pray in secret some decline

Because they think they cannot shine.

But God does not want studied ease

From those who get upon their knees.

Others think the waiting crowd

Will laugh if they should pray aloud.

But they should know that effort made

Is all it takes to make the grade.

There is no right or wrong to prayer;

It should take place most anywhere.

As long as it is said sincere

There’s never any need to fear!

South Korea’s Plan to Rank Towns by Fertility Rate Backfires

From the New York Times:  SEOUL, South Korea — For years, officials in South Korea, which has one of the world’s lowest birthrates, have tried ever more inventive plans to encourage women to have babies.

On Thursday,  [the government] rolled out an online “birth map” that used shades of pink to rank towns and cities by the number of women of childbearing age. But the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative, especially among women, that the website was shut down within hours of its introduction.

A woman who came from Changwon

had no wish to be marked a pawn

with birthrate statistics

by clerks or some mystics.

So now she says: "I'll never spawn!" 

And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

Doctrine & Covenants. Section 18:13.


Think not that any gilded shrine
or choirs with their anthems fine
can please our God as much as one
who turns from sin back to the Son!

The world dissolves from day to day,
and nothing permanent can stay;
but God remembers through the years
all those who come to him in tears. 

2016 in Rhyme Review

The year is slowly passing by us,
filled with war and Zika virus.
The Middle East remains aflame;
Aleppo stands for grief and shame.
Brazil don't want its president;
and South Korea seems hell bent
to oust another Park, alas --
she wasn't quite an honest lass.
And Volkswagen is caught red-handed;
its measurements were not quite candid.
Brexit isolates the Brits
(confirming they are awful twits).
North Korea launches rockets.
Big Pharma fills its greedy pockets.
Fake news is all the news that's fit
the reading public to outwit.
We said goodbye to David Bowie,
Judge Scalia (boy, was he showy!)
Harper Lee and purple Prince
their hair no longer wash and rinse.
Bob Dylan gets a Nobel Prize
but stays surly -- no surprise.
And, of course, the Main Event;
the Donald made his great ascent
to be the nation's leader -- oy!
The path ahead looks corduroy.
We hope the New Year brings relief,
since this year was BEYOND BELIEF!

Yes, this is real: Michigan just banned banning plastic bags

From the Washington Post: A new law in Michigan will prohibit local governments from banning, regulating or imposing fees on the use of plastic bags and other containers. You read that correctly: It’s not a ban on plastic bags — it’s a ban on banning plastic bags.  

A lawmaker in Ypsilanti

made banning of bags something anti -- 

No county or town

can bring plastic down;

ta-ta to the green vigilante!  

David Fahrenthold tells the behind-the-scenes story of his year covering Trump

I’ve been a reporter for The Washington Post since 2000, covering everything from homicide scenes in the District to Congress to the World Championship Muskrat Skinning Contest.

David Fahrenthold writing in the Washington Post



Skinning a muskrat must be
something reporters would flee.
But editors cite
their primeval right
to follow their own daft whimsy. 

To tell a lie to stop a lie . . .

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, wo be unto him that lieth to deceive because he supposeth that another lieth to deceive, for such are not exempt from the justice of God.

Doctrine & Covenants 10:28

To tell a lie to stop a lie is folly, nothing more.
Such policy all honest men should certainly abhor.
The truth can be defended without any mean deceit,
whether it is printed, spoke, or sent out as a tweet! 

Advertising’s Moral Struggle: Is Online Reach Worth the Hurt?

In the zeal to follow consumers wherever they may roam on the internet, advertisers now risk bankrolling sites that are toxic to society, whether by amplifying manufactured political stories or by spreading conspiracy theories virulent enough to drive a man to walk into a Washington pizzeria with a gun. That has inserted a new ethical cost into the automated advertising equation, which promises companies large, desired audiences at low prices with little need for human intervention.

from the New York Times

Mendacity sells lots of news;

it's quick to exploit and accuse.

When automated

it's never outdated,

and pays enough coin to excuse.