Ink-Stained Wretches, Begone! -- How Much Money do Street Performers Make? -- Goats Invade Boise!

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — President Trump devoted the majority of his time at a rowdy rally here on Thursday targeting the news media, deriding the reporters present as “fake, fake disgusting news.”   NYT

Have you seen the one trick pony,
giving crowds his thick baloney?
He thinks writers are the cause
of the death of Santa Clause.
Making noise but not much sense,
at least he is not on the fence.
He'll have to eat his words, I fear,
when all the jackals turn and jeer. 

Stuart Markus is a full-time musician with one of the wackiest gigs around. Most summer weekends, he plays for the Maserati and Ferrari crowd at Gas Hampton. The gas station, with its celebrity customers, fancied-up bathroom, live entertainment and colorful mural, is an unofficial gateway to the Hamptons. And it may be the best spot to play for tips in all of Long Island.  WSJ

The street performer works a craft
that many people think is daft;
he stands out in the heat all day
for coins and dollar bills, oy vay!
But I, for one, will never scoff;
at least he cannot be laid off! 

It is Friday. It is summer.

And so, with those disclaimers out of the way, we now bring you a news report about dozens of goats that briefly took over a neighborhood in Boise, and Twitter along with it.   Washington Post  

The news sometimes is very slow,

which makes reporters feel quite low;

they'd rather have a murder scene

or something on the British queen.

Paul Manafort is good for laughs,

and uses lots of paragraphs;

but readers tire very quick

of horses dead beat with a stick.

And so today we get to read

about some goats and their stampede

through Boise streets and lawns and parks --

too bad it couldn't be aardvarks.

Or tigers or a pachyderm . . .

Now that is clickbait, I affirm!

I think it's time to get my Kindle;

the news today was just a swindle.