Union Leaders Respond With Fury -- Pigs and Pot -- Will Inflation Hit Twinkies? -- More Surprises from Syria -- Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby --

Union leaders responded with fury.

by Howard Blume for the LATimes

Where's the union for the folks

that put up with White House jokes?

Citizens should go on strike

till things are more businesslike.

**********************************

As a result of the stench, residents in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, are suing to ban cannabis operations from their neighborhoods.

by Thomas Fuller for the NYT

Pigs and pot both have a stench

that will make your stomach wrench.

Both are money makers, too --

making wealth ain't cordon bleu.

***********************************

Hostess Brands Inc., the producer of Twinkies and Ding Dongs, is creating new flavors of premium snack cakes called Bakery Petites “to attract new consumers at higher price points,” Chief Executive Andrew Callahan said on a recent conference call. Bakery Petites cost 47 cents an ounce at a Walmart in Chicago, more than double the price-per-ounce for Twinkies.

by Heather Haddon for the WSJ

Don't you dare to make my Twinks

more expensive, you darn finks!

If consumers you would screw

with some products all brand new,

raising prices through the roof

I won't bark a single woof.

But my Twinks you'd better keep

moist and squishy and dirt cheap!

****************************

The immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces flies in the face of the Syria policy that has been outlined repeatedly by senior U.S. officials over the past several months.   by Missy Ryan for the Washington Post. 

The people who flee to Damascus

say "why do they not ever ask us

if we want them here --

we could make it clear

their presence does woefully task us."

**********************

I always thought that Eartha Kitt

had a really splendid hit

with her 'Santa Baby' song;

with her looks she can't go wrong!

Could Santa bring her home to me?

'Twould sure light up my Christmas tree! 

The Continuing Wall Brawl -- Tucker Carlson -- England Gets Cold Feet on Brexit -- What's One Dead Child, More or Less?

International treaties are supposed to guide the design, with the blessing of the International Boundary and Water Commission. But the U.S. has already built about 650 miles of border barriers over the objections of Mexican members of the binational commission.
by Molly Hennessy-Fiske for the LATimes

Show me a commission that the U.S. now obeys;

we're pretty independent with our own indecent ways.

Whether global warming or the placing of a wreath,

we take our mav'rick pleasures as we trample underneath

the comity of nations with our matchless twelve league boots--

and gather thorns and thistles as our most deserving fruits.

***************************

The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has lost advertisers after saying on the air last week that allowing certain immigrants into the United States “makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.”

By Tuesday, 11 companies — including IHOP and TD Ameritrade — said they would stop advertising on his prime-time show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

by Sapna Maheshwari for the NYT

There once was a bozo named Tucker

who spouted like some redneck trucker

on his TV show,

which died not too slow

as sponsors their faces did pucker.

******************************

LONDON —More than two years after Britons voted to leave the European Union, the U.K.’s politicians still can’t agree on what kind of Brexit they want. Now more lawmakers are calling for a do-over, a second referendum that could potentially reverse the results of the first.   by Max Colchester and Jason Douglas for the WSJ

Divorces are messy, you know;

so Britons should go very slow

and rethink their plans

to rescind the banns

to go it alone on Skid Row.

********************************

Green said he saw scores of children “stacked” in holding cells and huddled in foil blankets on concrete floors, alongside toilets lacking privacy screens.      by Nick Miroff for the Washington Post. 

Little children, come with me
to a prison where you'll see
lots of bunks and tinfoil wraps,
manacles and gingersnaps!

Do not worry, children dear;
though the place looks very drear.
It is where you get to stay
while your parents go away.

And should you die before too long
amidst the wailing weeping throng,
remember that your Uncle Sam
really doesn't give a damn.

***********************

The Charitable Trump

President Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and to give away its remaining money amid allegations that he used the foundation for his personal and political benefit, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday.

by David A. Fahrenthold for the Washington Post 

Charity begins at home, and that's where it should stay;

helping fam'ly members to a prosperous payday.

With tax laws so confusing and accountants often blind,

the rich get all the Gouda while the poor get all the rind.

The poor are always with us -- as are all the scheming owls

who dip their talons in the pot because they have no bowels.

Chinese Students and their Fancy Cars -- The Price of Avocados -- Have You Moved Your Elf Yet? -- Santa Claus is Coming Apart

“Chinese international students are seen as a monolith,” said Yichen Li, an honors art major raised in Beijing who has heard classmates say negative things about rich Chinese students with their fancy cars.

by Teresa Watanabe for the LATimes

When fancy cars are driven by someone who is not me

I tend to treat them with a cranky animosity.

The rich and carefree youngsters that this world is full of, Jack,

set my dentures clacking and put me on full attack.

It isn't that I'm jealous of their opulent lifestyle;

it's just that I'm expecting pretty soon to be senile.

So let 'em drive their sporty cars and breeze through college classes --

money doesn't make a scholar out of young jackasses.

*****************************************

Amazon also asked cities to provide the costs of a “gallon of 2% milk, loaf of whole wheat bread, and an avocado” at a local Whole Foods, the organic grocer that Amazon owns.

by Karen Weise for the NYT

The price of avocados is important to the 

schemes

 of Amazon big cheeses and their monetary dreams.

And moo juice by the gallon is an algorithmic trend

that corporations disregard at peril, my good friend.

When whole wheat bread is pricey, then Millennials will wilt --

and wash away forever like some tide-born murky silt.

This is not footling research nor a whimsical puruit;

without this kind of data modern man is but a brute!

***************************************

Parents must have plausible explanations when they forget to move the elf. Ms. Harris-DiStefano once showed her daughter a letter from the elf saying bad weather kept him from the North Pole.

by Katherine Bindley for the WSJ

Old Santa doesn't need an elf to keep an eye on me;

I'm hooked up to the North Pole with a cam'ra, dontcha see?

He knows when I've been good or bad, and when I brush my teeth --

He knows I'm baking cookies and have trimmed the Christmas wreath.

Of course when I go out the door he cannot spy on me;

unless, perchance, he's got a drone on my trajectory?

He's greedier than Google when it comes to data mining;

I hope the EU brings him down with continuous fining!

*************************

A British Santa Claus made it onto his own naughty list after he reportedly panicked upon hearing a fire alarm, ripped off his fake beard and began “shouting and swearing” at children to evacuate a popular dockside Christmas festival.

by Amy B Wang for the Washington Post

When Santa gets all crazy and is acting like a louse,
I'm very much reminded of the guy in the White House.
Both are mythic figures who adults do not believe;
and both can punish children, though they're small and so naive.
Perhaps this Christmas season down the chimney will be flown
not Santa but instead an INS-maneuvered drone.

********************************

Delight thyself also in the Lord

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Psalms. 37:4

An unencumbered heart requires

only what the Lord desires.

Nothing tainted, nothing small,

wants the loving heart at all.

Give the keeping of thy heart

to the Lord for a fresh start.

Alone

Research suggests that those who are isolated are at an increased risk of depression, cognitive decline and dementia, and that social relationships influence their blood pressure and immune functioning, as well as whether people take their medications.

Loneliness and isolation are bad for your health at any age, but the forces that take hold late in life often compound it. Retirement shrivels social networks formed through work. Hearing loss and worsening mobility impede talking face-to-face and participating in group activities.

by Janet Adamy & Paul Overberg for the WSJ

The children forget to call.

The mail is a pile of bills.

It looks like no sun today.

Have I taken all of my pills?

Can't stand the radio on.

Silence is kind on my ears.

Why should I shave the old face?

There sure won't be any sightseers.

Ramen tastes good with an egg.

 Milk gives me way too much gas.

TracFone has ten minutes left.

Should I take a free online class?

Time to recline in my chair.

Can't pretend I am downcast.

Best friend I've had of them all --

alone with my Kindle at last! 

The Wall

President Trump made a meandering plea for border wall funding Tuesday, just hours before a high-stakes meeting with Democratic congressional leaders as a deadline approaches to reach a budget deal next week and avert a partial government shutdown.

by John Wagner for the Washington Post

I gotta have that wall right now

the President exclaimed.

Those awful migrants at the gates

will leave us dead and maimed!

They wanna roll right in and snatch

our livelihoods and wealth --

and they don't even have the grace

to do it with some stealth.

Brazen and resourceful, they're the enemy we dread.

Blue collar jobs they lust for, and will steal our daily bread.

No English do they habla; they're as ignorant as dirt.

(And by the way, Rosita, would you please go wash this shirt?)

A caravan of gangsters; such low morals do they breed --

if we don't build that wall right now we're facing a stampede!

I cannot be responsible for what this country faces

when all of South America comes here to take our places.

So either build my wall right now or government be hanged --

I'll close up shop until you give me power that is fanged!

*********************************

Postcards 10

Thanking the Journalists in My Life; Listing Them One by One

These are the journalists who have meant the most to me during 2018. Their praise and encouragement of my topical poetry has kept me going over rough patches and depressing hollows. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to:

John Schwartz   NYT

Jon Talton  Seattle Times

Lela Moore  NYT

Hanna Ingber  NYT

Joseph Palazzolo  WSJ

Corey Kilgannon  NYT

Rachel Abrams  NYT

Christina Zhao  Newsweek

Dennis Overbye  NYT

Fred Melo  St Paul Pioneer Press

Dan Barry  NYT

Peter Baker NYT

Paul Vigna  NYT

Jack Dolan  LATimes

Benjamin Oreskes

Vidhi Doshi  NYT

Esther Fung  WSJ

Karen Kaplan  LATimes

Theresa Vargas  WaPo

Jennifer Maloney  WSJ

Lois Collins  Deseret News

Michael Corkery  NYT

Robert McMillan  NYT

Becky Krystal  WaPo

Paul Berger  WSJ

Sheila Kaplan  NYT

Amy Gardner  WaPo

Brad Plumer  NYT

Dominique Fong  Peking News

Joshua Dawsey  WaPo

Anne Tergesen  WSJ

Anupreeta Das  WSJ

Vanessa Fuhrmans  WSJ

Jonathan Rockoff  WSJ

Elizabeth Dwoskin  WaPo

Amy Nutt  WaPo

Melissa Gomez  NYT

David Pierce  WSJ

Amy Wang  WaPo

Martine Powers  WaPo

Marc Fisher  WaPo

Jen Bendery  Huffington Post

Rachel Pannett  WSJ

Lisa Rein  WaPo

Bob Davis  WaPo

Coulter Jones  WSJ

Jim Hegland  Minot Daily News

Scott Shane  NYT

Katie Benner  NYT

Brian Hershberg  WSJ

Catharine Hamm  LATimes

Drew Harwell  WaPo

Vipal Monga  WSJ

Newley Purnell  WSJ

Kirsten Grind  WSJ

Jonathan Emont  WSJ

Kate Aurthur  BuzzFeed

Doug Tice  StarTribune

Dan Kelly St Paul Pioneer Press

Jordana Green  WCCO Radio

Penelope Green  NYT

Amy Argetsinger  WaPo

Andy Newman  NYT

Andrew Jacobs  NYT

Joshua Zumbrun  WSJ

Bob Hagerty  WSJ

Melanie West  WSJ

Matthew Goldstein  NYT

The Ceaseless West Wing Backbiting -- Got 20 Thousand Dollars? Then Go Shoot an Elk! -- The Fractured British Political Landscape -- Butina and the Fixed American Elections

The ceaseless West Wing backbiting that captures headlines has belied the reality of working there, which is that aides form tight cliques and burrow into those friendships to endure the chaos of the work environment.

by Maggie Haberman for the NYT

The Founding Fathers knew that when America grew great

that cliques would form the backbone of Democracy's mandate.

They wrote the Constitution so that cabals could supervise

policy decisions and detect all foreign spies.

The clannishness of West Wing clerks, who dress up in tight slacks,

is really inspirational -- and proof against attacks.

If anything will save our land from ruin and infamy,

it's got to be those guys and gals who form a coterie!

*****************************************

Hunting generates up to $2 million a year in revenue for the company, with hunters paying up to $20,000 to shoot elk.

by Louis Sahagun for the LATimes

Shooting elk is something I have never done before;

they seem majestic creatures with a natural rapport.

Once I shot a rabbit in my bathrobe at one blow;

how it got into my bathrobe I shall never ever know . . . 

******************************

The fractured British political landscape makes it difficult to find a deal around which lawmakers can coalesce. If Parliament can’t decide on a form of Brexit, then the default option is for the country to leave the EU with no deal at all in March.

by Max Colchester for the WSJ

In Britain politicians are a pitiable bunch --

they can't decide on soup or salad for their midday lunch.

They vote a measure up and then they vote the same thing down --

they have the reputation of a silly circus clown.

But being an American, I think this poem, alas, is rather like a slingshot in a polished house of glass.

********************************

Butina’s efforts to network with U.S. conservatives coincided with what the U.S. intelligence committee has said was an elaborate effort by the Russian government to interfere with the American electoral system and help elect Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

by Spencer S. Hsu and Rosalind S. Helderman for the Washington Post

American 'lections today

are subject to large Russian sway.

Butina's the tip

of icebergs that drip

influence like mist on a quay.