Thursday, January 16, 2020

Limerick from a story by Meagan Flynn.


Meagan Flynn. Washington Post.

A graduate of Drake University, where she ducked most of her classes, Ms Flynn
is an accomplished chirurgeon who also happens to dabble in journalism.
Before joining the Washington Post she worked in Texas as a word wrangler
and grammar bushwhacker for several periodicals,
Her background in criminal justice includes a stint as bagman for the Apple Dumpling
Gang, and Two Years Before the Mast.
She enjoys an occasional pine tar implosion and has been known to wash dishes
for homeless Republicans.

ANDREW J. VOLSTEAD
@Meagan_Flynn

He invented Prohibition,
never showing much contrition.
Minnesota born and bred;
drunkards wished that he were dead.
If you drink unto excess,
perhaps some day his name you'll bless!

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




Wednesday, January 15, 2020

God loves all of his children

Image result for book of mormonB

"God loves all of His children and has a vision for each of us."
President Russell M. Nelson

Just what the Lord has planned for me
is pretty hard to guess and see.
I guess an angel, full of dread,
will have to come and smack my head.
I'm fat and lazy, old and sly;
I'm not a very righteous guy.
But when the Prophet testifies
that each of us may win the prize,
then I had better wake up fast --
cuz I don't think the slack will last;
have mercy on my frail physique,
and make my spirit less oblique.
I want to serve, but this rude clown
is much afraid he'll let You down . . . 

A Poem Inspired by a story from Laura Reiley.

Image result for laura reiley washington post
Laura Reiley. Washington Post.

Laura Reiley worked hard to get where she is today.
She has a combination of moxie, chutzpah, malarkey,
 and ranasmurfin..
She has won so many awards that they are housed  inside
Yucca Mountain in Nevada, where they glow eerily at night.
She graduated from the University of Virgina, where she
learned how to turn anchovy butter into a Bachelor's Degree.
She can cook anything that voted for Trump -- as long as she
has enough lard.
She has combined her love of horses with her love of
Indian cuisine to invent the curry comb.



AMERICAN RESTAURANTS ARE CLIMBING ON THE PLANT-BASED MEAT BAND WAGON -- ALL EXCEPT MCDONALD'S. @lreiley

Us carnivores must take a stand.
McDonald's is our leader grand.
Steaks and chops and ribs, egad!
We want them red with blood, not plaid
with fibers from a milkweed plant
or tofu, crickets, and the ant.
The Golden Arches stands for flesh
deep fried into a greasy mesh.
Hold your ground, McDonald's, please!
We want no burgers made from peas.
A single leaf of lettuce suits
our lust for veggies and for fruits
If you should bow to plant-based meats
I'll thump myself to death with beets!





Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Poem Inspired by Story from Tim Carman.




Image result for tim carman washington post
    Tim Carman. Washington Post.


Tim Carman has been a noted food reporter for the Washington Post for the past five years. Prior to that he was a free lance apple polisher for organizations such as The Twinkie Foundation and Anchovies Anonymous.
He received a BA, PDQ, and a BVD from the University of Nebraska, at Kearney (that's pronounced 'Karny,' friend!)
 His awards include Boy Scout citations for bottle cap tossing and a signet ring from the Green Lantern that glows yellow whenever he is in the presence of margarine.
His hobbies include beagles, bagels, and baubles.




"More than a month after McDonald’s introduced its latest fried chicken sandwich — you know, the one that would officially arm Ronald McDonald for a late-entry into the fast-food poultry wars — the product is nowhere to be found outside the test markets of Houston and Knoxville, Tenn.
McDonald’s franchisees are apparently fed up with the delay, according to a recent Business Insider story."
@timcarman


A crew of franchisees one day
set off to find the cause
of why no chicken sandwiches
were in their grubby paws.
They watched as other fast food joints
served patties made of fowl,
while their own Golden Arches
didn't even have an owl.
They sailed the Seven Seas, they did,
and found but little sooth;
plant based meat was plentiful,
but who cared for that truth?
(and that is when the cook began
to drink up the vermouth.)
They blazed a trail through jungles
and they forded rivers wild;
they even entered delis
where the corn beef was high piled.
They checked each nook and cranny,
and they looked beneath the rocks;
they found that kings and colonels
now did watch them like a fox.
(And then some squint-eyed sailor man
did steal all of their socks.)
Ragged and bedraggled much,
the franchisees were sick
of hearing from their customers:
"Hey buddy, where's the chick?"
And so they raided poultry farms
and snatched the birds away.
They ground 'em up in secrecy
and labeled 'em 'gourmet.'
(And though they're mostly feathers
you should see how people pay!)






Wise in their own eyes

Image result for book of mormon

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:21

Wisdom that is lacking faith
is more gossamer than wraith.
Prudence that makes people smug
makes the angels yawn and shrug.
Foresight and true acumen
do not come from mortal men,
but are gifts from God above
given to show his great love.
Never trust the arm of flesh;
trust the Spirit to refresh!

Monday, January 13, 2020

A Limerick Inspired from a Story by Katie Benner.

Katie Benner. NYT.
@ktbenner



Ms. Benner prowls around court houses throughout the country, looking for antique spittoons.
She helped steal a Pulitzer Prize, but was made to put it back by the Mod Squad.
She believes the workplace is so boring it ought to be moved to Narnia.

She has worked as a vagabond loafer in San Francisco, covering things like
park benches and mail boxes with canvas. She was the first one to discover
that Silicon Valley  made hot dogs, not software. 
Before being kidnapped by the Times she appeared on stage
as Thelma Todd in Gone With the Wind. Her expert reporting
on financial hanky panky in the banking industry led to the Wall
Street Crash of 1929. She lives with two cockatoos and a maiden
aunt who gets lost on the subway and has to be retrieved frequently
by Boy Scouts.



"WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr declared on Monday that a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was an act of terrorism, and he asked Apple in an unusually high-profile request to provide access to two phones used by the gunman.
Mr. Barr’s appeal was an escalation of an ongoing fight between the Justice Department and Apple pitting personal privacy against public safety."
By Katie Benner. NYT.  

There was an old lawyer named Barr
who wanted the power of Tsar.
But he had to grapple
with monarchs at Apple,
who wouldn't let him get too far.

Verses from stories by Nicholas Fandos, Lisa Rein, and Joseph Marks.



TRUMP: "IMPEACHMENT? WHAT IMPEACHMENT?"
@npfandos

Mr. Trump has got it right;
there is no need to fuss-n-fight.
To make your troubles go away
pretend they don't exist, I say.
Your foes are goons, your faults a fib;
and drooling Congress should wear a bib.
There's work to do, no time to spare
for Constitution doctrinaire!

*************************
WORK FROM HOME?
NOT IF YOU'RE A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE!
@Reinlwapo

Attention, all you slackers
who from home think you can fool
Uncle Sam that you are working
while beside your pool!
It's time to plant your fanny
in a cold, unyielding seat
in an office lacking all
amenities and heat.
Bob Cratchit never worked from home;
the same applies to you.
And don't expect to get time off
if you come down with flu!

**************************
IRAN ATTACKS! WITH HACKERS . . . 
@Joseph_Marks

Shootin' wars are so passe,
but cyber wars are here to stay.
Iran has got a shoulder chip
that now with venom pure will drip.
Ransomware and worms galore
they'll send to us forevermore.
They'll grab poor students in their jeans
and chain 'em to computer screens
until the internet deflates
right here in the United States.
Then back to analog we go,
thanks to Trump -- the big bozo!