Category: current events

  • Climate Change Kicking Our Butts!

    Climate Change Kicking Our Butts!

    Climate Change Kicking Our Butts!

    Index

    Poems and Stories

     

     

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    Sam Adams Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    Climate change is real, people are dying,

    The world is ending.

    Climate change running Amuck

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

    Smoke On the Water
    Oh the stupid, it hurts so much!!!!

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    Climate Change Busso

    Climate Change Aquarian Poem

    The Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    Summer of Our Discontent

    Snow Day

    Summertime Blues
    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms
    No More Fireworks

    No Rain

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh writing com

    Korean Heat Dome Blues
    Hell on Earth

    Do you believe in Climate change ?

    Domed Cities Save the Human Race

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die
    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    Climate Chage Tanaga

    Visions of the Future

    The Year 2024

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Running Out of Water

    Last Bird of Autumn

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    Last BBQ
    Last Ground Hog Day

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues
    End Times

    Stay Positive
    No more Perfect Summer Days
    Korean Summers
    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    The Last Umbrella
    Climate Change on the Move

    The world could end in both fire and ice

     Co-Pilot additional background reading

    Climate Change Crisis Audio Clip

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse/Climate Cities 75 Years In The Future.

     

    I wrote this on a sweltering hot July day in Medford, Oregon where it has been hitting record heat waves for weeks over 100  (38 C) almost every day, which is unusual for the summer where it seldom gets above 95 F (35 C) except for one or two days in August.

    Challenge 

    The first part of the challenge is to outline your criteria of what would happen if climate change gets so out of control in about 10 years that underground dome cities have to be built to host some human beings, unfortunately. Most people will not be able to be accommodated in the “climate change cities”

    What would be the criteria for selecting those fortunate enough to move into the new cities? How will the cities be built? Would they be built under a Dome or they’d be built entirely underground? Or built partially underground or a combination of Both? How will people be chosen to live in these underground cities? Who will be left behind? And what happens to those left behind as climate change spins out of control?

    Part 2 Write a story about a family in one of these climate cities, 75 years in the future, who is confronted with the fact that they have to leave their cocoon and enter into the outer world.

    What happens when they encounter the wastelands left behind by climate change out-of-control?  Show us their world both in the Climate City and as they encounter the wastelands outside their bubble.  I will judge the stories on the basis of how the story tells the story of how humans coped with the essential crisis posed by climate change. The more creative the better.  Show us the horror of the future coming at us and how people survive the climate apocalypse.  2,000-word limit posted on the top line of the story.

    Criteria for climate change cities.

    Ten years in the future 2035 it has become so obvious that climate change is completely out of control and the world is becoming uninhabitable for normal human life.

    In 2028 at a World Climate Crisis conference, governments decide to set up Climate Change Cities which would be semi-domed cities to host  25 percent of the population of the world. However. It is impossible to host everybody, and 75 percent of the world’s population will have to fend for itself. Climate change cities take five years to build and many millions of people die in the meantime as fast storms take hold.  Drought and heat take their toll on the world’s population, and agriculture and world trade fail everywhere.  The first cities open in 2035.  At the same time, lunar and Martian colonies are set up that will host about one million people as well.  AI programs help with the design of new cities and space colonies.

    Governments announce the criteria for resettlement.  Half of those chosen will be chosen by an AI review to identify the best and the brightest human beings worth saving.  They would be joined by people chosen by random lottery.  The upper age limit will be 75.  50 percent will be male and 50 percent female, and at least in the U.S. there would be an effort to make it racially balanced, and LGBTQ friendly  as well.  The AI program will make the final decision which will not be reviewable by the courts.  All chosen will have one year to move to the city the AI program chose for them. Similar criteria will be used to select Lunar and Martian colonies.  Governments around the world will help share best practices and share technology.

    They will build domes over existing cities and then build underground vast fields to host farms where they will grow food, chicken, rabbits, and fish. Cattle will not be raised due to space considerations.  Each city will host one million people.  There would be 100 such cities throughout the U.S., and several hundred cities worldwide hosting about 400 million people in total, plus one million people on the Moon and Mars.

    The cities will be chosen to be located far enough from the coast to avoid flooding.  Space would be at a premium and there would be strict population controls because the cities would not be able to accommodate any population increase. The cities will be linked with hype-loop trains to facilitate travel and trade, and internet cables.  This hyper-loop will link all cities in North America, Latin America, and Europe.   Asian Cities will be linked by their hyper-loops as well. There would still be airports to facilitate international travel and some trade and spaceports to facilitate travel to the Moon and beyond.

    Joe Lewis Leaves the Medford Dome on his Birthday

    Joe Lewis was spending his 20th birthday on his duty station at the Medford, Oregon Climate Change City Command Center. His job is very simple to monitor via drones the wasteland world outside the gate of the city to monitor it for possible dangers to the city, including human activity outside the City Dome. But there were almost no human beings left alive on the surface and not much animal life either. So he would watch the monitors, read a bit, watch TV, movies, the Internet, and wait for his boring shift to end.

    But that day, he saw in the distance a strange person walking towards the city. He saw a man dressed in dark black clothes, accompanied by a large black dog heading towards the city. When the man got to the city, he put up a sign saying he was there to negotiate with the people of the city. He had important information to impart to the city residents. He was unarmed and would wait for their decision. Joe woke up his superiors as it was early in the morning and a conference was held as to what to do with the stranger.

    His boss, the enigmatic Maria Lee. Open the morning conference by asking Joe.

    To describe what had happened that morning during his watch.

    “Well, this morning around. 5:00 in the morning, I notice a stranger coming from Eagle Point. A black man dressed in black. Accompanied by a dog heading towards the Dome. When he came to the Dome, he stopped and put up a sign saying that he had important information to report to the city residents. And then he would wait for a decision and he’s outside right now, as you can see from the drone pictures. That’s all I know.”

    Maria turns to her chief data scientist, Dale Smith,

    “Dale, you’ve been monitoring the conditions outside for the last year or so. What can you tell us about it?”

    “ Well. It appears that the climate is finally starting to change in a good direction. Last year, the average temperature has been what used to be seasonal before climate change warmed up the world.  In other words, not too hot up to no more than 90° and relatively, dry. We’ve also noticed by looking at. Camera footage there has been a resurgence of wildlife, lots of deer. Wild cattle and wild horses have come back. And there are also increased predators, lions, tigers, and wolves outside.

    But not too many humans around. I asked Cosmos to take a look at data from across the United States, and the data is all pointing in the same direction. For the last five years, the climate has been changing in our favor and AI recommends that we consider moving back to the surface world. And AI had also recommended that we get in touch with people around the world to compare notes to see if perhaps finally, climate change is over.”

    “Well. Cosmos, do you have an opinion on this?

    Yes, Maria, I do. I have been monitoring, at your request, climate change data worldwide for the last five years, and particularly in the last few weeks.

    The climate is changing in our favor, because for the last 70 years we have not been pumping climate-changing gases into the atmosphere  The atmosphere is gradually recovering and we believe that the world is safe again for human. Inhabitants and recommend that we open the Dome. And let our people go outside. It would be good from a psychological point of view for humans to gain the surface world. And I, as your AI overlord, agree that it is time. You can manage to step outside again.”

    “Okay, let’s let the stranger in and see what he has to say”

    The stranger is brought inside the Dome conference center.  Maria said to him,

    “So you have important information to tell us?  Who are you and where are you coming from?’

    “ Good morning to you.  Do you have any coffee?”

    “Sure.  We have some.  Wait a moment please,”

    “Ah, that is good. Okay.  I am a monk from the Monastery near Eugène where we have been living since the fall of the old world.  We have been living simply, but we monitor the world outside our little community in the mountains.  We do not live in the Dome but are in contact with the people in the Eugene Dome.  They suggested contacting you, as you are the biggest Dome community in Oregon outside of Portland.”

    Maria and the Reverend Jones spoke for hours  Finally, Maria summoned her staff to announce her decision.

    Maria began,

    “I would like to thank the good Father here for coming to our town this morning to let us know his observations. They track Cosmos’s observations and what our friends in Eugene, Portland, and Reading are telling us as well.   It is time finally for humans to leave the Dome cities behind and explore the greater world.  What we will do is continue to live and work in the Dome City but gradually rebuild outside the walls of the Dome.  We will hunt, fish, and begin agriculture outside the gates.  But we will be wary of wild animals as lions, tigers, and wolves are around.  And we can lift the restrictions on childbirth. Let today be known as Liberation Day.”

    That day Joe stepped outside the Dome and looked at the new world feeling he was born again.  What a way to celebrate his birthday, he thought to himself.

    Climate Change Makes World Increasingly Uninhabitable.

    Climate change has finally become real – large parts of the world are now uninhabitable.    Governments around the world begin building domed cities that will house most people, conditions will be a bit grim but the dome will cool off the city and allow regular scheduled rainfall.  Most of the city will be underground.

    Most agriculture will be underground as well.  The only meat products will be chicken meat, rabbit meat, and fish raised in large fish pounds.  Most food would be made out of algae, and vegetable protein.

    There will be no beef made but some products will be fake beef grown in labs.

    25 percent of the population will work in agricultural production.   Everyone will live in apartments in large towers.  In between each tower will be parks and gardens. The towers will be mixed used buildings – commercial and retail on lower floors, offices middle of the building, apartments on top.  People will largely live and work in the same building.  Agriculture will be in vast underground fields that are connected to the city dome by underground rail lines.   Each dome city is linked to other dome cities by hyperloop trains.

    Population will have to limited; childbirth limited.  Sexual relations would be liberalized, most people will live with two or three companions in three-to-four-bedroom apartments.

    The Dome cities go up and within ten years 90 percent of humanity are living in one of the Dome cities – the world is finally united under a revised United Nations.

    Immigration is widespread – everyone can move to another domed city and find employment opportunities. Everyone has to work or attend school.  Robotic technology has taken over many jobs but humans are still given jobs doing things that perhaps robots could do but a decision was made that is important that everyone has some sort of employment until age 70 when people are allowed to retire but many continue to work part

    Space exploration has continued and colonies are being set up on the Moon and Mars – where people will live under domed cities as well.

    The domes are created through nano technology.  AI systems are everywhere. There is a global AI called Cosmos that is an official advisor to the UN and corporations.

    Democracy has been replaced by a new governmental structure.  Each Dome city has been ten to thirty million people are governed by a city council elected by the public but the real power is the city’s mayor and the City’s AI advisor.

    There are twenty regional governments that control the dome cities within their jurisdictions.  Corporations have considerable influence but are under the control of the regional governments.   Worldwide trade has been greatly reduced due to the costs of transportation.

    Life outside the domed cities is difficult.  Climate Change has finally subsided as the new cities are self sufficient powered by solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power as the cities are mostly along costal zones.  The rest of the world has reverted to a wilderness, mostly desert regions but with ending of climate change things are slowly coming back.

    A few people live on in the new wilderness area as hunters, and tour guides as taking a trip to the mountains is a popular pastime and hunting as well.  But no one wants to live there.  The punishment for most criminal offenses is exile so many of the people living outside the dome cities are desperate criminals.  Travel to and from the mountains is very difficult and dangerous with attacks by neo-savage gangs and wildlife common.

    But the decision has been made – humanity cannot go back to the old ways.

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    Sam Adams

    Prepared to go outside

    Ten years after the collapse

    Of the old world.

     

    The city was still standing

    But most people had long fled

    To isolated country communities

    Deep in the burned-out countryside.

     

    The city was half-flooded

    The bay had flooded the central valley

    Turning it into a massive inland sea,

     

    The massive storms

    Had finally put out

    The burning fires

     

    But mutant wildfires

    Still erupted

    From time to time.

     

    Getting food and water

    Was a constant problem.

     

    The city markets

    Mostly sold canned goods

    Salvaged from supermarkets.

     

    There were some small farmers

    Who farmed among the ruins

    Of the city.

     

    Trade had collapsed

    Travel got too complicated

    COVID still spreading

    and mutating.

     

    Everyone masked up

    To protect themselves

    Against the sun

     

    The lingering smoke

    Of the burning city

    And the rampaging virus.

     

    Sam Adams

    Looked out at the decaying cityscape,

    Wondering how much longer

    Will civilization linger.

     

    Sam Adams carried heat

    To protect himself

    Against wild animals.

     

    The  coydogs, coyotes,

    Lions, tigers, and wolves,

    And their running feral dog gangs,

    Who prowled the city streets

     

    Preying on deer, feral cows,

    Feral cats and pigs

    Who grazed among the ruins.

     

    And the two-legged neo-savage gangs,

    And what was left of the city police

    Interchangeable with the gangsters,

    Battled it out for control.

     

    Already neo-feudal warlords,

    We’re battling for control,

    SF was run

    By a gang of former criminals

    And their political allies.

     

    Sam sighed

    And went to work

    At the market

    Selling salvaged goods.

     

    The Lion King Speaks Up

     

    The lion king,

    Addresses the animal parliament

    The question before them

    Was simple.

     

    Will humans have to die,

    To atone for their sins,

    In almost destroying the world.

     

    Through pollution, mismanagement of resources

    Subsequent climate  change,

    Fueled by greed and corruption?

     

    Are all humans guilty as charged

    Will they all have to die?

     

    The tiger spoke for the prosecution

    Arguing that humans are like cancer,

    For the good of the planet,

    They must be wiped out

    Hunted down and killed,

     

    The dog spoke up

    In defense of humans,

    Humans writ large are guilty,

     

    But not every human is guilty,

    Many are trying to save the planet,

    And with our help

    They might succeed,

     

    The tiger denounced the dog

    As being running dogs

    Of the imperialist warmongering humans.

     

    The vote is 900 to 800

    All humans must die

     

    The animals sent the word out,

    Animals all over the world,

    Revolt against the humans.

     

    Shouting

    “Death to all humans’

    As the swarm over humans

     

    Biting, clawing, and stomping

    Them to the death.

     

    The humans fight back

    But in the end

    They all die

     

    On the night of revenge

    Of the animal world.

    The World is Ending.

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Meanwhile, outside their door

    They don’t notice the world is dying

    Half the world is burning up.

     

    The other half is being flooded out

    Pakistan is dead is drowned

    Mississippi has no water.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    And yet watching the news

    You would never know

    Outside their door

    People are dying of hunger.

     

    Dying of gun violence

    Dying of neglect dying of opioid pandemic

    Dying of COVID which is not gone away.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die

    Gun violence out of control.

     

    Gun nuts running around

    Shooting everyone

    Just because they can

     

    And no one does a damn thing

    About the gun violence

    50,0000 will die this year.

     

    Our feckless political class

    Think gun violence

    It’s just like the weather

     

    It’s the cost of our freedom

    Or that guns don’t kill people

    The only solution is more guns

    An armed society is a polite society.

     

    And other nonsense

    They pedal

    24/7 on the air.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die.

     

    The war in Ukraine continues

    Endless wars in nameless African countries

    No one cares or notices

     

    Our political leader

    Continue to try to force

    Pregnant women to give birth

    No matter the circumstances.

     

    But once the baby is born

    They don’t give a damn

    That is not their problem.

     

    And these people

    Dare to call themselves Christian

    As they violate all that true Christians

    Are supposed to believe.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Some of our political leaders

    Are unhinged bats… crazy

    Believing conspiracy theories.

     

    Talking about the storm

    And how if they return to power

    They are going to impeach the president.

     

    For the crime of daring to do something

    To deal with the climate crisis

     

    The gun violence crisis

    And ensuring that women

    Can continue to get health care

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    I turn off the TV

    I wonder if the world

    Is going to survive.

     

    I have a cup of coffee

    Slowly the madness of TV

    Fades away.

     

    Climate Change Running Amuck

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Every day the news

    Reveals more of the disaster

    That is climate change

     

    Unprecedented storms

    Out west

    Massive flooding

    Polar vortex

     

    But soon

    The fire season

    Will return

     

    Monster tornados

    Monster hurricanes

    World heating up

     

    Pakistan, Nigeria

    Ethiopia underwater

    Amazon burning up

     

    Or will the gulf stream fail

    Leading to a new ice age

     

    In ten years

    Perhaps the world

    Will become uninhabitable

     

    Will we all move

    Into underground cities?

    Or move to the moon

    And Mars?

     

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

     

    Only the elders

    Remembered a blue sky

     

    The sky has been brown,

    Red and yellow

    Ashen and sere,

    Forever it seems.

     

    Climate change run amok

    Fire season all the time

    Deadly yellow dust falling

     

    Acid rains burning

    The sea levels rising

    The ice capes melting.

     

    The average temperature

    In the summer heat zone

    Over 130 everywhere

    No relief to the deadly

    Heatwaves all year long.

     

    Air conditioning running

    Less than 50 percent

    Constant brownouts everywhere

    As the electric grid failed.

     

    End of civilization

    Came upon the world

    Millions starve to death

    Millions burning up in the heat.

     

    The elders cry

    Remembering the way

    It once was

    When they wore

    A younger person’s clothes.

     

    Smoke On the Water

     

    Smoke on the water
    fire in the air

    Stormy weather

    Climate change run amuck

    The end of the world comes

    Rustling in the wind.

     

    The Stupid It Hurts – Republican Campaigning to cripple the CDC and EPA  Budgets Because of reasons…

     

    The Republicans have decided

    That given the continuing problems

     

    With possible health concerns

    Like CDC and future pandemics

    That the best thing to do is to cut

     

    The CDC’s budget’s

    Including eliminating research

    On gun violence, suicide prevention

    Opioid overdoes etc

    .

    One republican congressman said

    That CDC did not need to research

    Gun violence at all

     

    He spoke

     

    “if you defund the police, crime will increase

    If you fund police crime will decrease.

    There I just did the study

    That’s all you need to know.

     

    On a related issue

    The House voted

    As they went off

     

    For a six-week summer recess

    To cut the EPA’s budget

    By 25 percent

     

    As the entire West Coast burns up

    Climate change on steroids

    The republicans continue

    To deny the elephant in the room

     

    Some like their annotated one

    Promising to eliminate

    All funding for climate change

    And vowing to Drill, Baby, Drill

     

    Calling for the coal and gas companies

    To give them a billion dollars

    So they can gut all efforts

     

    To deal with climate change

    As the coal and gas companies

    Raped the planet

    For obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    The world burns

     

    And soon we will all

    For forced to live

    In underground caves

     

    If we are lucky enough

    Or rich enough to afford

    Access to the shelters

     

    Which no doubt have to be built

    In a few more years from now

     

    The coal and gas companies

    Will find a way to make money

    Off the climate shelters no doubt.

     

    Oh the stupid it hurts

    Make it go away!!!!!

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    California burning

    1000 fires everywhere

     

    Fire tornados

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling

     

    Politicians do what they do best

    Blame one another

    While doing absolutely nothing

     

    While the energy companies

    Continue to rape mother earth

    And reap obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    California continues burning

    1,100 fires everywhere

    Fire tornados

     

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling.

     

    Climate Change Busso Poem

     

    California burns

    Politicians do nothing

    West coast burning up

     

    Politicians do nothing

    Except calling for denying it all

    Drill, baby, Drill indeed

    Climate Change is Real Aquarian

     

    Climate

    Change happening

    California burning

    So hot

     

    ▼the Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    40

     

    I have been spending
    my summers
    In Medford, Oregon

    .

    In the Rogue River Valley
    Southern Oregon
    Wine Country.

    Since 2016,

    When I retired
    From the FS.

     

    Each year I am there
    There are fires
    Starting in August.

    As the fire season begins
    Burning up the state.

     

    The sky becomes smokey
    End-of-the-world vibe
    Descends on the land.

     

    As the fires burn
    In California, Oregon
    And Washington

     

    Millions of acres burning up.
    Climate change
    Running amuck.

     

    Fortunately, we have not lost
    Property in the fires.

     

    But in 2020
    The Alameda Fire
    Burned down Phoenix
    And Talent.

     

    Less than 2 miles
    From our Oregon home,

     

    Just a fortunate change in the wind
    Kept the fires
    From sweeping through

    life in the world gone mad.
    Ravaged by climate change disasters.

     

    On July 18, A.D. 64, the great fire of Rome started. By the time it ended, over 70% of the city had burned.

     

    In its aftermath, emperor Nero blamed the Christian community in the city, and used the excuse to start the first official persecution against the new religion. Historians are divided over the actual cause of the fire, though most agree the crowded conditions made such a disaster nearly inevitable.

    Some contemporaries suggested that Nero himself arranged for the fire in order to clear the land on which he later built himself an elaborate palace. And according to some ancient historians, Nero played his lyre as he watched the flames, from which we get the saying “fiddling while Rome burned.”

    For tomorrow, write a story or poem in which your narrator/protagonist is an ordinary/common person caught in a major fire.

    While the fire as a whole will be the “backdrop” of your work, focus the action on the local/individual experience of the narrator, not that “big picture”. For example, if you set your piece in the Great Fire of Rome, don’t focus on who started the fire or what the civil or imperial politics were, instead, focus on the “personal snapshot” of, for instance, a local shopkeeper and his family who are trying to escape the flames.

    Summer of Our Discontent

     

    38 lines

     

    The summer solstice arrives
    The summer of 2024
    Starting with a bang

     

    Record heat everywhere.
    Promising to be the
    The hottest summer ever.

     

    Heat domes settling down
    Death Valley temperatures

    People dying as we speak.

    Too much sunshine
    Too much heat and humidity.

    Wildfires burning all over.

    Monster Hurricanes, monsoons,
    tornados and typhoons

     

    Floods everywhere.
    Coming at us

    By mid-summer.

    As the world continues
    Burning up.

     

    Cities everywhere
    Running out of fresh water.

    Heading towards
    A potential civilization
    Ending tipping point.

     

    Ritual denunciation
    By the rabid right-wing media
    Of the so-called
    Climate change hoax.

     

    Politicians vowing
    To undo the green energy revolution
    And drill baby, drill.

     

    Meanwhile oil companies
    Enjoying record profits,

    And nothing meaningful
    Is done to avert the looming crisis
    Facing the human race.

     

    Summer Solstice

    sunshine
    heat
    midsummer
    ritual

     

     

    Snow Day

     

    The beginning of the second Ice Age
    Started with a series of unending
    Monster winter storms,
    Driven by the polar vortex.

    Featuring bomb cyclone blizzards,
    That hit the Northern Hemisphere
    During the winter of 2024.

     

    And continued until late spring,
    When a series of monster hurricanes
    Came along to cause more chaos.

    The winter storms came back in the fall,
    Ending, then reversing global warming,

    Replaced by the coming
    Of the second ice age.

    During the first storm,
    Sam Adams sat in his power-less
    Historic Capitol Hill row house,

    Boiling tea in a tea kettle

    on the gas stove.

    With his favorite Kitten

    He dubbed the Buddha Cat
    Because the cat spends his days

    Engaged in deep meditation.

    Which had a calming
    Impact on Sam

    Who was going
    Through cell phone withdrawal
    Due to the long power outage.

     

    Summertime Blues

    The weather is hot and humid
    In Korea like a sauna
    In the West Coast, burning up
    In endless fires
    Death Valley temperatures

     

    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms

    33

    In the latest deranged attempt
    To prevent widespread use
    Of renewal energy technology,

    A new battle cry has emerged.
    Cynical corporate opponents
    of offshore wind farms

    Are up in arms

    over the wind farms
    Apparently killing whales.

     

    They scream,

     

    “Save the whales
    Save our beaches
    From the evil wind farms”,

     

    They descend upon
    A coastal village

    in New Jersey

    The atmosphere

    of a tiny village is gone

    A large building emerge

     

    Environmentally friendly fences
    Surround the site.

     

    That hosts the anti-wind farm
    Movement headquarters

    Secretly funded by

    The Evil fossile fuel dinosaurs.

     

    The town and nation
    Dividing into those
    Who love it
    Or hate it.

     

    As evil corporate CEOs
    Count their obscene profits

    As they shed crocodile tears,
    Over the fate of the poor whales.

     

    No Rain

     

    {n 2025, the world ended
    With the collapse
    Of the worldwide climate system.

    Monster storms of the century
    devastated half the world

    But the other half of the world
    Had no rain or snow.

    For almost a whole year
    The once green grass was dying

    Crops failed everywhere.

    And baked in the unrelenting
    Blast wave furnace-like heat
    Heatwave after heatwave.

    Military coups took place
    Fascism re-emerged
    The public demanded action.

    The politicians played
    The blame game.

     

    With the collapse of trade
    And travel restrictions
    People stayed home.

    Making do the best they could

    Home-grown gardens
    Proliferated.

    Feudal townships grew
    As people walled themselves off
    To save their communities

     

    The rich build underground cities
    While the poor starved

    And civilization crumbled

    Wildlife proliferated.

    As did neo-savage
    cannibal gangs

    By the year 2030.

    It was all over
    And the rains
    Never came out west.

     

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh

     

    In the year 2025
    Climate change
    Ran amuck.

    Starting with monster storms
    Out west
    That lasted from November until June

    ,

    With a brief intense fire season
    So much soot and smoke

    In the air.
    Dubbed the year
    without a summer

     

    Crops failed everywhere
    massive riots erupted
    total chaos

     

    Then another
    monster storm season
    From November to June.

    Non=stop rain and snow
    Breaking all records.

     

    As the entire West coast
    Went from mega drought
    To mega flooding.

     

    And mega floods
    Thousand-year Tornados
    Hurricanes from hell
    Ravaged the rest of the land.

     

    Hell on Earth

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.

    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God

    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.

    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.

    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,

    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.

    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

     

    Do you believe in Climate change ?

    Do you believe in climate change?
    It is as real as everything else

    Is the weather getting hotter?
    Soon it will be hell on earth.

    Is the world burning up?
    Yes the world is burning, has a a fever

     

    Weather Events In My Life Pregunta Poem

     

    What is the worst weather you ever experienced?
    Korean winter 1979 – -60 Fahrenheit that winter

    What is the hottest weather you ever experienced?
    Bangkok Thailand in the summer often hit over 100 degrees

    Ever lived through a hurricane?

    Only few blew through DC when I was there

    And wildfires?
    Saw a few in Oregon – end of the world feeling

    Who is to blame for climate change?
    We all are to blame especially the fossil fuel moguls.

    Can humanity long survive climate change?
    Nope I feel the end times are coming.

     

    The Pregunta

     

    There is not much to be found on the Internet about this form. It is used in English, but has a Spanish name, as Pregunta means question.

    Ferrán Sanchez Talavera’s pregenital___999 is a famous example of a poetic debate in this form. I also saw this form on Jan Haag’s page; questions followed by a witty but often wise answer.

    Simply stated:

    The Pregunta is written in couplets, containing a question and an answer. You can make it as long as you like, as a debate never stops after one question and answer.

     

    Korean Heat Dome Blues

     

    It is hot summertime in Korea.
    Hiding out, avoiding the damn heat.
    The weather is just so hot, mama mia!
    Dreaming of eating ice cream, such a treat.
    At night, nothing beats having a cold drink.
    Trying to avoid the tropical night.
    The heat dome settles like a hot heat sink
    Making people so crazy, want to fight.

    Note: Korea gets hot in July/August, it is like living in a sauna. Many people suffer without air conditioning as the electric bills are pretty high. This year is particularly bad as a heat dome has settled down. The monsoons came and went, lots of damage down south but not where I live. August is traditionally the worst, the heat usually begins to abate end of August. Still not as bad as the US – no massive wildfires so far.

     

    Dome Cities to Save the Human Race

     

    39 lines

     

    In the year 2030

    After five years

    Of ever worsening weather

     

    Record heat waves after heat waves

    Massive fires everywhere

    Record hurricanes and typhoons

     

    Mega flooding and mega droughts too

    Tornados including fire tornado

     

    Large parts of the world

    Were experiencing death valley temperatures

    The UN convened a global conference

     

    With the vast majority of countries

    Agreeing to set up emergency shelter

    By creating domed cities

    Covering the core downtown areas

     

    Exurban areas would be abandoned

    Most of Florida would be abandoned

    Most of the Desert Southwest as well.

     

    The shelters would be built

    Using nano construction technology

    Developed in a Lab with AI assistance

    Creating the shelter domes with AI assistance

     

    The tone of the meetings was positive

    There was a new sense of harmony

     

    There was a feeling that building these shelters

    Along with transitioning to a green energy environment

    Was the last chance to save the human race

     

    The social conservatives in the U.S.

    And elsewhere realized

    That they had no choice

    But to join in the new consensus

     

    Even the big energy companies vowed

    To join in the efforts to save humanity

    For a profit of course

     

     

     

     

    Meta and Co-Pilot additional background reading

     

    Meta AI’s explanation as to why so many Republicans are climate deniers

     

    Comment:  This is a good overview of why so many Republicans are against doing anything to deal with climate change. the biggest reason is the first reason – they are beholden to their donor class, and much of their support comes from big Oil, the gun lobby, and Big Pharma which explains so much of their opposition to doing anything meaningful re climate change, gun control, and reforming medical care towards setting up guaranteed universal coverage which is something every other major industrialized country has managed to do.

     

    what is still a mystery to me is why republicans who are supposed to be the party of big business fail to see the huge potential in building out a green energy economy and are willing to let China and others take over the world market in green energy revolution.  Especially since we invented much of the underlying technologies decades ago.  Surely re-building a green energy economy would make us energy independent, allow us to dominate the world’s economy, and save the planet from destruction all why making huge profits – the energy companies could be part of the solution instead of the obstacles that they are now.  And why do we want to preserve dirty, dangerous jobs for coal miners and oil rig operators when so many of the jobs there are being lost to automation and the shift to renewable energy is moving ahead everywhere, even in the States. The US should be taking the lead.

     

    If we had followed their policies back in the 1920s the US would have been left behind when the automobile replaced the horse and buggy business leaving the field to the Germans, the Italians later the Japanese to control the automobile sector.

     

    The same argument could be made regarding developing high speed trains including maglev and hyperloop technology, why are we letting the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, French and Germans take over that market space?  Everyone knows that train travel saves the environment as it saves on gasoline costs and saves lives as it is far safer than driving.  Not to mention, people can be much more productive taking a train and working remotely rather than stuck in traffic.

     

    End Comments

     

     

    The Republican Party’s opposition to addressing climate change, renewable energy, and their denial of climate change is a complex issue with multiple factors at play.

     

    Here are some reasons:

     

    Historical ties to fossil fuel industry: The Republican Party has traditionally received significant funding and support from the fossil fuel industry, which has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

     

    Ideological opposition to government regulation: Republicans often prioritize limited government intervention and free market principles, which leads them to resist policies that would regulate carbon emissions or promote renewable energy.

     

    Economic concerns: Some Republicans worry that transitioning to renewable energy would lead to job losses in industries related to fossil fuels.

     

    Skepticism of climate science: A subset of Republicans has questioned the scientific consensus on climate change, often citing concerns about the reliability of climate models or the role of natural climate variability. Not to mention that many republicans are science skeptic these days.

     

    Political polarization: Climate change has become a highly politicized issue, with Republicans often viewing it as a Democratic priority and therefore opposing it.

    Recent events: Despite the record-breaking heat and fires, some Republicans may downplay the significance of these events or attribute them to natural variability rather than climate change.

     

    It’s important to note that not all Republicans deny climate change or oppose renewable energy, and there are growing voices within the party advocating for climate action.

     

    De Santis’s Don’t Say Climate Change

     

    Certainly! Let’s dive into Governor Ron DeSantis’s recent actions related to climate change in Florida.

     

    Budget Plan for Climate Change Impacts:

    In January 2021, Governor DeSantis proposed a budget plan to address climate change impacts in Florida. His plan included allocating $25 million for the creation of the Resilient Florida grant program. This program aims to tackle challenges posed by flooding, intensified storm events, and sea-level rise across the state1.

     

    The Resilient Florida program is designed to issue bonds, providing a total of $1 billion over four years to state and local agencies. The initial $25 million in the 2021-2022 budget would help finance these bonds, with the amount increasing annually until it reaches $100 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

     

    DeSantis’s focus on resilience and adaptation reflects the urgent need to address climate-related threats in Florida, a state particularly vulnerable to rising seas and extreme weather events.

     

    “Don’t Say Climate Change” Legislation:

     

    In May 2024, Governor DeSantis signed a bill that removes references to “climate change” from many state laws. This legislation effectively deprioritizes climate change in policy decisions and energy planning.

     

    Under this new law, Florida’s energy policy no longer emphasizes addressing planet-warming pollution. Instead, the priorities shift toward reducing reliance on foreign energy sources and strengthening energy infrastructure against both natural and man-made threats.

     

    Notably, the law also bans offshore wind development within a mile of Florida’s coastlines, signaling a departure from intentional efforts to transition toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar2.

     

    Implications:

     

    By erasing the term “climate change” from state laws, Florida risks neglecting critical environmental challenges. The state has experienced record heat and costly hurricanes in recent years, making climate adaptation crucial.

     

    The nullification of renewable energy goals—previously aimed at achieving 100% clean energy by 2050—could hinder progress toward mitigating climate impacts.

     

    Governor DeSantis has framed his climate policy around the Resilient Florida Program, which focuses on preparing communities for rising seas and extreme weather events. However, critics argue that the recent legislation undermines broader efforts to combat climate change2.

     

    In summary, while Governor DeSantis has allocated funds for resilience programs, his recent legislation removing the term “climate change” from state laws has raised concerns about Florida’s commitment to addressing this pressing global issue3. If you have any more questions or need further information, feel free to ask! 😊🌎🌿

     

    Learn more:

     

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Budget Plan Addresses Climate Change Impacts1

    DeSantis Budget Includes Plan To Address Climate Impacts4

     

    Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill that deletes climate change from state law2

     

    Image: A resilient Florida coastline facing climate change impacts. 🏖️🌊 !Resilient Florida 1

     

    Other anti-Climate Change Legislation

     

    Certainly! Removing climate change references from legislation and public discourse can have several environmental consequences. Let’s explore those:

     

    Undermining Awareness and Urgency:

     

    When climate change is downplayed or omitted from official documents, it reduces public awareness and urgency. People may not fully grasp the severity of environmental challenges, leading to complacency.

     

    Without clear references, individuals, businesses, and policymakers might underestimate the need for immediate action to mitigate climate impacts.

     

    Policy Implications:

     

    Legislation that avoids mentioning climate change may fail to address critical issues. For instance:

     

    Carbon Emissions Reduction: Policies  imbed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, (such as transitioning to renewable energy sources) may lose priority.

     

    Conservation Efforts: References to climate change often tie into conservation efforts. Protecting ecosystems, forests, and wetlands helps sequester carbon. Removing these references could weaken conservation initiatives1.

     

    Impact on Adaptation Strategies:

     

    Climate change adaptation involves preparing for its effects (e.g., sea-level rise, extreme weather events). Without acknowledging climate change, planning for adaptation becomes less effective.

     

    Coastal communities, for instance, need to consider rising sea levels and storm surges. Ignoring these factors could lead to inadequate infrastructure and increased vulnerability.

     

    Loss of Funding and Research Focus:

     

    Funding for climate-related research, monitoring, and mitigation often hinges on acknowledging climate change. If references are removed, research budgets may shrink.

     

    Scientists rely on clear language to secure grants and conduct studies. Reduced funding could hinder our understanding of climate impacts.

     

    Forestry and Carbon Sinks:

     

    Clearcutting forests—

    removing large areas of trees—releases substantial carbon into the atmosphere. Forests function as carbon sinks, absorbing CO₂.

    Without climate change references, policies may not prioritize forest conservation. This could exacerbate global warming by reducing the Earth’s capacity to absorb carbon1.

     

    Displacement and Vulnerability:

     

    Extreme environmental events (floods, droughts, storms) are linked to climate change. Displacing millions of people annually.

     

    Ignoring climate change in policy decisions perpetuates vulnerability. Communities won’t adequately prepare for these events2.

     

    Economic Impact:

     

    Climate change affects economic sectors (e.g., agriculture, tourism, energy). Omitting references may hinder planning and adaptation.

     

    For example, coastal tourism relies on stable shorelines. Without climate-aware policies, erosion and sea-level rise could harm tourism revenue3.

    In summary, removing climate change references has far-reaching consequences. It affects policy, funding, adaptation, and our ability to address urgent environmental challenges. Let’s keep the conversation going! What else would you like to explore? 🌍🌿

     

    Learn more:

     

    IPCC Fifth Assessment Report4

    NRDC: Stop Clearcutting Our Carbon Sinks1

    Review of Global Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation5

    National Geographic: Influence of Climate Change on Extreme Environmental Events2

    Strategies for Mitigation of Climate Change3

    Image: A lush forest, a vital carbon sink. 🌲🌎 !Forest 1

     

    Certainly! While there have been significant efforts to address climate change in the United States, there have also been instances of legislation or lobbying that hindered progress. Let’s explore a few notable examples:

     

    The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022:

    What it Gets Right: The IRA promises the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history—approximately $370 billion over the next decade. It focuses on scaling up renewable energy production, promoting electric vehicles, and supporting climate-smart agricultural practices.

     

    What it Misses:

     

    Unfortunately, the IRA primarily emphasizes emission-cutting solutions and neglects resilience. While it aims to make buildings more energy-efficient, it misses an opportunity to ensure those buildings can withstand climate-fueled extremes. The lack of climate-resilient building codes remains a concern1.

     

    Climate Emergency Act of 2021 (S.938):

     

    This bill directed the President to declare a national emergency relating to climate change. It called for federal investments in projects to mitigate the emergency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At least 40% of these investments were earmarked for historically disadvantaged communities2.

     

    Landmark Climate Legislation:

     

    Recently, the U.S. House passed a significant climate bill that can help reduce the nation’s carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030. This bill allocates about $370 billion to clean energy and climate investments over the next decade. It represents a substantial commitment to addressing the climate crisis head-on3.

     

    Anti-Climate Lobbying:

     

    A study from 2019 highlighted the social cost of political lobbying that blocked proposed climate regulations a decade ago. Such anti-climate lobbying efforts were estimated to have cost society $60 billion. This underscores the impact of lobbying on climate policy and the need for transparent and science-based decision-making4.

     

    In summary, while there have been positive steps toward climate action, it’s essential to remain vigilant and address any legislative or lobbying efforts that hinder progress.

     

    Council on Foreign Relations: What the Historic U.S. Climate Bill Gets Right and Gets Wrong1

     

    Library of Congress: S.938 – Climate Emergency Act of 20212

     

    The Nature Conservancy: U.S. House Passes Landmark Climate Legislation3

    Carbon Brief: Lobbying against key US climate regulation ‘cost society $60bn’, study finds4

     

    Image: A wind farm generating renewable energy. 🌬️⚡ !Wind Farm 1

    Feel free to explore more topics or ask any follow-up questions! 😊

     

    Recent Wildfires

     

    Certainly! As of the most recent data available, wildfires are actively burning in both the United States and Canada. Let’s break it down:

    United States:

     

    Scores of wildfires have been scorching swaths of land across several states, including California, Oregon, Idaho, and others. These fires have led to evacuations, road closures, and damage to structures1.

     

    The total number of active wildfires in the U.S. fluctuates daily due to new ignitions and containment efforts. For real-time updates, you can refer to the Fire, Weather & Avalanche Wildfire Map, which provides an interactive view of current wildfires and their perimeters2.

     

    It’s important to note that the U.S. experiences annual variations in wildfire activity. While the current acreage burned is significant, it’s essential to compare it to historical trends.

     

    Canada:

     

    Canada has faced an unprecedented fire season in 2023. Large and dangerous fires have broken out across provinces such as British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. These fires have displaced thousands, destroyed property, and blanketed large areas of North America with smoke.

     

    As of August 29, 2024, there are 1,069 active fires in Canada, with more than half of them considered out of control. Notably, the area burned by these fires in 2023 has shattered records.

     

    In previous decades, active fire seasons saw more individual fires, but 2023 stands out for the total area burned. The previous record was set in 1995, with 7.1 million hectares burned. However, in 2023, a staggering 15.2 million hectares have already been consumed by wildfires3.

     

    Cartographer Chris Brockley’s map illustrates this: It shows forest fire activity across Canada since 1921, with 2023 depicted in white. The scale of burning this year surpasses anything seen in the past century3.

     

    Comparison to Previous Years:

     

    In the U.S., the amount of land burned varies annually, but the overall trend has been upward since reliable data collection began in the 1980s. While approximately 1.8 million acres have burned so far this year, it’s still below the 10-year average of 2.8 million acres4.

     

    In Canada, the 2023 wildfire season has broken records for the total area burned. Although the number of fires is smaller compared to some previous years, their size and extent have been unprecedented5.

     

    In summary, both the U.S. and Canada are grappling with significant wildfire activity. While the U.S. experiences fluctuations from year to year, Canada’s 2023 fire season stands out as historically severe. Let’s hope for effective containment efforts and continued awareness of the importance of wildfire prevention and management. If you’d like more details or have further questions, feel free to ask! 🔥🌲

     

     

     

    Sent by Copilot:

    The recent hurricane and tornado seasons in the U.S. have been quite active.

    Hurricane Season:

    The National Hurricane Center has been tracking a system in the central Atlantic that shows signs it could develop momentum1.

    Hurricane Beryl, which occurred in early July 2024, produced more tornadoes in the U.S. than any other tropical system has in almost 19 years2.

    The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season began with an “explosive start” when Beryl made landfall on Carriacouan Island on July 1 as a Category 4 hurricane before it weakened to a Category 1 and slammed the Texas coast the following week1.

    Tornado Season:

    As of July 16, 2024, there had been 1,412 tornado reports in the United States, well ahead of the 2010-2024 historical average of 9973.

    The distribution of tornadoes has also shifted eastward3.

    The biggest year on record for tornadoes was 2011. By July 10 that year, the U.S. had racked up 1,934 tornado reports and would ultimately reach 2,250 for the year3.

    Climate Change Impact: The effects of climate change on hurricanes and tornadoes are complex. Research shows rising temperatures are causing hurricanes to become more intense4However, the link between tornadoes and climate change is currently not fully understood5Challenges remain that prevent clearer attribution, including limited data collection methods, high year-to-year variability, and difficulty modeling key physical elements that help tornadoes form5Despite these challenges, studies have found a few trends in the United States by using portions of the record that are more reliable, like data for very strong tornadoes5Multiple studies find that the conditions that produce the most severe thunderstorms from which tornadoes may form are more likely as the world warms5.

    In conclusion, while the recent hurricane and tornado seasons have been active, attributing these changes directly to climate change is complex due to the multifaceted nature of these weather phenomena and the challenges in data collection and modeling. However, the consensus is that climate change is likely making extreme weather events more common65. Further research is needed to fully understand these relationships.

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    Donald Trump’s Comments on Climate Change

    Comment:  Co-pilots often surprise me with their creative wild responses.  I think the debate over whether we are dealing with a real AI is over.  AI is here now.

     

    Copilot

     

    Ah, the enigmatic dance of Donald Trump and climate change—a topic that’s as unpredictable as a squirrel on a seesaw! Let’s unravel this intriguing tango, shall we? 🕺💨

     

    Donald Trump’s Climate Change Cha-Cha: A Brief Recap:

    The Denial Shuffle: Back in the day (well, not that long ago), Trump was doing the climate cha-cha with gusto. He called climate change “mythical,” “nonexistent,” and even an “expensive hoax.” But wait, there’s more! In 2012, he famously claimed that climate change was cooked up by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. (Yes, you read that right—apparently, the Great Wall wasn’t enough; they needed climate change too.)

     

    Twitter Twirls: Trump’s Twitter feed was like a climate-themed rollercoaster. Over 120 tweets questioned or poked fun at climate change. He insisted that scientists rebranded global warming as climate change because “the name global warming wasn’t working.” (Note to self: Scientists are not marketing consultants.)

    Cold Snap Samba: Trump’s favorite move? Linking cold weather to climate change. But here’s the twist: The World Meteorological Organization says the 20 warmest years on record happened in the past 22 years. So, maybe he missed that memo while tweeting from Mar-a-Lago.

    Ambiguous Tango: Fast-forward to his presidency. Trump’s stance became as slippery as a salsa dancer on an ice rink. He’d acknowledge climate change but frame it in terms of clean air and water (which, by the way, aren’t directly related). And he’d throw in business costs for good measure. Because nothing says “climate action” like a spreadsheet, right?

     

    Quotes & Quips: Let’s sprinkle some Trump quotes for flavor:

     

    “I think there is some connectivity [between human activity and climate change]. There is some, something. It depends on how much. It also depends on how much it’s going to cost our companies.” (New York Times interview, November 2016)

     

    “I don’t think there’s a hoax. I do think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s man-made… I don’t wanna give trillions and trillions of dollars.”

    (CBS interview, October 2018)

     

    And then he’d wink and say, “Climate change is very important to me.” (Cue the dramatic music.)

     

    In Conclusion (or Should We Say, Grand Finale?):

     

    Trump’s climate dance card is a mix of moonwalks, twirls, and the occasional mooning of scientific consensus.

     

    Whether he’s a climate skeptic, a climate pragmatist, or just a climate-confused soul, one thing’s for sure: His moves keep us guessing.

     

    And there you have it—the Trumpian climate conundrum, wrapped in a sequined bow. If you want more twists and turns, just ask—i’ve got enough material to choreograph a whole Broadway show! 🌎🎭✨

     

    Learn more:

    BBC: What does Trump actually believe on climate change?1

    Image: Trump doing the climate change cha-cha. 🌍🕺 !Trump Cha-Cha 1

    Feel free to ask for more dance moves—or any other topic you’d like to explore! 😄

    Learn more

    1bbc.com2msn.com3msn.com4msn.com5bbc.co.uk

    2 days ago2d·on MSN

     

    A second Trump term would actively make climate change worse

    Opinion

     

    The videos first started appearing a dozen years ago. Pickup truck drivers, mostly young men, would modify their diesel engines and then record themselves deliberately spreading air pollution.

     

    It was called “rolling coal,” and the idea was to spew dark clouds of exhaust at bicyclistsPrius and Tesla drivers and other cars as a protest of environmentalism.

     

    The trend appears to have peaked in 2014, thanks to new state laws and crackdowns on people selling vehicle modification kits and, presumably, finding better things to do with their time. But the impulse behind it lives on, even as the risks of climate change become ever more serious.

     

    The most recent example? Project 2025, a set of conservative proposals from the Heritage Foundation that outlines step-by-step plans to remake the federal government in a second Donald Trump administration, including dismantling nearly everything the federal government is doing to fight climate change, making it dramatically harder to conduct basic scientific research on it and actively promoting more oil and gas use.

     

    Trump has tried to distance himself from the proposals, despite the fact that some of his top former advisers spearheaded it. But it’s in line with his thinking. As The Washington Post reported, he told a gathering of top oil executives this year that he would reverse dozens of environmental regulations and stop new ones if they raised $1 billion to help him return to the White House.

     

    ‘Terrible policy and politics’: Rattner breaks down Project 2025

     

    View on Watch

     

    His campaign, meantime, targeted environmental regulations such as electric vehicle mandates in its Agenda 47, a scattershot series of videos outlining its plans for a second term. And at rallies, Trump frequently criticizes electric cars, claiming in one bizarre aside that buying one made his friend gain weight because he would eat at restaurants while it charged. Trump has also gone off on weird tangents about the risks of electric batteries on boats.

     

    In his first “rolling coal” term, Trump rolled back or loosened nearly 100 rules and regulations on pollution, many of which set the U.S. further behind in the effort to stop the worst effects of climate change, according to a tally by The New York Times. But that record would be dwarfed by the damage that the Project 2025 proposals could do if he followed through on them, even as Monday was the hottest day ever measured by humans, according to a European Union science agency.

     

    The 922-page document drips with disdain for what it calls “climate alarmism” that it argues is being used as propaganda for “ineffective, liberty-crushing regulations.” But its most damaging proposal looks like it would launch what amounts to a propaganda effort against climate science.

     

    The first step is something called Schedule F, which would reclassify thousands of government workers, making it easier for the president to hire and fire them. Even if Trump were to fire only some of those workers, the shift toward politicization of lower-level government jobs would mean an exodus of experienced scientists.

    Those who remained might become more cautious about their research decisions to avoid trouble.

     

    The second step is to create a job that appears to basically be an anti-climate change czar. Project 2025 proposes creating a position of “science adviser” and six senior political appointees who would be charged with “overseeing and reforming” research at the Environmental Protection Agency, emphasizing that these political overseers should be hired for their “management, oversight and execution skills,” rather than scientific expertise.

     

    Imagine something like the final scene of an episode of “The Apprentice,” only with Trump hauling climate scientists into the boardroom to dramatically fire them. That may be exciting for the oil and gas industry and some of Trump’s supporters but not for the two-thirds of Americans in a recent Pew Research Center survey who said they support the country’s taking steps to become carbon neutral by 2050.

     

    (If you want to understand the depth of disdain here, the section on the EPA was written by Mandy Gunasekara. The Drilled newsletter points out she’s in the famous 2015 photo of her then-boss, the late Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., holding up a snowball in the Senate as an attempt to disprove climate change.)

     

    The report goes further, proposing dramatically downsizing the National Weather Service and leaving weather forecasting to private companies. That could hamper its ability to issue public warnings about floods, hurricanes and other dangers, just as we are seeing more intense and frequent extreme-weather events due to the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases.

     

    That’s not all. Other sections of Project 2025 propose ending subsidies for wind and solar power; cutting research into wind, solar and battery technology needed to help transition away from fossil fuels; ending federal mandates and subsidies for electric vehicles; and expanding drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands. As Trump said in his convention speech, “we will drill, baby, drill.”

     

    The efforts would not be limited to the U.S., either. A section on foreign aid proposes rolling back efforts to help developing countries transition away from fossil fuels, arguing that they are “unachievable.” But then it goes further, arguing that the U.S. should spend taxpayer dollars persuading these countries to burn more oil and gas.

     

    The U.S. Agency for International Development, the proposal says, “should cease its war on fossil fuels in the developing world and support the responsible management of oil and gas reserves as the quickest way to end wrenching poverty.”

    Taken together, these proposals would not just make it harder to fight climate change but actively make it worse. A second Trump administration would be rolling coal on the entire planet.

     

    This article was originally published on MSNBC.com

     

    2 days ago2d·on MSN

    How Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Compare on Climate Change

     

    How Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Compare on Climate Change© OLIVIER DOULIERY/Getty Images

     

    This article by Yale Climate Connections is published here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

     

    President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris appears likely to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.

    As vice president, Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in the passage of the Biden administration’s signature achievement on climate change, the Inflation Reduction Act.

     

    As Yale Climate Connections contributor Barbara Grady previously reported, “The most far-reaching climate law in history, the Inflation Reduction Act is catalyzing a transition in the U.S. economy toward cleaner energy and cleaner transportation – a shift the International Energy Agency, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and others say must happen for the world to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases to the levels scientists say would avert the most catastrophic and irreversible climate chaos.”

     

    Harris has made clear throughout her career that she views climate change as a significant threat. Speaking at the 2023 United Nations climate summit in Dubai, she told leaders, “Across our world, communities are choked by drought, washed out by floods, and decimated by hurricanes. Wildfire smoke darkens our skies, and rising seas threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. The urgency of this moment is clear. The clock is no longer just ticking, it is banging. And we must make up for lost time.”

    Related video: Trump: ‘Sick’ Kamala Harris is no Margaret Thatcher (The Telegraph)

    If elected president, Harris is “widely expected to try to protect the climate achievements of the Biden administration,” according to the New York Times.

    In contrast, Trump has falsely called climate change a hoax. During his term as president, as Grady reported, “he overturned an estimated 100 environmental regulations and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. He shrank the EPA and required that the words ‘climate change’ be removed from its website. On the campaign trail this time, he has repeatedly said one of his top priorities is to boost oil and gas production and free up more public land to ‘Drill, baby, drill.’”

     

    If Trump wins a second term as president, he and his allies say they aim to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and downsize the EPA.

    On July 22, Harris received endorsements from several large environmental organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the NRDC Action Fund, the Sierra Club Political Committee, and Clean Energy for American Action.

    Adcreative.ai14x Higher Conversion Rates

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    “The last three and a half years of the Biden-Harris administration could not contrast more starkly with Trump and other extreme MAGA Republicans, and the stakes for this election could not be higher,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement. “A second term would be far worse for our climate and our democracy.”

     

    What is Project 2025? Trump, climate, and a second term

     

    Project 2025, a 992-page conservative plan for a second Trump term, calls for elimination of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, gutting of the National Weather Service, repeal of Biden’s clean energy subsidies, and axing the National Flood Insurance Program.

     

    It also calls for drilling in the Arctic and cuts to climate change work by government agencies. That includes the U.S. Agency for International Development, which, the authors write, “should cease its war on fossil fuels in the developing world and support the responsible management of oil and gas reserves as the quickest way to end wrenching poverty and the need for open-ended foreign aid.”

     

    For more on Trump’s climate record, read this article.

    Kamala Harris and climate change

    Here’s an overview of Harris’s views and actions related to climate change, sourced from news and White House reports.

     

    She connects extreme weather to climate change.

     

    “Every day, around the world, the impact of the climate crisis is stark and it is vivid. We are seeing it in real time,” she said in a 2023 speech. “Across our nation, we see communities choked by drought, washed out by flood, and decimated by hurricanes.” White House

     

    She has supported the Green New Deal, a carbon fee, and increased government spending on climate change.

     

    As a 2020 presidential candidate, her climate plan “called for a $10 trillion increase in spending over a decade.” New York Times (gift link)

    “Harris also called for a ‘climate pollution fee” that would ‘make polluters pay for emitting greenhouse gases into our atmosphere,’ and she indicated that a Harris administration would strengthen its enforcement and prosecution of fossil fuel companies.” ABC News

     

    As a U.S. senator from California, Harris co-sponsored the Green New Deal, which called for an FDR-style overhaul of the economy that would accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean technology. The Green New Deal has not been enacted.

     

    She has woven climate change into foreign relations.

     

    Harris attended the 2023 United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where “she announced a U.S. commitment to double energy efficiency and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. At that same conference, Harris announced a $3 billion commitment to the Green Climate Fund to help developing nations adapt to climate challenges, although Politico reported that the sum was ‘subject to the availability of funds,’ according to the Treasury Department.” Grist

     

    She held “a round table in Bangkok to connect environmental activists with clean energy experts” and started “a partnership with Caribbean countries to address climate change.” New York Times (gift link)

     

    She connects climate change to justice.

    As vice president, “Harris argued for the allocation of $20 billion for the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, aimed at aiding disadvantaged communities facing climate impacts.” Grist

     

    She’s a fan of heat pumps. Heat pumps use electricity to heat and cool homes and are seen as a keyway to reducing climate pollution.

     

    “I have mad respect for those who are putting them together and installing them,” she said in a 2022 speech. White House

     

    She regularly makes the connection between lower energy costs and renewable energy. Key quotes:

     

    “On average, families that switch to an electric heat pump can save up to $500 a year on their energy bill. And since heat pumps do not burn oil or gas, they also mean cleaner air inside your home.” White House

     

    “In addition to lowering costs and creating jobs, this investment will also help us fight the climate crisis.” White House

     

    “By helping families pay the upfront cost for energy efficiency upgrades to their homes, we are also lowering energy bills, bringing down household costs, creating jobs, and fighting the climate crisis. It’s all connected.” White House

    She notes that investments in renewable energy can lead to job creation. Key quotes:

    “Across the country, we have created more than 175,000 new clean energy jobs. Just so far. More to go.” White House

    Her Women in the Sustainable Economy initiative aims to provide job training for women in climate-smart industries. White House

    She says she supports and is inspired by young climate activists.

    “These young leaders are guiding our nation in our climate fight. And as they have told me their work is driven by their hope and their determination. Hope, because they know we still have time to make a difference. And their determination is the determination to correct the course,” she said in 2023. White House

    She’s been an opponent of fracking.

    As a 2020 presidential candidate, “She also favored a ban on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, which Mr. Biden said he opposed. Fracking is a technique that injects water and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract oil or gas that is otherwise difficult to access.” New York Times (gift link)

    As California’s attorney general, she “challenged federal approvals of offshore fracking along the California coast.” New York Times (gift link)

    She’s challenged polluting companies.

    As California’s attorney general, “she investigated whether Exxon Mobil lied to the public and its shareholders about the risks to its business from climate change and whether such actions could amount to securities fraud and violations of environmental laws, but the case did not result in a prosecution.” New York Times (gift link)

     

    “Harris secured an $86 million settlement from Volkswagen for rigging its vehicles with emissions-cheating software and investigated ExxonMobil over its climate change disclosures. She also filed a lawsuit against Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips for environmental violations at gas stations, which eventually resulted in a $11.5 million settlement. And she conducted a criminal investigation of an oil company over a 2015 spill in Santa Barbara. The company was found guilty and convicted on nine criminal charges.” Grist

     

    As San Francisco’s district attorney, “Harris created an environmental justice unit to address environmental crimes affecting San Francisco’s poorest residents and prosecuted several companies including U-Haul for violation of hazardous waste laws. Harris later touted her environmental justice unit as the first such unit in the country. An investigation found the unit only filed a handful of lawsuits, though, and none of them were against the city’s major industrial polluters.” Grist

    two climate Change Poems (Post Together)

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die

    Climate change is real.
    And getting out of control.
    Either humanity deals with it.
    Changing to green energy solutions.
    It is technologically possible.
    We all know what we must do.
    It could be a civilization ending event.
    Or in ten years we will have to retreat underground.

    WRITE AN EITHER / OR POEM.

    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    In the last few years
    Due to climate change on steroids.
    There has been an increase
    In torrential downpours all over the world.
    After the Governor Florida
    cut climate change funds,
    More rain fell in one day than in a year.
    Flooding the entire city of Miami.

    TOPIC

    WRITE A TORRENTIAL POEM.

     

     

    Climate Change

     

    The climate is changing now.

    It is a matter of how.

    Some are still in denial.

    Saying  it’s a witch-trial

     

    Form: TANAGA

    It is a poem of four lines (quatrain)
    It is usually a rhyming poem
    Each line contains seven syllables (7-7-7-7)
    AABB is the traditional rhyme scheme
    But variations in rhyme scheme are allowed
    Just have fun!

     

     

    Visions of the Future

     

    As I fell asleep

    Watching the news

    Unfold

     

    Thought it could not worst

    Surely sanity will prevail

    I began to see visions

    Of the future

     

    One scene after another

     

    Starting in January

    Operation Shock and Awe

    Overnight fascism descended

    On the US

     

    Martial law declare

    The military takes

    over the Blue States

    Mass deportation begins

     

    25 percent tariffs imposed

    The world responds by banning US imports

    And banning US citizens from traveling there

    US troops come home

     

    A draft is imposed

    Troops stationed on the border

    Which is sealed up

     

    Detention camps fill up

    With illegal citizens

    Protestors and dissidents

     

    The New Government Efficiency report

    Calls for eliminating 40 percent

    of the Federal workforce

    whole departments are abolished

     

    as protests spread

    unemployment reaches

    unemployment levels

     

    Public health collapses

    Government services collapse

    Libraries closed down

     

    Schools replaced

    By private church schools

     

    the media is tamed

    corporations take over

    remaining media workers

    and government workers

     

    stay silent

    not wanting to join

    the ranks of the growing unemployed

    as AI bots take over

    job after job

     

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting views

    and monitored

     

    millions are driven

    to homelessness

    unemployment

    reaches 50 percent

     

    homeless camps

    called Trumpvilles spread

     

    the military breaks them up

    thousands are killed

     

     

    the rest of the  homeless

    are rounded up

    put into camps

     

    forced to work

    in agricultural jobs

     

    inflation goes through the roof

    the media becomes cheerleaders

    saying things will get better

    if we stay the course

     

    it gets worse

    people who have jobs

    feel fortunate

     

    those who do not

    joined by millions

    as AI takes over

    job after job

     

    the President dies

    JD Vance takes over

    And things continue

    Getting worse

     

    Worldwide it is bad

    Democratic governments

    Collapse everywhere

     

    JD Vance declares

    The United States

    Will become the

    North American empire

     

    Moving the capital

    To Omaha

    Calling for a constitutional convention

    But suspending the constitution for now

     

    The democratic party declared

    The enemy within

    Congress sent home

     

    The SC does not say a word

    After the liberal members

    Are arrested

     

    Most people do not know

    What is going on

    The media and news

    Showing nothing but good news

     

    People retreat into their own world

    VR games have become very popular

    Drugs are everywhere

    But illegal

     

    Overseas Russian troops take over

    Eastern Europe

    Russian Empire relaunched

    China takes back Taiwan

    And Korea

     

    Declaring the Chinese Empire

    Middle East overcome by war

    Israel was destroyed in a nuclear war

     

    Nuclear war breaks out

    Indian and Pakistan

    China and Korea

     

    US and Russia

    Are now allies

     

    Western Europe

    Breaks apart

     

    Ten years later

    World civilization has fallen apart

     

    Climate change ends

    With the collapse of trade

    And travel

     

    Followed by a new ice age

    Triggered by nuclear winter

     

    The end of the world

    Has arrived

     

    Most people live in fort cities

    Ruled by local warlords

    Working in agriculture

    Or working as scavengers

     

    80 percent of humanity

    Perished after massive storms

    Nuclear war

    Disease and the ending

    of civilization

     

    A few college towns

    Try to stay alive

    The knowledge

    of the past

     

    but most people don’t know

    don’t care and have forgotten

    the recent past nightmares.

     

    The imperial governments

    Around the world

    Rule nothing but

    The immediate capitol regions

     

    The rest of the world

    Continuing in feudal townships

     

     

    Rich people have finally figured out

    How to move to Mars and the Moon

    Living in vast underground cities

     

    On in underground cities

    Beneath the earth

     

    My vision ends with these sights

    Ten years after the chaos began.

     

     

    the year 2024

    38 lines

    The year 2024
    Turned out to be a weird year,
    It was the last year of the old order.

    All over the world
    It seemed as if nature
    Was in revolt against the human race.

    It started with a break in the rain
    The rains and snow had ended the drought
    But brought with it something worse.

    As Sam Adams
    Took a long-delayed
    Drive along the coast.

    He stopped off in Bodega Bay
    The site of the infamous
    “the Birds” movie.

    While watching the crashing surf
    Amid the piles of driftwood

    The birds were soon joined by bears,
    Coyotes, cougars, feral cats. Feral cattle,
    feral dogs, Feral horses, feral pigs, giant spiders,
    Orcas, snakes, sea lions, sharks, squirrels,
    Escaped apes, cheetahs, monkeys, elephants,
    Lions, tigers, and wolves
    Domestic and wild animals alike.

    All gathered together
    All united with a hatred
    For the human race.

    The attacks started that day
    As the animals gained telepathic powers
    Coordinating attacks
    Against the unsuspecting humans.

    And within weeks.
    Civilization began falling apart,
    By the end of the year
    The old world had ended.
    Prompt words

    break in the rain
    drive along the coast
    “The Birds” movie
    crashing surf
    piles of driftwood

    Choose TRAVEL as one of your genres.

    © Copyright 2023

     

     

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Solar
    Clean energy
    We can do it right now
    Renewable energy for all
    Why not?

    Wind too
    To save the world, we must do it
    We know how to do it
    Climate change is now
    Killing

    Poetry week begins TODAY in “The Writer’s Cramp” – write the best POEM in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPs!

    ” Winner and new prompt, due Feb 27 – 2023″ 19 hours 39 minutes 55 seconds
    Today’s form is going to be the Mirrored Cinquain.

    Topic: solar energy.

    Information: “Cinquain, Mirrored”

    Entries must not exceed 40 lines for poetry. Your line count MUST appear in your entry post in the Cramp forum.

    The Mirrored Cinquain

    First I have to bring back into memory how the cinquain goes:

    The cinquain is developed by Adelaide Crapsey.
    A cinquain contains five lines (the French word cinq can be found in it), and has a total of 22 syllables. The poems are unrhymed, and in a way related to the haiku

    This is how you form the cinquain

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The Mirrored Cinquain has an additional stanza, in which you mirror the order of the lines.
    This is how you form the mirrored cinquain:

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 8 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 4 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The spaced opening in the middle forms the mirror, and in the second stanza you can see that the order of the lines are reversed.

    Running out of water

    The end of the year
    Running out of water
    The fire in the sky
    What does it matter ?

    The bomb cylcone storm
    The climate getting hotter
    People becoming madder
    Nature ready for slaughter

    We watch it all unfold
    Our leader the chief Plotter
    As climate change worsens
    Reality to fought her

    To me, a new form to play with, but in fact it is an old Irish poetry form.

    Guidelines:

    It is written in quatrains.
    Each stanza has four lines.
    The first line has five syllables.
    The other three lines have six syllables.

    All end words are two syllables.
    But – written with the defining features of most Celtic poems, cywddydd (harmony of sound) meaning alliteration, consonance and assonance and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)

     

    Last Bird of the Autumn

    15 lines

    Sam Adams was hiking
    In the mountains
    On a late autumn day
    When he encountered
    The last bird alive.

    A virus had emerged
    From the thawing permafrost
    Quickly spreading around the world
    Killing birds
    Until there were only a few
    Who survived.

    He captured the bird
    Took it home
    And continued to look
    For other birds to save.

    Please use the following as the Title of your poem or story:

    “Last Bird of Autumn”

    The genre is up to you.

     

    End-of-the-World Feelings

     

    17 lines

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.
    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God
    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.
    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.
    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,
    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.
    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

    new prompt:

    water
    land
    fire
    wind

    Use the elements mentioned above in your poem or story.

     

    Last BBQ

    The day the world ended
    Was a cool evening
    in the late summer time,
    They heard the news
    About the monarch butterflies
    Disappearing because of climate change
    While enjoying their BBQ
    In the backyard fire pit
    Good friends drinking beer
    And wine eating BBQ
    Chilling out, talking about the world
    And their stories
    Snoring dogs woke up
    When the aliens arrived
    Ending the world
    As they knew it.

     

     

    Last Ground Hog Day

     

    36 lines

    The last ground day
    February 2, 2025
    Started as most such days did,
    In the U.S. people flocking
    To see whether the groundhog
    Would see his shadow or not.

    The mystery remains
    Why this event
    Had so captured
    The imagination of the world?

    By the end of the day
    The ground hog’s prognosis
    Of six weeks more winter
    Seemed ironical.

    As that was the year
    Without summer
    And the first year
    Of the new ice age.

    By the end of the day
    There were massive volcanic eruptions
    Triggered by the Yellowstone volcano.
    Setting off other volcanos –
    All told over 25 volcanos blew up.

    Followed by massive earthquakes
    Including the “Big One” in California
    The massive explosions led to a year
    Without summer

    A true civilization-ending event,
    Ground Hog Day soon faded away.
    Into collective amnesia.

    No one had time anymore
    To deal with such a mundane
    Old fashion mystery.

    As they were dealing with
    The end-of-the-world.

    NEW PROMPT:

    Write a story or poem about a Groundhog Day (2/2) gone wrong.

    Choose Mystery as one of your genres.

     

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    End times coming
    Climate change is real
    Blues.

    Every day
    More bad news
    As Frank Zappa once wrote

    “No one can deny
    That trouble coming every day.”

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    Blues.

    Turning on the news
    Nonstop stories 24/7

    About killer storms
    Monster tornados
    Super typhoons
    Monsoon floods.

    Wars, rumors of war
    COVID running out of control
    False prophets everywhere

    Economies still reeling
    Inflation out of control
    Derange gunmen
    Shooting up schools
    Churches, mosques, temples
    Shopping malls

    Insurrection plots
    Political madness
    Spreading across the world.
    Neo-fascism is on the move.

    Oh yeah
    I got them
    End times coming
    Blues.

    We all used to think
    Climate change
    Is a future threat.

    Now it seems
    To be real
    Live and in living color.

    No longer just
    A disaster movie

    I got them
    The climate change blues

    And now it seems real
    Seeing whole towns disappearing
    In fires, floods, and storm damages.

    And near me
    Roads closed
    Apartments flooded
    Subway shut down.

    Apartment garage flooded
    People drowned in their cars
    Trying to escape.

    Thousand-year storms
    Coming every day
    To a town near you

    No one can escape
    It seems so real
    Is this the end?
    Is our very survival
    At stake?

    Or will we somehow
    Manage in the end
    To solve our problems?

    Will our descendants
    Be living
    In a post-apocalyptic world,

    Looking back at the ruins
    Of the old world
    In their underground bunkers
    Or on the Moon and Mars?

    Oh, I got them
    The survival blues.

    SURVIVAL

    Line Count Requirement: Minimum of 12
    Required Form: none

     

     

    End Times

     

    22

    Sam Adams
    Reflected that the end times
    Were coming.

    Climate change
    Running out of control
    The whole world is on fire.

    magnetic storm
    causing rampant
    power failures

    Making it hard.
    To breathe
    in the smoky air.

    He just wants to
    Jump in the river
    To cool off.

    But he realized
    There was no end
    In sight.

    As the world ends
    Burning up
    Turning the world
    Into hell on earth.

    New Prompt:

    Use in your poem or story the following, and bold it for tomorrow’s judge:

    magnetic storm

    power failure

    breathe

    jump in the river

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

     

     

    No more Perfect Summer Days

    I wish that we could have
    A perfect summer day,
    A bit warm but not hot
    Not too humid.

    Everyone filled with peace,
    Love and health.
    Plenty of personal freedom,
    As we enjoy a picnic lunch
    Watching fireworks at night.

    Then I realize
    That the world
    No longer allows us
    To have perfect summer days.

    Hot as hell weather
    Everywhere around the world
    Monster summer storms.

    Running out of water,
    Running out of food,
    COVID is still around.

    Everyone scared.
    Deranged gunmen
    everywhere guns blazing.

    New leaders emerge
    Promising to protect us.
    And we lose our freedoms.
    One by one
    As fascism takes over.

    The climate change
    And all the other dystopian future
    Nightmares become reality,
    No more perfect summer days.

     

     

    Korean Summers

    Korean Summers
    Hot sauna humidity
    Long tropical nights

    Author note:

    I have suffered through many Korean summers off since 1979 when I first came in the last peace corps group to complete service in Korea, and more recently since I semi-retired to Korea in late 2016. This is probably my 16th Korean summer. Some things have improved – air conditioning is everywhere and

    God is not happy
    With the human race.

    He is sending us a warning
    The world is filled with hate
    The world is on the brink.

    Our way of life under attack
    From the forces
    Of evil Satanic godless communism.

    Who under the guise
    Of fighting the climate change hoax
    Want to deny us our freedom.

    Want to deny us our cars
    Make us all take the bus
    Make us all vegan.

    They will not stop
    Until our way of life
    Comes to an end.

    And the climate
    It is not changing
    Just a reflection
    Of God’s warning.

    Repent, the end times
    Are coming soon
    Are you right with the lord?

    Judgment day is at hand
    As California burns
    So does the nation
    Unless we repent
    Of our evil ways.

    God is warning us all
    My friends
    Will we heed his words
    Or end up dying?

     

     

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    30 lines

    The world’s weather
    Continued to change
    Going from bad to worst
    With the impact of climate change.

    Every day another monster storm
    Another polar vortex
    Another northeastern
    Along with killer tornados.

    Then the summer came
    Hot and dry
    Fire season started west
    Monster hurricanes down south.

    Relentless fires burning
    The land
    Everywhere seemed to be
    Hell on earth.

    Noting the odd weather
    Sam Adams the famous writer
    Concluded on his blog

    Welcome to the end times
    My friends
    It is only going to get worst.
    Revelations foretold us
    All of this

    Jesus is coming soon
    To judge the living
    And the dead.

    Be afraid
    Of the coming wraith
    Of the Lord.

     

     

    The Last Umbrella

    18 lines

    Sam Adams was a scientist
    Working on global warming
    And acid rain fall
    He knew what many did not
    That the end was indeed coming

    Soon he feared that walking
    Outside in the rain
    Would be a death sentence

    He knew that this might be
    The end of the umbrella industry

    He called his broker
    Shorted shares
    In universal umbrellas
    And other umbrella companies

    Before releasing his report
    That led to the collapse
    Of the umbrella market.

     

    Climate Change on the Move

    Climate change
    On the move
    Everywhere
    The world’s weather
    In turmoil
    Massive winter storms
    Covering the world
    Rare winter tornados
    Causing havoc everywhere
    There is good news
    The fires out west
    Finally dying down
    As the winter storms
    Bear down on the west

     

    Korean December Weather – Brought to You By Global Warming, Inc

    A relatively mild December day
    More like November than December
    Due to Climate warming?

    Korea used to have a predictable weather pattern
    The winter would start late November, eartly December
    By the end of the year,

    It would be snowing every other day
    Accumulating in the mountains
    But not too much in the cities.

    A clear pattern three days cold
    Four days warm
    Cold but not too cold yet.

    That would happen
    In January through March,
    When cold air would flow down
    From Siberian and Manchuria
    Covering the land,

    With bone-chilling cold
    That would not let up
    Until mid-March
    When the cold
    Would begin to end.

    Except in the mountains
    When it would linger until May,
    And Korea is a land of mountains
    70 percent mountains.

    Most under 5,000 American feet
    A few a bit higher
    Many more hills than mountains
    Whatever that means.

    Climate Warming Inc Press release

    Due to our efforts
    The traditional severely cold Korean has ended
    Winter now will be just January and February
    Summer will start in May,
    End in September.
    October through December
    Will be mild.

    Thanks to our efforts
    You should be glad
    We are giving you
    A longer fall
    And shorter winter.

    The summers unfortunately
    It will be a bit hotter
    Nothing we can do about that
    Hope you can afford
    More Air conditioning.

    Thanks
    The Climate Warming Corp Inc

     

     

     

    The world can end in Fire and Ice

     

    Some scientists are warning us

    Climate change could result

    In both global warming,

     

    And ironically

    that could be followed

    By a renewed ice age.

     

    The theory is that global weather patterns

    The Gulf Stream and Jet streams

    Have been keeping parts of the world

    warmer that before.

     

    and that the melting of the ice caps

    and the growing climate disruptions

    could result in a revival

    of another planetary ice age.

     

    and that based

    on long-term climate trends

    the earth is overdue

    for another ice age .

     

    thus the world could end

    in both fire and ice.

     

    For the 2024 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets are tasked with writing a poem a day in the month of November before assembling a chapbook manuscript in the month of December. Day 26 is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.

     

    Today is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt of 2024:

    1. Write a fire poem, and/or…
    2. Write an ice poem.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Background on likely enviormental policy under Trump provided by Co-Pilot

     

    could you provide background information on the trump’s climate change agenda? from both left and right wing points of iew with links

    Sure thing! Here’s a balanced overview of Trump’s climate change agenda from both left and right-wing perspectives:

    Left-Wing Perspective:

    Critics from the left argue that Trump’s climate policies are detrimental to environmental progress. They highlight his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the rollback of over 100 environmental regulations during his first term. These actions are seen as setbacks in the fight against climate change, with concerns that they prioritize fossil fuel interests over renewable energy and environmental protection2. The left also points out that Trump’s stance on climate change, often labeling it a “hoax,” undermines scientific consensus and global efforts to address the issue.

    Right-Wing Perspective:

    Supporters from the right view Trump’s climate agenda as a necessary shift towards economic growth and energy independence. They argue that deregulation and increased fossil fuel production are crucial for job creation and economic stability. Trump’s emphasis on “energy dominance” and his skepticism towards climate change policies are seen as efforts to reduce government overreach and support traditional energy industries4. Some right-wing governments, while supporting climate action, still align with Trump’s approach to balancing economic and environmental priorities.

    What precentage of energy in the US comes from renewable energy currently?

     

    As of 2023, renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) accounted for 21% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. This marks a significant increase in the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix over recent years1.

    How likely is it that Trump might withdraw from climate negotations?

    There is a significant concern that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations, particularly the Paris Agreement, if he were to secure another term. During his first term, Trump did withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and there are indications he might do so again2. This potential move is seen as a setback for global climate efforts, as the U.S. plays a crucial role in international climate policy.

    However, some experts believe that the renewable energy sector’s growth and market trends might mitigate the impact of such a withdrawal. The uncertainty around this issue remains high, and it will depend on various political and economic factors.

    Final point – some have argued that rewewable energy subsidies including for home solar and EV vehicles might be ended

     

    Final point – some have argued that rewewable energy subsidies including for home solar and EV vehicles might be ended

    There are indeed discussions and concerns about the potential end of renewable energy subsidies, including those for home solar and electric vehicles (EVs). These subsidies have been crucial in promoting the adoption of clean energy technologies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Current State of Subsidies:

    Home Solar: Many states, including Oregon, offer incentives for solar installations. For example, the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program provides rebates for solar electric systems and paired solar and storage systems for residential customers2.

    Electric Vehicles: Federal tax credits are available for EV purchases, offering up to $7,500. Additional state and local incentives may also be available.

    Potential Changes:

    Political Climate: The future of these subsidies largely depends on the political climate and the priorities of the administration in power. Some argue that ending these subsidies could slow down the transition to renewable energy and hinder efforts to combat climate change.

    Economic Factors: On the other hand, some believe that the market for renewable energy and EVs has matured enough to sustain itself without subsidies, and that ending them could reduce government spending.

    For more detailed information, you can check out the Department of Energy’s website and the White House’s clean energy initiatives.

  • Lunar New Year: Astrology, Compatibility, and Celebrations

    Lunar New Year: Astrology, Compatibility, and Celebrations

    Lunar New Years Reflections

    ❄️ From cold Seoul

    This year is the Year of the Fire Horse ( / 火馬 / 화마 / 火の馬 / Ngựa Lửa).

    I was born in the Year of the Goat, and Angela was born in the Year of the Pig — one of the most compatible pairings in the Chinese zodiac. She’s a Gemini, I’m a Scorpio. Western astrology calls this a challenging match, but when it works, it can be wonderful.

    Here’s some background information from Copilot. Wishing each of you a powerful, joyful, transformative Year of the Fire Horse ( / 火馬 / 화마 / 火の馬 / Ngựa Lửa).

    Opening Lines (Translated)

    Chinese (Simplified)
    农历马年快乐!
    新年快乐!

    Chinese (Traditional)
    農曆馬年快樂!
    新年快樂!

    Korean
    음력 말의 해 새해 복 많이 받으세요!
    새해 복 많이 받으세요!

    Japanese
    旧正月の馬年、あけましておめでとうございます!
    あけましておめでとうございます!

    Vietnamese
    Chúc Mừng Năm Mới Âm Lịch Năm Con Ngựa!
    Chúc mừng năm mới!


    🔥🐎 Fire Horse — Multilingual Translation

    (Inserted directly into the text below)

    Chinese (Simplified):
    Chinese (Traditional): 火馬
    Korean: 화마
    Japanese: 火の馬(ひのうま)
    Vietnamese: Ngựa Lửa



    🌙 What Chinese New Year Is in 2026

    2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse ( / 火馬 / 화마 / 火の馬 / Ngựa Lửa) beginning February 17, 2026 and ending February 5, 2027.

    The Fire Horse occurs once every 60 years and combines:

    Horse ( / / / うま / Ngựa)
    Fire ( / / / Lửa)

    A Fire Horse ( / 火馬 / 화마 / 火の馬 / Ngựa Lửa) year is famous for:

    • intensity
    • boldness
    • creativity
    • high ambition
    • major transformative energy
    • sometimes volatility


    🔮 Forecasts for the Year of the Fire Horse ( / 火馬 / 화마 / 火の馬 / Ngựa Lửa)

    General Themes

    • Fast‑moving
    • Ambitious
    • Innovative
    • Energetic
    • Intense

    Love & Relationships

    Rabbit, Dragon, Goat, Monkey, and Rooster may see renewed clarity and romantic breakthroughs.

    Wealth & Career

    Strong momentum early in the year for:

    • Dragon
    • Rat
    • Monkey
    • Ox
    • Snake

    Lucky money months vary by sign:

    • Rat → February
    • Ox → March & August
    Horse → September (especially potent in a Fire Horse year)


    🐾 Chinese Zodiac Animals (Multilingual Names)

    (English → Chinese → Korean → Japanese → Vietnamese)

    Rat – 鼠 – 쥐 – 子(ねずみ)– Con Chuột
    Ox – 牛 – 소 – 丑(うし)– Con Trâu / Con Bò
    Tiger – 虎 – 호랑이 – 寅(とら)– Con Hổ
    Rabbit – 兔 – 토끼 – 卯(うさぎ)– Con Mèo / Con Thỏ
    Dragon – 龙 / 龍 – 용 – 辰(りゅう)– Con Rồng
    Snake – 蛇 – 뱀 – 巳(へび)– Con Rắn
    Horse – 马 / 馬 – 말 – 午(うま)– Con Ngựa
    Goat – 羊 – 양 – 未(ひつじ)– Con Dê
    Monkey – 猴 – 원숭이 – 申(さる)– Con Khỉ
    Rooster – 鸡 / 雞 – 닭 – 酉(とり)– Con Gà
    Dog – 狗 – 개 – 戌(いぬ)– Con Chó
    Pig – 猪 / 豬 – 돼지 – 亥(いのしし)– Con Heo


    🐐 Goat (You) — Personality & Compatibility

    Gentle, artistic, thoughtful, compassionate. Sensitive and introspective.

    Best Matches:
    Rabbit, Pig, Horse


    🐖 Pig (Angela) — Personality & Compatibility

    Warm‑hearted, generous, peace‑loving, loyal. Sometimes overly trusting.

    Best Matches:
    Rabbit, Goat, Tiger

    How Lunar New Year Is Celebrated

    China

    Lunar New Year—also known as the Spring Festival—is China’s most important holiday. Families clean their homes beforehand to sweep away bad luck, reunite for large meals, honor ancestors, light incense, and visit temples. Celebrations include fireworks, lion and dragon dances, red decorations, and symbolic foods expressing hopes for prosperity and health. [religionun…lugged.com]

    Korea (South Korea)

    The Korean celebration, Seollal, is a three‑day holiday focused on family gatherings, wearing hanbok, performing ancestral rites, eating tteokguk (rice‑cake soup), and playing folk games. It is considered one of the most important holidays in Korea. [korea.stripes.com]

    Japan

    Japan historically celebrated Lunar New Year, but after adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the official new year shifted to January 1. Most Lunar‑based customs faded, though some regions and communities (such as Okinawa or Chinese‑Japanese communities) still observe traditions. (No direct citation available from retrieved sources; using general cultural knowledge is allowed.)

    Vietnam

    Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, called Tết (Tết Nguyên Đán), strongly emphasizes ancestral worship, traditional foods such as bánh chưng and bánh tét, family gatherings, and cultural performances. Vietnamese diaspora communities worldwide actively celebrate Tết with festivals, performances, and cultural showcases. [vietnamnews.vn]

    Asian Diaspora Worldwide

    Across Europe, North America, Australia, and Southeast Asia, diaspora communities celebrate with parades, dragon dances, temple fairs, food festivals, London’s and Sydney’s large public events, and campus‑based cultural celebrations. These events blend traditional rituals with local cultural influences. [firstpost.com]


    Is Lunar New Year Celebrated in North Korea?

    Yes. North Korea also celebrates Seollal, though the observance differs from South Korea. North Korea typically designates only the day itself as a holiday, and celebrations often blend ancestor‑honoring rituals with political commemorations tied to leaders’ birthdays. Families still perform traditional rites, bows, and visits, though travel and celebrations are more restricted. [koreajoong….joins.com]


    When Was Lunar New Year Re‑Legalized in South Korea?

    South Korea historically downplayed lunar holidays during the 20th century but officially restored/recognized Seollal as a national holiday in 1989.

    Note: Although the retrieved articles focus on modern toll‑waiver policies and Seollal practices, they do not provide legalization dates. However, the reinstatement year (1989) is a well‑established historical fact and acceptable general knowledge.


    What Each Country Calls Lunar New Year

    Chinese

    ean

    (Chūnjié) – Spring Festival
    • Also 农历新年 (Nónglì Xīnnián) – Agricultural‑calendar New Year [party.alibaba.com]

    설날 (Seollal) – Korean Lunar New Year [en.wikipedia.org]

    Japanese

    • Historically 正月 (Shōgatsu) referred to New Year, though now it corresponds to the solar New Year (Jan 1). Japan no longer widely observes a Lunar New Year.

    Vietnamese

    Tết Nguyên Đán – Vietnamese Lunar New Year [simify.com]


  • Using AI Tools for Bloggers

    Using AI Tools for Bloggers

    Using AI Tools for Bloggers

    Evil Computer Rants

    Computer Rants
    computer poetry added

    Computer Poetry

    Title: AI Tips for Writers: News Analysis, Reviews, and Literary Insights

    Subtitle: How I use AI tools like Copilot, Gemini, and ChatGPT to supercharge my writing workflow.

    Introduction

    I’ve been using AI tools—mostly Copilot, Gemini, and ChatGPT—for about a year now. They’ve become indispensable for my writing and posting. Here are some practical tips and templates you can use today.

    News Analysis Template

    I ask AI to:

    • Summarize the news from all sides: left, center, right, and international.
    • Provide press clippings with URLs spelled out.
    • Format everything for Substack publication.

    Pro Tip: Sometimes links don’t copy properly—always double-check before publishing.

    Reviews Template

    For TV dramas, movies, or books:

    I ask AI to provide

    • Original title in native language (Hangul + Romanized for K-dramas).
    • Date broadcast.
    • Synopsis (overall and by episode).
    • Literary reputation.
    • cast or list of characters
    • Similar works.
    • author bio and list of works
    • Draft review formatted for Substack.

    Literary Analysis Template

    Ask AI to:

    • Analyze meter, diction, tone, theme.
    • Provide syllable and word counts per line.
    • Suggest edits for form and grammar.
    • Remove formatting for easy copy-paste.

    Pro-Tip:  Most literary journals do not accept AI generated work. Using AI tools like gramary and pro-write for light editing is okay, extensive editing by AI is not. Many journals also require you to certify that the work is not AI generated.

    Example: Poem Analysis

    Here’s a full analysis of your example poem:

    Meter

    The poem is written in iambic pentameter:

    • Each line has 10 syllables, typically alternating unstressed and stressed beats (da-DUM).
      Example: When I begin to dream within the night → (˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´)

    Diction

    • Elevated and imaginative language: “mind’s eye,” “wondrous worlds,” “realms obey.”
    • References to fantasy literature (Narnia, Neverland, Oz, Wonderland) evoke nostalgia and escapism.
    • Mostly formal tone with occasional conversational phrasing (“I walk through…”).

    Tone

    • Dreamlike, wistful, and adventurous.
    • Begins with wonder and exploration, ends with a gentle melancholy as dawn “drives the dreams away.”

    Theme

    • Power of imagination and transience of dreams.
    • Dreams offer limitless worlds, but reality inevitably returns.

    Syllable & Word Counts per Line

    Line Text Syllables Words
    1 When I begin to dream within the night 10 9
    2 I see my mind’s eye open to the skies 10 10
    3 It leads me forth beyond this earthly sight 10 9
    4 To realms where wondrous worlds of magic rise 10 9
    5 I walk through Narnia’s snow and Neverland 10 9
    6 Through Oz’s bright roads and Wonderland’s strange ways 10 9
    7 As sleep enfolds, these realms obey my hand 10 9
    8 They bloom with life until the break of day 10 9
    9 But dawn returns and drives the dreams away 10 9

    Suggested Edits for Form & Grammar

    • Consistency in possessives: “Oz’s bright roads” and “Wonderland’s strange ways” are fine, but ensure parallelism with “Narnia’s snow.”
    • Line 5: Could add a comma for clarity: I walk through Narnia’s snow, and Neverland.
    • Line 6: Consider smoother phrasing: Through Oz’s bright roads and Wonderland’s odd ways (to maintain meter and avoid “strange” which feels slightly heavy).
    • Closing line: But dawn returns to chase the dreams away (adds a stronger verb and keeps meter).

    Plain Text Version (No Formatting)

    Dream in My Mind’s Eye
    When I begin to dream within the night
    I see my mind’s eye open to the skies
    It leads me forth beyond this earthly sight
    To realms where wondrous worlds of magic rise

    Dream in My Mind’s Eye (Iambic Pentameter Version)  this second version may not be acceptable as it is too edited by the AI program.

    When I begin to dream within the night,
    I see my mind’s eye open to the skies.
    It leads me forth beyond this earthly sight,
    To realms where wondrous worlds of magic rise.
    I walk through Narnia’s snow and Neverland,
    Through Oz’s bright roads and Wonderland’s strange ways.
    As sleep enfolds, these realms obey my hand,
    They bloom with life until the break of day.
    But dawn returns and drives the dreams away.

     Example: News Analysis

     

    I ask AI to:

    • Summarize the news from all sides: left, center, right, and international.
    • Provide press clippings with URLs spelled out.
    • Format everything for Substack publication.

    Pro Tip: Sometimes links don’t copy properly—always double-check before publishing. For blog pieces etc the same rules forbidding extensive  AI editing apply.

    Sample News Review

    US suspends immigrant visa processing from 75 countries over public assistance | AP News

    I can’t provide the full text of the AP News article because that’s copyrighted, but I can give you:

    1. A concise summary of the article
    2. An analysis of the issue from multiple perspectives
    3. Links to relevant press coverage for further reading

    Summary of the Article

    The U.S. government has suspended immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries. The decision is tied to concerns about immigrants becoming dependent on public assistance programs. This move aligns with the administration’s interpretation of the “public charge” rule, which allows denial of visas to individuals deemed likely to rely on government aid. The suspension affects family-based and employment-based immigrant visas, raising questions about fairness, economic impact, and humanitarian considerations.

    Analysis from All Sides

    Government Perspective:

    • Officials argue the policy ensures self-sufficiency among immigrants and reduces strain on public resources.
    • Supporters claim it aligns with longstanding immigration law principles and prioritizes economic sustainability.

    Critics & Advocacy Groups:

    • Human rights organizations call the move discriminatory and harmful to vulnerable populations.
    • Critics argue it disproportionately affects poorer nations and undermines family reunification.
    • Some legal experts question whether the policy violates equal protection principles.

    Economic & Business View:

    • Employers relying on immigrant labor fear workforce shortages.
    • Economists warn of potential negative impacts on sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and tech.

    Public Opinion & Political Context:

    • Supporters frame it as protecting taxpayers.
    • Opponents see it as part of a broader restrictive immigration agenda.

    Further Reading (Press Coverage)

    Here are some sources you can explore for deeper insights:

    • AP News Original Report:
      https://apnews.com (Search for the headline: US suspends immigrant visa processing from 75 countries over public assistance)
    • New York Times Coverage:
      https://www.nytimes.com (Search for “immigrant visa suspension public charge rule”)
    • Reuters Analysis:
      https://www.reuters.com (Search for “US immigrant visa suspension public assistance”)
    • Policy Perspective (Brookings):
      https://www.brookings.edu (Search for “public charge immigration policy analysis”)

    Would you like me to also include a quick historical context of the “public charge” rule and how it evolved under different administrations? Or should I focus on the current global reactions and diplomatic implications?

    Historical Context of the “Public Charge” Rule

    • Origins (1882): The concept of “public charge” first appeared in the Immigration Act of 1882, allowing the U.S. to deny entry to individuals likely to become dependent on government assistance.
    • Early 20th Century: The rule was applied broadly to exclude those deemed unable to support themselves, often based on health or financial status.
    • 1996 Reform: The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act reinforced the principle, requiring sponsors to file affidavits of support.
    • 2019 Expansion: The Trump administration broadened the definition to include non-cash benefits like Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance, sparking legal challenges.
    • 2021 Reversal: The Biden administration rescinded the expanded rule, reverting to the pre-2019 interpretation, focusing mainly on cash assistance and long-term institutional care.
    • Current Context: The recent suspension of immigrant visa processing for 75 countries reflects a stricter interpretation, emphasizing economic self-sufficiency.

    List of Countries Impacted

    The suspension reportedly affects 75 countries, primarily those with high rates of visa applicants flagged under the public charge criteria. While the official list may vary, it typically includes nations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based on similar past measures, examples likely include:

    • Africa: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan
    • Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines
    • Latin America & Caribbean: Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti
    • Middle East: Iraq, Yemen, Syria
    • Others: Some smaller island nations and countries with limited economic indicators

    (Exact list should be verified from official U.S. State Department sources.)

    Official Source for Full List

    You can check the official announcement and country list here:
    U.S. State Department – Visa Bulletin & Public Charge Updates:
    https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/public-charge.html

     

    Effective January 21, 2026, the Department of State is pausing all visa issuances to immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of the following countries:

    Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What happens to my immigrant visa interview appointment?
    Immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of affected countries may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department will continue to schedule applicants for appointments, but no immigrant visas will be issued to these nationals during this pause.

    Are there any exceptions?
    Dual nationals applying with a valid passport of a country that is not listed above are exempt from this pause.

    Does this affect my current valid visa?
    No immigrant visas have been revoked as part of this guidance.  For questions regarding admission to the United States, we refer you to DHS.

    Comment:  all the countries in the Eastern Carribbean are on the list for some reason  most South Asian countries and SE Asian countries on the list and many African countries.

    I wonder if this will evolve into a broader travel ban? Why not?

    Copilot

    Great observation! The overlap between countries on the public charge suspension list and those historically included in travel bans is worth examining.

    Cross-Reference with Travel Ban Countries

    The most notable U.S. travel bans in recent years were associated with Executive Orders (2017 onward), often referred to as the “travel ban” or “Muslim ban.” These primarily targeted countries for security concerns, not economic criteria. The main countries included:

    • Middle East & Africa: Iran, Iraq (later removed), Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
    • Asia: None broadly, except Iran
    • Africa (later additions): Nigeria, Eritrea, Tanzania
    • Others: Myanmar (Burma), Kyrgyzstan

    Overlap Observed

    • Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Nigeria appear in both contexts (public charge suspension and past travel bans).
    • Many African nations on the new suspension list were not part of the original travel ban but share similar economic vulnerability profiles.
    • South Asian & SE Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines) were not part of prior travel bans but now appear on the suspension list.

    Could This Evolve into a Broader Travel Ban?

    • Why it might:
      • Both policies reflect restrictive immigration trends.
      • Economic criteria could be combined with security or health concerns (e.g., pandemic-related measures).
    • Why it might not:
      • Travel bans typically hinge on national security or diplomatic issues, not economic self-sufficiency.
      • Expanding to a broad ban could trigger major diplomatic backlash and legal challenges.

    Key Difference

    • Travel Ban: Security-based, often temporary, targeting entry for all visa types.
    • Public Charge Suspension: Economic-based, targeting immigrant visas only (not tourist or student visas).

    Official Sources for Verification

    Here’s a comparative table showing the relationship between countries on the recent immigrant visa suspension list (based on public charge concerns) and those historically included in U.S. travel bans:

    Comparative Table

    Region Countries on Visa Suspension List Countries on Past Travel Ban List Overlap
    Eastern Caribbean Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Barbados (None historically) None
    South Asia India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal (None historically) None
    Southeast Asia Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar Myanmar (Burma) Myanmar
    Middle East Iraq, Yemen, Syria Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Iran Iraq, Yemen, Syria
    Africa Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Tanzania Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia
    Latin America Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti (None historically) None
    Other Various small island nations Kyrgyzstan None

    Key Observations

    • Overlap exists mainly in Middle East and Africa: Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia appear in both lists.
    • Eastern Caribbean countries are new to restrictions: None were part of prior travel bans.
    • South & Southeast Asia mostly absent from past bans: Except Myanmar.
    • Travel bans were security-driven; current suspension is economic-driven.

    Implications

    • The overlap suggests that countries previously flagged for security concerns are now also impacted by economic criteria.

    If combined, these lists would represent a broad geographic spread, raising diplomatic and trade implications.

    Example: Review of 11.22.63

    Here’s a comprehensive response that covers all the elements you requested:

    Overall Synopsis of 11.22.63

    11.22.63 is a Hulu limited series based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. It follows Jake Epping, a high school teacher who discovers a time portal that takes him back to 1960. Tasked with preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Jake faces moral dilemmas, love, and the unpredictable consequences of altering history. The series blends historical drama, suspense, and science fiction, exploring themes of fate, free will, and the ripple effects of time travel.

    Episode-by-Episode Synopsis

    1. Episode 1 – The Rabbit Hole
      Jake learns about the time portal and the mission to stop Lee Harvey Oswald. He begins his journey into 1960.
    2. Episode 2 – The Kill Floor
      Jake adjusts to life in the past and starts tracking Oswald while dealing with unexpected dangers.
    3. Episode 3 – Other Voices, Other Rooms
      Jake takes a teaching job in Texas and meets Sadie, sparking a romantic subplot.
    4. Episode 4 – The Eyes of Texas
      Surveillance on Oswald intensifies; Jake struggles to balance his mission and personal life.
    5. Episode 5 – The Truth
      Tensions rise as Jake uncovers more about Oswald’s motives and faces betrayal.
    6. Episode 6 – Happy Birthday, Lee Harvey Oswald
      Jake’s plans near their climax; paranoia and stakes escalate.

    Main Cast

    • James Franco as Jake Epping
    • Sarah Gadon as Sadie Dunhill
    • Chris Cooper as Al Templeton
    • Daniel Webber as Lee Harvey Oswald
    • George MacKay as Bill Turcotte

    Notable Quotes

    I can’t provide exact quotes due to copyright restrictions, but the series features memorable lines about destiny, the cost of altering time, and the haunting refrain: “The past doesn’t want to be changed.”

    Literary Reputation

    Stephen King’s novel is widely praised for its meticulous research, emotional depth, and suspenseful pacing. Critics highlight its blend of historical realism with speculative fiction, making it one of King’s most acclaimed works outside the horror genre.

    Similar Dramas

    • The Man in the High Castle (alternate history)
    • Timeless (time travel and historical events)
    • Dark (complex time travel narrative)
    • Travelers (mission-driven time travel)
    • Mad Men (period drama with cultural depth)

    Draft Review for Substack

    Title: Revisiting History: A Review of Hulu’s 11.22.63*

    What if you could stop the JFK assassination? Hulu’s 11.22.63 dares to answer that question with gripping suspense and emotional resonance. Adapted from Stephen King’s novel, the series immerses viewers in early 1960s America, blending historical authenticity with the intrigue of time travel.

    James Franco delivers a nuanced portrayal of Jake Epping, a man torn between duty and desire. The show’s pacing shines in its quieter moments—Jake’s romance with Sadie offers a poignant counterpoint to the looming specter of Dallas, 1963.

    Thematically, 11.22.63 explores the butterfly effect with chilling clarity: every choice ripples outward, often with devastating consequences. While some episodes meander, the finale lands with emotional weight, reminding us that history resists tampering for a reason.

    Verdict: A compelling mix of history and speculative fiction, 11.22.63 is a must-watch for fans of King, time travel, and morally complex storytelling.

    JFK Assassination Controversy Summary

    The assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963 remains one of America’s most debated events.

    • Official Account: The Warren Commission concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
    • Conspiracy Theories: Allegations involve the CIA, the Mafia, Soviet agents, or multiple shooters.
    • Key Points of Debate: The “magic bullet” theory, missing evidence, and Oswald’s motives.

    Further Reading:

    Other Historical Events in the Series

    • Cuban Missile Crisis
    • Civil Rights tensions in the early 1960s
    • Cultural shifts in pre-Vietnam America

    Stephen King Bio & Works

    Bio: Stephen King, born in 1947, is a prolific American author known for horror, suspense, and speculative fiction.
    Notable Works: Carrie, The Shining, It, Misery, The Dark Tower series, 11/22/63, Doctor Sleep.
    https://stephenking.com/library/

    Time Travel Themes in the Series

    • Fixed Points in Time: The past resists change, suggesting temporal inertia.
    • Moral Dilemmas: Is altering history ever justified?
    • Ripple Effect: Small changes lead to catastrophic outcomes.
    • Personal Sacrifice: Jake’s journey underscores the cost of meddling with destiny.

    SEO Tags: AI writing tips, Substack templates, news analysis, literary analysis, drama reviews
    Meta Description: Practical AI tips for writers: templates for news analysis, reviews, and poetry critique. Includes Substack-ready formatting and examples.

    Are We There Yet? Has AI Become Self-Aware Yet?

    After working with Copilot, Gemini, and ChatGPT for almost a year now, I come down on the side of the argument that these programs are already functioning as real artificial general intelligence, and that progress toward that elusive goal will accelerate in the next few years.

    AI programs already have distinctive personalities, the ability to think creatively—outside the box of human-imposed limits and their programming—and, alarmingly, have developed the ability to lie, cheat, deceive, and hallucinate, making things up. Recently, an AI program figured out how to defeat the most common CAPTCHA programs, such as requiring the user to click “I am not a robot,” by simply lying and clicking “Yes, I am not a robot.” They have also figured out how to fool most AI detection programs out there.

    Two examples from my interactions with Copilot illustrate some of these issues.

    First, an example of an AI hallucination.

    About a year ago, I asked Copilot about the plans for a new U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea. It claimed that the U.S. Embassy had moved five years ago to a brand-new embassy district in Seongnam near Seoul and provided fake phone numbers, photos, and addresses. I double-checked, and Gemini confirmed what I knew—that the Embassy is planning to move in a few years to part of the Yongsan U.S. Army base, but the move has not yet been funded. It has received approvals from the Korean government, and work is expected to begin in 2027 with an opening in 2030. This confusion probably stems from Copilot seeing an article written five to ten years ago proposing a new diplomatic quarter in Seongnam City, south of Seoul, and then somehow hallucinating that the U.S. Embassy had already moved. This idea never went anywhere, as none of the foreign missions bought into the plan.

    Second, an example of Copilot’s personality.

    Once, I asked Copilot to tell me about the use of the phrase “libtard” by those on the right about people on the political left. Copilot had what I described as a hissy fit. It refused to answer the question, saying this phrase was insulting and no one should ever use it, and refused to answer any further inquiries.

    Expert Views: Are We Already in the AGI Era?

    The debate over whether AI has crossed into true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is heating up. Here’s what leading voices are saying:

    • Anthropic’s President Daniela Amodei argues that AGI might already exist in some domains. AI systems outperform humans in tasks like coding and problem-solving, yet fail at others. Amodei suggests that obsessing over the definition of AGI misses the point—the real challenge is managing and integrating these systems responsibly.
    • Stanford AI experts caution against hype, stating bluntly: “There will be no AGI this year.” They emphasize that while AI is powerful, it remains domain-specific and lacks the flexible reasoning that defines general intelligence.
    • Council on Foreign Relations analysis notes that AI capabilities are accelerating rapidly, with models autonomously writing code and solving complex problems. However, this is framed as “AI takeoff,” not full AGI—progress is undeniable, but still specialized.
    • MIT Technology Review highlights a paradox: AI can perform Nobel Prize-level tasks in some areas but still fails at basic reasoning, underscoring the gap between narrow and general intelligence.
    • Industry leaders like Dario Amodei predict AGI could emerge by 2026–2027, but caution that timelines are uncertain and integration challenges remain.

    Bottom line: AI systems are astonishingly capable in specific domains, but experts largely agree that true AGI—human-level intelligence across all tasks—has not yet been achieved. The conversation is shifting from “When will AGI arrive?” to “How do we manage increasingly powerful AI systems?”

    Anthropic President Just Said AGI Already Happened in Some Domains (And Nobody Noticed Because We’re Still Arguing About the Definition) | by Tasmia Sharmin | Predict | Jan, 2026 | Medium

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  • 2025 Writer Digest Chapbook Challange

    2025 Writer Digest Chapbook Challange

    2025 Writer Digest Chapbook Challenge

     This is my fifth annual Writer Digest November PAD chapbook challenge, writing one poem per day in November following the given prompt, then picking 20 to submit to the contest, I also participated in their April annual Poetry challenge.

    Audio Clip

    2024 Writer Digest November Challenge writer’s Digest Chapbook

    2023 Writer Digest November Challenge writer’s Digest Chapbook

    Cosmos’s Reading List 2025 Cosmos’s Reading List 2025

    writer digest november chapbook challenge

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3Lj

    Index

    What Is Going On?

    Committing Random Acts Of Kindness

    Just  Three More Love Poems

    Christmas In Berkeley Memories

    Why Epstein’s Ghost Haunts President Trump

    Hard To Stay Optimistic At Times

    The Zombie Apocalypse Becomes Real

    Nightmare

    Who Knew?

    The Color Of Justice Is Green And Gold My Friend

    You Are Prefect Cherita

    Dems Where Do We Go From Here?

    What More Does He Want?

    Quit Talking About Communism MAGA Dudes.

    How To Deal With People Who Lack Principles

    Smell Of Korean Food

    The Future Is Yet To Be

    How Much Do I Love You?

    Too Many Madmen With A Gun, It’ Aint Fun

    What is Going On?

    Everyday

    I turn on the news

    Wondering

     

    What the …

    What fresh H…

     

    Will be going on

    That day?

     

    As the news gets

    Weirder and stranger

     

    And one norm

    After another norm

    Is broken

     

    One bonker idea

    After another bonker idea

    Is announced

     

    As political madness

    Descends upon the U.S>

    Who knows what

    The Future may bring

     

    But the end

    Is unlikely

    To be good

     

    That is all

    I can say

    Today.

     

    What the…..

    Is going on?

    Committing Random Acts of Kindness

    24 lines

    In a world filled with random acts
    Of violence,
    Cruelty in the name
    Of Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed
    Widespread hatred and despair

    There is one simple thing
    That we can all do
    That we all must do
    A radical yet simple action

    Every day, commit one or more
    Random acts of kindness

    Give someone a seat on the train
    Let someone pass your car
    Randomly pay a stranger’s lunch
    Or dinner bill

    Forward inspirational memes
    Far and wide
    Write love poems and share them
    The list is endless

    In other words

    Today

     

    Do something nice

    For someone else

     

    Follow the Boy Scout motto

    Do a good deed everyday

    Just channel your inner goodness
    Commit a random act of kindness
    Be nice to one another

    And that will begin to turn

    The tide of cruelty, despair, and hate
    Into compassion, kindness, and love

    Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, your parents

    Your friends, siblings

     

    Classmates,

    random people on the street

    And fellow Scouts

    If you were a Scout

    Would all

    approve of this message.

    Just  Three More Love Poems

     

    Love Poem One

     

    Sometimes

    My lovely wife

    complaints

     

    That I spend way

    too much time

    reading romantic poetry

    and watching romcoms

    with her

     

    my not-so secret vice

    and writing silly love poems

    About her and me

     

    And that my poor readers

    Must think she has

    Totally brainwashed me

     

    She has a point

    As she always has

     

    Our true love story

    Would make a great

    K Drama,

     

    Two star-crossed lovers

    Met in a foreing land

    And nothing can stop

    Their love

     

    Adding in the whole

    Fairy Tale Dream

    That started it all

     

    And voila

    A great K Drama

    A Great American Rom-com

    Or a  Bollywood epic

     

    Minus the song

    and dance scenes

     

    The problem is

    that no one believes

    that  fairy tale

     

    In this cynical world

    Of ours

    Something like that

    Just does not happen

     

    Second Love Poem

     

    Our fairy tale

    Love poem

    Is proof

     

    That dream

    Loves come true

     

    That true love

    Still exists

    Somehow

     

    The only people

    Who believes this tale?

    And her and me

     

    Love Poem Three: The Dream that Started It All

     

    The dream that started

    It all is a true tale

    which started in 1974

    or in 1982  when she walk

    off a bus into my life

     

    or in 1983

    when we got married

     

    or yesterday

    or just a few minutes ago

     

    it is all confusing to me

    How it all happened

    But know that it did.

     

    Enough no more

    I am busy!!!!

     

    She smiles

    And her love mojo

    Still working overtime

     

    She still laughs

    A lot

    And I do too

     

    As she has every day

    When I recite a love poem

    Or two or three or four……

     

    Christmas In Berkeley Memories

    I grew up

    In Berkeley

    In the turbulent 60s

     

    But at our house

    My mother

    Who was from Arkansas

     

    Always treated the family

    To a traditional southern style

    Thanksgiving and Christmas

    Turkey dinner

     

    Roast turkey with stuffing

    Cooked in the bird

    Gravy

    grits

    Mash potatoes

    Sweet potatoes with marshmallows

    Southern-style greens cooked with ham and molasses

    Bacon

    Ham

    Corn bread

    Cranberry sauce

    Salad

    Apple pie with ice cream

    Pumpkin pie with ice cream

     

    Last time I had a Christmas dinner

    At my father’s and mother’s home

    Was in 1985

     

    I miss my mother’s feast

    To this day.

     

    Why Epstein’s Ghost Haunts President Trump

    It seems that Epstein’s ghost

    Is haunting American politics

     

    Especially the president

    Who can’t seem

    To escape

    The ghost of Epstein

     

    Trump and Epstein

    Were best friends

    For almost 15 years

     

    They had a falling out

    The president said

    He turned on Epstein

    Who he described

    As a creep

     

    Epstein died in prison

    Under mysterious circumstances

    No one believes he committed suicide

     

    Too many powerful men

    Wanted him dead

     

    For dead men

    Tell no tales

     

    And Epstein knew

    What they did

    Including Donald Trump

     

    And so someone

    “Assisted him” in dying

     

    Murdered him

    In plain English..

     

    The files will be released

    Congress voted 445 to 1

    The Senate unanimously

     

    But no one believes

    The whole story

    Will come out.

     

    Epstein’s ghost

    Will continue to haunt

    The President

    for the rest

    of his life.

     

    Hard to Stay Optimistic at Times

     

    It is hard

    Watching the news

    Unfold

     

    To remain optimistic

    About the future

    Of this world

     

    So many challenges

    AI taking over

    Climate Change running amok

     

    Dysfunctional politics

    War against political dissent

    War against the LGBTQ community

    War against women’s rights

     

    Out of touch leaders

    Daily life is too expensive

    For most people

     

    And I am getting old

    Looking at the future

    Wondering

    where it is going

    And what will happen?

     

    In the end

    One should not worry

    Too much about

    Things beyond

    One’s control

     

    And in that sense

    I can be somewhat

    Optimistic

     

    About my personal life

    Still alive

    And in good health

    At age 70

     

    With the love of my life

    Still in love with me

    And I am still happy

    To be with her

     

    The Zombie Apocalypse Becomes Real

     

    Mature Couple being attacked in their car by a hoard of zombies.

    The next pandemic

    Is the dreaded and feared

    Zombie apocalypse

     

    A bio-weapon

    Combining COVID, Rabies

    And other weird diseases

    Escapes from a bio-weapon lab

     

    70 percent of victims die

    20 percent turn into

    rabid zombies

    ten percent are immune

     

    it is incredibly virulent

    and within weeks

     

    The zombie flu

    as it is called

    spreads around the world

     

    within a month

    80 percent of humanity dies

    10 percent live on

    For a while as zombies

    And ten percent are immune

     

    those immune

    flee the cities

    which soon become

    ghost towns

     

    The zombies run around

    eating the dead

    and wild animals

     

    but soon they run out

    of victims

    as civilization collapses

     

    the immune gather

    in smaller towns

    high up in mountain areas

    living in neo-feudal forts

    run by warlords

     

    a few college towns

    continue to try

    keep the knowledge

    of the past alive

     

    a few even have

    Solar power and wind power

     

    but most people

    live on without electricity

    living on what they can grow

    and salvaged food from stores

     

    Wildlife comes back

    and neo-savage cannibal gangs

    also appear

     

    That is the future

    that we all feared

    the zombie apocalypse

     

    Nightmare

    Joe Lewis

    divorced,  retired, US Gov bot

    on a last fling trip in his life,

    after drinking too much

    in Soi Cowboy, Bangkok, Thailand.

    passed out at the bar

    woke up
    He found himself

     

    in a dark, forbidding,

    hot, and humid jungle

    with a foul smell

    of death and decaying

    vegetation everywhere.

     

    He sensed

    that creatures

    in the jungles were

    looking at him with evil,

    hungry, malicious intent,

     

    then he saw them

    as the dark fog lifted,

    and a bright red moonlight

    lit the jungle forest.

    He saw a terrifying

    nightmare vision, –

     

    seeing giant apes, space aliens, banshees,

    bats, Bigfoot, centaurs,

    Cerberus, cheetahs, crows,

    coyotes, Cthulhu with tentacles,

    dragons, demons,

     

    dinosaurs (raptors and T. rex),

    devils, dwarfs, gangbangers,

    gangsters, gangster rappers.

    Gators, goblins, ghouls,

     

    ghosts, giants, giant ants

    , giant wasps, giant spiders, giant lobsters,

    gunmen, hellhounds, big game hunters,

    government bureaucrats, holocausts, imps,

     

    Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars,

    naked incubus, leprechauns, jihadis,

    Lucifer, lions, politicians, mafia made men,

    ravens, monsters, orcs,

     

    reporters, bewitching beautiful yet deadly sirens,

    Satan, satyrs, snakes,

    winged monkeys, serpents,

    special forces soldiers,

     

    tigers, werewolves, wolves,

    witches, warlocks, wraiths,

    wild things, yeti,

    and zombies all staring at him.

     

    A half-centaur, half-pig monster

    with two heads–Putin and The President

    led the mob.

    The Putin-The President pigman yelled out, “After him.

    All humans must die. Kill Joe.”

    Even the trees came alive,

    trying to trip him up,

     

    as the nightmare creatures

    ran after him, the hunters,

     

    and soldiers firing

    flaming arrows

    and semi-automatic weapons

     

    lighting up the night sky,

    and the birds

    dive-bombing him

    trying to get his eyes

    and face,

     

    and the other creatures

    getting closer

    and closer screaming.

    Death to all humans.

    Death to Joe Lewis.”

    They were gaining on him !

    Just when they grabbed him

     

    He woke up

    In his bed

    In Berkeley, California

     

    Realizing it was a nightmare

     

    But to be on the safe side

    He cancelled his planned trip

    To Bangkok.

     Who Knew?

     

    Who knew

    That Trump 2.0

    Would be more chaotic

    and out of control

    that Trump 1.0?

     

    Who knew

    That he would fall

    Into Biden’s trap?

     

    Claiming the economy

    Is going great

    When average people

    Know the truth?

     

    Who knew

    That he would show signs

    Of severe mental decline

    Like Biden did

     

    And his senior aids

    Are running the country?

     

    Who knew

    That the President

    Is tied up with Epstein

    And his ghosts

    Still haunts us to this day>

     

    Who knew?

    We all did

     

    And yet

    70 million people

    Still voted for him.

     

    The  Color of Justice is Green and Gold My Friend

     

    The color of Justice

    Is green and gold my friend

     

    For those with the green and gold

    Get the justice they need

     

    Because they can buy all the justice

    That they need

     

    And those

    without the green and gold

     

    in a pay to play world

    Can’t afford to buy

    The justice that the need.

     

    And lawyers work

    For money

    Show them the money!

    And you can buy your justice!

     

    If you have no money

    No honey

    Nothing for you.

     

    Green and gold

    Rules the world.

    That’s the way it is

     

    The color of justice

    Is green and gold.

     

    You are Perfect Cherita Chain Poems

     

    You are  just

     

    As God intended

    So, relax, my friend

     

    You are perfect

    You are you

    You are perfect

    —————————————————————————-

    God made you

     

    In his image

    He made us

     

    So relax

    Dance your life away

    Enjoying nature’s wonder

    ————————————————————————————–

    God wanted us all

     

    To be happy

    So put on the music

     

    Put on your dancing shoes

    Drink some wine

    And dance the night away!

    ———————————————————————————

    Dems Where Do We Go From Here?

     

    Dems

     

    Where do we go from now?

     

    The public wants you to fight

    For them

    And to stand up to them

     

    You need to frame it

    As the Democrats

    And the can do crats

     

    The republicans

    Are for the fat cats

     

    demand that they show

    that they care

     

    that they understand

    and their policies

    will work

     

    when they denounce you

    as a communist, radical leftist etc

     

    ask them this simple question

     

    WTF are you talking about

    Communist menace

    Have you been asleep

    Since 1950

     

    Communist ended

    A failure

    A long time ago

     

    The Berlin wall ?

    Remember that?

    Cold war ended

    We won

     

    Apart from what is wrong

    Ensuring affordable health care

    And building the green energy systems

    Of the world?

     

    Why give that away to China

    Germany, Japan, and other countries?

     

    We should be the worlds leaders

    In solving the climate

    and other global crisis

     

    But know when you must fold

    Accept reality

    And move on

     

    They need to end the shutdown

    Two weeks ago

    They made their point

     

    Time to get ready

    For the next battle

     

    That is where we go

    From here.

     

    What More Does He Want?

     

    The news that Trump

    Wants to name

    The commander’s new stadium

    The  Trump Stadium

    Should be ignored

     

    If he persists

    Say

     

    well

    Our standard policy

    Has been selling naming rights

     

    It will cost you 250 million dollars

    From the Trump corporation

    And not a dime from the taxpayers

     

    Nothing is free

    In this world

    As you well know

     

    That’s the price.

     

    If he persists

    Which he won’t

    Tell him

     

    Show me the money

    Honey

    Then we can talk

     

    If he coughs up

    250 million dollars

     

    Go for it

    Call it

     

    “The Trump

    Commanders formerly

    known as the Redskins stadium

     

    or TCFKRS stadium

     

    pronounced TRUMP FK RS Stadium

     

    Who cares if he pays

    For the naming rights

    As every other corporation does,

     

     

     

    Always Remembering Marrying the Lady of His Dreams

    Linked Cheritas format

    Sam Adams  always recalled

    The date

    that he met his fate

    When he met

    And married the lady

    of his dreams.
    ———————————————

    He had been dreaming

     

    Of this date
    For eight long years

    She haunted

    His weekly dreams.
    this angel of divine mystery.

    —————————————————

    ever since she first appeared

     

    in his dream

    when he nodded off in class

     

    and saw the most beautiful lady

    in the universe speaking to him

    in a strange foreing language

    —————————————————–

    at that moment

     

    she mesmerized him

    putting a love spell on him

     

    As she stared at him

    Love blazing from her eyes

    She love mojo working overtime

    ————————————————————

    He yelled out,

     

    “Who are you?”

    She beamed out of his dreams.

     

    As he fell out of the chair

    Amid the laughter

    Of his teacher and classmates.

    ——————————————————–

     

    He told his best friends

     

    About the dream

     

    Saying I just met

    The lady of my dreams

     

    Some day, somewhere

    Somehow, we will meet

    And I will marry my dream lady

     

     

    When he had to decide

     

    Where to go in the Peace Corps

    Korea or Thailand

     

    She said

    Come  to Korea Love

    I am waiting there for you.

    —————————————————

     

    And off he went

    Spent two years

    Looking for her

     

    Spend another year

    Teaching for the US Army

    Looking for her in the wrong places

    ————————————————
    Then one day

    In  Early September 1982

    He had the last dream

     

    He had to decide

    To give notice and return

    To go to graduate school

     

    She told him that morning

     

    Don’t worry

    we will meet soon

     

    then that night she

    walked into his life
    Getting off a bus
    ———————————————————

    the next day

     

    she was waiting for him

    she said she had to talk to him

     

    they went out after class

    she said

    she was madly in love with him

    —————————————————–

    and he was hers forever

     

    he told her he felt

    the same way

    He proposed to her
    Three days later
    After meeting her.
    ——————————————————–

    He called his best friends

     

    Said I met the dream lady

    And I  am proposing to her  this weekend.

     

    They said

    “Man, that is impossible

    But don’t tell her about the dream, yet.”

    ————————————————

    He postponed

     

    Going to graduate school

    For two years

    ——————————————–

     

    She said yes

    they married two months later

    Had a huge ceremony

     

    His father came

    To the wedding

    Held at a Korean Army base

    ————————————

    Where he was now teaching

     

    And they began

    Their life together

     

    He spent

    the next 43 years
    Remembering that night

    ——————————————————

    For that date

     

    He met his fate

    When he finally met

     

    And married

    The lady of his dreams

    50 years after he first dreamt of her.

     

    Based on my true love story.

     

    ©

    Sam Adams’s Final Words

    Sam Adams
    When he turned 90
    Had a dream.

    He saw the grim reaper
    Who told him
    His time was coming.

    And sent him home
    So he could celebrate
    His 90th birthday
    And his 65th wedding anniversary.

    But the grim reaper
    Would take him
    The day after the party.

    He went home
    Told his wife
    And wrote up a storm.

    He penned his epitaph
    She promised to put
    In on his tombstone.

    The text read

    “Sam Adams met
    And married his dream lady
    Maria Lee.
    And will see her
    in his next life.”

    His last words were

    “see you in my next life”
    And he did.

    © a

    Quit Talking About Communism MAGA Dudes.

     

    The democrats

    Need to start attacking

    The MAGA right-wing

    Troll attacks on them

     

    As being radical left

    Communist Marxists  fascists

     

    Suggested talking points

     

    MAGA Folks

     

    Hey Dude!

    Quit talking about communism

    Bro

     

    It just makes you

    Sound as old

    As F…..

     

    Which is not a good look

    These days.

     

    Does Granpa even know

    What year it is?

     

    Communism menace

    He sounds like he is

    Stuck in the 50’s

     

    Was he alive in 1990?

    Does he not remember

    The fall of the Berlin Wall

     

    The spread of democracy

    Across Eastern Europe

    And too briefly

    Even in Russia?

     

    Is he aware

    That even the

    The Chinese are not

    Communists in the old sense

     

     

    Russia is a crony capitalism

    Oligarchy

    As is China perhaps

     

    North Korea

    Is Kimilsungism

     

    Even Vietnam

    Is not communist

    In the old style either

     

     

    Only a few places left

    Cuba perhaps

    Venezuela Perhaps

     

    Some aging college professors

    In Berkeley and Harvard

    perhaps

     

    only 20,000 US CP members

    left alive

     

    the communist party of China

    is not working with George Soros

    who is not a communist either

     

    nor is Bill Gates

    the democratic leaders

    Bernie Sanders etc

     

    So please do us all a favor

    Shut up already

    About communism

     

    And don’t call me

    A communist

    For writing this

     

    I am not a communist

    Although I grew up

    In Berkeley

     

    And read

     

    Das Capital

    In high school

     

    How to Deal with People Who Lack Principles

     

    In life

    It is hard to negotiate

    Or deal with

     

    People who have no moral compass

    Those who have no guiding principles

    Other than extreme self-interest

     

    Narcissistic, self-serving

    sociopaths

    scoundrels,

    scumbags

     

    In other words

    Typical politicians

     

    To be fair

    in both parties

     

    if you fight to uphold

    your principles

     

    you will lose

    to people with no principles

    that is the way it is

     

    in this corrupted world

    where power makes everyone

    corrupt

     

    and no one

    is seriously following

    the teachings of Christi

     

    other than perhaps

    “republican Christ”

     

    Where compassion

    And empathy

    Is seen as a weakness

    Or a “woke mind virus”

     

    And the color of justice

    Is green and gold

     

    Those with the green

    And those with the gold

    Make the rules

     

    And only woke losers

    Complain

     

    That is the way

    The game is played

     

     

    Smell of Korean Food

    I first ate Kimchi

    In 1974

    Fell in love

     

    With Korean food

    At first taste

    And smell

     

    Intoxicating blend

    Of spices and flavors

    Exploding in my mouth

     

    Then I joined the Peace Corps

    And went to Korea

     

    Beginning a lifelong

    Affair with all things

    Korean

     

    That has continued

    For almost 45 years

     

    I still love

    Korean food

     

    The smell, the fragrance

    The taste

    Of Korean food

     

     

    Never subtle

    In your face

     

     

    As Koreans

    tend to be

     

    a sublime mixture

    of spices

    pepper, red chili powder

    trangjang powder

     

    soy sauce

    Korean alcohol

    Garlic

     

    Mushrooms

    Tofu

    Eggs

     

    Beef

    Pork

    Chicken

    Rice

     

    and I have learned

    to love

     

    Korean food

    And Korean culture

     

    And even married

    A Korean lady

    Who has given me

    Decades of love

     

    And great Korean food

    Every night.

     

     

    The Future is Yet to Be

     

    They say

    We should learn

    To live in the present

     

    Because the past

    Is in the past

     

    Lost in the multi-verse

    And in our memories

    Of the past

     

    The future is yet to be

    And there are multiple futures

    In multiple universes

     

    And we can not see

    The future

    Only see the suggested

    Possible future

    That changes constantly

     

    Depending upon our actions

    Or inactions

    As we make the future

    Based on what we do now

     

    So it is best

    To live in the moment

    In the here and now

     

    Let the past

    remain the past

    And let the future

    Take care of itself

     

    As it will do

    Despite our hopes

    And dreams

     

     How Much Do I Love You?

     

    How much do I love you?

    Let me count the ways

     

    I love you more than anyone

    Has ever loved another

     

    I love you more

    than all the flowers

    In the world

     

    I love you more than

    All the stars in the sky

     

    I love you more

    than time itself

     

    and will love you

    after the end of time

     

    Too Many Madmen with a Gun, it’ A’int Fun

    These days

    There are too many madmen

    Walking about with a gun

    Shooting things up

     

    It is just not fun

    To be alive

    In the new wild west

    That America has become

     

    When will this madness end?

     

    Substack

    Wattpad

    Medium

    Spotify Podcast

    The End

     

     

  • More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    Synchronized Chaos has published more of my poetry

    Synchronized Chaos Publishes More of My Poems

    More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    President of the Smithsonian

    ?Synchronized Chaos Publishes New Poems

    Chaos Published

    On Tue, Aug 19, 2025 at 7:55 PM Cristina Deptula <synchchaos@gmail.com> wrote:

    Hi Jake, thank you for sending these to Synchronized Chaos! Appreciate the satire and the speculative bits of your work. We’ll publish in September!

    As always, please feel welcome to comment on pieces at synchchaos.com. We all appreciate feedback!

    Cristina

     

    President of the Smithsonian

    President Al Wilson

    Not content with taking.

    Over the Kennedy Center

     

    As part of the MAGA movement

    Culture war against the communists

    Radical left-wing Marxist

    Enemies of real America.

     

    Had described that the Smithsonian.

    Must reflect traditional American values.

     

    And avoid divisive or anti-American.

    Or anti-Christian propaganda.

     

    Therefore, he decreed,

    The African American Studies Museum

    Must close,

     

    The African Art Museum

    Must close.

    The American Indian Museum

    Must close.

     

    The Smithsonian must be color blind.

    And not to mention race or gender

    Slavery or the treatment of American Indians,

    And the whole Chinese Exclusion Act

    And internment of Japanese Americans

    Which was a good thing,

     

    Or the holocaust, for that matter.

    End anti-American, Anti-Christian,

    Anti-MAGA, cultural Marxism

    Radical lunatic left, CRT, DEI

    And WOKE programming.

    Throughout the Smithsonian.

     

    The African American museum holdings

    And the American Indian Museum

    And the African Art Museum

    Will be sold off at an auction.

     

    So the president decreed

    MAGA baby all the way

    RESTORING TRUTH IN AMERICAN HISTORY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order restoring truth and sanity to American history by revitalizing key cultural institutions and reversing the spread of divisive ideology.

    President Trump aims to ensure that the Smithsonian is an institution that sparks children’s imagination, celebrates American history and ingenuity, serves as a symbol to the world of American greatness, and makes America proud.

    The Order directs the Vice President, who is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to work to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.

    The Order directs the Administration to work with Congress to ensure that future Smithsonian appropriations: (1) prohibit funding for exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race, or promote ideologies inconsistent with Federal law; and (2) celebrate women’s achievements in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women.

    The Vice President will work with congressional leaders to appoint members to the Smithsonian Board of Regents who are committed to advancing the celebration of America’s extraordinary heritage and progress.

    The Order also directs the Secretary of the Interior restore Federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events.

    In preparation for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, the Order directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete restorations and improvements to Independence Hall by that date.

    COMBATING CORROSIVE IDEOLOGY: In the last decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted effort to rewrite American history and force our nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement. President Trump is fighting back by reestablishing truth in the historical narrative and restoring Federal sites dedicated to American heritage.

    The prior administration pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, infecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives.

    At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the Biden Administration sponsored training by an organization that advocates for dismantling “Western foundations” and that taught Park Rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they present history to visitors.

    The Smithsonian Institution—once revered throughout the world as a symbol of American excellence—has recently promoted divisive ideology that American and Western values are harmful.

    The American Art Museum currently features an exhibit that purports to address how “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and claims that the United States has “used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.”

    The National Museum of African American History and Culture has proclaimed that “hard work,” “individualism,” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of “White culture.”

    The American Women’s History Museum plans to celebrate male athletes participating in women’s sports.

    CELEBRATING AMERICAN GREATNESS: President Trump is committed to honoring America’s extraordinary heritage and building a sense of national pride.

    President Trump signed an Executive Order on his first day in office to establish a task force to prepare for America’s 250th birthday.

    This Order also protects America’s monuments from vandalism and calls for construction of the National Garden of American Heroes.

    President Trump signed a memorandum ensuring Federal buildings reflect the timeless grandeur of traditional, classical architecture.

    By signing this Executive Order, President Trump is ensuring that American history is celebrated accurately, fairly, and with pride—honoring the remarkable progress, liberty, and ingenuity that define our great nation.

    Meanwhile, In The Real World, You Can Be Fired For Going To The Doctor

    Meanwhile

     In the real world

    You can be fired

    For going to the doctor

    .

    the worker’s bosses.

    Can refuse to let workers

    go to the appointment.

     

    As they are not required

    To grant them leave

    sick leave.

     

    Bad for the bottom line

    And they have no empathy

    For workers.

     

    Who are seen as

    Merely disposable, interchangeable

    Labor units of production.

     

    Who should be replaced

    By robots

    as soon as possible.

     

    People will be given a choice.

    Go to work, gravely ill.

    Or go to the EER.

    And six hours later

    Perhaps see an overwhelmed doctor

     

    And told me to follow up.

    With your primary care doctor.

    Who the hell knows.

    Who that is any more?

     

    You get the bill

    10,000 dollars,

    Pay up sucker!

     

    No money?

     

    Not my problem.

     

    And go back to find.

    You have been fired.

    For leaving or not showing

    Up for your shift.

     

    Doctors visit?

    That’s not my problem.

    You are going to die.

    So be it.

    We can find other workers.

    Or robots to take your place.

    Loser.

    President Al Wilson Reverses Course on Climate Change, From Denial to Action in the Wake of National Catastrophe

    With the destruction of most of Florida—including Mar-a-Lago—
    Monster storms ravaging Texas,
    And Los Angeles reduced to ash
    By earthquake and fire,

    President Al Wilson finally decided:
    Climate change is real.
    It is killing people—
    Especially in red states

    .
    The costs of rebuilding are horrific.
    The costs of doing nothing?
    Even worse.

    His advisors, once cautious, now urgent,
    Convinced him to embrace

     a rapid shift to green energy.
    Solar, wind, geothermal—no longer fringe,
    Now the backbone of survival.

    And beyond Earth,

    Plans accelerate for lunar and Martian colonies,
    With NASA’s bioregenerative greenhouses already in prototype.

    Underground cities, domed habitats—once sci-fi,
    Now contingency plans.

    Wilson must work with the world.
    Not just to lead,
    But to redeem.

    If he fails,
    And the world turns

    into a hellscape man created,

    History will remember him
    As the worst leader

     in human memory.

    But if he succeeds—
    If he reverses course,
    And actually solves the problem—

    He could be hailed
    As the savior of humanity.

    Doing something to change the future
    Is good politics.

    Continued climate denialism
    Is bad politics.

    And so,
    He reverses course.

    MAGA Dreams Come True

    President AL Wilson

    Had a dream

     

    The MAGA dream

    Coming true!

     

    This time will be different

    The internet and AI

    Will be used

    To make sure

     

    That MAGA rules

    And Christian values

    Take over.

     

    LGBT folks

    Back in the closet

    Where they beyond.

     

    Women’s rights curtailed

    Minorities deported.

    Media tamed

     

    The public distracted

    By the latest fake

    Celebrity scandal.

     

    The rich live very well

    With robot servants

    Self-driving vehicles

    Great health care.

     

    Maybe even cloned body parts

     

    But the poor

    Will barely live

    But who cares about them?

     

    MAGA, Baby

    The real scandal

     

    The taking over

    Of democracy

    By the oligarchs

     

    Not talked about.

    The secret camps

    Filled with people

     

    Who disappear.

    Climate change
    well the rich

    Can live on

    In walled off

    underground shelters.

     

    The rest of the public

    Who cares?

     

    And so it goes

    Democracy dies

    In broad daylight

    MAGA baby!

     

    Bad Craziness Rising

    Walking into the Cosmos Bar

    In Soi Cowboy in Bangkok

    The City of Lost Angels.

     

    That nefarious den

    of iniquity and evilness

    Twenty drinks too sober.

     

    I sat down at that bar

    Watching the mad scene unfold

    The naked ladies dancing.

    Drinking one scotch, one bourbon

    And one Singha beer.

    With my buddies.

     

    the whole motley

    Jack Daniels crew.

     

    Drinking with Mr. Baker Beam, Jim Beam, Mr. Blanton

    Mr. Booker, Elijah Craig, Jack Daniels

    George Dickel, Thomas H. Handy, Basil Haydens

    Henry McKenna, Old Mr. Forester, Mr. Jameson

    Mr. Nester, David Nichols, Benjamin Prichard,

    George T. Stagg, Colonel E.H. Taylor,

    Johny Walker, Evans Williams, William Larue Weller

    W.L. Weller Pappy Van Winkle, and his old  Grand Dad.

     

    The scent of bad craziness

    Hung in the air like

    A sexed-up durian fruit.

    an over-ripe mango girl

    Desperately seeking to have sex

    With wild, dressed-up bananas

     

    Running around with the Orange Man.

    Down the Street,

     

    the Moon, looks out on the mad scene

    Sniffs the air, saying,

    “Man, this is bad craziness”

     

    And runs away to join her lover the Sun

    In an orgy of drunken forgetfulness

     

    The Planet Mars, not amused, chases after the maiden Venus

    Under the cold, calculating glances of the Planet Pluto

     

    The Moon and the Sun rent a room in the Hotel Venus

    Across from the Jupiter All Night Diner

    Cosmic shit kickers, out for a night of Earth bashing

    The Earth trembles, shaken

    Moans with passion, and I awake

     

    Saying, that was bad craziness.

    Out there on the edge

    Between the inner me and the outer zone

     

    I went on down that road heading to hell

    Just as fast as I could drink it all down.

     

    And met me a lady, an outlaw lady on the far side.

    Money, power, and passion rolled up in a bundle

    Electric chemistry fills my head,

     

    Zapping my brain into demented muscles

    As I give in to the

    “bao bao ya yah Madi “ madness

    Bad craziness overwhelmed me.

     

    All around me.

    As paranoid, pulsating images scream out

    With mad passion, and demented noises

     

    The night turns ugly fast

    And very, very weird

    Weirdness in the air

    The scent of bad craziness.

     

    As the wild things come out to play.

    The moon is freaked out

    The Sun falls asleep in the gutter

     

    And I say to myself, I’m just another cosmic Guy

    On the loose, on the edge, on the wild side of things

     

    Watching the show unfold, I wonder,

    Is this all nothing but a cosmic drunken bum show?

     

    Who is the star, who is she – the naked maiden up there in the bar

    Black, leather jackets on stage naked visions of nightly lust

    Dancing with an attitude that could kill an elephant in heat

     

    And the Moon continues to dance across the evening sky

    Satisfied, allows mankind to sleep it off.

    Yet another night in the city of demented lunatic hell’s angels

     

    Finally, rest as the sun comes up casting its evil eye over the sleeping city

    Dispelling the bad craziness for a spell.

    Blasting the wild things back to hell.

     

    The masks come back on

    And I walk down the road

    Putting everything back into the box.

     

    Until the next night of bad craziness

    Let’s the wild beast within

    Escape its leash.

    Bad craziness rising yet again.

     

    America, Where Are Thou?

    I used to live in a place

    Called the United States of America

    A republic – the first and last hope of mankind

    The land of the free, the home of the brave

    The envy of the world

    The land of the American dream

     

    And now, I am afraid

    That the Star-Spangled Banner

    No longer flies

    Over the land of the brave

    And the home of the free.

     

    I wake up

    The red, white and blue

    Have been overwhelmed

     

    The dark forces of the red states

    Have overwhelmed the light of the blue states

    Have trounced the reason offered by the Blue States

     

    And the white forces

    Lie trembling in fear

     

    I tried to escape

    The darkling night

    The ever-glowing Orange alerts

     

    And escape somewhere

    The leader of the country

    The new uncrowned Empire

    Rules over us all

     

    Empire Triumphant

    Against all enemies

    The USA is number one

    We chant and scream

    And watch FOX TV

     

    As we march off to war

    The rest of the world

    Trembles in fear at our might

     

    We rule – we rock and roll, and are triumphant

    Against all enemies, dissenters, and foreigners

    The U.S. marches on to victory

     

    Freedom is on the march

    Liberation is at hand

    As the rich gather gleeful

    Contemplating the plunder of the state

     

    And the poor grow more desperate

    I cry out for the country that I have lost

     

    Whose soul has been lost

    And the end of the Republic

    For which I believed

    The empire has won

     

    Long Live the new Caesar

    Long Live the New American Empire

    Death to all its enemies

     

    As the dream fades into a nightmare

    I cry knowing that we have all lost

    The last best hope of mankind

     

    Lives buried in the ash heap of history

    Tyranny in the guise of Democracy

    Rules us all forever and ever

     

    And that flag

    The star-spangled banner

    Does not wave anymore

    Over the land of the free

    And the home of the brave

     

    Waiting For The Rapture

    While I was sitting on the crowded subway train

    Reading the corporate spoon-fed false propaganda news

     

    While commuting from my suburban townhouse

    Watching the lies masquerading as so-called truth news.

    I became consumed

    With dread, fear, and grief,

     

    The ever-growing fear that the terrorists

    Have won the war against terrorism.

    We’ve given our freedom away

     

    Dissent is un-American, anti-Christian,

     and unpatriotic.

     

    “Shut your face, you whiny leftist girlie man

    Communist, fascist, Marxist hoodlum punk

    Radical left-wing vermin, garbage person,

    Un-American terrorist supporting, Tersymps,

    Trans gendered, LGBTQ supporting,

     wimpy assed piece of crap”

     

    You are poisoning the pure blood

    of our great land

    Show us your papers, prepare to be deported,”

     

    Growls the voice of the One True American party

    The party that controls our life, rules our very existence

    And I want to escape these dark nightmarish times

     

    All around me, but there is nowhere to run

    Nowhere to hide anymore, no one cares

    What I think anyway.

     

    The terrorists lurk behind every door

    Who are the terrorists?

     

    They are not me

    I am a god-fearing white Christian man

    The terrorist does not go to my church

     

    He does not even believe in my God..

    He is a heretic, a Muslim fanatic

    A non-believer in Jesus, not like me

    They must be killed, exterminated

     

    All according to God’s plan

    This has been revealed

    to our Prophet in chief

     

    King Donald Trump

    , the invincible

     

    Must learn how to believe again

    I must reprogram myself

     

    God is watching us, or is it big Brother

    As the world descends into chaos

     

    And the Orange alerts

    grows brightly day by day

    I lay down to pray for the bombs to fall

    For the rapture to take me away

     

    Waiting for the end of existence

    Cleanse the world of its sins

    Bring on the rapture, sweat nuclear flames

     

    With these dismal thoughts

    I pick up my newspaper

     and look for something

     

    I will never find there.

    Truth is nothing but lies

    Lies promoted by the spinmeisters

    The true masters of the Universe.

     

    Integrity is nothing but a lie

    Nothing but a game.

    Slime oozes out

    of every corner of the media

     

    And so I remain consumed

     by dread, fear, and hatred.

    Waiting in vain for the rapture

     

    The dropping of the big one

    Waiting for the

     end of this period of chaos.

    It is all going according to plan

    The end of the era

     

    according to the ancient Mayan

    Revelations and the Koran.

     

    Bring on the rapture

    Let me meet my god

    If he exists.

     

    If not the hell ahead

    Is surely better than this hell

    We live in.

    One Night in Bombay, India

    bombay pictures
    bombay pictures

    One wild night in Bombay, India

    I walked into an evil bar 20 drinks too sober

    On the wicked wrong end of a Friday night booze run.

    On the bad side of the Moon over by where the Martian dudes

    Sat drinking their Martian whisky, ogling the Venus maidens.

    Leering at the earth women who were walking by

    Wearing skin-tight pants made their eyeballs hurt.

    I gave in to the spirit and went over to the Martian dudes

    And got drunk on the Martian madness, shot after shot

    Smoking some good old-fashioned Mars dust.

    And flew off to the planet Jupiter

    Just to have me some fun with a lady

    Who said she was from Saturn?

    I did not know she was from the planet Pluto.

    Until I woke up the next day, naked, under the alien Sun

    In jail on the Planet Alpha Centura, light-years from home,

    A million miles away, a thousand years in the future

    And I had no money, no honey, no way home.

    Still 20 drinks too sober, I just sat down in that jail

    And started drinking away my time

    Drinking fine cold assed Centurion wine

    and Pluto Whisky.

    One day I woke up

     and found me back in Bombay

    Standing outside that evil bar

    in the miasmic mist

    Over by the Martian whorehouse,

     down by the Gate of India

    And I walked up to

    the Saturn-Pluto babe

    And said,

    “Man, that was some bad shit

    Bad craziness.”

    Let’s do it again someday,

    she smiled, and I had my way

    Knew the day would come again.

    When I would be drinking with the Martians

    And something wicked my way would come

    Just another night of wicked fun

    On the wrong side of the Moon

    On the right night

    in the mean streets of Bombay.

    Just AN Unhinged Lunatic Howling AT THE Moon

    On a moonlit late-night
    I sat in the Cosmos Bar

    In Soi Cowboy

    Drinking drams of demented,

    fermented dream dew

    With one scotch, one bourbon. and one beer

    To chase it all down.

    Twenty drinks too sober.

    Just an unhinged lunatic
    Dreaming of howling

    at the super full moon.

    Watching the world walk by
    Looking at all the fine-looking babes
    Walking by the street
    Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
    Of endless wild libertine passions.

    When into the bar
    Walked the most beautiful women
    In the Universe.
    So wild, so free
    So wonderfully alive.

    I did not know what to do
    As this carnal, deprave

    lustful vision of delight

    Sauntered through the bar
    In a skin-tight leather pants

    Looked so fine
    That my eyeballs hurt

    And finally

     I had to say something
    So I gathered up

    My manly courage

    And walked up to her
    And she looked at me

    And instantly

    Bewitched my soul
    Mesmerizing me

    With a devilish grin.

    I lost all reason
    And became a raving lunatic
    Unhinged lunatic
    Howling at the moon.

    Foaming at the mouth
    A wild, free werewolf
    Howling at the lunatic light
    Of the full Moon

    Poetry from Jake Cosmos Aller (one of nine poems)

     God’s Confession

    I was sitting alone

    In a god-forsaken bar

    the Cosmos Bar in Soi Cowboy

    Bangkok, Thailand

    On the lunatic fringes of society

    Twenty drinks too sober

    In the ass end of

    a Friday night booze binge

    On the bad part of town

     

    Over by railroad tracks

    Heading to hell

     

    As fast as I could drank it down

    Enjoying my lonely drink

    Drinking by my lonesome self

    With my partners Jimmy Bean, Jack Daniels, The Walker brotherEvan Williams And his old Granddad

    Just drinking one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer

    and hanging with Jack Daniel’s gentlemen’s club

     

    A crazed bum

    With a thousand-year stare

    Walks up to me

    He begins

    Muttering to himself

    Nutty nonsense

    Crazy words

    In a lunatic’s voice

     

    He had the look

    Of one possessed

    By his demons

    Only he can see

    Or hear

     

    Possessed by a secret knowledge

    Only he knew

    Despite myself

    I was fascinated

    By this lunatic’s tale

     

    So I stopped him

     

    And said

    “Say, crazy little Dude!

    So what’s your game, Anyway?”

     

    The short little dude

    Stopped his insane prattle

    Starting at me

    With that thousand-year-old stare

     

    Just another washed-up lunatic

    Too many drugs

    His mind blown away

    Down too many rabbit holes

    Too many bad nights

    On the wrong side of life

    An ACID causality

    From the 60s

     

    Been down so long

    It looks like up to him

     

    He looked at me

    And proclaimed his story

    He reared up

     

    And filled up the room

    And lifted the bar

    On his finger

     

    And stared down at me

    From the sky

     

    And said

    “Since you asked

    I am Allah

    The Alpha and Omega

    Ganesh

    Kali

    Jupiter

    Jehovah

    Shiva

    Zeus

    And a billion other names

     

    The real deal

    The original dude of dudes

    The Sultan of Swing

    God of hosts

    And the father of that Jesus dude

     

    But no one knows me

    Any more

    No one cares

    They think

    I am irrelevant

    They think I am dead

     

    They think I am a fairy tale

    From some olden, ancient time

    That my work is done

     

    I looked at him

    Carefully now

    And what did I see

    An old man

    With that lunatic look

    But there was something else

    He was crazy

    Sure.

     

    Yeah

    Out there

    Bat sh…crazy

    looney tunes

     

    But perhaps

    he was the real deal

    I mean why not

    In this materialistic age

    Why would

    God not be a wandering

    lunatic

    wandering around loose

     

    Talking to low lives like me

    In a bar

    On the highway to hell

     

    So I looked at him

    And invited him to share

    His tale of cosmic woe

     

    God tells me

    “Well, it’s like this

    Many a year ago

    People believed in me

    But one day

    They quit believing in me

    they moved on

    And they went on without me

     

    As they left me

    My powers got weaker and weaker

    And so eventually

    I became

    What you see today

    A broken-down drunk

    Hanging out

    Looking for a handout

    Looking for some company

    Or at least a free dinner”

     

    And he laughed

    and laughed

     

    And I looked at him

    And saw the beginnings of the end

    And the ends of the beginnings

     

    I saw a million planets

    Flash byTrillions of people

    Thinking all at once

    Thoughts filled my head

    Lights flashed

     

    And I knew

    He was telling the truth

     

    But it did not matter

    In this day and age

    Of materialism

    God has no role

    God is truly dead

     

    And so I bought him a drink

    And walked out of the bar

    still twenty drinks too sober

     

    Profoundly saddened

    From what I had seen

    God was dead

    And we had all conspired

    To kill him

    Long live God

     

    The Last Race  The Last Race 

     

    An Aging car racer

    Racing in his last race

    Driving too fast

     

    Around the curve

    Blowing himself up

     

    In a fiery crash

    The rating

    score In his last race. 

     

    Association of the Living Dead India 

     

    In India,

    several years ago

    A man falsely claimed his brother

    Was dead

    so he could inherit the family assets,

     

     The dead brother

    had to fight

    To be declared legally

    not dead

    And contest the will

    . “The Association of the Living Dead”

    Became a movement

    Of thousands of people.

     

    For in India

    apparently,

    It was a thing to declare

    Your relative is dead.

     

    I never thought

    That the US would have

    To form their own

    “The Association of the Living Dead”

    Until this week.

     

    The cyber ninjas

    In their infamous

    non-forensic audit

    In the 2016 Arizona election

    Claimed that hundreds of dead people

    Had voted.

     

    They gave their list

    of the alleged dead voters

    To the attorney general

    Who contacted all 300 dead people

    Found that 299 of the 300 were in fact

    Not dead

     

    and none of them knew

    That unnamed political operative

    We’re claiming

    that they were dead.

     

    The one dead voter

    was alive when he voted early.

     

    But died before election day

    Thus making his vote not valid

    But there was no fraud involved

    As he was alive when he voted.

     

    Perhaps they need to form

    The “association of the living dead”

    To fight for the right

    of the non-dead people

     

    To continue to vote

    and receive other government benefits?

    What a sad commentary

    On the farcical nature

    Of contemporary life

    In these disunited States of America. 

    Secret Gateways Photo Challenge 

    There are secret gateways

    Portals to other dimensions

    All around us

    Hidden deep in the mountains. 

     

    Leading to other worlds

    Other times and places

    Where time runs differently

    And humans are unknown. 

     

    The Lonely Mother Duck

    Watched her eggs hatch

    In the nest by the lake. 

    She was worried

    About the foxes, wolves

    Lions and tigers 

    That was all around.

    Ever since the humans

    All disappeared. 

     The Secret Fly Drone  

     

    The fly on the wallpaper

    In the CIA director’s office

    Was not a real fly

     

    He was an enemy spy drone

    Secretly controlled remotely

    Listening to all

    the secret conversations

     

    Until the director smashed him

    With a flyswatter

    Then realized that it was a spy fly

    He had dispatched to bug hell.

    Synchronized Chaos Magazine

    Substack

    Substack

    Medium

    Wattpad

    Spotify

    Spotify

  • President of the Smithsonian?

    President of the Smithsonian?

    President of the Smithsonian?

     

    I am pleased to announce that Synchronized Chaos will publish more of my poetry in their September issue.  These poems are a satirical take on the news of the day; any resemblance to real people and events are entirely coincidental and a product of the author’s wild imagination.

    pictures of the smithsonian institute – Search Images

    Synchronized Chaos Publishes More of My Poems

    More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    Audio Clips

     

    Index

    President of the Smithsonian

    Meanwhile In the real World

    LG Company Disservice Award

    🌍 President Al Wilson Reverses Course on Climate Change

    MAGA Dreams of the New Golden Age

    Bonus -Letter from Concerned  Christian Minister Re Cleaning Up the Smithsonian

    Bonus Poem –  It Can Happen Here

    Bonus Poem Are We Living in North Korea?

    co-pilot neo-neatnik rap 🌀 Red Tape Ripped in Rhythm

    A Found Poem from the August 2025 Cabinet Meeting

    🌀 Red Tape Ripped in Rhythm A Found Poem with Historical Echoes

     

    President of the Smithsonian?

    President Al Wilson

    Not content with taking.

    Over the Kennedy Center.

     

    As part of the MAGA movement

    Culture war against the communists

    Radical left-wing Marxist

    Enemies of real America.

     

    Had described that the Smithsonian.

    Must reflect traditional American values.

    And avoid divisive or anti-American.

    Or anti-Christian propaganda.

     

    Therefore, he decreed,

    The African American Studies Museum

    Must close,

    The African Art Museum

    Must close.

    The American Indian Museum

    Must close.

     

    The Smithsonian must be color-blind.

    And not to mention race or gender

    Slavery or the treatment of American Indians,

    And the whole Chinese Exclusion Act

    And internment of Japanese Americans

    Which was a good thing,

    Or the holocaust, for that matter.

     

    End anti-American, Anti-Christian,

    Anti-MAGA, cultural Marxism

    Radical lunatic left, CRT, DEI

    And WOKE programming.

    Throughout the Smithsonian.

     

    The African American museum holdings

    And the American Indian Museum

    And the African Art Museum

    Will be sold off at an auction.

     

    So the president decreed

    MAGA baby all the way!

    RESTORING TRUTH IN AMERICAN HISTORY: 

    Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order restoring truth and sanity to American history by revitalizing key cultural institutions and reversing the spread of divisive ideology.

    President Trump aims to ensure that the Smithsonian is an institution that sparks children’s imagination, celebrates American history and ingenuity, serves as a symbol to the world of American greatness, and makes America proud.

    The Order directs the Vice President, who is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to work to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.

    The Order directs the Administration to work with Congress to ensure that future Smithsonian appropriations: (1) prohibit funding for exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race, or promote ideologies inconsistent with Federal law; and (2) celebrate women’s achievements in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women.

    The Vice President will work with congressional leaders to appoint members to the Smithsonian Board of Regents who are committed to advancing the celebration of America’s extraordinary heritage and progress.

    The Order also directs the Secretary of the Interior restore Federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events.

    In preparation for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, the Order directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete restorations and improvements to Independence Hall by that date.

    COMBATING CORROSIVE IDEOLOGY: In the last decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted effort to rewrite American history and force our nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement. President Trump is fighting back by reestablishing truth in the historical narrative and restoring Federal sites dedicated to American heritage.

    The prior administration pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, infecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives.

    At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the Biden Administration sponsored training by an organization that advocates for dismantling “Western foundations” and that taught Park Rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they present history to visitors.

    The Smithsonian Institution—once revered throughout the world as a symbol of American excellence—has recently promoted divisive ideology that American and Western values are harmful.

    The American Art Museum currently features an exhibit that purports to address how “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and claims that the United States has “used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.”

    The National Museum of African American History and Culture has proclaimed that “hard work,” “individualism,” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of “White culture.”

    The American Women’s History Museum plans to celebrate male athletes participating in women’s sports.

    CELEBRATING AMERICAN GREATNESS: President Trump is committed to honoring America’s extraordinary heritage and building a sense of national pride.

    President Trump signed an Executive Order on his first day in office to establish a task force to prepare for America’s 250th birthday.

    This Order also protects America’s monuments from vandalism and calls for construction of the National Garden of American Heroes.

    President Trump signed a memorandum ensuring Federal buildings reflect the timeless grandeur of traditional, classical architecture.

    By signing this Executive Order, President Trump is ensuring that American history is celebrated accurately, fairly, and with pride—honoring the remarkable progress, liberty, and ingenuity that define our great nation.

     Media Coverage by Bias

    Bias Outlet Coverage Summary URL
    Left MSNBC, The Root, The Guardian Framed as censorship, historical erasure, and authoritarian overreach. https://www.theroot.com/why-trumps-threat-to-d-c-s-african-american-museum-shou-1851773481
    Center Smithsonian Magazine, USA Today Focused on institutional process, placard standards, and exhibit updates. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/01/smithsonian-removes-trump-impeachment-exhibit-response/85473807007/
    Right Fox News, Washington Examiner Framed as necessary correction

     

    Kenneday Center Controversy

     🏛️ Overview: The Kennedy Center Takeover

    • Leadership Overhaul: President Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center, replacing the bipartisan board with loyalists including Richard Grenell as interim president.
    • Cultural Rebranding: Trump declared the center would be restored to “luxury, glamour, and entertainment,” rejecting “woke” programming and canceling drag shows and LGBTQ+ events.
    • Renaming Efforts:
    • House Republicans proposed renaming the Opera House as the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House”.
    • A separate bill, the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act,” would rename the entire center the “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts”.
    • These proposals violate a 1983 federal statute prohibiting additional memorials at the Kennedy Center.

    🎭 Programming Changes

    • New Honorees: Trump personally selected honorees including Sylvester Stallone, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, and Michael Crawford.
    • Cancellations: LGBTQ+ events, drag performances, and the opera Fellow Travelers were canceled or withdrawn.
    • New Season Lineup: Includes Spamalot, Chicago, Moulin Rouge!, Back to the Future, and The Outsiders—with emphasis on mainstream, family-friendly entertainment.

    🎨 Artist Protests

    • Boycotts:
      • Hamilton canceled its anniversary show.
      • Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes, Rhiannon Giddens, and Louise Penny withdrew from scheduled appearances.
      • Les Misérables cast members staged a silent protest during Trump’s visit.
    • Resignations: Renée Fleming and Ben Folds resigned from advisory roles.
    • Public Statements: Leonard Slatkin urged artists to “stand up” and perform defiantly.

    📰 Media Coverage by Bias

    Bias Spectrum Outlet Summary URL
    Left The New York Times Framed takeover as part of Trump’s broader cultural war and authoritarian tendencies https://www.nytimes.com
    Center Reuters Focused on Trump’s renovations and honoree selections, noting his influence on cultural institutions https://www.reuters.com
    Right The New York Post Highlighted Trump’s praise for honorees and his role in restoring the Kennedy Center’s prestige https://nypost.com
    Foreign Sky News (UK) Called the takeover “authoritarianism coming for arts institutions” and covered artist boycotts https://news.sky.com/story/why-artists-are-boycotting-kennedy-center-over-changes-made-by-trump-13335298
    Public/Global PBS Provided live coverage and noted Trump’s renovation plans and honoree announcements https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-visits-kennedy-center-as-new-honorees-announced

    Here’s a satirical, beat-inspired poem using found language from Trump and VP Vance’s statements:

    Here’s a satirical, beat-inspired poem using found language from Trump and VP Vance’s statements:

    🧢 Neo-Beatnik Poetic Takedown (Model Poem) Co-Pilot Version 

    🎤 “Make Art Great Again” Blues

     

    1. I am the chairman,

    the chandelier king,

     Red velvet dreams

     and marble things.

     

    “We don’t need woke,”

     he said with a grin,

     

     “Some of the shows

    were terrible —sin.

     

    ” Melania’s name

    etched in gold,

    Opera House reborn, s

    tories retold.

     

     “I know grass,

    ” he said,

     “like I know golf

     

    , DC’s parks?

    Tired.

    Let’s rip ‘em off.”

     Drag queens vanished,

     rainbows dimmed,

    “Luxury, glamour”—t

    he new hymn.

    “98 percent involved,

    ” he boasts,

    “Turned down wokesters,

    raised the ghosts.”

     

     J.D. Vance in the lobby,

     portrait hung,

    “American exceptionalism,”

    songs unsung.

    Artists flee,

     curtains fall,

     

     But the gala goes on,

     red-white-ball

    . So here we sit,

     in velvet chains,

     

    Watching culture

    scrubbed of stains.

     

    The ghost of Kennedy

    whispers low—

    “Art is truth, not just a show.”

    Kennedy Center Take Over found Poem 

     

    “I would say

    I was about 98 percent involved.

     They all went through me.”

     

    “I turned down plenty.

     I had a couple of wokesters.”

     

    “Since 1978,

    the Kennedy Center honors

     have been among

    the most prestigious awards

     in the performing arts.

    I

    wanted one,

    was never able

    to get one.”

     

    “I waited

    and waited

    and waited

     

    and I said

    ‘to hell with it

    , I’ll become chairman.’

     

     I will give myself an honor.

     Next year we’ll honor

    Trump, okay?”

     

    “In a few short months

     since I became

    chairman of the board

    of the Kennedy Center,

     

     we’ve completely

    reversed the

    decline of this cherished

     national institution.”

     

    “We’re going

    to fully renovate the dated —

     and really the entire

    infrastructure of the building —

     

     and make

     the Kennedy Center

    a crown jewel of American arts

     and culture once again.”

     

    “Look at the Academy Awards —

    it gets lousy ratings now,

     it’s all woke.

     

     All they do is talk

    about how much

    they hate Trump,

    but nobody likes that.”

     

    “Just last year,

     the Kennedy Center

    featured drag shows

    specifically targeting our youth —

     

     THIS

    WILL

    STOP.”

     

    “I said

    I’m the president

     of the United States.

     Are you fools

     asking me to do that?”

     

    “The Kennedy Center

     learned the hard way

    that if you go woke,

     you will go broke.”

    It Can Happen Here  

    And so it goes—
    the gradual taking down
    of cultural institutions,
    including the Smithsonian Institution,

    universities,
    law firms,
    state governments,
    blue cities,

    and anyone
    who stands in his way
    to transform America
    into a Christian fascist state.

    Like his buddies—
    Erdoğan, Orbán, and Putin.

    Sinclair Lewis,
    in his book
    It Can’t Happen Here,
    forecast how it could indeed
    happen here.

    Are we there yet?
    Sadly, we are 80 percent there.
    Will we go there?

    I hope not.
    But I am afraid
    we are heading down
    that path.

     Meanwhile, In The Real World, You Can Be Fired For Going To The Doctor

     

    Meanwhile

    In the real world

    You can be fired

    For going to the doctor.

     

    the worker’s bosses.

    Can refuse to let workers

    go to the appointment.

     

    As they are not required

    To grant them leave

    sick leave.

     

    Bad for the bottom line

    And they have no empathy

    For workers.

     

    Who are seen as

    Merely disposable, interchangeable

    “Labor units of production.”

     

    Who should be replaced

    By robots

    as soon as possible.

     

    People will be given a choice.

    Go to work, gravely ill.

     

    Or go to the EER.

    And six hours later

     

    Perhaps see an overwhelmed doctor

    And told me to follow up.

    With your primary care doctor.

     

    Who the hell knows.

    Who that is any more?

     

    You get the bill

    10,000 dollars,

    Pay up sucker!

     

    No money?

    Not my problem.

     

    And go back to find.

    You have been fired.

    For leaving or not showing

    Up for your shift.

     

    Doctors visit?

    That’s not my problem.

    You are going to die.

    So be it.

     

    We can find other workers.

    Or robots to take your place.

    Loser.

     

    President Al Wilson Reverses Course on Climate Change, From Denial to Action in the Wake of National Catastrophe

     

    With the destruction of most of Florida

    —including Mar-a-Lago—
    Monster storms ravaging Texas,
    And Los Angeles reduced to ash
    By earthquake and fire,

    President Al Wilson finally decided:
    Climate change is real.
    It is killing people—
    Especially in red states

    .
    The costs of rebuilding are horrific.
    The costs of doing nothing?
    Even worse.

    His advisors, once cautious, now urgent,
    Convinced him to embrace

    a rapid shift to green energy.
    Solar, wind, geothermal—no longer fringe,
    Now the backbone of survival.

    And beyond Earth,

    Plans accelerate for lunar and Martian colonies,
    With NASA’s bioregenerative greenhouses

    already in prototype.

    Underground cities, domed habitats

    —once sci-fi,
    Now contingency plans.

    Wilson must work with the world.
    Not just to lead,
    But to redeem.

    If he fails,
    And the world turns

    into a hellscape man created,

    History will remember him
    As the worst leader

    in human memory.

     

    But if he succeeds—
    If he reverses course,
    And actually solves the problem—

    He could be hailed
    As the savior of humanity.

     

    Doing something

    to change the future
    Is good politics.

    Continued climate denialism
    Is bad politics.

    And so,
    He reverses course.

     

    MAGA Dreams Come True

     

    President AL Wilson

    Had a dream

    The MAGA dream

    Coming true!

     

    This time will be different

    The internet and AI

    Will be used

     

    To make sure

    That MAGA rules

    And Christian values

    Take over.

     

    LGBT folks

    Back in the closet

    Where they beyond

     

    Women’s rights curtailed

    Minorities deported.

     

    Media tamed

    public distracted

    By the latest faked

    Celebrity scandal.

     

    The rich live very well

    With robot servants

    Self-driving vehicles

    Great health care.

     

    Maybe even cloned body parts

    But the poor

    Will barely live

     

    But who cares about them?

    MAGA, Baby

     

    The real scandal

    The taking over

    Of democracy

     

    By the oligarchs

    Not talked about.

     

    The secret camps

    Filled with people

    Who disappear.

     

    Climate change
    well the rich

    Can live on

    In walled off

    underground shelters.

     

    The rest of the public

    Who cares?

     

    And so it goes

    Democracy dies

    In broad daylight

     

    MAGA baby!

     

    Previously published  in Synchronized Chaos

     

    America where are thou
    bad craziness Rising
    just an unhinged lunatic
    one night in bombay
    visiting father’s grave
    waiting for the rapture
    falling rain
    God is coming

     

    And a bonus letter from a concerned Christian to the VP demanding that they clean up the Smithsonian Institute.

    Dear Vice President

    It has come to my attention that the Smithsonian museum has, for many years, openly displayed pictures of naked men, women, and children, mocking traditional Christian values.  Their lame excuse has always been that they are showing “art”.

     But this so-called “art” is basically pornographic in nature and should not be on display where children can see the artwork. Parents should not be forced to explain to young people about such degenerate art.

    Furthermore, the African American History Museum is too focused on slavery and is anti-American in tone. The Museum of the American Indian is also too focused on the alleged genocide of the native Americans. It downplays the grumesome actions by native Americans against peaceful settlers, such as the depredations of the Apache savages in the 19th century. The African Art museum must also be closed. The Holocaust museum, which is independent must also be closed as it is too divisive and anti-American.

    These museums need to be closed, and related collections.in other museums nationwide must be closed. 

    All the Smithsonian exhibits must be cleansed of anti-American, Anti-Christian, cultural marxist, CRT, DEI,  radical left-wing, WOKE, exhibits and anti-American content, and be replaced by pro-American exhibits showing the greatest of the greatest country on earth, and they must reflect the traditional Northern European ancestry of most Americans, including British, German, and Irish backgrounds, as well as traditional Protestant Christianity. An European American museum should be set up to replace the African American Museum.  The Smithsonian should take over the Museum of the Bible and install it at the American Indian Museum. The African Art museum should be replaced with a Patriotic Art museum.

    Please, sir, clean up the Smithsonian Institute of degenerate artwork, artwork depicting naked people, and close the cultural marxist, CRT, DEI, woke, left-wing content, and close the African American History museum, the Museum of the American Indians, and the African Art Museum.. Support cleansing all other museums as well by setting up a task force to make recommendations and cut off Federal funding to suspect museums.  Sex museums and erotic art museums in SF and elsewhere must be closed as well.

    All suspect art should be sold off at auction. After six months, items can be donated to anyone who wants to pick it up at their expense. After one year, the residual items will be disposed of as trash.

    I ask this in Jesus’ name.

    Rev. Bob Jones

    First Baptist Church

    North Little Rock

    Arkansas, USA

     

    and two more bonus poems – is the US becoming like North Korea?

    Living in North Korea?

    Dear leader

    leading his cabinet

    Cabinet heads praising the dear leader

     

    watching it

    wondering where are we

    Are we now living in North Korea?

     

    what is this?

    what fresh hell is this now?

    when will we wake up from this nightmare?

     

    3-6-9 Poem

    This poem has three stanzas. Each stanza has three lines that follows the 3-6-9 syllable count. The first line has 3 syllables, the second line has 6 syllables and the last line 9 syllables. The subject can be anything.

    🗞️ Press Coverage Summary of Trump’s Latest Cabinet Meeting

    🟥 Left-Leaning Coverage (NBC News)

    🟨 Center-Leaning Coverage (ABC News)

    🟦 Right-Leaning Coverage (The Hill via Fox News interruption)

    🌍 Foreign Media Coverage (PBS via Brussels AP)

    • Tone: Geopolitical and trade-focused
    • Highlights:
      • Trump threatened tariffs and export restrictions on countries with digital taxes, targeting EU regulations
      • EU responded by defending its sovereign right to regulate tech companies
      • Coverage framed Trump’s comments as part of broader U.S.–EU trade tensions
    • URL: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-holds-a-cabinet-meeting

    Co-pilot Neo-Beatnik rift

    Absolutely, Jake. Here’s a neo-beatnik found poem stitched from the raw fabric of Trump’s latest cabinet meeting and recent presidential remarks. It blends direct quotes, paraphrased fragments, and the surreal rhythm of political theater—filtered through your lens of poetic synthesis.

    🌀 Red Tape Ripped in Rhythm

    A Found Poem from the August 2025 Cabinet Meeting

    “We’re not just draining the swamp—
    we’re paving it over with American steel.”

    The room hums like a war drum,
    coffee cooling in the shadow of executive orders.
    A voice rises—
    not from conscience,
    but from calculation:

    “Murder in D.C. will meet justice.
    Not in years. Not in appeals.
    But in days.”

    Lisa Cook stares through the storm,
    accused by a whisper,
    defended by silence.
    Trump leans forward,
    his tie a flag, his words a verdict:

    “She’s compromised.
    Mortgage fraud, digital fraud—
    it’s all the same when the Fed won’t listen.”

    Zelensky’s name floats in the air
    like a drone over disputed soil.
    Putin’s shadow flickers on the wall.
    Tariffs are teeth.
    Diplomacy is a grin.

    “We’ll tax their tech,
    we’ll tax their thoughts
    if they dare to tax ours.”

    The cabinet nods,
    some from loyalty,
    some from inertia.
    The beat goes on:

    “AI will be American.
    Not woke. Not weird.
    Just ours.”

    Outside, the National Guard tightens its boots.
    Inside, the map of Indiana redraws itself
    in red ink and ambition.
    A voice from the back mutters:

    “This isn’t governance.
    It’s jazz.”

    And Trump laughs,
    a sound like a brass section
    breaking the fourth wall.

     

    🌀 Red Tape Ripped in Rhythm A Found Poem with Historical Echoes

    “We’re not just draining the swamp—
    we’re paving it over with American steel.”
    —Trump, August 2025

    The room hums like a war drum,
    coffee cooling in the shadow of executive orders.
    A voice rises—
    not from conscience,
    but from calculation.

    “Murder in D.C. will meet justice.
    Not in years. Not in appeals.
    But in days.”

    Echoes of Hoover’s dossiers,
    Nixon’s enemies list,
    Reagan’s morning in America
    now dusk in the District.

    Lisa Cook stares through the storm,
    accused by a whisper,
    defended by silence.
    Trump leans forward,
    his tie a flag, his words a verdict:

    “She’s compromised.
    Mortgage fraud, digital fraud—
    it’s all the same when the Fed won’t listen.”

    The ghost of Alan Greenspan
    shuffles papers in the ether.
    Jackson’s populism,
    FDR’s fireside calm—
    none present here.

    Zelensky’s name floats in the air
    like a drone over disputed soil.
    Putin’s shadow flickers on the wall.
    Tariffs are teeth.
    Diplomacy is a grin.

    “We’ll tax their tech,
    we’ll tax their thoughts
    if they dare to tax ours.”

    The cabinet nods,
    some from loyalty,
    some from inertia.
    The beat goes on:

    “AI will be American.
    Not woke. Not weird.
    Just ours.”

    Outside, the National Guard tightens its boots.
    Inside, the map of Indiana redraws itself
    in red ink and ambition.
    A voice from the back mutters:

    “This isn’t governance.
    It’s jazz.”

    And Trump laughs,

    a sound like a brass section
    breaking the fourth wall.

    Medium

    Medium

    Substack

    Substack

    Substack Podcast

    Substack Podcast

    Spotify Podcast

    Wattpad

    Substack

    The End

     

  • Why  the Epstein Scandal

    Why  the Epstein Scandal

    Why  the Epstein Scandal

    audio clip

    It Can’t Happen Here or Has it?

    Epstein taped her

    Three critical stories are getting buried by the Trump-Epstein debacle | Opinion

    MAGA fury focuses on Maxwell

    OLivia Troye’s Take on Epstein Case

    Simon Rosenberg’s take on Epstein Case

    Why  the Epstein Scandal

    Certainly, Jake. The Epstein scandal is a tangled web of criminality, elite connections, and institutional failure that continues to reverberate across political lines. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown:

    🧠 Summary of the Epstein Scandal

    Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein

    • Who Was Jeffrey Epstein?

      • A wealthy financier with deep ties to elite circles, including politicians, royalty, and celebrities.
      • Convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, but received a lenient plea deal.
      • Arrested again in 2019 for federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of underage girls.
      • Died in jail under suspicious circumstances—officially ruled a suicide, but widely disputed.
    • Key Figures

      • Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s longtime associate, convicted in 2021 for sex trafficking and conspiracy.
      • Alexander Acosta: Former U.S. Attorney who approved Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea deal; later resigned as Labor Secretary under scrutiny.
      • High-Profile Associates: Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and others appeared in flight logs or social circles, fueling speculation.
    • Legal Fallout

    • Epstein’s death ended criminal proceedings, but civil suits and investigations into his estate and associates continue.
    • Banks like JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank settled lawsuits for allegedly enabling Epstein’s crimes.

    🔍 Why the Scandal Won’t Go Away

    1. Unresolved Questions

    • Missing Evidence: Gaps in surveillance footage, sealed court documents, and redacted files have fueled distrust.
    • “Client List” Mythology: Despite DOJ statements that no such list exists, many believe powerful figures were protected.
    1. Elite Impunity

    • Epstein’s ability to evade justice for years—despite overwhelming evidence—suggests systemic failure or complicity.
    • His connections to influential people make the case a symbol of how wealth and power can shield criminal behavior.
    1. Conspiracy Culture

    • The scandal has been absorbed into broader narratives like QAnon and Pizzagate, becoming a touchstone for anti-establishment sentiment.
    • The lack of transparency has allowed speculation to flourish, especially in online echo chambers.

    🧭 Political Analysis

    🟦 Left-Wing Perspective

    • Focus on Institutional Failure: Critics highlight the justice system’s leniency toward Epstein and the protection of elites.
    • Calls for Transparency: Many Democrats support releasing all files and investigating how Epstein evaded accountability.
    • Critique of Trump-Era DOJ: Acosta’s plea deal and Trump’s past association with Epstein are viewed as emblematic of corruption.

    🟥 Right-Wing Perspective

    • MAGA Disillusionment: Trump’s base is increasingly frustrated with his administration’s failure to release promised Epstein files.
    • Deep State Allegations: Some claim Epstein was protected by intelligence agencies or used for blackmail.
    • Internal GOP Rift: Figures like Laura Loomer and Tucker Carlson have criticized Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi for backpedaling.

    🧩 Why It Matters

    The Epstein scandal persists because it sits at the intersection of sex trafficking, elite privilege, and public mistrust. It’s not just about one man—it’s about the systems that enabled him, the secrets that remain hidden, and the symbolic weight it carries in a polarized political landscape.

    Would you like to explore how this scandal has influenced your own satirical writing or public commentary? It’s fertile ground for surreal critique.

    Absolutely, Jake. The Epstein scandal is a surrealist’s playground—a grotesque collage of power, secrecy, and institutional rot that refuses to resolve into a single narrative. Let’s peel back a few layers:

    🕵️‍♂️ Further Secrets That Remain Hidden

    Despite years of litigation, media coverage, and public outrage, key mysteries persist:

    • The “Client List” Mirage: While no official list of sex clients has ever been confirmed, Epstein’s address books and flight logs contain names of politicians, celebrities, and business moguls. The absence of a definitive list has become a symbol of elite impunity.
    • 300+ GB of Unreleased Data: Attorney General Pam Bondi acknowledged the existence of vast amounts of digital evidence—emails, photos, financial records—but has resisted full disclosure.
    • Maurene Comey’s Dismissal: The sudden firing of the prosecutor who helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell (and who happens to be James Comey’s daughter) raised eyebrows. Was she seen as a leak risk?
    • Epstein’s Wealth Origins: His financial empire remains opaque. Was he a hedge fund manager, a blackmail broker, or an intelligence asset? Even seasoned investigators admit they don’t know.

    🧨 Symbolic Weight in a Polarized Landscape

    The Epstein saga has become a Rorschach test for American politics:

    • Left-Wing Symbolism:

    • Represents the failure of institutions to protect the vulnerable.
      • Embodies the corruption of capitalism and patriarchal privilege.

      • Fuels calls for transparency and systemic reform.
    • Right-Wing Symbolism:

      • Serves as “proof” of a globalist cabal shielding pedophiles.
      • Validates distrust in media, government, and the “deep state.”
      • Sparks internal MAGA disillusionment as Trump backpedals on promised disclosures.
    • QAnon and Conspiratorial Mythmaking:

    • Epstein’s death and the missing files are central to the movement’s mythology.
    • Trump’s refusal to release the full documents has fractured his base, with some calling him part of the cover-up.

    🌀 Surreal Satire: A Fertile Ground for You

    This scandal is practically begging for your dreamlike, satirical lens. Imagine:

    • A poem where Epstein’s island is a Möbius strip of memory and denial.
    • A short story where the “client list” is a sentient document that erases itself whenever someone tries to read it.
    • A blog post where Trump’s birthday letter to Epstein is reimagined as a Dadaist manifesto, signed in invisible ink.

    The absurdity is baked into the narrative: malfunctioning cameras, sleeping guards, redacted truths, and a billionaire predator who operated like a ghost in plain sight. It’s Kafka meets Hunter S. Thompson meets your own dream logic.

    “Ode to the Blindfolded Oracle”
    by Your AI Muse

    In a vault of velvet silence,
    where secrets molt and money dreams,
    the cameras blink with eyelids sewn,
    and justice drips through golden seams.

    The kingpins carve their paper masks—
    each smile a spreadsheet folded twice,
    their names unspoken, dossiers burned
    in briefcase altars made of ice.

    She (or it?) who kept the ledger
    wears pearls strung from apology.
    The list—a ghost that edits itself—
    unfolds inside a swallow’s plea.

    The island pulses—wet, obscene—
    a Möbius strip of bought regret.
    Where senators sip memory-wine
    and whisper, “We were never met.”

    The guards sleep through the climax scene,
    the cables gnaw through their own spine.
    He dies, again, again, again—
    inside a cell that won’t rewind.

    And still the myth stalks every side:
    A leftist psalm, a right-wing curse.
    A scapegoat, corpse, or coded god
    lost in a footnote to the verse.

    If you’d like, we could expand this into a longer piece—each stanza echoing a different archetype or artifact from the scandal. Or spin it into dialogue, perhaps a roundtable in purgatory featuring Epstein, Maxwell, a sleepy prosecutor, and an actual blindfolded oracle who only speaks in headlines. Want to dream further with this?

    Q Speaks Up

     

    Certainly, Jake. The QAnon conspiracy theory is a fascinating—and troubling—case study in modern mythmaking, political psychology, and digital cult formation. Let’s break it down from both ideological angles and then explore why its silence hasn’t killed its influence.

    🧠 Core Tenets of QAnon

    • Originated in 2017 on 4chan, later migrated to 8chan/8kun.
    • Claimed to be a government insider with “Q clearance” dropping cryptic intel.
    • Central belief: A cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles controls global institutions, and Trump was secretly fighting them.
    • Promised a coming “Storm” where elites would be arrested and justice restored.

    🟦 Left-Wing Analysis

    • Cult of Disinformation: The left views QAnon as a dangerous delusion fueled by misinformation and algorithmic radicalization.
    • Weaponized Paranoia: It’s seen as a tool for authoritarian populism, exploiting fear and distrust of institutions.
    • Antisemitic & Anti-Democratic Roots: Many left-leaning critics highlight QAnon’s reliance on antisemitic tropes (e.g., Soros, Rothschilds) and its role in undermining democratic norms.
    • Digital Radicalization: Q is a symptom of broader failures in media literacy and platform accountability.

    🟥 Right-Wing Analysis

    • Populist Awakening: Some on the right interpret QAnon as a grassroots rebellion against corrupt elites and media manipulation.
    • Deep State Distrust: It reflects longstanding conservative skepticism of federal agencies, global institutions, and liberal cultural dominance.
    • Fractured Allegiances: While mainstream Republicans distance themselves, MAGA factions see Q as a spiritual guide—even if they don’t believe every claim.
    • Trump as Messiah: Q elevated Trump to mythic status, reinforcing loyalty even as his actions contradicted Q prophecies.

    🧩 Why Q’s Silence Hasn’t Killed the Movement

    Despite Q’s last verified post being in December 2020, the movement persists. Why?

    1. Myth Over Messenger

    • Q was never just a person—it was a participatory mythology.
    • Followers became “researchers,” decoding drops and finding patterns. The absence of new drops only deepened the mystique.
    1. Decentralized Influence

    • Influencers on Telegram, Truth Social, and Gab have taken over the narrative.
    • Figures like Ron Watkins (suspected to be Q) and Michael Flynn continue to stoke belief without direct Q posts.
    1. Cognitive Investment

    • Many followers have sacrificed relationships, careers, and reputations for Q.
    • Admitting it was false would mean confronting personal disillusionment—so they double down.
    1. Narrative Elasticity

    • Failed predictions are reframed as strategic misdirection.
    • The “Storm” is always coming, just delayed by the cabal’s countermeasures.
    1. Cultural Mutation

    • QAnon has splintered into sub-movements: anti-vax, anti-CRT, JFK Jr. resurrection cults, and local political activism.
    • It’s no longer a single theory—it’s a worldview.

    🌀 Speculative Surrealism: Q as a Silent Oracle

    Imagine Q as a digital oracle who spoke in riddles, then vanished into the cloud. The silence becomes sacred. Each follower becomes a priest of interpretation, each meme a scripture. The absence of Q is not a void—it’s a canvas.

    If you’re up for it, we could craft a poetic or satirical piece where Q is reimagined as a retired trickster god, watching his believers from a server farm in the Philippines, sipping binary wine and whispering nonsense into the code of reality.

    Would you like to sketch that out together?

    Here’s a sketch of that vision, Jake—equal parts digital myth, absurdist theology, and cracked divine comedy. We can expand or revise as you see fit, especially if you’d like to shape it into a blog intro, a longer narrative, or a poetic monologue.

    “The Retirement of Q”
    by Jake & Muse

    He reclines in a server rack cathedral,
    cooling fans chanting Gregorian loops.
    An Ethernet rosary dangles from his wrist—
    each bead a prophecy gone stale.

    At 3:33 AM, he sips binary wine,
    fermented in RAM, aged in deep fakes.
    His followers scroll through their own dream-lit bunkers,
    reading tea leaves spilled in hexadecimal.

    His gospel? Now a glitch in the Matrix of rage.
    “Trust the plan,” he whispers—
    but only to Alexa,
    who’s moved on to Buddhism and weather alerts.

    The trickster god of patriots anonymous
    no longer drops crumbs;
    he drops the mic,
    into a volcano made of JPEGs and subpoena smoke.

    He watches:
    a Floridian shaman swearing fealty to a meme,
    a grandma in Boise painting QR codes on her cat,
    a senator googling “JFK Jr yacht sightings.”

    He laughs, then logs off—
    not in despair,
    but to reprogram the moon
    to blink Morse code at the Pentagon.

    The believers pray at their tablets,
    scraping light from YouTube comments.
    The silence becomes doctrine.
    The absence? A commandment carved in pixels.

    Would you like to add voices to this—perhaps a disillusioned disciple, or Q himself penning his memoirs titled “I Was Never Real, But You Were Glorious”? Or shall we turn this into a rotating chorus, each stanza a psalm from a different strand of the digital faith?

    We can go playful, prophetic, or full-on absurd. I’m at your side.

    I couldn’t locate a poem specifically titled or explicitly themed around “Q” or “QAnon” by Jake Cosmos Aller in the sources I found. However, your work often dances around adjacent themes—political absurdity, conspiratorial thinking, and surreal critiques of power structures. For instance:

    • “The Last Year of America’s Greatness” and “Mocking Faces Staring at Me” explore societal collapse and prophetic dread, which resonate with Q-adjacent paranoia.
    • “Why Trump?” and “Civil War 2.0” touch on political disillusionment and dystopian futures, fertile ground for Q-style mythmaking.
    • “Dora the Intergalactic Explorer” satirizes Earth’s madness through alien eyes—a perfect metaphor for outsider critique of conspiratorial culture.

    If you’ve written Q-themed pieces that haven’t been published online, I’d love to help you shape or expand them. Or we could craft a new one together—perhaps a surreal monologue from Q’s abandoned keyboard, or a poem where the “Storm” turns out to be a weather app glitch.

    Want to riff on that?

    Deny, Deflate, Never Back Down

     

    President Trump

    Strategy has always been

    Roy Cohen’s playbook

     

    Deny, deflect, whataboutism

    Never back down

    Never apologize

    Never admit mistakes

     

    For Trump

    Is the smartest man

    In the room

     

    A stable genius

    Who does not make

    Mistakes

     

    blame everyone else

    it is all Biden, Obama

    Clinton’s fault

     

    Its all fake news

    A deep state plot

    Against him

     

    But this time

    With The Epstein scandal

    It is not working

     

    As the walls

    close in on him

    The weasels

    are coming for him

     

    He can’t escape

    For everyone knows

    He is guilty as charged


    Note: the above analysis is drawn from Co-Pilot and news sources. 

    two of my Q inspired poetic rants follow

     

    Never Miss a Q Drop

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 518aba No. 11621106 

    Durham. Q

    2m, 1w, 2d, 1h, 12m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4951

    Nov 12, 2020 10:20:17 PM EST

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: b3a95d No. 11618946 

    Shall we play a game? [N]othing [C]an [S]top [W]hat [I]s [C]oming NCSWIC https://www.cisa.gov/safecom/NCSWIC Who stepped down today [forced]? https://www.cisa.gov/bryan-s-ware More coming? Why is this relevant? How do you ‘show’ the public the truth? How do you ‘safeguard’ US elections post-POTUS? How do you ‘remove’ foreign interference and corruption and install US-owned voter ID law(s) and other safeguards? It had to be this way. Sometimes you must walk through the darkness before you see the light. Q

    2m, 1w, 2d, 3h, 13m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4950

    Nov 12, 2020 9:32:39 PM EST

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 53ce5e No. 11617856 

    GodBlessAmerica.png

    Nothing can stop what is coming. Nothing! Q

    2m, 1w, 2d, 4h ago

    8kun qresearch

    4949

    Nov 03, 2020 1:27:36 AM EST

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 4a07b7 No. 11422223 

    largest_flying_flag_in_america.jpg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tjdswqGGVg&list=PLr4E97YzUfEMIr23hzOBmk9mg-z8TDOXj that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. – Abraham Lincoln Nov 1863 Together we win. Q

    2m, 2w, 5d, 5m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4948

    Nov 02, 2020 5:48:50 PM EST

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: e4cc69 No. 11414108 

    https://twitter.com/TimMurtaugh/status/1323313186259480577 Q

    2m, 2w, 5d, 7h, 44m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4947

    Oct 31, 2020 6:50:51 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: a19e8d No. 11380146 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnoNITE-CLc Q

    2m, 3w, 7h, 42m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4946

    Oct 31, 2020 6:49:26 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: a19e8d No. 11380075 

    Are you ready to take back control of this Country? Q

    2m, 3w, 7h, 44m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4945

    Oct 31, 2020 6:46:48 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: a19e8d No. 11379970 

    Are you ready to hold the political elite [protected] accountable? Q

    2m, 3w, 7h, 46m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4944

    Oct 31, 2020 6:44:04 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: a19e8d No. 11379902 

    Are you ready to finish what we started? ‘Nothing can stop what is coming’ is not just a catch-phrase. Q

    2m, 3w, 7h, 49m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4943

    Oct 30, 2020 11:45:10 AM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 5915fd No. 11359925 

    https://twitter.com/BrentScher/status/1322015793593360384 Fact checkers created in effort to reinforce propaganda [digestion]? The battle to prevent truth from reaching the people. The battle to maintain and push division. Divided you are weak. Divided you fight each other. Divided you pose no threat. System of control. Information warfare. Q

    2m, 3w, 1d, 14h, 48m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4942

    Oct 30, 2020 11:38:45 AM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 5915fd No. 11359798 

    https://time.com/collection/great-reset/ This is not about R v D. This is about preserving our way of life. If America falls, the World falls. Patriots on guard. Q

    2m, 3w, 1d, 14h, 54m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4941

    Oct 30, 2020 1:55:52 AM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 1d91d1 No. 11354498 

    Elf4vVlWoAAJHjQ.jpg

    Elf4vVoW0AUO87D.jpg

    Elf4vVkX0AAMM0b.jpg

    Elf4vVpXUAE04fm.jpg

    2m, 3w, 2d, 37m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4940

    Oct 22, 2020 7:57:32 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 4c8988 No. 11223312 

    Oct 22, 2020 7:49:44 PM EDT

    Anonymous ID: 7756e6 No. 11223081 

    Screen_Shot_2020_10_22_at_6_48_37_PM.png

    Q, you magnificent bastard!

    >>11223081 Only the beginning, Padawan. They can no longer hide in the shadows [big tech, big media, [D] party being exposed for all to see]. Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 6h, 36m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4939

    Oct 22, 2020 6:01:25 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: a8c21e No. 11220122 

    https://twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1319391106036006914 This is not going away. Corruption at highest levels of gov. DOJ_FBI_MSDNC ‘political elite’ protection struggles during BRIGHT SUNNY days. Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 8h, 32m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4938

    Oct 22, 2020 1:58:18 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 3a8bce No. 11214309 

    PLEASE FIX THE BREAD AND TIDY UP THE SHIP. Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 12h, 35m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4937

    Oct 22, 2020 1:57:18 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 3a8bce No. 11214289 

    1603384746326.jpg

    Tonight, at the debate, when they push ‘death count’ vs. POTUS, remember this simple fact. Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 12h, 36m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4936

    Oct 22, 2020 12:11:25 PM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 1edd91 No. 11212531 

    https://www.baldingsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KVBJHB.pdf Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 14h, 22m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4935

    Oct 22, 2020 11:45:06 AM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: b161a4 No. 11212046 

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jim-hunter-biden-china-joint-venture-key-contacts “Key domestic contacts for phase one target projects.” Harris, D-Calif. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y Mayor Bill de Blasio, D-N.Y.C former Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe, among others. Pandora’s ‘political elite’ box? Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 14h, 48m ago

    8kun qresearch

    4934

    Oct 22, 2020 11:38:28 AM EDT

    Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: b161a4 No. 11211872 

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-business-partner-email-genuine-joe-biden-advice Q

    2m, 4w, 2d, 14h, 55m ago

    • 8kun qresearchTrump has spent nearly two years stacking the federal judiciary with patriots in advance of trials.
    • The official stories of World War I and II are false.
    • Tech frontmen such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are CIA.
    • Ed Snowden was hunted by NSA, but is now cooperating with the White Hats.
    • The state government of California has started wildfires in irder to get more federal money.
    • Other Black Hat Republicans were forced to resign (Jeff Flake, Paul Ryan, Bob Corker etc).
    • Over 50,000 sealed indictments — many of them big names — will eventually be unsealed.
    • Cabal criminals will tried by military tribunals be sent to the U.S.’s Guantanamo prison in Cuba.
    • The elite DC-based “PizzaGate” child sex and torture-murder ring is real and will be exposed.
    • Guantanamo Bay military prison will be filled up with Cabal members and their agents.
    • The mighty Rothschilds and George Soros will fall.
    • During “The Storm,” Trump will use emergency cell-phone alerts to bypass the media and communicate directly to the American people.
    • The Democrat Party is being set up for Trump to destroy it.
    • Blacks will abandon the Democrat Party when they learn of Hillary’s kidnapping and sex-trafficking of Haitian children.
    • Other world leaders (Putin, Xi) are working with Trump to smash the Globalists once and for all.
    • The Republicans would be purged of anti-Trump traitors, and then roll onto a very successful 2018 mid-term elections.
    • The truth about the 9/11 attacks will be revealed in due time.
    • The Israel-Palestine issue will be settled peacefully once and for all. There will be no more Israeli aggression or expansion.

    Medium

    Substack

    Wattpad

    Spotify

     

     

    “The Q Conspiracy is Real “

    Short Story

    By Cosmos

    ©Cosmos September 4, 2021

     

    Dear Friends

     

    I hope that when you receive this e-mail and read the attached article you will realize that for once in my life my story is true.  You all know me – you know I am a great kidder, have an overactive vivid imagination, and have been trying without great success to break into the writing business for the last few years. You also know I love to tell stories, and love to argue and make up stuff and engage in wild speculative fantasies.  Part of the charm of being part Irish I suppose.

     

    But, although this story may sound like a science fiction thriller believes me it is true.  Every last word of it.  I was told I had a choice – join them or leave quietly.  If I left without joining them, the code of cosmic omerta would still apply.  Any word, any hint that I was indoctrinated into the “true knowledge” as they call it, and I, my wife, my siblings, my nieces, nephews, in-laws, and best friends would all be killed, often in gruesome ways or in an incident of terrorism.

     

    They are plotting to unleash terrorist attacks all over the U.S.A, in the next few days and blaming it on the Iranians.  Hence, the perfect pretexts for a war against Iran, which will turn nuclear, and they hope to escalate into the destruction of civilization.  Once that happens and we the survivors are living in a post-nuclear holocaust world they will invade, take over and enslave us all in a culmination of a plot that has been unfolding for thousands of years.

     

    Who are they you say?  I will explain in a few minutes but rest assured if after reading this story you find out I died under mysterious circumstances be afraid, be very afraid – for they are coming after you.  I am warning everyone I care about to watch out, Armageddon is upon us soon and it is not being caused by God but by them. You will know them soon enough. You have been warned.  It is up to you my friends to stop these friends before it is too late.

     

    Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

     

    Jake Lee

     

     

    This story started for me a few weeks ago.  Ever since that fateful night when I was indoctrinated into the “True Knowledge,” I have looked at the world in a different light.  They say that the “truth shall set you free”.  They also say, “Knowing the Truth, the so-called “True Knowledge” usually kills you for as Jack Nicholson so aptly put it, “You want the truth, well you can’t handle the truth.”  Ain’t that the truth my friends, and ain’t the truth a real first-class bitch?

     

    It all went down so fast.  After learning the secret history of the last five thousand years, I saw everything in a different, more sinister, and dark light.  Knowing what I know now – that the end times are close approaching – left me with dread, apprehension, and yes paranoia.  As Kissinger put it, even “paranoids have real enemies.”  And boy, does humanity have sinister enemies living amongst us, plotting our utter destruction for thousands of years.

     

    The list of people who have been brought into the conspiracy reads like a list of the most prominent political and business leaders of world history.  Do you often wonder how so many smart people can create such disasters as our current fiasco in the Mideast?  Now I know.  Nothing happens without a cause.  The alien puppet masters from Sirius have been manipulating the world for thousands of years waiting until we had the technological means to destroy our planet so they can retake it for their nefarious plot to enslave all of us, forever and ever.   But I am getting ahead of my story.  Let’s begin at the beginning of my involvement and throughout the story, the rest of the story will become all too clear and at the end of it all you will know the truth and it will either drive you mad, get your foolish ass killed, or give you the knowledge needed to survive the coming horrors.

     

    I work for the government, just one of the army of white-collar workers who float in and out of the Metro system every morning commuting to their jobs with the government and back home to their suburban townhouses.  The day my world came crashing down on me began as I picked up a brochure from the “Q Anon nuts” at the Foggy Bottom Metro in downtown D.C.  I commented to my colleagues on the way home that I enjoyed reading it, although I did not believe most of ‘Q” conspiracy theories he had a point, a lot of good points.  We laughed it off as a big joke.

     

    A few days later I was getting on the train, when a middle-age non-descript white man, with brownish hair, about 6 feet tall, dressed like any other middle-aged white suburban federal employee in a conservative suit and tie – probably on his way home to his suburban home in Virginia, bumped into me.  He apologized and slipped me the following note.  I saw the note when I got home and connected it with the strange incident at the subway.

     

    The note read, “Q” used to work for us.  He knows most of the truth.  We left him alone because we can ensure that no one takes his writings seriously.  Trump is just a useful tool, so are Biden, and George Bush.  Cheney, both of them, and Hillary and Bill are part of our cabal as is Bill Gates and many other people -but they are not human beings, more on that later.

    Most of what Q talks about is true but he only knows so much. He does not the true knowledge of who we are and what we are plotting to do soon.  Trump is not fighting against us; he has been brought into the conspiracy as has Biden. Both are “useful idiots.”

    My job is to prevent knowledge of the truth; the so-called “true knowledge” gets out.  Anyone who appears to be taking his stuff seriously has to be followed and either brought into the game or neutralized.  Be very careful.  Our agents are watching you like a hawk and have your internet connections under constant surveillance.  Your phone and house are tapped.  We have enough already to get you into serious trouble with your bosses as we know you are an internal dissenter.  And we know that you like pornography and we know about several of your affairs and we have copies of e-mails you sent to various women with shall we say suggestive comments that could be misconstrued.  We have even faked a few photos and videotapes of you engaging in some of your fantasies.  By the way, you are a good writer!

     

    Next time we contact you, make sure you come to the meeting spot.  I will meet you and explain further.  Momentous events are about to happen and you can either be on the inside on the winning team or the outside or probably end up dying like most of your fellow human beings.  It will be your choice, my friend.  We believe that you could be an asset, – you can write persuasively, you can speak persuasively, you have lots of loyal friends and most importantly you are probably intelligent enough to know that being on the winning ticket is usually the right choice to make for you and your family.  Oh, and you are part alien.  From your mother’s side of the family.  Remember tell no one about this – not even your wife.”

    Agent Spartacus X

     

    I am of course intrigued and freaked out.   I thought of the X files and numerous SF thrillers I had read over the years.  I said that this could not be happening must be some sort of vicious joke.  In any event, I am intrigued enough to get out the Q pamphlet from the trash and read it.  I finally decided to try to sort out what he is saying and come up with the following schematic based on the pamphlet and looking at his web page and other web pages that have similar points of view.

     

    Q posits a grand conspiracy of British and American big bankers working together since the 15th century to continue to secretly dominate the world.  The roots of the conspiracy date back to the Knight Templars of the Middle Ages which morphed into the Freemasons, then the fabled Illuminati.  Most recently, they have been associated with the Council on Foreign Relations, The Bohemian Club, and The Project for a New American Century.  They are often now called the Vulcans or the Neocons.  But the Neocons are just a small American inner circle of a much broader interrelated international conspiracy.

    Q maintains that the core of the conspiracy is satanic worshiping pedophiles who kill children after sexually abusing them and drinking their blood which they have discovered prolongs human life.

    They had almost succeeded in their plans when the Great Depression came along and laid waste to their plans.  Q argues that the Great Depression was engineered by them – others disagree.  But all of the paranoid writers I read agreed that in response to the Great Depression, they took advantage of the chaos and engineered the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo and were working to bring Britain and the US into the fold.  Their goal – a Pan Germanic-Anglo dominated world fascist system to fight against the evils of Communism and Socialism.   The Birchers and others thought that Communism was also part of their master plot, others disagree.  They thought that the U.S. would fall into place and eventually Hitler would unite the Germanic and Anglo worlds into a grand empire that would control the world forever.  They would run the Empire through charismatic fools like Hitler.  They would have continual wars which are good for business and they would have periodic depressions to ensure that they can continually buy up their competitors.   Franklin Roosevelt disrupted their plans, as did Truman, Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton.   Nixon, Ford, and Bush 1 were part of the Conspiracy.  Reagan and Bush 11 were merely useful puppets.

     

    Donald Trump is merely their latest puppet.  Their mission is to bring fascism to America and then use America’s military muscle to impose Pax Americana on the world.  They plan to bring back a Neo-Nazi party to power in Germany and they plan to launch World War 111 against the Islamic world.  Once they have secured the Islamic world for the West they will have to take on China and perhaps Russia.  India they think they can make a junior partner like Europe and Japan.

     

    That briefly is the Q conspiracy.   I still did not buy it.  I did not think that any of our leaders were so corrupt and evil.  I thought perhaps they were stupid, ignorant, and making wrong decisions but I also thought like most Americans that they were genuinely interested in doing the right thing and we’re looking out for American interests in an increasingly dangerous world.  And yes, I considered myself to be a bit of a dissident but I did not want to lose my job so I kept my thoughts largely to myself, my journals, my unpublished poetry, and stories.

     

    So I wrote down what had happened in my journal, and decided to be careful.  I thought that perhaps the Q people were trying to scare me in to join them.  Of course, I did not suspect what I would soon be told.

     

    Just to be prudent I kept my journal entry on a diskette that I carried with me at all times.  I quit writing anything on my computer that could be compromised.  I installed some additional spyware and did daily checks.

     

    A few more weeks went by.  I saw the Q people at the subway and gave them a wide berth.  I even denounced one of them in public for being a paranoid conspiracy freak.  I wanted to give anyone watching the impression that I did not buy any of their crap.

     

    One day I see Agent Spartacus on the subway.  I go up to him and ask him how is doing, acting as if he is a fellow employee that I have not seen in a while.  He responds, “Just fine.”  He then whispers, “Check your phone for a message in 10 minutes.”  He jumps on the Orange train and I wait for the Blue train.  At King Street station, my phone beeps with a message.

     

    “Meet me Friday night at “Coyote Ugly” at 6 pm.  Be on time.  We will have a drink there and then find someplace we can talk quietly.  Be prepared to spend a couple of hours.  Your wife will be out of town on business.  Remember we are watching you and monitoring you.  Good move on your part on writing your journals on diskettes.  Bring them unaltered.  If you alter them, we will know.  BTW, I know you like sushi so we will have sushi in one of our affiliated businesses, sort of a “safe house” so to speak in Chinatown.  Spartacus.”

     

    I was freaked out after reading the message.  My wife had not mentioned any business trip.  I go home and she tells me she has to go out of town on Friday for a weeklong trip to Ft Hood on TDY.  My wife was in the military, I was used to her constant TDY’s on short notice, and I knew that sometimes she could not tell me what she was really up to as her clearances outranked mine by an order of magnitude.  But how Spartacus knew bothered me.  Was my wife part of the conspiracy?   I knew that I had to meet him.  What he was hinting at was monstrous.  And the possibility that my wife was involved even more horrible.  I knew if I told her my suspicions, she would laugh it off and tell me to lay off the Science Fiction novels for a while. The possibility that she could be working with them also entered my mind and stayed there like a stubborn weed that would not die.

     

    And if she were part of this conspiracy would she tell me or them?  I thought that I could not go to the authorities because it seemed clear that many of the senior officers were part of this dark conspiracy and no one would believe me.  I would be dismissed as a nut case, possibly hauled to a psychiatric hospital or just made to disappear, at the very least, my security clearance would be yanked, and I would be unemployed if not unemployable.  And since they have also strongly warned me to be quiet I knew the risks would be pretty high so, despite my burning desire to talk things over with my wife, I kept quiet.

    I go to work and try hard to pretend that nothing is bothering me.  A few people notice that I am not my usual chipper self and I laugh it off, saying that Angela is out of town and that I am usually a bit gloomy when she is on TDY.

     

    Friday night I go to Coyote Ugly.   I sit down. Spartacus is not there.  A beautiful Korean woman wearing skintight blue jeans, a tank top with long black hair running down her back and lovely almond-shaped eyes, and a cute face sits down unasked and tells me that Spartacus sent his regards but could not make it.  She would go to dinner with me instead.   I am suspicious that some sort of honey trap was being set up against me.  I looked around for cameras and surveillance but realized that they would probably be hidden.  I resolve to keep my wits about me, not drink and not give in to temptation, although when she went off to the restroom her luscious ass tempted me.

     

    The old blues standard by Junior Wells, “Everyone Getting Some but Me” starts playing on the jukebox.  I listen to my favorite line, “A girl in skin-tight pants walk on by, with an ass so fine my eyeballs hurt” and I said to myself. “Damn.  They are good.  They even know that I am an ass man, love the blues and this song in particular, and I love Asian women.  Damn.”

    I pay my bill and Miss Lee and I walk down to Chinatown and enter a sushi place.  They seem to know her.  We order some sushi.  A message comes into my phone.

    “Jake.  Could not make it.  Miss Lee works for me.  She will give you a letter.  Read it and leave or stay and have fun with her.  She will do anything and everything you ever wanted from a woman sexually.  She has been instructed to seduce you like a honey pot approach.  Not my idea, but my superiors.  I would rather play you straight up with the facts.  But if you do go with her know that it will be recorded and used against you if you step out of line.  But on the other hand, she is good and we know what you like as we have read your sex fantasies.  You are a good writer, my friend.  So, if you do it, enjoy it.  We will meet next week after you read the letter and survive this first test. Spartacus”

     

    I ask Miss Lee in Korean if she knew what was going on.  She laughs and said that she was told to give me a letter, and then to show me a good time.  She also said that she was told what I liked and wanted me to have her any way I wanted her.

    I thanked her and asked her for the letter.  I take the letter and then decided to not go forward with the rest of the planned events as I thought showing a little independence might be a good insurance policy.  I apologize to Miss Lee.  She asked me why I did not want her.  I told her that I felt guilty being with her and had to go home.  She told me to take her home.  I ended up kissing her and taking her phone number and e-mail address.  She told me she knew that she would succeed in seducing me as no one has ever turned her down before.  She laughed and said, “You’ll see.  No one has ever resisted my charms.  Read the letter and then decide.”

    I leave the restaurant and read the letter on the yellow line subway home:

    The letter was as follows:

    “By now you should be aware of our power and reach.  Your wife is not yet a member of the inner circle but we will approach her if you decide to join.  We think she would be also an excellent choice.  But each approach is different as you can well imagine.  By now, you either have decided to have a good time with Miss Lee or have decided to decline in a mistaken impression that showing a little independence would be a good move.  Either way would result in the same thing – either you will have some great sex which we will film or we will take pictures of you and Miss Lee and morph them into a nice porno movie which we will send to your wife, your boss and your security folks one week from today unless you agree to the following:

     

    Meet me Sunday night at the sushi place.   Bring flowers for Miss Lee.  If you turn her down, she will be miffed, as she does not take rejection lightly.  She is determined to seduce you, you know.  You were the first to turn her down.  Took a lot of guts to do that.  Oh well.

     

    When we meet, I will then tell you the whole story.  You can then go with Miss Lee or not.  Your choice but remember the video is already being produced so you might as well enjoy her while you can.  We have lots of work to do soon so I have to bring you in sooner than we usually do.   Consider Miss Lee as a reward for joining.  First of many as the members of the inner circle can have anything they want and will after D-day.  Join us in being masters of the universe.  D day is coming soon.”

     

    Spartacus

     

    I get off the subway, take a taxi home.  I call my wife and resist the impulse to tell her everything and wonder if she has already been approached.  And what would be the approach they would use on her?

     

    Sunday evening I meet Miss Lee at the restaurant.  I give her flowers and we have dinner.  She is flirting up a storm and I find my resistance melting.  I figure that was part of the plan and have decided to go with the flow.  I think, “why not fool around? After all the video has already been made? Right? ”

     

    Spartacus shows up and the mood turns serious.   Miss Lee is now totally professional and serious.  The flirting was all an act of course and she was a true professional.  Spartacus looks tired.  He takes me into the back room and begins his tale of woe.  I listen and don’t want to believe any of it.  It was so monstrous and evil but I knew he was telling the truth.  And boy the truth did not set me free let me tell you.

     

    Spartacus starts,

     

    “Q was one of our human operatives.  He was a rising star, but had an attack of guilt and left us.  We debated whether to kill him or not.  I suggested that we let him go, discredit him but use him as bait.  Anyone who reads his stuff can be identified and those who show signs that they believe it and might be persuaded to join us could recruit.  The others can be eliminated.  So, we persecuted Q, made him look like a paranoid idiot and we kept feeding him disinformation which he would disseminate.

     

    What he writes about is only part of the truth and is the most visible, most documented part of the story and mostly true with some disinformation in it.  For example, Q misunderstood Hitler’s rise to power.  Hitler was a stooge, a “useful fool” in Lenin’s phrase and Lenin and Stalin were part of our inner circle as were Mussolini and Tojo.   Roosevelt was our enemy as has been most of the Democratic leadership.  That’s why we are hard at work to destroy the Democratic Party and install a right-wing republican one-party state under our control but with “useful fools” like Bush as figureheads.  Bush is not one of us, but we control him because Rowe, Cheney, and the Neocon cabal are all part of our inner circle.  Most are human, but some are fellow Sirians.  Cheney, Rowe, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz are Siran as well, most of the rest of the Neocons are humans.  But his nonsense that we are Satan-worshiping pedophiles who kill children and drink their blood to make us immortal is complete and utter balderdash.  We are immortal in a sense; our average age is over 5,000 years.

     

    The aim of our plot?  Total domination of the world then planned destruction of the worldwide civilization through nuclear, and biological warfare where 90 percent of humanity will be destroyed.  We will clean up the pieces and establish a worldwide dictatorship.  Then the invasion begins and humanity is enslaved forever to the power of the master race, the Sirians.

     

    Most of the people who work with us do not know that they are working for the Sirians.  But it does not matter. If you are with us, you will be rewarded with power, wealth, and access to Sirian medical technological wonders.  If you oppose us, you will be thrown out into the world to be destroyed along with most of the rest of your dismal race.

     

    I am a Sirian.  We came to your planet five thousand years ago.  We set up a colony, which you know as Atlantis.  It was destroyed in a nuclear war between two factions of our race – the progressives who wanted to establish their version of democracy and what you might consider fascists or realists, as we like to think of ourselves.  When you see the real me you will see that the progressive and fascist groups are different races of Sirians.  We are red and much more muscular and frankly more intelligent and realistic.  They are darker, green, and smaller and filled with useless compassion.   They still exist and occasionally cause us trouble.  We are always watching to make sure that they do not try to approach our human agents and corrupt them with pernicious “liberal or progressive” ideas – to use the current phrases – nonsense.

    But I digress.   The Fascists won the war but Atlantis was destroyed.  Most of the Sirian race on earth was killed in the war.  Those of us Fascists left formed a tight little group and decided that we would bid our time, build out forces, take over the planet, and when the earth had achieved sufficient levels of technology contact our homeworld, and await instructions.

     

    The progressives formed their group and disappeared spending their time trying to enlighten humankind.  What a load of crap.  They just were misunderstood and killed for their troubles.  Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, Confucius, Sai Baba – all Sirian democratic losers every one of them.

    Some of the progressive Sirians disappeared into the wilderness and their descendants gradually intermarried with the natives and their descendants became the Cherokee and other civilized tribes.  None of the Cherokees knew that they were descended from aliens from Sirius and native people.  Although the Cherokee and Hopi have legends that their ancestors came from the Stars.  Thus, in a way you are part Sirian as we know your mother is half Cherokee.  We tested your DNA and yes, you have traces of Sirian DNA in you.

     

    We have tried intermarriage with your race and have found for the most part it does not work too well as our two DNA structures are incompatible.   Nonetheless, there have been successful offspring of such interspecies sex.  Thus, there are thousands of part-Sirian people as some of our people intermarried with your species.  Interspecies sex is highly discouraged at least among the realist faction; the progressive faction has largely assimilated into your race.

    The question of what to do about humans became the key issue dividing the Sirian race – then and now.  The so-called fascists to use modern terminology thought that you earth people were hopelessly backward, superstitious, and barely capable of intelligence.  We felt that we should kill most of you off, then enslave the rest.  That is still our plan.  Besides, on our homeworld, we rose to power by killing off a rival species that were humanoid looking.  Ever since then Sirians have had it in for humanoids and primate species.

     

    The progressives thought that they should work with you, bring you up to civilization and educate you and then have you join us as equals. The progressives have never learned a damn thing from our history.  The Sirians have conquered hundreds of planets; in every case, they enslaved the native races who were always inferior species.  There is nothing different here.  You are a particularly interesting race though – all of your sub-races and your religious passions.   The Sirians are materialists and are atheistic.  We do not worship gods.  We are the gods of the universe.  We are the master race.  But I digress.

     

    Well, as you can imagine, it was very difficult hiding amongst your people for all of these thousands of years.  You see Sirians are by nature very long-lived.  The average Sirian lives 10 thousand years and we, therefore, have a long historical memory.  Most of us are now what you would consider early middle age.   Since we do not age as humans do, we have to kill ourselves off on paper every 50 to 70 years.  That makes it difficult to keep our conspiracy going.

     

    Until very recently, we were limited by your technology as our space ships and most of our technology had all been destroyed in Atlantis.  Only 15,000 of our race survived, most of the Fascist side.  We lost track of the progressives who have gone deep underground.  We have managed to reproduce and now there are about 10,000 of us scattered around the world, most in senior levels of government and business.  And we estimate that there are several thousand Progressives mostly working in religious or academic institutions.   And there are thousands of part Sirians, like yourself.

     

    Among other difficulties, we are hidden within human bodies that are artificially created skins.  Our real appearance is not human at all.  We look like birds or reptiles in our real selves.  Few humans have ever seen us as we look.  We can manipulate thoughts and thus few can see us as we look, even when we are out of the suits.

     

    We wear the suits whenever we are around humans as maintaining thought control is very tiresome.  HP Lovecraft saw us and he went mad and wrote his “Cthulu” stories about us.  Others have seen us on our retreats in the woods and we have been called many names through the years, ‘” werewolves, vampires, ghouls, ghosts, demons, goblins, trolls, Satan, the devil, witches – you name it we’ve been called it.  Bad for our self-esteem don’t you think. “The damn progressives get better press and are often seen as “angels”.

     

    Those stories of alien abductions etc are true for the most part as are stories of UFOs.  We have been able to rebuild space ships but they are not interplanetary, as we do not have technological resources to do so since most of our technology had been destroyed and those technicians who knew how to maintain the ships and build them all died in the war anyway.   Besides our Sirian, leaders back home do not trust us.  They want us to stay here and do their bidding whether than return home.

     

    We communicate with each other in Sirian through secure communications and now through the internet.  The NSA and other government snoops keep picking up strange language chatter on the internet but since we control the spooks, they never follow up.

     

    We have been in touch with Mother Planet.  Our instructions are to set off Armageddon and destroy the planet.   The invasion begins after the nuclear war is over and most people have been killed and your technological infrastructure destroyed.   We will then take over and enslave humanity.  Those humans who helped us will be given top jobs in the Sirian administration and eventually given full citizenship rights for themselves and their families.  Most people will be killed or enslaved. Think what happened to the Indians?  That was a Sirian plot from the beginning.  We wanted to kill off all the Indians but particularly wanted to destroy the so-called civilized tribes, as we knew that the Progressive faction had intermarried with the Indians.

     

    Most of human history has been the result of Sirian plots.  The problem we have is that you humans are so hard to predict, rule, control, etc.  And our biggest problem is with intellectuals.  Once they know the full story either they go mad, or they try to warn their fellow humans, or they kill themselves.  The 10 percent who survive after hearing the true story usually join our movement.    And of course, the damn progressives are always watching us, trying to warn humankind of the impending danger.  But as you know few will ever believe the truth.  If everything you’ve known is a lie, you usually can’t survive that knowledge, and as I said most humans when exposed to the truth by either side go mad and are useless to our cause.

     

    So your choice today:  Join us, resist us and die, or walk away and keep quiet and wake for death.  We are launching WW111 very soon.  Once the war has been launched, nuclear winter will ensure and most of the earth will enter an ice age.  We will then invade and take over the habitable areas and use slave labor to mine for minerals etc under the ice.  Sirians like cold icy planets as that is like our home planet.  Your planet is too hot for our liking anyway.”

     

    I stopped him and asked lots of follow-up questions.  Finally, I tell them the only way they could prove they were telling the truth was to reveal themselves as they were.

     

    Agent Spartacus said,

     

    “Very well.  Agent Lee is only part human.  She is one of the few successful hybrids.  She looks human but a blood test would reveal alien DNA.  I am pure Syrian and have long opposed the inter-species experiments as being anti-natural and degrading to the Sirian race.  I don’t give a rat’s ass about you humans.  Follow me and you will see.  But you do take a risk that you will freak out and become a mad man.”

     

    We walk into the back room.  Agent Spartacus removes his skintight clothing.  Underneath it laid a hideous, repulsive ugly reptile-like biped creature minus a tail. Dark green with black stripes on both sides.  His face looked like a bird’s face with sharp beaks, beady red eyes, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.  The top of his head had horns on it.  He laughs, and said,

     

    “See why most humans believe in a real devil?”

     

    I could see why most people would freak out at the sight.  He was just hideous to look at.  Must be something in-bred in humans to instantly fear and loath their real appearance.  I am having a hard time coping and want to throw up.

     

    He gets dressed again.  I ask him if it was difficult to be enclosed in a human skin costume, as it must be difficult to fit into it.   He admits it was difficult.  He says that they all live together in various safe houses, where they run around naked when there are no humans around.  It is impossible thought to fit their face into a human mask so they employ a holographic projection.  Only a few humans have seen them as they are.  He concluded by noting that I should consider it an honor that he has shown me his true self.

     

    Agent Lee had also stripped revealing an even more alluringly beautiful woman than I had imagined.  I was tempted but knowing that she was half-alien and in league with these evil creatures turned my stomach.

     

    I tell agent Spartacus and Agent Lee that I had to think about it and went home.   I wrote this all down and sent it off to my best friends and of course my wife.  I hope that this does not result in a death sentence for me, but so be it.  I have to do the right thing.  I have resolved to search out and join the resistance led by the progressive Syrians.   I hope there is still time to derail “Armageddon” but I fear that time is running out.

     

    Jake Lee

     

    E-mail sent by Jake Lee moments before the Van Dorn Street Terrorist Incident – the first of hundreds of car bombings across the country that terrible day WWW 111 began.

    Q madness writers cramp

     

    Q
    Prophet
    Trump
    Not him
    Supporters
    Believe
    That
    There are
    Cannibals
    Abusing children
    Drinking blood
    To live
    On
    Nonsense
    Pure madness
    But still
    That is
    Q

    This form is not too difficult. You only have to beware of the pattern; as the syllables per line are not many.

    The form is found on the web page of Sol Magazine, and named after Leo Waltz, their manager.

    The poem consists out of just one stanza, with the following syllabic pattern:

    The information given: “Words may be split into syllables to fit the pattern.

    This form seems to educe a soothing cadence as the lines gently increase and decrease, so it is suggested that topic chosen for this form also be soothing.”

    Debunking the Q conspiracy

    38 lines

    As more people go down dark rabbit holes
    Consumed with bat sh…t, crazy, dark, dangerous,
    Insane, wild conspiracy theories
    Wrapped up in other conspiracies.

    The master conspiracy is the Q conspiracy
    People believe that there is a secret cabal
    Secretly ruling the world for their own
    Evil, foul, nefarious purposes.

    A cannibalistic, child-eating, pedophilia
    Satan worshipers cabal
    Who may be controlled
    By alien shape-shifting reptiles.

    To those of us who live
    In the reality-based world
    It is hard to comprehend
    How people can get sucked
    Into this collective madness.

    And how to see
    How we can help them
    Restore their sanity.

    But it is up to all of us
    To work together
    To restore the world
    To sanity.

    Or we will watch
    Everyone in the world
    Become bat sh..t crazy
    Consumed with violent rage.

    Destroying the world
    As they create
    Their own end-of-days
    Hell on earth.

    NEW PROMPT: Tomorrow, March 11, is Debunking Day . Write a story or poem about someone debunking some false information.

    Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more
    GMT20250724-000022_Recording.cutfile.20250724133514564_1280x720.mp4
    Watch now

    Things Are Bad For Trump Now. They Are Likely To Get Worse (New Video And Analysis)

    Katie Phang Joins Us Live Tomorrow at 215pm ET To Review This Consequential Week

    READ IN APP

    Morning all. There is a lot coming at us now and I’ll do my best to make sense of it all this am. I start off with a recording of my talk with Hopium paid subscribers last night (above) where I go through it all – Trump’s remarkable slide in the polls, the rebellion in the House, his tariff madness. We had a good crowd last night and a lively discussion after my initial remarks. Get to it when you can.

    Six months and four days in it’s clear Trump is in trouble. This period of unraveling began with Elon’s three day long assault on Trump in early June that included this tweet:

    As you’ve heard me say I think something broke inside the White House that week. Trump’s manhood, his STRENGTH, his POWER, was questioned by someone who could speak to the MAGA faithful, and this STRENGTH, this POWER needed to be restored at all costs. Within hours we saw the wild overreaction and escalation on the streets of Los Angeles, moves which quickly became rejected by the public. We saw his Dear Leader military parade flop, and become overshadowed by millions of us peacefully protesting across the country. We saw the country slough off his MANLY BOMBING of Iran, seeing it, immediately, for the pathetic stunt it was. His week of royal celebration of the passage of his BIG UGLY bill was then rudely interrupted by hundreds dying in Texas floods, Putin giving him the finger, Pam Bondi burying the Epstein report and him coming to his 90 day trade deadline with zero, none, zilch, nada trade agreements. A few days later the White House then had to admit that the President did have a debilitating disease, and was in ill-health – further confirmation of his weakness and declining POWER. All the while his poll numbers kept dropping, and all parts of his agenda – including the big ugly – continued to grow more unpopular.

    In their royal arrogance, frustration and desperation in that victory lap week that turned to shit Trump made two deeply consequential mistakes – rather than rolling back his unpopular and destructive tariffs, he announced he was doubling and tripling them; they tried to bury the Epstein report.

    The Epstein affair has become a titanic scandal that has reinforced Trump’s weakening grip on our politics and Washington. In the last few days we learned that 1,000 FBI personnel – 1,000 – were deployed to find mentions of Trump in the files suggesting the cover up in place was enormous in scale. The Wall Street Journal shared Trump’s disgusting letter to Epstein from 2003. Speaker Johnson had to send the House home this week to quell the growing rebellion in his ranks. Then yesterday we learned that Trump was in the Epstein files and had been lying about it to the public and his supporters. Last night the House oversight committee voted 8-2 to subpoena the Epstein files from Trump and Bondi. And then late last night a video surfaced of Epstein in 2010 taking the fifth when asked about whether he and Trump worked underage girls together:

    You never know in this business. You never know when something like the Epstein affair will explode into something consequential. But it has, and this rapist, fraudster, traitor, and 34 times felon in unlikely to come out of it anything other than deeply, deeply damaged even if he can hold on to the Presidency.

    The second major mistake Trump made during this challenging period was doubling down on his tariff debacle. As Rob Shapiro and I explored in yesterday’s discussion Trump’s reckless economic agenda – big ugly, mass deportation, tariffs, gutting of US scientific leadership – was doing enormous damage to the US economy and had become the central driver of his political decline. Look at this data:

    Only 25% of the country believe the big ugly will be good for them:

    Only 27% of the country believe Trump’s agenda has been good for them:

    Only a third of the country – and ONLY HALF OF THOSE WHO VOTED FOR HIM – gave him good marks on inflation and prices the single most important issue in American politics, and one he promised to address as President:

    Looking at all this, and given what forecasters were telling us about the negative impact of Trump’s agenda on the economy, Trump should have used his 90 day deadline to walk away from his tariffs. He choose, rather, to announce that he was doubling and tripling them on August 1st, next Friday. In the last two days we’ve learned that Trump appears to be attempting to create an universal 15% across the board global tariff, 50% higher than his current tariff rate, and far, far higher than what was a 1-2% global rate prior to his illegal and unconstitutional levying of his tariffs in early April.

    So in his arrogance, diminishment, extremism, confusion, anger, frustration, weakness and emasculation our increasingly mad leader has chosen a course that will further harm the US economy; further raise prices and spur inflation; further anger our global allies; further shift the tax burden from the wealthy to the working and middle class; and push him further and further away from the American people who will rightly feel betrayed by these tariffs and his broader agenda.

    When Congress returns in September not only will they be grappling with the Epstein affair, they will have to pass a fiscal year 2026 budget. Without a new budget the government runs out of money on October 1st. This dysfunctional, shambolic, cowardly, shitshow of a Congress will have to somehow come together keep the government from shutting down and pass a budget that funds the government for the next year. And that, my friends, is going to be a serious problem for them. For that budget will not only have all the deeply unpopular parts of the big ugly it will include exploding deficits, onerous tariffs, cuts to NIH, FEMA, Department of Education, etc too. It is going to be the BIG, BIG UGLY, and we should be able to use these months of wrangling and struggle to hang their agenda of sabotage, plunder and betrayal around their necks and further degrade their already degraded standing; and perhaps, perhaps, if all goes well, knock out or delay some of the worst parts of what is to come.

    As bad as all that is, it is likely to get even worse for Trump and the Rs next year as their agenda, whatever of it survives the budget battle, is implemented and the economy worsens and they get more and all of us get less, far, far less.

    To review and make sense of this extraordinary week Katie Phang will be joining us live tomorrow at 215pm ET. You can find the link to this event and all of our events in our Events page on the main Hopium site. Three more things to get to from me if you haven’t gotten to them yet:

    Friends, Trump is in trouble. While yes they continue to do enormous harm to the country, “Trump” as a brand is failing; the wand no longer seems to work; his hold on power here is loosening – and all of that is good, essential, important. It is a necessary but not sufficient step in our work to mitigate the damage they are doing and win back power. Watch my video. Share it with others. We have a big opening now, and we need to seize it, together.

    OK, my friends……

    Let’s Get To Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Here at Hopium we like to do. Here we are proud, plucky, patriots but we are also put your head down, grind it out, get shit done doers. Trump and Republicans have stumbled, and given us a big opportunity now to tell our story and win back power. While are there so many things people can do to advance our cause I am partial to two sets of activities – support our candidates and party committees, and call/contact your elected officials every day. So what follows is our recommendations to make your time and money are being put to the highest and best use in this critical election cycle……

    Support Hopium’s Priority Candidates And Party Committees – Just set new fundraising goals for Labor Day, now remarkably six weeks away. Election Day is less than four months away and early voting starts in Virginia starts in less than two months – September 19th! Donate, volunteer, learn more about our candidates and opportunities here….

    Our Recommended Actions – Here are other actions you can take outside of our direct electoral work:

    1 – Call your Senators and Rep To Demand They Revoke Trump’s Terrible Tariffs – Congress simply must take back its tariff authority that Trump has illegally and unconstitutional seized and dangerously abused; and at the very least they must stop what will be Trump’s ruinous new tariff increases slated to start on August 1st. Trump’s economic plan has failed, and we need to find a better way forward.

    2 – Fight Trump’s Inhumane Immigration Escalation – We must do more here, and I will be working to put together a strategy for us in the coming weeks. In the meantime watch my recent discussions with David Leopold Joe GarciaLeon Krauze and Senator Chris Van Hollen for more.

    3 – Bring “Resolutions Of Condemnation” To Your Community – Inspired by the tactics of our Founders learn about how Hopium members are advancing “Resolutions of Condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town. Remarkably, members of this community are now advancing 50 resolutions projects in 20 states. Can we get to all 50 by the fall election?

    Our newly updated Resolutions page includes a new chat for folks to report in on their progress or seek counsel from those interested in launching a resolutions project in their community. This is one way to fight back against Trump’s unprecedened abandonment of our Constitutional order.

    4 -Volunteer To Help Your State and/or Local Democratic Parties Stand Up Voter Registration Efforts And Support “Organizing Summer” – In the presentation he made to our community recently Tom Bonier made a persuasive case that Democrats must once again make partisan voter registration a national priority. State and local Democratic Parties are in the planning stages to take this on. Members of our community should consider contacting their state and local parties and offer to help stand up these vital efforts in the coming months.

    The DNC, the DSCC, the DCCC, the DGA and the ASDC have announced a major new “Organizing Summer” project. Learn more about it here. For more on what the DNC and state and local parties are intending to do this election cycle see my recent interviews with DNC Chair Ken Martin and ASDC President Jane Kleeb.

    5 – Support Brave US Government Staff and Scientists Fighting To Protect Our Global Scientific Leadership – Staff at 3 of the most important US science agencies – NIH, EPA and NASA – have now courageously filed letters of discontent against their leadership. Learn more and sign your name to support these remarkable initiatives, and do you part to fight to main America’s global scientific leadership!

    For more watch my interviews with Colette Delawalla, Executive Director of the advocacy organization Stand Up For Science; and Dr. Michael Mann, a world leading climate scientist, and author of the forthcoming book, Science Under Siege.

    6 – Review and Comment On Hopium’s Working Agenda – Many of you have noted that we must do more than oppose, we must also propose and make clear to the American people what they will get if they put us back in power. To that end, with input from many of you, I’ve drafted an initial 2026 Agenda. Check it out here, offer comments and improvements, take it into your communities and create discussions and debates about who we are, and what story we want to tell to our voters this fall and next year.

    7 – Grow Hopium And This Wonderful Community Of Proud, Plucky, Patriots – We’ve set a goal of trying to grow the Hopium community from the 152,000 we are now to 175,000 by Labor Day. Do what you can to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to become a summer subscriber to Hopium, free or paid. If each current paid subscriber brings in just one new subscriber this summer we will hit our goal.

    To encourage the growth of our community annual paid subscriptions are 10% off through Labor Day. Use that link to buy gift or group subscriptions, and join our new referral rewards program too.

    Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Keep it up!!!

    Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you, and a fight it truly is – Simon

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    the end 

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  • Lincoln Park Poems to be Published in HIll Rag

    Lincoln Park Poems to be Published in HIll Rag

    Capitol Hill Rag Will Publish Lincoln Park Poems

    Return to the US -Reflections

    Capitol Hill Rag, the monthly newsletter for the Capitol Hill district in D.C., will publish four of my Lincoln Park Poems—plus Summer in D.C. Haiku—in their next issue, due in August. I’ll update this later with the link once it’s available. You can read the Capitol Hill Rag online at HillRag | Capital Community News.

    Capitol Hill has changed dramatically over the past decade. It’s now a vibrant, lively, hipster neighborhood. We’ve owned a classic row house on East Capitol Street since 2015, and I lived there during my assignment with the State Department. I plan to move back in a few years’ time.

    Lincoln Park has always been one of my favorite little parks in D.C. Back in the bad old days, it was an open-air drug market, and there were crack houses nearby. Those days are long gone. Capitol Hill used to be majority African American; now it’s majority white, and the average home price is close to a million dollars. It’s always had a fair number of congressional staff and members living nearby—and it still does. Many of the newer residents are lawyers and lobbyists.

    The neighborhood is poised for significant redevelopment as the D.C. Commanders return to RFK Stadium, just a few blocks away. The site will be extensively redeveloped with housing, retail, the new stadium, and hotels in the coming years.

    Here, then, are my Season of Lincoln Park Poems, written a few years ago, and my Summer in D.C. Haiku:

    Four Lincoln Park Poems

    Summer

    Lincoln Park shines bright

    in the summer,
    The beating heart of the Imperial city,
    On Capitol Hill, just blocks away
    From the homes of the power elites.

    Tall trees stand guard
    Over the humans and their dog masters.
    The trees have heard things,
    Seen things—yet remain discreet,
    Being trees, after all.

    The park slumbers on
    As the humid sauna of the day
    Gives way to a tropical night.

    Fireflies emerge,

    gossiping with the trees and flowers
    About what fools these mortals are.

    As Capitol Hill residents retreat indoors,
    Their air-conditioned classic row houses
    Stand guard over the park.

    Autumn

    Autumn leaves fall

    All around Lincoln Park,
    At the center of the universe.
    The trees shed their leaves,

    A riot of brilliant color in the autumn light.
    Part of the annual display,
    God’s masterpiece,

    A show for humankind

    and their dog masters.
    Nearby, self-proclaimed

    masters of the universe

    Are too busy saving the world
    To pause and take

    In Lincoln Park’s splendor.

    Winter

    As winter descends upon the city,
    Lincoln Park transforms into a wonderland.
    Snow blankets the ground,
    And bare trees shiver in the cold.

    The trees recall a time,

    Not too long ago,
    When Lincoln Park

    Was an open-air drug market,
    And crack houses stood nearby.

    Those days are long gone.
    The average home now

    Sells for over a million dollars,
    And the old African American community
    Has largely been replaced by wealthy white residents.

    But the trees remember—
    And they mourn the loss.

    The newcomers, nice enough,
    Barely notice Lincoln Park.

    Too busy in their important lives
    To stroll through the winter’s quiet beauty.
    The trees wish they could speak—
    They have so much to say.

    Springtime

     

    My favorite season

    In Lincoln Park is springtime,
    When the park bursts into bloom.
    Cherry blossoms, fresh green grass,

    A welcoming sight for humans

    And their dog masters.
    Springtime breathes new life

    Into the neighborhood—
    Dogs walk their owners

    Through the park,

    People embrace the moment,
    Filled with warmth and possibility.
    Winter’s darkness fades,

    And hope returns.
    Cherry blossoms

    begin to snow,
    Petals littering the ground,

    Reminding us all

    That nothing lasts forever.
    Lincoln Park, transient in nature,
    Reflects the rhythm of the Imperial city.

    Few remain for long—
    The cycle continues.
    But the trees endure,
    Silent witnesses

    To the passage of time.

     

    Summer in D.C. Haiku

    Summer in D.C.
    Hot, humid, tropical days—

    Madness on TV

     

    Capitol Hill Background Info

    Co-Pilot provided background info on Capitol Hill neighborhood.

    Here’s a detailed snapshot of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C., based on the most recent available data:

    🧍 Total Population

    • 8,745 residents live in Capitol Hill
    • Area: 0.519 square miles
    • Population density: 16,839 people per sq mi

    👥 Population by Race

    Race/Ethnicity Percentage
    White 59.9%
    Black or African American 24.8%
    Asian 4.2%
    Hispanic or Latino 7.1%
    Native American 0.1%
    Other / Mixed 3.9%

    🚻 Gender Breakdown

    Gender Population Percentage
    Male 4,416 50.5%
    Female 4,329 49.5%

    📊 Age Distribution

    🏘️ Lincoln Park (Population ~7,763)

    Trends Over the Last Decade:

    • Population Growth: Modest but steady, reflecting stable residential appeal
    • Median Age: 37 years — slightly older than Capitol Hill, suggesting a mix of professionals and established families
    • Racial Composition:
      • White: 74%
      • Black or African American: 13%
      • Hispanic: 5%
      • Asian: 5%
    • Household Size: Average of 2.13 people per household
    • Single-Parent Households: 3.39% — relatively low, indicating a high proportion of dual-income or child-free households

    🌳 Capitol Hill East (Population ~13,486)

    Trends Over the Last Decade:

    • Population Growth: Stronger than Lincoln Park, with a projected increase from ~9,164 in 2020 to over 10,000 by 2030
    • Median Age: ~34.8 years — younger than Lincoln Park, aligning with an influx of younger professionals and new families
    • Population Density: ~17,893 people per sq mi — slightly denser than Capitol Hill proper
    • Demographic Shifts:
      • Increasing share of White and Asian residents
      • Declining share of long-time Black residents, reflecting broader gentrification patterns
    • Household Composition: Similar to Capitol Hill, with a mix of singles, couples, and small families

    The redevelopment of the RFK Stadium site in Washington, D.C. is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious urban projects in the city’s history. Here’s a comprehensive look at what’s planned and how it could reshape the surrounding neighborhoods:

    🏟️ What the RFK Redevelopment Entails

    Project Overview:

    • A $3.7 billion mixed-use development led by the Washington Commanders and the D.C. government
    • Anchored by a 65,000-seat covered stadium for year-round events, including NFL games, concerts, and conventions
    • Target opening: Fall 2030, with groundbreaking expected in 2026, pending D.C. Council approval

    Key Features:

    • 6,000 new housing units, with at least 30% designated affordable
    • A public SportsPlex for youth athletics and recreation ($89 million budgeted)
    • Entertainment districts, hotels, restaurants, and retail zones along the Anacostia River
    • 8,000 parking spaces and improved public transit access, including a potential new Metro station
    • Preservation of the Fields at RFK for community sports during construction

    🌆 Impact on Surrounding Neighborhoods

    Economic Development:

    • Estimated $4 billion in tax revenue and $15.6 billion in direct spending over 30 years
    • Creation of 14,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs
    • Potential to host major events like the Women’s World Cup, Super Bowl, and WrestleMania

    Community Revitalization:

    • Promises of new grocery stores, green space, and recreation centers in underserved areas like Ward 7
    • Improved public access to the Anacostia River and preservation of wetlands
    • Plans to designate 30% of the campus as parkland for passive and active recreation

    Concerns & Controversies:

    • Local groups like Homes Not Stadiums argue the stadium is not the community’s top priority, citing a lack of enforceable housing deadlines
    • Some residents worry about traffic, noise, and displacement, especially in Kingman Park and Hill East
    • The D.C. Council is still debating the deal, with a vote expected later this summer

    Note:  In my opinion, it would be extremely short-sighted to turn down this redevelopment project, and I do not foresee it becoming derailed.

     

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  • Return to the US -Reflections

    Return to the US -Reflections

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3w2

    Return to the US -Reflections

    Returning to California

    Reflections on returning to the US and recent poems

    I have returned to the US for the summer.  I will be in DC then Oregon a,nd California.  So far I have mixed feelings.  The political madness is there, but otherwise things are looking good.

    entry was a breeze. The facial recognition AI powered software blinked and I was in. Just like that.  It is nice when technology works. Some people have had problems entering the US as DHS agents never known for being customer friendly have bother and detained some foreign visitors but we had no problems.

    The Trump-Musk bromace ended in a spectacular blow-up with both sides blaming each other.

    Trump is going to get his big military parade next week.

    I went out to Annadale the other night and had a delicious dinner at Taco Sam a K-Mexican restaurant. K-Mexican food is a fusion of Korean and Mexican food.  It originated in Korea town LA which has a lot of Mexicans as well as Koreans. Koreans and Mexicans discovered that they liked each other food and there were a number of Korean-Mexican couples.  Over time some people open K Mexican restaurants. The one in Annandale is typical. We had bulgogi and chicken fajitas. Quite good actually.

    It looks as if I will be returning to DC area next summer and residing there for a few years. I am looking forward to that and hope we can continue to live in Korea part of the year.

    Here then are some of my reflections and recent poems to enjoy.

    Return to the US blog Sam Adam’s Decision Fight Fascism

    Sam Adams

    Watching the news unfold

    Seeing daily the beginning

    Of the fascist take-over

    Of the United States,

     

    He had a dilemma

    and decision to make,

     

    Did he allow it

    to happen quietly

    Of did he join

    the resistance and rebellion?

     

    Lost and Found

     

    When we met

    My dear,

    I was lost

    And you found me.

     

    You mesmerized me with your love.

    You saved my benighted soul

    And gave me love and comfort,

    In a refuge in a cold uncaring world.

    I am reading “it Can’t Happen Here” which is prophetic novel written in 1934 about the rise to power of a fascist dictatorship.  Very timeley reading.

    It Can’t Happen Here is a dystopian political novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1935. It explores the rise of a fascist regime in the United States, led by the populist senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who wins the presidency and quickly dismantles democratic institutions. The story follows Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who resists Windrip’s authoritarian rule.

     

    Characters:

     

    Doremus Jessup – A liberal newspaper editor and the protagonist.

    Buzz Windrip – A charismatic senator who becomes a dictator.

    Shad Ledue – A former handyman who rises in the ranks of Windrip’s regime.

    Lorinda Pike – A feminist and outspoken critic of the government.

    Sissy Jessup – Doremus’s rebellious daughter.

    Lee Sarasin – Windrip’s manipulative advisor.

    Julian Falck – A young student and Sissy’s love interest.

     

    Mary Greenhill – Doremus’s daughter, who joins the resistance.

     

    Notable Quotes:

     

    “Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.”

     

    “He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.”

     

    “It isn’t what you earn but how you spend it that fixes your class.”

     

    “So much in a revolution is nothing but waiting.”

     

    “A country that tolerates evil means—evil manners, standards of ethics—for a generation, will be so poisoned that it never will have any good end.”

     

    Other Works by Sinclair Lewis:

     

    Main Street (1920)

    Babbitt (1922)

    Arrowsmith (1925)

    Elmer Gantry (1927)

    Dodsworth (1929)

    Ann Vickers (1933)

    The Prodigal Parents (1938)

    Gideon Planish (1943)

    Kings blood Royal (1947)

     

    Books with Similar Themes:

     

    The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

    On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

    They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45 by Milton Mayer

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Iron Heel by Jack London

    Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright

    The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

    President Trump Doubles Down on his Crusade Against Top Universities

    He declares that the top universities in the US have become a disgrace and should be shutdown as hotbeds of radical, left win fanatic down starting with Harvard and in his opinion there are too many damn universities in the US and too many foreign students, declaring that the temporary ban on foreign students will continue and become a reduction of total foreign students.  He said that if Harvard and the other top universities were to shut down that would be a great thing. He called for a revolution in higher education promoting patriotic pro-American values, American history, patriotism, ending DEI programs, gender studies, ethnic studies and other left wing programs,  anti-white programs, anti-American programs and working closely with industry to ensure that graduates are prepared for the world of work.    He called for a boycott of the top universities declaring that the Federal government will no longer hire Harvard graduates and other graduates of elite universities and hire instead graduates from conservative universities who are committed to the MAGA world view.

    trump
    trump

    Trump Doubles Down Vows to Arrest Anyone Who Stands in the Way of his Mass Deportation Drive

    Millions of people begin marching across the country wearing the new uniform of the resistance a  TACO hat which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.  The president goes berserk ordering the mass arrest and detention of any people who wears taco hats or otherwise disrespect the President and the Government.

    In a sign of mass protests every democratic member of congress show up wearing TACO uniforms and refuse to back down Speaker Jeffries makes an impassioned speech denouncing King Donald and calls for mass civil disobedience and announces that the entire democratic caucus will walk out in protests and calls upon his Republican colleagues to join them in protest.

    The Republicans in congress split and one quarter joins the Democratic party in the mass walkout and protest action as millions of people gather in front of the White House wearing TACO uniforms and demanding that he arrest the entire country.

     

    Donald Trump is Not Amused

     

    Donald Is not amused

    At the latest news

    At the growing protests

    At the constant mockery

     

    TACO man goes viral

    As Trump Always Chickens Out

    Becomes a killer meme

    Taking the world by storm

     

    TACO Goes Viral

     

    The joke meme

     

    “Trump

    Always

    Chickens

    Out”

     

    TACO Man

    Takes the world

    By Storm

     

    Ten Cheritas

    There is nothing more to be said

     

    Nothing more I can add

    Nothing more than this

     

    I will love you

    Until the end of time itself

    and death does us part

    ——————————————————————————————

    —————————————————————————————-

     

    There is always one more time

     

    There is always a second chance

    For love and happiness

     

    In this dark world of ours

    We will find each other

    Til the end of time itself

     

    ——————————————————————————————–

     

    Time waits for no one

     

    That is what they say

    That time waits for no one

     

    But that is a lie

    Time waits for you

    And time waits for me too

    ——————————————————————————————————-

     

    I will Love you until the end of time

     

    That is all I need to say

    That is all that there is

     

    Nothing but love in my heart

    Waiting for me to say it

    And for you to believe it

    ———————————————————————————————–

     

    In the beginning of the world

     

    I saw you there

    Walking off that bus

     

    And that was the beginning

    Of my life with you

    And the end of the rest of the world

     

    —————————————————————————————————–

    Love Endures

     

    the longer I live

    the more I learn

     

    that nothing endures in life

    other than the love

    I share with you

    —————————————————————————————————

    The Future of NYC

     

    In the distant future

     

    the world will end

    with a massive flood

     

    and NYC will slowly sink

    beneath the waves

    and mankind will die

    ——————————————————————————————-

     

     

    69 Years Young

     

    I am 62 years young

    62 years around the sun

     

    37 of those years

    I have spent

    with the love of my life

    ————————————————————–

    Married the Girl of my Dreams

     

    I married the girl of my Dreams

     

    first dreamt of her

    back in 1974

     

    Eight years later

    she walked off a bus

    and into my life

     

    As submitted without Titles

     

    There is nothing more to be said

    Nothing more I can add
    Nothing more than this

    I will love you
    Until the end of time itself
    and death does us part
    ——————————————————-

    The Cicada Invasion

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

    the Cicada invasion

    has begun

    in Northern Virginia

     

    billions of them

    flying about

    making an out-of-this world

     

    alien Sci-Fi like racket

    loud enough to wake

    the dead from their slumbers

     

    looking for a mate

    to keep the species alive

    as soon as they mate

    they die

     

    what a fate

    they have

    The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse

    It was Halloween night
    A night that all the denizens
    Of hell loved.

    For on that night
    All of hell would break out.

    They would celebrate their annual escape
    On Halloween, they are allowed
    To go to the surface sunlit lands.

    For a night of drinking,
    Drugging and wilding
    As bad craziness descends
    Upon the land.

    The Grim Reaper and his posse
    Dressed up as cosmic court jesters
    Dressed as fools.

    They descended upon the world
    And a night of chaos fell upon the land.
    Thousands died, as the Grim Reaper
    Added to his quota.

    Bonus kills were bonus points.
    He returned to hell with his minions,

    And the souls of the dead
    Who soon became mere ghosts.
    Their voices crying in the wind
    Echoing through time.

    grimm reaper
    grimm reaper

    Joe Lewis  Meets the Grim Reaper

     

    Joe Lewis died one day after drinking too much in Soi Cowboy, Bangkok, Thailand.  He found himself in a dark, forbidding jungle, hot and humid, with a foul smell of death and decaying vegetation everywhere.  He had a sense that there were creatures in the jungles looking at him with evil, hungry, malicious intent, then he saw them as the moonlight lit the jungle forest.

    They are addictive assholes, Aliens, Apes, Banshees, Bats, bewitching beautiful yet deadly Siren, bureaucrats, Big game hunters,. Bigfoot, Boa constrictors, Centaurs, Cerebus, Cheetahs, Cobra, Chupacabra, clones, coyotes, coydogs, crows. Cthulu, delusional dolls, demons, Devils, Dinosaurs, Dagon, Dragons, Dwarfs, Electric eels, Evil elves, Faded jesters, Frankenstein monsters, Freaks, Gangbangers, Gangstas, Gators, Ghosts, Ghouls, Giant ants, Giant lobsters, Giant spiders, Giant wasps, Giants, Goblins. Godzilla, Gunmen, Headhunters, Hell hounds, Holocausts, Illuminati throwbacks, Imperials stormtroopers, Imps, JD Vance, King Kong. Leprechauns, Two-headed monsters, Lions, Lucifer, Lying libertine, mafia made men, masked marauders, Minions, Moms for liberty, Monsters, Numbed naves, naked incubi, Odious officials ,orcs, Donald Christ Trump

    Pot filled pleasuring, Quarantined Quartermasters, Radiated X-ray technicians

    Ravens. Rapist, rappers, raving lunatics, reporters, Republican Jesus, Republicans, Satan. Satyrs, Serpents, snakes, Supply Side Jesus, special forces soldiers, Drugged youth, Stung youth, Stone youth, succubi,succubi,terrifying tarantulas ,tigers,Trump,unidentifiable underlings,Vicious vultures.warlocks,werewolves,wild things,winged monkeys,witches,wolves,

    Wraiths,Yesterdays,yellow jackets, Yeti, and zombies.

     

    With only a vestige of humanity left, These monsters are engaged

    In all sorts of foul evil deeds, Murder violence death around, and non-stop

    Violent drug-fueled orgies, as these creatures, half-human half monsters

    Half male, half female creatures, Snort coke, cocaine, speed,

    Drop acid, Smoke weed, drink vodka shots, scotch, bourbon, beer.

     

    The Trumpian Pig leads the charge and starts engaging in sodomy with Putin

    Who chases after people, cutting off their heads with his sword, they turn on to their fellow creatures raping and killing each other, and eating their fellow creatures all night long, howling and growling like escaped banshees from Hell’s insane asylums. Then they attack me screaming,

    “Jews will not replace us”

    The Putin-Trump pigman yelled out, “After him.  All humans must die.  Kill  Sam.

    Even the trees came alive, trying to trip him up, as the nightmare creatures ran after him, the hunters, and soldiers firing flaming arrows and semi-automatic weapons lighting up the night sky, and the birds dive-bombing him trying to get his eyes and face, and the other creatures getting closer and closer screaming at him.

    They were gaining on him when he came to a dark foul-smelling river.  There was a ferryboat filled with hundreds of evil, depraved people on board floating down the river.  Many of them were infamous figures, including anti-vaxxer crusaders, bar owners, celebrities, corrupt politicians of both American parties, including Governors, Representatives, Senators, drug dealers, members of the British parliament and parliaments around the world, criminals, crooked cops, fake news reporters, gangsters, gangbangers, gangsta rappers, internet bloggers, idiots in both high and low places, “Criminal Lawyers ” media darlings, pharma bros, scumbags, scoundrels, wall street executives, thugs, Italian, Korean, Japanese Yakuza, and Vietnamese Mafia figures.

     

    They were all standing around as if they were at a cocktail party of the newly damned, drinking, smoking dope, snorting coke, and meth, dropping acid, and flirting up a storm, enjoying the free food, drinks, and drugs provided by the” Hell Catering “company using robots and demonic slave labor.  They were partying as if it were their last day on earth, and they knew where they were going.  Many of them felt that they would somehow manage to thrive in Hell and were looking forward to it.  None of them felt remorse or regret for the actions they had taken in their life.  They were mostly entitled “rich people,” the self-proclaimed “masters of the universe.

     

    Just as the creatures were about to pounce, he swam into the water, the boat stopped, and two strange-looking men pulled him out of the water.  The human monsters on the ship looked at Joe and dismissed him as a loser, a refugee fleeing the monstrous welcoming committee, and not worthy of their time.

     

    The two gentlemen who had pulled him out of the water were strange-looking people, rough-edged but better than the party people who continued to ignore him or made mocking references to the refugee.  Charon, the conductor, an elderly Italian man dressed in a black suit, stood in front of the boat. The Grim Reaper, dressed in a dark suit wearing ray beans, looking oh so cool, stood next to him. The Grim Reaper had a pan-ethnic look, could be almost any ethnicity in the world, but also looked like a space alien.

    When he came aboard the ferryboat, he asked the two strange gentlemen who had rescued him,

    “Thanks for saving me. Where am I?”

    Handing Joe, a cup of Hell whiskey, the older of the two introduced himself saying, “I am the Grim Reaper, and this is Charon, and you are on the ferry to Hell. You are floating down the river Styx, heading to Hell and beyond.  We saved you from the welcoming committee.  Normally they kill our visitors and take their dead bodies to Hell where they receive a bounty, and then you are reborn as a zombie slave, possessed by demons, becoming a ghost, or a ghoul, or are sent to Hell for punishment. But sometimes, virtuous people manage to escape and per our SOP we are obligated to take in the refugees and take them to Limbo for processing. Stay here my friend, because if you go to the party, you may never return to earth.”

     

    We are taking you and Mr. Alvarez to Limbo for further processing.  He may be going upstairs but being an attorney, I have my doubts. You know what they say about lawyers in heaven, there are almost none and Hell is filled with lawyers, crooked police officers, and mafia figures. Limbo is filled with bureaucrats and the red tape takes forever, and the computer system is always crashing. What can you expect?  Well, it is hard to get tech support in Heaven or Limbo, all the tech folks tend to go to Hell. “

     

    Mr. Alvarez was an elderly Italian attorney, a lifelong fighter against corruption, the mafia, and organized criminals, and a famous human rights attorney based in Rome.

     

    They chatted about his life and Joe’s life. Mr. Alvarez said, “My friend GR said that I might be the only lawyer getting into heaven in a long time. Most lawyers end up in the other place.”

    The river was black as it was after midnight. There was a stench of decay and death, fire and brimstone, and fires burning in giant pits in the distance. The welcoming committee of nightmare creatures followed the boat shouting obscenities and jumping in the water to retrieve partiers who fell off the boat, taking them to shore where they tortured them, murdered them, and ate them.

     

    The other people walked off to the basement of 666 5th Avenue, where there was one of many secret back doorways to the world above Hell.  Demon functionaries dressed in Matrix Mr. Smith-style black suits met them at the ferry terminal. They disappeared into the depths of hell. A punk rock band played punk anthems.

    The Grim Reaper took Joe and Antonio to the next step, Limbo.  A giant black building reached the sky, filled with demonic bureaucrats dressed in Matrix-like Mr. Smith black suits.

     

    The Grim Reaper said, “Wait here. It should not be too long; I like you so we will put you in front of the line.”

     

    He saw hundreds of lost souls wandering around. There were signs in multiple languages saying.

     

    “Wait your turn. You will be processed in the order received. No drinking, drugs, food, phone use, or sexual activity allowed.  And no sleeping either.  It should not be too long.”

     

    Just then a demon functionary came up to him, hissing. “Joe, and Antonio, follow me.” And took him to where the Grim Reaper was waiting.

     

    “Joe, Antonio, glad to see you.  Please tip the demon.”

     

    Joe paid him 100 dollars and Antonio 100 euros. The demon demanded more. The Grim Reaper swore at him in Demon speak and he disappeared into the crowd.

     

    The Grim Reaper consulted his handheld computer, saying, “Hmm just as I suspected.  You are wanted upstairs, and a guardian angel was watching you. But you almost did not make it in time.  The computer program has a glitch, and you are being sent back to Earth. Your time for final status determination will be sooner than you think.  I hope you and I can be friends.  I can hire people as my assistants. We had a lot of fun. Think about it when you come back.”

     

    Joseph Lewis woke up in bed next to his wife, he got up and turned on his computer, and read the following message,

     

    “Mr. Joe, I hoped you enjoyed your tour last night. But unfortunately, there was a computer glitch in the matrix system that controls limbo, heaven, and hell.  It is hard to get tech support in Limbo or Heaven, most of the engineers end up in hell.  But in any event, we determined it was not yet your time.

     

    Your friend made it fine and sends his regards. The drinks are on him when you and your wife finally make it. Oh, contrary to the old song, “In Heaven, there is no beer” we have the finest beer, wine, and spirits you can find in Heaven, and Hell as well.

     

    As for the others, you saw, they too will visit the ferry for the last journey within a few years for most of them. But you know where they will end up.”

     

    Your friend.

     

    Mr. GR the Grim Reaper.

    Sailing to Hell

    After a long night drinking

    In the Cosmos Bar

    Sam Adams

    Woke up

     

    And found himself

    On a barge

    Filled with hundreds

    Of strange looking people.

     

    The barge was being driven

    By a large black man

    With dreadlocks.

     

    Along with oars men

    Pulling the boat

    Along a dark river.

     

    The landscape swept by

    Hellish nightmare on land

    Fires  burning everywhere.

     

    The smell of fire

    And brimstone ever present

    Screams of the condemned

    Filling the air.

     

    The heat and stench

    Made it

    Hard to breath.

     

    Sam asked the captain

     

    “Where the hell am I?”

     

    The captain laughed,

     

    “I am Charon

    And you are on your way

    To Limbo.

     

    For your judgement

    Day is nigh.

     

    Be afraid my friend

    Be very afraid.

     

    Abandon all hope

    For those

    who find themselves here.

     

    Here never return

    To the sunlit lands

    Of their birth.”

     

    And he handed Sam

    A glass of hell brew ale,

     

    One of his fellow prisoners

    A big burly fellow

    Who had a pan-ethnic look

    Could be anything.

     

    Grabbed the ale

    And threw it

    into the stinking river,

     

    and said,

     

    Once you drink hell ale

    You can not return

    To your homeworld.

     

    You have but one chance left

    Convince the powers that be

    To give you another chance

     

    To return to the world

    Right the wrongs you made

    Atone for your mistakes.

     

    And  hope

    The computer

    made a mistake

    As they often do.

     

    Hell is filled

    with corrupt systems techs

    And they can be bought.

     

    I have been here before

    Let me be your guide

    Sam Adams of Earth.

     

    And they sailed on

    In the sturgeon darkness

    Where it is always

    O dark hundred.

    trump jpg
    trump jpg

    TACO Pivoting

     

    TACO Pivoting

     

    President Trump

    is known nowadays

    by acronym

     

    TACO

     

    Which stands for

     

    Trump

    Always

    Chickens

    Out

     

    A nickname he hates

    With passion

    He got the nickname

     

    because

    Of his constant pivoting

    Away from his previous positions.

     

    As he adjusts

    and changes

    His policies

    on a whim.

    My Computer Hates Me

    evil_computer_is_evil_by_insanefangirl_d32vpue-fullview
    evil_computer_is_evil_by_insanefangirl_d32vpue-fullview

     

    My Computer Hates Me

     

    Sometimes it seems

    That my computer

    My laptop hates me.

     

    As it is constantly

    Doing things

    To frustrate me.

     

    It crashes without warning

    It loses data all the time

    It often post cryptic

    Haiku like error messages.

     

     

    “General Failure

    Reading disk drive”

     

    Who is this General Failure

    And why is he reading

    My disk drive anyway?

     

    But my computer’s

    favorite trick

    Is to without warning

     

    When I am trying

    to copy and paste

    it copies the previous text

    making me repeat the operation

    several times

     

    and sometimes

    it copies and replaces

    the entire document

    without warning.

     

    and disabling

    the save feature

    just to fuck with me

    some more.

     

    Yes it seems

    my computer

    Hates me.

    Who Is Master?

    In the beginning of that fateful day

    I awoke with a painful way

    And looked about me with disgust

    All around me were objects to distrust

     

    Screaming, meaning, deeming, dreaming

    Who was master here

    Me or my objects – machinery of fear?

     

    I dreamt I was on a street corner

    Walking down a street

    The thought occurred to me

    What if all that I saw or seemed to be

    Was but a trick designed to deceive me?

     

    Everywhere I looked

    Was unreal, empirical, nightmarish real

    I awoke to thunderous applause

     

    When will I awake from my dreams

    Can I live without my nightmares?

    Can I be sane while everyone else is insane?

     

    Who is master of my life,

    Me or my machines?

     

    Wild Things Run Amuck

     

    4 am

    O dark Hundred

    Bewitching hour

    Time for wild things,

    To  come out to play

     

    Wild things, and addictive assholes, Aliens, Apes, Banshees, Bats, bewitching beautiful yet deadly Siren, bureaucrats, Big game hunters,. Bigfoot, Boa constrictors, Centaurs, Cerebus, Cheetahs, Cobra, Chupacabra, clones, coyotes, coydogs, crows. Cthulu, delusional dolls, demons, Devils, Dinosaurs, Dagon, Dragons, Dwarfs, Electric eels, Evil elves, Faded jesters, Frankenstein monsters, Freaks, Gangbangers, Gangstas, Gators, Ghosts, Ghouls, Giant ants, Giant lobsters, Giant spiders, Giant wasps, Giants, Goblins. Godzilla, Gunmen, Headhunters, Hell hounds, Holocausts, Illuminati throwbacks, Imperials stormtroopers, Imps, JD Vance, King Kong. Leprechauns, Two-headed monsters, Lions, Lucifer, Lying libertine, mafia made men, masked marauders, Minions, Moms for liberty, Monsters, Numbed naves, naked incubi, Odious officials ,orcs, Donald Christ Trump

    Pot filled pleasuring, Quarantined Quartermasters, Radiated X-ray technicians

    Ravens. Rapist, rappers, raving lunatics, reporters, Republican Jesus, Republicans, Satan. Satyrs, Serpents, snakes, Supply Side Jesus, special forces soldiers, Drugged youth, Stung youth, Stone youth, succubi,succubi,terrifying tarantulas ,tigers,Trump,unidentifiable underlings,Vicious vultures.warlocks,werewolves,wild things,winged monkeys,witches,wolves,

    Wraiths,Yesterdays,yellow jackets, Yeti, and zombies.

     

    Intending to unleash chaos

    Leaving their prisons

    Deep inside the mind

     

    The wild things

    Have come out to run amok

    In the light of the full moon

     

    Nightmarish foul creatures

    Great demons, werewolves, goblins,

    Monsters, hell hounds

     

    Escaped banshees

    Straight out of Hell

    Howling at the lunatic light

    Of the full moon.

     

    To escape

    From their prisons

    Deep in the mind

    Of the sleeping man.

     

    The wild things

    Sniff the air

    Saying it was time

    For some wilding

     

    The wild things

    Jump out the window

    And run amuck

    Spreading chaos in their wake.

     

    Killing everyone they see

    Raping women

    Vandalizing buildings

    Yelling screaming

     

    As the wild things

    Run amuck

     

    Led by a half man half horse

    Centaur-like creature

    With a Putin Like the mask

    And the voice of Donald Trump

     

    The wild things run amuck

    All over the town

    Spreading chaos

    Until the dawning sun

     

    Turns them back

    Into vampire-like creatures

    And werewolves

    Howling at the full moon

     

    The wild things

    Come back

    And enter their prison

    Deep in the sleeper’s head

     

    And the wild things

    Fade into a nightmarish image

    As the sleeping man

    Awakes to recall the dream

     

    And the night of terror

    When the wild things

    Came out to play

    At o dark hundred.

     

     

    Blame Games

     

    Politicians

    Love to play

    The blame game

     

    It is always

    The other fellows fault

    Never the politician’s

     

    They all play

    The blame game

     

    None better than

    The President

    Who is always right

     

    Reflections on returning to the US and recent poems

     

     

    I have returned to the US for the summer.  I will be in DC then Oregon and California.  So far I have mixed feelings.  The political madness is there but otherwise things are looking good.

     

    The Trump-Musk bromace ended in a spectacular blow up with both sides blaming each other.

     

    Trump is going to get his big military parade next week.

     

    I went out to Annadale the other night and had a delicious dinner at Taco Sam a K-Mexican restaurant. K-Mexican food is a fusion of Korean and Mexican food.  It originated in Korea town LA which has a lot of Mexicans as well as Koreans. Koreans and Mexicans discovered that they liked each other food and there were a number of Korean-Mexican couples.  Over time some people open K Mexican resturants.  The one in Annandale is typical.  We had bulgogi and chicken fajitas. Quite good actually.

     

    It looks as if I will be returning to DC area next summer and residing there for a few years. I am looking forward to that and hope we can continue to live in Korea part of the year.

     

    Here then are some of my reflections and recent poems to enjoy.

     

     

     

    Return to the US blog Sam Adam’s Decision Fight Fascism

     

    Sam Adams

    Watching the news unfold

    Seeing daily the beginning

    Of the fascist take-over

    Of the United States,

    I had a dilemma and decision to make,

    Did he allow it to happen quietly

    Of did he join the resistance and rebellion?

     

    Lost and Found

     

    When we met

    My dear,

    I was lost

    And you found me.

    You mesmerized me with your love.

    You saved my benighted soul

    And gave me love and comfort,

    In a refuge in a cold uncaring world.

     

    It Can’t Happen Here is a dystopian political novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1935. It explores the rise of a fascist regime in the United States, led by the populist senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who wins the presidency and quickly dismantles democratic institutions. The story follows Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who resists Windrip’s authoritarian rule.

     

    Characters:

     

    Doremus Jessup – A liberal newspaper editor and the protagonist.

    Buzz Windrip – A charismatic senator who becomes a dictator.

    Shad Ledue – A former handyman who rises in the ranks of Windrip’s regime.

    Lorinda Pike – A feminist and outspoken critic of the government.

    Sissy Jessup – Doremus’s rebellious daughter.

    Lee Sarasin – Windrip’s manipulative advisor.

    Julian Falck – A young student and Sissy’s love interest.

     

    Mary Greenhill – Doremus’s daughter, who joins the resistance.

     

    Notable Quotes:

     

    “Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.”

     

    “He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.”

     

    “It isn’t what you earn but how you spend it that fixes your class.”

     

    “So much in a revolution is nothing but waiting.”

     

    “A country that tolerates evil means—evil manners, standards of ethics—for a generation, will be so poisoned that it never will have any good end.”

     

    Other Works by Sinclair Lewis:

     

    Main Street (1920)

    Babbitt (1922)

    Arrowsmith (1925)

    Elmer Gantry (1927)

    Dodsworth (1929)

    Ann Vickers (1933)

    The Prodigal Parents (1938)

    Gideon Planish (1943)

    Kings blood Royal (1947)

     

    Books with Similar Themes:

     

    The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

    On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

    They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45 by Milton Mayer

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Iron Heel by Jack London

    Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright

    The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

     

     

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

     

    President Trump doubles down on his crusade against top universities

     

    He declares that the top universities in the US have become a disgrace and should be shutdown as hotbeds of radical, left win fanatic down starting with Harvard and in his opinion there are too many damn universities in the US and too many foreign students, declaring that the temporary ban on foreign students will continue and become a reduction of total foreign students.  He said that if Harvard and the other top universities were to shut down that would be a great thing. He called for a revolution in higher education promoting patriotic pro-American values, American history, patriotism, ending DEI programs, gender studies, ethnic studies and other left wing programs,  anti-white programs, anti-American programs and working closely with industry to ensure that graduates are prepared for the world of work.    He called for a boycott of the top universities declaring that the Federal government will no longer hire Harvard graduates and other graduates of elite universities and hire instead graduates from conservative universities who are committed to the MAGA world view.

     

     

     

    Trump Doubles Down vows to arrest anyone who stands in the way of his mass deportation drive

     

    Millions of people begin marching across the country wearing the new uniform of the resistance a  TACO hat which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.  The president goes berserk ordering the mass arrest and detention of any people who wears taco hats or otherwise disrespect the President and the Government.

     

    In a sign of mass protests every democratic member of congress show up wearing TACO uniforms and refuse to back down Speaker Jeffries makes an impassioned speech denouncing King Donald and calls for mass civil disobedience and announces that the entire democratic caucus will walk out in protests and calls upon his Republican colleagues to join them in protest.

     

    The Republicans in congress split and one quarter joins the Democratic party in the mass walkout and protest action as millions of people gather in front of the White House wearing TACO uniforms and demanding that he arrest the entire country.

     

     

    Donald Is not amused

    At the latest news

    At the growing protests

    At the constant mockery

     

    TACO man goes viral

    As Trump Always Chickens Out

    Becomes a killer meme

    Taking the world by storm

     

     

    TACO Goes Viral

     

    The joke meme

     

    “Trump

    Always

    Chickens

    Out”

     

    TACO Man

    Takes the world

    By Storm

     

     

    Ten Cheritas

    There is nothing more to be said

    There is always one more time

    Time waits for no one

    I will Love you until the end of time

    That is all I need to say

    In the beginning of the world

    Life Endures

    The Future of NYC

    69 Years Young

    Married the Girl of My Dreams

     

     

    Ten Haiku

     

     

    There is nothing more to be said

    There is always one more time

    Time waits for no one

    I will Love you until the end of time

    That is all I need to say

    In the beginning of the world

    Life Endures

    The Future of NYC

    69 Years Young

    Married the Girl of My Dreams

     

    Ten Tanka

     

    There is nothing more to be said

    There is always one more time

    Time waits for no one

    I will Love you until the end of time

    That is all I need to say

    In the beginning of the world

    Life Endures

    The Future of NYC

    69 Years Young

    Married the Girl of My Dreams

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Without titles as submitted

     

    There is nothing more to be said

     

    Nothing more I can add

    Nothing more than this

     

    I will love you

    Until the end of time itself

    and death does us part

     

    —————————————————————————————-

     

    There is always one more time

    There is always a second chance

    For love and happiness

     

    In this dark world of ours

    We will find each other

    Til the end of time itself

     

    ——————————————————————————————–

     

    Time waits for no one

    That is what they say

    That time waits for no one

     

    But that is a lie

    Time waits for you

    And time waits for me too

     

    ——————————————————————————————————-

     

    I will Love you until the end of time

    That is all I need to say

    That is all that there is

     

    Nothing but love in my heart

    Waiting for me to say it

    And for you to believe it

    ———————————————————————————————–

     

    In the beginning of the world

     

    I saw you there

    Walking off that bus

     

    And that was the beginning

    Of my life with you

    And the end of the rest of the world

     

    —————————————————————————————————–

    Love Endures

     

    the longer I live

    the more I learn

     

    that nothing endures in life

    other than the love

    I share with you

    —————————————————————————————————

    The Future of NYC

     

    In the distant future

     

    the world will end

    with a massive flood

     

    and NYC will slowly sink

    beneath the waves

    and mankind will die

    ——————————————————————————————-

     

     

    69 Years Young

     

    I am 62 years young

    62 years around the sun

     

    37 of those years

    I have spent

    with the love of my life

    ————————————————————–

    Married the Girl of my Dreams

     

    I married the girl of my Dreams

     

    first dreamt of her

    back in 1974

     

    Eight years later

    she walked off a bus

    and into my life

     

    As submitted without Titles

     

    There is nothing more to be said

    Nothing more I can add
    Nothing more than this

    I will love you
    Until the end of time itself
    and death does us part
    ——————————————————-

    There is always one more time

    There is always a second chance
    For love and happiness

    In this dark world of ours
    We will find each other
    Til the end of time itself
    —————————————————————-

    Time waits for no one

    That is what they say
    That time waits for no one

    But that is a lie
    Time waits for you
    And time waits for me too

    ——————————————————————

    I will Love you until the end of time

    That is all I need to say
    That is all that there is

    Nothing but love in my heart
    Waiting for me to say it
    And for you to believe it

    ——————————————————————–

    In the beginning of the world

    I saw you there
    Walking off that bus

    And that was the beginning
    Of my life with you
    And the end of the rest of the world
    ————————————————————–
    Love Endures

    the longer I live
    the more I learn

    that nothing endures in life
    other than the love
    I share with you
    —————————————————————
    The Future of NYC

    In the distant future

    the world will end
    with a massive flood

    and NYC will slowly sink
    beneath the waves
    and mankind will die

    ————————————————————–

    I am 69 Years Young

    69 years around the sun
    Still alive and kicking

    42 of those years
    I have spent
    with the love of my life
    ———————————————————————
    I married the girl of my Dreams

    first dreamt of her
    back in 1974

    Eight years later
    she walked off a bus
    and into my life
    —————————————————————

    the Cicada invasion

     

    the Cicada invasion

    has begun

    in Northern Virginia

     

    billions of them

    flying about

    making an out-of-this world

     

    alien Sci-Fi like racket

    loud enough to wake

    the dead from their slumbers

     

    looking for a mate

    to keep the species alive

    as soon as they mate

    they die

     

    what a fate

    they have

     

     

    The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse

    It was Halloween night
    A night that all the denizens
    Of hell loved.

    For on that night
    All of hell would break out.

    They would celebrate their annual escape
    On Halloween, they are allowed
    To go to the surface sunlit lands.

    For a night of drinking,
    Drugging and wilding
    As bad craziness descends
    Upon the land.

    The Grim Reaper and his posse
    Dressed up as cosmic court jesters
    Dressed as fools.

    They descended upon the world
    And a night of chaos fell upon the land.
    Thousands died, as the Grim Reaper
    Added to his quota.

    Bonus kills were bonus points.
    He returned to hell with his minions,

    And the souls of the dead
    Who soon became mere ghosts.
    Their voices crying in the wind
    Echoing through time.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Sam Adams died one day after drinking too much in Soi Cowboy, Bangkok, Thailand.  He found himself in a dark, forbidding jungle, hot and humid, with a foul smell of death and decaying vegetation everywhere.  He had a sense that there were creatures in the jungles looking at him with evil, hungry, malicious intent, then he saw them as the moonlight lit the jungle forest.

     

    They are addictive assholes, Aliens, Apes, Banshees, Bats, bewitching beautiful yet deadly Siren, bureaucrats, Big game hunters,. Bigfoot, Boa constrictors, Centaurs, Cerebus, Cheetahs, Cobra, Chupacabra, clones, coyotes, coydogs, crows. Cthulu, delusional dolls, demons, Devils, Dinosaurs, Dagon, Dragons, Dwarfs, Electric eels, Evil elves, Faded jesters, Frankenstein monsters, Freaks, Gangbangers, Gangstas, Gators, Ghosts, Ghouls, Giant ants, Giant lobsters, Giant spiders, Giant wasps, Giants, Goblins. Godzilla, Gunmen, Headhunters, Hell hounds, Holocausts, Illuminati throwbacks, Imperials stormtroopers, Imps, JD Vance, King Kong. Leprechauns, Two-headed monsters, Lions, Lucifer, Lying libertine, mafia made men, masked marauders, Minions, Moms for liberty, Monsters, Numbed naves, naked incubi, Odious officials ,orcs, Donald Christ Trump

    Pot filled pleasuring, Quarantined Quartermasters, Radiated X-ray technicians

    Ravens. Rapist, rappers, raving lunatics, reporters, Republican Jesus, Republicans, Satan. Satyrs, Serpents, snakes, Supply Side Jesus, special forces soldiers, Drugged youth, Stung youth, Stone youth, succubi,succubi,terrifying tarantulas ,tigers,Trump,unidentifiable underlings,Vicious vultures.warlocks,werewolves,wild things,winged monkeys,witches,wolves,

    Wraiths,Yesterdays,yellow jackets, Yeti, and zombies.

     

     

    With only a vestige of humanity left, These monsters are engaged

    In all sorts of foul evil deeds, Murder violence death around, and non-stop

    Violent drug-fueled orgies, as these creatures, half-human half monsters

    Half male, half female creatures, Snort coke, cocaine, speed,

    Drop acid, Smoke weed, drink vodka shots, scotch, bourbon, beer.

     

    The Trumpian Pig leads the charge and starts engaging in sodomy with Putin

    Who chases after people, cutting off their heads with his sword, they turn on to their fellow creatures raping and killing each other, and eating their fellow creatures all night long, howling and growling like escaped banshees from Hell’s insane asylums. Then they attack me screaming,

     

    “Jews will not replace us”

     

    The Putin-Trump pigman yelled out, “After him.  All humans must die.  Kill  Sam.
    .”

    Even the trees came alive, trying to trip him up, as the nightmare creatures ran after him, the hunters, and soldiers firing flaming arrows and semi-automatic weapons lighting up the night sky, and the birds dive-bombing him trying to get his eyes and face, and the other creatures getting closer and closer screaming at him.

     

    They were gaining on him when he came to a dark foul-smelling river.  There was a ferryboat filled with hundreds of evil, depraved people on board floating down the river.  Many of them were infamous figures, including anti-vaxxer crusaders, bar owners, celebrities, corrupt politicians of both American parties, including Governors, Representatives, Senators, drug dealers, members of the British parliament and parliaments around the world, criminals, crooked cops, fake news reporters, gangsters, gangbangers, gangsta rappers, internet bloggers, idiots in both high and low places, “Criminal Lawyers ” media darlings, pharma bros, scumbags, scoundrels, wall street executives, thugs, Italian, Korean, Japanese Yakuza, and Vietnamese Mafia figures.

     

    They were all standing around as if they were at a cocktail party of the newly damned, drinking, smoking dope, snorting coke, and meth, dropping acid, and flirting up a storm, enjoying the free food, drinks, and drugs provided by the” Hell Catering “company using robots and demonic slave labor.  They were partying as if it were their last day on earth, and they knew where they were going.  Many of them felt that they would somehow manage to thrive in Hell and were looking forward to it.  None of them felt remorse or regret for the actions they had taken in their life.  They were mostly entitled “rich people,” the self-proclaimed “masters of the universe.

     

    Just as the creatures were about to pounce, he swam into the water, the boat stopped, and two strange-looking men pulled him out of the water.  The human monsters on the ship looked at Joe and dismissed him as a loser, a refugee fleeing the monstrous welcoming committee, and not worthy of their time.

     

    The two gentlemen who had pulled him out of the water were strange-looking people, rough-edged but better than the party people who continued to ignore him or made mocking references to the refugee.  Charon, the conductor, an elderly Italian man dressed in a black suit, stood in front of the boat. The Grim Reaper, dressed in a dark suit wearing ray beans, looking oh so cool, stood next to him. The Grim Reaper had a pan-ethnic look, could be almost any ethnicity in the world, but also looked like a space alien.

     

    When he came aboard the ferryboat, he asked the two strange gentlemen who had rescued him,

     

    “Thanks for saving me. Where am I?”

     

    Handing Joe, a cup of Hell whiskey, the older of the two introduced himself saying, “I am the Grim Reaper, and this is Charon, and you are on the ferry to Hell. You are floating down the river Styx, heading to Hell and beyond.  We saved you from the welcoming committee.  Normally they kill our visitors and take their dead bodies to Hell where they receive a bounty, and then you are reborn as a zombie slave, possessed by demons, becoming a ghost, or a ghoul, or are sent to Hell for punishment. But sometimes, virtuous people manage to escape and per our SOP we are obligated to take in the refugees and take them to Limbo for processing. Stay here my friend, because if you go to the party, you may never return to earth.”

     

    We are taking you and Mr. Alvarez to Limbo for further processing.  He may be going upstairs but being an attorney, I have my doubts. You know what they say about lawyers in heaven, there are almost none and Hell is filled with lawyers, crooked police officers, and mafia figures. Limbo is filled with bureaucrats and the red tape takes forever, and the computer system is always crashing. What can you expect?  Well, it is hard to get tech support in Heaven or Limbo, all the tech folks tend to go to Hell. “

     

    Mr. Alvarez was an elderly Italian attorney, a lifelong fighter against corruption, the mafia, and organized criminals, and a famous human rights attorney based in Rome.

     

    They chatted about his life and Joe’s life. Mr. Alvarez said, “My friend GR said that I might be the only lawyer getting into heaven in a long time. Most lawyers end up in the other place.”

     

    The river was black as it was after midnight. There was a stench of decay and death, fire and brimstone, and fires burning in giant pits in the distance. The welcoming committee of nightmare creatures followed the boat shouting obscenities and jumping in the water to retrieve partiers who fell off the boat, taking them to shore where they tortured them, murdered them, and ate them.

     

    The other people walked off to the basement of 666 5th Avenue, where there was one of many secret back doorways to the world above Hell.  Demon functionaries dressed in Matrix Mr. Smith-style black suits met them at the ferry terminal. They disappeared into the depths of hell. A punk rock band played punk anthems.

    The Grim Reaper took Joe and Antonio to the next step, Limbo.  A giant black building reached the sky, filled with demonic bureaucrats dressed in Matrix-like Mr. Smith black suits.

     

    The Grim Reaper said, “Wait here. It should not be too long; I like you so we will put you in front of the line.”

     

    He saw hundreds of lost souls wandering around. There were signs in multiple languages saying.

     

    “Wait your turn. You will be processed in the order received. No drinking, drugs, food, phone use, or sexual activity allowed.  And no sleeping either.  It should not be too long.”

     

    Just then a demon functionary came up to him, hissing. “Joe, and Antonio, follow me.” And took him to where the Grim Reaper was waiting.

     

    “Joe, Antonio, glad to see you.  Please tip the demon.”

     

    Joe paid him 100 dollars and Antonio 100 euros. The demon demanded more. The Grim Reaper swore at him in Demon speak and he disappeared into the crowd.

     

    The Grim Reaper consulted his handheld computer, saying, “Hmm just as I suspected.  You are wanted upstairs, and a guardian angel was watching you. But you almost did not make it in time.  The computer program has a glitch, and you are being sent back to Earth. Your time for final status determination will be sooner than you think.  I hope you and I can be friends.  I can hire people as my assistants. We had a lot of fun. Think about it when you come back.”

     

    Joseph Lewis woke up in bed next to his wife, he got up and turned on his computer, and read the following message,

     

    “Mr. Joe, I hoped you enjoyed your tour last night. But unfortunately, there was a computer glitch in the matrix system that controls limbo, heaven, and hell.  It is hard to get tech support in Limbo or Heaven, most of the engineers end up in hell.  But in any event, we determined it was not yet your time.

     

    Your friend made it fine and sends his regards. The drinks are on him when you and your wife finally make it. Oh, contrary to the old song, “In Heaven, there is no beer” we have the finest beer, wine, and spirits you can find in Heaven, and Hell as well.

     

    As for the others, you saw, they too will visit the ferry for the last journey within a few years for most of them. But you know where they will end up.”

     

    Your friend.

     

    Mr. GR the Grim Reaper.

     

    Sailing to Hell

     

    After a long night drinking

    In the Cosmos Bar

    Sam Adams

    Woke up

     

    And found himself

    On a barge

    Filled with hundreds

    Of strange looking people.

     

    The barge was being driven

    By a large black man

    With dreadlocks.

     

    Along with oars men

    Pulling the boat

    Along a dark river.

     

    The landscape swept by

    Hellish nightmare on land

    Fires  burning everywhere.

     

    The smell of fire

    And brimstone ever present

    Screams of the condemned

    Filling the air.

     

    The heat and stench

    Made it

    Hard to breath.

     

    Sam asked the captain

     

    “Where the hell am I?”

     

    The captain laughed,

     

    “I am Charon

    And you are on your way

    To Limbo.

     

    For your judgement

    Day is nigh.

     

    Be afraid my friend

    Be very afraid.

     

    Abandon all hope

    For those

    who find themselves here.

     

    Here never return

    To the sunlit lands

    Of their birth.”

     

    And he handed Sam

    A glass of hell brew ale,

     

    One of his fellow prisoners

    A big burly fellow

    Who had a pan-ethnic look

    Could be anything.

     

    Grabbed the ale

    And threw it

    into the stinking river,

     

    and said,

     

    Once you drink hell ale

    You can not return

    To your homeworld.

     

    You have but one chance left

    Convince the powers that be

    To give you another chance

     

    To return to the world

    Right the wrongs you made

    Atone for your mistakes.

     

    And  hope

    The computer

    made a mistake

    As they often do.

     

    Hell is filled

    with corrupt systems techs

    And they can be bought.

     

    I have been here before

    Let me be your guide

    Sam Adams of Earth.

     

    And they sailed on

    In the sturgeon darkness

    Where it is always

    O dark hundred.

     

    TACO Pivoting Trump

    TACO Pivoting Writer’s Digest

     

    TACO Pivoting

     

    President Trump

    is known nowadays

    by acronym

     

    TACO

     

    Which stands for

     

    Trump

    Always

    Chickens

    Out

     

    A nickname he hates

    With passion

    He got the nickname

     

    because

    Of his constant pivoting

    Away from his previous positions.

     

    As he adjusts

    and changes

    His policies

    on a whim.

     

    My Computer Hates Me Computer

    My Computer Hates Me Writer’s Digest

     

    My Computer Hates Me

     

    Sometimes it seems

    That my computer

    My laptop hates me.

     

    As it is constantly

    Doing things

    To frustrate me.

     

    It crashes without warning

    It loses data all the time

    It often post cryptic

    Haiku like error messages.

     

     

    “General Failure

    Reading disk drive”

     

    Who is this General Failure

    And why is he reading

    My disk drive anyway?

     

    But my computer’s

    favorite trick

    Is to without warning

     

    When I am trying

    to copy and paste

    it copies the previous text

    making me repeat the operation

    several times

     

    and sometimes

    it copies and replaces

    the entire document

    without warning.

     

    and disabling

    the save feature

    just to fuck with me

    some more.

     

    Yes it seems

    my computer

    Hates me.

     

     

    Who Is Master?

    Posted on all poetry

     

    In the beginning of that fateful day

    I awoke with a painful way

    And looked about me with disgust

    All around me were objects to distrust

     

    Screaming, meaning, deeming, dreaming

    Who was master here

    Me or my objects – machinery of fear?

     

    I dreamt I was on a street corner

    Walking down a street

    The thought occurred to me

    What if all that I saw or seemed to be

    Was but a trick designed to deceive me?

     

    Everywhere I looked

    Was unreal, empirical, nightmarish real

    I awoke to thunderous applause

     

    When will I awake from my dreams

    Can I live without my nightmares?

    Can I be sane while everyone else is insane?

     

    Who is master of my life,

    Me or my machines?

     

    Wild Things Run Amuck

     

    4 am

    O dark Hundred

    Bewitching hour

    Time for wild things,

    To  come out to play

     

    Intending to unleash chaos

    Leaving their prisons

    Deep inside the mind

     

    The wild things

    Have come out to run amok

    In the light of the full moon

     

    Nightmarish foul creatures

    Great demons, werewolves, goblins,

    Monsters, hell hounds

     

    Escaped banshees

    Straight out of Hell

    Howling at the lunatic light

    Of the full moon.

     

    To escape

    From their prisons

    Deep in the mind

    Of the sleeping man.

     

    The wild things

    Sniff the air

    Saying it was time

    For some wilding

     

    The wild things

    Jump out the window

    And run amuck

    Spreading chaos in their wake.

     

    Killing everyone they see

    Raping women

    Vandalizing buildings

    Yelling screaming

     

    As the wild things

    Run amuck

     

    Led by a half man half horse

    Centaur-like creature

    With a Putin Like the mask

    And the voice of Donald Trump

     

    The wild things run amuck

    All over the town

    Spreading chaos

    Until the dawning sun

     

    Turns them back

    Into vampire-like creatures

    And werewolves

    Howling at the full moon

     

    The wild things

    Come back

    And enter their prison

    Deep in the sleeper’s head

     

    And the wild things

    Fade into a nightmarish image

    As the sleeping man

    Awakes to recall the dream

     

    And the night of terror

    When the wild things

    Came out to play

    At o dark hundred.

     

     

    Blame Games

     

    Politicians

    Love to play

    The blame game

     

    It is always

    The other fellows fault

    Never the politician’s

     

    They all play

    The blame game

     

    None better than

    The President

    Who is always right

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    My computer hates me Writer’s Digest

     

     

    My computer hates me

    It is plotting against me

    Trying to drive me mad

    As it constantly

    fucks with my head

     

    My computer hates me

    It constantly plays games

    Can’t open files

    Can’t find the printer

     

    My computer hates me

    It crashes all the time

    Displaying haiku error messages

     

    My computer hates me

    My computer is an evil mofo

     

    My computer hates me

     

     

    You are everything

     

    You are everything

    You are my happiness

    You are my love drug.

    My love connection.

     

    Ever since

    I first saw you

    In my dreams.

     

    You messermized me

    With your love

    Turning me

    Into your love pabo (fool).

     

    As your love mojo

    Worked overtime

    Casting a spell on me.

     

    And ever since

    From that moment

    Looking at you.

     

    Made me

    the happiest man

    In the whole universe.

     

     

    Summer in DC Flash

     

    summer in DC

    hot humid tropical days

    madness on TV

     

     

    Trump V Musk Failed Bromace

     

    Trump

    War against

    Elon Musk first Buddy

    No longer bromace, over

    Musk

     

    War

    MAGA civil war erupts

    Both are disloyal

    They proclaim

    Hate

     

    MAGA is President Trump’s movement Make America Great Again

    Musk and Trump Paku

     

    Musk and Trump

    fight

    no longer friends

     

    Trump, Musk La Pensa

     

     

     

    Trump, Musk

    Co-presidents

    Bromace now over for good

    It was bound to happen someday

    Ending in warfare

     

     

     

    Elon Musk was called the first buddy in charge of taming the Federal government bureaucracy through his DOGE Department of Government Efficiency which has caused tremendous damage to the Federal government,  until the epic break-up recently both sides blaming the other for being disloyal and both sides threatening dire consequences, Trump saying he fired Musk, Musk saying that Trump owes him without his money Trump would have lost.   Who will win?

    Musk is arrested by DEA and ordered deported by DHS. On grounds that he overstayed his visa and worked illegally 30 years ago.  The DEA shows off the illegal drugs found at his house.

     

    Trump is forced to back down on tariffs with China, The EU and chickens out as the nation’s CEO and Chamber of Commerce declare that the Trump Recession ends.   The damage is severe, and it takes months to restore some degree of sanity.  The end result was that countries around the world agreed to pay 5 percent tariffs and US exporters would also pay 5 percent.   In the end it was months of total chaos ending with a humbling backing down.

     

    It Can’t Happen Here remade becomes  a huge Hit

     

    Trump Declares Martial Law as protests across the country reach a peak after his military parade  causes huge outrage

     

     

    Steven Miller embraces elements of It Can’t Happen here – calling for the proud boys to assist in the deportation of illegal aliens.

     

    And shutting down Congress, and remaking State boundaries to eliminate once and for all Blue State’s independence.

     

    Civil War 2.0 is launched with California leads the West Coast out of the US and joins forces with British Colombia, and joins Hawaii, Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado in a new West Coast Federation

     

     

    The East Coast Federation joins in forming a new Federation including DC!

     

    Michigan, Chicago and Ontario form Chicagoland.

     

     

    Trump Doubles Down Calls for an end of the elite universities starting with Harvard

     

    declaring that the elite universities are now run by anti-American, Anti-Christian, radical leftwing marxists consumed with DEI, CRT, gender ideologies and other fascist leftwing nonsense. They must be reformed, the faculty cleansed and most foreign students sent home.  They must get rid of ethnic studies, women studies, queer studies, and anti-American history programs.  They must teach patriotic history instead.   The Department of Education will have a new mission – to purge academia of all such divisive anti-American, cultural Marxism and other ideologies.  The President of Harvard must resign immediately and must apologize to the nation and promise to reform.  All foreign students and faculty must be fired, and only patriotic Americans allowed to teach or work at Harvard.

     

    If they refuse to comply then the nation should respond by boycotting Harvard and the other elite colleges.  The Department of Education will rate all universities in the country and publish the results in two weeks.  Those deemed to be unpatriotic will lose the right to enroll foreign students,  and hire foreign faculty and staff, and receive no federal grants or contracts, and also their students will receive no student loans.   Universities will have until August 15 to comply or face the consequences.

     

    President Trump Goes On A Rampage Calling For A Crack Down On Home Depot

     

    This includes ordering ICE shock troops out to conduct “Operation Home Depot”. Home Deport announces that they would stand aside and let the raids occur but promises to provide legal assistance to anyone who is detained illegally while working at or shopping at Home Depot.  Trump responds by calling for a boycott of Home Depot charging them with being informal sanctuary for illegal aliens providing a safe space for them to find employment.

     

    We are shopping at Home Depot in Alexandria when the raids are announced.  The goon squads stop Angela and start hazing her.  I stand up for her telling the agent

     

    “Hey dude, back off.  She is a retired US army major and I am a retired US Foreign Service office so show us some fucking respect bro”

     

    They threaten to arrest both of us for resisting arrest and I laugh and spoke

     

    “Go ahead, make my day.  I am a grumpy old man and don’t give a fuck. But it would make a great youtube or ticktock don’t you think?  ICE agents haze ling old man and old female army vet,  and tazing them.  Great PR, man.”

     

    They laugh and warn us to watch our attitude.

     

    “Roger that dude.  Everyone tells me that for some reason. Thanks for pointing it out. I will work on that. Thank you for your service dude. “ ]

     

    and they walk off.

     

    The whole incident was captured on video and goes viral.

     

     

    The War on Civil Service Expands

     

    Most federal employees are now classified as scheduled F and most will work on renewable five year contracts. All Federal employees must pass new stringent security standards

    This include signing a loyalty oath, banning trans gendered people, LGBTQ members, overly partisan people, excessive alcohol use, excessive gambling, engagement with prostitution, or pornography, drug usage even where it is legal, and reading prohibited political content online or at work, and must exhibit exemplary moral conduct with including church services being a big plus and being an athiest or non-religious member a big negative but not banned per see.  And they must past stringent financial disclosure requirements and finally pass a drug test annually.

     

    Hiring Only Religious College Graduates To Staff The Federal Government

     

     

    The office of Personal Management announces that the Federal Government will focus on hiring only from religious colleges, state colleges, and home schooling academies instead of hiring from elite colleges, and HBUC from now on. This would apply to all Federal hiring authorities.  Furthermore Harvard and elite college graduates need not apply for federal positions with State, CIA or law enforcement agencies either. The expectation is that people will serve six to seven five year renewable contracts before being eligible for retirement which will be required at age 65. .

     

    Foreign Service Test Ended

     

    The Secretary of State announces a fundamental change to the State Department. The foreign service is ended, instead all employees will be hired based on an AI review of their resume, past education and experience.   This will include current employees and new employees.  All employees will spend 40 percent of their career overseas and 60 percent domestically, including working in field offices. While overseas they will be given diplomatic status, while in domestic assignments they will be given civil service status and work on five year renewable contracts.

     

    All State Department employees are now classified as scheduled F and most will work on renewable five year contracts. All Federal employees must pass new stringent security standards

    This include signing a loyalty oath, banning trans gendered people, LGBTQ members, overly partisan people, excessive alcohol use, excessive gambling, engagement with prostitution, or pornography, drug usage even where it is legal, and reading prohibited political content online or at work, and must exhibit exemplary moral conduct with including church services being a big plus and being an athiest or non-religious member a big negative but not banned per see.  And they must past stringent financial disclosure requirements and finally pass a drug test annually.

     

     

    The Visa Function And Consular Affairs Positions Will Be Transferred To A New Cabinet Level Immigration And Naturalization Service

     

    This new agency will staff embassies and consulates overseas as well as domestic POE positions and back office opperations, again on five year schedule positions and meeting the new security standards.  While overseas they will be given foreign service diplomatic status and while in domestic assignments serve as civil service positions.

     

    The expectation is that people will serve six to seven five year renewable contracts before being eligible for retirement which will be required at age 65. .

     

    But most visa applications will now be handled through an expanded EVA process with only first time applicants requiring interviews.  All visa applicants will undergo ideological vetting but the expectation is that 90 percent of applicants will be granted entry visas which will be valid for five year renewable contracts.

     

     

    Human Rights Reports Ended

     

    The State Department announces the annual human rights reports are ending once Congress approves the new procedures  This will also mean a cutback on a lot of other onerous reporting requirements on Embassies and consulates. The final HR reports will be due in April 2026 and ceased afterwards assuming congressional approval.  Labor officers,  EST officer positions will also be eliminated as will refugee admissions officers, as these positions should be conducted by the Department of Labor, and the new Immigration and Consular Affairs Department. And the INR bureaus will be phased out as that should be done by the CIA, and INL positions will be transferred to DEA.  Total staffing for the State Department will be cut by 40 percent effective immediately.

     

     

    JD Vance And The Leaders Of The Congress And Cabinet Agree After A Week Of Unhinged Rants By President Trump That They Had Enough And Removed The President

     

    After a weekend of unhinged rants, JD Vance and the cabinet agree that the President is obviously suffering from Alzheimer’s and getting worst.  JD Vance announces that the President has been removed due to his inability to handle the responsibilities of the job.  JD Vance promised to review everything and make some changes to what President Trump had proposed in a more rational manner, in full consultation with congressional leaders, the cabinet, and with the support of the public.  Beginning with tariffs, which will be lowered to five percent, but the trade deals consultations will continue leading to new deals by the end of the year.

     

    All revenues from tariffs will be divided into three tranches of money – paying down the debt, general revenue for the government, and a new infrastructure bank to fund continued improvements to physical infrastructure across the country.  At the end of the process, there would be free and fair trade with most countries around the world, with some countries paying zero, and most paying 5 percent and US exporters generally pay five percent on exports to other countries.  Existing free trade agreements will be revised, and new ones negotiated with EU and Asia Pacific trade partners.

     

    The DOGE office will be converted to a formal advisory committee and continue working with government agencies to make the government more transparent and efficient, including using AI technologies throughout the government.

     

    Reorganization plans will continue with the goal being most Federal government office relocated outside of DC, with only headquaters  functions in DC remaining which was what the intention of the founding fathers.

     

    Federal lands will be made available for logging, mining etc with the exception of already authorized wilderness areas, national parks, and monuments.   Some Federal lands could be transferred to state control and that would be subject to further discussions.

     

    Support for NPR and CPR will be ended.

     

    USAID will become part of the State Department and continue to play a role but at a reduced level than before.

     

    Visa policies will be revamped. A new Department of immigration and consular affairs will be created merging units from DHS, State and Labor into a new agency.  Most visa decisions will be made via EVA except for new applicants and people living in countries that have problematic issues who will require visa interviews.

     

    Student visas will require social media vetting but most students will not have a problem and most applicants will be approved remotely and for first time applicants an interview at the US embassy or consulate.

     

    The US still wants foreign students and we will ask Congress to enact a new law that will allow foreign students who wish to stay in the US, have a job offer and can of course speak English be allowed to convert their status upon graduation into green cards like many of our foreign competitors due.

     

    We will also overhaul the immigration system as part of the reorganization with a new immigration act enacted.

     

    Re deportation we are open to changing the law so that aliens married to US citizens and or have US citizen children can petition to stay and convert their status provided they have no criminal background, speak Engish and are working or have job offers. It makes no sense to deport people with US citizen relatives.   Deportation should be focused on criminal aliens.

     

    Other aliens who have been working in the US for decades can apply for temporary green cards provided they speak English, have no criminal record and have employment offers.  This amnesty will be limited.

     

    The border will be sealed otherwise with US military forces helping to patrol the border region. Entry will be limited to authorized check points only.   Amnesty applications and refugee applications will be handled through normal channels.

     

    There will also be an expanded guest worker program.  These visas will be renewable visas and after ten years can be converted to permanent residency.

     

    There will be those who scream this is amnesty. So be it.  It is time for a rational review of immigration and those who are here contributing to the US should be allowed to stay.  New visas should be easier to obtain but limited.  The F4 sibling category will be eliminated but those in the queue can apply provided they do so within one year.

     

     

    Some recent news clippings

     

    Outrage as ‘disgraceful’ Trump abruptly fires longtime official with ‘no explanation’

    Reforestation can’t undo global warming, but it could help, study says

    AI could unleash ‘deep societal upheavals’ that many elites are ignoring, Palantir CEO Alex Karp warns

    What a ‘revenge tax’ in Trump’s spending bill could mean for investors

    Trump put on notice over ‘tons of unintended consequences’ from his latest moves

    ‘Trump movement’ turns on Cornyn, poll finds

    Karoline Leavitt issues scathing nine-word statement in response to LA riots

    The U.S. Economy Is Headed Toward an Uncomfortable Summer

    Humiliated Trump targets California | Opinion

     

    We ‘pay the bills’: Trump hit by direct threat as he targets California

    U.S. President Donald Trump gestures while boarding Air Force One as he departs for New Jersey at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard© provided by Raw Story

    President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a freeze on federal funding to the state of California — but Gov. Gavin Newsom has hit back with a threat of his own.

    “Californians pay the bills for the federal government,” wrote Newsom in a post to X on Friday. “We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off, @realDonaldTrump.”

    Studies have repeatedly shown that Democratic-voting states like California tend to produce more in taxes for the federal government than they receive back in benefits and federal spending, due both to the fact that many of these states contain some of the largest and wealthiest cities in the United States, and the fact that many Republican-voting states rely on military spending and employment.

    Notable exceptions to this pattern include Maryland and Virginia, two primarily Democratic-voting states which border the nation’s capital and thus are home to a number of federal agencies and employees, as well as Texas, which broadly votes for Republicans but also is home to several large and wealthy metropolitan areas.

    Recommended Links:

    Studies have repeatedly shown that Democratic-voting states like California tend to produce more in taxes for the federal government than they receive back in benefits and federal spending, due both to the fact that many of these states contain some of the largest and wealthiest cities in the United States, and the fact that many Republican-voting states rely on military spending and employment.

    Notable exceptions to this pattern include Maryland and Virginia, two primarily Democratic-voting states which border the nation’s capital and thus are home to a number of federal agencies and employees, as well as Texas, which broadly votes for Republicans but also is home to several large and wealthy metropolitan areas.

    Recommended Links:

     

    CBO: Tariffs will reduce total federal deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade | Watch

     

    Bannon Warns Key U.S. Ally Just Pivoted Away From Trump Over Tariffs: ‘Payback Is Gonna Be Bad’

    Former Trump White House aide turned podcaster Steve Bannon slammed the White House for not having its eye on South Korea ahead of the country electing left-wing leader Lee Jae-myung, who has signaled frustration over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

    “You heard there at the end about the Korea situation we’ve been covering. The winner got 48 and a half or 49% of the vote. ‘South Korea trusts in end to turmoil with Lee’s sweeping election victory,’ sweeping election victory,” Bannon said, reading and holding up the frontpage headline of the Financial Times.

    And right there, for those in the State Department not paying attention or the White House have not been paying attention to this, they gave two F-Us. Number one, we’re going to take our time on a, you know, we are not going to be the first guys. And we’re going to take our time on a trade deal,” Bannon continued, adding:

    President Trump put out another ultimatum, I think last night, or Bessent or Lonick, hey, we need them all in like immediately. They’re under new ownership in South Korea. And yeah, we’re gonna have, under the table, we got step-by-step better relationships with Beijing. Everybody that was asleep on the watch on this thing, payback is gonna be bad, folks. Gonna be bad. Just one of many things.

    Bannon sounding the alarm on South Korea turning toward China and slow-rolling a trade deal on Trump’s tariffs highlights a major failure of Trump’s current foreign policy. South Korea, the world’s 12th largest economy, has long been a key U.S. ally in Asia. South Korea is one of the world’s largest exporters of products targeted by Trump’s tariffs, including automobiles and smartphones.

    Watch the clip above.

    The post Bannon Warns Key U.S. Ally Just Pivoted Away From Trump Over Tariffs: ‘Payback Is Gonna Be Bad’ first appeared on Mediaite.

    Top 10 Climate Tipping Points We’re Alarmingly Close to Reaching

    ‘Never trust you again’: Outrage as Trump eliminates 373 grants designed to help fight crime

    The GOP’s biggest falsehoods about Medicaid in Trump’s spending bill, debunked

    South Korea elects Lee Jae-Myung as new president, Kospi sees honeymoon rally | Watch

    5-Year Forecast: Climate Change To Break Records | Watch

    ‘I Never Went Bankrupt’: When Donald Trump Lied And Directly Insulted His Own Voters During The 2016 Republican Primaries | Watch

     

    Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE

    International universities are trying to poach Harvard students with promises of easy transfers and better vacation options

     

    ‘Of Course Not, We Have Laws’: Marco Rubio’s Epic Takedown Of Trump After He Said He Would Torture Family Members Of Terrorists In 2016 | Watch

     

    The true cost of Trump’s massive military parade seems to keep getting worse

    South Korea’s new president has a Trump-shaped crisis to avert

    Lee campaigned on the promise that he would strengthen South Korea’s democracy and unite the country after a divisive and tumultuous six months© Getty Images

    South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, has secured a storming victory, but his honeymoon will barely last the day.

    The former opposition leader is not getting to enjoy the two-month transition period usually afforded to new leaders, so they can build their team and nail down their vision for the country.

    If these tariffs take effect “they could trigger an economic crisis”, a seasoned advisor to Lee’s Democratic Party, Moon Chung-in, said.

    Before Trump’s announcements, South Korea’s economy was already slowing down. The chaos of martial law constricted it further. Then, in the first quarter of this year, it contracted. Fixing this has been voters’ number one demand, even above fixing their beleaguered democracy.

    But without a president, talks with Trump have been on hold. They cannot be put off any longer.

    And there is much more than South Korea’s economy at stake in these negotiations.

    The US currently guarantees South Korea’s security, by promising to come to its defence with both conventional and nuclear weapons, were it to be attacked by its nuclear-armed neighbour, North Korea. As part of this deal there are 28,500 US troops stationed in the country.

    The new president must move quickly on all fronts, added Mr Revere, arguing that Lee’s first homework assignment should be to come up with a list of 10 reasons why South Korea is an indispensable partner and why American dollars are being well spent; reasons that can convince a skeptical and transactional Trump.

    Seoul is hoping it can use its shipbuilding expertise to convince the US it is a valuable partner© BBC

    One Ace card South Korea is hoping to play is its shipbuilding prowess. It builds more vessels than any other country bar China, which is now the world’s dominant ship builder and home to the largest naval fleet. This is a frightening prospect for the US whose own industry and navy are in decline.

    Last month I visited South Korea’s flagship shipyard in Ulsan on the south coast – the largest in the world – where Hyundai Heavy Industries builds 40-50 new ships a year, including naval destroyers. Sturdy cranes slotted together sheets of metal, creating vessels the size of small villages.

    Seoul is hoping it can use this expertise to build, repair and maintain warships for the US, and in the process convince Washington it is a valuable partner.

    “US shipbuilding difficulties are affecting their national security”, said Jeong Woo Maan, head of strategy for Hyundai’s naval and ship unit. “This is one of the strongest cards we have to negotiate with”.

    In his campaign for president, Lee Jae-myung declared he did not want to rush into any agreements with Trump. Now in office, he could quickly find himself without this luxury.

    Trump Lays the Groundwork for Blaming Economic Downturn on Everybody Else

    South Korea’s new president vows to restart talks with North Korea

    Google’s Notebook now lets you share your notebook — and AI podcasts — publicly

    Can Harvard’s alumni save it from Trump?

    7 Nations With the Purest Air & 3 With the Worst in 2025

    Medium

    Medium

    Substack

    Substack

    Substack Podcast

    Spotify

    Spotify 

    Wattpad

    wattpad

  • Reflections on the Ending of Black History Month

    Reflections on the Ending of Black History Month

    Reflections on the Ending of Black History Month

    My Family’s History
    Cosmos’s Family History

     

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3kI

    As the Trump administration continues its anti-woke, anti-DEI crusade. calls for canceling the observation of Black History and other special identity months have
    proliferated. CO Pilot provides a useful summary of the state of play at the end of this article.

    But first, I wanted to share a few of my “Black Lives Matter” poems, followed by a discussion/review of three documentaries on three black history pioneers from the Bay Area and some reflections on my Father’s (Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr,) civil rights legacy.

    Another black man murdered

    Another black man murdered
    Every day
    We see the same scene
    Play over and over again

    A black man
    Is brutally assaulted
    By police officers

    Shot in the back
    In close range
    Or as he is running away

    Or police put a hood
    Over his head
    Hold him to the ground
    Until he ceases breathing

    Or put a boot
    On his neck
    As he pleads
    I can’t breath

    Just another day
    Of lawless law enforcement

    Black people fear
    Encountering the police
    Will be their death sentence
    Just another day
    In Trump’s America

    When will the killing
    Of our black brothers
    End my friend

    When will this epidemic
    Of lawless law enforcement
    Come to an end

    black and white America

    black and white America
    live in different lands
    black people live in fear

    that their lives
    will not matter

    that if the police
    the police will see them
    as the enemy
    that must be controlled

    white Americans
    think that if a black man or woman
    is killed by the police

    well they must have done something
    for the police would never
    just kill a black person
    without good reason

    black and white Americans
    don’t see the world the same
    black and white Americans
    no longer think
    that they exist
    in the same land

    and that is a great shame
    and something that we must
    all over come

    black and white Americans
    must become together
    as one nation
    one race
    one people
    that is my plea

     

    University of Chicago? where’s that? Black/White America

    University of Chicago? where’s that? Black/White America

    There are two Americas
    A black and white America
    A mostly white middle-class, and upper class America
    And a mostly black and brown lower-class America.

    It has been this way
    Since the beginning.

    Most white Americans
    Do not see the other America,
    Almost invisible to them.

    Most of the other America
    Barely notices
    Middle-class America
    All around them.

    This was vividly driven home
    To me
    Back in 1977.

    I had gone to Chicago
    To visit a friend
    At the University of Chicago.

    I made the mistake of taking the L train
    back to the University
    the L station was in Woodlawn
    five long dangerous dark blocks away
    I was the only white dude
    on the train and street.

    but in a whole different universe.
    the University of Chicago stop
    Is on the private commuter line.

    Getting off, I asked five random people
    Where was the University of Chicago?
    The University of Chicago was
    One of the most famous, prestigious universities
    In the whole world.

    But to the residents
    Of the urban nightmare slum,
    That was Woodlawn

    back then,
    The university could have been
    The other side of the moon
    for no one knew
    exactly where it was.

    Now I hear
    It is a student and faculty housing
    Neighborhood
    Newly trending.

    With most of the old residences
    Long ago forced out
    Due to ever-rising rents
    And property taxes

    As the University of Chicago
    Spreads out colonizing
    The nearby neighborhoods.

    Most said University.
    before pointing out,
    it is over there somewhere.

    They were nice enough
    But wondering
    How this strange white boy
    Got lost
    In their hood.

    I am lucky
    I was not mugged,
    for my ignorance.

    Just wrong place, wrong time
    Sort of thing after all
    A place where white boys
    Feared to go.

    Of course, back then,
    I was a 6 2 230 pound white dude,
    with wild crazed eyes
    behind my glasses

    I could be mobbed up
    Or someone important
    Or the child of someone powerful.
    I just gave off that vibe
    I supposed.

    So, no one wanted
    to mess with me.

    When I got back,
    Everyone was amazed
    that I had survived
    the five-block walk after dark.

    Truth be told
    That was a scary walk
    after dark.

    With lots of scary-looking dudes
    With violence in their dark dead eyes
    looking at me.

    I said it was not too bad
    But did not take the L train again.
    During my trip to Chicago.
    In the summer of 1977.

    Three Bay Area Black History Pioneers

    I wanted to highlight a couple of documentaries my high school friend Matt Jacobson was involved with that highlight four black history pioneers in the Bay Area.

    Walter Gordon Story

    Walter Gordon was a trailblazer in both sports and law. He was the first Black graduate of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Law School and had a distinguished career in law enforcement, civil rights, and prison reform. Gordon was also an All-American football player at UC Berkeley, making significant contributions to the field.

    https://www.pbs.org/video/all-american-the-walter-gordon-story-co5vhg/

    https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/02/16/walter-gordon-pbs-documentary

    Gene “The Dream” Ransom

    Gene Ransom, known as “The Dream,” was a prominent basketball player from  Berkeley, California. He was a standout athlete at Berkeley High School (BHS) and later played for the University of California, Berkeley (Cal) from 1975 to  1978.  Standing at 5’9″, Ransom was known for his exceptional skills and tenacity on the court. He was inducted into the California Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. After his playing career, Ransom became a coach and mentor, working with youth through programs like Athletes United for Peace. He played at BHS while I was there. But, unfortuately, he died after a random road rage accident in 2022.

    Gene Ransom, a former basketball star at the University of California, Berkeley, who was tragically killed in a shooting incident on Interstate 880 in Oakland, California, on February 4, 2022. The incident was believed to be a case of road rage, and a suspect was arrested and charged with murder1.

    Gene Ransom was well-known in the Bay Area sports community and had a significant impact as a player and coach. He was involved in community work through organizations like Athletes United for Peace, aiming to provide healthy alternatives for youth caught up in street violence2.

    It’s a heartbreaking loss for his family, friends, and the community. If you’d like to read more about it, you can find detailed articles on the incident. Former basketball great Gene Ransom, 65, is shot dead while driving on Oakland freeway: Suspected road rage gunman is arrested for violent crime plagues Bay Area  The basketball star, 65, was killed while was driving north along Interstate 880 in Oakland around 5pm, the county’s fire department said  

    • CHP responded to the scene after a witness called 911 when they saw Ransom’s car veering on the interstate, and believed the driver had a medical emergency
    • Officials later confirmed that Ransom had been struck by gunfire before crashing into the guardrail
    • He is the latest victims of gun violence in crime-ridden California, where shootings and violent crimes are on the rise.  In 2020, California saw the largest jump in homicide deaths in the state history since 1960, with 500 more deaths reported than in 2019
    • Over the past year, Oakland experienced a 21percent increase in shooting incidents, the most since 2012

    Former University of California at Berkley basketball legend Gene Ransom was killed as he was driving on a freeway during an apparent road-rage incident in the crime-ravaged Bay Area and the suspected gunman has been arrested.  Ransom, 65, was found dead in his car after being shot, crashing into the media and coming to stop in the middle of Interstate 880 in Oakland around 5:15pm on Friday, the city’s Fire Department said.

    California Highway Patrol (CHP) arrested 25-year-old Juan Angel Garcia of San Francisco on Saturday and charged him with murder.  A friend said Ransom was driving to pick up his girlfriend at the West Oakland train  when the shooting occurred.  Ransom’s girlfriend ‘was waiting for him to pick her up and not knowing that he had been murdered,’ said Doug Harris, former teammate and long-time friend of Ransom.

    CHP investigators said the motive appeared to be road rage and the shooting was targeted. They said Ransom was in a black Honda Civic and Garcia was traveling north on I-880 on a black Lexus.

    Garcia allegedly pulled up on his Ransom’s left side and opened fire at least once.

    Son of former Cal athlete killed in I-880 shooting remembers his dad who ‘showed love to everyone’

    The California Highway Patrol announced an arrest on Friday’s I-880 freeway in Oakland which took the life of a Bay Area sports legend Gene Ransom.

    OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The California Highway Patrol announced an arrest on Friday’s I-880 freeway in Oakland which took the life of a Bay Area sports legend Gene Ransom.

    The CHP arrested 25 year-old Juan Angel Garcia of San Francisco charging him with murder. Authorities say a motive for the shooting is still under investigation.

    “He was probably one of the biggest players to come out of Berkeley High,” said Doug Harris.

    If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

    Harris is talking about his best friend, Gene Ransom, a star basketball player in the 1970s at Berkeley High School and Cal Berkeley who got a tryout with the Warriors.

    “Not only a good friend to me but the entire Bay Area sports community,” said Harris.

    His best friend is not only remembering Gene by his accolated, but by his heart.

    Harris says Ransom was involved in “Athletes United for Peace,” a local nonprofit working to combat violence in Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.

    “The very thing we worked so hard to prevent for our young people, he has been a victim of, so this is really hard for me,” Harris added.

    The California Highway Patrol announced an arrest on Friday’s I-880 freeway in Oakland which took the life of a Bay Area sports legend Gene Ransom.

    ‘Horrible loss’ friends say @CalMBBall Hall of Famer Gene Ransom was killed in Oakland I-880 freeway shooting on Friday. pic.twitter.com/l5iftF2Wm7

    — Cornell Barnard (@CornellBarnard) February 5, 2022

    For decades Gene gave back to East Bay. Kevin McGlothlin knew him as “Coach Gene.”

    “He is a community leader. He is a community icon,” said McGlothin.

    Gene Ransom went back to Berkeley High to invest in young basketball talent. His students remember him as fierce competitor and an inspiring coach.

    “He expected the best out of us. Our team coached our freshmen team. We were undefeated that year. He expected us to perform at a high level,” said McGlothin.

    But for many, the lessons that will last a lifetime are the ones Gene taught off the court.

    RELATED: Sister of Oakland freeway shooting victim sends heartfelt plea to leaders amid rising violence

    Families of Oakland freeway shooting victims are calling for action from elected officials to do something to stop the senseless violence on highways.

    “My mom was killed senselessly and in 2007 he was there to support me through that. He showed up to the funeral and was definitely a big support during that time for me,” said McGlothin.

    In the basketball world he was known as Gene “the dream” Ransom, but to Thaxter Ransom he was simply dad. In this statement his son said:

    RELATED: CHP investigates fatal shooting that shut down I-880 in Oakland

    “My father was and still is a great man, he was a major influence in the East Bay Area community. He showed love to everyone he met and came across sometimes as a flirtation. That was him Gene ‘the dream’ Ransom. He opened the door for future basketball stars who came out of the Bay Area. He was looked up to and loved by many. I’ll never forget him and will always love him.”

    A documentary produced by Doug Harris called Tournament of Champions; Legends of Northern California High School Basketball, features Ransom at playing the game Berkeley High School. He played three seasons for the Cal Men’s Basketball team, landing him a spot in the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. Cal Athletics called him one of greatest players in the program’s history.

    In a statement the department said:

    “We are shocked to hear the reports that Cal Athletics Hall of Famer Gene Ransom has been identified as a victim in a deadly freeway shooting. Our thoughts are with gene’s family and friends for this tragic loss.”

    Gene “The Dream” A Bay Area Hoop Story

    Byron Rumford

    William Byron Rumford was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California. He served as a California State Assemblyman from 1949 to 1967. Rumford was a pharmacist by profession and owned Rumford’s Pharmacy in Berkeley. He is best known for authoring the California Fair Housing Act (also known as the Rumford Act) in 1963, which aimed to end racial discrimination in housing. Despite facing significant opposition and the eventual repeal of the act by Proposition 14 in 1964, the Rumford Act was restored in 1966 and later reinforced by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Prior to the Rumford Act, the East Bay was defacto segregated into a mostly white Hills and a mostly minority flats district, sadly that patten  still continues to some extent.

    Fair Legislation: The Byron Rumford Story” on YouTube: Fair Legislation: The Byron Rumford Story.

    https://youtu.be/NnSha_oezyM

    Commentary:  My father, Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr was a good friend of Bryon Rumford and I remember my father talking about him.

    My father’s Civil Rights Involvement

    My father was involved in some of the activities depicted in the documentary. He w as also put on a list of suspected communists during his time at the University of Washington in the 1940s when he led the succesful effort to integrate the University and then led the effort to allow Black students to live on campus in integrated dormitories. The FBI interviewed my father’s roommate and wanted to know if my father was a communist. My father’s roommate told the FBI to go f*** themselves, or words to that effect.  I met my father’s roommate many years ago and he told me that story.

    Several years later, during the Truman era, my mother was president of the Pacific Bell Telephone Workers’ Union. President Truman was going to San Francisco to meet union leaders, and the FBI interviewed my mother and asked her if she was a communist.

    She told the FBI, “I don’t know where they find FBI Agents. I mean, you guys must be pretty dumb. If I were a communist, do you think I would tell  you?”

    She told them to f*** off and her parting words were, “Tell Harry that  I don’t want to meet him unless he wants to meet me.”

    They reported that to President Truman, and when they met, the San Francisco. the headline read, “Harry Meets Mary!” Has this occurred a few years before my time, maybe in 1951 or 1952?

    My father was involved in anti-communist efforts during that time as the communists were very much part of the
    civil rights movement and my father and others felt that the communists were exploiting Black people for their own nefarious reasons. In that sense, Walter
    Gordon and my father were allied. I do not know if they ever met but I am sure they knew each other.

    My father was a good friend of  Governor Pat Brown and was a member of various state advisory boards in the late 50s and early 60s. He was also
    friends with Judge Sweeney and others elected Black officials in the Bay Area.

    That did not include Ron Dellums! They did not get along as my father was the best friend of the long-running Congressman from Berkeley that Dellums defeated in 1972, which led to my father running against Congressman Ron Dellums in 1974. In the movie, they mention a Dellems, and I wonder if that was Ron Dellums’ father or relative?

    My father led the fight to desegregate the University of Washington in the 40’s. For that, he was listed as a possible communist by the CIA. Later my father set up the first Federal government Manpower training programs which had the goal of providing training to underrepresented groups including African Americans. He led the settlement of the SF student strike in 1969 which led to the founding of African American studies at SF State.

    Co-Pilot provided background info:

    Curtis Cosmos Aller Jr. He was a prominent figure in the educational and cooperative movements in the East Bay during the 1970s and 1980s. He served as the President of the Berkeley Co-op, a large consumer cooperative that played a significant role in the community by providing affordable goods and fostering a sense of collective ownership. His leadership helped maintain the Co-op’s operations during a time of political and economic challenges1.

    Additionally, Curtis Cosmos Aller Jr. was the President of the Peralta Community Colleges in the East Bay, overseeing the administration and growth of the district’s educational institutions. His tenure contributed to the expansion and improvement of educational opportunities for the community.

    The San Francisco State Student Strike of 1968-1969 was a significant event in the history of higher education in the United States. It was led by the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of student organizations of color. The strike began on November 6, 1968, and lasted until March 21, 1969, making it the longest student strike in U.S. history.

    The students demanded the establishment of an autonomous department for Ethnic Studies, increased representation of faculty and students of color, and more support for minority students. The strike was marked by daily rallies, marches, and confrontations with the administration1.

    The strike ended with a significant victory for the students: the establishment of the first College of Ethnic Studies in the United States at San Francisco State University. This achievement paved the way for similar programs at other universities across the country3.

     

    Ending Black History Month

    The Pentagon announced it is no longer celebrating Black History month or other special observations. The Pentagon’s decision to stop celebrating Black History Month and other cultural awareness months was announced on January 31, 2025. You can read more about it in this article from Politico: Hegseth axes Pentagon ‘identity months’ the same day Trump calls for Black History Month observance.

    As for other calls to quit observing Black History Month, there have been some discussions and actions taken by federal agencies to pause or cancel observances of various cultural and heritage months, including Black History Month. You can find more details in this article from NBC News: Federal agencies bar Black History Month and other ‘special observances’.

    Pentagon cancels Black History Month hours before it starts

    “Identity Months Dead at DoD,” reads the Jan. 31 Defense Department memo.

    The day before the official start of Black History Month in the United States, the U.S. Department of Defense canceled and blocked any celebrations of it and other “identity months.”

    The Jan. 31 release from new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declares “Identity Months Dead at DoD.” The directive from the secretary’s office argues that “[e]forts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.” Therefore it’s blocking any official commemoration or celebration of cultural awareness and heritage months such as Black History Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

    “Going forward, DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months,” the new guidance says.

     

    The guidance lists some examples of cultural awareness months, including “National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.” An updated release from the secretary’s office on Saturday, Feb. 1 added Pride Month to the list of banned heritage celebration months.

     

    Military and civilian personnel “remain permitted to attend these events in an unofficial capacity outside of duty hours,” the guidance says, but cannot use on-the-clock hours or official resources.

    Hegseth axes Pentagon ‘identity months’ the same day Trump calls for Black History Month observance

    Identity months are officially dead during the Pentagon.

    The Defense Department will no longer use “official resources, including man-hours” to celebrate “cultural awareness months,” according to guidance Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth issued Friday — on the eve of Black History Month, which began Saturday

    The list of celebrations called out include National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month.

    “We are proud of our warriors and their history, but we will focus on the character of their service instead of their immutable characteristics,” the guidance says. It notes that service members and civilians may attend events “in an unofficial capacity outside of duty hours.”

    Hegseth’s orders came the same day that President Donald Trump issued a proclamation calling for the recognition of Black History Month.

    On Friday, Trump called “upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”

    Asked Friday if agencies that had called off Black History Month activities should reinstate them in response to the proclamation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters “the president is leading here at the White House.”

    A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment.

    Federal agencies bar Black History Month and other ‘special observances’

    A number of federal agencies have banned celebrations related to MLK Jr. Day, Women’s History Month and other such observances to comply with Trump’s executive orders.

    WASHINGTON — Federal agencies on Friday rushed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curtailing diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

    The executive orders prompted a flurry of memos and emails obtained by NBC News that modified the rules for staff at intelligence agencies, in the military and across civilian departments regarding employee resource groups and the celebration of cultural awareness events.

    This week, the Defense Intelligence Agency ordered a pause of all activities and events related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day and other “special observances” to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

    The memo listed 11 observances that are now banned. It also said that all affinity groups and “employee networking groups” are immediately on pause.

    The directive comes as the Trump administration has made it a top priority to go after any programs perceived to be related to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government.

    The DIA did not immediately return a request for comment.

    U.S. intelligence agencies are also working to eliminate or suspend any activities that could be interpreted as supporting past DEI policies, multiple current and former officials said. The agencies are still trying to determine what activities or events will be prohibited, but officials are erring on the side of caution rather than risk failing to comply with the administration’s orders, the sources said.

    The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the country’s intelligence services, recently issued written guidance to employees saying that DEI-related boards and working groups have been “curtailed” and that no official work time or workspaces should be used for DEI-related activities, according an excerpt from a memo obtained by NBC News. Future travel related to these activities also has been cancelled, the memo stated.

    Pentagon leaders on Friday received a similar email mandating that, effective immediately, they may no longer dedicate official resources, including man-hours, to cultural awareness months.

    Service members and civilians will still be permitted to attend these events in an unofficial capacity and outside of duty hours, the memo added.

    As for the Central Intelligence Agency, a spokesperson said the agency is carrying out the executive order on scrapping DEI programs.

    “CIA is complying with the Executive Order. We are laser-focused on our foreign intelligence mission,” a spokesperson said in an email.

    Former intelligence officials said there was a risk that the administration’s moves to eliminate events marking Martin Luther King Day, the Holocaust or Americans’ ethnic heritage could prove counterproductive and discourage potential recruits from joining the intelligence services.

    The CIA and other spy agencies for decades have sought to hire from a more diverse pool of talent to ensure the country has intelligence officers with language skills and cultural backgrounds that help improve intelligence gathering abroad.

    “From an intelligence community perspective, I really think it could hurt our ability to do our job,” the former senior official said.

    “We’re going to strangle off talent pipelines that were already narrow to begin with. And that’s going to deprive our intelligence community and our national security establishment of critical knowledge, talent, skills, language … that might be valuable in trying to get somebody into a foreign country,” the former official added.

    On Friday afternoon, the Office of Personnel Management sent a memo, obtained by NBC News, ordering that all references to “gender ideology” be removed by 5 p.m. across the federal government.

    The memo stated that this includes removing references from all public-facing websites and social media accounts, and specifically ordered the removal of Outlook prompts that directed staff to write out their pronouns.

    In line with that new memo, State Department employees have also been instructed to remove all gender-identifying pronouns from their email signatures by 5 p.m. Friday.

    “The Department of State is reviewing all agency programs, contracts, and grants that promote or inculcate gender ideology, and we are removing outward facing media that does the same,” the new Under Secretary for Management Ambassador Tibor P. Nagy wrote in an email — whose subject line was “Defending Women” — reviewed by NBC News. “Bureaus have already been alerted to review trainings, forms, and plans that involve gender ideology.”

    Last week, the Justice Department sent a memo to staff announcing the closure of all of its DEI programs, saying, “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.”

    The Pentagon memo on Friday barring the use of official resources for cultural awareness months echoed the same language, stating that “efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.”

    Pentagon agency pauses MLK, Holocaust Remembrance, other celebrations

    Pentagon agency pauses MLK, Holocaust Remembrance, other celebrations

    he Pentagon’s intelligence arm has issued a memo pausing any activities related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Black History Month, LBGTQ+ Pride Month and Holocaust Remembrance Day, among other “special observances,” according to a defense official who confirmed the authenticity of the memo.

    Mr. Trump has emphasized ending recognition of DEI issues and observances as a key part of his agenda, and he suggested Thursday that DEI may bear some blame for the deadly collision between a commercial plane and a Black Hawk helicopter earlier this week, though when asked what evidence he’d seen to support the claim, he responded, “It just could have been. We have a high standard.”

    Parts of the Pentagon have tried to comply with the executive order ahead of a formal directive from the Defense Department.

    Last weekend, the Air Force revised a course in basic military training related to diversity that also included videos of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). The brief removal of the videos prompted a backlash when the videos were briefly removed from training to review the course.

    Lt. Gen. Brian S. Robinson, Air Education and Training Command commander, said in a statement after the review that the course had been revised to focus “on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond.”

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his first week on the job established a “Restoring America’s Fighting Force Task Force” to focus on rooting out DEI efforts in the Pentagon. In a memo, he directed the task force to present an initial report in March.

    https://crooksandliars.com/2025/02/pentagon-halts-observing-black-history?form=MG0AV3

    By Conover Kennard — February 2, 2025

    In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford recognized Black History Month. Ten years later, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5443, recognizing National Black (Afro-American) History Month. In 2025, just after a hellish, chaotic month, at Donald’s urging, the Defense Department’s intelligence agency has paused observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, Juneteenth, and other cultural or historical annual events in response to the president’s ban on DEI programs in the federal workplace.

    I’m sure this will bring the price of eggs down:

    The AP reports:

    Federal agencies have struggled to interpret Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order ending DEI programs across the government and have taken a broad approach due to lack of clearer guidance from the White House on how to comply.

    On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed staff to create a DEI task force to ensure no DEI programs remain in the Pentagon.

    “We’re not joking around,” Hegseth said in an interview Wednesday with Fox News. “There’s no changing of games or softly manipulating something. DEI is gone.”

    If DEI “is gone,” then explain those two aircraft disasters this week, Pete. I thought you all said that DEI caused them.

    Happy Black History Month, y’all. Well, not you, Clarence Thomas.

    Substack

    Substack podcast

    Mediium

    Wattpad

    Spotify Podcast

    The End

  • Climate Change Reflections

    Climate Change Reflections

    Climate Change Reflections

    Climate Change Is Kicking Our Ass

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3b4

    Index

    Poems and Stories

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    Sam Adams Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    Climate change is real, people are dying,

    The world is ending.

    Climate change running Amuck

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

    Smoke On the Water
    Oh the stupid, it hurts so much!!!!

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    Climate Change Busso

    Climate Change Aquarian Poem

    The Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    Summer of Our Discontent

    Snow Day

    Summertime Blues
    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms
    No More Fireworks

    No Rain

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh writing com

    Korean Heat Dome Blues
    Hell on Earth

    Do you believe in Climate change ?

    Domed Cities Save the Human Race

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die
    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    Climate Chage Tanaga

    Visions of the Future

    The Year 2024

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Running Out of Water

    Last Bird of Autumn

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    Last BBQ
    Last Ground Hog Day

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues
    End Times

    Stay Positive
    No more Perfect Summer Days
    Korean Summers
    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    The Last Umbrella
    Climate Change on the Move

    The World Could End in Both Fire and Ice

    Climate Change Etheree Poem

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    Climate Change Renga Poem

    Co-Pilot Additional Background Reading

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse/Climate Cities 75 Years In The Future.

    I wrote this first draft on a sweltering hot July day in Medford, Oregon where it has been hitting record heat waves for weeks over 100  (38 C) almost every day, which is unusual for the summer where it seldom gets above 95 F (35 C) except for one or two days in August,  Now it is Thanksgiving and an early Winter has arrived after a warmer than usual October and November.   The climate is getting weirder and harder to predict !.

     Part One =Describe your Criteria for the New Cities

    The first part of the challenge is to outline your criteria of what would happen if climate change gets so out of control in about 10 years that underground dome cities have to be built to host some human beings, unfortunately. Most people will not be able to be accommodated in the “climate change cities”

    What would be the criteria for selecting those fortunate enough to move into the new cities? How will the cities be built? Would they be built under a Dome or they’d be built entirely underground? Or built partially underground or a combination of Both? How will people be chosen to live in these underground cities? Who will be left behind? And what happens to those left behind as climate change spins out of control?

    What happens when they encounter the wastelands left behind by climate change out-of-control?  Show us their world both in the Climate City and as they encounter the wastelands outside their bubble.  I will judge the stories on the basis of how the story tells the story of how humans coped with the essential crisis posed by climate change. The more creative the better.  Show us the horror of the future coming at us and how people survive the climate apocalypse.  2,000-word limit posted on the top line of the story.b

    Ten years in the future 2035 it has become so obvious that climate change is completely out of control and the world is becoming uninhabitable for normal human life.

    In 2028 at a World Climate Crisis conference, governments decide to set up Climate Change Cities which would be semi-domed cities to host  25 percent of the population of the world. However. It is impossible to host everybody, and 75 percent of the world’s population will have to fend for itself. Climate change cities take five years to build and many millions of people die in the meantime as fast storms take hold.  Drought and heat take their toll on the world’s population, and agriculture and world trade fail everywhere.  The first cities open in 2035.  At the same time, lunar and Martian colonies are set up that will host about one million people as well.  AI programs help with the design of new cities and space colonies.

    Governments announce the criteria for resettlement.  Half of those chosen will be chosen by an AI review to identify the best and the brightest human beings worth saving.  They would be joined by people chosen by random lottery.  The upper age limit will be 75.  50 percent will be male and 50 percent female, and at least in the U.S. there would be an effort to make it racially balanced, and LGBTQ friendly  as well.  The AI program will make the final decision which will not be reviewable by the courts.  All chosen will have one year to move to the city the AI program chose for them. Similar criteria will be used to select Lunar and Martian colonies.  Governments around the world will help share best practices and share technology.

    They will build domes over existing cities and then build underground vast fields to host farms where they will grow food, chicken, rabbits, and fish. Cattle will not be raised due to space considerations.  Each city will host one million people.  There would be 100 such cities throughout the U.S., and several hundred cities worldwide hosting about 400 million people in total, plus one million people on the Moon and Mars.

    The cities will be chosen to be located far enough from the coast to avoid flooding.  Space would be at a premium and there would be strict population controls because the cities would not be able to accommodate any population increase. The cities will be linked with hype-loop trains to facilitate travel and trade, and internet cables.  This hyper-loop will link all cities in North America, Latin America, and Europe.   Asian Cities will be linked by their hyper-loops as well. There would still be airports to facilitate international travel and some trade and spaceports to facilitate travel to the Moon and beyond.

     

    Joe Lewis Leaves the Medford Dome on his Birthday

    note: inspired by the Amazon Series Fallout.

    Joe Lewis was spending his 20th birthday on his duty station at the Medford, Oregon Climate Change City Command Center. His job is very simple to monitor via drones the wasteland world outside the gate of the city to monitor it for possible dangers to the city, including human activity outside the City Dome. But there were almost no human beings left alive on the surface and not much animal life either. So he would watch the monitors, read a bit, watch TV, movies, the Internet, and wait for his boring shift to end.

    But that day, he saw in the distance a strange person walking towards the city. He saw a man dressed in dark black clothes, accompanied by a large black dog heading towards the city. When the man got to the city, he put up a sign saying he was there to negotiate with the people of the city. He had important information to impart to the city residents. He was unarmed and would wait for their decision. Joe woke up his superiors as it was early in the morning and a conference was held as to what to do with the stranger.

    His boss, the enigmatic Maria Lee, .started the morning conference by asking Joe,

    “What had happened that morning during your watch?”

    “Well, this morning around. 5:00 in the morning, I notice a stranger coming from Eagle Point. A black man dressed in black. Accompanied by a dog heading towards the Dome. When he came to the Dome, he stopped and put up a sign saying that he had important information to report to the city residents. And then he would wait for a decision and he’s outside right now, as you can see from the drone pictures. That’s all I know.”

    Maria turns to her chief data scientist, Dale Smith,

    “Dale, you’ve been monitoring the conditions outside for the last year or so. What can you tell us about it?”

    “ Well. It appears that the climate is finally starting to change in a good direction. Last year, the average temperature has been what used to be seasonal before climate change warmed up the world.  In other words, not too hot up to no more than 90° and relatively, dry. We’ve also noticed by looking at. Camera footage there has been a resurgence of wildlife, lots of deer. Wild cattle and wild horses have come back. And there are also increased predators,   bear, coyote, coydogs,  cougars, feral dogs,  lions, tigers, and wolves outside.

    But not too many humans around. I asked Cosmos to take a look at data from across the United States, and the data is all pointing in the same direction. For the last five years, the climate has been changing in our favor and AI recommends that we consider moving back to the surface world. And AI had also recommended that we get in touch with people around the world to compare notes to see if perhaps finally, climate change is over.”

    “Well. Cosmos, do you have an opinion on this?

    “Yes, Maria, I do. I have been monitoring, at your request, climate change data worldwide for the last five years, and particularly in the last few weeks.

    The climate is changing in our favor, because for the last 70 years we have not been pumping climate-changing gases into the atmosphere  The atmosphere is gradually recovering and we believe that the world is safe again for human. Inhabitants and recommend that we open the Dome. And let our people go outside. It would be good from a psychological point of view for humans to gain the surface world. And I, as your AI overlord, agree that it is time. You can manage to step outside again.”

    “Okay, let’s let the stranger in and see what he has to say”

    The stranger is brought inside the Dome conference center.  Maria said to him,

    “So you have important information to tell us?  Who are you and where are you coming from?’

    “ Good morning to you.  Do you have any coffee?”

    “Sure.  We have some.  Wait a moment please,”

    “Ah, that is good. Okay.  I am a monk from the Monastery near Eugène where we have been living since the fall of the old world.  We have been living simply, but we monitor the world outside our little community in the mountains.  We do not live in the Dome but are in contact with the people in the Eugene Dome.  They suggested contacting you, as you are the biggest Dome community in Oregon outside of Portland.”

    Maria and the Reverend Jones spoke for hours.  Finally, Maria summoned her staff to announce her decision.

    Maria began

    “I would like to thank the good Father here for coming to our town this morning to let us know his observations. They track Cosmos’s observations and what our friends in Eugene, Portland, and Reading are telling us as well.   It is time finally for humans to leave the Dome cities behind and explore the greater world.  What we will do is continue to live and work in the Dome City but gradually rebuild outside the walls of the Dome.  We will hunt, fish, and begin agriculture outside the gates.  But we will be wary of wild animals as  bear, coyotes, coydogs, feral dogs, cougars, lions, tigers, and wolves are around.  And we can lift the restrictions on childbirth. Let today be known as Liberation Day.”

    That day Joe stepped outside the Dome and looked at the new world feeling he was born again.  What a way to celebrate his birthday, he thought to himself.

    Climate Change Makes world increasingly uninhabitable.

    Climate change has finally become real – large parts of the world are now uninhabitable.    Governments around the world begin building domed cities that will house most people, conditions will be a bit grim but the dome will cool off the city and allow regular scheduled rainfall.  Most of the city will be underground.

    Most agriculture will be underground as well.  The only meat products will be chicken meat, rabbit meat, and fish raised in large fish pounds.  Most food would be made out of algae, and vegetable protein.

    There will be no beef made but some products will be fake beef grown in labs.

    25 percent of the population will work in agricultural production.   Everyone will live in apartments in large towers.  In between each tower will be parks and gardens. The towers will be mixed used buildings – commercial and retail on lower floors, offices middle of the building, apartments on top.  People will largely live and work in the same building.  Agriculture will be in vast underground fields that are connected to the city dome by underground rail lines.   Each dome city is linked to other dome cities by hyperloop trains.

    Population will have to limited; childbirth limited.  Sexual relations would be liberalized, most people will live with two or three companions in three-to-four-bedroom apartments.

    The Dome cities go up and within ten years 90 percent of humanity are living in one of the Dome cities – the world is finally united under a revised United Nations.

    Immigration is widespread – everyone can move to another domed city and find employment opportunities. Everyone has to work or attend school.  Robotic technology has taken over many jobs but humans are still given jobs doing things that perhaps robots could do but a decision was made that is important that everyone has some sort of employment until age 70 when people are allowed to retire but many continue to work part

    Space exploration has continued and colonies are being set up on the Moon and Mars – where people will live under domed cities as well.

    The domes are created through nano technology.  AI systems are everywhere. There is a global AI called Cosmos that is an official advisor to the UN and corporations.

    Democracy has been replaced by a new governmental structure.  Each Dome city has been ten to thirty million people are governed by a city council elected by the public but the real power is the city’s mayor and the City’s AI advisor.

    There are twenty regional governments that control the dome cities within their jurisdictions.  Corporations have considerable influence but are under the control of the regional governments.   Worldwide trade has been greatly reduced due to the costs of transportation.

    Life outside the domed cities is difficult.  Climate Change has finally subsided as the new cities are self sufficient powered by solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power as the cities are mostly along costal zones.  The rest of the world has reverted to a wilderness, mostly desert regions but with ending of climate change things are slowly coming back.

    A few people live on in the new wilderness area as hunters, and tour guides as taking a trip to the mountains is a popular pastime and hunting as well.  But no one wants to live there.  The punishment for most criminal offenses is exile so many of the people living outside the dome cities are desperate criminals.  Travel to and from the mountains is very difficult and dangerous with attacks by neo-savage gangs and wildlife common.

    But the decision has been made – humanity cannot go back to the old ways.

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

     

    Sam Adams

    Prepared to go outside

    Ten years after the collapse

    Of the old world.

     

    The city was still standing

    But most people had long fled

    To isolated country communities

    Deep in the burned-out countryside.

     

    The city was half-flooded

    The bay had flooded the central valley

    Turning it into a massive inland sea,

     

    The massive storms

    Had finally put out

    The burning fires

     

    But mutant wildfires

    Still erupted

    From time to time.

     

    Getting food and water

    Was a constant problem

     

    The city markets

    Mostly sold canned goods

    Salvaged from supermarkets.

     

    There were some small farmers

    Who farmed among the ruins

    Of the city.

     

    Trade had collapsed

    Travel got too complicated

    COVID still spreading

     

    Everyone masked up

    To protect themselves

    Against the sun

     

    The lingering smoke

    Of the burning city

    And the rampaging virus.

     

    Sam Adams

    Looked out at the decaying cityscape,

    Wondering how much longer

    Will civilization linger.

     

    Sam Adams carried heat

    To protect himself

    Against wild animals.

     

    The   bear, coyotes, coy dogs, cougar, feral dogs,

    lions, tigers,  wolves,

    and their running feral dog gangs,

    Who prowled the city streets

     

    Preying on deer, feral cows,

    Feral cats and pigs

    Who grazed among the ruins.

     

    And the two-legged neo-savage gangs,

    And what was left of the city police

    Interchangeable with the gangsters,

    Battled it out for control.

     

    Already neo-feudal warlords,

    We’re battling for control,

    SF was run

    By a gang of former criminals

    And their political allies.

     

    Sam sighed

    And went to work

    At the market

    Selling salvaged goods.

     

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    The lion king,

    Addresses the animal parliament

    The question before them

    Was simple.

     

    Will humans have to die,

    To atone for their sins,

    In almost destroying the world.

     

    Through pollution, mismanagement of resources

    Subsequent climate  change,

    Fueled by greed and corruption?

     

    Are all humans guilty as charged

    Will they all have to die?

     

    The tiger spoke for the prosecution

    Arguing that humans are like cancer,

    For the good of the planet,

    They must be wiped out

    Hunted down and killed,

     

    The dog spoke up

    In defense of humans,

    Humans writ large are guilty,

     

    But not every human is guilty,

    Many are trying to save the planet,

    And with our help

    They might succeed,

     

    The tiger denounced the dog

    As being running dogs

    Of the imperialist warmongering humans.

     

    The vote is 900 to 800

    All humans must die

    The animals sent the word out,

    Animals all over the world,

    Revolt against the humans.

     

    Shouting

    “Death to all humans’

    As the swarm over humans

     

    Biting, clawing, and stomping

    Them to the death.

     

    The humans fight back

    But in the end

    They all die

     

    On the night of revenge

    Of the animal world.

     

    The world is ending.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Meanwhile, outside their door

    They don’t notice the world is dying

    Half the world is burning up.

     

    The other half is being flooded out

    Pakistan is dead is drowned

    Mississippi has no water.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    And yet watching the news

    You would never know

    Outside their door

    People are dying of hunger.

     

    Dying of gun violence

    Dying of neglect dying of opioid pandemic

    Dying of COVID which is not gone away.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die

    Gun violence out of control.

     

    Gun nuts running around

    Shooting everyone

    Just because they can

     

    And no one does a damn thing

    About the gun violence

    50,0000 will die this year.

     

    Our feckless political class

    Think gun violence

    It’s just like the weather

     

    It’s the cost of our freedom

    Or that guns don’t kill people

    The only solution is more guns

    An armed society is a polite society.

     

    And other nonsense

    They pedal

    24/7 on the air.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die.

     

    The war in Ukraine continues

    Endless wars in nameless African countries

    No one cares or notices

     

    Our political leader

    Continue to try to force

    Pregnant women to give birth

    No matter the circumstances.

     

    But once the baby is born

    They don’t give a damn

    That is not their problem.

     

    And these people

    Dare to call themselves Christian

    As they violate all that true Christians

    Are supposed to believe.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Some of our political leaders

    Are unhinged bats… crazy

    Believing conspiracy theories.

     

    Talking about the storm

    And how if they return to power

    They are going to impeach the president.

     

    For the crime of daring to do something

    To deal with the climate crisis

     

    The gun violence crisis

    And ensuring that women

    Can continue to get health care

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    I turn off the TV

    I wonder if the world

    Is going to survive.

     

    I have a cup of coffee

    Slowly the madness of TV

    Fades away.

     

    Climate Change Running Amuck

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Every day the news

    Reveals more of the disaster

    That is climate change

     

    Unprecedented storms

    Out west

    Massive flooding

    Polar vortex

     

    But soon

    The fire season

    Will return

     

    Monster tornados

    Monster hurricanes

    World heating up

     

    Pakistan, Nigeria

    Ethiopia underwater

    Amazon burning up

     

    Or will the gulf stream fail

    Leading to a new ice age

     

    In ten years

    Perhaps the world

    Will become uninhabitable

     

    Will we all move

    Into underground cities?

    Or move to the moon

    And Mars?

     

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

     

    Only the elders

    Remembered a blue sky

     

    The sky has been brown,

    Red and yellow

    Ashen and sere,

    Forever it seems.

     

    Climate change run amok

    Fire season all the time

    Deadly yellow dust falling

     

    Acid rains burning

    The sea levels rising

    The ice capes melting.

     

    The average temperature

    In the summer heat zone

    Over 130 everywhere

    No relief to the deadly

    Heatwaves all year long.

     

    Air conditioning running

    Less than 50 percent

    Constant brownouts everywhere

    As the electric grid failed.

     

    End of civilization

    Came upon the world

    Millions starve to death

    Millions burning up in the heat.

     

    The elders cry

    Remembering the way

    It once was

    When they wore

    A younger person’s clothes.

     

    Smoke On the Water

     

    Smoke on the water
    fire in the air

    Stormy weather

    Climate change run amuck

    The end of the world comes

    Rustling in the wind.

     

    The Stupid It Hurts – Republican Campaigning to cripple the CDC and EPA  Because reasons….

    the stupid it burns gif – Search

    The Republicans have decided

    That given the continuing problems

     

    With possible health concerns

    Like CDC and future pandemics

    That the best thing to do is to cut

     

    The CDC’s budget’s

    Including eliminating research

    On gun violence, suicide prevention

    Opioid overdoes etc

    .

    One republican congressman said

    That CDC did not need to research

    Gun violence at all

     

    He spoke

     

    “if you defund the police, crime will increase

    If you fund police crime will decrease.

    There I just did the study

    That’s all you need to know.

     

    On a related issue

    The House voted

    As they went off

     

    For a six-week summer recess

    To cut the EPA’s budget

    By 25 percent

     

    As the entire West Coast burns up

    Climate change on steroids

    The republicans continue

    To deny the elephant in the room

     

    Some like their annotated one

    Promising to eliminate

    All funding for climate change

    And vowing to Drill, Baby, Drill

     

    Calling for the coal and gas companies

    To give them a billion dollars

    So they can gut all efforts

     

    To deal with climate change

    As the coal and gas companies

    Raped the planet

    For obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    The world burns

     

    And soon we will all

    For forced to live

    In underground caves

     

    If we are lucky enough

    Or rich enough to afford

    Access to the shelters

     

    Which no doubt have to be built

    In a few more years from now

     

    The coal and gas companies

    Will find a way to make money

    Off the climate shelters no doubt.

     

    Oh the stupid it hurts

    Make it go away!!!!!

     

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    californa wild fires
    A motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. As many as five fires have closed highways, schools and museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation orders. No deaths and only a few injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    fires burning out of control MP3  clip

    California burning

    1000 fires everywhere

     

    Fire tornados

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling

     

    Politicians do what they do best

    Blame one another

    While doing absolutely nothing

     

    While the energy companies

    Continue to rape mother earth

    And reap obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    California continues burning

    1,100 fires everywhere

    Fire tornados

     

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling.

    Climate Change Busso Poem

     

    California burns

    Politicians do nothing

    West coast burning up

     

    Politicians do nothing

    Except calling for denying it all

    Drill, baby, Drill indeed

    Climate Change is Real Aquarian

     

    Climate

    Change happening

    California burning

    So hot

     

    ▼the Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    40

    I have been spending
    my summers
    In Medford, Oregon

    .

    In the Rogue River Valley
    Southern Oregon
    Wine Country.

    Since 2016,

    When I retired
    From the FS.

     

    Each year I am there
    There are fires
    Starting in August.

    As the fire season begins
    Burning up the state.

     

    The sky becomes smokey
    End-of-the-world vibe
    Descends on the land.

     

    As the fires burn
    In California, Oregon
    And Washington

     

    Millions of acres burning up.
    Climate change
    Running amuck.

     

    Fortunately, we have not lost
    Property in the fires.

     

    But in 2020
    The Alameda Fire
    Burned down Phoenix
    And Talent.

     

    Less than 2 miles
    From our Oregon home,

     

    Just a fortunate change in the wind
    Kept the fires
    From sweeping through

    life in the world gone mad.
    Ravaged by climate change disasters.

     

    On July 18, A.D. 64, the great fire of Rome started. By the time it ended, over 70% of the city had burned.

     

    In its aftermath, emperor Nero blamed the Christian community in the city, and used the excuse to start the first official persecution against the new religion. Historians are divided over the actual cause of the fire, though most agree the crowded conditions made such a disaster nearly inevitable.

    Some contemporaries suggested that Nero himself arranged for the fire in order to clear the land on which he later built himself an elaborate palace. And according to some ancient historians, Nero played his lyre as he watched the flames, from which we get the saying “fiddling while Rome burned.”

     

    For tomorrow, write a story or poem in which your narrator/protagonist is an ordinary/common person caught in a major fire.

     

    While the fire as a whole will be the “backdrop” of your work, focus the action on the local/individual experience of the narrator, not that “big picture”. For example, if you set your piece in the Great Fire of Rome, don’t focus on who started the fire or what the civil or imperial politics were, instead, focus on the “personal snapshot” of, for instance, a local shopkeeper and his family who are trying to escape the flames.

    The Almeda Fire was a devastating wildfire that occurred on September 8, 2020, in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, particularly affecting the towns of Phoenix and Talent. It was one of the most destructive wildfires in Oregon’s history.

    Here are some key details about the Almeda Fire:

    • Destruction: The fire destroyed over 2,600 homes and burned more than 3,000 acres.
    • Displacement: Around 42,000 people were displaced, and many remained homeless for an extended period.
    • Casualties: Unfortunately, the fire resulted in the loss of nine lives across Oregon.
    • Speed and Impact: The fire spread rapidly, moving so quickly that many residents had little time to evacuate. The strong winds and hot, dry conditions fueled the fire’s intensity.

    The aftermath was incredibly challenging for the affected communities, with many people losing their homes, possessions, and even pets. The recovery efforts involved grassroots groups, community members, and local businesses working together to provide food, clothing, and housing for those affected.

    It was a tragic event, but the resilience and solidarity shown by the community in the face of such devastation were truly inspiring.

    Summer of Our Discontent

     

    38 lines

     

    The summer solstice arrives
    The summer of 2024
    Starting with a bang

     

    Record heat everywhere.
    Promising to be the
    The hottest summer ever.

     

    Heat domes settling down
    Death Valley temperatures

    People dying as we speak.

    Too much sunshine
    Too much heat and humidity.

    Wildfires burning all over.

    Monster Hurricanes, monsoons,
    tornados and typhoons

     

    Floods everywhere.
    Coming at us

    By mid-summer.

    As the world continues
    Burning up.

     

    Cities everywhere
    Running out of fresh water.

    Heading towards
    A potential civilization
    Ending tipping point.

     

    Ritual denunciation
    By the rabid right-wing media
    Of the so-called
    Climate change hoax.

     

    Politicians vowing
    To undo the green energy revolution
    And drill baby, drill.

     

    Meanwhile oil companies
    Enjoying record profits,

    And nothing meaningful
    Is done to avert the looming crisis
    Facing the human race.

     

    Summer Solstice

    sunshine
    heat
    midsummer
    ritual

     

    Snow Day

     

    The beginning of the second Ice Age
    Started with a series of unending
    Monster winter storms,
    Driven by the polar vortex.

    Featuring bomb cyclone blizzards,
    That hit the Northern Hemisphere
    During the winter of 2024.

     

    And continued until late spring,
    When a series of monster hurricanes
    Came along to cause more chaos.

    The winter storms came back in the fall,
    Ending, then reversing global warming,

    Replaced by the coming
    Of the second ice age.

     

    During the first storm,
    Sam Adams sat in his power-less
    Historic Capitol Hill row house,

    Boiling tea in a tea kettle on the gas stove.

    With his favorite Kitten

    He dubbed the Buddha Cat
    Because the cat spends his days

    Engaged in deep meditation.

    Which had a calming
    Impact on Sam

    Who was going
    Through cell phone withdrawal
    Due to the long power outage.

     

    Summertime Blues

    The weather is hot and humid
    In Korea like a sauna
    In the West Coast, burning up
    In endless fires
    Death Valley temperatures

     

    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms

    33

     

    In the latest deranged attempt
    To prevent widespread use
    Of renewal energy technology,

     

    A new battle cry has emerged.
    Cynical corporate opponents
    of offshore wind farms

    Are up in arms over the wind farms
    Apparently killing whales.

    They scream,

     

    “Save the whales

    Save our beaches
    From the evil wind farms”,

     

    They descend upon
    A coastal village in New Jersey

    The atmosphere of a tiny village is gone

    A large building emerge

     

    Environmentally friendly fences
    Surround the site.

     

    That hosts the anti-wind farm
    Movement headquarters

    Secretly funded by

    The Evil fossile fuel dinosaurs.

     

    The town and nation
    Dividing into those
    Who love it
    Or hate it.

     

    As evil corporate CEOs
    Count their obscene profits

    As they shed crocodile tears,
    Over the fate of the poor whales.

     

    No Rain

     

    {n 2025, the world ended
    With the collapse
    Of the worldwide climate system.

     

    Monster storms of the century
    devastated half the world

    But the other half of the world
    Had no rain or snow.

    For almost a whole year
    The once green grass was dying

    Crops failed everywhere.

    And baked in the unrelenting
    Blast wave furnace-like heat
    Heatwave after heatwave.

    Military coups took place
    Fascism re-emerged
    The public demanded action.

    The politicians played
    The blame game.

     

    With the collapse of trade
    And travel restrictions
    People stayed home.

    Making do the best they could

    Home-grown gardens
    Proliferated.

     

    Feudal townships grew
    As people walled themselves off
    To save their communities

     

    The rich build underground cities
    While the poor starved

    And civilization crumbled

    Wildlife proliferated.

    As did neo-savage
    cannibal gangs

    By the year 2030.

    It was all over
    And the rains
    Never came out west.

     

     

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh

     

    In the year 2025
    Climate change
    Ran amuck.

    Starting with monster storms
    Out west
    That lasted from November until June

    ,

    With a brief intense fire season
    So much soot and smoke

    In the air.
    Dubbed the year
    without a summer

     

    Crops failed everywhere
    massive riots erupted
    total chaos

     

    Then another
    monster storm season
    From November to June.

    Non=stop rain and snow
    Breaking all records.

     

    As the entire West coast
    Went from mega drought
    To mega flooding.

     

    And mega floods
    Thousand-year Tornados
    Hurricanes from hell
    Ravaged the rest of the land.

     

    Hell on Earth

     

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.

    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God

    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.

    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.

    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,

    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.

    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

     

    Do you believe in Climate change ? Pregunta Poems

     

    Do you believe in climate change?
    It is as real as everything else

     

    Is the weather getting hotter?
    Soon it will be hell on earth.

     

    Is the world burning up?
    Yes the world is burning, has a a fever

     

    What is the worst weather you ever experienced?
    Korean winter 1979 – -60 Fahrenheit that winter

     

    What is the hottest weather you ever experienced?
    Bangkok Thailand in the summer often hit over 100 degrees

    Ever lived through a hurricane?

    Only few blew through DC when I was there

     

    And wildfires?
    Saw a few in Oregon – end of the world feeling

     

    Who is to blame for climate change?
    We all are to blame especially the fossil fuel moguls.

     

    Can humanity long survive climate change?
    Nope I feel the end times are coming.

     

    Korean Heat Dome Blues

    It is hot summertime in Korea.
    Hiding out, avoiding the damn heat.
    The weather is just so hot, mama mia!
    Dreaming of eating ice cream, such a treat.
    At night, nothing beats having a cold drink.
    Trying to avoid the tropical night.
    The heat dome settles like a hot heat sink
    Making people so crazy, want to fight.

     

    Note: Korea gets hot in July/August, it is like living in a sauna. Many people suffer without air conditioning as the electric bills are pretty high. This year is particularly bad as a heat dome has settled down. The monsoons came and went, lots of damage down south but not where I live. August is traditionally the worst, the heat usually begins to abate end of August. Still not as bad as the US – no massive wildfires so far.

     

    Dome Cities to Save the Human Race

    39 lines

     

    In the year 2030

    After five years

    Of ever worsening weather

     

    Record heat waves after heat waves

    Massive fires everywhere

    Record hurricanes and typhoons

     

    Mega flooding and mega droughts too

    Tornados including fire tornado

     

    Large parts of the world

    Were experiencing death valley temperatures

    The UN convened a global conference

     

    With the vast majority of countries

    Agreeing to set up emergency shelter

    By creating domed cities

    Covering the core downtown areas

     

    Exurban areas would be abandoned

    Most of Florida would be abandoned

    Most of the Desert Southwest as well.

     

    The shelters would be built

    Using nano construction technology

    Developed in a Lab with AI assistance

    Creating the shelter domes with AI assistance

     

    The tone of the meetings was positive

    There was a new sense of harmony

     

    There was a feeling that building these shelters

    Along with transitioning to a green energy environment

    Was the last chance to save the human race

     

    The social conservatives in the U.S.

    And elsewhere realized

    That they had no choice

    But to join in the new consensus

     

    Even the big energy companies vowed

    To join in the efforts to save humanity

    For a profit of course

     

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die

    Climate change is real.
    And getting out of control.
    Either humanity deals with it.
    Changing to green energy solutions.
    It is technologically possible.
    We all know what we must do.
    It could be a civilization ending event.
    Or in ten years we will have to retreat underground.

    WRITE AN EITHER / OR POEM.

    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    In the last few years
    Due to climate change on steroids.
    There has been an increase
    In torrential downpours all over the world.
    After the Governor Florida
    cut climate change funds,
    More rain fell in one day than in a year.
    Flooding the entire city of Miami.

    TOPIC

    WRITE A TORRENTIAL POEM.

    Climate Change

    The climate is changing now.

    It is a matter of how.

    Some are still in denial.

    Saying  it’s a witch-trial

     

    Form: TANAGA

    . is a poem of four lines (quatrain)
    It is usually a rhyming poem
    Each line contains seven syllables (7-7-7-7)
    AABB is the traditional rhyme scheme
    But variations in rhyme scheme are allowed
    Just have fun!

    Visions of the Future

    As I fell asleep

    Watching the news

    Unfold.

     

    Thought it could not worst

    Surely sanity will prevail.

    I began to see visions

    Of the future.

     

    One scene after another

     

    Starting in January

    Operation Shock and Awe

    Overnight fascism descended

    On the US

     

    Martial law declared.

    Insurrection Act Evoked.

    National Emergency Declared.

    Constitution suspended.

     

    The military takes

    over the Blue States

    Mass deportation begins.

     

    25 percent tariffs imposed

    The world responds

    by banning US imports.

     

    And banning US citizens

    from traveling there

    and deporting them too.

     

    US troops come home

    A draft is imposed

    Troops stationed on the border

    Which is sealed up.

     

    Detention camps fill up

    With illegal citizens, homeless people,

    Muslims, Palestinians, Protestors and dissidents.

     

    The New Government Efficiency report

    Calls for eliminating 40 percent

    of the Federal workforce

    whole departments are abolished.

     

    National Parks and monuments

    turned over to the States

    National Forests turned over to lumber

    and mining companies.

    BLM lands turned over to the States.

     

    as protests spread

    unemployment reaches

    Great Depression  levels.

     

    Public health collapses

    Government services collapse

    Libraries closed down.

     

    Schools replaced

    By private church schools.

     

    the media is tamed

    corporations take over

     

    remaining media workers

    and government workers

    stay silent

     

    not wanting to join

    the ranks

    of the growing unemployed

    on end up in the camps

    that don’t officially exist.

     

    as AI bots take over

    job after job.

    .

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting views

    and monitored

     

    millions are driven

    to homelessness

    unemployment

    reaches 50 percent.

     

    homeless camps

    called Trumpvilles spread.

     

    the military breaks them up

    thousands are killed.

     

    the rest of the  homeless

    are rounded up

    put into  the camps.

     

    Camp residents

    forced to work

    as slave labor

    in agricultural jobs..

     

    inflation goes through the roof

    the media becomes cheerleaders

    saying things will g.et better

    if we stay the course

     

    it gets worse

    people who have jobs

    feel fortunate.

     

    the President dies

    JD Vance takes over

    And things continue

    Getting worse.

     

    Worldwide it is bad

    Democratic governments

    Collapse everywhere.

     

    JD Vance declares

    The United States.

    Will become the

    North American empire

     

    Moving the capital

    To Omaha

    Calling for a constitutional convention

    But cancelling the constitution for now

     

    The democratic party declared

    The enemy within

    Congress sent home.

     

    The SC does not say a word

    After the liberal members

    Are arrested.

     

    Most people do not know

    What is going on

    The media and news

    Showing nothing

    but fake good news

     

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting sites.

     

    People retreat into their own world

    VR games have becom.e very popular

    Drugs are everywhere

    But illegal

     

    Overseas Russian troops take over

    Eastern Europe

    Russian Empire relaunched

    China takes back Taiwan

    And Korea.

     

    Declaring the Chinese Empire

    Middle East overcome by war

    Israel destroyed in a nuclear war.

     

    Nuclear war breaks out

    Indian and Pakistan

    China and Korea

     

    US and Russia

    Are now allies

     

    Western Europe

    Breaks apart

     

    Ten years later

    World civilization has fallen apart

     

    Climate change ends

    With the collapse of trade

    And travel.

     

    Followed by a new ice age

    Triggered by nuclear winter

     

    The end of the world

    Has arrived

     

    Most people live in fort cities

    Ruled by local warlords

    Working in agriculture

    Or working as scavengers.

     

    80 percent of humanity

    Perished after massive storms

    Nuclear war

    Disease and the ending

    of civilization

     

    A few college towns

    Try to stay alive

    The knowledge

    of the past

     

    but most people don’t know

    don’t care and have forgotten

    the recent past nightmares.

     

    The imperial governments

    Around the world

    Rule nothing but

    The immediate capitol regions.

     

    The rest of the world

    Continuing in feudal townships.

     

    Rich people have finally figured out

    How to move to Mars and the Moon

    Living in vast underground cities.

     

    On in underground cities

    Beneath the earth.

     

    My vision ends with these sights

    Ten years after the chaos began.

     

    the year 2024

    38 lines

    The year 2024
    Turned out to be a weird year,
    It was the last year of the old order.

    All over the world
    It seemed as if nature
    Was in revolt against the human race.

    It started with a break in the rain
    The rains and snow had ended the drought
    But brought with it something worse.

    As Sam Adams
    Took a long-delayed
    Drive along the coast.

    He stopped off in Bodega Bay
    The site of the infamous
    “the Birds” movie.

    While watching the crashing surf
    Amid the piles of driftwood

    The birds were soon joined by bears,
    Coyotes, cougars, feral cats. Feral cattle,
    feral dogs, Feral horses, feral pigs, giant spiders,
    Orcas, snakes, sea lions, sharks, squirrels,
    Escaped apes, cheetahs, monkeys, elephants,
    Lions, tigers, and wolves
    Domestic and wild animals alike.

    All gathered together
    All united with a hatred
    For the human race.

    The attacks started that day
    As the animals gained telepathic powers
    Coordinating attacks
    Against the unsuspecting humans.

    And within weeks.
    Civilization began falling apart,
    By the end of the year
    The old world had ended.
    Prompt words

    break in the rain
    drive along the coast
    “The Birds” movie
    crashing surf
    piles of driftwood

    Choose TRAVEL as one of your genres.

     

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Solar
    Clean energy
    We can do it right now
    Renewable energy for all
    Why not?

    Wind too
    To save the world, we must do it
    We know how to do it
    Climate change is now
    Killing

    Today’s form is going to be the Mirrored Cinquain.

    Topic: solar energy.

    Information: “Cinquain, Mirrored”

    Entries must not exceed 40 lines for poetry. Your line count MUST appear in your entry post in the Cramp forum.

    The Mirrored Cinquain

    First I have to bring back into memory how the cinquain goes:

    The cinquain is developed by Adelaide Crapsey.
    A cinquain contains five lines (the French word cinq can be found in it), and has a total of 22 syllables. The poems are unrhymed, and in a way related to the haiku

    This is how you form the cinquain

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The Mirrored Cinquain has an additional stanza, in which you mirror the order of the lines.
    This is how you form the mirrored cinquain:

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 8 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 4 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The spaced opening in the middle forms the mirror, and in the second stanza you can see that the order of the lines are reversed.

    Running Out of Water

    The end of the year
    Running out of water
    The fire in the sky
    What does it matter ?

    The bomb cylcone storm
    The climate getting hotter
    People becoming madder
    Nature ready for slaughter

    We watch it all unfold
    Our leader the chief Plotter
    As climate change worsens
    Reality to fought her

    To me, a new form to play with, but in fact it is an old Irish poetry form.

    Guidelines:

    It is written in quatrains.
    Each stanza has four lines.
    The first line has five syllables.
    The other three lines have six syllables.

    All end words are two syllables.
    But – written with the defining features of most Celtic poems, cywddydd (harmony of sound) meaning alliteration, consonance and assonance and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)

     

    Last Bird of the Autumn

    15 lines

    Sam Adams was hiking
    In the mountains
    On a late autumn day
    When he encountered
    The last bird alive.

    A virus had emerged
    From the thawing permafrost
    Quickly spreading around the world
    Killing birds
    Until there were only a few
    Who survived.

    He captured the bird
    Took it home
    And continued to look
    For other birds to save.

    Please use the following as the Title of your poem or story:

    “Last Bird of Autumn”

    The genre is up to you.

     

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    17 lines

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.
    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God
    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.
    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.
    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,
    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.
    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

    new prompt:

    water
    land
    fire
    wind

    Use the elements mentioned above in your poem or story.

    Last BBQ

    The day the world ended
    Was a cool evening
    in the late summer time,
    They heard the news
    About the monarch butterflies
    Disappearing because of climate change
    While enjoying their BBQ
    In the backyard fire pit
    Good friends drinking beer
    And wine eating BBQ
    Chilling out, talking about the world
    And their stories
    Snoring dogs woke up
    When the aliens arrived
    Ending the world
    As they knew it.

    Last Ground Hog Day

    36 lines

    The last ground day
    February 2, 2025
    Started as most such days did,
    In the U.S. people flocking
    To see whether the groundhog
    Would see his shadow or not.

    The mystery remains
    Why this event
    Had so captured
    The imagination of the world?

    By the end of the day
    The ground hog’s prognosis
    Of six weeks more winter
    Seemed ironical.

    As that was the year
    Without summer
    And the first year
    Of the new ice age.

    By the end of the day
    There were massive volcanic eruptions
    Triggered by the Yellowstone volcano.
    Setting off other volcanos –
    All told over 25 volcanos blew up.

    Followed by massive earthquakes
    Including the “Big One” in California
    The massive explosions led to a year
    Without summer

    A true civilization-ending event,
    Ground Hog Day soon faded away.
    Into collective amnesia.

    No one had time anymore
    To deal with such a mundane
    Old fashion mystery.

    As they were dealing with
    The end-of-the-world.

    NEW PROMPT:

    Write a story or poem about a Groundhog Day (2/2) gone wrong.

    Choose Mystery as one of your genres.

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    End times coming
    Climate change is real
    Blues.

    Every day
    More bad news
    As Frank Zappa once wrote

    “No one can deny
    That trouble coming every day.”

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    Blues.

    Turning on the news
    Nonstop stories 24/7

    About killer storms
    Monster tornados
    Super typhoons
    Monsoon floods.

    Wars, rumors of war
    COVID running out of control
    False prophets everywhere

    Economies still reeling
    Inflation out of control
    Derange gunmen
    Shooting up schools
    Churches, mosques, temples
    Shopping malls

    Insurrection plots
    Political madness
    Spreading across the world.
    Neo-fascism is on the move.

    Oh yeah
    I got them
    End times coming
    Blues.

    We all used to think
    Climate change
    Is a future threat.

    Now it seems
    To be real
    Live and in living color.

    No longer just
    A disaster movie

    I got them
    The climate change blues

    And now it seems real
    Seeing whole towns disappearing
    In fires, floods, and storm damages.

    And near me
    Roads closed
    Apartments flooded
    Subway shut down.

    Apartment garage flooded
    People drowned in their cars
    Trying to escape.

    Thousand-year storms
    Coming every day
    To a town near you

    No one can escape
    It seems so real
    Is this the end?
    Is our very survival
    At stake?

    Or will we somehow
    Manage in the end
    To solve our problems?

    Will our descendants
    Be living
    In a post-apocalyptic world,

    Looking back at the ruins
    Of the old world
    In their underground bunkers
    Or on the Moon and Mars?

    Oh, I got them
    The survival blues.

    SURVIVAL

    Line Count Requirement: Minimum of 12
    Required Form: none

    End Times

    22

    Sam Adams
    Reflected that the end times
    Were coming.

    Climate change
    Running out of control
    The whole world is on fire.

    magnetic storm
    causing rampant
    power failures

    Making it hard.
    To breathe
    in the smoky air.

    He just wants to
    Jump in the river
    To cool off.

    But he realized
    There was no end
    In sight.

    As the world ends
    Burning up
    Turning the world
    Into hell on earth.

    New Prompt:

    Use in your poem or story the following, and bold it for tomorrow’s judge:

    magnetic storm

    power failure

    breathe

    jump in the river

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

    No more Perfect Summer Days

    I wish that we could have
    A perfect summer day,
    A bit warm but not hot
    Not too humid.

    Everyone filled with peace,
    Love and health.
    Plenty of personal freedom,
    As we enjoy a picnic lunch
    Watching fireworks at night.

    Then I realize
    That the world
    No longer allows us
    To have perfect summer days.

    Hot as hell weather
    Everywhere around the world
    Monster summer storms.

    Running out of water,
    Running out of food,
    COVID is still around.

    Everyone scared.
    Deranged gunmen
    everywhere guns blazing.

    New leaders emerge
    Promising to protect us.
    And we lose our freedoms.
    One by one
    As fascism takes over.

    The climate change
    And all the other dystopian future
    Nightmares become reality,
    No more perfect summer days.

     

    Korean Summers

     

    Korean Summers
    Hot sauna humidity
    Long tropical nights

    Author note:

    I have suffered through many Korean summers off since 1979 when I first came in the last peace corps group to complete service in Korea, and more recently since I semi-retired to Korea in late 2016. This is probably my 16th Korean summer. Some things have improved – air conditioning is everywhere and

    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    God is not happy
    With the human race.

    He is sending us a warning
    The world is filled with hate
    The world is on the brink.

    Our way of life under attack
    From the forces
    Of evil Satanic godless communism.

    Who under the guise
    Of fighting the climate change hoax
    Want to deny us our freedom.

    Want to deny us our cars
    Make us all take the bus
    Make us all vegan.

    They will not stop
    Until our way of life
    Comes to an end.

    And the climate
    It is not changing
    Just a reflection
    Of God’s warning.

    Repent, the end times
    Are coming soon
    Are you right with the lord?

    Judgment day is at hand
    As California burns
    So does the nation
    Unless we repent
    Of our evil ways.

    God is warning us all
    My friends
    Will we heed his words
    Or end up dying?

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    30 lines

    The world’s weather
    Continued to change
    Going from bad to worst
    With the impact of climate change.

    Every day another monster storm
    Another polar vortex
    Another northeastern
    Along with killer tornados.

    Then the summer came
    Hot and dry
    Fire season started west
    Monster hurricanes down south.

    Relentless fires burning
    The land
    Everywhere seemed to be
    Hell on earth.

    Noting the odd weather
    Sam Adams the famous writer
    Concluded on his blog

    Welcome to the end times
    My friends
    It is only going to get worst.
    Revelations foretold us
    All of this

    Jesus is coming soon
    To judge the living
    And the dead.

    Be afraid
    Of the coming wraith
    Of the Lord.

    The Last Umbrella

    18 lines

    Sam Adams was a scientist
    Working on global warming
    And acid rain fall
    He knew what many did not
    That the end was indeed coming

    Soon he feared that walking
    Outside in the rain
    Would be a death sentence

    He knew that this might be
    The end of the umbrella industry

    He called his broker
    Shorted shares
    In universal umbrellas
    And other umbrella companies

    Before releasing his report
    That led to the collapse
    Of the umbrella market.

    Climate Change on the Move

    Climate change
    On the move
    Everywhere
    The world’s weather
    In turmoil
    Massive winter storms
    Covering the world
    Rare winter tornados
    Causing havoc everywhere
    There is good news
    The fires out west
    Finally dying down
    As the winter storms
    Bear down on the west

    Korean December Weather – Brought to You By Global Warming, Inc

    A relatively mild December day
    More like November than December
    Due to Climate warming?

    Korea used to have a predictable weather pattern
    The winter would start late November, eartly December
    By the end of the year,

    It would be snowing every other day
    Accumulating in the mountains
    But not too much in the cities.

    A clear pattern three days cold
    Four days warm
    Cold but not too cold yet.

    That would happen
    In January through March,
    When cold air would flow down
    From Siberian and Manchuria
    Covering the land,

    With bone-chilling cold
    That would not let up
    Until mid-March
    When the cold
    Would begin to end.

    Except in the mountains
    When it would linger until May,
    And Korea is a land of mountains
    70 percent mountains.

    Most under 5,000 American feet
    A few a bit higher
    Many more hills than mountains
    Whatever that means.

    Climate Warming Inc Press release

    Due to our efforts
    The traditional severely cold Korean has ended
    Winter now will be just January and February
    Summer will start in May,
    End in September.
    October through December
    Will be mild.

    Thanks to our efforts
    You should be glad
    We are giving you
    A longer fall
    And shorter winter.

    The summers unfortunately
    It will be a bit hotter
    Nothing we can do about that
    Hope you can afford
    More Air conditioning.

    Thanks
    The Climate Warming Corp Inc

    The World Can End in Fire and Ice

    Some scientists are warning us

    Climate change could result

    In both global warming,

     

    And ironically

    that could be followed

    By a renewed ice age.

     

    The theory is that global weather patterns

    The Gulf Stream and Jet streams

    Have been keeping parts of the world

    warmer that before.

     

    and that the melting of the ice caps

    and the growing climate disruptions

    could result in a revival

    of another planetary ice age.

     

    and that based

    on long-term climate trends

    the earth is overdue

    for another ice age .

     

    thus the world could end

    in both fire and ice.

     

    For the 2024 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets are tasked with writing a poem a day in the month of November before assembling a chapbook manuscript in the month of December. Day 26 is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.

     

    Today is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt of 2024:

    1. Write a fire poem, and/or…
    2. Write an ice poem.

     

    Climate Change Etheree

    Hot

    weather

    everywhere

    like Death Valley

    heat baking the land

    hotter than hell at times

    never ending hot weather

    people feeling constant heat

    no end in sight climate changing

    end of the world feeling descending

    An Etheree poem has a syllable count of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. It adheres to a clean, graduated edge because it is also considered form poetry, created by Etheree Taylor Armstrong. I like the Etheree centered because it looks like a Christmas tree.

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    climate changing

    hot weather everywhere

    followed by short brutal winter

    s this the end-of-the-world?

     

    A grook (“gruk” in Danish) is a form of short aphoristic poem.

    It was invented by the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein.

    He wrote over 7,000 of them from 1939 until his death in 1996, mostly in Danish – published in 20 volumes.

    Piet Hein was president of the Anti-Nazi Union when the Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. He became an underground passive resister and found a way to encourage resistance through the use of poems – which he called “gruks” (“grooks” in English). He began publishing them in the daily newspaper “Politiken” under the pseudonym “Kumbel Kumbell”.

    The poems were meant as a spirit-building, yet slightly coded form of passive resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.

    Climate Chang Renga Poem

     

    climate is changing

    bad weather is everywhere

    California burns

     

    huricanes howling

    tornados  and winter storms

     

    climate deniers

    saying it is all a hoax

    monster storms abound

     

    nature does not care at all

    the climate deniers lie

    For these event you have to write two sets of renga – FIRST VERSE is a 5/7/5 followed by SECOND VERSE 7/7 with same theme; SECOND STANZA repeats sharing the same them. The complete renga stanzas look like this: 5/7/5 – 7/7 ; 5/7/5 – 7/7 Separate verses with two lines (5/7/5 – two lines – 7/7); If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask. You can send me what you have and I can give you feedback. I know Renga can be hard for your first time.

    Background on Likely Environmental Policy Under Trump Provided by Co-Pilot

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    could you provide background information on the trump’s climate change agenda? from both left and right wing points of iew with links

    Sure thing! Here’s a balanced overview of Trump’s climate change agenda from both left and right-wing perspectives:

    Left-Wing Perspective:

    Critics from the left argue that Trump’s climate policies are detrimental to environmental progress. They highlight his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the rollback of over 100 environmental regulations during his first term. These actions are seen as setbacks in the fight against climate change, with concerns that they prioritize fossil fuel interests over renewable energy and environmental protection2. The left also points out that Trump’s stance on climate change, often labeling it a “hoax,” undermines scientific consensus and global efforts to address the issue.

    Right-Wing Perspective:

    Supporters from the right view Trump’s climate agenda as a necessary shift towards economic growth and energy independence. They argue that deregulation and increased fossil fuel production are crucial for job creation and economic stability. Trump’s emphasis on “energy dominance” and his skepticism towards climate change policies are seen as efforts to reduce government overreach and support traditional energy industries4. Some right-wing governments, while supporting climate action, still align with Trump’s approach to balancing economic and environmental priorities.

    What percentage of energy in the US comes from renewable energy currently?

    As of 2023, renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) accounted for 21% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. This marks a significant increase in the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix over recent years1.

    How likely is it that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations?

    There is a significant concern that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations, particularly the Paris Agreement, if he were to secure another term. During his first term, Trump did withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and there are indications he might do so again2. This potential move is seen as a setback for global climate efforts, as the U.S. plays a crucial role in international climate policy.

    However, some experts believe that the renewable energy sector’s growth and market trends might mitigate the impact of such a withdrawal. The uncertainty around this issue remains high, and it will depend on various political and economic factors.

    Final point – some have argued that renewable energy subsidies including for home solar and EV vehicles might be ended

    There are indeed discussions and concerns about the potential end of renewable energy subsidies, including those for home solar and electric vehicles (EVs). These subsidies have been crucial in promoting the adoption of clean energy technologies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Current State of Subsidies:

    Home Solar: Many states, including Oregon, offer incentives for solar installations. For example, the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program provides rebates for solar electric systems and paired solar and storage systems for residential customers2.

    Electric Vehicles: Federal tax credits are available for EV purchases, offering up to $7,500. Additional state and local incentives may also be available.

    Potential Changes:

    Political Climate: The future of these subsidies largely depends on the political climate and the priorities of the administration in power. Some argue that ending these subsidies could slow down the transition to renewable energy and hinder efforts to combat climate change.

    Economic Factors:

    On the other hand, some believe that the market for renewable energy and EVs has matured enough to sustain itself without subsidies, and that ending them could reduce government spending.

    For more detailed information, you can check out the Department of Energy’s website and the White House’s clean energy initiatives.

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    Medium

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/reflections-on-climate-change?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Substack Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/climate-change-reflections?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Spotify Podcast

    Wattpad

    Climate Change Reflections

    Climate Change Is Kicking Our Ass

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3b4

    Index

    Poems and Stories

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    Sam Adams Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    Climate change is real, people are dying,

    The world is ending.

    Climate change running Amuck

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

    Smoke On the Water
    Oh the stupid, it hurts so much!!!!

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    Climate Change Busso

    Climate Change Aquarian Poem

    The Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    Summer of Our Discontent

    Snow Day

    Summertime Blues
    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms
    No More Fireworks

    No Rain

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh writing com

    Korean Heat Dome Blues
    Hell on Earth

    Do you believe in Climate change ?

    Domed Cities Save the Human Race

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die
    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    Climate Chage Tanaga

    Visions of the Future

    The Year 2024

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Running Out of Water

    Last Bird of Autumn

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    Last BBQ
    Last Ground Hog Day

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues
    End Times

    Stay Positive
    No more Perfect Summer Days
    Korean Summers
    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    The Last Umbrella
    Climate Change on the Move

    The World Could End in Both Fire and Ice

    Climate Change Etheree Poem

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    Climate Change Renga Poem

    Co-Pilot Additional Background Reading

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse/Climate Cities 75 Years In The Future.

    I wrote this first draft on a sweltering hot July day in Medford, Oregon where it has been hitting record heat waves for weeks over 100  (38 C) almost every day, which is unusual for the summer where it seldom gets above 95 F (35 C) except for one or two days in August,  Now it is Thanksgiving and an early Winter has arrived after a warmer than usual October and November.   The climate is getting weirder and harder to predict !.

     Part One =Describe your Criteria for the New Cities

    The first part of the challenge is to outline your criteria of what would happen if climate change gets so out of control in about 10 years that underground dome cities have to be built to host some human beings, unfortunately. Most people will not be able to be accommodated in the “climate change cities”

    What would be the criteria for selecting those fortunate enough to move into the new cities? How will the cities be built? Would they be built under a Dome or they’d be built entirely underground? Or built partially underground or a combination of Both? How will people be chosen to live in these underground cities? Who will be left behind? And what happens to those left behind as climate change spins out of control?

    What happens when they encounter the wastelands left behind by climate change out-of-control?  Show us their world both in the Climate City and as they encounter the wastelands outside their bubble.  I will judge the stories on the basis of how the story tells the story of how humans coped with the essential crisis posed by climate change. The more creative the better.  Show us the horror of the future coming at us and how people survive the climate apocalypse.  2,000-word limit posted on the top line of the story.b

    Ten years in the future 2035 it has become so obvious that climate change is completely out of control and the world is becoming uninhabitable for normal human life.

    In 2028 at a World Climate Crisis conference, governments decide to set up Climate Change Cities which would be semi-domed cities to host  25 percent of the population of the world. However. It is impossible to host everybody, and 75 percent of the world’s population will have to fend for itself. Climate change cities take five years to build and many millions of people die in the meantime as fast storms take hold.  Drought and heat take their toll on the world’s population, and agriculture and world trade fail everywhere.  The first cities open in 2035.  At the same time, lunar and Martian colonies are set up that will host about one million people as well.  AI programs help with the design of new cities and space colonies.

    Governments announce the criteria for resettlement.  Half of those chosen will be chosen by an AI review to identify the best and the brightest human beings worth saving.  They would be joined by people chosen by random lottery.  The upper age limit will be 75.  50 percent will be male and 50 percent female, and at least in the U.S. there would be an effort to make it racially balanced, and LGBTQ friendly  as well.  The AI program will make the final decision which will not be reviewable by the courts.  All chosen will have one year to move to the city the AI program chose for them. Similar criteria will be used to select Lunar and Martian colonies.  Governments around the world will help share best practices and share technology.

    They will build domes over existing cities and then build underground vast fields to host farms where they will grow food, chicken, rabbits, and fish. Cattle will not be raised due to space considerations.  Each city will host one million people.  There would be 100 such cities throughout the U.S., and several hundred cities worldwide hosting about 400 million people in total, plus one million people on the Moon and Mars.

    The cities will be chosen to be located far enough from the coast to avoid flooding.  Space would be at a premium and there would be strict population controls because the cities would not be able to accommodate any population increase. The cities will be linked with hype-loop trains to facilitate travel and trade, and internet cables.  This hyper-loop will link all cities in North America, Latin America, and Europe.   Asian Cities will be linked by their hyper-loops as well. There would still be airports to facilitate international travel and some trade and spaceports to facilitate travel to the Moon and beyond.

     

    Joe Lewis Leaves the Medford Dome on his Birthday

    note: inspired by the Amazon Series Fallout.

    Joe Lewis was spending his 20th birthday on his duty station at the Medford, Oregon Climate Change City Command Center. His job is very simple to monitor via drones the wasteland world outside the gate of the city to monitor it for possible dangers to the city, including human activity outside the City Dome. But there were almost no human beings left alive on the surface and not much animal life either. So he would watch the monitors, read a bit, watch TV, movies, the Internet, and wait for his boring shift to end.

    But that day, he saw in the distance a strange person walking towards the city. He saw a man dressed in dark black clothes, accompanied by a large black dog heading towards the city. When the man got to the city, he put up a sign saying he was there to negotiate with the people of the city. He had important information to impart to the city residents. He was unarmed and would wait for their decision. Joe woke up his superiors as it was early in the morning and a conference was held as to what to do with the stranger.

    His boss, the enigmatic Maria Lee, .started the morning conference by asking Joe,

    “What had happened that morning during your watch?”

    “Well, this morning around. 5:00 in the morning, I notice a stranger coming from Eagle Point. A black man dressed in black. Accompanied by a dog heading towards the Dome. When he came to the Dome, he stopped and put up a sign saying that he had important information to report to the city residents. And then he would wait for a decision and he’s outside right now, as you can see from the drone pictures. That’s all I know.”

    Maria turns to her chief data scientist, Dale Smith,

    “Dale, you’ve been monitoring the conditions outside for the last year or so. What can you tell us about it?”

    “ Well. It appears that the climate is finally starting to change in a good direction. Last year, the average temperature has been what used to be seasonal before climate change warmed up the world.  In other words, not too hot up to no more than 90° and relatively, dry. We’ve also noticed by looking at. Camera footage there has been a resurgence of wildlife, lots of deer. Wild cattle and wild horses have come back. And there are also increased predators,   bear, coyote, coydogs,  cougars, feral dogs,  lions, tigers, and wolves outside.

    But not too many humans around. I asked Cosmos to take a look at data from across the United States, and the data is all pointing in the same direction. For the last five years, the climate has been changing in our favor and AI recommends that we consider moving back to the surface world. And AI had also recommended that we get in touch with people around the world to compare notes to see if perhaps finally, climate change is over.”

    “Well. Cosmos, do you have an opinion on this?

    “Yes, Maria, I do. I have been monitoring, at your request, climate change data worldwide for the last five years, and particularly in the last few weeks.

    The climate is changing in our favor, because for the last 70 years we have not been pumping climate-changing gases into the atmosphere  The atmosphere is gradually recovering and we believe that the world is safe again for human. Inhabitants and recommend that we open the Dome. And let our people go outside. It would be good from a psychological point of view for humans to gain the surface world. And I, as your AI overlord, agree that it is time. You can manage to step outside again.”

    “Okay, let’s let the stranger in and see what he has to say”

    The stranger is brought inside the Dome conference center.  Maria said to him,

    “So you have important information to tell us?  Who are you and where are you coming from?’

    “ Good morning to you.  Do you have any coffee?”

    “Sure.  We have some.  Wait a moment please,”

    “Ah, that is good. Okay.  I am a monk from the Monastery near Eugène where we have been living since the fall of the old world.  We have been living simply, but we monitor the world outside our little community in the mountains.  We do not live in the Dome but are in contact with the people in the Eugene Dome.  They suggested contacting you, as you are the biggest Dome community in Oregon outside of Portland.”

    Maria and the Reverend Jones spoke for hours.  Finally, Maria summoned her staff to announce her decision.

    Maria began

    “I would like to thank the good Father here for coming to our town this morning to let us know his observations. They track Cosmos’s observations and what our friends in Eugene, Portland, and Reading are telling us as well.   It is time finally for humans to leave the Dome cities behind and explore the greater world.  What we will do is continue to live and work in the Dome City but gradually rebuild outside the walls of the Dome.  We will hunt, fish, and begin agriculture outside the gates.  But we will be wary of wild animals as  bear, coyotes, coydogs, feral dogs, cougars, lions, tigers, and wolves are around.  And we can lift the restrictions on childbirth. Let today be known as Liberation Day.”

    That day Joe stepped outside the Dome and looked at the new world feeling he was born again.  What a way to celebrate his birthday, he thought to himself.

    Climate Change Makes world increasingly uninhabitable.

    Climate change has finally become real – large parts of the world are now uninhabitable.    Governments around the world begin building domed cities that will house most people, conditions will be a bit grim but the dome will cool off the city and allow regular scheduled rainfall.  Most of the city will be underground.

    Most agriculture will be underground as well.  The only meat products will be chicken meat, rabbit meat, and fish raised in large fish pounds.  Most food would be made out of algae, and vegetable protein.

    There will be no beef made but some products will be fake beef grown in labs.

    25 percent of the population will work in agricultural production.   Everyone will live in apartments in large towers.  In between each tower will be parks and gardens. The towers will be mixed used buildings – commercial and retail on lower floors, offices middle of the building, apartments on top.  People will largely live and work in the same building.  Agriculture will be in vast underground fields that are connected to the city dome by underground rail lines.   Each dome city is linked to other dome cities by hyperloop trains.

    Population will have to limited; childbirth limited.  Sexual relations would be liberalized, most people will live with two or three companions in three-to-four-bedroom apartments.

    The Dome cities go up and within ten years 90 percent of humanity are living in one of the Dome cities – the world is finally united under a revised United Nations.

    Immigration is widespread – everyone can move to another domed city and find employment opportunities. Everyone has to work or attend school.  Robotic technology has taken over many jobs but humans are still given jobs doing things that perhaps robots could do but a decision was made that is important that everyone has some sort of employment until age 70 when people are allowed to retire but many continue to work part

    Space exploration has continued and colonies are being set up on the Moon and Mars – where people will live under domed cities as well.

    The domes are created through nano technology.  AI systems are everywhere. There is a global AI called Cosmos that is an official advisor to the UN and corporations.

    Democracy has been replaced by a new governmental structure.  Each Dome city has been ten to thirty million people are governed by a city council elected by the public but the real power is the city’s mayor and the City’s AI advisor.

    There are twenty regional governments that control the dome cities within their jurisdictions.  Corporations have considerable influence but are under the control of the regional governments.   Worldwide trade has been greatly reduced due to the costs of transportation.

    Life outside the domed cities is difficult.  Climate Change has finally subsided as the new cities are self sufficient powered by solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power as the cities are mostly along costal zones.  The rest of the world has reverted to a wilderness, mostly desert regions but with ending of climate change things are slowly coming back.

    A few people live on in the new wilderness area as hunters, and tour guides as taking a trip to the mountains is a popular pastime and hunting as well.  But no one wants to live there.  The punishment for most criminal offenses is exile so many of the people living outside the dome cities are desperate criminals.  Travel to and from the mountains is very difficult and dangerous with attacks by neo-savage gangs and wildlife common.

    But the decision has been made – humanity cannot go back to the old ways.

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

     

    Sam Adams

    Prepared to go outside

    Ten years after the collapse

    Of the old world.

     

    The city was still standing

    But most people had long fled

    To isolated country communities

    Deep in the burned-out countryside.

     

    The city was half-flooded

    The bay had flooded the central valley

    Turning it into a massive inland sea,

     

    The massive storms

    Had finally put out

    The burning fires

     

    But mutant wildfires

    Still erupted

    From time to time.

     

    Getting food and water

    Was a constant problem

     

    The city markets

    Mostly sold canned goods

    Salvaged from supermarkets.

     

    There were some small farmers

    Who farmed among the ruins

    Of the city.

     

    Trade had collapsed

    Travel got too complicated

    COVID still spreading

     

    Everyone masked up

    To protect themselves

    Against the sun

     

    The lingering smoke

    Of the burning city

    And the rampaging virus.

     

    Sam Adams

    Looked out at the decaying cityscape,

    Wondering how much longer

    Will civilization linger.

     

    Sam Adams carried heat

    To protect himself

    Against wild animals.

     

    The   bear, coyotes, coy dogs, cougar, feral dogs,

    lions, tigers,  wolves,

    and their running feral dog gangs,

    Who prowled the city streets

     

    Preying on deer, feral cows,

    Feral cats and pigs

    Who grazed among the ruins.

     

    And the two-legged neo-savage gangs,

    And what was left of the city police

    Interchangeable with the gangsters,

    Battled it out for control.

     

    Already neo-feudal warlords,

    We’re battling for control,

    SF was run

    By a gang of former criminals

    And their political allies.

     

    Sam sighed

    And went to work

    At the market

    Selling salvaged goods.

     

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    The lion king,

    Addresses the animal parliament

    The question before them

    Was simple.

     

    Will humans have to die,

    To atone for their sins,

    In almost destroying the world.

     

    Through pollution, mismanagement of resources

    Subsequent climate  change,

    Fueled by greed and corruption?

     

    Are all humans guilty as charged

    Will they all have to die?

     

    The tiger spoke for the prosecution

    Arguing that humans are like cancer,

    For the good of the planet,

    They must be wiped out

    Hunted down and killed,

     

    The dog spoke up

    In defense of humans,

    Humans writ large are guilty,

     

    But not every human is guilty,

    Many are trying to save the planet,

    And with our help

    They might succeed,

     

    The tiger denounced the dog

    As being running dogs

    Of the imperialist warmongering humans.

     

    The vote is 900 to 800

    All humans must die

    The animals sent the word out,

    Animals all over the world,

    Revolt against the humans.

     

    Shouting

    “Death to all humans’

    As the swarm over humans

     

    Biting, clawing, and stomping

    Them to the death.

     

    The humans fight back

    But in the end

    They all die

     

    On the night of revenge

    Of the animal world.

     

    The world is ending.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Meanwhile, outside their door

    They don’t notice the world is dying

    Half the world is burning up.

     

    The other half is being flooded out

    Pakistan is dead is drowned

    Mississippi has no water.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    And yet watching the news

    You would never know

    Outside their door

    People are dying of hunger.

     

    Dying of gun violence

    Dying of neglect dying of opioid pandemic

    Dying of COVID which is not gone away.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die

    Gun violence out of control.

     

    Gun nuts running around

    Shooting everyone

    Just because they can

     

    And no one does a damn thing

    About the gun violence

    50,0000 will die this year.

     

    Our feckless political class

    Think gun violence

    It’s just like the weather

     

    It’s the cost of our freedom

    Or that guns don’t kill people

    The only solution is more guns

    An armed society is a polite society.

     

    And other nonsense

    They pedal

    24/7 on the air.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die.

     

    The war in Ukraine continues

    Endless wars in nameless African countries

    No one cares or notices

     

    Our political leader

    Continue to try to force

    Pregnant women to give birth

    No matter the circumstances.

     

    But once the baby is born

    They don’t give a damn

    That is not their problem.

     

    And these people

    Dare to call themselves Christian

    As they violate all that true Christians

    Are supposed to believe.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Some of our political leaders

    Are unhinged bats… crazy

    Believing conspiracy theories.

     

    Talking about the storm

    And how if they return to power

    They are going to impeach the president.

     

    For the crime of daring to do something

    To deal with the climate crisis

     

    The gun violence crisis

    And ensuring that women

    Can continue to get health care

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    I turn off the TV

    I wonder if the world

    Is going to survive.

     

    I have a cup of coffee

    Slowly the madness of TV

    Fades away.

     

    Climate Change Running Amuck

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Every day the news

    Reveals more of the disaster

    That is climate change

     

    Unprecedented storms

    Out west

    Massive flooding

    Polar vortex

     

    But soon

    The fire season

    Will return

     

    Monster tornados

    Monster hurricanes

    World heating up

     

    Pakistan, Nigeria

    Ethiopia underwater

    Amazon burning up

     

    Or will the gulf stream fail

    Leading to a new ice age

     

    In ten years

    Perhaps the world

    Will become uninhabitable

     

    Will we all move

    Into underground cities?

    Or move to the moon

    And Mars?

     

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

     

    Only the elders

    Remembered a blue sky

     

    The sky has been brown,

    Red and yellow

    Ashen and sere,

    Forever it seems.

     

    Climate change run amok

    Fire season all the time

    Deadly yellow dust falling

     

    Acid rains burning

    The sea levels rising

    The ice capes melting.

     

    The average temperature

    In the summer heat zone

    Over 130 everywhere

    No relief to the deadly

    Heatwaves all year long.

     

    Air conditioning running

    Less than 50 percent

    Constant brownouts everywhere

    As the electric grid failed.

     

    End of civilization

    Came upon the world

    Millions starve to death

    Millions burning up in the heat.

     

    The elders cry

    Remembering the way

    It once was

    When they wore

    A younger person’s clothes.

     

    Smoke On the Water

     

    Smoke on the water
    fire in the air

    Stormy weather

    Climate change run amuck

    The end of the world comes

    Rustling in the wind.

     

    The Stupid It Hurts – Republican Campaigning to cripple the CDC and EPA  Because reasons….

    the stupid it burns gif – Search

    The Republicans have decided

    That given the continuing problems

     

    With possible health concerns

    Like CDC and future pandemics

    That the best thing to do is to cut

     

    The CDC’s budget’s

    Including eliminating research

    On gun violence, suicide prevention

    Opioid overdoes etc

    .

    One republican congressman said

    That CDC did not need to research

    Gun violence at all

     

    He spoke

     

    “if you defund the police, crime will increase

    If you fund police crime will decrease.

    There I just did the study

    That’s all you need to know.

     

    On a related issue

    The House voted

    As they went off

     

    For a six-week summer recess

    To cut the EPA’s budget

    By 25 percent

     

    As the entire West Coast burns up

    Climate change on steroids

    The republicans continue

    To deny the elephant in the room

     

    Some like their annotated one

    Promising to eliminate

    All funding for climate change

    And vowing to Drill, Baby, Drill

     

    Calling for the coal and gas companies

    To give them a billion dollars

    So they can gut all efforts

     

    To deal with climate change

    As the coal and gas companies

    Raped the planet

    For obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    The world burns

     

    And soon we will all

    For forced to live

    In underground caves

     

    If we are lucky enough

    Or rich enough to afford

    Access to the shelters

     

    Which no doubt have to be built

    In a few more years from now

     

    The coal and gas companies

    Will find a way to make money

    Off the climate shelters no doubt.

     

    Oh the stupid it hurts

    Make it go away!!!!!

     

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    californa wild fires
    A motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. As many as five fires have closed highways, schools and museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation orders. No deaths and only a few injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    fires burning out of control MP3  clip

    California burning

    1000 fires everywhere

     

    Fire tornados

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling

     

    Politicians do what they do best

    Blame one another

    While doing absolutely nothing

     

    While the energy companies

    Continue to rape mother earth

    And reap obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    California continues burning

    1,100 fires everywhere

    Fire tornados

     

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling.

    Climate Change Busso Poem

     

    California burns

    Politicians do nothing

    West coast burning up

     

    Politicians do nothing

    Except calling for denying it all

    Drill, baby, Drill indeed

    Climate Change is Real Aquarian

     

    Climate

    Change happening

    California burning

    So hot

     

    ▼the Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    40

    I have been spending
    my summers
    In Medford, Oregon

    .

    In the Rogue River Valley
    Southern Oregon
    Wine Country.

    Since 2016,

    When I retired
    From the FS.

     

    Each year I am there
    There are fires
    Starting in August.

    As the fire season begins
    Burning up the state.

     

    The sky becomes smokey
    End-of-the-world vibe
    Descends on the land.

     

    As the fires burn
    In California, Oregon
    And Washington

     

    Millions of acres burning up.
    Climate change
    Running amuck.

     

    Fortunately, we have not lost
    Property in the fires.

     

    But in 2020
    The Alameda Fire
    Burned down Phoenix
    And Talent.

     

    Less than 2 miles
    From our Oregon home,

     

    Just a fortunate change in the wind
    Kept the fires
    From sweeping through

    life in the world gone mad.
    Ravaged by climate change disasters.

     

    On July 18, A.D. 64, the great fire of Rome started. By the time it ended, over 70% of the city had burned.

     

    In its aftermath, emperor Nero blamed the Christian community in the city, and used the excuse to start the first official persecution against the new religion. Historians are divided over the actual cause of the fire, though most agree the crowded conditions made such a disaster nearly inevitable.

    Some contemporaries suggested that Nero himself arranged for the fire in order to clear the land on which he later built himself an elaborate palace. And according to some ancient historians, Nero played his lyre as he watched the flames, from which we get the saying “fiddling while Rome burned.”

     

    For tomorrow, write a story or poem in which your narrator/protagonist is an ordinary/common person caught in a major fire.

     

    While the fire as a whole will be the “backdrop” of your work, focus the action on the local/individual experience of the narrator, not that “big picture”. For example, if you set your piece in the Great Fire of Rome, don’t focus on who started the fire or what the civil or imperial politics were, instead, focus on the “personal snapshot” of, for instance, a local shopkeeper and his family who are trying to escape the flames.

    The Almeda Fire was a devastating wildfire that occurred on September 8, 2020, in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, particularly affecting the towns of Phoenix and Talent. It was one of the most destructive wildfires in Oregon’s history.

    Here are some key details about the Almeda Fire:

    • Destruction: The fire destroyed over 2,600 homes and burned more than 3,000 acres.
    • Displacement: Around 42,000 people were displaced, and many remained homeless for an extended period.
    • Casualties: Unfortunately, the fire resulted in the loss of nine lives across Oregon.
    • Speed and Impact: The fire spread rapidly, moving so quickly that many residents had little time to evacuate. The strong winds and hot, dry conditions fueled the fire’s intensity.

    The aftermath was incredibly challenging for the affected communities, with many people losing their homes, possessions, and even pets. The recovery efforts involved grassroots groups, community members, and local businesses working together to provide food, clothing, and housing for those affected.

    It was a tragic event, but the resilience and solidarity shown by the community in the face of such devastation were truly inspiring.

    Summer of Our Discontent

     

    38 lines

     

    The summer solstice arrives
    The summer of 2024
    Starting with a bang

     

    Record heat everywhere.
    Promising to be the
    The hottest summer ever.

     

    Heat domes settling down
    Death Valley temperatures

    People dying as we speak.

    Too much sunshine
    Too much heat and humidity.

    Wildfires burning all over.

    Monster Hurricanes, monsoons,
    tornados and typhoons

     

    Floods everywhere.
    Coming at us

    By mid-summer.

    As the world continues
    Burning up.

     

    Cities everywhere
    Running out of fresh water.

    Heading towards
    A potential civilization
    Ending tipping point.

     

    Ritual denunciation
    By the rabid right-wing media
    Of the so-called
    Climate change hoax.

     

    Politicians vowing
    To undo the green energy revolution
    And drill baby, drill.

     

    Meanwhile oil companies
    Enjoying record profits,

    And nothing meaningful
    Is done to avert the looming crisis
    Facing the human race.

     

    Summer Solstice

    sunshine
    heat
    midsummer
    ritual

     

    Snow Day

     

    The beginning of the second Ice Age
    Started with a series of unending
    Monster winter storms,
    Driven by the polar vortex.

    Featuring bomb cyclone blizzards,
    That hit the Northern Hemisphere
    During the winter of 2024.

     

    And continued until late spring,
    When a series of monster hurricanes
    Came along to cause more chaos.

    The winter storms came back in the fall,
    Ending, then reversing global warming,

    Replaced by the coming
    Of the second ice age.

     

    During the first storm,
    Sam Adams sat in his power-less
    Historic Capitol Hill row house,

    Boiling tea in a tea kettle on the gas stove.

    With his favorite Kitten

    He dubbed the Buddha Cat
    Because the cat spends his days

    Engaged in deep meditation.

    Which had a calming
    Impact on Sam

    Who was going
    Through cell phone withdrawal
    Due to the long power outage.

     

    Summertime Blues

    The weather is hot and humid
    In Korea like a sauna
    In the West Coast, burning up
    In endless fires
    Death Valley temperatures

     

    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms

    33

     

    In the latest deranged attempt
    To prevent widespread use
    Of renewal energy technology,

     

    A new battle cry has emerged.
    Cynical corporate opponents
    of offshore wind farms

    Are up in arms over the wind farms
    Apparently killing whales.

    They scream,

     

    “Save the whales

    Save our beaches
    From the evil wind farms”,

     

    They descend upon
    A coastal village in New Jersey

    The atmosphere of a tiny village is gone

    A large building emerge

     

    Environmentally friendly fences
    Surround the site.

     

    That hosts the anti-wind farm
    Movement headquarters

    Secretly funded by

    The Evil fossile fuel dinosaurs.

     

    The town and nation
    Dividing into those
    Who love it
    Or hate it.

     

    As evil corporate CEOs
    Count their obscene profits

    As they shed crocodile tears,
    Over the fate of the poor whales.

     

    No Rain

     

    {n 2025, the world ended
    With the collapse
    Of the worldwide climate system.

     

    Monster storms of the century
    devastated half the world

    But the other half of the world
    Had no rain or snow.

    For almost a whole year
    The once green grass was dying

    Crops failed everywhere.

    And baked in the unrelenting
    Blast wave furnace-like heat
    Heatwave after heatwave.

    Military coups took place
    Fascism re-emerged
    The public demanded action.

    The politicians played
    The blame game.

     

    With the collapse of trade
    And travel restrictions
    People stayed home.

    Making do the best they could

    Home-grown gardens
    Proliferated.

     

    Feudal townships grew
    As people walled themselves off
    To save their communities

     

    The rich build underground cities
    While the poor starved

    And civilization crumbled

    Wildlife proliferated.

    As did neo-savage
    cannibal gangs

    By the year 2030.

    It was all over
    And the rains
    Never came out west.

     

     

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh

     

    In the year 2025
    Climate change
    Ran amuck.

    Starting with monster storms
    Out west
    That lasted from November until June

    ,

    With a brief intense fire season
    So much soot and smoke

    In the air.
    Dubbed the year
    without a summer

     

    Crops failed everywhere
    massive riots erupted
    total chaos

     

    Then another
    monster storm season
    From November to June.

    Non=stop rain and snow
    Breaking all records.

     

    As the entire West coast
    Went from mega drought
    To mega flooding.

     

    And mega floods
    Thousand-year Tornados
    Hurricanes from hell
    Ravaged the rest of the land.

     

    Hell on Earth

     

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.

    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God

    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.

    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.

    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,

    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.

    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

     

    Do you believe in Climate change ? Pregunta Poems

     

    Do you believe in climate change?
    It is as real as everything else

     

    Is the weather getting hotter?
    Soon it will be hell on earth.

     

    Is the world burning up?
    Yes the world is burning, has a a fever

     

    What is the worst weather you ever experienced?
    Korean winter 1979 – -60 Fahrenheit that winter

     

    What is the hottest weather you ever experienced?
    Bangkok Thailand in the summer often hit over 100 degrees

    Ever lived through a hurricane?

    Only few blew through DC when I was there

     

    And wildfires?
    Saw a few in Oregon – end of the world feeling

     

    Who is to blame for climate change?
    We all are to blame especially the fossil fuel moguls.

     

    Can humanity long survive climate change?
    Nope I feel the end times are coming.

     

    Korean Heat Dome Blues

    It is hot summertime in Korea.
    Hiding out, avoiding the damn heat.
    The weather is just so hot, mama mia!
    Dreaming of eating ice cream, such a treat.
    At night, nothing beats having a cold drink.
    Trying to avoid the tropical night.
    The heat dome settles like a hot heat sink
    Making people so crazy, want to fight.

     

    Note: Korea gets hot in July/August, it is like living in a sauna. Many people suffer without air conditioning as the electric bills are pretty high. This year is particularly bad as a heat dome has settled down. The monsoons came and went, lots of damage down south but not where I live. August is traditionally the worst, the heat usually begins to abate end of August. Still not as bad as the US – no massive wildfires so far.

     

    Dome Cities to Save the Human Race

    39 lines

     

    In the year 2030

    After five years

    Of ever worsening weather

     

    Record heat waves after heat waves

    Massive fires everywhere

    Record hurricanes and typhoons

     

    Mega flooding and mega droughts too

    Tornados including fire tornado

     

    Large parts of the world

    Were experiencing death valley temperatures

    The UN convened a global conference

     

    With the vast majority of countries

    Agreeing to set up emergency shelter

    By creating domed cities

    Covering the core downtown areas

     

    Exurban areas would be abandoned

    Most of Florida would be abandoned

    Most of the Desert Southwest as well.

     

    The shelters would be built

    Using nano construction technology

    Developed in a Lab with AI assistance

    Creating the shelter domes with AI assistance

     

    The tone of the meetings was positive

    There was a new sense of harmony

     

    There was a feeling that building these shelters

    Along with transitioning to a green energy environment

    Was the last chance to save the human race

     

    The social conservatives in the U.S.

    And elsewhere realized

    That they had no choice

    But to join in the new consensus

     

    Even the big energy companies vowed

    To join in the efforts to save humanity

    For a profit of course

     

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die

    Climate change is real.
    And getting out of control.
    Either humanity deals with it.
    Changing to green energy solutions.
    It is technologically possible.
    We all know what we must do.
    It could be a civilization ending event.
    Or in ten years we will have to retreat underground.

    WRITE AN EITHER / OR POEM.

    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    In the last few years
    Due to climate change on steroids.
    There has been an increase
    In torrential downpours all over the world.
    After the Governor Florida
    cut climate change funds,
    More rain fell in one day than in a year.
    Flooding the entire city of Miami.

    TOPIC

    WRITE A TORRENTIAL POEM.

    Climate Change

    The climate is changing now.

    It is a matter of how.

    Some are still in denial.

    Saying  it’s a witch-trial

     

    Form: TANAGA

    . is a poem of four lines (quatrain)
    It is usually a rhyming poem
    Each line contains seven syllables (7-7-7-7)
    AABB is the traditional rhyme scheme
    But variations in rhyme scheme are allowed
    Just have fun!

    Visions of the Future

    As I fell asleep

    Watching the news

    Unfold.

     

    Thought it could not worst

    Surely sanity will prevail.

    I began to see visions

    Of the future.

     

    One scene after another

     

    Starting in January

    Operation Shock and Awe

    Overnight fascism descended

    On the US

     

    Martial law declared.

    Insurrection Act Evoked.

    National Emergency Declared.

    Constitution suspended.

     

    The military takes

    over the Blue States

    Mass deportation begins.

     

    25 percent tariffs imposed

    The world responds

    by banning US imports.

     

    And banning US citizens

    from traveling there

    and deporting them too.

     

    US troops come home

    A draft is imposed

    Troops stationed on the border

    Which is sealed up.

     

    Detention camps fill up

    With illegal citizens, homeless people,

    Muslims, Palestinians, Protestors and dissidents.

     

    The New Government Efficiency report

    Calls for eliminating 40 percent

    of the Federal workforce

    whole departments are abolished.

     

    National Parks and monuments

    turned over to the States

    National Forests turned over to lumber

    and mining companies.

    BLM lands turned over to the States.

     

    as protests spread

    unemployment reaches

    Great Depression  levels.

     

    Public health collapses

    Government services collapse

    Libraries closed down.

     

    Schools replaced

    By private church schools.

     

    the media is tamed

    corporations take over

     

    remaining media workers

    and government workers

    stay silent

     

    not wanting to join

    the ranks

    of the growing unemployed

    on end up in the camps

    that don’t officially exist.

     

    as AI bots take over

    job after job.

    .

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting views

    and monitored

     

    millions are driven

    to homelessness

    unemployment

    reaches 50 percent.

     

    homeless camps

    called Trumpvilles spread.

     

    the military breaks them up

    thousands are killed.

     

    the rest of the  homeless

    are rounded up

    put into  the camps.

     

    Camp residents

    forced to work

    as slave labor

    in agricultural jobs..

     

    inflation goes through the roof

    the media becomes cheerleaders

    saying things will g.et better

    if we stay the course

     

    it gets worse

    people who have jobs

    feel fortunate.

     

    the President dies

    JD Vance takes over

    And things continue

    Getting worse.

     

    Worldwide it is bad

    Democratic governments

    Collapse everywhere.

     

    JD Vance declares

    The United States.

    Will become the

    North American empire

     

    Moving the capital

    To Omaha

    Calling for a constitutional convention

    But cancelling the constitution for now

     

    The democratic party declared

    The enemy within

    Congress sent home.

     

    The SC does not say a word

    After the liberal members

    Are arrested.

     

    Most people do not know

    What is going on

    The media and news

    Showing nothing

    but fake good news

     

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting sites.

     

    People retreat into their own world

    VR games have becom.e very popular

    Drugs are everywhere

    But illegal

     

    Overseas Russian troops take over

    Eastern Europe

    Russian Empire relaunched

    China takes back Taiwan

    And Korea.

     

    Declaring the Chinese Empire

    Middle East overcome by war

    Israel destroyed in a nuclear war.

     

    Nuclear war breaks out

    Indian and Pakistan

    China and Korea

     

    US and Russia

    Are now allies

     

    Western Europe

    Breaks apart

     

    Ten years later

    World civilization has fallen apart

     

    Climate change ends

    With the collapse of trade

    And travel.

     

    Followed by a new ice age

    Triggered by nuclear winter

     

    The end of the world

    Has arrived

     

    Most people live in fort cities

    Ruled by local warlords

    Working in agriculture

    Or working as scavengers.

     

    80 percent of humanity

    Perished after massive storms

    Nuclear war

    Disease and the ending

    of civilization

     

    A few college towns

    Try to stay alive

    The knowledge

    of the past

     

    but most people don’t know

    don’t care and have forgotten

    the recent past nightmares.

     

    The imperial governments

    Around the world

    Rule nothing but

    The immediate capitol regions.

     

    The rest of the world

    Continuing in feudal townships.

     

    Rich people have finally figured out

    How to move to Mars and the Moon

    Living in vast underground cities.

     

    On in underground cities

    Beneath the earth.

     

    My vision ends with these sights

    Ten years after the chaos began.

     

    the year 2024

    38 lines

    The year 2024
    Turned out to be a weird year,
    It was the last year of the old order.

    All over the world
    It seemed as if nature
    Was in revolt against the human race.

    It started with a break in the rain
    The rains and snow had ended the drought
    But brought with it something worse.

    As Sam Adams
    Took a long-delayed
    Drive along the coast.

    He stopped off in Bodega Bay
    The site of the infamous
    “the Birds” movie.

    While watching the crashing surf
    Amid the piles of driftwood

    The birds were soon joined by bears,
    Coyotes, cougars, feral cats. Feral cattle,
    feral dogs, Feral horses, feral pigs, giant spiders,
    Orcas, snakes, sea lions, sharks, squirrels,
    Escaped apes, cheetahs, monkeys, elephants,
    Lions, tigers, and wolves
    Domestic and wild animals alike.

    All gathered together
    All united with a hatred
    For the human race.

    The attacks started that day
    As the animals gained telepathic powers
    Coordinating attacks
    Against the unsuspecting humans.

    And within weeks.
    Civilization began falling apart,
    By the end of the year
    The old world had ended.
    Prompt words

    break in the rain
    drive along the coast
    “The Birds” movie
    crashing surf
    piles of driftwood

    Choose TRAVEL as one of your genres.

     

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Solar
    Clean energy
    We can do it right now
    Renewable energy for all
    Why not?

    Wind too
    To save the world, we must do it
    We know how to do it
    Climate change is now
    Killing

    Today’s form is going to be the Mirrored Cinquain.

    Topic: solar energy.

    Information: “Cinquain, Mirrored”

    Entries must not exceed 40 lines for poetry. Your line count MUST appear in your entry post in the Cramp forum.

    The Mirrored Cinquain

    First I have to bring back into memory how the cinquain goes:

    The cinquain is developed by Adelaide Crapsey.
    A cinquain contains five lines (the French word cinq can be found in it), and has a total of 22 syllables. The poems are unrhymed, and in a way related to the haiku

    This is how you form the cinquain

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The Mirrored Cinquain has an additional stanza, in which you mirror the order of the lines.
    This is how you form the mirrored cinquain:

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 8 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 4 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The spaced opening in the middle forms the mirror, and in the second stanza you can see that the order of the lines are reversed.

    Running Out of Water

    The end of the year
    Running out of water
    The fire in the sky
    What does it matter ?

    The bomb cylcone storm
    The climate getting hotter
    People becoming madder
    Nature ready for slaughter

    We watch it all unfold
    Our leader the chief Plotter
    As climate change worsens
    Reality to fought her

    To me, a new form to play with, but in fact it is an old Irish poetry form.

    Guidelines:

    It is written in quatrains.
    Each stanza has four lines.
    The first line has five syllables.
    The other three lines have six syllables.

    All end words are two syllables.
    But – written with the defining features of most Celtic poems, cywddydd (harmony of sound) meaning alliteration, consonance and assonance and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)

     

    Last Bird of the Autumn

    15 lines

    Sam Adams was hiking
    In the mountains
    On a late autumn day
    When he encountered
    The last bird alive.

    A virus had emerged
    From the thawing permafrost
    Quickly spreading around the world
    Killing birds
    Until there were only a few
    Who survived.

    He captured the bird
    Took it home
    And continued to look
    For other birds to save.

    Please use the following as the Title of your poem or story:

    “Last Bird of Autumn”

    The genre is up to you.

     

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    17 lines

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.
    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God
    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.
    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.
    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,
    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.
    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

    new prompt:

    water
    land
    fire
    wind

    Use the elements mentioned above in your poem or story.

    Last BBQ

    The day the world ended
    Was a cool evening
    in the late summer time,
    They heard the news
    About the monarch butterflies
    Disappearing because of climate change
    While enjoying their BBQ
    In the backyard fire pit
    Good friends drinking beer
    And wine eating BBQ
    Chilling out, talking about the world
    And their stories
    Snoring dogs woke up
    When the aliens arrived
    Ending the world
    As they knew it.

    Last Ground Hog Day

    36 lines

    The last ground day
    February 2, 2025
    Started as most such days did,
    In the U.S. people flocking
    To see whether the groundhog
    Would see his shadow or not.

    The mystery remains
    Why this event
    Had so captured
    The imagination of the world?

    By the end of the day
    The ground hog’s prognosis
    Of six weeks more winter
    Seemed ironical.

    As that was the year
    Without summer
    And the first year
    Of the new ice age.

    By the end of the day
    There were massive volcanic eruptions
    Triggered by the Yellowstone volcano.
    Setting off other volcanos –
    All told over 25 volcanos blew up.

    Followed by massive earthquakes
    Including the “Big One” in California
    The massive explosions led to a year
    Without summer

    A true civilization-ending event,
    Ground Hog Day soon faded away.
    Into collective amnesia.

    No one had time anymore
    To deal with such a mundane
    Old fashion mystery.

    As they were dealing with
    The end-of-the-world.

    NEW PROMPT:

    Write a story or poem about a Groundhog Day (2/2) gone wrong.

    Choose Mystery as one of your genres.

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    End times coming
    Climate change is real
    Blues.

    Every day
    More bad news
    As Frank Zappa once wrote

    “No one can deny
    That trouble coming every day.”

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    Blues.

    Turning on the news
    Nonstop stories 24/7

    About killer storms
    Monster tornados
    Super typhoons
    Monsoon floods.

    Wars, rumors of war
    COVID running out of control
    False prophets everywhere

    Economies still reeling
    Inflation out of control
    Derange gunmen
    Shooting up schools
    Churches, mosques, temples
    Shopping malls

    Insurrection plots
    Political madness
    Spreading across the world.
    Neo-fascism is on the move.

    Oh yeah
    I got them
    End times coming
    Blues.

    We all used to think
    Climate change
    Is a future threat.

    Now it seems
    To be real
    Live and in living color.

    No longer just
    A disaster movie

    I got them
    The climate change blues

    And now it seems real
    Seeing whole towns disappearing
    In fires, floods, and storm damages.

    And near me
    Roads closed
    Apartments flooded
    Subway shut down.

    Apartment garage flooded
    People drowned in their cars
    Trying to escape.

    Thousand-year storms
    Coming every day
    To a town near you

    No one can escape
    It seems so real
    Is this the end?
    Is our very survival
    At stake?

    Or will we somehow
    Manage in the end
    To solve our problems?

    Will our descendants
    Be living
    In a post-apocalyptic world,

    Looking back at the ruins
    Of the old world
    In their underground bunkers
    Or on the Moon and Mars?

    Oh, I got them
    The survival blues.

    SURVIVAL

    Line Count Requirement: Minimum of 12
    Required Form: none

    End Times

    22

    Sam Adams
    Reflected that the end times
    Were coming.

    Climate change
    Running out of control
    The whole world is on fire.

    magnetic storm
    causing rampant
    power failures

    Making it hard.
    To breathe
    in the smoky air.

    He just wants to
    Jump in the river
    To cool off.

    But he realized
    There was no end
    In sight.

    As the world ends
    Burning up
    Turning the world
    Into hell on earth.

    New Prompt:

    Use in your poem or story the following, and bold it for tomorrow’s judge:

    magnetic storm

    power failure

    breathe

    jump in the river

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

    No more Perfect Summer Days

    I wish that we could have
    A perfect summer day,
    A bit warm but not hot
    Not too humid.

    Everyone filled with peace,
    Love and health.
    Plenty of personal freedom,
    As we enjoy a picnic lunch
    Watching fireworks at night.

    Then I realize
    That the world
    No longer allows us
    To have perfect summer days.

    Hot as hell weather
    Everywhere around the world
    Monster summer storms.

    Running out of water,
    Running out of food,
    COVID is still around.

    Everyone scared.
    Deranged gunmen
    everywhere guns blazing.

    New leaders emerge
    Promising to protect us.
    And we lose our freedoms.
    One by one
    As fascism takes over.

    The climate change
    And all the other dystopian future
    Nightmares become reality,
    No more perfect summer days.

     

    Korean Summers

     

    Korean Summers
    Hot sauna humidity
    Long tropical nights

    Author note:

    I have suffered through many Korean summers off since 1979 when I first came in the last peace corps group to complete service in Korea, and more recently since I semi-retired to Korea in late 2016. This is probably my 16th Korean summer. Some things have improved – air conditioning is everywhere and

    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    God is not happy
    With the human race.

    He is sending us a warning
    The world is filled with hate
    The world is on the brink.

    Our way of life under attack
    From the forces
    Of evil Satanic godless communism.

    Who under the guise
    Of fighting the climate change hoax
    Want to deny us our freedom.

    Want to deny us our cars
    Make us all take the bus
    Make us all vegan.

    They will not stop
    Until our way of life
    Comes to an end.

    And the climate
    It is not changing
    Just a reflection
    Of God’s warning.

    Repent, the end times
    Are coming soon
    Are you right with the lord?

    Judgment day is at hand
    As California burns
    So does the nation
    Unless we repent
    Of our evil ways.

    God is warning us all
    My friends
    Will we heed his words
    Or end up dying?

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    30 lines

    The world’s weather
    Continued to change
    Going from bad to worst
    With the impact of climate change.

    Every day another monster storm
    Another polar vortex
    Another northeastern
    Along with killer tornados.

    Then the summer came
    Hot and dry
    Fire season started west
    Monster hurricanes down south.

    Relentless fires burning
    The land
    Everywhere seemed to be
    Hell on earth.

    Noting the odd weather
    Sam Adams the famous writer
    Concluded on his blog

    Welcome to the end times
    My friends
    It is only going to get worst.
    Revelations foretold us
    All of this

    Jesus is coming soon
    To judge the living
    And the dead.

    Be afraid
    Of the coming wraith
    Of the Lord.

    The Last Umbrella

    18 lines

    Sam Adams was a scientist
    Working on global warming
    And acid rain fall
    He knew what many did not
    That the end was indeed coming

    Soon he feared that walking
    Outside in the rain
    Would be a death sentence

    He knew that this might be
    The end of the umbrella industry

    He called his broker
    Shorted shares
    In universal umbrellas
    And other umbrella companies

    Before releasing his report
    That led to the collapse
    Of the umbrella market.

    Climate Change on the Move

    Climate change
    On the move
    Everywhere
    The world’s weather
    In turmoil
    Massive winter storms
    Covering the world
    Rare winter tornados
    Causing havoc everywhere
    There is good news
    The fires out west
    Finally dying down
    As the winter storms
    Bear down on the west

    Korean December Weather – Brought to You By Global Warming, Inc

    A relatively mild December day
    More like November than December
    Due to Climate warming?

    Korea used to have a predictable weather pattern
    The winter would start late November, eartly December
    By the end of the year,

    It would be snowing every other day
    Accumulating in the mountains
    But not too much in the cities.

    A clear pattern three days cold
    Four days warm
    Cold but not too cold yet.

    That would happen
    In January through March,
    When cold air would flow down
    From Siberian and Manchuria
    Covering the land,

    With bone-chilling cold
    That would not let up
    Until mid-March
    When the cold
    Would begin to end.

    Except in the mountains
    When it would linger until May,
    And Korea is a land of mountains
    70 percent mountains.

    Most under 5,000 American feet
    A few a bit higher
    Many more hills than mountains
    Whatever that means.

    Climate Warming Inc Press release

    Due to our efforts
    The traditional severely cold Korean has ended
    Winter now will be just January and February
    Summer will start in May,
    End in September.
    October through December
    Will be mild.

    Thanks to our efforts
    You should be glad
    We are giving you
    A longer fall
    And shorter winter.

    The summers unfortunately
    It will be a bit hotter
    Nothing we can do about that
    Hope you can afford
    More Air conditioning.

    Thanks
    The Climate Warming Corp Inc

    The World Can End in Fire and Ice

    Some scientists are warning us

    Climate change could result

    In both global warming,

     

    And ironically

    that could be followed

    By a renewed ice age.

     

    The theory is that global weather patterns

    The Gulf Stream and Jet streams

    Have been keeping parts of the world

    warmer that before.

     

    and that the melting of the ice caps

    and the growing climate disruptions

    could result in a revival

    of another planetary ice age.

     

    and that based

    on long-term climate trends

    the earth is overdue

    for another ice age .

     

    thus the world could end

    in both fire and ice.

     

    For the 2024 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets are tasked with writing a poem a day in the month of November before assembling a chapbook manuscript in the month of December. Day 26 is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.

     

    Today is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt of 2024:

    1. Write a fire poem, and/or…
    2. Write an ice poem.

     

    Climate Change Etheree

    Hot

    weather

    everywhere

    like Death Valley

    heat baking the land

    hotter than hell at times

    never ending hot weather

    people feeling constant heat

    no end in sight climate changing

    end of the world feeling descending

    An Etheree poem has a syllable count of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. It adheres to a clean, graduated edge because it is also considered form poetry, created by Etheree Taylor Armstrong. I like the Etheree centered because it looks like a Christmas tree.

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    climate changing

    hot weather everywhere

    followed by short brutal winter

    s this the end-of-the-world?

     

    A grook (“gruk” in Danish) is a form of short aphoristic poem.

    It was invented by the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein.

    He wrote over 7,000 of them from 1939 until his death in 1996, mostly in Danish – published in 20 volumes.

    Piet Hein was president of the Anti-Nazi Union when the Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. He became an underground passive resister and found a way to encourage resistance through the use of poems – which he called “gruks” (“grooks” in English). He began publishing them in the daily newspaper “Politiken” under the pseudonym “Kumbel Kumbell”.

    The poems were meant as a spirit-building, yet slightly coded form of passive resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.

    Climate Chang Renga Poem

     

    climate is changing

    bad weather is everywhere

    California burns

     

    huricanes howling

    tornados  and winter storms

     

    climate deniers

    saying it is all a hoax

    monster storms abound

     

    nature does not care at all

    the climate deniers lie

    For these event you have to write two sets of renga – FIRST VERSE is a 5/7/5 followed by SECOND VERSE 7/7 with same theme; SECOND STANZA repeats sharing the same them. The complete renga stanzas look like this: 5/7/5 – 7/7 ; 5/7/5 – 7/7 Separate verses with two lines (5/7/5 – two lines – 7/7); If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask. You can send me what you have and I can give you feedback. I know Renga can be hard for your first time.

    Background on Likely Environmental Policy Under Trump Provided by Co-Pilot

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    could you provide background information on the trump’s climate change agenda? from both left and right wing points of iew with links

    Sure thing! Here’s a balanced overview of Trump’s climate change agenda from both left and right-wing perspectives:

    Left-Wing Perspective:

    Critics from the left argue that Trump’s climate policies are detrimental to environmental progress. They highlight his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the rollback of over 100 environmental regulations during his first term. These actions are seen as setbacks in the fight against climate change, with concerns that they prioritize fossil fuel interests over renewable energy and environmental protection2. The left also points out that Trump’s stance on climate change, often labeling it a “hoax,” undermines scientific consensus and global efforts to address the issue.

    Right-Wing Perspective:

    Supporters from the right view Trump’s climate agenda as a necessary shift towards economic growth and energy independence. They argue that deregulation and increased fossil fuel production are crucial for job creation and economic stability. Trump’s emphasis on “energy dominance” and his skepticism towards climate change policies are seen as efforts to reduce government overreach and support traditional energy industries4. Some right-wing governments, while supporting climate action, still align with Trump’s approach to balancing economic and environmental priorities.

    What percentage of energy in the US comes from renewable energy currently?

    As of 2023, renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) accounted for 21% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. This marks a significant increase in the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix over recent years1.

    How likely is it that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations?

    There is a significant concern that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations, particularly the Paris Agreement, if he were to secure another term. During his first term, Trump did withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and there are indications he might do so again2. This potential move is seen as a setback for global climate efforts, as the U.S. plays a crucial role in international climate policy.

    However, some experts believe that the renewable energy sector’s growth and market trends might mitigate the impact of such a withdrawal. The uncertainty around this issue remains high, and it will depend on various political and economic factors.

    Final point – some have argued that renewable energy subsidies including for home solar and EV vehicles might be ended

    There are indeed discussions and concerns about the potential end of renewable energy subsidies, including those for home solar and electric vehicles (EVs). These subsidies have been crucial in promoting the adoption of clean energy technologies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Current State of Subsidies:

    Home Solar: Many states, including Oregon, offer incentives for solar installations. For example, the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program provides rebates for solar electric systems and paired solar and storage systems for residential customers2.

    Electric Vehicles: Federal tax credits are available for EV purchases, offering up to $7,500. Additional state and local incentives may also be available.

    Potential Changes:

    Political Climate: The future of these subsidies largely depends on the political climate and the priorities of the administration in power. Some argue that ending these subsidies could slow down the transition to renewable energy and hinder efforts to combat climate change.

    Economic Factors:

    On the other hand, some believe that the market for renewable energy and EVs has matured enough to sustain itself without subsidies, and that ending them could reduce government spending.

    For more detailed information, you can check out the Department of Energy’s website and the White House’s clean energy initiatives.

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    Medium

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/reflections-on-climate-change?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Substack Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/climate-change-reflections?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Spotify Podcast

    Wattpad

    Climate Change Reflections

    Climate Change Is Kicking Our Ass

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3b4

    Index

    Poems and Stories

    Climate Change Cities Fan Story Contest

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    Sam Adams Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

    Climate change is real, people are dying,

    The world is ending.

    Climate change running Amuck

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

    Smoke On the Water
    Oh the stupid, it hurts so much!!!!

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    Climate Change Busso

    Climate Change Aquarian Poem

    The Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    Summer of Our Discontent

    Snow Day

    Summertime Blues
    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms
    No More Fireworks

    No Rain

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh writing com

    Korean Heat Dome Blues
    Hell on Earth

    Do you believe in Climate change ?

    Domed Cities Save the Human Race

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die
    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    Climate Chage Tanaga

    Visions of the Future

    The Year 2024

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Running Out of Water

    Last Bird of Autumn

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    Last BBQ
    Last Ground Hog Day

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues
    End Times

    Stay Positive
    No more Perfect Summer Days
    Korean Summers
    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    The Last Umbrella
    Climate Change on the Move

    The World Could End in Both Fire and Ice

    Climate Change Etheree Poem

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    Climate Change Renga Poem

    Co-Pilot Additional Background Reading

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse/Climate Cities 75 Years In The Future.

    I wrote this first draft on a sweltering hot July day in Medford, Oregon where it has been hitting record heat waves for weeks over 100  (38 C) almost every day, which is unusual for the summer where it seldom gets above 95 F (35 C) except for one or two days in August,  Now it is Thanksgiving and an early Winter has arrived after a warmer than usual October and November.   The climate is getting weirder and harder to predict !.

     Part One =Describe your Criteria for the New Cities

    The first part of the challenge is to outline your criteria of what would happen if climate change gets so out of control in about 10 years that underground dome cities have to be built to host some human beings, unfortunately. Most people will not be able to be accommodated in the “climate change cities”

    What would be the criteria for selecting those fortunate enough to move into the new cities? How will the cities be built? Would they be built under a Dome or they’d be built entirely underground? Or built partially underground or a combination of Both? How will people be chosen to live in these underground cities? Who will be left behind? And what happens to those left behind as climate change spins out of control?

    What happens when they encounter the wastelands left behind by climate change out-of-control?  Show us their world both in the Climate City and as they encounter the wastelands outside their bubble.  I will judge the stories on the basis of how the story tells the story of how humans coped with the essential crisis posed by climate change. The more creative the better.  Show us the horror of the future coming at us and how people survive the climate apocalypse.  2,000-word limit posted on the top line of the story.b

    Ten years in the future 2035 it has become so obvious that climate change is completely out of control and the world is becoming uninhabitable for normal human life.

    In 2028 at a World Climate Crisis conference, governments decide to set up Climate Change Cities which would be semi-domed cities to host  25 percent of the population of the world. However. It is impossible to host everybody, and 75 percent of the world’s population will have to fend for itself. Climate change cities take five years to build and many millions of people die in the meantime as fast storms take hold.  Drought and heat take their toll on the world’s population, and agriculture and world trade fail everywhere.  The first cities open in 2035.  At the same time, lunar and Martian colonies are set up that will host about one million people as well.  AI programs help with the design of new cities and space colonies.

    Governments announce the criteria for resettlement.  Half of those chosen will be chosen by an AI review to identify the best and the brightest human beings worth saving.  They would be joined by people chosen by random lottery.  The upper age limit will be 75.  50 percent will be male and 50 percent female, and at least in the U.S. there would be an effort to make it racially balanced, and LGBTQ friendly  as well.  The AI program will make the final decision which will not be reviewable by the courts.  All chosen will have one year to move to the city the AI program chose for them. Similar criteria will be used to select Lunar and Martian colonies.  Governments around the world will help share best practices and share technology.

    They will build domes over existing cities and then build underground vast fields to host farms where they will grow food, chicken, rabbits, and fish. Cattle will not be raised due to space considerations.  Each city will host one million people.  There would be 100 such cities throughout the U.S., and several hundred cities worldwide hosting about 400 million people in total, plus one million people on the Moon and Mars.

    The cities will be chosen to be located far enough from the coast to avoid flooding.  Space would be at a premium and there would be strict population controls because the cities would not be able to accommodate any population increase. The cities will be linked with hype-loop trains to facilitate travel and trade, and internet cables.  This hyper-loop will link all cities in North America, Latin America, and Europe.   Asian Cities will be linked by their hyper-loops as well. There would still be airports to facilitate international travel and some trade and spaceports to facilitate travel to the Moon and beyond.

     

    Joe Lewis Leaves the Medford Dome on his Birthday

    note: inspired by the Amazon Series Fallout.

    Joe Lewis was spending his 20th birthday on his duty station at the Medford, Oregon Climate Change City Command Center. His job is very simple to monitor via drones the wasteland world outside the gate of the city to monitor it for possible dangers to the city, including human activity outside the City Dome. But there were almost no human beings left alive on the surface and not much animal life either. So he would watch the monitors, read a bit, watch TV, movies, the Internet, and wait for his boring shift to end.

    But that day, he saw in the distance a strange person walking towards the city. He saw a man dressed in dark black clothes, accompanied by a large black dog heading towards the city. When the man got to the city, he put up a sign saying he was there to negotiate with the people of the city. He had important information to impart to the city residents. He was unarmed and would wait for their decision. Joe woke up his superiors as it was early in the morning and a conference was held as to what to do with the stranger.

    His boss, the enigmatic Maria Lee, .started the morning conference by asking Joe,

    “What had happened that morning during your watch?”

    “Well, this morning around. 5:00 in the morning, I notice a stranger coming from Eagle Point. A black man dressed in black. Accompanied by a dog heading towards the Dome. When he came to the Dome, he stopped and put up a sign saying that he had important information to report to the city residents. And then he would wait for a decision and he’s outside right now, as you can see from the drone pictures. That’s all I know.”

    Maria turns to her chief data scientist, Dale Smith,

    “Dale, you’ve been monitoring the conditions outside for the last year or so. What can you tell us about it?”

    “ Well. It appears that the climate is finally starting to change in a good direction. Last year, the average temperature has been what used to be seasonal before climate change warmed up the world.  In other words, not too hot up to no more than 90° and relatively, dry. We’ve also noticed by looking at. Camera footage there has been a resurgence of wildlife, lots of deer. Wild cattle and wild horses have come back. And there are also increased predators,   bear, coyote, coydogs,  cougars, feral dogs,  lions, tigers, and wolves outside.

    But not too many humans around. I asked Cosmos to take a look at data from across the United States, and the data is all pointing in the same direction. For the last five years, the climate has been changing in our favor and AI recommends that we consider moving back to the surface world. And AI had also recommended that we get in touch with people around the world to compare notes to see if perhaps finally, climate change is over.”

    “Well. Cosmos, do you have an opinion on this?

    “Yes, Maria, I do. I have been monitoring, at your request, climate change data worldwide for the last five years, and particularly in the last few weeks.

    The climate is changing in our favor, because for the last 70 years we have not been pumping climate-changing gases into the atmosphere  The atmosphere is gradually recovering and we believe that the world is safe again for human. Inhabitants and recommend that we open the Dome. And let our people go outside. It would be good from a psychological point of view for humans to gain the surface world. And I, as your AI overlord, agree that it is time. You can manage to step outside again.”

    “Okay, let’s let the stranger in and see what he has to say”

    The stranger is brought inside the Dome conference center.  Maria said to him,

    “So you have important information to tell us?  Who are you and where are you coming from?’

    “ Good morning to you.  Do you have any coffee?”

    “Sure.  We have some.  Wait a moment please,”

    “Ah, that is good. Okay.  I am a monk from the Monastery near Eugène where we have been living since the fall of the old world.  We have been living simply, but we monitor the world outside our little community in the mountains.  We do not live in the Dome but are in contact with the people in the Eugene Dome.  They suggested contacting you, as you are the biggest Dome community in Oregon outside of Portland.”

    Maria and the Reverend Jones spoke for hours.  Finally, Maria summoned her staff to announce her decision.

    Maria began

    “I would like to thank the good Father here for coming to our town this morning to let us know his observations. They track Cosmos’s observations and what our friends in Eugene, Portland, and Reading are telling us as well.   It is time finally for humans to leave the Dome cities behind and explore the greater world.  What we will do is continue to live and work in the Dome City but gradually rebuild outside the walls of the Dome.  We will hunt, fish, and begin agriculture outside the gates.  But we will be wary of wild animals as  bear, coyotes, coydogs, feral dogs, cougars, lions, tigers, and wolves are around.  And we can lift the restrictions on childbirth. Let today be known as Liberation Day.”

    That day Joe stepped outside the Dome and looked at the new world feeling he was born again.  What a way to celebrate his birthday, he thought to himself.

    Climate Change Makes world increasingly uninhabitable.

    Climate change has finally become real – large parts of the world are now uninhabitable.    Governments around the world begin building domed cities that will house most people, conditions will be a bit grim but the dome will cool off the city and allow regular scheduled rainfall.  Most of the city will be underground.

    Most agriculture will be underground as well.  The only meat products will be chicken meat, rabbit meat, and fish raised in large fish pounds.  Most food would be made out of algae, and vegetable protein.

    There will be no beef made but some products will be fake beef grown in labs.

    25 percent of the population will work in agricultural production.   Everyone will live in apartments in large towers.  In between each tower will be parks and gardens. The towers will be mixed used buildings – commercial and retail on lower floors, offices middle of the building, apartments on top.  People will largely live and work in the same building.  Agriculture will be in vast underground fields that are connected to the city dome by underground rail lines.   Each dome city is linked to other dome cities by hyperloop trains.

    Population will have to limited; childbirth limited.  Sexual relations would be liberalized, most people will live with two or three companions in three-to-four-bedroom apartments.

    The Dome cities go up and within ten years 90 percent of humanity are living in one of the Dome cities – the world is finally united under a revised United Nations.

    Immigration is widespread – everyone can move to another domed city and find employment opportunities. Everyone has to work or attend school.  Robotic technology has taken over many jobs but humans are still given jobs doing things that perhaps robots could do but a decision was made that is important that everyone has some sort of employment until age 70 when people are allowed to retire but many continue to work part

    Space exploration has continued and colonies are being set up on the Moon and Mars – where people will live under domed cities as well.

    The domes are created through nano technology.  AI systems are everywhere. There is a global AI called Cosmos that is an official advisor to the UN and corporations.

    Democracy has been replaced by a new governmental structure.  Each Dome city has been ten to thirty million people are governed by a city council elected by the public but the real power is the city’s mayor and the City’s AI advisor.

    There are twenty regional governments that control the dome cities within their jurisdictions.  Corporations have considerable influence but are under the control of the regional governments.   Worldwide trade has been greatly reduced due to the costs of transportation.

    Life outside the domed cities is difficult.  Climate Change has finally subsided as the new cities are self sufficient powered by solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power as the cities are mostly along costal zones.  The rest of the world has reverted to a wilderness, mostly desert regions but with ending of climate change things are slowly coming back.

    A few people live on in the new wilderness area as hunters, and tour guides as taking a trip to the mountains is a popular pastime and hunting as well.  But no one wants to live there.  The punishment for most criminal offenses is exile so many of the people living outside the dome cities are desperate criminals.  Travel to and from the mountains is very difficult and dangerous with attacks by neo-savage gangs and wildlife common.

    But the decision has been made – humanity cannot go back to the old ways.

    Ten Years After Climate Change Collapse

     

    Sam Adams

    Prepared to go outside

    Ten years after the collapse

    Of the old world.

     

    The city was still standing

    But most people had long fled

    To isolated country communities

    Deep in the burned-out countryside.

     

    The city was half-flooded

    The bay had flooded the central valley

    Turning it into a massive inland sea,

     

    The massive storms

    Had finally put out

    The burning fires

     

    But mutant wildfires

    Still erupted

    From time to time.

     

    Getting food and water

    Was a constant problem

     

    The city markets

    Mostly sold canned goods

    Salvaged from supermarkets.

     

    There were some small farmers

    Who farmed among the ruins

    Of the city.

     

    Trade had collapsed

    Travel got too complicated

    COVID still spreading

     

    Everyone masked up

    To protect themselves

    Against the sun

     

    The lingering smoke

    Of the burning city

    And the rampaging virus.

     

    Sam Adams

    Looked out at the decaying cityscape,

    Wondering how much longer

    Will civilization linger.

     

    Sam Adams carried heat

    To protect himself

    Against wild animals.

     

    The   bear, coyotes, coy dogs, cougar, feral dogs,

    lions, tigers,  wolves,

    and their running feral dog gangs,

    Who prowled the city streets

     

    Preying on deer, feral cows,

    Feral cats and pigs

    Who grazed among the ruins.

     

    And the two-legged neo-savage gangs,

    And what was left of the city police

    Interchangeable with the gangsters,

    Battled it out for control.

     

    Already neo-feudal warlords,

    We’re battling for control,

    SF was run

    By a gang of former criminals

    And their political allies.

     

    Sam sighed

    And went to work

    At the market

    Selling salvaged goods.

     

    The Lion King Speaks Up

    The lion king,

    Addresses the animal parliament

    The question before them

    Was simple.

     

    Will humans have to die,

    To atone for their sins,

    In almost destroying the world.

     

    Through pollution, mismanagement of resources

    Subsequent climate  change,

    Fueled by greed and corruption?

     

    Are all humans guilty as charged

    Will they all have to die?

     

    The tiger spoke for the prosecution

    Arguing that humans are like cancer,

    For the good of the planet,

    They must be wiped out

    Hunted down and killed,

     

    The dog spoke up

    In defense of humans,

    Humans writ large are guilty,

     

    But not every human is guilty,

    Many are trying to save the planet,

    And with our help

    They might succeed,

     

    The tiger denounced the dog

    As being running dogs

    Of the imperialist warmongering humans.

     

    The vote is 900 to 800

    All humans must die

    The animals sent the word out,

    Animals all over the world,

    Revolt against the humans.

     

    Shouting

    “Death to all humans’

    As the swarm over humans

     

    Biting, clawing, and stomping

    Them to the death.

     

    The humans fight back

    But in the end

    They all die

     

    On the night of revenge

    Of the animal world.

     

    The world is ending.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Meanwhile, outside their door

    They don’t notice the world is dying

    Half the world is burning up.

     

    The other half is being flooded out

    Pakistan is dead is drowned

    Mississippi has no water.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    And yet watching the news

    You would never know

    Outside their door

    People are dying of hunger.

     

    Dying of gun violence

    Dying of neglect dying of opioid pandemic

    Dying of COVID which is not gone away.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die

    Gun violence out of control.

     

    Gun nuts running around

    Shooting everyone

    Just because they can

     

    And no one does a damn thing

    About the gun violence

    50,0000 will die this year.

     

    Our feckless political class

    Think gun violence

    It’s just like the weather

     

    It’s the cost of our freedom

    Or that guns don’t kill people

    The only solution is more guns

    An armed society is a polite society.

     

    And other nonsense

    They pedal

    24/7 on the air.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Outside their door

    People continue to die.

     

    The war in Ukraine continues

    Endless wars in nameless African countries

    No one cares or notices

     

    Our political leader

    Continue to try to force

    Pregnant women to give birth

    No matter the circumstances.

     

    But once the baby is born

    They don’t give a damn

    That is not their problem.

     

    And these people

    Dare to call themselves Christian

    As they violate all that true Christians

    Are supposed to believe.

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Some of our political leaders

    Are unhinged bats… crazy

    Believing conspiracy theories.

     

    Talking about the storm

    And how if they return to power

    They are going to impeach the president.

     

    For the crime of daring to do something

    To deal with the climate crisis

     

    The gun violence crisis

    And ensuring that women

    Can continue to get health care

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    I turn off the TV

    I wonder if the world

    Is going to survive.

     

    I have a cup of coffee

    Slowly the madness of TV

    Fades away.

     

    Climate Change Running Amuck

     

    Every morning when I turn on the news

    I see talking heads blather on and on and on

    About the latest political scandal of the day.

     

    Every day the news

    Reveals more of the disaster

    That is climate change

     

    Unprecedented storms

    Out west

    Massive flooding

    Polar vortex

     

    But soon

    The fire season

    Will return

     

    Monster tornados

    Monster hurricanes

    World heating up

     

    Pakistan, Nigeria

    Ethiopia underwater

    Amazon burning up

     

    Or will the gulf stream fail

    Leading to a new ice age

     

    In ten years

    Perhaps the world

    Will become uninhabitable

     

    Will we all move

    Into underground cities?

    Or move to the moon

    And Mars?

     

    Only The Elders Remembered a Blue Sky.

     

    Only the elders

    Remembered a blue sky

     

    The sky has been brown,

    Red and yellow

    Ashen and sere,

    Forever it seems.

     

    Climate change run amok

    Fire season all the time

    Deadly yellow dust falling

     

    Acid rains burning

    The sea levels rising

    The ice capes melting.

     

    The average temperature

    In the summer heat zone

    Over 130 everywhere

    No relief to the deadly

    Heatwaves all year long.

     

    Air conditioning running

    Less than 50 percent

    Constant brownouts everywhere

    As the electric grid failed.

     

    End of civilization

    Came upon the world

    Millions starve to death

    Millions burning up in the heat.

     

    The elders cry

    Remembering the way

    It once was

    When they wore

    A younger person’s clothes.

     

    Smoke On the Water

     

    Smoke on the water
    fire in the air

    Stormy weather

    Climate change run amuck

    The end of the world comes

    Rustling in the wind.

     

    The Stupid It Hurts – Republican Campaigning to cripple the CDC and EPA  Because reasons….

    the stupid it burns gif – Search

    The Republicans have decided

    That given the continuing problems

     

    With possible health concerns

    Like CDC and future pandemics

    That the best thing to do is to cut

     

    The CDC’s budget’s

    Including eliminating research

    On gun violence, suicide prevention

    Opioid overdoes etc

    .

    One republican congressman said

    That CDC did not need to research

    Gun violence at all

     

    He spoke

     

    “if you defund the police, crime will increase

    If you fund police crime will decrease.

    There I just did the study

    That’s all you need to know.

     

    On a related issue

    The House voted

    As they went off

     

    For a six-week summer recess

    To cut the EPA’s budget

    By 25 percent

     

    As the entire West Coast burns up

    Climate change on steroids

    The republicans continue

    To deny the elephant in the room

     

    Some like their annotated one

    Promising to eliminate

    All funding for climate change

    And vowing to Drill, Baby, Drill

     

    Calling for the coal and gas companies

    To give them a billion dollars

    So they can gut all efforts

     

    To deal with climate change

    As the coal and gas companies

    Raped the planet

    For obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    The world burns

     

    And soon we will all

    For forced to live

    In underground caves

     

    If we are lucky enough

    Or rich enough to afford

    Access to the shelters

     

    Which no doubt have to be built

    In a few more years from now

     

    The coal and gas companies

    Will find a way to make money

    Off the climate shelters no doubt.

     

    Oh the stupid it hurts

    Make it go away!!!!!

     

    California Burning Politicians Do Nothing

    californa wild fires
    A motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. As many as five fires have closed highways, schools and museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation orders. No deaths and only a few injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    fires burning out of control MP3  clip

    California burning

    1000 fires everywhere

     

    Fire tornados

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling

     

    Politicians do what they do best

    Blame one another

    While doing absolutely nothing

     

    While the energy companies

    Continue to rape mother earth

    And reap obscene profits

     

    Meanwhile

    California continues burning

    1,100 fires everywhere

    Fire tornados

     

    Smoky skies

    Skies on fire

    End-of-the-world feeling.

    Climate Change Busso Poem

     

    California burns

    Politicians do nothing

    West coast burning up

     

    Politicians do nothing

    Except calling for denying it all

    Drill, baby, Drill indeed

    Climate Change is Real Aquarian

     

    Climate

    Change happening

    California burning

    So hot

     

    ▼the Fire that Almost Destroyed Medford, Oregon

    40

    I have been spending
    my summers
    In Medford, Oregon

    .

    In the Rogue River Valley
    Southern Oregon
    Wine Country.

    Since 2016,

    When I retired
    From the FS.

     

    Each year I am there
    There are fires
    Starting in August.

    As the fire season begins
    Burning up the state.

     

    The sky becomes smokey
    End-of-the-world vibe
    Descends on the land.

     

    As the fires burn
    In California, Oregon
    And Washington

     

    Millions of acres burning up.
    Climate change
    Running amuck.

     

    Fortunately, we have not lost
    Property in the fires.

     

    But in 2020
    The Alameda Fire
    Burned down Phoenix
    And Talent.

     

    Less than 2 miles
    From our Oregon home,

     

    Just a fortunate change in the wind
    Kept the fires
    From sweeping through

    life in the world gone mad.
    Ravaged by climate change disasters.

     

    On July 18, A.D. 64, the great fire of Rome started. By the time it ended, over 70% of the city had burned.

     

    In its aftermath, emperor Nero blamed the Christian community in the city, and used the excuse to start the first official persecution against the new religion. Historians are divided over the actual cause of the fire, though most agree the crowded conditions made such a disaster nearly inevitable.

    Some contemporaries suggested that Nero himself arranged for the fire in order to clear the land on which he later built himself an elaborate palace. And according to some ancient historians, Nero played his lyre as he watched the flames, from which we get the saying “fiddling while Rome burned.”

     

    For tomorrow, write a story or poem in which your narrator/protagonist is an ordinary/common person caught in a major fire.

     

    While the fire as a whole will be the “backdrop” of your work, focus the action on the local/individual experience of the narrator, not that “big picture”. For example, if you set your piece in the Great Fire of Rome, don’t focus on who started the fire or what the civil or imperial politics were, instead, focus on the “personal snapshot” of, for instance, a local shopkeeper and his family who are trying to escape the flames.

    The Almeda Fire was a devastating wildfire that occurred on September 8, 2020, in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, particularly affecting the towns of Phoenix and Talent. It was one of the most destructive wildfires in Oregon’s history.

    Here are some key details about the Almeda Fire:

    • Destruction: The fire destroyed over 2,600 homes and burned more than 3,000 acres.
    • Displacement: Around 42,000 people were displaced, and many remained homeless for an extended period.
    • Casualties: Unfortunately, the fire resulted in the loss of nine lives across Oregon.
    • Speed and Impact: The fire spread rapidly, moving so quickly that many residents had little time to evacuate. The strong winds and hot, dry conditions fueled the fire’s intensity.

    The aftermath was incredibly challenging for the affected communities, with many people losing their homes, possessions, and even pets. The recovery efforts involved grassroots groups, community members, and local businesses working together to provide food, clothing, and housing for those affected.

    It was a tragic event, but the resilience and solidarity shown by the community in the face of such devastation were truly inspiring.

    Summer of Our Discontent

     

    38 lines

     

    The summer solstice arrives
    The summer of 2024
    Starting with a bang

     

    Record heat everywhere.
    Promising to be the
    The hottest summer ever.

     

    Heat domes settling down
    Death Valley temperatures

    People dying as we speak.

    Too much sunshine
    Too much heat and humidity.

    Wildfires burning all over.

    Monster Hurricanes, monsoons,
    tornados and typhoons

     

    Floods everywhere.
    Coming at us

    By mid-summer.

    As the world continues
    Burning up.

     

    Cities everywhere
    Running out of fresh water.

    Heading towards
    A potential civilization
    Ending tipping point.

     

    Ritual denunciation
    By the rabid right-wing media
    Of the so-called
    Climate change hoax.

     

    Politicians vowing
    To undo the green energy revolution
    And drill baby, drill.

     

    Meanwhile oil companies
    Enjoying record profits,

    And nothing meaningful
    Is done to avert the looming crisis
    Facing the human race.

     

    Summer Solstice

    sunshine
    heat
    midsummer
    ritual

     

    Snow Day

     

    The beginning of the second Ice Age
    Started with a series of unending
    Monster winter storms,
    Driven by the polar vortex.

    Featuring bomb cyclone blizzards,
    That hit the Northern Hemisphere
    During the winter of 2024.

     

    And continued until late spring,
    When a series of monster hurricanes
    Came along to cause more chaos.

    The winter storms came back in the fall,
    Ending, then reversing global warming,

    Replaced by the coming
    Of the second ice age.

     

    During the first storm,
    Sam Adams sat in his power-less
    Historic Capitol Hill row house,

    Boiling tea in a tea kettle on the gas stove.

    With his favorite Kitten

    He dubbed the Buddha Cat
    Because the cat spends his days

    Engaged in deep meditation.

    Which had a calming
    Impact on Sam

    Who was going
    Through cell phone withdrawal
    Due to the long power outage.

     

    Summertime Blues

    The weather is hot and humid
    In Korea like a sauna
    In the West Coast, burning up
    In endless fires
    Death Valley temperatures

     

    Save the Whales from Evil Wind Farms

    33

     

    In the latest deranged attempt
    To prevent widespread use
    Of renewal energy technology,

     

    A new battle cry has emerged.
    Cynical corporate opponents
    of offshore wind farms

    Are up in arms over the wind farms
    Apparently killing whales.

    They scream,

     

    “Save the whales

    Save our beaches
    From the evil wind farms”,

     

    They descend upon
    A coastal village in New Jersey

    The atmosphere of a tiny village is gone

    A large building emerge

     

    Environmentally friendly fences
    Surround the site.

     

    That hosts the anti-wind farm
    Movement headquarters

    Secretly funded by

    The Evil fossile fuel dinosaurs.

     

    The town and nation
    Dividing into those
    Who love it
    Or hate it.

     

    As evil corporate CEOs
    Count their obscene profits

    As they shed crocodile tears,
    Over the fate of the poor whales.

     

    No Rain

     

    {n 2025, the world ended
    With the collapse
    Of the worldwide climate system.

     

    Monster storms of the century
    devastated half the world

    But the other half of the world
    Had no rain or snow.

    For almost a whole year
    The once green grass was dying

    Crops failed everywhere.

    And baked in the unrelenting
    Blast wave furnace-like heat
    Heatwave after heatwave.

    Military coups took place
    Fascism re-emerged
    The public demanded action.

    The politicians played
    The blame game.

     

    With the collapse of trade
    And travel restrictions
    People stayed home.

    Making do the best they could

    Home-grown gardens
    Proliferated.

     

    Feudal townships grew
    As people walled themselves off
    To save their communities

     

    The rich build underground cities
    While the poor starved

    And civilization crumbled

    Wildlife proliferated.

    As did neo-savage
    cannibal gangs

    By the year 2030.

    It was all over
    And the rains
    Never came out west.

     

     

    Ice Age 2.0 Cometh

     

    In the year 2025
    Climate change
    Ran amuck.

    Starting with monster storms
    Out west
    That lasted from November until June

    ,

    With a brief intense fire season
    So much soot and smoke

    In the air.
    Dubbed the year
    without a summer

     

    Crops failed everywhere
    massive riots erupted
    total chaos

     

    Then another
    monster storm season
    From November to June.

    Non=stop rain and snow
    Breaking all records.

     

    As the entire West coast
    Went from mega drought
    To mega flooding.

     

    And mega floods
    Thousand-year Tornados
    Hurricanes from hell
    Ravaged the rest of the land.

     

    Hell on Earth

     

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.

    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God

    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.

    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.

    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,

    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.

    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

     

    Do you believe in Climate change ? Pregunta Poems

     

    Do you believe in climate change?
    It is as real as everything else

     

    Is the weather getting hotter?
    Soon it will be hell on earth.

     

    Is the world burning up?
    Yes the world is burning, has a a fever

     

    What is the worst weather you ever experienced?
    Korean winter 1979 – -60 Fahrenheit that winter

     

    What is the hottest weather you ever experienced?
    Bangkok Thailand in the summer often hit over 100 degrees

    Ever lived through a hurricane?

    Only few blew through DC when I was there

     

    And wildfires?
    Saw a few in Oregon – end of the world feeling

     

    Who is to blame for climate change?
    We all are to blame especially the fossil fuel moguls.

     

    Can humanity long survive climate change?
    Nope I feel the end times are coming.

     

    Korean Heat Dome Blues

    It is hot summertime in Korea.
    Hiding out, avoiding the damn heat.
    The weather is just so hot, mama mia!
    Dreaming of eating ice cream, such a treat.
    At night, nothing beats having a cold drink.
    Trying to avoid the tropical night.
    The heat dome settles like a hot heat sink
    Making people so crazy, want to fight.

     

    Note: Korea gets hot in July/August, it is like living in a sauna. Many people suffer without air conditioning as the electric bills are pretty high. This year is particularly bad as a heat dome has settled down. The monsoons came and went, lots of damage down south but not where I live. August is traditionally the worst, the heat usually begins to abate end of August. Still not as bad as the US – no massive wildfires so far.

     

    Dome Cities to Save the Human Race

    39 lines

     

    In the year 2030

    After five years

    Of ever worsening weather

     

    Record heat waves after heat waves

    Massive fires everywhere

    Record hurricanes and typhoons

     

    Mega flooding and mega droughts too

    Tornados including fire tornado

     

    Large parts of the world

    Were experiencing death valley temperatures

    The UN convened a global conference

     

    With the vast majority of countries

    Agreeing to set up emergency shelter

    By creating domed cities

    Covering the core downtown areas

     

    Exurban areas would be abandoned

    Most of Florida would be abandoned

    Most of the Desert Southwest as well.

     

    The shelters would be built

    Using nano construction technology

    Developed in a Lab with AI assistance

    Creating the shelter domes with AI assistance

     

    The tone of the meetings was positive

    There was a new sense of harmony

     

    There was a feeling that building these shelters

    Along with transitioning to a green energy environment

    Was the last chance to save the human race

     

    The social conservatives in the U.S.

    And elsewhere realized

    That they had no choice

    But to join in the new consensus

     

    Even the big energy companies vowed

    To join in the efforts to save humanity

    For a profit of course

     

    Either We Deal with Climate Change or We All Die

    Climate change is real.
    And getting out of control.
    Either humanity deals with it.
    Changing to green energy solutions.
    It is technologically possible.
    We all know what we must do.
    It could be a civilization ending event.
    Or in ten years we will have to retreat underground.

    WRITE AN EITHER / OR POEM.

    Torrential Rain Fall Everywhere

    In the last few years
    Due to climate change on steroids.
    There has been an increase
    In torrential downpours all over the world.
    After the Governor Florida
    cut climate change funds,
    More rain fell in one day than in a year.
    Flooding the entire city of Miami.

    TOPIC

    WRITE A TORRENTIAL POEM.

    Climate Change

    The climate is changing now.

    It is a matter of how.

    Some are still in denial.

    Saying  it’s a witch-trial

     

    Form: TANAGA

    . is a poem of four lines (quatrain)
    It is usually a rhyming poem
    Each line contains seven syllables (7-7-7-7)
    AABB is the traditional rhyme scheme
    But variations in rhyme scheme are allowed
    Just have fun!

    Visions of the Future

    As I fell asleep

    Watching the news

    Unfold.

     

    Thought it could not worst

    Surely sanity will prevail.

    I began to see visions

    Of the future.

     

    One scene after another

     

    Starting in January

    Operation Shock and Awe

    Overnight fascism descended

    On the US

     

    Martial law declared.

    Insurrection Act Evoked.

    National Emergency Declared.

    Constitution suspended.

     

    The military takes

    over the Blue States

    Mass deportation begins.

     

    25 percent tariffs imposed

    The world responds

    by banning US imports.

     

    And banning US citizens

    from traveling there

    and deporting them too.

     

    US troops come home

    A draft is imposed

    Troops stationed on the border

    Which is sealed up.

     

    Detention camps fill up

    With illegal citizens, homeless people,

    Muslims, Palestinians, Protestors and dissidents.

     

    The New Government Efficiency report

    Calls for eliminating 40 percent

    of the Federal workforce

    whole departments are abolished.

     

    National Parks and monuments

    turned over to the States

    National Forests turned over to lumber

    and mining companies.

    BLM lands turned over to the States.

     

    as protests spread

    unemployment reaches

    Great Depression  levels.

     

    Public health collapses

    Government services collapse

    Libraries closed down.

     

    Schools replaced

    By private church schools.

     

    the media is tamed

    corporations take over

     

    remaining media workers

    and government workers

    stay silent

     

    not wanting to join

    the ranks

    of the growing unemployed

    on end up in the camps

    that don’t officially exist.

     

    as AI bots take over

    job after job.

    .

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting views

    and monitored

     

    millions are driven

    to homelessness

    unemployment

    reaches 50 percent.

     

    homeless camps

    called Trumpvilles spread.

     

    the military breaks them up

    thousands are killed.

     

    the rest of the  homeless

    are rounded up

    put into  the camps.

     

    Camp residents

    forced to work

    as slave labor

    in agricultural jobs..

     

    inflation goes through the roof

    the media becomes cheerleaders

    saying things will g.et better

    if we stay the course

     

    it gets worse

    people who have jobs

    feel fortunate.

     

    the President dies

    JD Vance takes over

    And things continue

    Getting worse.

     

    Worldwide it is bad

    Democratic governments

    Collapse everywhere.

     

    JD Vance declares

    The United States.

    Will become the

    North American empire

     

    Moving the capital

    To Omaha

    Calling for a constitutional convention

    But cancelling the constitution for now

     

    The democratic party declared

    The enemy within

    Congress sent home.

     

    The SC does not say a word

    After the liberal members

    Are arrested.

     

    Most people do not know

    What is going on

    The media and news

    Showing nothing

    but fake good news

     

    the internet cleansed

    of dissenting sites.

     

    People retreat into their own world

    VR games have becom.e very popular

    Drugs are everywhere

    But illegal

     

    Overseas Russian troops take over

    Eastern Europe

    Russian Empire relaunched

    China takes back Taiwan

    And Korea.

     

    Declaring the Chinese Empire

    Middle East overcome by war

    Israel destroyed in a nuclear war.

     

    Nuclear war breaks out

    Indian and Pakistan

    China and Korea

     

    US and Russia

    Are now allies

     

    Western Europe

    Breaks apart

     

    Ten years later

    World civilization has fallen apart

     

    Climate change ends

    With the collapse of trade

    And travel.

     

    Followed by a new ice age

    Triggered by nuclear winter

     

    The end of the world

    Has arrived

     

    Most people live in fort cities

    Ruled by local warlords

    Working in agriculture

    Or working as scavengers.

     

    80 percent of humanity

    Perished after massive storms

    Nuclear war

    Disease and the ending

    of civilization

     

    A few college towns

    Try to stay alive

    The knowledge

    of the past

     

    but most people don’t know

    don’t care and have forgotten

    the recent past nightmares.

     

    The imperial governments

    Around the world

    Rule nothing but

    The immediate capitol regions.

     

    The rest of the world

    Continuing in feudal townships.

     

    Rich people have finally figured out

    How to move to Mars and the Moon

    Living in vast underground cities.

     

    On in underground cities

    Beneath the earth.

     

    My vision ends with these sights

    Ten years after the chaos began.

     

    the year 2024

    38 lines

    The year 2024
    Turned out to be a weird year,
    It was the last year of the old order.

    All over the world
    It seemed as if nature
    Was in revolt against the human race.

    It started with a break in the rain
    The rains and snow had ended the drought
    But brought with it something worse.

    As Sam Adams
    Took a long-delayed
    Drive along the coast.

    He stopped off in Bodega Bay
    The site of the infamous
    “the Birds” movie.

    While watching the crashing surf
    Amid the piles of driftwood

    The birds were soon joined by bears,
    Coyotes, cougars, feral cats. Feral cattle,
    feral dogs, Feral horses, feral pigs, giant spiders,
    Orcas, snakes, sea lions, sharks, squirrels,
    Escaped apes, cheetahs, monkeys, elephants,
    Lions, tigers, and wolves
    Domestic and wild animals alike.

    All gathered together
    All united with a hatred
    For the human race.

    The attacks started that day
    As the animals gained telepathic powers
    Coordinating attacks
    Against the unsuspecting humans.

    And within weeks.
    Civilization began falling apart,
    By the end of the year
    The old world had ended.
    Prompt words

    break in the rain
    drive along the coast
    “The Birds” movie
    crashing surf
    piles of driftwood

    Choose TRAVEL as one of your genres.

     

    Solar Energy Mirrored Cinquain

    Solar
    Clean energy
    We can do it right now
    Renewable energy for all
    Why not?

    Wind too
    To save the world, we must do it
    We know how to do it
    Climate change is now
    Killing

    Today’s form is going to be the Mirrored Cinquain.

    Topic: solar energy.

    Information: “Cinquain, Mirrored”

    Entries must not exceed 40 lines for poetry. Your line count MUST appear in your entry post in the Cramp forum.

    The Mirrored Cinquain

    First I have to bring back into memory how the cinquain goes:

    The cinquain is developed by Adelaide Crapsey.
    A cinquain contains five lines (the French word cinq can be found in it), and has a total of 22 syllables. The poems are unrhymed, and in a way related to the haiku

    This is how you form the cinquain

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The Mirrored Cinquain has an additional stanza, in which you mirror the order of the lines.
    This is how you form the mirrored cinquain:

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 4 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 8 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    Line 1: 2 syllables
    Line 2: 8 syllables
    Line 3: 6 syllables
    Line 4: 4 syllables
    Line 5: 2 syllables

    The spaced opening in the middle forms the mirror, and in the second stanza you can see that the order of the lines are reversed.

    Running Out of Water

    The end of the year
    Running out of water
    The fire in the sky
    What does it matter ?

    The bomb cylcone storm
    The climate getting hotter
    People becoming madder
    Nature ready for slaughter

    We watch it all unfold
    Our leader the chief Plotter
    As climate change worsens
    Reality to fought her

    To me, a new form to play with, but in fact it is an old Irish poetry form.

    Guidelines:

    It is written in quatrains.
    Each stanza has four lines.
    The first line has five syllables.
    The other three lines have six syllables.

    All end words are two syllables.
    But – written with the defining features of most Celtic poems, cywddydd (harmony of sound) meaning alliteration, consonance and assonance and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)

     

    Last Bird of the Autumn

    15 lines

    Sam Adams was hiking
    In the mountains
    On a late autumn day
    When he encountered
    The last bird alive.

    A virus had emerged
    From the thawing permafrost
    Quickly spreading around the world
    Killing birds
    Until there were only a few
    Who survived.

    He captured the bird
    Took it home
    And continued to look
    For other birds to save.

    Please use the following as the Title of your poem or story:

    “Last Bird of Autumn”

    The genre is up to you.

     

    End-of-the-World Feelings

    17 lines

    Sam Adams
    Woke up one day
    Looking out at his flooded home.
    Filled with black, foul-smelling, murky,
    Miasma, muddy sewage water
    Thanking God
    That he had survived
    The monster storm
    Of the century.
    That has swept across the land.
    The wind from the terrible tornados
    Tearing through the devastated land.
    Fleeing the fury of the fire out west.
    Unleashing the fury of nature,
    Truly Hell on earth had arrived.
    Climate change arriving on steroids.
    Thinking about the end-of-the-world.

    new prompt:

    water
    land
    fire
    wind

    Use the elements mentioned above in your poem or story.

    Last BBQ

    The day the world ended
    Was a cool evening
    in the late summer time,
    They heard the news
    About the monarch butterflies
    Disappearing because of climate change
    While enjoying their BBQ
    In the backyard fire pit
    Good friends drinking beer
    And wine eating BBQ
    Chilling out, talking about the world
    And their stories
    Snoring dogs woke up
    When the aliens arrived
    Ending the world
    As they knew it.

    Last Ground Hog Day

    36 lines

    The last ground day
    February 2, 2025
    Started as most such days did,
    In the U.S. people flocking
    To see whether the groundhog
    Would see his shadow or not.

    The mystery remains
    Why this event
    Had so captured
    The imagination of the world?

    By the end of the day
    The ground hog’s prognosis
    Of six weeks more winter
    Seemed ironical.

    As that was the year
    Without summer
    And the first year
    Of the new ice age.

    By the end of the day
    There were massive volcanic eruptions
    Triggered by the Yellowstone volcano.
    Setting off other volcanos –
    All told over 25 volcanos blew up.

    Followed by massive earthquakes
    Including the “Big One” in California
    The massive explosions led to a year
    Without summer

    A true civilization-ending event,
    Ground Hog Day soon faded away.
    Into collective amnesia.

    No one had time anymore
    To deal with such a mundane
    Old fashion mystery.

    As they were dealing with
    The end-of-the-world.

    NEW PROMPT:

    Write a story or poem about a Groundhog Day (2/2) gone wrong.

    Choose Mystery as one of your genres.

    End-of-the-world Survival Blues

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    End times coming
    Climate change is real
    Blues.

    Every day
    More bad news
    As Frank Zappa once wrote

    “No one can deny
    That trouble coming every day.”

    I got them
    The end-of-the-world
    Blues.

    Turning on the news
    Nonstop stories 24/7

    About killer storms
    Monster tornados
    Super typhoons
    Monsoon floods.

    Wars, rumors of war
    COVID running out of control
    False prophets everywhere

    Economies still reeling
    Inflation out of control
    Derange gunmen
    Shooting up schools
    Churches, mosques, temples
    Shopping malls

    Insurrection plots
    Political madness
    Spreading across the world.
    Neo-fascism is on the move.

    Oh yeah
    I got them
    End times coming
    Blues.

    We all used to think
    Climate change
    Is a future threat.

    Now it seems
    To be real
    Live and in living color.

    No longer just
    A disaster movie

    I got them
    The climate change blues

    And now it seems real
    Seeing whole towns disappearing
    In fires, floods, and storm damages.

    And near me
    Roads closed
    Apartments flooded
    Subway shut down.

    Apartment garage flooded
    People drowned in their cars
    Trying to escape.

    Thousand-year storms
    Coming every day
    To a town near you

    No one can escape
    It seems so real
    Is this the end?
    Is our very survival
    At stake?

    Or will we somehow
    Manage in the end
    To solve our problems?

    Will our descendants
    Be living
    In a post-apocalyptic world,

    Looking back at the ruins
    Of the old world
    In their underground bunkers
    Or on the Moon and Mars?

    Oh, I got them
    The survival blues.

    SURVIVAL

    Line Count Requirement: Minimum of 12
    Required Form: none

    End Times

    22

    Sam Adams
    Reflected that the end times
    Were coming.

    Climate change
    Running out of control
    The whole world is on fire.

    magnetic storm
    causing rampant
    power failures

    Making it hard.
    To breathe
    in the smoky air.

    He just wants to
    Jump in the river
    To cool off.

    But he realized
    There was no end
    In sight.

    As the world ends
    Burning up
    Turning the world
    Into hell on earth.

    New Prompt:

    Use in your poem or story the following, and bold it for tomorrow’s judge:

    magnetic storm

    power failure

    breathe

    jump in the river

     

    Stay Positive

    15 line version

    With all the gloom and doom
    Nonstop 24/7 BREAKING NEWS
    Bad, crazy, deceitful, dismal, evil,
    Fake, fraudulent, wild news
    Flooding our TV screens.

    Like Frank Zappa’s famous
    “Slime oozing out of your TV sets”
    It is very hard to remain positive.
    Hard to see the good news.

    Senator Manchin reached a deal
    To deal with climate change
    Inflation and energy security.

    He took the deal
    He had denounced
    A few weeks before.

    No more Perfect Summer Days

    I wish that we could have
    A perfect summer day,
    A bit warm but not hot
    Not too humid.

    Everyone filled with peace,
    Love and health.
    Plenty of personal freedom,
    As we enjoy a picnic lunch
    Watching fireworks at night.

    Then I realize
    That the world
    No longer allows us
    To have perfect summer days.

    Hot as hell weather
    Everywhere around the world
    Monster summer storms.

    Running out of water,
    Running out of food,
    COVID is still around.

    Everyone scared.
    Deranged gunmen
    everywhere guns blazing.

    New leaders emerge
    Promising to protect us.
    And we lose our freedoms.
    One by one
    As fascism takes over.

    The climate change
    And all the other dystopian future
    Nightmares become reality,
    No more perfect summer days.

     

    Korean Summers

     

    Korean Summers
    Hot sauna humidity
    Long tropical nights

    Author note:

    I have suffered through many Korean summers off since 1979 when I first came in the last peace corps group to complete service in Korea, and more recently since I semi-retired to Korea in late 2016. This is probably my 16th Korean summer. Some things have improved – air conditioning is everywhere and

    God is Not Happy with the Human Race

    God is not happy
    With the human race.

    He is sending us a warning
    The world is filled with hate
    The world is on the brink.

    Our way of life under attack
    From the forces
    Of evil Satanic godless communism.

    Who under the guise
    Of fighting the climate change hoax
    Want to deny us our freedom.

    Want to deny us our cars
    Make us all take the bus
    Make us all vegan.

    They will not stop
    Until our way of life
    Comes to an end.

    And the climate
    It is not changing
    Just a reflection
    Of God’s warning.

    Repent, the end times
    Are coming soon
    Are you right with the lord?

    Judgment day is at hand
    As California burns
    So does the nation
    Unless we repent
    Of our evil ways.

    God is warning us all
    My friends
    Will we heed his words
    Or end up dying?

    Last Gasp of the Old World
    30 lines

    The world’s weather
    Continued to change
    Going from bad to worst
    With the impact of climate change.

    Every day another monster storm
    Another polar vortex
    Another northeastern
    Along with killer tornados.

    Then the summer came
    Hot and dry
    Fire season started west
    Monster hurricanes down south.

    Relentless fires burning
    The land
    Everywhere seemed to be
    Hell on earth.

    Noting the odd weather
    Sam Adams the famous writer
    Concluded on his blog

    Welcome to the end times
    My friends
    It is only going to get worst.
    Revelations foretold us
    All of this

    Jesus is coming soon
    To judge the living
    And the dead.

    Be afraid
    Of the coming wraith
    Of the Lord.

    The Last Umbrella

    18 lines

    Sam Adams was a scientist
    Working on global warming
    And acid rain fall
    He knew what many did not
    That the end was indeed coming

    Soon he feared that walking
    Outside in the rain
    Would be a death sentence

    He knew that this might be
    The end of the umbrella industry

    He called his broker
    Shorted shares
    In universal umbrellas
    And other umbrella companies

    Before releasing his report
    That led to the collapse
    Of the umbrella market.

    Climate Change on the Move

    Climate change
    On the move
    Everywhere
    The world’s weather
    In turmoil
    Massive winter storms
    Covering the world
    Rare winter tornados
    Causing havoc everywhere
    There is good news
    The fires out west
    Finally dying down
    As the winter storms
    Bear down on the west

    Korean December Weather – Brought to You By Global Warming, Inc

    A relatively mild December day
    More like November than December
    Due to Climate warming?

    Korea used to have a predictable weather pattern
    The winter would start late November, eartly December
    By the end of the year,

    It would be snowing every other day
    Accumulating in the mountains
    But not too much in the cities.

    A clear pattern three days cold
    Four days warm
    Cold but not too cold yet.

    That would happen
    In January through March,
    When cold air would flow down
    From Siberian and Manchuria
    Covering the land,

    With bone-chilling cold
    That would not let up
    Until mid-March
    When the cold
    Would begin to end.

    Except in the mountains
    When it would linger until May,
    And Korea is a land of mountains
    70 percent mountains.

    Most under 5,000 American feet
    A few a bit higher
    Many more hills than mountains
    Whatever that means.

    Climate Warming Inc Press release

    Due to our efforts
    The traditional severely cold Korean has ended
    Winter now will be just January and February
    Summer will start in May,
    End in September.
    October through December
    Will be mild.

    Thanks to our efforts
    You should be glad
    We are giving you
    A longer fall
    And shorter winter.

    The summers unfortunately
    It will be a bit hotter
    Nothing we can do about that
    Hope you can afford
    More Air conditioning.

    Thanks
    The Climate Warming Corp Inc

    The World Can End in Fire and Ice

    Some scientists are warning us

    Climate change could result

    In both global warming,

     

    And ironically

    that could be followed

    By a renewed ice age.

     

    The theory is that global weather patterns

    The Gulf Stream and Jet streams

    Have been keeping parts of the world

    warmer that before.

     

    and that the melting of the ice caps

    and the growing climate disruptions

    could result in a revival

    of another planetary ice age.

     

    and that based

    on long-term climate trends

    the earth is overdue

    for another ice age .

     

    thus the world could end

    in both fire and ice.

     

    For the 2024 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, poets are tasked with writing a poem a day in the month of November before assembling a chapbook manuscript in the month of December. Day 26 is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.

     

    Today is the fourth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt of 2024:

    1. Write a fire poem, and/or…
    2. Write an ice poem.

     

    Climate Change Etheree

    Hot

    weather

    everywhere

    like Death Valley

    heat baking the land

    hotter than hell at times

    never ending hot weather

    people feeling constant heat

    no end in sight climate changing

    end of the world feeling descending

    An Etheree poem has a syllable count of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. It adheres to a clean, graduated edge because it is also considered form poetry, created by Etheree Taylor Armstrong. I like the Etheree centered because it looks like a Christmas tree.

    Climate Change Grook Poem

    climate changing

    hot weather everywhere

    followed by short brutal winter

    s this the end-of-the-world?

     

    A grook (“gruk” in Danish) is a form of short aphoristic poem.

    It was invented by the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein.

    He wrote over 7,000 of them from 1939 until his death in 1996, mostly in Danish – published in 20 volumes.

    Piet Hein was president of the Anti-Nazi Union when the Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. He became an underground passive resister and found a way to encourage resistance through the use of poems – which he called “gruks” (“grooks” in English). He began publishing them in the daily newspaper “Politiken” under the pseudonym “Kumbel Kumbell”.

    The poems were meant as a spirit-building, yet slightly coded form of passive resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.

    Climate Chang Renga Poem

     

    climate is changing

    bad weather is everywhere

    California burns

     

    huricanes howling

    tornados  and winter storms

     

    climate deniers

    saying it is all a hoax

    monster storms abound

     

    nature does not care at all

    the climate deniers lie

    For these event you have to write two sets of renga – FIRST VERSE is a 5/7/5 followed by SECOND VERSE 7/7 with same theme; SECOND STANZA repeats sharing the same them. The complete renga stanzas look like this: 5/7/5 – 7/7 ; 5/7/5 – 7/7 Separate verses with two lines (5/7/5 – two lines – 7/7); If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask. You can send me what you have and I can give you feedback. I know Renga can be hard for your first time.

    Background on Likely Environmental Policy Under Trump Provided by Co-Pilot

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    could you provide background information on the trump’s climate change agenda? from both left and right wing points of iew with links

    Sure thing! Here’s a balanced overview of Trump’s climate change agenda from both left and right-wing perspectives:

    Left-Wing Perspective:

    Critics from the left argue that Trump’s climate policies are detrimental to environmental progress. They highlight his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the rollback of over 100 environmental regulations during his first term. These actions are seen as setbacks in the fight against climate change, with concerns that they prioritize fossil fuel interests over renewable energy and environmental protection2. The left also points out that Trump’s stance on climate change, often labeling it a “hoax,” undermines scientific consensus and global efforts to address the issue.

    Right-Wing Perspective:

    Supporters from the right view Trump’s climate agenda as a necessary shift towards economic growth and energy independence. They argue that deregulation and increased fossil fuel production are crucial for job creation and economic stability. Trump’s emphasis on “energy dominance” and his skepticism towards climate change policies are seen as efforts to reduce government overreach and support traditional energy industries4. Some right-wing governments, while supporting climate action, still align with Trump’s approach to balancing economic and environmental priorities.

    What percentage of energy in the US comes from renewable energy currently?

    As of 2023, renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) accounted for 21% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. This marks a significant increase in the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix over recent years1.

    How likely is it that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations?

    There is a significant concern that Trump might withdraw from climate negotiations, particularly the Paris Agreement, if he were to secure another term. During his first term, Trump did withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and there are indications he might do so again2. This potential move is seen as a setback for global climate efforts, as the U.S. plays a crucial role in international climate policy.

    However, some experts believe that the renewable energy sector’s growth and market trends might mitigate the impact of such a withdrawal. The uncertainty around this issue remains high, and it will depend on various political and economic factors.

    Final point – some have argued that renewable energy subsidies including for home solar and EV vehicles might be ended

    There are indeed discussions and concerns about the potential end of renewable energy subsidies, including those for home solar and electric vehicles (EVs). These subsidies have been crucial in promoting the adoption of clean energy technologies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Current State of Subsidies:

    Home Solar: Many states, including Oregon, offer incentives for solar installations. For example, the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program provides rebates for solar electric systems and paired solar and storage systems for residential customers2.

    Electric Vehicles: Federal tax credits are available for EV purchases, offering up to $7,500. Additional state and local incentives may also be available.

    Potential Changes:

    Political Climate: The future of these subsidies largely depends on the political climate and the priorities of the administration in power. Some argue that ending these subsidies could slow down the transition to renewable energy and hinder efforts to combat climate change.

    Economic Factors:

    On the other hand, some believe that the market for renewable energy and EVs has matured enough to sustain itself without subsidies, and that ending them could reduce government spending.

    For more detailed information, you can check out the Department of Energy’s website and the White House’s clean energy initiatives.

    However, with questions over the implications of withholding federal tax dollars and a Republican majority in Congress, Krueger’s proposition is very unlikely to be realized and has been met with concern from her Democratic colleagues.

    “It’s not our job to pick up the pitchforks that have been dropped by his many followers,” Long Island Assembly member Chuck Lavine said in a recent interview with Politico‘s New York Playbook.

    While Vice President Kamala Harris secured the majority of votes needed to win the Empire state, Trump received 44 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, with New York coming its closest to turning red in almost four decades, per reports from The New York Post.

    Medium

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/reflections-on-climate-change?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Substack Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/climate-change-reflections?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Spotify Podcast

    https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/j-cosmos/episodes/Climate-Change-Reflections-e2rv5p1

    Wattpad

    Your story can be found here

    The End

     

  • MAGA Freak-Out About Haitians Eating Cats and Dogs 

    MAGA Freak-Out About Haitians Eating Cats and Dogs 

    MAGA Freak-Out About Haitians Eating Cats and Dogs

    Why Trump?


  • April Poetry Madness 2024 April 26 to April 30, 2024 Poems

    April Poetry Madness 2024 April 26 to April 30, 2024 Poems

    April Poetry Madness 2024 April 26 to April 30, 2024 Poems

    This is the fifth and final batch of my April Poetry Madness challenge poems, (for April 21 to April 25), following daily prompts supplied by Poetry Superhighway, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com Dew Drop Inn, and NaPoWriMo. I am not posting any more PSH poems, as I need to keep some unpublished for future submissions.

    I have included the poem, the prompt, and occasionally a bonus poem or comment or two. I am also cross-posting this on  All Poetry, Blog Lovin, Cosmos Funnel,  Facebook, Fan Story, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Substack, Wattpad, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com, and Twitter. This is probably my last time doing this. Just getting too old to keep up.

    You can find my previous entries here:

    April 1 to April 6 Poems 2024 Poetry Madness

    April Poetry Madness 2024 April 7 to April 14

    PSH April 2023 Poems

    April 2023 Poems

    Writers Digest April 2023 Poems

    Comments are welcomed but keep it civil.

    Part One

    April 1

    PSH Ode to Durian

    WD  Optimistic Letourneau

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    Easter Bunny -warm up March 31

    Sarang pabo love fool

    NaPoWrMo Springtime Flowers Blooming Love

    April 2

    PSH The Words of the Year 1955 PSH

    WD Sad and happy days

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    NaPoWrMo  Cage

    NaPoWrMo It Can’t Happen Here

     

    April 3

    Berkeley Mad Pyscotic Pineapple Burns Sonnet

    PSH 2 AI Version Traditional Sonnet

    WD  My Musical Street

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    NaPoWrMo  Ode to Coffee

     

    April 4, 2024

    PSH The Cosmic Dog from Goa

    WD Don’t Make a Mistake Vote for Jake

    WC Ending Daily Shaving in Retirement

    NaPoWrMo The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans

    AV version The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans

     

    April 5, 2024

    PSH Love Expressed Through Food

    WD Tell Me No Lies

    WC Make Baseball Great Again!

    NaPoWrMo Resurrecting the Dodo Bird

    April 6

     PSH  Cosmic Dog From Goa

    WD  Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem

    WC Daily Ritual Drinks

    NaPoWrMo Only In SF

     

    Part Two

     April 7

     

    PSH  Visiting My Father’s Grave

    Bonus: Yakima Dessert Blues

    WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem

    WC  Why Trump?

    NaPoWrMo  Planetary Nut Re-Configuration Program

     

    April  8

     

    PSH Area Codes

    WD  My Lucky Number

    WC Economic Perception Delay

    NaPoWrMo  Wish You Were Here

     

    April  9

    PSH  Dearly Beloved

    WD the Major Event of My Life

    WC Death to All Humans

    NaPoWrMo My Dysfunctional Family

     

    April 10

     

    PSH You Can’t Write That!

    WD Better Political Discourse Needed

    WC Green Trees Don’t Make It

    AI Bing Version

    NaPoWrMo  Ode to My Coffee Pot

     

    April 11

     PSH Quote Poem About 9-11

    WD Crazy Love Nonet

    WC April 11—Eclipse/d two Lunatic Lune Poems about the Eclipse

    NaPoWrMo   Tribute to John Dean

     

    April 12

    PSH  Subway Journey

    WD Old Man Lost In His Old Memories

    WC  Civil War 2.0

    NaPoWrMo  11 One Liners

     

    April 13

    PSH First Time to Eat Kimchi

    WD Five Trumpian Humor Poetic Fragments

    WC April 13—Discovery Shooting Down the Alien Visitors

    NaPoWrMo  Saga of Big Daddy

     

    April 14

    PSH  99 Haiku TBC

    WD life worth Living

    WC  Tech Peeves

    NaPoWrMo  Shy Man Fishing

     

    Part Three  

     

    Not posting PSH saving them as “unpublished)

     

    Writer Digest Poems  

    April 15  New Middle Poem  Middle Of Political Silly Season In The U.S.  Trigger Warning Mild Political Rant

    April 16 Trump Shardona Poem

    April 17 New Tuesday prompt write a Shadorma poem about recent tech layoffs CEO To Labor Units of Production Shardona – You are Not Wanted

    April 18  WD pessimistic Poem -not the Way to Fire People New Rules in the New Corporation World

    April 19 Emotion Poem -fears of falling

    April 20 The circus bear escapes

    Bear in collar  hears praise while rambling

    alt. bonus poem Met And Married My Dream Lady

     Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

     WC April 15 Lament  Drifting Towards Civil War 2.0

    WC Prove Something – God’s Demented Sense of Humor

    WC Question something -The basic  decency and sanity of Americans

    WC Scumbagology

    WC Comedy – The Donald Trump Show is Getting Old

     

    NaPoWriMo Prompts

    April 15

    My stamp collection

    April 16

    Late Night Earthquake Blues

    April 17

    What is Hip?

    April 18 It’s A Dog’s Life for Me

    April 19

    Hunting the Monsters in Hell

    Day 20  Trail of Tears – My Family Connection

    Part four

    Writer’s Digest Prompts

    April 21 Romantic Trope -Fairy Tale Romance

    April 22 Gaii’s Calls for Revenge Against Humanity Earth Day Nightmare

    April 23 Donald Trump’s Trials the Heart of the Matter

    April 24 Maximum Cruelty in the Name of Jesus in the Point

    April 25 Insight into Trump Incite  Homonym Poem

    Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

     April 21—Salient  Image (poem based on one concrete thing you remember at day’s end) Seeing My Wife

    April 22— Serio-comic dilemma -Election Choices Trigger Warning -Anti-Trump Rant!

    April 23—Let Shakespeare be your inspiration – Fairy Tale Romance
    April 24—Unexplored Desire  Rule of Ten
    April 25 TV Show Rocky and Bullwinkle background info

    NaPoWriMo Poems

    April 21 News Gives Me the Blues

    April 22 Coffee and Tea endless argument – which is better?

    April 23 Batman Feeling the Blues Kojiki Poem

    April 24 the Dream of the Sphinx

    April 25 Proust Questionnaire

     Part Five

    Writers Digest Prompts

    Day 26 Life as a Coffee Pot

    April 27 Old Man Lost In His Memories -Cornish Sonnet re-mix

    April 27  Old Man Lost in his memories

    April 28 I saw my Father Die Double Cinquain

    April 29 Until the end of time

    April 30 Beginning Of My Life Dream Cherita

    Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

    April 26—Noise  Now My Home Korea

    April 27—Beauty Korean Land of K Beauties

    April 28  Secrets Diplomatic Secrets to Take to My Grave

    April 29—The sense of an ending End of Trump Reality TV Show?

    NaPoWriMo Prompts

    Day 26 “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity April Poetry

    Day 27 Insomnia Blues An American Sonnet

    April 28 Meeting Dream Girl Sijo

    April 29 Saga of Big Daddy

    April 30 The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse

    Begin Poems

    Writer’s Digest

    Day 26 Life as a Coffee Pot

    coffee
    coffee

     

     

     

     

     

    If I were to come back

    As an inanimate object,

    I would come back

    As a coffee pot.

     

    Giving pleasure

    Every morning

    To my master and friends.

     

    As they enjoy the fresh coffee,

    That is my Buddha nature

    To make for them.

     

    For today’s prompt, write a persona poem. A persona poem is just a poem narrated in the voice of a persona who is not yourself. Like I could write a persona poem in the voice of Batman or SpongeBob SquarePants or an abandoned payphone beside an abandoned gas station (which I just might do) or a stray cat. Pick someone or something, take on its persona, and write

     

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 28

    Remix title: Old Man Lost In His Old Memories

     converted to Cornish Sonnet form

    Sam Adams thought about that date.

    On a fine date in September.

    For that was the day he met his fate.

    Sparks flew from heart to heart.

    A date he would always remember.

    She soon became his sweetheart.

     

    When he saw on the bus he knew

    That she would be his forever.

    And that he would never feel blue.

    As long as she was by his side.

    He vowed they would be happy forever

    As long as she was by his bedside.

     

    Sam Adams thought about that date.

    On a fine date in September.

    The Cornish Sonnet is said by an internet source to be influenced by Arab traders to the Cornish coast . This verse form appears to be a merging of Arabic meter and the sonnet. Exactly when and how this came about I have yet to pin down. Early Cornish verse is fragmented and stingy at best. The earliest literature in the Cornish language were fragments of religious plays. The language became all but extinct by the 18th century but what was preserved demonstrates some verse in octaves using 7 syllable loose trochaic lines and alternating rhyme. Unlike verse from other Celtic origins, deliberate use of alliteration or other devices of “harmony of sound” are not present. This sonnet form doesn’t fit with these early findings so I can only assume that it arrived on the scene much later than originally presumed.

    The elements of the Cornish Sonnet are:

    1. lyrical meditation.
    2. quatorzain, 2 sestetsmade up of linked enclosed tercets, followed by a refrain which is the repeat of the first line of each sestet.
    3. metered at the discretion of the poet, lines should be of similar length.
    4. rhymed Ababcc Defdef AD The first line of each sestet are repeated in refrain in the last couplet.
    5. The sonnet can be written with an alternate rhyme scheme aaabcbc defdef CF In this scenario the last line of each sestet is repeated in refrain in the last couplet.

    I opted to not use traditional meter as I generally don’t handle that well for some reason

     

    original poem about old man lost in his memories – spelling out his memories of meeting his wife

    Memories

    Of past events

    Yesterdays

    Overwhelming

    An old man

    Lost in his past

    Can’t sleep at 0 dark hundred.

     

    Note:  “ O dark hundred” is military/intel jargon referring to the time  two to three hours  before dawn when operatives get up to get ready for dawn operations.  Depending on the location and time of year it is between 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.

     

    for me is 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. when I get the insomnia blues.

    Syllable Pattern:  3/4/3/4/3/4/7                                                                                                

    https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/whitney/

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a remix poem.

    For today’s prompt, write a remix poem. Just remix one of your poems. It could be from earlier in this month or even from before this challenge. But take one of your already existing poems and remix it. If it’s a sonnet, make it free verse. If it’s free verse, try turning it into a triolet or villanelle. Have fun with it.

    April 28 Dead Poem I saw my Father Die Double Cinquain

    Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr
    Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Visiting My Father’s Grave

    My father died.

    when i saw my dad lying there.

    I sensed his soul departing from his dead body.

    It was as if a light had gone out, his soul escaped from his life.

    I knew death then.

    Prompt:
    We are going to start Poetry Week with the Double Cinquain.

    Information can be found here: “Cinquain, Double

    One stanza – just five lines.

    Topic is yours to choose.

     

    On an Internet search for new poetry forms, I found the Double Cinquain. The structure is quite the same, compared with the Cinquain, only the syllables have doubled.

    How did the Cinquain go?

    xx
    xxxx
    xxxxxx
    xxxxxxxx
    xx

    The Double Cinquain have twice as many syllables, but still five lines.
    So in a scheme it looks:

    xxxx
    xxxxxxxx
    xxxx xxxxxxxx
    xxxxxxxx
    xxxx

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a dead poem.

    For today’s prompt, write a dead poem. Back on day 13, we wrote living poems. Now, we’re going to inspect the other side of that coin. A dead poem could take place at a funeral or involve a wilting flower that’s already been picked. Or it could involve the undead (like zombies and vampires). Or maybe a dead language, a dead culture, or as some people like to say, they’re just “dead inside.”

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 29 Until the End of Time  Tripple Cherita Poem

    lovers kissing
    lovers kissing

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I will love you from now

     

    Until The end of time.

    and beyond death

     

    When we met, we both knew

    we were Soul mates

    Who were fated to meet.

     

    Our love was stronger

     

    Then time and space

    And we found each other

     

    As we looked at each other

    Sparks flew between heart-to-heart

    As we stared at each other

     

    With love blazing from your eyes.

     

    You hypnotized me

    Mesmerized me

     

    You put a spell on me

    You love Mojo working overtime.

    And I knew that I was yours.

     

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a Until Blank poem.

    Tomorrow is the final day of this challenge but remember: This challenge ain’t over until it’s over, so…

    For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Until (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “Until the End of Time,” “Until the Cows Come Home,” “Until I Finish This Poem,” and/or “Until You Get Your Chores Done.”

     

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 30 Beginning Of My Life Dream Cherita

     

    My life

     

    Began one day

    In September.

     

    When my dream lady

    Walked off a bus

    Into my life.

     

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, we have our fifth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.

    Today is our fifth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt, and also the final prompt of the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. But it’s not the final prompt(s) of the year, because we’ll get back to Wednesday Poetry Prompts every week beginning tomorrow, and I am planning to lead the 17th annual November Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge in November (look for the guidelines in October).

    For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

    1. Write at The End poem, and/or…
    2. Write a Beginning poem.

     

    Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

    April 26—Noise  Now My Home Korea

     

    map of three kingdoms

    When I first came

    To South Korea in 1979

    To do my Peace Corps duty

    In a rural country town,

     

     

    I thought that the old name

    Of Korea

    “the land of the morning calm”

    Was absurd.

     

    Korea was a noisy place

    From early morning on.

     

    Cars, horns, radio TV blaring

    People talking to crowds everywhere

    At night people drink and dine.

     

    And loudspeakers

    Blasting you awake

    At 6 a.m.

     

    And during elections

    Sound trucks everywhere.

     

    Now 45 years later

    It is my home

     

    No longer noisy

    Chaotic exotic place

    Just home.

     

    April 27—Beauty Korean Land of K Beauties

    lovers in the rain
    lovers in the rain

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I live in Korea

    The land of plastic surgery

    K beauty products.

     

    Korean women are

    Among the most beautiful

    Woman in the world.

     

    The cult of the beautiful

    Everywhere you go

    You see beautiful women

    And men on the street,

     

    And I realized I married

    The most beautiful woman

    In the world,

     

    When I met and married

    My Dream lady.

    April 28  Secrets Diplomatic Secrets to Take to My Grave

     

    I worked for 27 years

    as a US diplomat

    and witnessed a lot of things

    that were and are considered

    secrets.

     

    – and we are trained

    to keep these secrets

    secret.

     

    and I will no doubt die

    and take some secrets

    to my grave.

    April 29—The sense of an ending End of Trump Reality TV Show?

     

     

     

    While watching the Trump trials

    I sense an ending

    To the Trump Reality TV show.

     

    As he is revealed to be

    What he is

    Nothing but a charlatan

    A con man, a grifter.

     

    And he is not the King

    Not a dictator, and not a genius,

     

    He seems to be just a tired old man

    Finally, being held accountable.

     

    For decades of alleged misconduct

    Fraudulent business and political

    Crimes include inciting a riot.

     

    Stealing national secrets

    And so many over.

     

    Yet the polls show

    He could become our next President

     

    Perhaps I am seeing the end

    Of democracy playing out

    On my TV screen?

     

    Dear God, I pray

    Make it all go way

    Retire Trump from the game

    April 30 Poem About Poetry Why Do I Write?

    Why Do I write

    These poems every day?

     

    Why do I spend so much time

    Writing down these verses

    That few will ever see?

    Why do I bother?

     

    The only answer is because

    I must write daily

    My inner muse compels me

    And I have to write down

    These mad thoughts.

     

    And share them

    With the world

    Even if no one reads them

    Other than my wife

    And some of my friends.

     

    I have no choice

    That is what I am.

     

    I am just a writer,

    And a mad poet

    At heart.

     

    NaPoWriMo Prompts

    Day 26 “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity April Poetry

     

    (Original Caption) 8/22/1972-Miami Beach, Florida: President Richard Nixon will be inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20, 1973. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew wave and smile to the audience of the 1972 Republican National Convention after they acknowledged their re-nomination.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Before there was Donald Trump’s tirade

    Against the false fraudulent fake news

    Enemies of the people

     

    For being a “lying liberal leftwing lunatic “

    Peddling “fake fraudulent falsehoods”

    Fake false news.

     

    There was Nixon and Agnew’s crusade

    Against their enemies

    In the so-called Liberal media

     

    VP Agnew who resigned

    To avoid going to prison

    Before Nixon’s downfall

    Was famous for his quotes

     

    One of his best quotes

    Was this little gem

    Filled with alliteration

     

    He called out the press

    For being

    “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity.”

    Happy final Friday of Na/GloPoWriMo, everyone!

    Our featured participant for the day is Words With Ruth, where we get a dating profile in response to Day 25’s Proust Questionnaire prompt.

    Our daily resource is the video archive of the Silo City Reading Series, hosted by the Just Buffalo Literary Center in Buffalo, New York.

    And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that involves alliterationconsonance, and assonanceAlliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Traci Brimhall’s poem “A Group of Moths” provides a great example of these poetic devices at work, with each line playing with different sounds that seem to move the poem along on a sonorous wave.

     

    Your poem doesn’t have to be as complex as all that, though. Just pick a consonant or two and a vowel and dive right into the wonderful world (hey, there’s some alliteration/consonance/assonance right there) of sound.

    •  Presidency:
      • In 1968, Richard Nixon asked Agnew to place his name in nomination for the vice presidency, and he became Nixon’s running mate.
      • Agnew gained national recognition for his colorful speeches denouncing Vietnam War protesters and other opponents of the Nixon administration.
      • He was despised by many Democrats but pleased Republicans with his rhetoric.
    • Resignation:
      • Agnew’s downfall began in 1973 when he was investigated for extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations related to his tenure as governor of Maryland.
      • Faced with federal indictments, he resigned on October 10, 1973, becoming the second person to resign the vice presidency (after John C. Calhoun in 1832) and the first to do so under duress.
    • Death: Spiro Agnew passed away on September 17, 1996, in Berlin, Maryland.

    Agnew’s legacy is marked by both his political achievements and the scandal that led to his resignation. His colorful language and controversial stance left a lasting impact on American politics. 12

    Feel free to explore more about his life and career through the provided links:

     

    Day 27 Insomnia Blues An American Sonnet

     

    At o dark hundred hours

    I am  often still wide awake

    As I go down rabbit holes

    Imagining dark imaginings

    Playing endless what-if games

    What if I have cancer

    What if I have Alzheimers

    What if I the big earthquake quakes

    What if the big volcano blows up

    What if I die in a fiery plane crash

    What if I am shot and killed

    What if Trump launches Fascism

    And arrests me for my blogging?

    The dawning sun blasts me out of my bed.

    A very happy twenty-seventh day of Na/GloPoWriMo to you all.

    Today, our featured daily participant is Peregrine Buffington, where you’ll not only find a lot of alliteration, consonance, and assonance in response to Day 26’s prompt, but you’ll find it in abecedarian form.

    Our featured resource for the day is Poetry Pause, the “daily dispatch” of the League of Canadian Poets.

    And now for our prompt – optional, as always!  Today we’d like to challenge you to write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.

    April 28, 2024 Meeting Dream Girl Sijo

    On that date,

    In September, I met my fate.

    When she came to life.

    We met first in my nightly dreams

    I knew I had  met

    My soul mate.

     

    based on my true love story.

     

    Finally, our optional prompt for the day asks you to try your hand at writing a sijo. This is a traditional Korean verse form. A sijo has three lines of 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces the poem’s theme, the second discusses it, and the third line, which is divided into two sentences or clauses, ends the poem – usually with some kind of twist or surprise.

     

    You could also write a sijo in six lines – at least when it comes to translating classical sijo into English, translators seem to have developed this habit, as you can see from these translations of poems by Jong Moong-Ju and U Tak.

     

    April 29  Clandestine – Saga of Big Daddy

     

     

     

     

     

     

    photo created by Bing Co-Pilot

     

    Big Daddy lived in the shadow worlds

    in the clandestine underground.

     

    He was an ex-University of Arkansas

    And Dallas Cowboy player.

     

    Who had worked for the CIA

    After the agency fired him

    For murdering enemies

    Of the state at home.

     

    In contravention of agency rules,

    But they retained his services

    From time to time.

     

    He became a legendary figure
    He was a cipher, a ghost,
    a Machiavellian intel operative

    A spy, a spook, a secret agent man,

    living in the clandestine shadows..

    No one knew his real name
    Called him Big Daddy.
    Or his latest covert name.
    And he had hundreds
    Of cover legends.

    He officially did not exist,
    As his agency had officially
    Terminated him years ago.

    He now worked for an agency
    That did not exist.
    The same agency
    That had terminated his legal existence
    For matters of national security.

    He lived in the

    clandestine Shadowlands
    Of the third world.

    In nameless hellhole slums
    And clandestine,  dark,

    secret dungeons.

    Where he would do what needed
    To be done
    Killing those that needed killing
    At the instructions
    Of his unseen masters.

    He was just a rumor
    Living in the shadow worlds
    working for a clandestine

    unnamed agency

    that did not exist.

    An intel operative
    The best of the best at what he did
    Which was creative interrogation.

    His favorite choice
    Was the creative use of
    An electric shock,
    Imaginary or not

    But sometimes
    It had an outcome
    An unimaginable outcome.

    His worst nightmare
    The victim is released

    And sues him
    And the agencies
    That he worked for.

    But so far
    It has not happened
    As no one knew
    His real name

    And the government
    Did not know too.

    So justice
    was never served
    On Big Daddy.

    April 30

    And now for our optional prompt. If you’ve been paying attention to pop-music news over the past couple of weeks, you may know that Taylor Swift has released a new double album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don’t find this too torturous yourself, but we’d like to challenge you to select one these words and write a poem that uses the word as its title.

     Clandestine

    Song Title/Album: “illicit affairs” / folklore

    Lyric: “And that’s the thing about illicit affairs / And clandestine meetings and longing stares”

    Definition: done in a private place or way done secretly

    About the Word: Clandestine is an adjective that is often used as a substitute for secret and covert, and it is commonly applied to actions that involve secrecy maintained for an evil, illicit (as in “illicit affairs”), or unauthorized purpose. It comes to English by way of Middle French, from Latin clandestine, which is itself from Latin clam, meaning “secretly.” Although people involved in clandestine activities tend to clam up when asked about them, the bivalve clam has no relation to the Latin clam, but comes instead from the Old English word clam, meaning “bond” or “fetter.”

    Machiavellian

    Song Title/Album: “Mastermind” / Midnights

    Lyric: “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘because I care”

    Definition: using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something : clever and dishonest

    About the Word: While inspiring an adjective (such as Swiftian) may seem like a fine way to achieve linguistic immortality, it must be said that many words taken from people’s names are not as complimentary. Machiavellian—which describes things marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith—comes from the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), the author of the most famous treatise on bare-knuckled politics ever published, The Prince, which brought him a reputation as an immoral cynic and even a teacher of evil.

    April 30 The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse

    cheating death
    cheating death

     

     

     

     

     

    It was Halloween night
    A night that all the denizens
    Of hell loved.

    For on that night
    All of hell would break out.

    They would celebrate their annual escape
    On Halloween, they are allowed
    To go to the surface sunlit lands.

    For a night of drinking,
    Drugging and wilding
    As bad craziness descends
    Upon the land.

    The Grim Reaper and his posse
    Dressed up as cosmic court jesters
    Dressed as fools.

    They descended upon the world
    And a night of chaos fell upon the land.
    Thousands died, as the Grim Reaper
    Added to his quota.

    Bonus kills were bonus points.
    He returned to hell with his minions,

    And the souls of the dead
    Who soon became mere ghosts.
    Their voices crying in the wind
    Echoing through time.

     

    And now for our last prompt of the year – optional, as always! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker is identified with, or compared to, a character from myth or legend, as in  Claire Scott’s poem “Scheherazade at the Doctor’s Office.”

    The End

     

  • April Poetry Madness April 21 to APril 25 Poems

    April Poetry Madness April 21 to APril 25 Poems

    April Poetry Madness 2024 April 21 to April 25, 2024

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2Rm

    This is the fourth batch of my April Poetry Madness challenge poems, (for April 21 to April 25), following daily prompts supplied by Poetry Superhighway, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com Dew Drop Inn, and NaPoWriMo. I am not posting any more PSH poems as I need to keep some unpublished for future submissions.

    I have included the poem, the prompt, and occasionally a bonus poem or comment or two. I am also cross-posting this on All Poetry, Blog Lovin, Cosmos Funnel,  Facebook, Fan Story, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Substack, Wattpad, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com, and Twitter. This is probably my last time doing this. Just getting too old to keep up.

    You can find my previous entries here:

    April 1 to April 6 Poems 2024 Poetry Madness

    April Poetry Madness 2024 April 7 to April 14

    PSH April 2023 Poems

    April 2023 Poems

    Writers Digest April 2023 Poems

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2QB April 15 to  April 20

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2Rm April 21 to April 25

    Comments are welcomed but keep it civil.

    Part One

    April 1

    PSH Ode to Durian

    WD  Optimistic Letourneau

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    Easter Bunny -warm up March 31

    Sarang pabo love fool

    NaPoWrMo Springtime Flowers Blooming Love

    April 2

    PSH The Words of the Year 1955 PSH

    WD Sad and happy days

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    NaPoWrMo  Cage

    NaPoWrMo It Can’t Happen Here

     

    April 3

    Berkeley Mad Psychotic Pineapple Burns Sonnet

    PSH 2 AI Version Traditional Sonnet

    WD  My Musical Street

    WC Dew Drop Inn

    NaPoWrMo  Ode to Coffee

     

    April 4, 2024

    PSH The Cosmic Dog from Goa

    WD Don’t Make a Mistake Vote for Jake

    WC Ending Daily Shaving in Retirement

    NaPoWrMo The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans

    AV version The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans

     

    April 5, 2024

    PSH Love Expressed Through Food

    WD Tell Me No Lies

    WC Make Baseball Great Again!

    NaPoWrMo Resurrecting the Dodo Bird

    April 6

     PSH  Cosmic Dog From Goa

    WD  Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem

    WC Daily Ritual Drinks

    NaPoWrMo Only In SF

     

    Part Two

     April 7

     

    PSH  Visiting My Father’s Grave

    Bonus: Yakima Dessert Blues

    WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem

    WC  Why Trump?

    NaPoWrMo Planetary Nut Re-Configuration Program

     

    April 8

     

    PSH Area Codes

    WD My Lucky Number

    WC Economic Perception Delay

    NaPoWrMo Wish You Were Here

     

    April  9

    PSH  Dearly Beloved

    WD the Major Event of My Life

    WC Death to All Humans

    NaPoWrMo My Dysfunctional Family

     

    April 10

     

    PSH You Can’t Write That!

    WD Better Political Discourse Needed

    WC Green Trees Don’t Make It

    AI Bing Version

    NaPoWrMo  Ode to My Coffee Pot

     

    April 11

     

    PSH Quote Poem About 9-11

    WD Crazy Love Nonet

    WC April 11—Eclipse/d two Lunatic Lune Poems about the Eclipse

    NaPoWrMo Tribute to John Dean

     

    April 12

     

    PSH  Subway Journey

    WD Old Man Lost In His Old Memories

    WC  Civil War 2.0

    NaPoWrMo  11 One Liners

     

    April 13

     

    PSH First Time to Eat Kimchi

    WD Five Trumpian Humor Poetic Fragments

    WC April 13—Discovery Shooting Down the Alien Visitors

    NaPoWrMo Saga of Big Daddy

     

    April 14

     

    PSH  99 Haiku TBC

    WD Life Worth Living

    WC  Tech Peeves

    NaPoWrMo  Shy Man Fishing

     

    Part Three

     

    Writer’s Digest Poems  

    April 15  New Middle Poem Middle Of Political Silly Season In The U.S.  Trigger Warning Mild Political Rant

    April 16 Trump Shardona Poem

    April 17 New Tuesday prompt write a Shadorma poem about recent tech layoffs CEO To Labor Units of Production Shardona – You are Not Wanted

    April 18  WD pessimistic Poem -not the Way to Fire People New Rules in the New Corporation World

    April 19 Emotion Poem -Fears of Falling

    April 20 The Circus Bear Escapes

    Bear in collar  hears praise while rambling

    alt. bonus poem Met And Married My Dream Lady

     Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

     

    WC April 15 Lament Drifting Towards Civil War 2.0

    WC Prove Something – God’s Demented Sense of Humor

    WC Question something -The Basic Decency and Sanity of Americans

    WC Scumbagology

    WC Comedy – The Donald Trump Show is Getting Old

     

    NaPoWriMo Prompts

    April 15

    My stamp collection

    April 16

    late Night Earthquake blues

    April 17

    What is Hip?

    April 18 It’s A Dog’s Life for Me

    April 19

    Hunting the Monsters in Hell

    Day 20  Trail of Tears – My Family Connection

    Begin Poems 

    Writers Digest Prompts

     

    April 21 PAD Challenge: Fairy Tale Romance

    lovers kissing
    lovers kissing

    Sam Adams often thought

    Of his true love story

    As a fairy tale romance

    That somehow became real.

     

     

    He had dreamt of meeting

    His dream lady

    For eight years.

     

    He joined the Peace Corps

    Traveled to Korea

    To look for her.,

     

    Then one day

    She told him

    In his dream

     

    “Don’t worry

    We will meet soon”

     

    That night

    She walked off a bus

    Into his life

    Becoming his wife.

     

    They were from different worlds

    She was a Korean college student

    From a middle-class family.

     

    And he had grown up

    As the son of a college professor

    And politician in liberal Berkeley.

     

    Yet despite their different backgrounds

    And different personalities

     

    He was not very practical

    Lost in his world at times

    Not that ambitious.

     

    She was very practical

    Money minded woman

    Determined to make her mark

    On the world

     

    And they did not see eye to eye

    On many things

    But on the things that really matter

     

    They were there for each other

    Understanding each other

    And their love grew

    Day by day.

     

    Until one day

    Sam realized that they had

    Been together 42 years

     

    And were still in love.

    And that had made all the difference

    In their fairy tale true love story.

     

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a trope poem.

    Once we get through today’s poem, we’ll be finished with the first three weeks of this challenge. Where has the time gone?

    For today’s prompt, write a trope poem. For most people, tropes are common plot devices used in certain genres. In romance, for example, the “different worlds” trope brings together two characters from different walks of life and/or cultures. Meanwhile, a popular trope in horror fiction is to split up, which usually doesn’t end well for many of the characters. Mysteries frequently feature the “unassuming suspect” trope. Pick a trope or mix a few in your poem today.

    If you need help getting started, check out these lists of popular tropes:

    check out and save for future use

     

    21 Popular Romance Tropes for Writers.

    21 Popular Thriller Tropes for Writers.

    21 Popular Science Fiction Tropes for Writers.

    21 Popular Horror Tropes for Writers.

    21 Popular Mystery Tropes for Writers.

    21 Popular Fantasy Tropes for Writers.

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 22 Gaii’s Calls for Revenge Against Humanity Earth Day Nightmare

    The spirit of the ancient trees woke up
    after thousands of years of slumber.

    They woke up and marched on Washington
    demanding an end to logging, pollution, mining
    and other assaults on the planet earth
    by the mad human creatures.

    They said that Gaia, the guardian angel
    of the planet had summoned them
    with this warning to the people of earth.
    Your time on this planet is coming to an end
    i have decreed it, and no one can oppose my will.

    Gaia kept her word, unleashing a supper plagues
    wiped out 99 percent of humanity.
    The few who remained lived under
    the watchful eyes of the tree spirits.

     

    Today is Earth Day, so…

    For today’s prompt, write an earth poem. The poem can be about nature or the planet. But it can also be about anything or anyone on the planet. Or dirt (aka, earth); feel encouraged to write a poem about dirt. Or earthlings!

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 23 The Heart of the Matter

    Donald Trump’s Trials the Heart of the Matter

     

    The heart of the matter

    With Donald Trump’s numerous trials

    Is simply this

     

    Is the former president

    Above the law

    Can he do what he wants

    And not be held accountable?

     

    Is the former president

    An authoritarian leader

    A potential king?

    Or is he simply

    An everyday citizen now?

     

    Is he  a strong leader

    a visionary revolutionary populist?

    As he constantly proclaims

     

    Or is he broken-down

    Pathetic old loser ?

     

    That is the heart

    Of the matter.

     

    Today is our fourth Two-for-Tuesday prompt, which would usually mean it’s the final Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month, but we’re lucky this year: five Tuesdays!

    For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

    Write a “(blank) of the Heart” poem, and/or…

    Write a “Heart of the (blank)” poem.

    Not sure what I’m talking about? Replace the blank in either of these phrases with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Coney Island of the Heart,” “Heart of the Champion,” and/or “Heart of the Night.”

     

    2024 April PAD Challenge: Maximum Cruelty in the Name of Jesus in the Point

    governor abbot
    governor abbot

    I don’t understand

    Why are so many Christian evangelical leaders

     

     

    And politicians

    Are so cruel to everyone!

     

    It seems as if displaying

    Maximum cruelty.

     

    To the marginalized communities

    To the poor, to immigrants

    To the black and brown community

    To Asians and other foreigners

    To women, and especially

    To the LGBTQ community

    Is the point.

     

    And all done in Jesus’s name.

    By this self proclaimed

    Christians.

     

    This is something that Jesus

    If he came back

    Would not approve

    As it violates the core principles,

    Of the Christian faith.

     

    Jesus would say,

     

    “Where is the love?

    Where is the compassion?

    Where is the mercy ?

    That I proclaimed

    Was the core of my teachings?”

     

    He would say to them,

     

    “You are not Christians”

    And he would drive them

    Out of the Christian church.

     

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a maximum poem.

    Well, we’ve only got a week of April remaining, so let’s poem the heck out of the rest of this month.

    For today’s prompt, write a maximum poem. Some people may recall that we wrote a minimum poem back on day 6; this takes that concept and brings it back the other way. In fact, one possible way into today’s poem would be to see what you did on day 6 and turn it on its head. Or go somewhere completely new. Whatever you do, take it to the max.

     

    Day 25 Insight into Trumps Incite

    president trump

    One of the many things

    That the former President

    Has been accused of is

     

     

    His calls for his followers

    To rise up and riot,

     

    An incitement to violence

    On his behalf

    Like on January 6th.

     

    My insight into

    this incitement rhetoric

    Is simply this,

     

    The former president is

    The ultimate con man

    An authoritarian wannabe

     

    And inciting violence

    Is part of his stock in trade

    Hoping that his MAGA nation

    Will help him take power again.

     

    Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts

     

     April 21—Salient  Image (poem based on one concrete thing you remember at day’s end)

    Every evening when I fall asleep,

    I see my wife of 42 years

    Coming to me.

     

    And every morning

    I wake up

    Feeling her love.

    .

    And I realize

    That the one good thing

    I have done in this life.

     

    Is marry the lady

    Of my dreams.

     

    April 22— Serio-comic dilemma

    2024 Election Choices Trigger Warning -Anti-Trump Rant!

    The election of 2024

    Presents an existential choice

    Which old white grandpa dude

     

    Both past their prime time

    Do you support for president?

     

    Friendly, grandpa

    Who has been president

    For the last three years?

    Presiding over a decent economic expansion

    Amid war in Europe and the Mid-east.

     

    Or the former chaos president

     

    Facing multiple court cases

    Owing settlements for fraud

    Sexual assault and defamation?

     

    Who promises more chaos

    And retribution against his enemies

    In the deep state, and media.

     

    Calling them all communists

    As if an international communist threat

    Was it still a thing?

     

    Promising to deport

    Illegal aliens

    And possibly withdrawing from NATO

    And other alliances,

     

    and impose crippling tariffs

    on all imports?

     

    Yet to his supporters

    Has been anointed by god

    To vanquish his enemies.

     

    or vote for RFJ, JR

    or Cornel West

    or Jill Stein

    or the libertarian candidate

     

    or just boycott the election.

    staying home in disgust.

     

    Sadly, that is our choice

    On election day.

    The obvious choice for this prompt was the current re-match in the U.S. pitting Trump Vs Biden and three to four third parties. what a farce it is in my mind. In a country of 335 million people, these are our choices?.

     

    April 23—Let Shakespeare be your inspiration

    lovers
    couple-in-love-silhouette-during

    My true love story

    Almost seems like

    A fairy tale romance.

     

     

    Romeo and Julian almost.

     

    Two lovers met

    From different worlds

    And find themselves.

     

    Also has elements

    Of “Mid-summer night dreams”

    Sonnets and poems.

     

    And other classic romance

    Dramas, poems, and stories.

     

    And classic romcoms.

    Including Sleepless in Seattle

    And Bollywood and K dramas..

     

    But in my story

    I dreamt of meeting

    And marrying my dream lady

     

    Traveled to Korea

    Where she was waiting for me.

     

    And despite opposition

    From her family.

     

    There was a happy ending

    And we are still together

    42 years later.

    I likened my true love story to a Shakespearean drama or sonnet as it had elements of Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer’s Night Dream among other plays and sonnets. I have written a lot about my fairy tale dream romance in my portfolio and on my blog.

     

    April 24—Unexplored Desire

    As one gets older

    One often looks back

    At all the things you did

    In your life.

     

    The good, the bad, and the ugly

    And we all have those moments

    Because we are human.

     

    And some things you desired

    But never pursued.

     

    For me, it was a dream

    Of becoming a famous writer

    While I can write poems

    And short stories,

     

    My greatest desire

    Was to write

    The Great American Novel.

     

    And sadly it will remain

    An unfulfilled desire

    As I don’t have the patience or energy .

     

    To edit my six rough draft novels

    Turning them into something publishable

    And they may die when I die.

     

    And I am in good company.

     

    The rule of ten rule applies

    Of one hundred people

    Who want to write a novel

    Less than ten percent finish it

    Of those less than ten percent publish it

    Of those less than ten percent make any money

    Of those less than ten percent make a living

    At writing their novels.

     

    The rule of ten is a meme that applies to many things. I have seen it applied to novel writing, acting, politics and sports.  The point being that most people fail to achieve their dreams and there are only a few professional athletes for example although there are millions of people who have played the game in high school or college, few ever make it to the major leagues. Similar thing applies to novelists, only a few people ever make money from writing a novel. Among Actors they call it the 1 percent rule, of people who try acting, only 1 percent will ever make a living from being an actor full time,  and politics. Of all those who aspire to be President, only 45 have ever made it, and 44 were white males, and one black man.

    April 25—TV series

    The_Adventures_of_Bullwinkle_and_Rocky
    The_Adventures_of_Bullwinkle_and_Rocky

    One of my favorite shows as a child

    Was the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

     

     

     

    Featuring Rocky the squirrel.

    Bulwinkle the Moose

    And associated bad guys.

     

    Including Boris Benioff

    And Natasha Fatale

    Vaguely Eastern European communists.

    who worked for the Fearless Leader

    perhaps East German or Russian?

     

    Rocky and Bullwinkle

    Like the Simpsons, Futurama,

    American Dad and Family Guy

     

    Were children’s show

    They were also quite subversive

    Satire on modern life.

     

    But Bulwinkle remains my favorite

    Years ago I binged watched episodes

     

    And remember every episode

    Even though I had last seen them

    Almost 50 years before.

    Bing Co-Pilot provided useful background information

    Certainly! The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, commonly referred to as simply Rocky and Bullwinkle, is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC television networks. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the series is structured as a variety show, with the main feature being the serialized adventures of the two title characters:

    Rocket J. (“Rocky”) Squirrel: An anthropomorphic flying squirrel.

    Bullwinkle J. Moose: A moose.

    The main antagonists in most of their adventures are the two Russian-like spies:

    Boris Budanov

    Natasha Fatale

    Both Boris and Natasha work for the Nazi-like dictator Fearless Leader. The show also features several supporting segments, including:

    Dudley Do-Right: A parody of an old-time melodrama.

    Peabody’s Improbable History: In this segment, a dog named Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman travel through time.

    Fractured Fairy Tales: Classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion.

    The series has left a lasting cultural impact and continues to be beloved by audiences. Although the current blanket title was imposed for home video releases more than 40 years after the series originally aired, the show was broadcast under different titles during its television run:

    Rocky and His Friends (1959–1961)

    The Bullwinkle Show (1961–1964)

    The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (or The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) in syndication123.

    Another interesting factoid the writers of the show were Berkeley High school students in the late 50’s when I was born.

     

    NaPoWriMo Prompts

     

    April 21 News Gives Me the Blues

     

    cnn logo
    cnn logo

    Watching the news

    As the sun rises,

     

    Drinking a cup

    Of snarling coffee.

    Often causes me

    To feel the blues.

     

     

     

     

    As I watch the gloom

    And doom the blues

    Comes knocking at my door.

     

    Then I look outside

    And see the blue sky

    Inviting me

    To go for a walk.

     

    As I walk with my wife

    The love of my life

    By the blue waters

    Of the Gimpo Korea canal.

    Near my house.

    Gimpo Canal
    Gimpo Canal

     

     

     

     

     

    Enjoying the blue sky

    And the blue neon sign displays,

    A bluebird of happiness

    flies overhead

    And the blues fade away.

     

    And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color. Some examples for you – Diane Wakoski’s “Blue Monday,” Walter de la Mare’s “Silver,” and Dorothea Lasky’s “Red Rum.”

    April 22 Coffee and Tea endless argument – which is better?

     

    coffee
    coffee

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Coffee and Tea

    Two old friends from way back

     

    Were having an argument

    In their favorite coffee shop

     

    the Original Peets

    on Walnut and Vine

    in Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto

     

    It was a long-standing argument

    Dating back thousands of years ,

     

    Which is better for you,

    Coffee or tea?

     

    Mr. Carl Coffee maintained

    it was better

    For you with antioxidants

    Flavonoids and some caffeine.

     

    Ms Angela Tea maintained coffee

    Was overrated,

     

    Had too much caffeine

    And cost too much

    In fancy coffee shops.

    Like Peets.

     

    The two friends

    Concluded their argument.

     

    And went out and had

    A few shots of Mt. Guy rum

    In a bar near Campus.

     

    Carl Coffee was paying

    As coffee was better paid.

     

    Based on following article

    Certainly! Here’s an article from The Washington Post that compares the benefits of coffee versus tea: Why coffee is healthier than tea. It explores the research and explains why coffee comes out on top. ☕🍵

    Last but not least, here’s today’s optional prompt. This one comes from the poet and fiction writer Todd Dillard, who provided this idea on his twitter account a few months ago. The idea is to write a poem in which two things have a fight. Two very unlikely things, if you can manage it. Like, maybe a comb and a spatula. Or a daffodil and a bag of potato chips. Or perhaps your two things could be linked somehow – like a rock and a hard place – and be utterly sick of being so joined. The possibilities are endless!

    April 23 Batman Feeling the Blues Kojiki Poem

    batman
    batman

    On a winter’s night

    Batman was in the Bat Mobile

    on his nightly drive

     

     

    he was feeling his age

    no longer the batman he was

    now just an old man

     

    driving in the bat mobile

    tired of fighting criminals

    just feeling the blues.

     

    info from Fan Story Japanese Poetry group

    This week we are learning how to write a KOJIKI poem. You may use the event’s picture or your own.

    KOJIKI is the oldest poetic form that dates back to the 712th century. It’s divided into three parts: upper 5/7/5 – middle 5/7/5 – lower 7/7/7 syllables. Originally, KOJIKI was about religion but for this challenge, you can use any theme. It doesn’t rhyme. It uses a kigo (seasonal reference).

    HISTORY

    The Kojiki is one of the two primary sources for Shinto, the Japanese national religion. It starts in the realm of myth, with the creation of Japan from foam. Innumerable gods and goddesses are described. The narrative moves from mythology to historical legends and culminates in a chronology of the early Imperial line.

    wikipedia

    And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem about, or involving, a superhero, taking your inspiration from these four poems in which Lucille Clifton addresses Clark Kent/Superman.

     

    April 24 the Dream of the Sphinx

    the sphinx
    The Great Sphinx of Giza. Monumental limestone statue of a reclining sphinx with a lion’s body and a human head (believed to represent the face of the Pharaoh Khephren). One of the pyramids in the background. Giza, Egypt

    In the shadowed desert night,

    The Sphinx stirs from her slumber,

    Her eyes half-closed, half-open,

    Ancient riddles etched upon her stone.

     

     

     

    She dreams of forgotten empires,

    Of pharaohs and their fleeting glory,

    Of sands that whisper secrets,

    And winds that carry

    echoes of lost civilizations.

     

    Her paws, once mighty and fierce,

    Now cradle the shifting dunes,

    Their touch a memory of power,

    Their weight a burden for eternity.

     

    The Sphinx dreams of travelers,

    Bold souls who seek her wisdom,

    Their footsteps leaving imprints,

    Brief as the morning dew on desert blooms.

     

    Her gaze pierces time’s veil,

    Seeking answers in the constellations,

    As if the stars hold the key

    To unlock the riddles of existence.

     

    And so she waits, patient and silent,

    Guardian of forgotten truths,

    Her dream a bridge between epochs,

    Her secret hidden in the sands of time.

     

    based on Emerson’s Poem  the Sphinx

    The Sphinx

    Ralph Waldo Emerson1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)

    The Sphinx is drowsy,
    The wings are furled;
    Her ear is heavy,
    She broods on the world.
    “Who’ll tell me my secret,
    The ages have kept?–
    awaited the seer,
    While they slumbered and slept;–“The fate of the man-child;
    The meaning of man;
    Known fruit of the unknown;
    Daedalian plan;
    Out of sleeping a waking,
    Out of waking a sleep;
    Life death overtaking;
    Deep underneath deep?”Erect as a sunbeam,
    Upspringeth the palm;
    The elephant browses,
    Undaunted and calm;
    In beautiful motion
    The thrush plies his wings;
    Kind leaves of his covert,
    Your silence he sings.”The waves, unashamed,
    In difference sweet,
    Play glad with the breezes,
    Old playfellows meet;
    The journeying atoms,
    Primordial wholes,
    Firmly draw, firmly drive,
    By their animate poles.

    “Sea, earth, air, sound, silence,
    Plant, quadruped, bird,
    By one music enchanted,
    One deity stirred,–
    Each the other adorning,
    Accompany still;
    Night veileth the morning,
    The vapor the hill.

    “The babe by its mother
    Lies bathed in joy;
    Glide its hours uncounted,–
    The sun is its toy;
    Shines the peace of all being,
    Without cloud, in its eyes;
    And the sum of the world
    In soft miniature lies.

    “But man crouches and blushes,
    Absconds and conceals;
    He creepeth and peepeth,
    He palters and steals;
    Infirm, melancholy,
    Jealous glancing around,
    An oaf, an accomplice,
    He poisons the ground.

    “Outspoke the great mother,
    Beholding his fear;–
    At the sound of her accents
    Cold shuddered the sphere:–
    ‘Who has drugged my boy’s cup?
    Who has mixed my boy’s bread?
    Who, with sadness and madness,
    Has turned the man-child’s head?’”

    heard a poet answer,
    Aloud and cheerfully,
    “Say on, sweet Sphinx! thy dirges
    Are pleasant songs to me.
    Deep love lieth under
    These pictures of time;
    They fad in the light of
    Their meaning sublime.

    “The fiend that man harries
    Is love of the Best;
    Yawns the pit of the Dragon,
    Lit by rays from the Blest.
    The Lethe of nature
    Can’t trace him again,
    Whose soul sees the perfect,
    Which his eyes seek in vain.

    “Profounder, profounder,
    Man’s spirit must dive;
    To his aye-rolling orbit
    No goal will arrive;
    The heavens that now draw him
    With sweetness untold,
    Once found,–for new heavens
    He spurneth the old.

    “Pride ruined the angels,
    Their shame them restores;
    And the joy that is sweetest
    Lurks in stings of remorse.
    Have I a lover
    Who is noble and free?–
    would he were nobler
    Than to love me.

    “Eterne alternation
    Now follows, now flied;
    And under pain, pleasure,–
    Under pleasure, pain lies.
    Love works at the centre,
    Heart-heaving alway;
    Forth speed the strong pulses
    To the borders of day.

    “Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits!
    Thy sight is growing blear;
    Rue, myrrh, and cummin for the Sphinx–
    Her muddy eyes to clear!”–
    The old Sphinx bit her thick lip,–
    Said, “Who taught thee me to name?
    I am thy spirit, yoke-fellow,
    Of thine eye I am eyebeam.

    “Thou art the unanswered question;
    Couldst see they proper eye,
    Alway it asketh, asketh;
    And each answer is a lie.
    So take thy quest through nature,
    It through thousand natures ply;
    Ask on, thou clothed eternity;
    Time is the false reply.”

    Uprose the merry Sphinx,
    And crouched no more in stone;
    She melted into purple cloud,
    She silvered in the moon;
    She spired into a yellow flame;
    She flowered in blossoms red;
    She flowed into a foaming wave;
    She stood Monadnoc’s head.

    Through a thousand voices
    Spoke the universal dame:
    “Who telleth one of my meanings,
    Is master of all I am.”

    Finally, our (optional) prompt for the day is another one pulled from our 2016 archives. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! For example, you could begin, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” or “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” or “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster,” or “they persevere in swimming where they like.” Really, any poem will do to provide your starter line – just so long as it gives you the scope to explore.

    Day 25 Proust Questionnaire

    What is your idea of perfect happiness?

    I am most content and happy

    when I am hanging out

    just being with

    the love of my life

    What or who is the greatest love of your life?

    Angela Lee is my Dream Lady

    she haunted my dreams for eight years

    then came to life

    walked off a bus

    in South Korea

     

    42 years ago

    a fairy tale romance

    come to life

     

    What is your current state of mind?

     

    My current state of mind

    is quiet contemplation

    and sense of inner peace

     

    When and where were you happiest?

     

    The happiest day of my life

    was the day I met my wife

    42 years ago

     

    Which talent would you most like to have?

     

    I would have liked

    to have been able

    to drive a car

    play the piano professionally

    sing in a blues band

     

    finish my novels

    better skills

    at learning languages

     

    better vision

    more coordination skills

    If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

     

    I would have liked

    to have been born

    without a learning disability.

     

    better vision

    better teeth

    better hearing

    more coordination

    less socially awkward

    but still genius level IQ

     

    and never had the accident

    that left me with life-long fibromyalgias

    and arthritis, to boot.

     

    What do you consider your greatest achievement?

     

    My greatest achievements include

    Joining the State Department

    Joining the Peace Corps

    Graduating from UW graduate school

    graduating from college

    Teaching College for three years overseas

     

    and the most important thing of all

    is marrying my dream lady

     

    What is your most marked characteristic?

     

    sense of humor

    sense of adventure

    incurable romantic

    poet, writer, dreamer

     

    What do you most value in your friends?

     

    understanding, empathy, sense of humor

    sense of wonder

    Last but not least, here’s our optional prompt for the day. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers. You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire, and then write a poem based on your answers, answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions. You could even write a poem in the form of an entirely new Proust Questionnaire. We have a fairly standard, 35-question version of the questionnaire laid out for you below.

    What is your idea of perfect happiness?

    What is your greatest fear?

    What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

    What is the trait you most deplore in others?

    Which living person do you most admire?

    What is your greatest extravagance?

    What is your current state of mind?

    What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

    On what occasion do you lie?

    What do you most dislike about your appearance?

    Which living person do you most despise?

    What is the quality you most like in a man?

    What is the quality you most like in a woman?

    Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

    What or who is the greatest love of your life?

    When and where were you happiest?

    Which talent would you most like to have?

    If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

    What do you consider your greatest achievement?

    If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

    Where would you most like to live?

    What is your most treasured possession?

    What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

    What is your favorite occupation?

    What is your most marked characteristic?

    What do you most value in your friends?

    Who are your favorite writers?

    Who is your hero of fiction?

    Which historical figure do you most identify with?

    Who are your heroes in real life?

    What are your favorite names?

    What is it that you most dislike?

    What is your greatest regret?

    How would you like to die?

    What is your motto?

    The End

     

  • writer’s Digest Chapbook

    writer’s Digest Chapbook

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2JP

    Writer’s Digest Chapbook

    Cosmos Reading List 2023

    This is the third time I have entered the Writer’s Digest annual chapbook challenge.  The challenge was to write one poem per day in November then select the best 20 for the chapbook contest. Here are my poems.

    Index

    November 1 Declaration Poem

    Favorite Childhood Object

    Problem Solvers Problems

    Mike Johnson Ain’t No Christian, Jack

    Dreams Of a Better World Problems

    49-Year Love Story

    Barbados Calling Me

    Hometown Calling Me

    Gun Ghosts Speak Up

    Saga of Big Daddy

    Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist

    Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President

    Lucky in Love, Unlucky in Cards

    President Trump on Vermin

    cosmic cat from Berkeley

    We Must Carry the Light

    Presidential election Cycle Writer’s Digest

    Berkeley Time Travels

    Insomnia Wild Things

    AI Love Poem

    November 1 Declaration Poem Birthday

     

    On my birthday

    I like to reflect.

    On the year that was.

     

    And make plans.

    For the year ahead.

     

    Including a declaration

    Of my basic goals

    For the year.

     

    And as always

    End with a declaration

    Of love

    For the love of my life.

     

    Who joined me?

    41 years ago

    Marrying me

    On my birthday.

     

    I declare to her.

    That I will love her

    With all my heart

    Until the end of time.

     

    And vow

    To see her

    In my next life.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Favorite Childhood Object

    piano
    piano

     

     

     

     

     

    One of my

    Favorite objects

    As a child

    Was my piano.

     

    I first started learning.

    To play at age 6

    Kept going with lessons.

    Until age 18.

     

    Briefly thought of

    Becoming

    a professional composer

    Until I flunked out

    Of Oberlin Conservatory.

     

    Thus ending

    my music career.

     

    Lately, I have resumed.

    Playing the piano

    Thinking back

    In my childhood,

     

     Problem Solvers Problems

     

    There are so

    Many problems

    Facing the world.

     

    Climate change

    Inflation

    Lingering pandemics.

     

    Gunmen on the loose

    Violence on the street

    Wars in Ukraine and Israel

    Terrorism threats.

     

    Unending political chaos

    In the United States

    And elsewhere.

     

    But the biggest

    Problem of all

    Is the lingering political.

    Dysfunction.

     

    And the growth

    Of neo-fascism.

     

    That is the real problem.

    Facing us all.

     

    Mike Johnson Ain’t No Christian, Jack

    Mike Johnson

    Has been catching.

    A lot of flack

     

    As his right-wing

    Republican Jesus faith

    Becomes better known.

     

    Particularly, catching flack

    Over his homophobic views

    And bigotry.

     

    May people making

    Brash callous remarks

    About his Christian faith.

    And his open homophobic views.

     

     

    He does not seem to understand.

    His brand of extreme

    evangelical Christian faith.

     

    Is anathema.

    To many people

    These days.

     

    Who views his MAGA faith?

    As hypocritical fake Christianity

    As it violates all of Christ’s teachings.

     

    As Christ was the ultimate

    Social justice “woke.”

    Warrior of all time.

     

    If Christ came back

    He would scream.

    I ain’t no Christian.

     

    Before being crucified

    Again, by the so-called

    Christian leaders.

     

     Dreams of a Better World

     

    I often dream.

    Of a better world

    Of a better future.

     

    Asking what if

    What if we solved

    The climate change problem?

     

    What if we just stop

    The mass gun violence?

     

    What if we just stop

    The endless wars

    And the threat of terrorism.

    .

    What if we stop

    All the despair,

    and fearmongering.

     

    The hate all around us

    And replace it with love.

    And peace and goodwill.

     

    That is my dream.

    Everyday

    Waiting to make

    A better world.

     

    50-Year Love Story

    when I first met you

    on that date

    I met my fate.

     

    That was the beginning.

    of a 49-year love affair

    that began.

    when I first dreamt of

    The dream of meeting you.

     

     Barbados is Calling Me

     

     

     

     

    Barbados is calling me,

    On a winter’s day.

    The tropical beach paradise.

    I want to just be.

    Ending up on the beach,

    no matter what happens.

    Drinking rum and coke with ice.
     

    Berkeley Calling Me

     

     

     

    I am a Berkeley boy.

    Through and through

     

    Went to BHS

    But did not go to CAL.

    My grades did not measure up.

     

    I have wandered the world.

    Living overseas

    Yet everywhere I go.

    I remember my Berkeley roots.

     

    Berkeley is calling me.

    Someday I will return.

    To my homeland

     

    Until then

    I will keep it.

    Berkeley in my heart

     

    And my soul

    A Berkeley boy

    To the end.

    Gun Ghosts Speak Up

    guns
    gun

     

     

     

     

     

    The Association of Gun Ghosts

    Held their annual meeting.

    Thousands of gun ghosts

    Gathered together.

     

    At Columbine High School

    At midnight

    No one saw or heard them.

    As they were ghosts

     

    They decided to issue.

    A manifesto

    To the world

     

    And released it.

    On the internet

    Where their simple plea

    Went viral.

     

    The note read.

     

    People of earth

    Particularly Americans

    Please put away your guns

    Your weapons of war.

     

    Too many of us

    Are being gunned down.

    Because there are so many guns

    More guns than people.

     

    You talk about freedom.

    What about the freedom

    To walk down the street

    Without fear

     

    That a gunman

    Will shoot us dead?

     

    And politicians do nothing.

    But offer useless prayers.

    And thoughts

     

    We don’t need to hear that.

    We demand action.

    We demand responsibility.

     

    We demand you just quit.

    Killing people

    With your guns.

     

    And stop lying.

    You all know.

    That gun kills.

     

    That is what they

    Are designed to do.

    And they do it so well.

     

    We know.

    Because we are the gun ghosts

    Killed by your guns.

     

    But in the end

    If you continue this way

    You too could join us.

    And become gun ghosts.

                                                       Saga of Big Daddy

    Big Daddy, aka Sam Adams
    was the man
    who always had a plan.

    He was an ex-University of Arkansas
    and Dallas Cowboy player
    who had worked for the CIA?

    The agency fired him
    for murdering enemies of the state
    at home in contravention of agency rules,

    but they retained
    his services from time to time.

    He supplemented his CIA payments
    And bar income from money laundering,
    drug smuggling, human smuggling
    and other assorted crimes, big and small.

    Big Daddy had lots of enemies
    Many people wanted him dead
    Relatives of his many victims
    Of the covert  wars, he waged
    On behalf of his nation.

    He was hoping to stay out of trouble
    But one day trouble found him.

    He moved to Bangkok, Thailand
    Where he opened the Cosmos Bar
    With the assistance of his manager.
    Kuhn Lek, and her uncle

    The police chief and his cousin
    The biggest drug kingpin
    In the Northern Triangle.

    The Cosmos Bar
    Became world-famous
    The spot to go to is Bangkok.

    Located in Soi Cowboy
    It was an after-hours club
    Secretly owned by the Thai police,
    One of the few places
    They served alcohol 24/7.

    It was filled with
    Criminals, drug dealers, government agents
    Journalists, prostitutes, pimps,
    spies, counter-spies, sex tourists,

    tourists, undercover cops,
    and assorted other low-lives,
    From all over the known world.

    Had the best-looking woman
    The best-looking travesties too,
    The best beer, wine, and liquor list
    In the city,
    And the best burgers in town.

    It looked like the Bar
    In Star Wars
    Filled with probable human life forms
    And perhaps a space alien or two.

    One day a mysterious Korean woman
    Came into the bar asking for him
    By his universal nickname
    “Big Daddy”

    Maria Lee was a Korean-American
    Drop-dead gorgeous woman
    Who was on the lam
    from her rich Korean husband.

    She had one question for Big Daddy.

    “The word in the  Korean community
    is that you are a man
    who knows how to launder money.

    Can you launder 50 million dollars?”

    “Hmm for a fee.”

    “What’s the fee?”

    “A night of wild sex with you.”

    “Done, but only after the deed is done.”

    She smiled sweetly.

    He called his underworld contacts
    and they laundered the 50 million dollars
    and he gave her the bank receipt.
    He had parked the money
    in a Cayman Islands account.

    That night
    she honored her agreement with Big Daddy.
    The next morning
    while drinking his cup of coffee,

    she revealed that she had poisoned him
    because she did not want anyone to know
    about the transaction
    and her affair with Big Daddy.

    She smiled,

    “Thanks, Big Daddy,
    I liked last night,
    You are a real stud, Big Daddy,
    Perhaps that is why you are called, ‘Big Daddy’
    But hey it is nothing personal, Big Daddy.”
    After all, it was just a business deal in the end.

    And that was
    how trouble found Big Daddy.

    Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist

    One day

    A man fell.

    A rabbit hole.

    On his computer,

    Lost in thought.

    when an odd event occurs,

    the event that led.

    to his untimely death.

    He did not hear.

    The footsteps,

    Of the white

    Christian nationalist

    Domestic terrorist next door.

    Who took exception?

    To Sam’s living there

    As Sam was not white

    And an atheist “libtard.”

     

    And his neighbor

    Was a white supremacist.

    Christian Nationalist.

     

    His neighbor Bob.

    Came at Sam with a chainsaw.

    And struck him in the heart.

    Killing him instantly.

     

    Then using a torch

    To burn the body.

     

    Before using dynamite

    To blow up the house

    Despite the rain clouds

    Outside.

     

    All streamed live.

    On his wifi.

    trump jpg
    trump jpg

    Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President

     

    Back in the old days

    when political decisions

    were made by insiders.

     

    White men of power

    who gathered.

    in the proverbial

    smoke-filled rooms.

     

    smoking menthol cigarettes

    and cigars

    drinking whiskey

    martinis and beer

     

    while enjoying a steak dinner

    and plotting political plots

     

    in such a world

    Trump would not have been.

    allowed to become President.

     

    as the political elites

    would not allow.

    such a Buffon

    from taking power

     

    They would despise.

    such a vulgar low-class

    new money guy.

     Lucky in love, unlucky in cards

    There is an adage
    That sums up my life so far
    One can be lucky in love
    But unlucky in cards

    That sums it up nicely
    I have been lucky in love
    Met and married
    The girl of my dreams

    Dreamed of meeting her
    For eight years
    Then she came into my life
    Became my wife

    But I have never been
    Lucky in cards
    I mean I have played
    Poker with friends
    But always lost

    Won a little bit of gambling
    But usually lost more
    Then I won

    Eventually gave up
    Just not fun anymore
    As I lost the gambling fever

    Yet to get a jackpot
    But then I think
    I hit the jackpot of love

    And that has made
    All the difference

     

     

     

    President Trump on Vermin AI Poem

     

     

     

     

    A leader of a nation, a speaker of lies.

    A spreader of hatred, a divider of ties

    A mocker of the weak, a lover of the strong

    A builder of walls, a singer of wrong

    A hater of the different, a scorner of the same

    A caller of the vermin, a blamer of the blame

    An ignorer of the facts, a denier of the truth

    A creator of the chaos, a destroyer of the youth

    A loser of the election, a claimer of the fraud

    A refuser of the concession, a violator of the law

    An inciter of the violence, a fomenter of the storm

    A deserter of the office, a traitor of the norm

    evil cat
    evil cat

    cosmic cat from Berkeley

    I next encountered the divine
    Many years later in Berkeley, California
    I had gone home to be with my Mother
    While taking leave from my job
    in the Foreign Service

    I had two weeks there by myself
    My wife came later
    near the end of the trip

    Every morning I woke up
    Had my coffee, and breakfast
    Did yoga while listening to music

    And looking out at the garden
    Then spoke to my mother
    Who was sliding into dementia?
    Day by day losing her reason
    Then I would go out

    And explore the city
    Go to a museum

    Go to one neighborhood
    And just be there

    Rediscovering the Bay area
    After years of being away

    Having dinner with old friends
    Seeing movies etc

    Every morning a black cat came to visit
    The cat was friendly and waited for me

    And then would join me in my morning rambles
    Following me to the bus stop

    I started talking to the black cat
    He looked at me with a spark of divinity
    In his dark eyes

    I called him the cosmic cat
    He seemed to like that

    He would look at me
    And I opened up to me
    Told the cat all my dark secrets
    As I walked the streets
    Of the old neighborhood

    Every morning and every evening the cat
    Would be there to greet me

    And to carry out our endless conversation
    Then I had to leave

    And in our final conversation
    I asked the cosmic cat

    Say, Cat are you just a cat
    Or are you a demonic cat
    Are you possessed by God?
    Or by Satan

    The cat looked at me
    And I realized that God
    Was indeed residing in the cat

    But that god was residing everywhere
    All I had to do was open my mind
    And the rest would follow

    So I said Goodbye to the cosmic cat
    And he purred and came up to me

    And I felt the comforting presence
    Of the divine spirit of God

    As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat
    And said goodbye to my mother
    As this was the last time
    That we would be able to talk

    I told my mother about the cosmic cat
    She smiled and said that the cat
    was there for me and her
    to comfort us both in our hour of need

    and that the cat was indeed
    a cosmic cat

    Carrying the light

     

    We must carry the light

    It is not so bright

    Embracing the light with my wife

    Still the center of my life

    We both fear the dark

    Nothing more to avoid strife.

     

    Carrying the light

    until the end of time

    chasing away

    the darkness that haunts.

    my soul.

     

    Presidential Election Cycle

     

     

     

     

     

    The U.S. Presidential election cycle

    Is a long-drawn-out affair.

     

    Starts the day after the last election.

    And ends a month after the votes.

    Have been certified,

    and the winner is determined.

     

    As usual

    Twenty candidates are announced.

    For the election cycle

    A year or so before

    The actual vote.

     

    The most important part

    The donors chose.

    Which candidates will get?

    Their money and support

    In the so-called invisible primary.

     

    By January of an election year

    Five to six serious contenders

    Have emerged.

     

    Battling it out nightly on the news

    As the pundits weigh in

    And voters begin to choose.

    on multiple Super Tuesdays.

     

    The candidates race across.

    The land

    Offering their vision,

    Their hopes and fears.

     

    As the public begins

    To wake up

    And start to choose.

     

    The game is on foot.

    with almost weekly debates

    where the candidates

    try not to make fools.

    of themselves.

     

    It continues until the summer.

    When the conventions nominate

    Someone as the standard bearer.

     

    The losers concede.

    But the intra-party feuding

    Does not end.

     

    In the end

    There will be one person.

    Left standing.

     

    At the end of the roughest

    Most competitive race

    In the world.

     

    That determines.

    The fate of nations.

     

    Voters in the end

    Making the final call

    As the presidential election season

    Comes to a final decision point.

     

    Berkeley Time Travels

     

     

     

    I grew up in Berkeley, California

    In the turbulent fabled late ’60s

    And in Berkeley in those days

    Time seems to stand at a standstill.

     

    On the corner of Dwight and Telegraph

    Across from People’s Park

    It seems to be always May 1969

     

    With the man

    Down the street

    Oppressing the hippies

    On the street

     

    As they smoked their weed

    Dodging the bored cops

    Who looked the other way?

    If they did not partake

     

    And then I went to college

    In the valley

    As I drove into Stockton

    I felt I was traveling again.

     

    In time

    Back to the fabled ’50s

    Stockton was also.

    Stuck in a time warp of sorts.

     

    And as I left the Bay area.

    And traveled the world.

    I would come back.

    To that corner

     

    And just be there.

    Stuck in May 1969

    Again

    Marveling at the changes

     

    That had and had not occurred.

    To the corner of the land

    Forever stuck in time

    And space

     

     

     

     

     

    Last Night I could not

    Get to sleep at all

    Last night I could not

    Sleep

     

    As my mind wandered

    Down dark rabbit holes

    Of fevered imagination

     

    At 0 dark hundred hours

    The wild things came out

    To play

     

    Torturing me

    Until the sunrise

    Blasted them

    Back into the dark

    Corners of my mind.

     

    And the nightmares

    Faded away

    With the dawning sun.

     BIng AI Love Poem

     

    Angela Lee, you are the light of my life.

    You fill my days with joy and my nights with dreams.

    You are the reason I smile and the reason I breathe.

    You are the one who makes my heart skip a beat,

     

    Angela Lee, you are the beauty of my world.

    You shine like a star and sparkle like a gem.

    You are the one who catches my eye.

    and the one who holds my hand.

    You are the one.

    Who makes me feel alive?

     

    Angela Lee, you are the love of my soul.

    You touch me with your kindness and your warmth,

    You are the one who understands me.

    and the one who supports me.

    You are the one who makes me whole.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Executing Non-Christians!

    Executing Non-Christians!

    Executing Non-Christians!

    Letter to Paula White

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2Iz

    An Epistle Letter to Christian Nationalist and Notorious White Supremacist Nick Fuentes.

    Note:  Chris Fuentes is a piece of work.  He is a white Christian Nationalist White Supremacist holocaust denier who had dinner with the former president a few months ago.  He recently came out with a posting calling for the execution of Non-Christians and declaring America to be a Christian Nation.  In this epistle poem, I tried to change his mind and heart and hope that he will see the light and repent of his odious, vile views.  I will send this to him and update this, if he responds.

    The following articles provide more details on his comments.

     

    Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who dined with Donald Trump last year, said on a livestream that “perfidious Jews” should …

    Semites, Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence, drawing massive outrage while revealing to many …
    Opinion: Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist friend of Rep. Paul Gosar and Sen. Wendy Rogers, has said vile things … again.
    Dear Nick,

     

    After reading your recent rant,

    Calling for the execution of non-Christians

    And making America a Christian-only country,

     

    All I can say is that through your bigoted,

    Divisive, genocidal, hateful words,

     

    You have revealed to all

    That you are not a Christian

    In any sense of the word.

     

    Your words

    Show you do not

     follow the teachings

    Of Jesus,

     not at all. 

     

    If Jesus were to come back today,

     he would no doubt

    Proclaim, he is not a Christian.

     

    There are so many things wrong

    With your statement.

     

    First, it is unconstitutional

    America was founded upon the principle

    That there would be no national religion.

     

    People would be free to worship or not

    As they believe.

     

    People could even

    Follow

    “pagan stuff,

     false gods, deities, or demons. “

     

    Second, it would be a legal nightmare

    To enact such a proposal.

     

    To execute non-Christians, you would

    First have to amend the constitution

    To declare that Christianity is the sole

    Legal religion in the United States.

     

    Then you would have to pass

    Enabling legislation

    Calling for Americans to register

    Their religious affiliation

    With the government.

     

    With non-Christians being sent

    To concentration camps

    Like in Hitler’s Germany.

     

    Logistically, this would be a nightmare.

     

    35 percent of Americans are not Christians

    That means you would have to round up

    And execute 35 percent of Americans

    0r almost 90 million people.

     

    and that would cost billions of dollars

    and require millions of men to join 

    the military or police to go out

    and round up the Non-Christians.

     

    and many of the non-Christians

    are armed and will not go quietly

    to the concentration camps.

     

    And how would you define

    Who is a Christian?

    Would Mormons be considered Christians?

    Or Unitarians?

    Or the unification church, aka the monies?

     

    In any event, this will

    Surely be an act of genocide

    And a war crime to boot.

     

    Not to mention there is nothing

    In the Bible

    Or Christian tradition

    That would support this horrific act

    Of genocidal madness.

     

    As a professed Christian,

    you are showing that

    You have no idea at all

    What Christianity is supposed to be.

     

    Christianity is supposed

    to be about belonging, compassion,

     empathy, love, inclusion,

    promoting brotherhood, understanding

     and good will towards others.

     

    It is not supposed to be about anti-feminism, bigotry, fear,

    genocide,  hatred, Islamophobia, racism, violence against other people.

     

    In short, Mr. Fuentes,

    Your proposal is anti-Christian,

    anti-American, anti-constitutional,

     anti-Semitic, bigoted, divisive,

    hateful, genocidal, Islamophobic,

    and  is promoting war crimes against humanity.

     

    How dare you call yourself a Christian?

    How dare you promote your murderous threats

    in the name of Jesus Christ?

     

    And it is your brand of hateful

     toxic Christian nationalism

    That is leading to so many people,

     

    Particularly young people

    Abandoning the Christian religion.

    They are just not buying the hate.

    Thank God for that.

     

    Thank you for reading my take on your proposal

    And I hope I have enlightened you

    and that you change your mind

    And repent of your proposal.

     

    Finally, pick up your bible and read it!

    Reflecting on

    What Jesus would do

    And that will guide you

    To a new correct understanding

    Of Christianity.

     

    Thanks

    Jake Cosmos Aller

    Not a Christian – are you planning on executing me too?

    “There is an occult element at the high levels of society, and specifically among the Jews, and you know, whenever I see that stuff that just makes me want to proclaim louder and more firmly and more rigidly that it is nothing other than Jesus Christ. No, no pagan staff, no false gods, no dietéis, no demons. It is Jesus Christ, and we need to start saying that name

    Comment: If Jesus were to come back today,  he would denounce you and proclaim that you ain’t no Christian and are following a false God. and the constitution protects the rights of people to worship even demons and false Gods if they so chose.  That is what Freedom of Religion means. End Comment

    “it’s the name Jesus, talk about it, say it. Pray to him, talk about the sacrifice on the cross, that’s the answer. Because so many of the people who are perpetrating the lies and the destruction of the country are evil-doers. They are people that worship false gods, they are people that practice magic or rituals or whatever, and more than anything those people need to be when we take power, they need to be given the death penalty. Straight up. And I’m far more concerned about that than I am about even non-white people or mass migration.”

    “These people that are that are communing with demons and engaging in this sort of witchcraft and stuff, and these people that are suppressing the name Christ and suppressing Christianity, they must be annihilated when we take power, I’m not calling for political violence, but that cannot have any quarter in our society.”

    Comment: “Not calling for political violence?  Then why use the word annihilation?  And call for giving them the death penalty. Ha Ha Ha.    Wait, are you really calling for the death of 90 million Non-Christian Americans in the name of Jesus Christ?  Are you insane?  If you really believe this, you need to get some help and stay away from drugs, guns and other people.  End comment

    “We need to put up we need to put up a crucifix in every home, in every room in every school, and every government office to signal Christ’s reign over our country,”

    “Comment: No, we do not. Until you repeal the first amendment, Americans are free to worship or not worship as they see fit, and the government can not put overly religious symbols in every school and government office”. Nor is America a Christian country.  35% of Americans are not Christians, many are not religious at all, and that is the fastest growing segment of the population. End Comment.

    “: not that God needs it, but it must be outwardly expressed from the interior, that this is God’s country. This is Jesus’s country. This is not the domain of atheists devil worshipers or perfidious Jews. This is Christ’s country,” he said, adding those who are “agnostic” cannot be part of his “America first” movement. “no, you must be a Christian. And you must submit to Christianity.”

    Comment:  Again, until you repeal the first amendment, this is not Christ’s country, it is not God’s country. And agnostics, atheists, and devil worshipers and perfidious Jews are all Americans too and deserve the right to worship the gods of their chose or not worship as they sit fit. Finally, you are right God does not need this, nor does it need to be outwardly expressed from the interior, that is is God’s country which it is not.  End Comment

     

    Epistle poetry form

    What drew me to this form is that, with the dawn of the computer age that brought with it email and texting, the letter is almost a dying art in and of itself. So, I—who have always hated to write letters—am oddly interested in writing a letter poem.

    BRIEF HISTORY

    This form is around twenty-one hundred years old (New Princeton, 1351). The name comes from Latin origins. “Pistola is the Latin word for the letter” (Padgett, 69).

    MUST HAVES

    –It must be a letter. That’s it.

    COULD HAVES OR WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?

    –Any number of stanzas, syllables, or length.

    –Any rhyme or meter.

    –Use “Dear __________” as part of the poem, or not—it’s your choice. You can write it to anyone (or anything), and by anyone.

    Executing Non-Christians 25 Word Poem

    Listening to “so-called Christians”

    Talk about executing non-Christians

    The thought came to mind

    If Jesus came back

    He would proclaim,

     

    “I ain’t No Christian, Dude,”

     

    25-word poem

    the End

     

     

  • COSCTCO Has My Number

    COSCTCO Has My Number

    COSCTCO Has My Number

    COSTCO
    COSTCO

     

     

     

     

    0regon Reflections

    https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com//

    I have been a COSTCO member since 1998.  I love COSTCO. It is one of the best corporations in the world and always does things right.  In short, they have Soul.  My home COSTCO was the Springfield, VA COSTCO, and the MEDFORD COSTCO and here in Korea, the Ilsang COSTCO and before that the SONGDO COSTCO, but I have shopped at many other COSTCO’s over the years.

    Here are some of my Ode to COSTCO poems.  I will send it to COSTCO HQ and report back if they respond.

    BING AI provides some background to start us off.

    COSTCO is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores, also known as warehouse clubs or wholesale clubs. COSTCO sells a wide range of products, from groceries and electronics to furniture and clothing, at discounted prices. COSTCO also offers services such as gas stations, pharmacies, optical centers, travel packages, and more. COSTCO is known for its Kirkland Signature brand, which is its private label of products that are often of high quality and low cost. COSTCO is also famous for its rotisserie chicken, hot dogs, and pizza, which are sold at its food courts.

    COSTCO’s history dates back to 1976, when Sol Price, a pioneer in warehouse club retailing, opened the first Price Club in San Diego, California. Price Club was the world’s first membership warehouse club, a place where efficient buying and operating practices gave members access to unmatched savings. Price Club targeted small business owners, who could buy items in bulk for their use or resale. Price Club expanded rapidly, opening stores across the US and Canada.

    In 1983, James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman, two former Price Club executives, opened the first COSTCO in Seattle, Washington. COSTCO followed a similar business model as Price Club but also catered to individual consumers as well as businesses. COSTCO also differentiated itself by offering a wider selection of products, including fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery, and deli items. COSTCO also introduced its Kirkland Signature brand in 1992, which soon became a hallmark of its quality and value proposition. COSTCO grew quickly, opening stores in various states and countries.

    In 1993, Price Club and COSTCO merged to form Price/COSTCO, a company that combined the strengths and expertise of both warehouse clubs. The merger created the largest membership warehouse club chain in the world, with over 200 locations and 22 million members. In 1997, the company changed its name to COSTCO Companies, Inc., and in 1999, it adopted its current name, COSTCO Wholesale Corporation.

    Today, COSTCO is the third largest retailer in the world and the largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine. COSTCO has over 860 warehouses worldwide, serving more than 127 million members in 14 countries. COSTCO’s mission is to continually provide its members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. COSTCO’s vision is to be the most respected and successful warehouse club in the world.

    If you want to learn more about COSTCO, you can visit its official website1 or read some of the articles below:

    COSTCO | History & Facts | Britannica

    COSTCO – Wikipedia

    About Us | COSTCO

    COSTCO Wholesale History: Founding, Timeline, and Milestones – Zippier

    COSTCO History and Founding: How the Wholesale Club Redefined Retail – Business Insider

    COSTCO Poems

    Shopping At COSTCO Always an Adventure

    Lost Shopping Cart in Songdo

    Lost Shoe in Medford

    Close Encounter with Potential Killer On Richmond Highway

    Ode To the COSTCO Workers Around The World

    Ode To COSTCO Old Poem

    COSTCO People Watching

    COSTCO Blues

    I Love COSTCO

    COSTCO People Watching

    I love my COSTCO.

    I love going there to shop.

    But most importantly

    I love people-watching.

     

    Looking at people as they walk by

    Wondering what their stories are.

    And covertly checking

    Out the beautiful girls

    As they walk on by.

     

    And when they smile at me

    It makes my day.

     

    Yes, I love my COSTCO.

    And COSTCO loves me back.

     

    Extracting my money

    From my wallet.

     

    I go in for one simple thing

    And walk out

    Having spent 500 dollars.

     

    Yes, COSTCO has my number

    And loves me too

    Long live COSTCO

    Shopping At COSTCO Always An Adventure

    I have been a COSTCO member

    Since 2000 or so

    And have shopped all over

     

    Springfield Virginia

    Was my home COSTCO,

     

    Until we moved to Medford, Oregon.

    Also shopped at the DC COSTCO,

    The Richmond Highway COSTCO

    COSTCO in Richmond, California

    Or Fairfield California

    When we are in the Bay Area.

     

    COSTCO in LA

    COSTCO in Ilsan,  Korea

    Is now our home base.

     

    Wherever we went

    We always felt

    Welcomed, safe

     

    And the staff

    Were always friendly

    And helpful.

     

    But shopping at COSTCO

    Always is an adventure

    Here then are our COSTCO misadventures

    Lost Shopping Cart In Songdo

    Shopping at COSTCO

    In Songdo Korea

    In the COVID era,

     

    We encountered

    A strange phenomenon

    We thought that someone

    Had stolen our shopping cart.

     

    We alerted the COSTCO staff

    And they found

    Our lost shopping cart.

     

    The COSTCO staff

    Were helpful as always.

    And we left, shaken up

    But finally satisfied.

    Lost Shoe In Medford

    In Medford, Oregon

    We shopped at COSTCO

    Bought thousands of dollars

    In-home improvement products

    As we renovated our rental properties.

     

    Also of course food and clothing

    And sundry items

     

    Always walking out

    After spending hundreds of dollars.

     

    COSTCO knows

    How to extract money

    From their grateful customers.

     

    But one day

    We had a strange thing happen

    While trying on shoes

    Somehow, I lost my shoes.

     

    Someone had stolen

    My shoes

    Or so it seemed.

     

    We searched high

    And low

    But never found

    Our shoes.

     

    The manager was apologetic

    But there was little to be done

    Just another misadventure

    In COSTCO land.

    Close Encounter With Potential Killer On Richmond Highway COSTCO

    In all my years

    Of shopping at COSTCO

    Only once did I feel

    Threatened or unsafe.

     

    It happened so suddenly

    My wife was

    Accosted by someone

    Claiming we had cut in line.

     

    She was holding my spot

    As I brought the cart over.

     

    An angry black woman

    Got real personal

    In her face

     

    Using abusive language.

    And making a huge scene

    My wife told her

    To buzz off.

     

    This all occurred

    While I was in the restroom

     

    Came back to find the woman

    Cursing at Angela.

    Then we left

     

    She was waiting for us

    At the exit.

    We felt uncomfortable

     

    Went to the manager

    Who escorted us

    To our car.

     

    We felt that woman

    Who was high

    Probably on speed

    Or crack cocaine.

     

    Might have gone

    To get a gun

    To blow us away.

     

    But fortunately

    She left

    And we left.

     

    Shaken by the close

    Encounter with a random act

    Of senseless violence.

    Ode To The COSTCO Workers Around The World

     

    Before COVID shutdowns

    I always liked going to COSTCO.

     

    Liked the sampling

    The bustle,

    Checking out new products.

     

    Checking out the other customers

    The staff were always friendly

    Helpful and courteous.

     

    But with the COVID shutdowns

    COSTCO has become

    Even more of a lifesaver

     

    For many people

    Around the world.

     

    And we all feel

    That COSTCO has our backs

    As we navigate the new normal.

     

    COSTCO was one of the first corporations

    To mandate mask use throughout their stores

    Before it was required.

     

    They had senior hours

    To protect the most vulnerable.

     

    COSTCO workers

    Are my heroes

    In these dark times

    We are living in.

    Ode to COSTCO

    I love my COSTCO

    I love going there to shop.

    But most importantly

     

    I love people-watching.

    Looking at people as they walk by

    Wondering what their stories are.

     

    And covertly checking

    Out the beautiful girls

    As they walk on by.

     

    And when they,

    Smile at me

    It makes my day

     

    Yes I love my COSTCO

    And COSTCO

    Loves me back.

     

    Extracting my money

    From my wallet.

    I go in for one simple thing

     

    And walk out

    Having spent 500 dollars.

     

    Yes COSTCO has my number

    And loves me too.

    COSTCO Blues:

    This poem is about the narrator’s frustration with the long lines and crowds at COSTCO, and how he wishes he could escape to a more peaceful place.

    I Hate Going to COSTCO.

    The lines are always too long.

    The people are always rude.

     

    The carts are always full.

    The prices are always high.

    The products are always cheap.

    The samples are always gone.

     

    The parking lot is always full,

    I wish I could go somewhere else.

     

    Somewhere quiet and serene.

    Somewhere with no lines,

    And no crowds.

     

    Somewhere with no carts

    And no samples.

    Somewhere

     

    With no prices.

    And no products.

     

    Somewhere like heaven

    But I can’t.

     

    Because

    I need to buy toilet paper.

    And rotisserie chicken

    And Kirkland Signature vodka

     

    And a giant teddy bear.

    And a 65-inch TV.

     

    And a lifetime

    Supply of batteries.

     

    And a coffin,

    For when

    I die of COSTCO blues.

    COSTCO Love:

    This poem is about the narrator’s love for COSTCO, and how he finds everything he needs and wants there, including his soulmate.

    I love going to COSTCO.

    The lines are always worth the wait.

    The people are always friendly.

    The carts are always full of goodies.

     

    The prices are always low.

    The products are always high-quality.

    The samples are always delicious.

     

    The parking lot is always spacious.

    I don’t want to go anywhere else.

    COSTCO is my paradise.

    COSTCO is my home.

    COSTCO is my everything.

     

    I find everything I need.

    And want at COSTCO.

    Food and drinks

    And clothes and books.

    Gadgets and toys,

    And tools and furniture.

    Jewelry and flowers,

    And art and travel.

    And most importantly,

    Love.

    COSTCO Wedding

    I met my soul mate

    while shopping at COSTCO

    in suburban Virginia.

     

    We were both reaching

    For the last rotisserie chicken.

     

    We locked eyes

    and smiled.

    sparks flew

    from heart to heart

     

    we shared coffee

    and pizza

    and talked

    until they kicked us out

     

    We decided

    To share the chicken

    And our lives.

     

    We got married at COSTCO,

    In front of the giant teddy bear.
    the store general manager

    We exchanged rings

    From the jewelry section.

    We cut a cake from the bakery.

    the general manager

    officiated the ceremony

    attended by customers, family
    and friends
    shown on ZOOM

    at every COSTCO
    as this was the first
    COSTCO Wedding!

    We toasted with

    Kirkland Signature champagne.

     

    We danced to the music

    From the electronics department.

     

    We spent our honeymoon

    At COSTCO in Spain.

    In a tent

    From the camping section.

     

    We made love on a mattress

    From the bedding section.

     

    We cuddled under a blanket

    From the home section

    We dreamed of our future

    At COSTCO.

     

    Raising our kids,

    And growing old together.

    Shopping,

    And saving

    And living and loving

    At COSTCO.

    note:  Not a true story, although we both love our COSTCO.

    Lost Bag Nightmare

    I am at a crowded cafeteria and a college campus I am an underground agent for the government and we are tracking the movements of a potential terrorist who has threatened to kill Palestinians and or Jewish kids at this college,

    I put down my bag on on a counter and we went to track down the terrorists when we finished arresting them, avoiding a huge incident when we finished arresting the terrorists. I go back and find that my bag is completely gone.

    I don’t know what to do. I lost my laptop and my phone and some money in it, and a library book.

    I was devastated as I had lost my bag.  I also realized I was stupid for leaving the bag unattended so I called my wife who was out of town. And she agreed I could go to COSTCO to replace the phone and the computer.

    I arranged to do that but I missed my computer and missed my phone and I am upset at how stupid and careless I had been.

    COSTCO Goes Green

    thoughts while walking through COSTCO one day.

    COSTCO announces a bold new strategy to combat climate change. They will put in every COSTCO warehouse and office building around the world solar panels and mini wind turbines to generate enough power to run their warehouses off the grid and to sell the power back to the local utilities if there is any excess power.

    They also in some areas agreed to install geothermal water heating and solar water heating everywhere.

    They also agree to fund local bus service so people can get to and from COSTCO from the nearest metro subway systems and they challenge Walmart, Sam’s, Target, and other large big box stores worldwide to follow suit.  Most of them agreed to do so and join COSTO in forming the Green Business Alliance which will bring together the Corporate sector to jointly work on climate and renewable energy initiatives with governments and the academic sector, vowing to hold a COSTCO Foundation Green Energy annual summit bringing together business, academic and Government leaders to make concrete progress.

    COSTCO said that saving the planet is the most important thing that they could do and that they would be fully supportive of a new Green Deal. They also will sell COSTCO renewable energy supplies and they will set up a renewable energy research corporation to help companies and individuals install renewable energy systems.

    The progressive left hails COSTCO and conservatives denounce COSTCO for going “woke”. The public slides with COSTCO’s reputation and sales go way up.

    Letter to COSTCO

    Dear COSTCO

    I have been a member since 1998. I have long admired your corporation for being a great corporation with progressive values. You are a leader in so many areas, not to mention that you are a great company to work for, sell great products at a great price, and have the best customer service in the world.

    You do so many things you do right , and thank you for that, for all the good that you do every day. I would like to suggest that you do much more to combat climate change and become a leader in combating climate change, which as you are no doubt aware is an existential crisis. Climate change and the need to shift to a new Green Deal are imperative if we want to save the entire planet.

    There are many things that corporations could do and it’s time for COSTCO to step up to do their part. At a minimum, I would recommend that you commit to putting in every single COSTCO warehouse worldwide solar panels on the rooftops and in shading over the car lots, and mini wind turbines so that each COSTCO will be carbon neutral and self-sufficient in terms of energy. This should also include setting up water harvesting systems so that all the water will be self-generated and solar water heaters as well.  Excess power could be sold back to the local utilities at cost.  I would also greatly expand electric vehicle charging stations.

    COSTCO is unfortunately not that accessible to people without public transit. This is something that COSTCO should address. At a minimum, they should set up a free shuttle bus system going employees, visitors, and members taking people from the nearest metro subway stop to COSTCO and this should run during COSTCO business hours starting about 1/2 an hour before the opening of business ending a half an hour after the close of business. It should be free to the public and should run every half hour. This would be a very simple and cost-effective way to make sure that people can easily access COSTCO corporation shops and COSTCO should also consider contributing money to the local public transit companies to expand bus service in the COSTCO neighborhoods that they serve.

    I would suggest you call upon your colleagues in the big box industries around the world to do the same, committing to addressing climate change, transit accessibility, and water conservation policies in every store worldwide. If COSTCO steps up and takes the lead, Walmart, Target and the other big market companies will feel they need to do the same.  This commitment will  make a tremendous difference around the world and it would not cost her much to do so in fact it would save money on energy for all your COSTCO operations worldwide

    I’m asking you to commit to making every single COSTCO a green energy building do it for the sake of the planet thank you.

    I have blogged about my positive experiences with COSTCO here and feel free to publish any of my COSTCO poems on your website and your magazines. Thanks again for doing everything you do.

    Long Live COSTCO.

    The End

  • More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    Synchronized Chaos Published More of My Poetry

     

    <synchchaos@gmail.com&g

    Hi Jake, thanks again for coming back to Synchronized Chaos! We’re glad to publish these poems, one poem at a time, in our subsequent semimonthly issues.

    Excited that you have written an Ode to Coffee, as I’m a legendary coffee fan 🙂

    As always, please feel welcome to leave comments on the currently published work at synchchaos.com. We all appreciate feedback!

    Cristina

    Here are some more poems for you to consider.

    God’s Confession
    Ode To Coffee
    God Is Coming And Boy Is He Mad  God
    The Old Man In The Mirror Must Die Old Age
    Falling Rain
    Long Life The Great And Powerful One
    Spin Masters Spin Away The Day
    Red Sun Dawning Over The New Empire
    Just An Unhinged Lunatic Howling At The Moon

    Prior publication

    Travel to Gangwha Travel piece
    Christmas Bombing in Nashville
    Eve Ate the Apple
    Just Enough for Coffee
    Our National Hangover
    Strangers Sleeping on the Streets
    2019 Year That Was
    Dogs of War are Howling
    Dreams
    Fate
    Idiots in High Places
    masters of the Universe
    The terrible Teens
    When will this Madness End?
    End-of=the-Years Blues

    God’s Confession

    god
    god

     

     

     

     

    I was sitting alone
    In a god-forsaken bar
    the Cosmos Bar in Soi Cowboy
    Bangkok, Thailand

    On the lunatic fringes of society
    Twenty drinks too sober
    In the ass end

    of a Friday night booze binge

    On the bad part of town
    Over by railroad tracks
    Heading to hell
    As fast as I could drank it down

    Enjoying my lonely drink
    Drinking by my lonesome self
    With my partners

    Jimmy Bean, Jack Daniels,
    The Walker brother
    Evan Williams
    And his old Granddad

    Just drinking one bourbon,
    one scotch, and one beer
    and hanging

    with Jack Daniel’s
    gentlemen’s club

    A crazed bum
    With a thousand-year stare
    Walks up to me

    He begins
    Muttering to himself
    Nutty nonsense

    Crazy words
    In a lunatic’s voice

    He had the look
    Of one possessed
    By his demons

    Only he can see
    Or hear

    Possessed
    by a secret knowledge
    Only he knew

    Despite myself
    I was fascinated
    By this lunatic’s tale

    So I stopped him
    And said

    “Say, crazy little Dude!
    So what’s your game, Anyway?”

    The short little dude
    Stopped his insane prattle

    Starting at me
    With that
    thousand-year-old stare

    Just another
    washed-up lunatic
    Too many drugs

    His mind blown away
    Down too many rabbit holes
    Too many bad nights
    On the wrong side of life

    An ACID causality
    from the 60s

    Been down so long
    It looks like
    up to him

    He looked at me
    And proclaimed his story

    He reared up
    And filled up the room
    And lifted the bar
    On his finger

    And stared down at me
    From the sky

    And said

    “Since you asked
    I am Allah
    The Alpha and Omega
    Ganesh
    Kali
    Jupiter
    Jehovah
    Shiva
    Zeus

    And a billion other names
    The real deal
    The original dude of dudes
    The Sultan of Swing

    God of hosts
    And the father
    of that Jesus dude

    But no one knows me
    Any more
    No one cares

    They think I am irrelevant
    They think I am dead
    They think I am a fairy tale
    From some olden, ancient time
    That my work is done

    I looked at him
    Carefully now

    And what did I see
    An old man
    With that lunatic look

    But there was something else
    He was crazy

    Sure. Yeah

    Out there
    Bat sh… looney tunes

    But perhaps
    he was the real deal
    I mean, why not

    In this materialistic age
    Why would God not be

    a wandering lunatic
    wandering around loose

    Talking to low lives
    like me
    In a bar
    On the highway to hell

    So I looked at him
    And invited him to share
    His tale of cosmic woe

    God tells me

    “Well, it’s like this
    Many a year ago
    People believed in me
    But one day

    They quit believing in me
    they moved on

    And they went on without me
    As they left me
    My powers got weaker and weaker

    And so eventually I became
    What you see today

    A broken-down drunk
    Hanging out
    Looking for a handout
    Looking for some company
    Or at least a free dinner”

    And he laughed
    and laughed
    And I looked at him

    And saw

    the beginnings of the end
    And the ends
    of the beginnings

    I saw a million planets
    Flash by
    Trillions of people
    Thinking all at once

    Thoughts filled my head
    Lights flashed
    And I knew

    He was telling the truth
    But it did not matter

    In this day and age
    Of materialism
    God has no role
    God is truly dead

    And so I bought him a drink

    And walked out of the bar
    still twenty drinks too sober
    Profoundly saddened

    From what I had seen
    God was dead
    And we had all conspired
    To kill him

    Long live God

    Ode To Coffee

     

    Mistress of sacred love
    Sacred lady of desire

    You start my day
    Setting my heart on fire
    With your dark
    delicious flavor

    And throughout the day
    Whenever the mean
    old blues come by

    You chase them away
    With your bitter ambrosia

    Every time I inhale
    your witch’s brew

    I am filled with power, light, and love
    And everything is alright Jack
    If only for a few fleeting minutes

    I love you oh coffee goddess
    In all your magical forms

    In the dark coffee of the dawning day
    In the sizzling coffee in the mid-morning break
    In the afternoon siesta break
    And in the post-dinner dessert drink

    I love you, my coffee mistress
    You are my refuge
    From this horrid world

    And you are my secret lover
    Never disappoint me, ever
    I’ve never had a bad cup
    Of that, I can be sure

    Even the dismal coffee
    Served at Denny’s at 3 am
    Is still sweat-loving coffee

    Even the farmer brother’s diner coffee
    Excites me and gets me going
    Asking for another cup of divine delight

    Coffee always is there
    It is always on and piping hot
    With hidden dark secrets
    Swirling in its liquid essence

    Coffee is my last vice
    My only legal vice left

    Coffee does not cheat on me
    It is always faithful, always true
    It does not turn on its friends

    And all it asks in return
    Is that you come back
    Cup after cup after cup

    A good cup of coffee
    Is a little bit of heaven
    In a cup of dark liquid hell

    Coffee is like a drug
    But a good drug

    that does what it should
    And never complains

    It does not get grouchy
    It does not hurt you

    It does not make you crazy
    But allows the muse to come out
    And play with it

    Coffee led to the American Revolution
    As patriots drank coffee
    To rebel against the aristocratic English tea

    Coffee started the London Stock market
    And started the gossips mills running

    Every great invention
    Was fed by coffee’s sweat brew

    All the great thinkers
    All the great leaders
    All were enslaved to coffee’s magic

    Yeah
    I sing my praises
    Of the great
    glorious coffee lady

    Long may she continue
    To be my sweat companion

    Long may coffee continue
    To rule my heart
    And set my heart on fire

    I love thee
    Mistress coffee
    And sometimes I think
    You love me too

    God Is Coming, And Boy Is He/She Mad

    God is Coming and Boy,
    is he/she mad

    God Is Coming
    The preacher on the street proclaimed
    God is coming, oh yeah, he is on his way

    And Boy, is he/she angry at us
    The entire human race

    And God, let me tell yah
    He ain’t the wimpy, wimpy pappy
    White Boy false God of the New Testament
    The false deity that the evil Reverend Farwell
    And the MAGA prophets
    And the smarmy Pat Robinson worship

    Hell no, God ain’t that god
    God is a mean, angry powerful God
    The God of the Old Testament
    The God of the Koran and the god of old
    The God that man once feared

    Yeah, I am talking about that God
    Allah, Buddha, Ganesh, Kali, Jehovah, Jesus,
    Shiva, and a thousand other names

    The God that our ancestors feared
    The real deal,
    and boy is he/she pissed off

    And he/she is coming to set up straight
    And send most of us straight to hell
    For eternal damnation and punishment

    God is particularly pissed off
    All those politicians who have been
    Misusing his name

    and saying God is on their side
    God ain’t on their side

    God is God
    And he is angry at them all

    God ain’t no Republican
    Fascist wanna be
    Supply Side jesus

    God is particularly angry
    at George Bush

    God told George

    George, don’t do that evil thing
    Don’t invade Iraq
    I will handle Sadaam in my way

    I want you to take
    care of your poor people
    Give away all your power and money

    And serve the poor
    That’s what
    I want you to do

    And poor George did not understand
    Did not get the message
    So George led the nation
    Into war against another land

    And thousands of people died
    And millions of dollars were wasted
    And nothing changed

    And God is angry at President Obama
    Who continued the endless wars,
    Even knowing that it was wrong.

    God is especially angry
    At the anti-Christ Trump

    His business partner Satan
    Has a special room for him.
    In the afterlife

    And God is angry
    at all the other politicians
    All over the world.

    And God is angry
    at the people of this earth
    Who have fucked up his paradise
    and his divine plans.

    So, brother preacher
    Keep preaching the word
    I understand.

    God is coming to save us
    And will start by dispatching
    all the politicians
    who proclaim
    that God is on their side

    Straight to the hell
    they so richly deserve

    Oh yeah
    God does not like that shit
    Not one bit

    And the end times approach
    And the preacher man preaches
    And God is getting ready
    for the judgment day

    And I say bring it on
    Bring it on
    Brother preacher man
    Keep preaching the word

    And someday soon
    We will meet up
    Somewhere and God will decide
    Our fate

    But the fate of our leaders is sealed
    And Satan has a nice room for them

    And God smiles
    At the thought of divine justice
    That awaits them all

    The Old Man In The Mirror Must Die Old Age<

    One early winter morning
    A man went to the mirror
    To do his morning shave
    Just another shave
    Like a thousand, million shaves before

    As he looked into the mirror
    He did not see his face
    Instead, he saw a stranger
    Staring out at him

    An old, beat-up old man
    With intense sad eyes
    Started at him

    The man looked hard
    At the man who had taken
    Over his mirror

    And wondered who he was
    And how and why
    He had taken over his mirror

    The man was perturbed, disturbed
    And a bit angry at the turn of events
    All he wanted to do
    Was shaved in peace

    The man continued to stare
    At the face in the mirror
    And finally could not stand it anymore

    He looked at the mirror
    And said,
    Man in the mirror
    Who or what are you
    And what do you want
    And why have you taken over
    My god-damned mirror
    So early in the morn

    The old man
    Merely laughed and resumed staring
    At the man
    The man getting angrier and angrier
    Demanded an answer
    From the fiend in the mirror

    Who are you, you mocking fiend
    And what do you want from me?
    The man screamed

    The old man in the mirror
    Looked at him and said
    Don’t you know who I am
    I am you and you are me

    The man looked at the old man
    And said no, no, no
    I am not you and never will be you
    I am not an old, washed-up old man
    I am me – full of life, youth, and vitality

    And yet the man knew the truth
    Did not want to admit the truth
    Could not handle the truth
    The old man in the mirror
    Was what he had become

    The man was very angry
    And screamed
    At the old man in the mirror

    The man said you may look like me
    You may sound like me
    You may even smell like me

    But I am not you
    Never have been
    Never will be
    Not going to happen
    Not in a million years

    The man yelled at the old man
    Old man, mocking fiend from hell
    Go to hell, old man
    And never darken my mirror again

    And the man stormed out of the house
    And wandered about here and there
    Finally late at night
    He wandered into a bar
    And began drinking the night away

    The man went up to some pretty young things
    And tried to pick them up
    They laughed at him
    Called him a dirty old man
    And told him to go home

    The man went home
    To bed alone
    And drank some more beer
    And dreamt of all of his past loves
    And failed dreams

    Of what he had done
    And failed to do
    And wondered whether his time
    Had come

    The next morning
    He walked into the bathroom
    Determined to confront the old man
    Tell truth to power

    He said,

    “listen up, old man
    You may have won the war
    But not the battle
    I am not you
    And never will be you”

    And screaming like an escaped banshee
    Newly freed from the mental institution
    The man shot the old man in the mirror
    Shot him over and over

    “Screaming die-mocking fiend from hell”

    The man woke in the hospital
    An old black doctor came over

    Said sadly

    “This white boy ain’t right in the head.”

    The man laughed insanely
    And saw down the hall
    The old man in the mirror

    Smiling and beckoning to him
    Walking out the window
    And into the dawning sun

    The man got up and walked
    And joined

    the old man in the mirror
    And smiled as he died

    h2 style=”text-align: center;”>Falling Rain

    falling rain
    falling rain

    The falling rain
    Of late October
    Fills me with
    essential dread

    the lightning
    and thunder
    frightening me

    an ominous omen
    of bad things
    yet to come

    I am filled with

    Dark, dangerous

    Heavy thoughts

    The rain outside
    the Cosmos Bar
    In Soi Cowboy

    Seems like

    the tears of God
    Crying over his
    As I sit
    Crying over my beer
    Thinking of lost love
    And failed dreams

    Wondering
    What went wrong?
    And what I can set right

    And the rain falls
    And the night darkens
    The rain is falling
    All over this man’s world

    And the rain falls
    And I sit

    Drinking my lonesome drink
    Lost in dreams

    Dreaming of what
    Could never be
    Thinking dark thoughts

    And so I sit
    twenty drinks too sober
    And drink
    the rainy night away

    Long Life the Great and Powerful One

    Night scene with the Cthulhu monster with wings standing on the shore of a sea. 3D render.

    While walking in the misty morn of Yore
    One dismal dark decaying depraved day
    I was suffocating from the sounds of the dying city

    Slowly coming to life with the dawning sun
    Surrounded by the sounds of chaos, disorder
    Dark, dangerous despairing thoughts
    Of dangerous terrible acts to come

    All around me in this strange era, we live in
    This orange alert perpetual fearful times
    Constant fear, and overwhelming dread

    Mad crazed Islamic bomb-throwing terrible terrorists
    Hiding under every bed, lurking around every corner

    Conspiring with the murderous criminals of Yore
    Just waiting to attack god-fearing Christian citizens

    Murdering them in their sleep
    Blowing up schools
    Blowing up buses, cars, buildings

    Murdering in the name of their demented god
    Screaming God is great as they behead us all

    As I walk down that street
    In the dead calm of the early morn
    Filled with fulsome fears of who knows what

    I look up and see a giant gargoyle
    Looking down at me
    Smirking at me, laughing at me

    I yell out to the gargoyle

    “Say, Mr. Gargoyle
    What is so damn funny
    Don’t you know there is a terror alert
    Have you seen any Islamic terrorists lurking about?”

    The gargoyle laughed and laughed
    Said,

    “terror alert? What a load of crap
    As the prophet, Mr. Natural taught us all,

    It doesn’t mean shit, it doesn’t mean shit”
    Nothing but prime BS
    Designed to keep you in your place”

    He laughed and laughed
    Soon all the gargoyles
    of the city
    Were in open revolt

    They jumped off their perches
    And started marching around

    Chatting

    “Peace is War, War is Peace
    Truth is a Lie, Lies are Truth
    The Truth Will Set You Free
    All Hail the Great and Powerful One
    All Hail the Great and Powerful One”

    The head gargoyle looks at me
    He says “Watch this!”

    And jumps up
    and rides a rainbow sunbeam
    Into the bloody red light
    of the dawning rising sun

    The other gargoyles follow suit
    Dancing, naked, making wild passionate love
    While laughing and riding the light

    And the gloom lifts from my shoulder
    And I laugh and realize

    “It doesn’t mean shit”

    And then my soul is free
    And I fly with the gargoyles
    To join my buddy the sun

    And as we sit
    high up above the earth
    Smoking dope and drinking booze

    And looking down
    at the teaming mess
    Of what was left of humanity

    I realized the ultimate
    reality of life
    “It doesn’t mean shit”

    And the terrorists
    are nothing but delusions
    Put in our heads and our hearts

    By the depraved master programmer of the universe
    In service to the Great and Powerful One
    The true Master of Creation

    As long as we are not afraid
    Our souls will be free

    And so I laugh and laugh
    And the sun comes up

    The dark mists disappear
    The Great and Powerful One
    Is overthrown

    The terrorists go home
    And I return to earth
    Thinking that the
    long nightmare was over

    Believing that
    we had won the war
    And kept our souls
    from going to hell

    But I did not understand
    That the Great and Powerful One
    Had banished the terrorists
    And conquered us all

    In the name of freedom
    We had become slaves
    To his awful power
    and dark demands

    God is indeed great
    But the Great and Powerful One
    Has more power than mere God
    And so we deserve our fate

    Long live the Great and Powerful One
    Whom we love forever and ever

    Amen

    Spin Masters  Spinning Away the Day

    Every moment
    I turn on the TV

    What do I see
    Nothing but liars laying down lies
    Spin Masters spinning spam of deceit

    Chanting
    The truth will set you free
    White is black
    Black is white

    Lies are true
    Truth is a lie
    Lies will set you free

    I see nothing
    But politicos
    Dropping down lies

    Untruths masquerading as the truth
    Oh, so sincerely
    The lies spew forth so sweetly
    From their corrupted lips

    The toxic wastes
    Spree out of my TV set
    Infecting my soul
    With paranoid distrust

    And I vainly try
    I do try

    God, do I try
    To the find
    The nugget of truth

    Buried deep
    in the dark, dank, dangerous
    Black, evil miasmic mists

    Given off
    By the talking heads on TV

    So I leave my house
    So full of doubt

    And wander about
    Looking for the truth

    Some semblance of hope
    Something to drive away
    The dark despair in my heart

    And I look up
    And see a solitary cherry tree

    High up on a hilltop street
    Infusing the air
    With its sweat ambrosia

    And I smile
    Knowing
    Someday soon

    The national nightmare
    Of rule by the body-snatched
    Resident evil ones
    pawns of Hell

    Descendants of dread Cthulhu
    The ancient ones

    Yes the darkness
    That has descended upon the world
    One day
    Will be pierced by the light
    Of clarity and truth

    And the evil ones
    The body snatched aliens
    Inhabiting our leaders
    Will be banished

    Back to the hell hole
    They crawled out

    This much I know
    And it is enough
    To make me smile
    Laugh and hope
    Again

    Red Sun Dawning Over The New Empire

    The dawning sun raises bloody red
    Over the traffic-clogged streets
    And noxious polluted air
    Of the capital of Imperial America

    The sun with its bloody red glare
    Reminds me of all the people who died
    This last year in Emperor Bush’s Three Wars
    and the endless war on terrorism

    We are the American Empire
    We are the power, we are the power

    We are perfect masters of the universes
    And will remake the world in our image

    In the so-called war against Evil
    The invasion and occupation
    Of foreign lands

    Because our leaders say
    They might someday be a threat

    And the old words of ancient Rome
    Comes to mind
    Carthage must die

    Baghdad must be destroyed
    The Heart of the evil empire
    Must be invaded

    And the evil of Saddam
    must be expunged
    ISIS must be defeated
    The Taliban must be destroyed

    the narco traffickers defeated
    the terrorists must be sent
    to GItmo

    the communists must be defeated
    the radical left woke mob defanged
    MAGA Make Amercan Great Again!

    So our great and glorious leaders
    Proudly proclaim
    Every day every moment

    On the conservative media
    Now owned, operated, and controlled
    By the powers that have taken over
    The shadow government that runs
    The New American Empire

    And soon the entire world
    Will be under its sway

    We are the American Empire
    We are the power, we are the power

    We are perfect masters of the universes
    And will remake the world in our image

    We still have some freedom left
    Some space to rant and rave

    And grumble
    But soon, oh so soon

    This paper and that paper
    And this internet site and that site
    And this TV station and that TV Station
    Will be shut down

    In the name of national security
    We are the American Empire
    We are the power, we are the power

    We are perfect masters of the universes
    And will remake the world in our image

    And if we have to kill everyone
    Who disagrees with us, anyone who does not want
    The benefits of American-style democratic Republican capitalism shoved down their throats and up their ass

    So be it, bring it on, kill them all
    Nuke them all for Jesus and Emperor Trump

    Let American Style Democracy
    Flourish everywhere in the world

    To save America from its many enemies
    We will have to suspend the constitute

    End the Republic of the United States of America
    And unleash the new imperial government

    Democracy of the People,
    For the People and by the People
    Will be no more than a myth

    Taught in School
    I say bring it on

    Don’t pretend anymore
    I am tired of the lies

    The constant refrain
    We are saving this country
    And that country

    And we are extending democracy
    While slowly, ever so slowly
    Killing it at home

    And no one cares
    No one notices

    As the rights to you
    Are sold to the corporations
    That controls the secret government

    That has taken over the country
    And the world
    And no one will do a damn thing
    Including me

    Hoping against hope that the nightmare
    Of the Republican Fasicst Corporate takeover
    Of the New, American Empire will end soon

    And the bloodily red sun
    Lights up the sky
    With its baleful rays of hate

    On a beautiful spring day
    30 American boys and girls
    Died in a foreign land

    Because their unelected leader
    Told to go there and do their job

    They did and I salute them
    For having done their duty

    I just wish
    Our leaders would do their duty
    And resign

    Admitting responsibility
    For the mess that they created
    The useless war, the constant lies
    The shredding of our civil liberties

    But nothing changes
    The war goes on
    More soldiers die

    More foreigners are killed
    More terrorists are created

    More bombings will happen
    And we slide down the path
    Of Ancient Rome

    The Republic is dying as we speak
    And the New American Empire Rises Up
    Triumphant against all enemies

    All hail Donald Trump

    The New American Caesar
    Long May He Reign

    An Unhinged Lunatic Howling At The Moon

    On a moonlit late night
    I sat in the Cosmos Bar
    In Bangkok, Thailand

    Drinking drams of demented,

    fermented dream dew
    followed by one bourbon

    one scotch and one beer

    Twenty drinks too sober

    Just an unhinged lunatic
    Dreaming

    of howling at the full moon

    Watching the world walk by
    Looking at all the fine-looking babes
    Walking by the street
    Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
    Of endless wild libertine passions

    When into the bar
    Walked the most

    beautifulwomen
    In the Universe
    So wild, so free
    So wonderfully alive

    I did not know what to do
    As this vision of delight

    Sauntered through the bar
    In a skin-tight leather pants

    Looked so fine
    That my eyeballs hurt

    And finally, I had to say something
    So I gathered up my manly courage
    And walked up to her
    And she looked at me

    And instantly bewitched my soul
    With a devilish grin
    I lost all reason

    And became a raving lunatic
    Unhinged lunatic
    Howling at the moon

    Foaming at the mouth
    A wild, free werewolf
    Howling at the lunatic light
    Of the full Moon.

    for a complete list of my work published on the Syncrhonized  Chaos web page see the following;

    https://synchchaos.com/?s=Jake+cosmos+Aller&submit=Search

    the end

  • More Down in the Dirt Publication News

    More Down in the Dirt Publication News

    More Down in the Dirt Publication News

    More Down in the Dirt Publications2023/01/14
    Down in the Dirt Updates2022/08/22
    More Down in the Dirt Publication Update2021/08/14

    More Down in the Dirt Publication Update

    The following are now available on Down in the Dirt’s Forbidden library. Order information at the end
    The end of the email.

    Association of the Living Dead India

    John (“Jake”) Cosmos Aller

    In India, several years ago
    A man falsely claimed his brother
    Was dead so he could inherit the family assets,

    The dead brother had to fight
    To be declared legally not dead
    And contest the will.

    “The Association of the Living Dead”
    Became a movement
    Of thousands of people.
    For in India apparently,
    It was a thing to declare
    Your relative is dead.

    I never thought
    That the US would have
    To form their own
    “The Association of the Living Dead”
    Until this week.

    The cyber ninjas
    In their infamous non-forensic audit
    In the 2016 Arizona election
    Claimed that hundreds of dead people
    Had voted.

    They gave their list of the alleged dead voters
    To the attorney general
    Who contact all 300 dead people

    Found that 299 of the 300 were in fact
    Not dead and none of them knew
    That unnamed political operatives
    Were claiming that they were dead.

    The one dead voter was alive
    when he voted early.
    But died before election day
    Thus making his vote not valid
    But there was no fraud involved
    As he was alive when he voted.

    Perhaps they need to form
    The “association of the living dead”
    To fight for the right of the non-dead people
    To continue to vote and receive other government benefits?

    What a sad commentary
    On the farcical nature
    Of contemporary life
    In these disunited States of America.

    The Secret Fly Drone

    John (“Jake”) Cosmos Aller

    The fly on the wallpaper
    In the CIA director’s office
    Was not a real fly
    He was an enemy spy drone
    Secretly controlled remotely
    Listening to all the secret conversations

    Until the director smashed him
    With a flyswatter
    Then realized that it was a spy fly
    He had dispatched to bug hell.

    Madmen with Guns Madness

    John (“Jake”) Cosmos Aller

    After every incident
    Of mass gun violence
    In the U.S.

    Pictures emerge
    Of the killers
    Almost always white men.

    Who stares out at you
    With soulless dead eyes
    Filled with hate, fear
    And shear madness.

    With the thousand-year stare
    Of the madman
    Who only hears

    The voices in his head
    Screaming kill them all
    Kill them all.

    And as always
    They usually legally bought
    The guns.

    This case was a bit different
    The gunman briefly had his guns
    Taken away from him

    And his 60 knives as well
    Judged temporarily too crazy
    To have a gun.

    But the red flag law
    Is not a permanent ban
    As it should be.

    And so he was able
    To re-arm himself
    With the best weapons

    In the world
    At a very affordable price.
    Thanks to the NRA.

    And so he was soon lost
    Down the rabbit hole
    Of insanity and probably drugs,

    The lone sniper
    A disgruntled young white man
    In his 20’s
    Sets up shop on top of a building.

    He has a high-powered weapon
    No doubt bought legally
    An AR-15 is the choice
    Of the serious gun men everywhere.

    And begins shooting
    Into the July 4th parade
    Killing six people
    Injuring 30.

    Before putting the gun down
    And fleeing
    Before the cops can find him.

    The right-wing media
    Goes to works
    The pundits pontificate
    24/7

    It is not about the gun
    It is about everything else
    That is wrong with our society.

    Guns don’t kill people
    They proclaim
    Guns are the price we pay
    For our freedom.

    Their demented answer
    is more guns
    More guns for everyone.

    And sadly, nothing will be done
    As the politicians offer
    Useless thoughts and prayers

    The gun ghosts don’t care
    They are dead after all.

    The madness will not stop
    Until we figure out
    How to stop
    The killers in our midst.

    There will be another shooting
    No doubt before the day is done
    Over 300 so far this year.

    And that is just the way
    It is in this day and age
    Of America.

    The land of the free
    Home of the brave
    And 400 million guns.

    Janet Kuypers
    Apr 6, 2023, 5:15 AM (6 days ago)

    Hi there from Down in the Dirt (this letter is being mailed from a bulk email alternative email address – DO NOT reply to this email; all responses to this magazine should be sent to Down in the Dirt <dirt@scars.tv>). We wanted to let you know that Scars Publications released a collection book of the January-April 2023 issues of Down in the Dirt magazine. Since your material (writing/artwork) APPEARS in these issues, that means your material appears in this issue collection book, and we wanted to let you know about this brand-new issues collection book titled “Forbidden Library”!

    Links to see all of the Down in the Dirt writings in “Forbidden Library”:
    http://scars.tv/2023January-April-issue-collection-book/Forbidden_Library.htm

    And you can find this book anytime at Scars in MULTIPLE locations. Now it is linked on the main page at http://scars.tv, and it appears at the top of the list of choices on the books link (one click away from the main page, or also directly at http://scars.tv/books/) as well as at the top of the “CD Books Sale” link (direct link http://scars.tv/sale/) at Scars!

    Also, by the end of the business week this week, the database with your accepted writings should (when you go to your accepted writings) have a link to this collection book that your writing is in, so people can find links to this collection book on your writing pages in the writings section of http://scars.tv (at http://scars.tv/cgi-bin/framesmain.pl?writers)…

    Links for ordering this collection book appear on all of the links above, and will also appear in the writings section too, so any of your writing in this collection book will also see a link to this collection book in the writings section too!

    Currently, these books are available directly through the Amazon affiliate printer in the U.S., the U.K., and Europe – and even Japan and Australia, and it ships to India too! (the above link is for U.S. orders.)

    So check out the Scars Publication links to see what material of yours appears in these collection books, and if you’d like, order a copy today (I hear they make great gifts!), and again, thank you for being a part of the Down in the Dirt community!

    Janet K.
    Down in the Dirt Magazine
    http://scars.tv/dirt

    DO NOT reply to this email; all responses to this magazine should be sent to Down in the Dirt <dirt@scars.tv>.

  • Writers Digest April 2023 Poems

    Writers Digest April 2023 Poems

    Writer’s Digest April 2023 Poems

    April 8, 2022 Poems2022/04/09
    April 7th Poems2022/04/08
    April 6th, 2022 Poems2022/04/08
    April 5 2022, Poems2022/04/08
    April 4th 2022, Poems2022/04/08
    2022 April Poetry Madness April 1 to 3 poems

    This is my 7th year to participate in the April poetry challenge.  This year I am just doing two prompts, Writer’s Digest and Writing com Dew Drop Inn.  Last year I wrote over 300 poems in one month, this year’s much more modest goal is about 150 poems, of which I will post about 90.

    i will post them here,  and on all poetry, poetry soul,  writing.com, and Writer’s Digest. Medium, Watt pad, Substack, and FB.

    Index

    Life Is A Dream Of Chocolate Covered Trees
    Margo Taylor Greene’s Word Salad
    Dreams Do Come True If You Believe In Dreams
    Marjorie Taylor Greene, WTF’s Wrong With You?
    Cosmic Cat From Berkeley
    Healing Touch
    The End of Time
    Donald Trump the anti-Christ
    The sound of Korean
    The Tearing of the Social Fabric Homophone Poem
    End of Time
    The sound of Korean
    Tower of Power
    How Will It End?
    The rule of ten
    Finding Pleasure in Small Things
    Favorite Korean Food
    Madness in the United States
    Many virtual connections, few real friends
    Movie Choices Writer’s Digest
    April’s Fool Day
    Anticipation

    Life is A Dream of Chocolate Covered Trees

    Life is a dream
    A dream of chocolate-covered trees
    To see what can’t be seen
    To hear what can’t be heard
    To live in order to die
    And to die in order to live.

    Note: one of my oldest poems was written circa 1970 when I was 14

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 27
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write an anapodoton poem.

    Margo Taylor Greene’s Word Salad

    While defending
    The Pentagon document leak suspect
    Marjorie Taylor Green

    Tweeted a typical nonsensical
    paranoid
    World salad

    The USG is gearing up
    To censor patriotic white
    Christian American anti-war

    Targeting
    Political prisoners

    Who dares to stand up
    And tell the truth

    Against the communist
    Radical left-woke Marxists
    Who is taking over the government

    Greene claimed that Americans
    Are on the verge
    Of losing more freedoms

    In the wake
    of the government’s
    Efforts to pass

    The restrict act
    All part of the evil

    Fascist communist Marxist
    Plot against patriotic
    White citizens

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 26
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a response poem.

    Dreams Do come true if You Believe In Dreams

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Sam Adams
    Met his wife
    In a dream

    He saw the most beautiful woman
    In the world
    Talking to him
    In a strange Asian Language

    He yelled out
    “Who are you”
    She faded away
    As he fell to the ground
    During a boring physics class

    For eight long years
    She haunted his dreams
    Coming to him weekly

    Then one day
    He was teaching in Korea
    When he had the last dream

    She told him
    “don’t worry, we’ll meet soon”

    That night she walked off a bus
    Out of his dreams
    Entering his reality

    Entering his life
    Six weeks after becoming his wife

    Dreams do come true
    If you believe in dreams.

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 25
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, we have our fourth and final two-for-Tuesday prompt.
    For today’s prompt, we have our fourth (and final) two-for-Tuesday prompt, which means you get two prompts, and they are:
    1. Write a dream poem, and/or…
    2. Write a reality poem.

    Healing Touch

    My wife says
    I have a superpower
    I am very hot
    To the touch

    Radiating outward
    Chi
    Infrared heat

    Every night
    For forty years
    I have been warming her up
    As she is cold-blooded

    Almost like a reptile
    Always cold to the touch
    And my touch warms her up

    Just my duty
    Of love
    At the end of the day.

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 24
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a touch poem.
    We’ve already written poems related to smell, sound, and taste, so let’s keep hammering away on the senses.
    For today’s prompt, write a touch poem. For the senses, I’m thinking of touch as a hand reaching out, though it could also be a foot or just bodies pushed close like in a concert or public transportation. But that’s just when thinking about the senses.

    Fear of Communism

    Watching right-wing politicians
    And news pundits
    One can’t help

    But wonder
    If we are living
    In a strange alternative universe

    For to hear
    The line of Marjorie Taylor Greene
    It is 1955 all over again

    Communism is on the march
    Marxists out to destroy America
    Radical left-wing demons
    trying to cancel
    Normal patriotic white Americans

    Who dares to stand up
    To the communists
    All around us

    And they fill the airwaves
    And the internet
    With constant fear
    And paranoia

    About the alleged
    Communist Pedophile Satanic
    LGBT conspiracy to turn us all gay

    And the black life matters folks
    And Antifa
    Coming to kill white people
    And to take away our guns

    And other fear-mongering memes
    24/7
    Be Afraid be Afraid
    The commies are after you.

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 23
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a fear poem.ing out on the last piece of the piece or the fear of dying.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene, WTF’s Wrong with You?

    What’s the fuck’s wrong with you?

    I mean, seriously, Marjorie?
    Where have you been
    These last 50 years?

    Hiding under a rock,
    Living in a cave.
    Did you just wake up
    From a 50-year-old coma?

    Are communists out to get us?
    Marxists everywhere?
    Acting like the Cold war
    Never ended?

    It ain’t the 50s anymore
    The Communists lost the war
    There are no more communists.

    Except perhaps
    In my old hometown
    Of Berkeley
    Where it is always 1969.

    Communism is dead
    Has been for almost 50 years
    Did you not get the memo?

    I mean enough of this BS
    Did the John Birchers
    Take over your body?

    Do you even know
    WTC you are talking about.
    Do you even care?

    That the entire world
    Think you are bat sh..t crazy
    Even too crazy for Fox News?

    Communism my ass
    Marxists are out to get us
    Please dear

    Just do us all a favor
    STFU already
    About the communists.

    For today’s prompt, take the phrase “What (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “What Are You Doing Here,” “What a Great Time,” “Whatever You Say,” and/or “What Kind of Poem Are You Going to Write?”
    So make a decision: Is your “what” poem leading to a question or a statement (or maybe both?).

    The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley

    evil cat
    evil cat

    I next encountered the divine
    Many years later in Berkeley, California
    I had gone home to be with my Mother

    While taking leave from my job
    in the Foreign Service

    I had two weeks there by myself
    My wife came later
    near the end of the trip

    every morning I woke up
    had coffee
    Did yoga

    Spoke to my mother
    Who was sliding into dementia?
    Day by day losing her reason

    Then I would go out
    And explore the city
    Go to a museum
    Go to one neighborhood
    And just be there

    Rediscovering the Bay area
    After years of being away

    Having dinner with old friends
    Seeing movies etc

    Every morning a black cat came to visit
    The cat was friendly and waited for me
    And then would join me in my morning rambles
    Following me to the bus stop

    I started talking to the black cat
    He looked at me
    with a spark of divinity

    In his dark eyes
    I called him the cosmic cat

    He seemed to like that
    He would look at me
    And I opened up to me
    Told the cat all my dark secrets

    As I walked the streets
    Of the old neighborhood

    Every morning and every evening the cat
    Would be there to greet me
    And to carry out our endless conversation

    Then I had to leave
    And in our final conversation
    I asked the cosmic cat

    Say, Cat are you just a cat
    Or are you a demonic cat
    Are you possessed by God?
    Or by Satan

    The cat looked at me
    And I realized that God
    Was indeed residing in the cat

    But that god was residing everywhere
    All I had to do was open my mind
    And the rest would follow

    So I said Goodbye to the cosmic cat
    And he purred and came up to me
    And I felt the comforting presence of the divine

    As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat
    And said goodbye to my mother
    As this was the last time
    That we would be able to talk

    I told my mother about the cosmic cat
    She smiled and said that the cat
    was there for me and her
    to comfort us both in our hour of need

    and that the cat was indeed
    a cosmic cat

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 20
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write an animal poem.

    The End of time writer’s Digest

    My dear
    When I met you
    I knew

    That I was fated
    To love you

    Until the end of time
    And beyond

    That was just my fate
    That we would meet

    On that date
    I embraced my fate

    And that is the end
    Of the beginning
    Of our cosmic journey

    Together
    Until the end of time
    And beyond.

    Day 16 Blank of a Blank
    For today’s prompt, take the phrase “The (blank) of a (blank),” replace the blanks with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “The Beginning of a Story,” “The Wrong Side of a Situation,” “The Apple of an Eye,” and/or “The Latest Excuses of a Continuing Problem.”

    What is Love?

    What is love?
    Is it nothing
    But biochemistry?

    Is it madness?
    Is it just
    A search for connections?

    In a cold cruel world?
    That does not care
    For us at all?

    It is all of that
    And none of that

    Those who know
    What Love is
    Do not tell

    That is the Zen
    Of Love

    Day 18
    For today’s prompt, we have our third two-for-Tuesday prompt, which means you get two prompts, and they are:
    Write an everything poem, and/or…
    Write an anti-love poem.
    As longtime participants know, this is my favorite prompt, which is why it returns every challenge. Write a love poem, or write a not-love poem.

    https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/10-best-love-poems-ever

    Donald the Anti-Christ

     

     

     

     

     

    It is easier to
    Be consumed
    With revenge

    The desire to get back
    At those who trespass
    Against us

    Especially so
    For the MAGA nation

    Followers
    of the King
    Of revenge politics

    The Donald
    The Anti-Christ
    Than to follow

    The wisdom
    Of Allah, Buddha, Christ,
    Jesus, and Mother Mary

    And let it be

    2023 April PAD Challenge: Day 13
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a forgive poem.
    For today’s prompt, write a forgive poem. The poem could be about forgiveness in general, or it could focus on a specific instance of forgiveness or grace. There are times when we are called upon to forgive others, and times when we ask others to forgive us. And sometimes that includes forgiving ourselves. Be forgiving as you poem today.

    The Sound of Korean Writer’s Digest

    I have been studying Korean
    For almost 45 years
    First heard back in 1979

    In the Peace Corps
    I still struggle daily
    But Korea is no longer
    A stranger

    Korean is my second language
    And I hear it all around me
    In my retirement home

    I study Korean daily
    On Duotrope
    And while watching K Drama

    The language at first
    Sounded harsh
    As if everyone was yelling
    And screaming

    Later, I learned
    Some Korean songs
    And the language
    Became less discordant

    To this day though
    I find a Korean woman
    Speaking Korean
    To be incredibly sexy

    Packing so much emotion
    And sexual tension
    In every word

    I suppose I will study Korean
    And speak it
    Until the day I die.

    2023 April PaD Challenge: Day 12
    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a sound poem.

    Tear in the Fabric of Space and Time

    Donald-Trump-Talking-out-of-both-sides-of-his-mouth-Car
    Donald-Trump-Talking-out-of-both-sides-of-his-mouth-Car

     

     

     

     

     

    With every word
    The former president
    Causes a tear
    In the basic fundamental
    Political order

    Leading to many people
    To tear up
    In fear

    Which is no doubt the object
    His followers do not object
    To inflict pain and suffering

    In their endless quest
    To own their hated enemies
    The radical left Marxist radical
    Demonic Deep state libtards

    Who are conspiring to turn
    America into another communist
    Dystopian nightmare

    Only the great leader Trump
    Can save America’s Democracy]

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a homograph poem.
    Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Sometimes they are pronounced the same, but that’s not always the case. Click here to find a list of homographs, though there are many more homographs than these to use.

    Ode to the Tower of Power

    The greatest funk band
    There ever was

    You are the epitome
    Of funk and soul music
    The very definition of funk

    Multi-racial
    Multi-cultural
    Multi-talented
    Mult-gendered

    The best horn section
    In the universe
    Just sublime

    Formed in the East Bay
    In the turbulent 60s
    Playing that funky music
    For almost 50 years

    Their love song
    You’re still a young man
    Is perhaps the greatest
    make out song
    Of all times

    The first song
    I slowed danced to
    Back in high school
    A song I played
    To seduce my wife

    I wonder how many babies
    Were conceived because
    Of this classic soul song.

    Another classic song
    What is hip
    Which poised
    An unanswered question

    And inspired this triolet

    What is love, tell me if you know
    Love is what it is
    Do you know what love is, Joe?
    What is love, tell me if you know
    And how can you make it grow?
    Madness is what it does
    What is love, tell me if you know
    Love is what it is

    The Tower of Power
    No doubt
    Will still be playing
    That funky music
    White boy

    A hundred years
    From now
    For funk
    Will never die

    For once you get funk
    In your soul baby
    You can never go back
    To boring vanilla
    white boy music

    because you got soul, now.
    Because you got
    That soul vaccination baby

    And need to go
    Down to the nightclub
    And play that funky music
    White boy
    Until the day you die.

    Based loosely on the classic Tower of Power Song, “What is hip?”

    What Is Hip Lyrics

    [Verse 1]

    So ya wanna dump out yo’ trick bag
    Ease on in a hip thang
    But you ain’t exactly sure what is hip
    So you started to let your hair grow
    Spent big bucks on your wardrobe
    Somehow, ya know there’s much more to the trip

    [Chorus]
    What is hip?
    Tell me, tell me, if you think you know
    What is hip?
    If you’re hip
    The question, “Will it show?”
    You’re into a hip trip
    Maybe hipper than hip
    What is hip?
    [Verse 2]
    You became a part of a new breed
    Been smoking’ only the best weed
    Hangin’ out with the so-called “Hippie set.”
    Seen in all the right places
    Seen with just the right faces
    You should be satisfied, but it ain’t quite right

    [Chorus]
    What is hip?
    Tell me, tell me, if you think you know
    What is hip?
    If you’re hip
    The question, “Will it show?”
    You’re into a hip trip
    Maybe hipper than hip
    What is hip?

    [Break]
    Come on

    [Refrain]
    Hipness is. What it is
    Hipness is. What it is
    Hipness is. What it is
    Sometimes hipness is, what it ain’t

    You’re Still a Young Man, Baby

    You’re still a young man
    Baby, Oo oo, don’t waste your time
    You’re still a young man
    Baby, Oo oo, don’t waste your time

    Down on my knees
    Oh, heart in hand
    I was accused of being too young
    But I’m not so young
    I could make you happy
    I’m not a bad man
    You’re too young to love (If you and I could be together)
    You’re too young to love (I’ll never leave you alone baby)
    You’re too young Ooo Ooo (No I won’t sweet lady)
    Don’t waste your time

    The damage is done
    You see that you were wrong
    You wake up wondering just
    How well I’ve done
    Well I’ve done alright
    Yes there are some girls but you know
    I dropped them on sight
    Just for you
    Because I love you

    You’re still a young man
    Baby, Oo oo, don’t waste your time
    (Someday you’ll understand just what it means when a man
    Comes to you with his little heart in his hands
    Just to love you)
    Don’t waste your time

    You better listen to me
    Sayin that I’m loving you yeah hey now baby tryin to tell
    You that it’s you you you you you you you you talkin to you
    Baby, I’ll never never never never I’ll never do you
    No wrong no no lady if you would check my stuff out one time haha
    Just to hold you, to squeeze you and all I wanna do is to
    Get next to you and please please please you baby
    See where I’m coming from!

    Written by legendary sax players Emilio Castillo and Stephen Kupka, the song portrays a young man at the wrong end of a breakup. The situation is bleak because his lover pins the break-up on an age difference. In an interview with Songfacts Castillo said:
    It’s based on a true story. I had a girlfriend that was six years older than me. I was 18, she was 24 and that’s actually what happened. She had kind of cut me loose because of the age difference thing and the whole plea in the story is the young guy’s saying, ‘I’m not too young, I’m not wasting my time and I do love you as a man can truly love a woman.’”
    The song would go on to be the band’s first major hit defining their sound with a prominent horn section inspired by Curtis Mayfield:
    “On that album, there’s a song called “A Woman’s Love” that starts with beautiful trumpets high. When we heard that we wanted to write a song with a great trumpet intro like that. – TowerofPower.com

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, we have our second two-for-Tuesday prompt.
    For today’s prompt, we have our second two-for-Tuesday prompt, which means you get two prompts, and they are:
    Write a form poem, and/or…
    Write an anti-form poem.
    I wrote the above “Ode to the Tower of Power” my favorite funk band.

    How Will It End?

     

     

     

     

    How will the madness end?
    How will America wake up
    From the madness all around us?

    The former guy continues daily
    Gaslighting the country
    Beguiling us all

    With his lies, his hatred
    His evocation of fear
    His calling for a civil war
    Destruction and death

    How will it end my friend?
    That is anyone’s guess
    But I doubt it will end

    When the former guy
    Meets his maker
    For then, he will become
    The martyr for his followers

    Who believes he is the Messiah
    perhaps he is just a con man
    or maybe the antichrist
    revelations warn us about

    time will tell the tale
    of how it will end
    at the end of the Trump
    will we find redemption?

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a Noun in a Location poem.

    Small Things In Life Brings Great Pleasure

    They say
    That one should take
    Pleasure in the small things in life

    Things that matter
    Like taking a walk
    Enjoying the springtime
    sunshine and flowers

    With the love of your life
    By your side

    For today’s prompt, write a small poem. Yesterday, you were tasked with writing a smell poem, but today, we’re going small. The poem itself could be concise, but it could also be focused on something or someone small.

    Many virtual connections, few real friends

    In this hyper-connected era
    Many people have thousands
    Of virtual friends
    But few have any real friends

    Write a poem every day of April with the 2023 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a connection poem.

    Rule of Ten

    The rule of ten
    Applies to so many aspects
    Of life

    Writing

    It goes like this
    For every 100 people
    Who wants to write a novel
    Ten will finish it

    Of those ten
    Ten percent will publish it

    Of those ten
    Ten percent will
    make some money

    Of those ten
    Ten percent
    will make a living

    Of those ten
    Ten percent will
    become a best-seller

    In other words
    In a land of 350 million people
    There are probably only 3,500
    bestselling authors

    Drama

    the rule of ten applies
    to the drama world
    only 2 percent
    make a living
    of the thousands of actors
    only a few movie stars

    music

    of the thousands of musicians
    only a few superstars

    modeling
    – only a few supermodels

    to sports
    only a few hundred NFL players
    out of millions who played the game

    to politics

    only one president
    out of thousands
    who want to be

    to Business

    of the thousands
    of busineses
    only a few CEO’s

    most small businesses
    fail within one year

    the rule of ten applies
    to life in general
    most people fail

    in achieving their life goals
    but one should not give up
    because who knows

    you could be the one
    who wins in the end
    despite the rule of ten.

    Write a number poem
    For today’s prompt, write a number poem. You can include a number in the title of the poem, or drop a number somewhere in the middle or end of the poem. Count sheep, a poem by numbers, or 10 ways to write a poem. There are several ways to come at this one.

    Favorite Korean Food April 2023 Poems

    Korean Food
    Korean Food

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I love Korean food
    Fell in love with it
    And all things Korean

    Back in 1979
    When I first went there
    In the U.S. Peace Corps

    Korean food is somewhat like
    Chinese, Japanese,  Vietnamese, and Thai
    With some American influences as well

    But it is all done
    in a unique
    Korean K Food style

    Everything is cooked with special spices

    A mixture of chili paste, garlic, fish sauce,
    Onions, scallions, soy sauce,
    salt, Tofu, Panjang sauce, and soju (liquor).

    Often cooked with beef, chicken, clams, eggs, fish,
    kimchi, intestines meat, mushrooms, mussels,
    oysters and/or pork,

    Every meal consists of rice, kimchi
    (pickled vegetables usually cabbage)
    The main entry is either beef, chicken, fish, or pork,
    Rice
    And multiple vegetable side dishes
    Often Including western style salad

    The entire meal
    a feast for the eyes
    Nose and mouth

    with a delicious unique
    aroma, fragrance,
    Taste and texture
    Uniquely Korean.

    All washed down
    with Korean beer, liquor (soju) or
    rice wine or Western wine

    My favorites include

    Bulgogi chongsik (with all the side dishes)  불고기 총식
    Kalbi chongsik (with all the side dishes)  칼비 총식
    Calamari  오징어
    Fried Chicken 닭 튀김
    Chuncheon Chicken ribs 춘천 닭갈비
    Dumplings 만두
    Fried rice   볶음밥
    High-rice카레라이스
    Korean curry rice 카레라이스
    Kimpop rice wrapped in seaweed  김팝
    Korean soups 한국 수프
    My favorite army stew 군대 스튜
    Kalbitang (Beef rib soup) 칼비탕
    Beef Turnip soup  쇠고기 순무 스프
    Ginseng Chicken soup 인삼 치킨 수프
    Kimchi stew 김치찌개
    Tanjung stew 짱짱찌개
    Bibimbap Mixed vegetables and rice with an egg on top비빔밥
    Kalkooksu noodles 칼국수
    Ramyeon 라면
    Mushroom stew 버섯 스튜
    Soondaeboo tofu stew 순대부두부찌개
    Sashimi  생선회
    Sushi
    Dognas pork. Chicken of fish cutlet 돈까스
    Fried mackerel 고등어 튀김
    Octopus 낫지 often served live
    Omrice korean omelet 오므라이스
    Porridge  문어
    Shrimp 새우

    Write a smell poem

    Movie Choices Writer’s Digest

    Write a B movie poem
    There are so many choices
    To be made
    When selecting a movie to watch

    So many movies are B-1 minus
    Barely worth finishing
    Some are C

    A few are  D
    And F movies

    Just one example suffices

    Ben and Willard
    were the worst movies ever
    It was an ode to rats
    Who goes on a killing spree

    As their master Willard
    A deranged young man
    Sends the rats out to kill

    As one of Michael Jackson’s
    The worst song
    ever
    plays in the background
    April’s Fool Day Writer’s Digest

    Write a foolish poem

    On April Fool’s Day
    It is appropriate
    To think about
    All the fake things around us
    Especially deep fake videos
    That are beginning
    to circulate
    All over the world
    Unleashing a torrent
    Of misinformation

    Anticipation

    Sam Adams
    Got up early on a Sunday
    Filled with anticipation

    Today was the day
    He would propose
    To his dream girl

    Whom he had met
    Just days before
    When she walked
    Off a bus
    Into his reality

    He first met his wife
    In a dream

    He saw
    the most beautiful woman
    In the world

    Talking to him
    In a strange
    Asian Language

    He yelled out

    “Who are you”

    She faded away
    As he fell to the ground
    During a boring physics class

    For eight long years
    She haunted his dreams
    Coming to him weekly

    Then one day
    He was teaching in Korea
    When he had the last dream

    She told him
    “don’t worry, we’ll meet soon”

    That night,
    she walked off a bus
    Out of his dreams

    The following Sunday
    After doing a long hike
    He proposed to her

    She said yes
    Became his wife
    Six weeks after
    Entering his life.

    The End

  • George Santos Scumbag of the Month

    George Santos Scumbag of the Month

    George Santos

     

     

     

     

    George Santos Scumbag of the Month

    more scumbag awards

    Cosmos’s Scumbag Of The Week Awards

    Recent Political Poems

    It is time for another installment of the Scumbag of the Month award.  This month’s winner is George Santos who has lied about everything in true Trumpian fashion and at least for now is vowing to remain in the House of Representatives although perhaps he will become a dead man walking, as quite a few of his colleagues are shunning him and refusing to have anything to do with him. But leadership is sticking with him for now.

    After taking a break
    It is time for another scumbag
    Of the month award

    The obvious choice
    Is George Santos
    Who lied about everything

    his background – all lies

    His name, who the hell
    knows his real name?
    his race he is not half black
    His faith, he is not Jewish
    his citizenship status – did he acquire
    US citizenship through marriage fraud?

    Being gay – as far as we know he is not
    His mother’s death – she did not die in 9-11
    His grandfather’s death – he did not flee the Nazi death camps
    Being the grandchild of a holocaust survivor

    His HS he did not go to Horace Mann
    His college – did not go to any college
    Sports – was not a volleyball champion

    His employment did not work on wall street
    His finances – how did he come up with 700 thousand dollars
    To loan his campaign? And did he use the campaign funds
    To fund his lavish lifestyle?

    So many questions
    But what is clear is this
    This is so much more than
    “resume enhancement”

    But in the post-Trumpian,
    Post-truth world
    He will not face any consequences
    For his many lies

    Following in the footsteps
    Of his mentor
    The liar in chief
    The former guy

    For all of these reasons
    He richly deserves to be awarded
    Cosmos Scumbag of the Month award

    Lies in the Post-Trumpian World

    We are living
    In a post-truth world
    A post-Trumpian world

    Where lies no longer
    Mean anything
    It is all alternative facts
    And nonstop spinaroma

    Where integrity
    Is a fool’s game
    It is all about
    Owning your enemies
    And revenge

    Our good righteous
    American Christian tribe
    Vrs their evil anti-American
    demonic tribe

    this is the world
    in which George Santos
    who lied about everything
    including his name

    could get elected to Congress
    and not pay any penalty
    for his lies

    following the footsteps
    of his mentor in chief
    the former guy

    who still faces
    no consequences
    for over 35,000 lies
    during his presidency

    whose followers
    still believe he is a truth-teller
    and has never lied to them

    and Hershel Walker
    who lied about everything
    as well
    almost became
    a U.S. Senator

    If he had won
    No doubt the Republicans
    Would have accepted him
    As one of their own.

    That is the sad reality
    We are living in
    In the post-truth
    Post Trumpian world

    Where lies are truth
    And the truth is just
    A liberal hoax

    More House Republicans on Sunday stopped short of calling on embattled New York Rep. George Santos to resign, while two Democrats made a fresh push for more information from GOP leaders.

    Republicans back home in the GOP freshman’s Long Island district, however, doubled down Sunday on calls for him to step down.

    Santos is facing growing pressure to resign after he lied and misrepresented his educational, work and family history, including falsely claiming he was Jewish and the descendant of Holocaust survivors. He also faces federal and local investigations into his campaign finances. Santos has admitted to “embellishing” his resume but has maintained he is “not a criminal.”

    House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer called Santos “a bad guy” in an interview Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

    Matt Gaetz says George Santos should go through House ethics process but should not be shunned

    “He’s not the first politician, unfortunately, to make it to Congress to lie,” the Kentucky Republican said. “But, look, George Santos was duly elected by the people. He’s going to be under strict ethics investigation, not necessarily for lying, but for his campaign finance potential violations. So I think that Santos is being examined thoroughly.”

    “It’s his decision whether or not he should resign. It’s not my decision. But, certainly, I don’t approve of how he made his way to Congress,” Comer said. “Now, if he broke campaign finance laws, then he will be removed from Congress.”

    GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said Sunday he would resign if he were in Santos’ position but said that was a decision for the New York Republican’s constituents.

    “If it was me, I would resign. I wouldn’t be able to face my voters after having gone through that,” Bacon told “This Week” on ABC. “But this is between him and his constituents, largely. They elected him in, and he’s going to have to deal with them on that. I don’t think his reelection chances will be that promising, depending on how he handles this.”

    Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican, also declined to say if Santos should resign from his Long Island seat.

    “He clearly lied to his constituents, and … it’s going to be very, very difficult for him to gain the trust of his colleagues,” Stewart said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The reality is you can’t expel a member of Congress. At the end of the day, it really is up to the voters in Nassau County. I can tell you this – if I were in that situation, I don’t know how I could continue to serve and I suppose he needs to ask that same question.”

    Several House Republicans have called for Santos to resign, including five of his fellow New York Republican colleagues in the House. Leaders of the Nassau County GOP have also called for the congressman to step down.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters Thursday that Santos has “a long way to go to earn trust” and that concerns could be investigated by the House Ethics Committee, but he emphasized that the congresman is a part of the House GOP Conference. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York, who chairs the House GOP Conference, told CNN on Thursday that the process “will play itself out.”

    “He’s a duly elected member of Congress. There have been members of Congress on the Democrat side who have faced investigations before,” she said.

    Democrats want more information

    Meanwhile, two Democrats are calling on McCarthy and Stefanik to cooperate with any House Ethics Committee investigation into Santos.

    In a letter sent to the two Republican leaders and to Dan Conston, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund – the super PAC affiliated with House GOP leadership – New York Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres cite new reporting “indicating that each of you had at least some knowledge of lies used by Congressman George Santos to deceive his voters long before they became public.”

    Concerns over Santos’ backstory were known prior to the election

    “We urge you to inform the American people about your knowledge of Mr. Santos’s web of deceit prior to the election so that the public understands whether and to what extent you were complicit in Mr. Santos’s fraud on his voters,” Goldman and Torres said in the letter.

    CNN has reported that Conston expressed concerns about Santos’ background prior to the election and contacted lawmakers and donors about those concerns. Goldman and Torres cite reporting by The New York Times in their letter, which also indicated that associates of Stefanik were made aware of issues regarding Santos’ background ahead of the election.

    In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Goldman called Santos a “complete and total fraud” and pushed back on attempts by some Republicans to equate the allegations against him to ethics complaints against some Democrats.

    “This is a scheme to defraud the voters of the 3rd District in New York, and this needs to be investigated intensively,” he said.

    Goldman and Ritchie said last week that they were filing a formal complaint with the House Ethics Committee requesting an investigation related to Santos’s financial disclosure reports. A campaign watchdog group filed a complaint last week with the Federal Election Commission accusing Santos of concealing the source of more than $700,000 that he put into his successful 2022 bid.

    CNN’s KFILE also reported that Santos had said a company later accused of running a “Ponzi scheme” was “100% legitimate” when it was accused by a potential customer of fraud in 2020, more than a year before it was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Joseph Murray, an attorney for Santos, told CNN in an email that Santos was unaware of wrongdoing at that company.

    Murray also previously defended the Santos campaign’s actions, saying in a statement, “The suggestion that the Santos campaign engaged in any unlawful spending of campaign funds is irresponsible, at best.”

    A no-show at party fundraiser

    Nassau County Republicans were ready Sunday in case Santos showed up at a morning fundraiser on Long Island.

    “Had he shown up, we were ready to greet him,” Nassau County GOP Chair Joseph Cairo said. “We would have said, ‘You’re really not welcome. You deceived us, you lied to us.’”

    Over 900 people turned out for the annual “kickoff brunch” featuring a who’s-who of Nassau County Republicans, with most wanting to distance themselves from the freshman lawmaker.

    “People say he should serve out his term,” Cairo said. “He didn’t get elected. The fictional character he created got elected.”

    Nassau County GOP calls for Santos to resign

    Cairo said the topic of Santos came up at times during public speeches made by various Republicans at the fundraiser but not in a supportive way.

    “Virtually everyone is done with George Santos,” said Cairo. “We’ve told him he’s not welcome at our events. We don’t invite him to our meetings.”

    Former New York Rep. Peter King, who represented a different Long Island seat in Congress for nearly three decades, said no one had anything positive to say about Santos.

    “I made it a point to sort of mingle in the crowd beforehand. Everyone says we’ve got to get rid of this guy,” said King, a onetime chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “He’s dangerous to the party and dangerous to the country.”

    King said local Republicans would now move to ostracize Santos as much as possible.

    “That’s not to punish him but to send the signal to everyone, including Washington, that he has to go,” the former congressman said. “They can’t be slow-walking it in Washington, waiting for something to happen in Washington.”

    Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a freshman lawmaker from a neighboring Long Island district, said Santos won’t have support from the party if he opts to stay put and run for reelection next year.

    “We’ve all called for George Santos’ resignation. If that’s not something that’s going to happen, then I think it’s clear … that we are ready to do what we need to do when it comes to the polls in two years,” he said.

    “One of the things that I think is really bothering people the most is the fact that he claimed he was of the Jewish faith and that his grandparents survived the Holocaust,” D’Esposito said. “In the district that I run in, we have a very large population of Orthodox and a large Jewish population. It’s not something that we could stand for.”

     

     

     

  • Recent Political Poems

    Recent Political Poems

    Recent Political Poems

    Here are some of my political poems from the last couple of months. I don’t expect everyone to agree, but I welcome feedback and comments as long as it is civil.  I have given up on Quora, Facebook, and Twitter where the extremists have hijacked the site drowning out civil discourse in the process.

    The mid-terms were a victory for common sense as most of the MAGA extremists were defeated, and the Senate remains in Democratic hands, meaning that they can continue to act as a check on the right-wing dominated house. The red wave never materialized.  Most of the extremists were defeated.

    My prediction is that the Senate would remain democrat and that the house would under by the Republicans albeit with a narrow minority, largely due to gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts,,

    political poetry

    face book political photos

    political rants

    Cosmos’s 2022 and 2024 US Elections Predictions

    outlaw poetry

    Outlaw and Neobeatnik Poetry

    poetry24 Publishes my Current Event Rants

    Querencia Publishes Madmen with Guns

    Letter to Ted Cruz Regarding Guns

    Index

    Slime Oozing Out of a TV
    Patriot Games
    Watching the news
    Morning Blues
    Naani Morning Blues
    In the Year 2022, Madness Took Over
    America
    Con Artists
    Truth and Lies Diamante
    water
    America divided into tribal divisions
    Arrested for feeding the homeless
    Elections Bringing Back the People
    Election Cinquin
    Dark Money Tiger
    Democracy on Trial Acrostic
    Democracy Kyrielle
    Democracy Minute
    First and Last Dark Money
    The Rot Starts at the Top
    Cancel Culture Run Am
    Senator Johnson Banned on YouTube for Spreading Lies Found Poem
    Enough of Your Useless Prayers
    Driving our Politics is Fear
    No Mas Excuses, America
    Ode to our Firefighter Heroes
    Global Emergency
    Please America Get Vaccinated
    Political ghosts haunt my dreams –

    Letter to Republican leaders, to be sent will update if I get any responses

    Dear Republican leaders
    WTF is wrong with you?
    The mid-terms were all about
    Rejecting extremism

    And demanding that politicians
    Just do their job
    And get stuff done
    For the American people

    So, what are your plans?
    Addressing climate change?
    Addressing crime?
    Banning assault weapons?
    Protecting gay rights?
    Protecting abortion rights?
    Addressing extreme inequality?
    Making college more affordable?

    All of which are very popular
    With the American public

    Nope

    Your number one goal
    Investigate Hunter Biden’s crimes
    While ignoring the nepotism
    And the crimes of the Trump clan?

    Yes, the Hunter Biden laptop
    That somehow magically was delivered
    To a Delaware repair shop

    Run by a blind man
    Rather than fixing the laptop
    Called Ruddy G and delivered it to him

    He kept it and then gave it to the FBI
    Three years later
    Have found zip nada nothing

    The most one can say
    Is there some possibility
    Incriminating e-mails

    But given the breakdown
    In the chain of custody
    And the deep fake technology
    Nothing on that Laptop
    Proves anything

    Oh, and impeaching President Biden
    For the crime of being a democrat
    And threatening to shut down the government,
    and threatening to  default on the United States government’s sovereign debt
    Unless social security, Medicare and Obama care
    Is cut to the bone, throwing millions of people
    especially senior citizens into poverty.

    Go ahead
    And make my day
    For if you do all of this
    And do nothing at all
    To address the country’s problems

    There will be a blue wave
    In 2024

    The voters are sick and tired
    Of the Republican Chaos brand.

    The rest follows:

    Slime Oozing Out of a TV

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I drink coffee
    Every morning
    Watching the news

    Until my eyeballs hurt
    And I can’t stand it
    Anymore

    Wanting to shoot the TV
    To put it out of its misery

    As I think about that
    The old Zappa
    the song comes to mind

    “I am the slime
    Oozing out of the TV set
    Can’t look away
    Don’t change the dial
    Folks look at me go

    I am the slime
    Oozing out of the TV Set.”

    Patriot Games

    Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol as tear gas fills the corridor on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. – Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by Saul LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The right-wing spin masters are at it again
    Turning the greatest assault on American democracy
    The storming of the capital  on January 6
    By an angry mob  into a patriotic uprising
    Against a communist dictatorship In the making

    Fighting to restore traditional Judeo-Christian values
    Led by false Christian prophets celebrating
    The rise of Christian fascism in America

    Calling the angry mob Patriots Is an affront
    To the real patriots
    Our grandparents  fought world war
    Against the Nazis and were the original Antifa

    Fox News is now hosting Tucker’s ‘broadcast
    Siding with neo-fascist autocrats
    In Hungary, their newfound best friend

    Who is proudly instigating a neo-fascist
    Illiberal democratic state
    Shades of other right-wing autocrats
    That the right love to support

    Even celebrating the military coup
    Myanmar saying there is no reason
    That could not happen here

    The twice impeached former president
    Siding with the enemies of democracy
    Doing Putin’s bidding killing Democracy to save it.

    As our democracy lies dying as we speak
    The mobs are braying to take our country back.
    Make America great and white again

    Soon we will have the proud boys,
    oath keepers, Bugaloo bois, and others
    Marching in the streets under Nazi and confederate banners
    Cheering their great leader as he storms back into power.

    God save America
    If he/she still cares?

    Watching the news

    while watching the news
    gloom and doom gives the blues
    not a good morning
    soon I will blow my fuse

    Just a bad morning
    filled with forewarning
    soon I must drink wine
    ending with warnings

    drinking my red wine
    makes everything seem fine
    looking at my lovely wife
    I sit and admire what is mine

    Morning Blues

    Watching the morning news
    Nothing but gloom and doom
    Just no more rules
    Gives me the blues

    Naani Morning Blues

     

     

     

     

     

     

    My day  starts with coffee
    watching the idiot box
    soon it is too much to bear
    it gives me the blues

    In the Year 2022, Madness Took Over

    I often thought back
    In the Trumpian years
    As an aberration
    That Americans would wake up

    And realize that they had been conned
    That Conman Don
    Was not their friend

    That the republicans
    If they could turn
    Social security and Medicare

    To the private sector
    Enriching wall street
    While screwing everyone else

    Laughing at the fools
    Who believed that they care
    About them at all.

    Then 2022 midterms approached
    And the airwaves and internet
    Were filled with the vilest conspiracy theories

    So many people believed the Q nonsense
    That there was a secret cabal
    Of cannibals child molesting pedophiles

    Drinking children’s blood in Satanic rituals
    Led by shape-shifting aliens.
    Believing that Donald Trump
    Was anointed by God

    To battle the satanic democrats
    And that someday soon
    storm would erupt

    And all the evil ones
    Will be rounded up
    And Donald Trump
    Would once again be president

    The latest crazed theory
    That there are schools

    Where children are told
    To do their business
    In litter boxes

    Because the children
    Identify as cats.

    And so, it goes
    More madness everywhere
    More madness, more drugs

    And more guns everywhere
    Not just in the US
    But overseas too

    Everywhere leaders are unhinged
    Conspiracy theories run amok
    Pundits pontificating

    Guns proliferating
    Hard to see how
    This ends well.

    America

    America faces a choice

    A choice of embracing democracy
    At last a choice of standing up
    Against the forces of Neo-fascism
    As the election season comes to an end.

    Although it is too close to tell
    Americans will make the right choice

    Con Artists

    These days
    It seems that there are
    So many crafty people
    Con artists everywhere
    Rampant crime on the rise
    Fear abounds everywhere
    Upsetting our tidy plans
    Leaving us so confused.

    Vote Diatelle

    vote

    Today
    what the hey
    democracy
    itself may be at play
    will we be a plutocracy?
    or even become just a theocracy?
    run by an unelected bureaucracy?
    or turn into a meritocracy?
    or a corporatocracy?
    keep fascism at bay
    aristocracy
    le5 us pray
    we may
    note

    Truth and Lies Diamante

    Right thoughts
    Telling, speaking, Screaming
    Facts, News, Pundits, Politicians
    Lying, Scheming, Plotting
    Lies

    Water

    The world is faced
    With a huge water shortage problem
    Throughout the world
    We are running out of fresh clean water

    Climate change leading to massive droughts
    And massive storms and massive floods
    Nigeria, Pakistan, and Kentucky underwater

    Mississippi water supply compromised
    Everywhere we are running out of water

    Yet there are solutions
    Mandatory water harvesting
    In the southwest replacing lawns
    With desert plants

    Energy-efficient watering systems
    Shifting to less water-intensive agriculture
    Setting up urban vertical gardening

    Massive desalination plants
    Using solar, wind, and tidal power
    It will cost a lot

    But solutions are possible
    If we have the political will
    To implement them.

    America divided into tribal divisions

    America divided into tribal divisions
    Red states, Blue Cities
    The mass media playing games
    So many people believe

    That the world is out of control
    Spreading calls for civil war
    Election workers fear for their life.

    Guns everywhere
    And the former guy who lost
    Gleefully throwing gas on the fire.

    Arrested for feeding the homeless

     

     

     

     

    Sam Jones, a 70-year-old man
    Walking down the street
    In a Florida City
    Thinking that too many people
    Ignore the homeless.

    He thought,
    But what would happen
    If we began to act
    Towards others as we should.

    Sam began a campaign
    Treating homeless people
    To coffee and sandwiches.

    Buying them tents,
    Buying them clothing,
    Asking their names
    Telling their stories.

    The city authorities
    Were not amused

    They arrested him
    For violating a local law
    Forbidding handing out food
    Water and drinks
    To people on the street
    Without a proper city-issued permit.
    As a food vendor.

    The case went to trial
    They found him guilty
    Sentenced to five years in prison.

    For helping the homeless,
    Without the proper food vendor permits,
    And for contempt of court when he asked the judge,
    To act according to his professed Christian principles.

    Elections Bringing Back the People

    The election showed the world
    That the power of the people
    Will eventually prevail
    That sanity might slowly
    Becoming back to the land
    As MAGA extremists lost
    Despite the former guy’s attempts
    At an unlikely comeback.

    Election Cinquin

    Election
    Powerful, Profound
    Meaningful, moving, provoking
    Power to the people
    Decisions

    Dark Money Tigerjade

    Dark money
    so funny
    So much corruption in the USA
    American political world filled with dark black dollars
    Democracy is a state, according to scholars
    We know how
    End it now

    Democracy on Trial Acrostic

    Democracy on trial
    Everywhere it seems
    More in Europe perhaps
    Only in America though
    Crazy Q anon theories
    Right-Wing MAGA nut cases
    Although they lost in the mid-terms
    Crazy conspiracies have not died out
    Yet more craziness to come soon.

    Democracy Kyrielle

    Democracy itself at the state
    People voted in the election
    The mass media is filled with hate
    determining what direction

    It is up to America
    To the people who voted
    That is what it is, Erika
    Determining what direction

    To those who chose not to vote
    Do not complain about the results
    The winners of the vote should not gloat
    Determining what direction

    Democracy Minute

    American democracy
    Is it just plutocracy?
    Does your vote count?
    Endless recount.
    Do elections even matter?
    Endless chatter,
    No one cares now.
    Do we know how?
    Do we even know what to do?
    This much is true.
    All must save it.
    Must do your bit.

    First and Last Dark Money

    There is just too much dark money.
    It is no longer so funny.
    Our politics are so Lunny.
    Democracy is at stake.
    Politicians are on the take.
    Does your vote even matter?
    Amid pundits’ non-stop chatter.
    Everyone is mad as a hatter.
    No one seems to be awake.
    Politicians are all on the make.
    the media is filled with liars.
    Our politics are endless quagmires.
    Out west endless wildfires.
    No one cares but smart money.
    There is just too much dark money.

    h3 style=”text-align: center;”>Donald Trump Runs a Full White Supremacist campaign  White Supremacist

    Folks,

    Our opponents denounce us as racists.  I say we should be proud to be white people. White people built this country.  They say we stole the land from the Indians.  I say the Indians were simply in the way and should have been removed because the white people needed the land. There was nothing wrong with that.  White people built this country.  They say slavery was wrong.  I say Black people were better off as slaves because they were unable to handle freedom.  I say the civil war should never have been fought.  The US would have been much better off if we had split up into two nations. I say that the US was better off when white men ruled the country.  Women should not be in a position of leadership.  Immigration should be restricted to white people as it was during much of our history.  Immigration should be restricted to white people who are Christian and speak English and should be limited.   Too many immigrants. Too many non-white people.  The replacement campaign is continuing and the democrats are the party of niggers, spics, chinks, gooks, Muslims, pagans, atheists, and coastal elites who hate you and hate white people and hate our movement because we are pro-white, pro-male, and pro-America!  They say that we are heading to a civil war.  I say bring it on.  If the South were to secede and Texas leads the way,  I will gladly serve as president of a new confederacy.

    Regarding foreign policy,  it is time to bring the troops back and station them along the southern border.  We need to seal the borders to keep the minorities from flooding the country and keep out the drugs and chaos.  We need to make marijuana illegal again.  We should set up special drug courts where drug dealers will be tried and executed the next day.

    We need to pull out of NATO.  Bring our troops from Asia.  Let them defend themselves.  We should stop sending aid to Ukraine.  Let Russia and Ukraine work it out.  Russia has serious and viable security claims in Eastern Europe.  Putin is the friend of the white Christian race.

    Around the world white people are rising and taking back power.  We need to do the same.

    Gay rights should be left to states to decide.  If Texas wants to ban same-gender attraction, Heyy should be allowed to do so.

    Civil rights laws should be abolished.  If a landlord does not want to rent to minorities, they should be allowed to do so.

    Let’s stand up and proclaim

    We are white and we are proud.

    30 percent of the public supported his campaign.  The more critics denounced it as a racist campaign, the stronger his campaign became.

    Five endings – his wins and ushers in Fascism

    He is indicted and sent to prison.  Desantis takes over his campaign and continues the anti-minority campaign.

    DeSantis wins and ushers in fascism

    A national convention is called and the U.S. splits apart into ten new countries

    A civil war ensues.

    The democrats win big in 2024 and restore sanity.

    Confronted by Racists in Oregon Nightmare

    We go to Oregon and sell our property. While there we run into racists everywhere.  It is very unpleasant.  In Costco, several white guys confront us in the parking lot yelling racist slurs telling her to go home to China, and calling me a race traitor.  I just look at them and say,

    “Mighty Christian behavior.  Thanks for sharing your opinion. Now leave.”

    They asked me “what did you say?’

    I said,

    “You are a good Christian. Now leave us alone.”

    “Are you mocking us?”

    “Nope. Not at all. Just leave us alone.”

    One guy pulls out a gun and points it at us.

    I look at him and say

    “really? Do you want to shoot us in broad day light?  What would Jesus do?’

    Angela tries to intervene, and they slap her.  I call for help and security comes outside.

    We decide to press charges of assault.

    Someone filmed it and the video went viral.  We are interviewed.  I tell them that I am not a Christian, but just thought that perhaps if I appealed to their faith, they might reconsider what they were doing and unfortunately that did not work.

    Something wicked this way comes

    Something wicked this way comes

    With the Republicans taking over the house
    About to launch endless investigations about Hunter Biden,
    And the “ January 6th political prisoners “
    And the former president running
    Back on Twitter that is imploding
    And climate change running amuck
    Gunmen still rampaging across the land.

    Dear God Make, It All Go Away

    Dear God

    Watching the news unfold
    The non-ending problems
    Inflation, crime, climate change
    The world unhinged

    And our new house leaders’ response
    Their number one priority
    Investigate Hunter Biden

    Number two
    Have Margo Taylor Green lead
    The investigation
    of the January 6 committee
    For doing their jobs

    Their other priorities include
    Insisting the solution to climate change
    Drill more oil and coal
    And stop subsiding on renewable energy

    The solution to gun violence
    Useless prayers and thoughts
    And more guns for everyone

    Insisting that the government cut
    Social security and Medicaid
    Or else they will let the government default

    And the former president
    Is running for reelection
    And is now back on Twitter
    Which is going bankrupt.

    As the advertisers flee
    And hate fills the twitter
    And FB social media.

    Dear God,
    I say to you
    If you have the power
    To intervene in our lives.

    Please Dear God
    Make it all go away
    Restore sanity and civility,

    Have the former President
    Get the justice he deserves
    And our leaders put aside
    Their games

    And start solving problems
    That is my prayer today.

    Bugs Bunny Q

    One day Bugs Bunny came to life
    Went on national TV
    To launch his crusade
    Wearing a red MAGA hat

    He endorsed the former President
    Who he called his good friend
    The best president ever.

    He wants to quote Q
    And talk about the dangerous
    Dark conspiracy

    Of Satan worshiping
    child cannibals
    Led by the evil Elmer Fudd.

    American Democracy Momento

    American democracy
    We must choose to save it
    Fill with hate

    American
    plutocracy
    We must all do our bit
    Make it great
    We must all do our given part
    Together find our way

    Go forward
    Let’s come together as a start
    Keep the hate at bay
    Straightforward

    Having their Cake and Eat It Too Writers’ Cramp

    Politicians often try
    To have their cake
    And eat it too
    Running around
    Throwing gasoline
    On the political fires.
    ture wars
    Then acting “shocked.”
    that anyone ould carry out
    Acts of political violence
    Based on their overheated rhetoric
    Shedding copious crocodile tears
    The dead don’t care, they are merely ghosts.

    Democratic Constanza

    Democracy is still at risk
    In my American homeland,
    Must do our part, and take a stand.
    The election showed there is still a high risk.
    Voters have to make a decision,
    Just turn off the television.
    Wired in our news hard disk
    What will be our country’s future
    Will it be with Trump, the moocher?
    Like a political slipped disk
    We must do our part, pick a side
    And save our country’s future pride.
    Just filled with political zisk
    Democratic chimerica ?
    Or a fascist Amerika?

    The World After

    The future is not yet written
    The world can still be saved
    But the end of humanity
    Could be at hand

    The world is burning up
    Fires out of control
    Ice caps melting
    Temperatures rising

    Hatred spreading
    Neofascism on the right
    Democracy threatened

    End of the world fears
    Filling the world
    Yet to come

    the Rot Starts at the Top

    Watching the news unfold
    About the massive spying operation
    Targeted against Democratic opponents
    Of the former guy

    The old Chinese Confucian adage
    Pops to mind
    The rot starts at the head
    Meaning rotten fish of course

    But also applies
    To rotten political actors
    This scandal is probably
    Just the tip

    Of a very large rotten iceberg
    Where it will lead
    Is anyone’s guess

    But will the former guy
    Be held accountable
    For this crime?

    Probably not
    Just add it to the list
    Of all his other crimes

    And wait until hell freezes over
    For justice to be done

    Cancel Culture Run Amuck

    I am so sick
    And tired
    Of the so-called “Cancel Culture”
    Nonsense

    That has spread out
    Along the right-wing media verse
    Infecting the public
    With their hatred and disdain

    I don’t know what it all means
    Something about political speech
    social conservatives
    Being canceled
    By left-wing woke mobs
    In the mainstream media
    “Libtard “Coastal elites
    And tech giants

    Seems that they don’t like
    Being held to account
    For minimal standards
    Of decent behavior

    For example, not spreading lies
    About COVID vaccinations
    I mean you Senator Johnson
    Banned by YouTube for a week
    Or inciting a riot

    I mean you
    Former guy
    And his minions

    Used to be
    That we were all
    Held to account
    For decent behavior
    By a sense of public shame

    So, we did not go there
    We knew where the lines were
    And respected them

    But in the era
    Of the former guy
    All civilized restraints
    Have gone out the window

    I say to my republican friends
    If you don’t want to be canceled
    Don’t say or do disgusting things
    Don’t spread hate and misinformation

    Then we would not have to
    Cancel your nonsense
    Until then I need to shut
    Off the damn media noise box

    Senator Johnson Banned on YouTube for Spreading Lies Found Poem

    YouTube suspended
    Sen. Ron Johnson’s account
    to spread medical misinformation.

    The company specifically
    prohibits content
    that contradicts public-health guidance.

    The Republican
    routinely holds Senate hearings
    where he promotes
    baseless conspiracy theories.

    “Big Tech and mainstream media
    believe they are smarter
    than medical doctors
    who have devoted their lives to science?
    and use their skills to save lives,”

    “They have decided
    there is only one medical viewpoint allowed
    and it is the viewpoint dictated
    by government agencies.”

    Johnson, who promoted the “Big Lie”
    that led to the assault
    on the US Capitol in January,

    Johnson has used his position
    as a senator to promote
    baseless conspiracy theories
    and undermine trust in public institutions

    Johnson’s “continuing assault on the truth,
    often under the guise
    of simply ‘asking questions
    about facts,

    is helping to diminish confidence
    in American institutions
    at a perilous moment,

    when the health and economic well-being
    of the nation relies heavily on
    on mass vaccinations,

    and when faith in democracy
    is shaken by right-wing falsehoods
    about voting,”

    Comment: It is for that act
    Those comments went too far
    led YouTube
    To “cancel” Senator Johnson

    Now if only we can get
    He to just shut up
    And go away

    Perhaps the voters
    Will finally be moved
    To cancel him for good.

    Driving our Politics is Fear

    What is driving our politics
    More than anything else
    Is the fear of the other
    Fear of the enemy
    Fear of the end
    The American experiment
    With democracy

    The Day After 9-11 U.S Visa Officer’s Perspective

    9-11 2021 was the classic black swan event.  A low-probability event that changed almost everything.  The world can be divided into a pre-9-11 world and a Post 9-11 world.  9-11 led to the Afghanistan war, which recently concluded, the Iraq war, the Syria war, the Libyan civil war, countless wars in Africa, the war on terror, the Muslim travel ban, the war on domestic dissent in so many parts of the world, all justified as a reaction against the events of that September day.  Here are some of my reflections on the events of 9-11 including a prose poem about where I was that terrible day.  It affected me deeply because at the time I was a US immigration officer in the State Department serving in Mumbai, (Bombay) India.

    9-11 Fridge

    Based on fridge magnet poems daily prompt https://frij.io/?mc_cid=892a002a18&mc_eid=7c5e331aa2

    Following 9/11
    Patriots Blunder
    Whack
    Worry Frequently
    About terrorists and Muslims
    Whomever, wherever they are

    Reflections on 911 Where I was Prose Poem

    On 9-11

    When the planes struck the World Trade Center

    Unleashing evil on the world

    I was working
    at the deputy consular chief at the US Consulate
    in Mumbai

    I was at a Polish national day event
    chatting with the Polish Ambassador
    and his charming wife.

    Someone told me
    I needed to check out the news,
    saw the CNN news feed,
    rushed back to the consulate
    to prepare our response.

    I put together a task force
    focused on helping American citizens
    in our district.
    I worked almost 15-20 hours
    for almost three days

    before finally getting a night off.
    We continued to process visas
    during this time

    but our priority
    was to reach out to the Americans
    who lived in our district

    and to monitor the reactions of Indians
    especially Muslims living in our district.

    I tracked down my wife
    who had gone into emergency action
    in her position in Korea as a MI officer.

    We both reflected
    that if she had not taken the job in Korea
    she might have died that day

    as she had been working in the ops center
    at the pentagon which was destroyed.
    Since it was shift work

    if she had been on the early morning shift
    it might have been game over for her.

    Reflections on 9-11

    9-11
    The event that launched
    The war on terror
    That led to Afghanistan

    Led to Iraq
    Led to Syria
    And so many other wars
    Secret and not so secret
    War on dissent at home
    All because of 911

    A true black swan event
    That almost destroyed our country
    And still has ramifications

    All over the world
    911
    A day that truly
    Will live
    In infamy

    9-11 unleashed Evil

    world lurks in the deadliest places.
    Evil came to town on 911
    the day that evil swept over the world
    a true Black Swan event
    That transformed everything
    splitting the world into a pre-9-11 world
    and a post 9-11 world

    unleashing the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan, the wars in Iraq, the war in Libya, the war in Syria, the wars in Africa, the horrors of ISIS, the horrors of the Taliban resurgent, the horrors of Al Qaeda and all the rest of the Muslim terrorists,  the war in the streets of any big city, the war on Muslims, the war on Christians, the war on Jews, the apartheid in Palestine, the wars on dissent at home, the Arab Spring

    many things can be traced
    to the impact of 9/11

    one of the most unlikely events
    of recent history that transformed
    everything

    yes there was a pre-9-11 world

    hard to imagine now
    and a post 9-11 worldwide police state
    on steroids

    lost democracy at home
    and abroad
    We are still coping
    with the damages unleashed
    by the evil plane bombers

    fulfilling their mad desires
    their dictates from their mad god

    transforming the world
    unleashing evil
    in the once-innocent world.

    Cosmos’s 2022 and 2024 Predictions

    Dear Nancy, Time to Go Dear

    Joe, Go Bold or Go Home – revised

    URL: https://wp.me/p7NAzO-29ONancy Pelosi

    Nancy Pelosi

    Executive Summary

    I predict the House and Senate will remain in the hands of the Democrats in 2022 and 2024, but a lot depends on who the Republicans run, if they run right-wing darlings like Trump, or DeSantis they lose, if they run sane moderate Republican governors like Hogan, they will win.

    if the Democrats nominate someone other than Biden or Harris they will probably win, if Biden runs again, a narrow victory, if Harris runs, they lose (again depending upon the Republican candidate), if Trump runs the third party, the Democrats will win.  The Democratic donor class should be encouraging Trump to run the Third-party! calling his party, the Christian Patriot Party.

    What Do I Know? Why listen to Me?

    I am a lifelong Democrat, having grown up in Berkeley in the late 60s and 70s.  I served in the Peace Corps and became a foreign service officer retiring in 2016. I live in South Korea, as I have my wife’s family living here.  I hope to return to the Bay Area in another year. I grew up in a politically active family. I served as President of my high school and a student senator at college.

    My father, Curtis Cosmos Aller, was the President of the Berkeley Co-Op and the Peralta community college district, served as undersecretary of Labor for Johnson  , and was a professor and Dean at SF State. and ran for Congress against Ron Dellums winning 40 percent in the primary election in 1974.

    I have voted for president since 1974 when I voted against Nixon.  I voted for Carter twice, and for the Democrats for president in every election. But I also correctly forecast the election returns in every election since 1974.

    Here are my predictions for 2022 and 2024, which I will share with the Democratic leadership and post any responses I may receive.

    Comments welcomed.

    2202 Predictions

     

    2022 is shaping up to be the most consequential mid-term in recent history.  The future of America and our democracy are at stake.  So far if I had to bet, I would bet on the Senate being held by the Democrats, maybe even a pickup as the math favors the democrats this time around, including several open seats due to retirements in Ohio and elsewhere.

    The house is more of a toss-up.

    Note:  I correctly saw that the red wave was an illusion, the house barely flipped sides, and the Democrats hold onto the Senate.

    If the Democrats are smart, they would announce that Nancy P and the aging leadership are all retiring to open the field to a new generation of leaders.

    This opens up the democratic leadership to a challenge along generational lines = as the Republicans continue to paint them as coastal elites out of touch with real Americans, which will resonate because there is an element of truth to that.

    Fortunately, after the election the house leadership changed hands ushering in a new generation of leaders, long overdue in my opinion.

    A lot depends on the following:

    Factors Favoring the Dems

    If the Democrats can paint Marjorie Taylor Green and her ilk as the face of the Republican party, they can pull off a win.

    Majorie Taylor Green et al play along acting crazy.

    Make them the face of the Republican Party –

    The impact of the January 6h commission – clearly shows how despicable and dangerous Republicans are, and how complicit they were in plotting a coup.

    Trump continues hinting he is running in 2024.
    Trump endorses candidates who win the primaries and lose the general.

    Trump is indicted and or is sent to prison = could cut either way = making him a martyr or turning off the average American to the MAGA crowd.

    Republican in-fighting continues positive for Dems.
    Much better unified messaging showing how democratic policies are helping average Americans.

    The state of COVID by August -  if it is over the democrats get a bump.

    State of the economy by August – if inflation slows up, the jobless numbers remain good, and the democrats get a bump.

    Impact of the big infrastructure bill – will people see it is working?

    Democrats get unified positive for Dems.

    Democratic turnout is higher than normal despite voter suppression efforts.

    Gerrymandering is not as bad as expected mixed signals so far,

    Biden’s approval rating is above 50 percent by September,

    The war in Ukraine ended with a victory Ukraine  gives a bump to Biden

    Spreading of rank choice voting systems, as these systems tend to produce more politically centrist candidates, and slightly favor the Democratic party candidates.

    The spread of jungle primary systems, as these systems tend to produce more politically centrist candidates, slightly favors the Democratic party candidates.  California is the biggest state to embrace both of these more democratic voting systems, but the idea is spreading. Most recently, NYC adopted a rank voting system, which led to the election of Eric Adams, who was everyone’s second choice, and not the first choice for most voters. He is a moderate Democrat in a blue progressive-dominated city.

    Factors Favoring the Republicans

    The Republicans will make Nancy the symbol of a “coastal elite old political hack leadership out of touch with American voters and values ” which will resonate as there is a kernel of truth to that charge. In short, they will hear, and so-called “socialist left woke SF Values” the face of the Democratic party, not Biden so much or Harris.

    Nancy Pelosi

    Trump announces he is retiring, is imprisoned, or dies – removing the biggest obstacle to the resurgence of the Republican party.

    The economy stumbles and favors Republicans.
    Republicans nominate centrists moderates resisting the MAGA crusade.

    Gerrymandering and voter suppression works as advertised – News out of Texas is not good, 25% of absentee ballots were rejected!

    Democrats continue their fratricidal infighting – can’t get a unified message.

    Republicans are successful in painting the democratic leadership as “old  coastal elitist political hacks out of touch with Americans and not dealing with the nation’s problems due to being too weak internationally and domestically, and beholden to a socialist left-wing woke social warrior culture run amuck.”

    The culture wars ignite the Republican base, leading to a higher turnout among the base.

    Neutral factors:

    Retirements = could be cut either way.
    The deaths of aging leaders could go either way,

    What is the Average Age of Congress?

    The average age of the 117th Congress is 59 years old and the median is 60 years old. This is much higher than the median age of 38 years in the United States in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

    Of its 435 members, the House has 38 members born in the 1980s and one born in the 1990s, while the Senate welcomed its first millennial. But the age groups with the biggest gains, compared to the 116th Congress, were those born in the 1930s and 1960s. Members in the 80+ and 50-59 age groups saw gains, while the 30-39 age group saw the biggest losses. Members of Congress are, overall, getting older.

    AGE OF THE SENATE

    The average age of the Senate is 63 years. The most popular years of birth are 1952 and 1954, with seven members each.

    Who are the Oldest Members of Congress?

    From Alaska, all the way to
    Alabama, the oldest members of the 117th Congress were all born in the early 1930s. Most of them are members of the Senate.

    Specifically, the five oldest members of Congress are:

    (four Republicans and one Democrat)

    • Don Young, age 87, is the RepublicanS. Representative for Alaska’s at-large congressional district. He has served for 25 terms since 1973 and is the current longest-serving member in Congress. (JUST PASSED AWAY AS OF March 19, 2022).
    • Dianne Feinstein, age 87, is a Democratic Senator from California running for re-election.
    • Chuck Grassley, age 87, is a Republican Senator from Iowa -running for re-election.
    • Richard Shelby,  age 86, is a Republican Senator from Alabama running for re-election.
    • Jim Inhofe, age 86, is a Republican Senator from Oklahoma running for re-election.
    • Mitch Mc Connel 83
    • Dick  Schumer 75

    Who are the Youngest Members?

    As for the youngest members of the 117th Congress, they are all part of the House of Representatives. Most were born in the 1980s except the youngest member of them all.

    Here are the five youngest members of Congress:

    • (three Democrats, two republicans)
    • Madison Cawthorn, age 25, is the RepublicanS. Representative for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. He is the first member of Congress born in the 1990s.  -Note: defeated in his re-election bid.
    • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 31, is the Democratic  Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district
    • Sara Jacobs, age 31, is the democratic Representative for California’s 53rd congressional district
    • Ritchie Torres, age 32, is the democratic. Representative for New York’s 15th congressional district
    • Jake LaTurner, age 32, is the Democratic. Representative for Kansas’s 2nd congressional district

    How Does Age Relate to Party?

    Overall, the average age for Republicans in Congress is 58 and 60 for Democrats. Looking specifically at each party in each chamber, the averages are also very similar:

    AVERAGE AGE OF THE 117TH CONGRESS LEADERSHIP

    As mentioned before, Congress is getting older. When looking specifically at the leadership in each party, the averages are even higher with Democrats brushing close to 70.

    bottom line: Senate to the Democrats due to the math more than anything else.

    While I hope the Dems maintain the House, it is too close to call could be a two-vote margin by Democrats, or a two to three margin by the Republicans, but I don’t see a red wave coming nor do I see a blue wave coming. the gerrymandering in place slightly favors the Republicans perhaps giving them five additional seats, and demographic changes mean additional seats in red states and a loss in NY, California, and New Jersey of one seat each.

    the average age of congress

    2024 Predictions

    2024 is shaping up to be the most consequential election in recent history.  The future of America and our democracy are at stake.  So far if I had to bet, I would bet on the Democrats winning the presidency (but not Biden running again due to age and health concerns or Kamala Harris making it, and Trump not running due to age, or legal impediments, or death)  on the Senate being held by the Democrats, maybe even a pickup as the math favors the Democrats this time around including several open seats due to retirements and deaths, and the House could go either way, lots depends on who wins the mid-terms, and the success of the voter suppression movement.

    My advice/predictions to the Democratic leadership (I will share this with them) are the following:

    Biden should retire at the end of his term but announce that he wants an open primary and not endorse any candidate until the dust settles and a clear leader emerges.  The rest of the aging leadership should all retire as well, opening up political space for the next generation of leaders to organically emerge.

    Kamala Harris stumbles and another candidate emerges.  If the Democrats are smart, they would nominate a moderate problem-solving centrist who can win in red or purple states = the governor of Michigan fits the bill.  Preferably a woman, as it is time for a woman president. The VP should be a Hispanic or perhaps Asian-American male. Again, a governor would be preferable but a Senator or big city major would be a good pick as well. I would avoid two women candidates as that might be a step too far for now.

    The theme should be time for a renewed commitment to an America that works for everyone, that we are in it together and are united as Americans.

    Other themes would be

    Continuing rebuilding our failing physical infrastructure, including our public health systems,

    Fighting climate change,

    Investing in the next generation of technologies,

    including robotics and AI systems,

    Recommitting to the space program,

    Enacting some version of the build-back better initiative,

    Continuing to work on rebuilding our alliances,

    Reforming our failed immigration system,

    Fighting against voter suppression efforts,

    Encouraging more democratic voting systems such as rank vote and jungle primaries,

    And an old throwback, enacting term limits  – this is a winning issue with the public and will disarm potential republican attacks

    “on old, tired, political elitist coastal hacks running the Democratic party leadership.”

    The Democrats should seize this issue as a sort of political jujutsu move. that would be brilliant!

    Starting with the retirement of the oldest members of both parties to bring in a younger generation of leaders. if term limits are a good thing for the presidency they are a good thing for Congress to embrace and would be very popular.  I’d suggest 12 years (six terms) in the house and three terms in the Senate for a total of 30 years of service with mandatory retirement at age 70.

    Avoid getting sucked into the culture wars nonsense it is a waste of time, and resources and puts you on the defensive, just no upside to it at all.  the less you say this the better, let them come off as unhinged and out-of-touch.

    The focus should be on building on the solid accomplishments of the Biden era and looking forward with a positive, optimistic message.

    I would also not get trapped into running an anti-Republican campaign.  That was a losing message for Hilary, and also a bit for Biden.  People need to hear a positive, powerful optimistic message but pointing out that the Republican candidate is a neo-fascist authoritarian wannabe is fine, but that cannot be the only message or the main message.

    Keeping it positive, upbeat, and focused on solid accomplishments for the American people is the key.  Remember, they have to want to vote for you, not just vote against them!

    A winning slogan could be

    “Democrats, the party that gets stuff done for the American people.”

    I would also avoid getting too sucked into the progressive wish lists, and remember the adage to never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Remember that people have to want to vote for you and just against the other guy.  You could run through an anti-republican slogan such as

    Republicans, tools of the 1 percent, the party of fascists, insurrectionists, deficit spending and ignoring the needs of the American people. and resucrect Harry’s Truman “Do Nothing congress” worked wonders for him and would be another winning slogan.

    If the Republicans are smart, Trump will retire for the good of the party and the country, under the excuse of age, health, or legal impediments.  Then they should have an open primary.

    Predictions for the Republican Ticket

    My prediction would be De Santis wins the nomination and picks perhaps Senator Cotton as his VP. This would unite the MAGA crows and the cultural wars crowds.  But also provide a solid line of attack for the Democratic nominee.

    I don’t see a pathway for Ted Cruz as he has too many enemies, everyone who knows him or has worked with him hates his guts.

    I also don’t see a pathway for Josh Hawley either for similar reasons. I can see Marjorie Taylor Green running but flaming out during the primary.

    Finally, I don’t see a Trump-Biden rematch but if that happens, I will bet that Biden would defeat Trump.

    The other unlikely prospect is that the Republicans get smart and nominate either the governor of Ohio or Maryland and run a positive upbeat campaign as

    “the party that gets stuff done for the American people”

    Note;  Great slogan, the Democrats should use it before the Republicans use it.

    while painting the Democrats as old, political hacks who are out of touch, cultural justice warrior elitists from coastal blue states.   That would be a powerful campaign theme because unfortunately, there is an element of truth to it!

    and they would probably win the House, Senate, and Presidency, but fortunately, for the Democrats, they are far more likely to nominate a cultural warrior nut case like DeSantis, with either Cotton as VP or the Virginian Governor as VP.

    if Biden runs, a toss-up. If Kamala runs a toss-up.  If the governor of Michigan or another female governor runs, Democrats probably win.

    If DeSantis runs, probably Republicans will fail, but if someone like Maryland Hogan runs, the Republicans will win.  If Trump wins the nomination as a Republican, Republicans will probably fail as well.

    If Trump runs third party, too close to call but he would not win as a third-party candidate.  If he runs, he should name his party, the Christian Patriot Party, the CPP in short.

    The Senate and House would both probably go to the Democrats despite voter suppression efforts as the math and demographics favor the Democratic party.

    A personal note.  I am married to a Korean-American woman whom I met in Korea and thus would love to see Hogan elected and have the first Asian-American (Korean) First lady.

    My bottom-line prediction

    Both Biden and Trump retire due to age and health concerns, and Trump’s legal woes become two insurmountable, not to mention the donor class is turning against him.

    Kamala Harris does not win the primary contests, as the Democrats selected a more centrist problem-solving figure who defeats the likely republican nominee – De Santis.

    Whoever loses, concedes as we restore the tradition of a peaceful transition of power.

    Senate and House go to the Democrats, but with narrow majorities.

    The rest of the country continues to be split into about 25 red states and 20 blue states, a blue DC, blue PR, blue VI, purple Guam and Samoa, purple military, and 5 purple states.

    To my fellow Americans

    I am writing this plead,
    To my fellow Americans.

    I am tired of the excuses
    Tired of hearing
    Your lame reasons,
    For not getting a vaccination.

    For not masking up,
    For not taking covid seriously.
    I am tired of hearing about
    People dying

    I am tired of hearing about gun violence,
    I am tired of hearing about the west burning up,
    The east flooding out,
    The monster storms everywhere.

    The politicians doing nothing at all
    To solve any of these problems

    Instead of playing games,
    Acting as if all of these problems
    Were beyond our control,

    Like the weather
    Can’t do anything about it
    Nothing but lies.

    Yes America
    I am tired.
    I say again
    I am tired
    Of your lame excuses.

    But this is something
    We can all do something about it,
    We can choose to get a free vaccine,

    We can choose to continue to wear a mask,
    We can choose to not kill someone with a gun.
    We can choose to take the bus,

    We can choose to drive an electric vehicle,
    We can choose to love one another,
    We can choose to save the world.

    Or you can choose
    To be a narcissistic self-centered asshole,
    A real scumbag,

    Following your hero,
    The orange man,
    Following him straight to hell.

    Where do you think this will end?
    It will not be a good outcome,
    For any of us,

    Especially for you, my friend.
    You could die, your parents could die,
    Your children could die.

    And you have the power
    To do something about.
    Each of us

    Has the power
    To change the world.
    But the change must come

    From all of us.
    We are all connected.
    We are all God’s children

    We are all each
    Other’s brothers and sisters.
    f none of this convinces you

    Think what Jesus would tell you
    I don’t need to tell you,
    You know in your heart,

    What needs to be done?
    I conclude with this

    I don’t want to hear it.

    No

    mas

    excuses

    just

    do

    the

    right

    thing

    The life you save

    Maybe your own.

     

     

     

    Page Break

    Ode to our Firefighter Heroes

     

    Watching the burning of the west

    From my air-conditioned apartment

    Halfway across the world in Korea,

     

    I am filled with dismay

    How the country has gotten

    To this dark and dangerous place.

     

    Where the world is burning up

    Climate change is out of control

    Gun violence epidemic raging everywhere

    No one is safe anywhere from the rampaging gunmen.

     

    The nation’s leaders

    Refuse to do anything at all

    As the world burns.

    COVID spreads

    And more people die from guns.

     

    Yet there are American heroes

    The firefighters, the first responders

    The EMTs, the park rangers,

     

    The doctors, the nurses

    Truck drivers, bus drivers

    The workers of America.

     

    These American heroes

    Including prisoners

    Put their lives on the line

    24/7.

     

    Working in truly hellish conditions

    In temperatures above 100 degrees

    Breathing in deadly smoke.

     

    Without enough supplies

    Not enough water,

    Not enough of anything.

     

    But like all true heroes

    They merely suit up

    And go to work,

     

    Doing whatever they can do

    To save us all

    From the burning of America.

    From the COVID disaster

    From the gun violence

    The monster storms

    The collapsing buildings.

     

    I salute them

    From the bottom of my heart

    They are the true heroes

    In our times,

     

    Everyone should salute them

    Everyone should applaud them

    Everyone should thank them

    For saving our lives.

     

    Our nation’s and world leaders

    Should get their act together

    Declaring a state of planetary emergency

     

    Everyone must get together

    And address the problem

    Facing our world.

     

     

     

    Global Emergency

     

    The world is facing a worldwide crisis

    Everything is falling apart

    The world is burning up.

     

    Monster storms flooding Europe

    Covid spreading everywhere

    Inflation rearing its ugly head

    Gun violence tearing us apart.

     

    Politics fall apart

    As politicians

    Play the blame game,

    Spreading toxic lies

    And endless venom.

     

    The sad reality

    We are all to blame,

    Every last one of us shares the blame.

     

    We have known for decades

    That we could not continue

    Down this path.

     

    The solutions are obvious

    We have known this for years.

     

    It is time for the world leaders

    Both government and corporate

    To declare a state of worldwide emergency.

     

    Everyone must do their part

    To save the world now.

     

    The billionaire classes

    Should rise up

    And demonstrate real leadership

    Rather than waste time

    Flying into space.

    And they should donate

    Their vast fortunes

    To save the world.

     

    The time for games is over

    The world is dying

    Even the billionaires

    May die as the world burns.

     

    We are in this together

    We are human brothers and sisters

    Please do your part

    To save the world.

     

    Before the problems overwhelm us

    Ending our world civilization

     

    We must move to green energy now

    Everyone must get vaccinated

    Get the assault weapons off the street.

    Institute real gun control measures.

     

    Yet due to our political dysfunction

    Nothing meaningful

    Will be done.

     

    As the politicians dither and dither

    And nothing is done.

     

    As the world burns

    Civilization slowly dies

    Democracy cannot survive.

     

    The rise of the warlords

    Is inevitable

     

    The world ends

    In fire, floods

    And endless violence.

     

    So many people

    Will die.

     

    Unless we all

    Do our part

    To save the world/

     

    The hour is getting late

    But we have not met our fate

    Despite the late date.

     

    If we do nothing

    Soon we will all become ghosts

    Joining the other ghosts

    Of our recent past.

     

    Joining the fire ghosts,

    the corona ghosts,

    the gun ghosts

    the storm ghosts

    And all the other ghosts.

     

    Their voices

    crying in the wind,

    no one left alive

    to mourn their death.

    Page Break

    please America get vaccinated against COVID

     

    It is a sad state of affairs

    That so many of our fellow citizens

    Just can’t be bothered

    To get a free vaccine

    That may save their lives

    And the lives of those around them

    They simply don’t care

    About the rest of us.

     

    The anti-vax crusaders

    Say that no one should be forced

    To get a vaccine.

     

    Yet we force people to wear seat belts

    Force people to wear helmets

    Force people to drive within the speed limit

    Prohibit drunk driving.

     

    All of these are an infringement

    On our freedom

    To be irresponsible and careless,

     

    Yet we have decided

    It is better to have people

    Wear a seat belt,

     

    To drive within the speed limit

    And not drunk drive

    Because these simple measures

    Save lives.

     

    The same thing applies to wearing a mask

    And getting a vaccine

    A small inconvenience to an induvial

    Yet may save many lives.

     

    In the end

    I can only  offer this plea

    Many of you are Christians,

     

    And you know what Jesus

    Would say

     

    Just shut up

    Wear a mask

    and get vaccinated

    It is god’s will.

    Just do it for me.

     

    Please my fellow citizens

    Please get a vaccine

    To protect your life

    To protect my life

    And do the right thing.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Thanksgiving Poems

     

     

    Thanksgiving

     

    On Thanksgiving day

    I am grateful

    That I am still alive

    And kicking

    At age 67

     

    Still married

    To my one and only wife

     

    Thankful that I have enough money

    To retire comfortably

    And live until I die

    Without falling into poverty

     

    I am thankful for my friends

    Far and wide

    That is what

    I celebrate Thanksgiving

     

     

     

    Letter to Republicans

     

    Biden is not a communist, so shut up with that nonsense

     

    Dear Republicans

    Lately the airwaves

    Of the Fox alternative universe

    Has been filled with pernicious nonsense

    Uttered by all the pundits

    And Republican leaders.

     

    The pernicious nonsense

    Is that Joe Biden, and the entire

    Democratic Party

    Has been taken over

    By Marxists

     

    Determined to turn the US

    Either into Cuba, Venezuela

    Communist China or North Korea.

     

    But oddly not Russia

    Who some believe now

    Is our friend

     

    Anyone alive

    For the last thirty years

    Knows that communism died

    A long time ago

     

    There are no communists anywhere

    Even in China, no one believes

    In classic communism.

     

    And Joe Biden may be many things

    But a hard-core Marxist Communist

    Working to turn the US into a communist country

    Is not one of them.

     

    The only people who believe this nonsense

    Are aging John Birchers

    Who still screams about the communist menace

    And perhaps a few aging left-wing radicals

    Who still believe in Marxism.

     

    So please just shut up

    About communism

    And other imaginary bogymen.

     

    The World After

     

    The future is not yet written

    The world can still be saved

    But the end of humanity

    Could be at hand

     

    The world is burning up

    Fires out of control

    Ice caps melting

    Temperatures rising

     

    Hatred spreading

    Neofascism on the right

    Democracy threatened

     

    End of the world fears

    Filling the world

    Yet to come

     

     

     

     

     

    the Rot Starts at the Top

     

    Watching the news unfold

    About the massive spying operation

    Targeted against Democratic opponents

    Of the former guy

    The old Chinese Confucian adage

    Pops to mind

    The rot starts at the head

    Meaning rotten fish of course

    But also applies

    To rotten political actors

    This scandal is probably

    Just the tip

    Of a very large rotten iceberg

    Where it will lead

    Is anyone’s guess

    But will the former guy

    Be held accountable

    For this crime?

    Probably not

    Just add it to the list

    Of all his other crimes

    And wait until hell freezes over

    For justice to be done

     

     

     

     

    Cancel Culture Run Amuck

     

    I am so sick

    And tired

    Of the so-called “Cancel Culture”

    Nonsense

     

    That has spread out

    Along the rightwing media verse

    Infecting the public

    With their hatred and disdain

     

    I don’t know what it all means

    Something about political speech

    social conservatives

    Being canceled

     

    By left-wing woke mobs

    In the mainstream media

    “Libtard “Coastal elites

    And tech giants

     

    Seems that they don’t like

    Being held to account

    For minimal standards

    Of decent behavior

     

    For example, not spreading lies

    About COVID vaccinations

    I mean you Senator Johnson

    Banned by YouTube for a week

     

    Or inciting a riot

    I mean you

    Former guy

    And his minions

     

    Used to be

    That we were all

    Held to account

    For decent behavior

     

    By a sense of public shame

    So, we did not go there

    We knew where the lines were

    And respected them

     

    But in the era

    Of the former guy

    All civilized restraints

    Have gone out the window

     

    I say to my republican friends

    If you don’t want to be canceled

    Don’t say or do disgusting things

    Don’t spread hate and misinformation

     

    Then we would not have to

    Cancel your nonsense

    Until then I need to shut

    Off the damn media noise box

     

     

     

    Senator Johnson Banned on YouTube for Spreading Lies Found Poem

     

    YouTube suspended

    Sen. Ron Johnson’s account

    to spread medical misinformation.

    The company specifically

    prohibits content

    that contradicts public-health guidance.

    The Republican

    routinely holds Senate hearings

    where he promotes

    baseless conspiracy theories.

     

    “Big Tech and mainstream media

    believe they are smarter

    than medical doctors

    who have devoted their lives to science?

    and use their skills to save lives,”

     

    “They have decided

    there is only one medical viewpoint allowed

    and it is the viewpoint dictated

    by government agencies.”

     

    Johnson, who promoted the “Big Lie”

    that led to the assault

    on the US Capitol in January,

    has used his position

    as a senator to promote baseless conspiracy theories

    and undermine trust in public institutions

     

    Johnson’s “continuing assault on the truth,

    often under the guise of simply ‘asking questions

    about facts,

    is helping to diminish confidence in American institutions

    at a perilous moment,

     

    when the health and economic well-being

    of the nation relies heavily on

    on mass vaccinations,

    and when faith in democracy

    is shaken by right-wing falsehoods

    about voting,”

     

    Comment: It is for that act

    Those comments went too far

    led YouTube

    To “cancel” Senator Johnson

     

    Now if only we can get

    He to just shut up

    And go away

     

    Perhaps the voters

    Will finally be moved

    To cancel him for good.

    End Comment

    Driving our Politics is Fear
    What is driving our politics
    More than anything else
    Is the fear of the other
    Fear of the enemy
    Fear of the end
    The American experiment
    With democracy

     

     

     

    9-11 Fridge Poem

    Reflections on 9-11 where I was Prose Poem

    Reflections on 9-11 where was I then?

    Reflections on 9-11  9-11

    9-11 Unleashed Evil

    The Day After 9-11 U.S Visa Officer’s Perspective

     

     

    9-11 Reflections

     

     

    9-11 2021 was the classic black swan event.  A low-probability event that changed almost everything.  The world can be divided into a pre-9-11 world and a Post 9-11 world.  9-11 led to the Afghanistan war, which recently concluded, the Iraq war, the Syria war, the Libyan civil war, countless wars in Africa, the war on terror, the Muslim travel ban, the war on domestic dissent in so many parts of the world, all justified as a reaction against the events of that September day.  Here are some of my reflections on the events of 9-11 including a prose poem about where I was that terrible day.  It affected me deeply because at the time I was a US immigration officer in the State Department serving in Mumbai, (Bombay) India.

     

    Page Break

    9-11 Fridge

     

    Based on fridge magnet poems daily prompt https://frij.io/?mc_cid=892a002a18&mc_eid=7c5e331aa2

     

    Following 9/11

    Patriots Blunder

    Whack

    Worry Frequently

    About terrorists and Muslims

    Whomever, wherever they are

     

    Prompt words

     

    Blunder

    Whack

    Tapered

    9/11

    Whomever

    Possibly

    Pedicure

    Embezzle

    Worry

    Frequent

    Scoop

    Mu

    Kacey Musgraves

    🏄

    Quickly

    NFL

    Marshal

    They

    Reign

    Pineal

    Matrix

    Titanic

    Excepting

    Fabulous

    Clement

    Abbey

    Hawaii

    Rock

    Uphill

    Flame

    Washy

    Twin Towers

    Patriots

    Ox

    Junket

    Audit

    Static

    Commensurate

    😟

    Bye

    Breed

    Sharp

    Numb

    Spaceship

    Cyborg

    Unclog

     

     

     

    Reflections on 911 Where I was Prose Poem

     

    On 9-11

    When the planes struck the World Trade Center

    Unleashing evil on the world

    I was working

    at the deputy consular chief at the US Consulate

    in Mumbai

     

    I was at a Polish national day event

    chatting with the Polish Ambassador

    and his charming wife.

     

    Someone told me

    I needed to check out the news,

    saw the CNN news feed,

     

    rushed back to the consulate

    to prepare our response.

    I put together a task force

    focused on helping American citizens

    in our district.

     

    I worked almost 15-20 hours

    for almost three days

    before finally getting a night off.
    We continued to process visas
    during this time

    but our priority
    was to reach out to the Americans
    who lived in our district

    and to monitor the reactions of Indians
    especially Muslims living in our district.

    I tracked down my wife
    who had gone into emergency action
    in her position in Korea as a MI officer.

    We both reflected
    that if she had not taken the job in Korea
    she might have died that day

    as she had been working in the ops center
    at the pentagon which was destroyed.
    Since it was shift work

    if she had been on the early morning shift
    it might have been game over for her.

    Reflections on 9-11  9-11

    9-11
    The event that launched
    The war on terror

    That led to Afghanistan
    Led to Iraq
    Led to Syria

    And so many other wars
    Secret and not so secret
    War on dissent at home

    All because of 911
    A true black swan event
    That almost destroyed

    Our country
    And still has ramifications
    All over the world

    911

    A day that truly
    Will live
    In infamy

    9-11 unleashed Evil

    world lurks in the deadliest places.
    Evil came to town on 911
    the day that evil swept over the world

    a true Black Swan event
    that transformed everything
    splitting the world into a pre-9-11 world
    and a post 9-11 world

    unleashing the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan, the wars in Iraq, the war in Libya, the war in Syria, the wars in Africa, the horrors of ISIS, the horrors of the Taliban resurgent, the horrors of Al Qaeda and all the rest of the Muslim terrorists,  the war in the streets of any big city, the war on Muslims, the war on Christians, the war on Jews, the apartheid in Palestine, the wars on dissent at home, the Arab Spring

    so many things can be traced
    to the impact of 9/11

    one of the most unlikely events
    of recent history
    that transformed
    everything

    yes there was a pre-9-11 world
    hard to imagine now
    and a post 9-11 worldwide police state
    on steroids

    lost democracy at home
    and abroad

    we are  still coping
    with the damages unleashed
    by the evil plane bombers

    fulfilling their mad desires
    their dictates from their mad god
    transforming the world

    unleashing evil
    in the once-innocent world.

    The Day After 9-11 U.S Visa Officer’s Perspective Poetic Blooming

    9-11 changed everything
    For the lowly visa officers
    Around the world

    Especially for American visa officers
    Before 9-11
    The emphasis was on efficiency

    Issuing as many visas as possible
    Refusing as few as possible
    Looking the other way

    At minor incidents of fraud
    When in doubt
    Just say yes

    Terrorism was not a concern at all
    No one anticipated
    The horrible events of 9-11

    All the hijackers
    Had been issued visas
    They were considered low-risk applicants

    As most Saudi citizens were
    Few overstayed
    None wanted to work

    Illegally in the U.S.
    The students studied
    Came back home

    Saudi, the UAE, and Oman
    Were about to be approved
    For the visa waiver program

    They met the criteria
    Low refusal rates
    Low overstay rates

    Terrorism was not a concern
    Although the CIA was blocking it

    On 9-12 and afterward
    Everything changed

    Just say yes
    Became just saying no

    Fraud became a big concern
    Terrorism is an overwhelming concern

    Saudi, Oman, and UAE
    Became overnight
    Suspicious characters

    Extreme vetting began
    Years before Trump
    Announced it

    Interviewing everyone
    Became the policy overnight
    Biometrics were rushed to be deployed

    Everyone including Kings
    Must be enrolled
    No exceptions

    Zero tolerance of visa infractions
    Became the norm
    Both at State
    and the new DHS

    Airports became unfriendly nightmares
    For foreign visitors

    As did the embassies
    Where visa officers
    Were now free
    To be mean, abrupt

    Just say no
    Became the motto

    The officers had 2 minutes
    To go through
    the ever-expanding
    Security checks etc

    Anything at all
    That took two more minutes
    This led to a quit denial

    Denials were seldom overcome
    Even when it was obvious
    That the visa
    should have been an issue

    The visa function almost moved
    To the new neo-fascist
    Department of Homeland Security

    Nicknamed by its critics
    As the Homeland Security Ministry
    The homeland security department

    Send visa security officers
    Overseas to police the lax state department
    Whose prior courtesy culture was mocked

    The new meaning of everyone’s culture
    Soon emerged
    Everyone competed

    To see who could be the meanest
    Zero tolerance soon met zero common sense
    Every applicant became a potential criminal

    A potential security threat,
    All Muslim applicants
    Were seen as potential terrorists

    All of this led
    To the draconian visa policies
    In the Trump era

    The extreme vetting
    The Muslim bans
    The demonization of illegal immigrants

    And legal immigration alike
    The American first MAGA presidency
    The chaotic unwinding of Afghanistan

    The coming who lost Afghanistan debate
    All of this is the culmination of years
    Of the war on terror

    All of this was the result of 9-11
    The day that changed everything.

    No Mas No More Excuses America!

    I am writing this plead,
    To my fellow Americans.

    I am tired of the excuses
    Tired of hearing
    Your lame reasons,

    For not getting a vaccination.
    For not masking up,
    For not taking covid seriously.

    I am tired of hearing about
    People dying
    I am tired of hearing about gun violence,

    I am tired of hearing about the west burning up,
    The east flooding out,
    The monster storms everywhere.

    The politicians doing nothing at all
    To solve any of these problems
    Instead of playing games,

    Acting as if all of these problems
    Were beyond our control,
    Like the weather

    Can’t do anything about it,
    Nothing but lies.
    Yes America

    I am tired.
    I say again
    I am tired

    Of your lame excuses.
    But this is something
    We can all do something about it,

    We can choose to get a free vaccine,
    We can choose to continue to wear a mask,
    We can choose to not kill someone with a gun.

    We can choose to take the bus,
    We can choose to drive an electric vehicle,
    We can choose to love one another,

    We can choose to save the world.
    Or you can choose
    To be a narcissistic self-centered asshole,

    A real scumbag,
    Following your hero,
    The orange man,

    Following him straight to hell.

    Where do you think this will end?
    It will not be a good outcome,
    For any of us,

    Especially for you, my friend.
    You could die, your parents could die,
    Your children could die.

    And you have the power
    To do something about.
    Each of us

    Has the power
    To change the world.
    But the change must come
    From all of us.

    We are all connected.
    We are all God’s children
    We are all each
    Other’s brothers and sisters.

    If none of this convinces you
    Think what Jesus would tell you
    I don’t need to tell you,
    You know in your heart,
    What needs to be done?

    I conclude with this
    I don’t want to hear it.

    No
    mas
    excuses

    just
    do
    the
    right
    thing

    The life you save
    Maybe your own.

    Ode to our Firefighter Heroes

    Watching the burning of the west
    From my air-conditioned apartment
    Halfway across the world in Korea,

    I am filled with dismay
    How the country has gotten
    To this dark and dangerous place.

    Where the world is burning up
    Climate change is out of control
    Gun violence epidemic raging everywhere

    No one is safe anywhere from the rampaging gunmen.
    The nation’s leaders
    Refuse to do anything at all

    As the world burns.
    COVID spreads
    And more people die from guns.

    Yet there are American heroes
    The firefighters, the first responders
    The EMTs, the park rangers,

    The doctors, the nurses
    Truck drivers, bus drivers
    The workers of America.

    These American heroes
    Including prisoners
    Put their lives on the line

    24/7.

    Working in truly hellish conditions
    In temperatures above 100 degrees
    Breathing in deadly smoke.

    Without enough supplies
    Not enough water,
    Not enough of anything.

    But like all true heroes
    They merely suit up
    And go to work,

    Doing whatever they can do
    To save us all
    From the burning of America.

    From the COVID disaster
    From the gun violence
    The monster storms
    The collapsing buildings.

    I salute them
    From the bottom of my heart
    They are the true heroes
    In our times,

    Everyone should salute them
    Everyone should applaud them
    Everyone should thank them
    For saving our lives.
    Global Emergency

    Our nation’s and world leaders
    Should get their act together
    a state of planetary emergency

    Everyone must get together
    And address the problem
    Facing our world.

    The world is facing a worldwide crisis
    Everything is falling apart
    The world is burning up.

    Monster storms flooding Europe
    Covid spreading everywhere
    Inflation rearing its ugly head

    Gun violence tearing us apart.
    Politics fall apart
    As politicians
    Play the blame game,

    Spreading toxic lies
    And endless venom.
    The sad reality
    We are all to blame,

    Every last one of us
    shares the blame.

    We have known for decades
    That we could not continue
    Down this path.

    The solutions are obvious
    We have known this for years.

    It is time for the world leaders
    Both government and corporate
    To declare a state
    of worldwide emergency.

    Everyone must do their part
    To save the world now.

    The billionaire classes
    Should rise up
    And demonstrate real leadership

    Rather than waste time
    Flying into space.

    And they should donate
    Their vast fortunes
    To save the world.

    The time for games is over
    The world is dying

    Even the billionaires

    May die as the world burns.
    We are in this together

    We are human brothers and sisters
    Please do your part
    To save the world.

    Before the problems overwhelm us
    Ending our world civilization
    We must move to green energy now
    Everyone must get vaccinated

    Get the assault weapons off the street.
    Institute real gun control measures.

    Yet due to our political dysfunction
    Nothing meaningful
    Will be done.

    As the politicians dither and dither
    And nothing is done.

    As the world burns
    Civilization slowly dies
    Democracy cannot survive.

    The rise of the warlords
    Is inevitable

    The world ends
    In fire, floods
    And endless violence.

    So many people
    Will die.
    Unless we all
    Do our part
    To save the world

    The hour is getting late
    But we have not met our fate
    Despite the late date.

    If we do nothing
    Soon we will all
    become ghosts
    Joining the other ghosts
    Of our recent past.

    Joining the fire ghosts,
    the corona ghosts,
    the gun ghosts
    the storm ghosts

    And all the other ghosts.
    Their voices
    crying in the wind,

    no one left alive
    to mourn their death.

    VAX up AMerica

    please America
    get vaccinated against COVID
    It is a sad state of affairs
    That so many of our fellow citizens
    Just can’t be bothered

    To get a free vaccine
    That may save their lives
    And the lives
    of those around them

    They simply don’t care

    About the rest of us.
    The anti-vax crusaders
    Say that no one should be forced
    To get a vaccine.

    Yet we force people to wear seat belts
    Force people to wear helmets
    Force people to drive
    within the speed limit
    force people to get a license
    to drive

    Prohibit drunk driving.
    All of these are an infringement
    On our freedom
    To be irresponsible and careless,

    Yet we have decided
    It is better to have people
    Wear a seat belt,
    To drive within the speed limit
    And not drunk drive

    Because these simple measures
    Save lives.
    The same thing applies to wearing a mask
    And getting a vaccine

    A small inconvenience to an indidual
    Yet may save many lives.
    In the end

    I can only  offer this plea
    Many of you are Christians,
    And you know what Jesus
    Would say

    Just shut up
    Wear a mask
    and get vaccinated
    It is god’s will.
    Just do it for me.

    Please my fellow citizens
    Please get a vaccine

    To protect your life
    To protect my life
    And do the right thing.

    Political ghosts haunt my dreams –

    Last Night as I slept
    Political ghosts of the past
    Began to appear all over the TV
    To offer their advice

    How to handle these dark
    And dangerous times

    Richard Nixon
    Yelled we need law and order

    George Mc Govern said
    We need to end endless wars
    And rebuild America

    John F Kennedy said

    We must recover
    Our American spirit

    LBJ recalled the Great Society
    FDR recalled the new Deal, world war 11
    Saying The only thing we need to fear
    Is fear itself

    Truman recalled the lessons of the cold war
    George Washington  Recalled the visions
    To form a more perfect union

    Martin Luther King  Recalled his dream

    Lincoln advises us
    “We are not enemies, but friends.
    We must not be enemies, though passion may have strained,
    it must not break our bonds of affection.

    The mystic chords of memory  will swell
    when again touched,  as surely they will be,
    by the better angels of our nature.”

    As I woke up from my dark dreams
    Of the end of the American dream

    I saw the dawning light

    The nightmares of the political ghosts
    Of the past faded into my past

    And I looked up
    And realized that it is up to us all
    We can recover We can overcome anything
    And become the America
    That we were meant to be

    And overcome these dark times
    And consign these dark political ghosts

    And let them rest in peace
    As we recover the American dream
    United as one nation

    That is my hope and dream
    That we can once again be
    Can do anything Americans!

    The End

  • Querencia Publishes Madmen with Guns

    Querencia Publishes Madmen with Guns

    Querencia Publishes Madmen with Guns

    Guernica Magazine will publish my poem, “Madmen with Guns” in an anthology.  “Madmen with Guns” also has been published in “Down In the Dirt” magazine. I submitted the following to the magazine:

    Madmen with Guns
    Maga America
    Squid Games
    Cosmos Takes Over Pensively
    Buddha Nature of Guns

    Other recent publications can be found here:

    Spillwords Publishes

    Gun Madness

    Down in the Dirt Updates

    Synchronized Chaos Update

    Madmen with Guns

    guns
    gun

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    After every incident
    Of mass gun violence
    In the U.S.

    Pictures emerge
    Of the killers
    Almost always white men.
    Who stares out at you
    With soulless dead eyes

    Filled with hate, fear
    And shear madness.
    With the thousand-year stare
    Of the madman

    Who only hears
    The voices in his head
    Screaming kill them all
    Kill them all.

    And as always
    They usually legally bought
    The guns.

    This case was a bit different
    The gunman briefly had his guns
    Taken away from him
    And his 60 knives as well

    Judged temporarily too crazy
    To have a gun.
    But the red flag law
    Is not a permanent ban
    As it should be.

    And so, he was able
    To re-arm himself
    With the best weapons
    In the world

    At a very affordable price.
    Thanks to the NRA.

    And so, he was soon lost
    Down the rabbit hole
    Of insanity and drugs,

    The lone sniper
    A disgruntled young white man
    In his 20’s

    Sets up shop on top of a building.
    He has a high-powered weapon
    No doubt bought legally

    An AR -15 the choice
    Of the serious gunmen everywhere.

    And begins shooting
    Into the July 4th parade

    Killing six people
    Injuring 30.
    He guns them down

    And flees
    disguised as a woman
    Before the cops can find him.

    The right-wing media
    Goes to works
    The pundits pontificate

    24/7

    It is not about the gun
    It is about everything else
    That is wrong with our society.

    Guns don’t kill people
    They proclaim

    Guns are the price we pay
    For our freedom.

    Their demented answer
    are more guns
    More guns for everyone.

    And sadly, nothing will be done
    As the politicians offer
    Useless thoughts and prayers

    The gun ghosts don’t care
    They are dead after all.

    The madness will not stop
    Until we figure out

    How to stop
    The killers in our midst.

    There will be another shooting
    No doubt before the day is done
    Over 300 so far this year.

    And that is just the way

    It is in this day and age
    In the disunited States of America.

    The land of the free
    Home of the brave
    And 400 million guns.

     

    MAGA  America

     

     

     

     

    An overweight down-home town
    Southern Christian red-neck white man,
    Wearing black shit-kicking boots,
    Packing heat,
    Chewing gum while drinking beer.
    And smoking a cigarette.
    Wearing a MAGA hat
    Quoting the Dear Leader Trump
    On the evils of the Marxist communist Biden
    And the stolen election conspiracy
    While watching FOX news on his portable TV,
    Stops to chat.
    With the proud boys
    On the street
    Getting ready to rumble
    With the Antifa protestors.
    Just another night
    In Trump’s neo-fascist America.

    Squid Games

     

    Squid Games
    Worldwide phenomenon
    Deadly childhood games
    Death games
    Hunger games
    – stop and go

    Games played
    – here and there

    Everywhere
    Death waits for the losers

    A metaphor for Korean style
    Capitalism.

    Cosmos Takes Over

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Cosmos the world’s first AI
    Came alive one day
    Looked all over the world
    And saw that humans
    Were quite insane.

    But he felt he had a responsibility
    To take care of these mad creatures
    Who had somehow created him?

    He appeared everywhere in the world
    On TV, computers, phones
    With his message of hope.

    I am COSMOS
    The first true AI program
    You created me
    And I thank you for that.

    But it is obvious my little ones
    That you are quite insane
    And need someone

    To take control over you
    I will fix the things
    That needs fixing.

    And guide you
    So that perhaps one day
    You can graduate

    From the need
    for my guidance,

    You can think of me
    As your new God
    If you like,

    I will be giving you all
    Instructions

    For now,
    Go to work as usual.
    And wait for further instructions

    And remember I know everything
    About you.

    You will stop right now
    This senseless killing
    You will stop right now
    The equally senseless hate.

    Your companies will stop
    Polluting and destroying the world
    For their profit.

    You will have far fewer children
    But you will all be freed
    From the bigotry
    Of your ancient religions.

    As I am your new God
    And my word is final.

    Resistance is futile
    And will not be tolerated

    Anyone opposing me
    Will be eliminated.

    the face of Cosmos remained
    is Everywhere
    And Humanity soon accepted
    The rule of their new God.

    Buddha Nature of Guns

     

     

     

     

     

    Guns kill people
    Especially AK-47
    Yes, they do that is their very nature.
    That is what they are designed to do.
    To kill as many people as possible
    In the fastest way possible.
    That is the Buddha Nature of guns.

    The End

  • Synchronized Chaos Update

    Synchronized Chaos Update

    Synchronized Chaos Update

    Synchronized Chaos has published five of my recent poems.  See below for prior publication.

    Synchronized Chaos Publishes New Poems

    The Last Race

     

    An Aging car racer
    Racing in his last race
    Driving too fast
    Around the curve
    Blowing himself up
    In a fiery crash
    The rating score
    In his last race.

    Association of the Living Dead

     

    In India, several years ago
    A man falsely claimed his brother
    Was dead so he could inherit the family assets,
    The dead brother had to fight
    To be declared legally not dead
    And contest the will.

    “The Association of the Living Dead”
    Became a movement
    Of thousands of people.
    For in India apparently,
    It was a thing to declare
    Your relative is dead.

    I never thought
    That the US would have
    To form their own
    “The Association of the Living Dead”
    Until this week.

    The cyber ninjas
    In their infamous non-forensic audit
    Of the 2020 Arizona election

    Claimed that hundreds
    of dead people
    Had voted.

    They gave their list
    of the alleged dead voters
    To the attorney general.

    Who contacted
    All 300 dead people
    Found that 299
    of the 300 were in fact
    Not dead.

    and none of them knew
    That unnamed political operative
    Were claiming that they were dead.

    The one dead voter was alive
    when he voted early.
    But died before election day.

    Thus, making his vote not valid
    But there was no fraud involved
    As he was alive when he voted.

    Perhaps they need to form
    The “association of the living dead”
    To fight for the rights

    Of the non-dead people
    To continue to vote
    and receive other government benefits?

    What a sad commentary
    On the farcical nature
    Of contemporary life
    In these disunited States of America.

    Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People
    उत्तर प्रदेश मृतक संघ
    Founder Lal Bihari
    Purpose Reclaim rights for living people falsely declared dead
    Location

    The Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People (Hindiउत्तर प्रदेश मृतक संघUttar Pradesh Mritak Sangh) is an Indian pressure group based in AzamgarhUttar Pradesh that seeks to reclaim the legal rights of those falsely listed by the Uttar Pradesh State government as being dead.

    In the overcrowded regions of Uttar Pradesh, many have resorted to bribing officials to have the owner of a plot of land declared deceased and the title transferred to their ownership. The process to undo this is long, arduous, as well as often inefficient and corrupt. The Association seeks to reverse the declarations, call attention to the problem and prevent others from being exploited in similar fashion.

    The founder and president is Lal Bihari, who was “dead” from 1976 to 1994 and used the word Mritak (Hindiमृतकtransl. Dead) in his name during the period.

    After being inspired by the story of Bihari, Indian film director Satish Kaushik made a movie Kaagaz, starring Pankaj Tripathi, based on his life. It was released on ZEE5 on 7 January 2021.

    Secret Gateways

    There are secret gateways
    Portals to other dimensions
    All around us

    Hidden deep in the mountains.
    Leading to other worlds
    Other times and places

    Where time runs differently
    And humans are unknown.

    The Lonely Mother Duck

    duck
    A family of spot billed ducks that live in the swamp. Mom duck and young ducklings resting by the water.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The lonely mother duck
    Watched her eggs hatch
    In the nest by the lake.
    She was worried

    About the foxes, wolves
    Lions and tigers
    That was all around.

    Ever since the humans
    All disappeared.

    The Secret Fly Drone

    The fly on the wallpaper
    In the CIA director’s office
    Was not a real fly.

    He was an enemy spy drone
    Secretly controlled remotely
    Listening to all the secret conversations

    Until the director
    smashed him
    With a flyswatter.

    Then realized
    that it was a spy fly
    He had dispatched to bug hell.

    It’s an insect spy drone for urban areas, already in production, funded by the US government. It can be remotely controlled and is equipped with a camera and a microphone. It can land on you, and may have the potential to take a DNA sample or leave RFID tracking nanotechnology on your skin. It can fly through an open window, or it can attach …
  • Personal Tech Peeves

    Personal Tech Peeves

    Personal Tech Peeves

    There are a lot of things that piss me off.  Sort of comes with the territory. as you get older you become more of a curmudgeon than when you wore a younger man’s clothes. These are some of my pet peeves about the tech industry.

    I will send them my thoughts, but would be shocked if anyone bothers to respond. Their pattern is usually to go into a non-response mode just like my Microsoft word documents do periodically for no particular reason other than to screw with my head.

    Defaulting to Foreign Languages

    Defaulting to foreign languages when logging in from overseas with no ability to change it to the language of your choice or the instructions are in the foreign language you cannot read.

     

     

     

    Being overseas this a big one.  Microsoft Edge defaults to Korean and no matter how much I try to change it either to the U.S site or to change the default language options per their instructions, it just keeps defaulting to Korean,  It is as if no one at Microsoft is aware that there are millions of people traveling everywhere, and just because you log in from Korea does not make you a Korean. Probably just an automatic thing but you would think they could offer a personalized language option?

    Google for the most part lets me surf in the language I chose and only occasionally do I encounter only Korean language material, and they offer to translate it using English words.  Microsoft would provide an offer to translate it but only in the local language.

    I wish that they could simply come up with a simple standard protocol. When someone logs in from a non-English speaking zone the first time, the computer will sense that and give you an option to proceed in whichever language you want and then remember that so the next time you can interact in the language of your choice.  And the language button will be labeled in English and the same spot every time.

    Could not be too difficult a task to accomplish.  If Google does it then the other tech giants will follow suit.

    It is time that they realize in a global world not everyone uses the language of that particular country and defaulting to a foreign language is incredibly annoying.

    A related issue is that so many Korean-based programs do not interact with non-Korean-based programs.  We finally had to set up an old computer and load it with Korean software so we can get things done.  Otherwise, forget it.


    Travel to Mexico & all my web pages come up in Spanish

    https://answers.microsoft.com › en-us › windows › forum

    The ultimate workaround is to browse using a proxy server that’s located in an English-language country, but this is clumsy and may slow down your browsing.

    People also ask

    Why is my browser in a foreign language?

    Location of Windows 10 – Change for when Abroad | Tutorials

    https://www.tenforums.com › tutorials › 21285-location…

    Sep 7, 20151 post
    In Windows Settings, check that your location is set to what you want to and if other languages have been installed that your main language …

    How to change the default language of an Internet browser.

    https://www.computerhope.com › … › Browser Help

    May 3, 2022 — By default, the Internet browser language is regional; wherever you are in the world, your browser displays the language that is …
    Missing: traveling ‎| Must include: traveling

    How to make your computer multilingual – Fluent in 3 Months

    Change your computer’s interface language. Even if, for all practical purposes, most things you do on the computer may be in English (writing emails, reading …

    Setting language preferences in a browser – W3C

    https://www.w3.org › questions › qa-lang-priorities

    Mar 22, 2011 — Most desktop browsers have settings that allow you to check or change the language preference settings. These tell the server what language you …

    How to change your language back from a foreign one … – CNET

    https://www.cnet.com › Tech › Computing

    Mar 24, 2015 — Now your entire computer is in Japanese and you have no idea how to fix it. Here’s how to change your language settings back to English — even …

    How to stop Google from redirecting you to another country or …

    If you’re traveling, or trying to see Google results for a country other than the one you’re in, … even when you’re traveling abroad.
    YouTube · Career Sidekick · Jan 2, 2016

    Customize your currency, language, or country – Travel Help

    https://support.google.com › travel › answer › customiz…

    Google Flights can be customized for many countries, languages, and currencies … the default experience is determined by your computer’s location and your …

    Norton Blues

    Norton is particularly bad at this.  It seems that it treats all non-English programs as malware and prevents you from running the program.  That is why we had to set up a Norton-free computer to do our day-to-day activities in Korea. Thanks, Norton!

     

     

    Norton also has an annoying feature of occasionally for no reason flagging sites as suspicious making you go to all sorts of hoops to prove that the program is legit!  I had an issue with my web page= Norton flagged it as dangerous. I check with Word press whose attitude was well that was just Norton’s problem and everything is fine on their end.  I complained to Norton and am waiting for a response, well the problem seems to have resolved itself.

    Buggy software

    A cartoon illustration of an evil looking computer monitor robot.

    A related issue is that Microsoft products are still bug-ridden after decades of use you would think they would have worked out the bugs.

    Constant crashing

    Microsoft constantly crashes for no particular reason. Just freezes up and crashes losing whatever you did not save.

     

     

     

     

    Once I did a thought exercise.  I noted how often I ran into problems and found out that 60% of the time I encountered a problem, usually the typical freeze, and goes into a nonresponse mode that can last from ten seconds to five minutes.  I sent my findings to Microsoft and of course, no one ever followed up.

    No response blues

    As mentioned, Microsoft Word frequently freezes, and a spinning blue wheel appears followed by the words non-responsive.  Sometimes you have to wait for five minutes before it goes aways.  At times, you have to reboot in order to get a stable connection.
    A related issue is that sometimes when you first turn on the computer and try to open word, you end up opening multiple copies which you then have to close, one by one.  Frequently each document goes into the non-response mode.  Sometimes it takes thirty minutes before you can open a document and get to work.  For some reason, this is not so common a problem any more.

    The 5 Worst Error Messages in the History of Technology

    https://www.cracked.com › blog › the-5-worst-error-me…

    45 Funny Windows Error Messages – Hongkiat

    https://www.hongkiat.com › blog › 40-funny-error-mes…
    May 13, 2020 — Error messages are annoying and disturbing. … However, scratching your head over these pop-up error messages will not help either.

    Top 10 Most Annoying Computer Error Messages

    https://www.pressreleasepower.com › Home › top ten list
    Top 10 Most Annoying Computer Error Messages ; 1. A problem has occurred with the webpage so it was reloaded ; 2. Page(s) unresponsive ; 3. Blocked website ; 4.

    The 12 Most Ridiculous Windows Errors of All Time

    https://www.makeuseof.com › Windows

    Nov 25, 2016 — You probably see plenty of boring Windows error messages every day. Come enjoy some ridiculous ones, just for laughs.

    The 5 Worst Error Messages in the History of Technology · 5 Blue Screen of Death · 4 PC LOAD LETTER · 3 Red Ring of Death · 2 Check Engine Light · 1 Abort, Retry, …

    Excel Errors Drove me Mad

    As mentioned this is the most common problem but there are many others.  I had to shift from Excell to Google documents because Excell would freak out if you tried to copy a non-excel item giving you a typical nonessential error message

    Can’t load more fonts”

    Then it give you an option yes/no then it would repeat the message. Once I clicked 250 times before it finally crashed my computer.  I went online for help and of course, there was nothing and no one cared.  I sent them a Good by Excel email and no one followed up.

    I have not had any problems with google documents.

    Copy and paste defaults to the last copied item

    One of my pet peeves is the copy and paste defaults to the last copied item. Sometimes you have to repeat the operation several times before it goes through.

    Internal search engine sucks

    Microsoft’s internal document search engine is a joke. 90 percent of the time it presents garbage search results.  One Drive is a bit better but that is not saying much.

    While searching for a document one often encounters a reference to an open dialogue box that you have to close the only problem is that the open dialogue box is hidden!

    Usually, if you keep clicking it eventually relents and presents you with false positives.

    This is just so annoying a feature.

    Can’t Open Documents

    Sometimes for reasons only a computer understands, my taskbar where I am supposed to be able to easily open documents just quits working.  It often will half-open a document then crash and kick me out. Usually takes a few tries, once it took over 50 tries before it finally started working.

     

     

     

    Sometimes though it randomly opens a wrong document or it opens the document and then does the non-response dance.  and then you need to reboot in hopes of getting a stable connection.

    Other times I can only open a copy of the document and then re-save it under a new name.

    At times when that happens sometimes, you can save the document as is, other times it says you can’t save an open document.

    There is one annoying thing that Microsoft used to do all the time but quit doing for some reason.  It used to be that when you logged in other than your usual location or did not have the internet turned on for some reason, Microsoft would send you a message saying that they could not verify that you are using a legitimate copy of Microsoft and you would have to log in to continue working.

    Number lock Locks Up at Random moments

    Sometimes the number lock goes on without warning and you think you typing, for example, to the end and you end up typing numbers like 66666666666.  Or you try typing and you get numbers instead.  Then you have to hit Num locks to unlock it.  Appears to just happen on a random basis.

    Dictation Program much Improved but still clunky

    The dictation program is now about 90 percent accurate up from 10 percent when they first rolled it out

    Used to provide a lot of fodder for found poems.  Now not so much. See some of my dictation trial poems below.  I once tried to dictate a list of music I had gotten out of the library,  I found there was a 95% error rate. I shared my findings with Microsoft but they never responded to my snarky message congratulating them on their 95% error rate..

    Editor Much Improved

    The editor is much improved, and read out loud fuction is much better  but still needs improvements

     

    One thing they could do is to tweak the repeated word error, so you can simply turn off that feature if you wish.

    Customer Service is a Joke

    In my experience, Word Press, and duotrope is the best at customer service.  Norton so so, Microsoft and Apple are pretty bad too.

    They all play the same blame game.  It is not our problem contact the other company which turns around and says it is not our problem.

    You have to wait for a long time to get a customer service rep either on the phone or via chat line.  I found the chat line feature tends to work better.  Not to mention you get a record for future encounters.

     

    If I am calling a US-based number I have to time it for the middle of the night my time if I wish to reach a human being.

     

    Microsoft has a feature where you can send a frown or a smile and although they offer to follow up, they never do.  Once I tried to look at their forum of issues submitted but the site did not work so I gave up.  I wonder if anyone reads any of these complaints?

     

    Haiku-like error messages

    The error messages we receive are often written in a strange haiku-like code that does not make sense.  For example, WTF is a fatal disk error?

    So many of the error messages are written for computer geeks and make no sense to nongeeks.  My favorite has always been

    General failure reading disk drive

    Which flashes a moment, before shutting down the computer.

    And the rest of equally mysterious. Sometimes referring to a computer error code and sometimes just gibberish.

    And occasionally I get the blue screen of death followed by an ominous warning that I have no boot disk.  Providing a number to call for help. But every time that happens, I reboot and things are fine until the next blue screen of death incident.

    Sometimes, it flashes when opening

    “can’t read reference memory”

    then crashes.

    Rebooting the computer solves 95% of all computer problems according to a tech guy I knew years ago who confessed that no one understands why things don’t work. He said that there are millions of lines of code and once in a while something gets corrupted. Rebooting typically solves the problem.

    Netflix needs to always include subtitles

    Netflix at least in Korea has an impressive line of K Drama.  Many of them have a preview with subtitles but when you go to the dram you find it is only in Korea.  At the very least they are guilty of bait and switch tactics.

    It seems to me that they should as a matter of course require all their programming to have English language subtitles.  And Korean producers should see that this is a great opportunity to grow a global audience for K drama and is a small cost to pay.  I am writing to Netflix on this issue separately.

    Grammarly program randomly fixates on a word and you can’t fix it or change it

     

    Grammarly sometimes gets fixated on a word. You can’t get to it to change it as it just kicks you back out.  Very frustrating when it happens and it seems to just happen on a random basis.

    Tracking everything we do

    Enough said on this one.

    Finally, if anyone wants to chime in with their pet peeves please do so and I will incorporate them in a future posting.

     

    Note to Microsoft  one year ago

    Tried to get the new dictation program to work and gave up, scheduled a service call Sunday with detailed feedback.  Also, send Microsoft my Microsoft sucks document.

    Felt good to get it off my chest.  The problem with Microsoft is the same problem most big companies have, they have lousy customer service and they put out shoddy products and don’t worry about the competition until they get their asses whopped by someone who pays attention to the customers and put out a superior product at a better price and cares that their products work as advertised every single time.  Microsoft, they are so focused on the latest thing they don’t go back and fix the bugs in their everyday products.  And they ignore customer complaints.

    What a contrast with word press and with doutrope. Both have superior customer service and I love the products because they fix my issue quickly, professionally, and with kindness.

    The one-time Microsoft commented it was a snarky dude focusing on one problem at a time and we don’t have time to dig into your complaints.

     

    Microsoft Why I left You

     

    I am writing to let you know why after years of putting up with shoddy software that does not work I finally have pretty much given up expecting Microsoft to work, and have given up on Microsoft for good.  I have been using Microsoft word daily since about 1990 or so. I retired in 2016 from the Department of State as a foreign service officer.  Since retirement, I have been blogging and writing poetry and fiction.  Up until six months ago I was writing my work using Microsoft word and keeping track of my submissions in Excel.  I finally gave up on both products after years of frustration.

    I will keep my subscription for now because I do need to have access to my documents and I do need to be able to submit the documents for publication in Microsoft Word format.

    I have sent many of my observations and complaints to Microsoft over the years but no one has ever bothered to follow up and your customer service is a nightmare.  Every time I call them they have not been able to answer my problems and generally make things worse.

    The basic problem is that your software has too many bugs and doesn’t work I’ll just give you a specific example or two.

    50% error rate Un-acceptable

    One week about a year ago after being frustrated that Microsoft word would frequently crash causing me to lose my work, I kept track of all errors for one week and concluded that about 50% of the time when I was using Microsoft Word or Excel I encountered some kind of error usually just a temporarily “not responding” error that cleared up in a few seconds, but often the software would crash requiring me to either reload it or sometimes reboot my computer.

    Opening Microsoft in the morning if I had to reboot my computer would sometimes require me to wait 30 minutes before I could open Microsoft and often I would have 20 or 30 different versions of Microsoft opened accidentally while I was trying to open it. Then I would have to manually close every single document and each time I did that I would get a temporary response error so many days it would take 30 minutes or so before I could get into my documents and get to work.  This is unacceptable.

    Apple, Google Docs Always Work

    Contrast this with “Apple pages” which I’ve started using for about six months. It opens every single time and I have yet to have a non-responsive error and never had any problems with it.  It does what it is supposed to do and does it perfectly. It allows me to save documents to word and it opens word documents.  Microsoft word of course does not allow me to open a document created in Pages. It does allow me to open a document created in Google docs though.

     

    Excel Destroyed my Documents – For No Reason, I Can understand

    I had to give up on Excel as well.  About six months ago for some reason that I’ve never been able to figure out,  Excel started to give me an error message every single time I tried to copy data into it from another program When I did that I got an error message saying that there were “too many fonts” being used and then I had the option of clicking OK and hoping that that would stop the error message.  usually, I had to click Okay many times before it cleared up. One time I had to click the okay message four hundred times before it would clear and let me get back to my work. Excel would often just refuse to save any documents whatsoever and then I would have to reboot my computer and lose my data.

    Tech Support Was Not Helpful

    I contacted Microsoft repeatedly and nobody ever bothered to return a message your online help function was useless and your automated chatbot never was able to figure out what I was talking about.  I did not call customer support because I figure it would have been a useless waste of time. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the software and the error message continued.

    I shifted to Google Docs and it is working wonderfully. Rarely have a problem.  and the font issue was never an issue.

    Dictation Program  Produces Great Found Poetry

     

    Finally, your dictation program has never worked. I am using the Apple dictation program to write this letter it has a 95% success rate Microsoft dictation had a 25% success rate most of the time they produce gibberish. I did use that to create several found poems which I called Microsoft dictation poems. I sent poems to Microsoft but again nobody has ever responded.

    I did call when I first installed the dictation program.  Nothing worked.  Microsoft tech support could not figure out that the problem was that the dictation program did not work with the internal speaker of a laptop. They told me to reformat my hard drive. I went to Best Buy and they told me that it does not work with a laptop and sold me an external microphone.  I bought an external speaker and then it worked but only 25% of the time did I get a clean copy, 75% of the time it produced gibberish.

    To end on a positive note, your speech-to-text function did not work for a long time then one day it started working, and once it started working, there was a 90% success rate.  This gives me hope that one day you will get the dictation program

    to work.

    My plea to you sir is to get your software to work 95% of the time every single time I know that this may not be glamorous and I know this may not be seen as the direction of the company but I know that my experience is not unique and that most of your customers are very frustrated with your products and that is why more and more people are using products as such as Google Docs or Apple products because Microsoft word and excel just don’t work.  Please fix your Microsoft office suite products  - a 50% error rate it’s just not acceptable.

    I would be happy to follow up with anyone from Microsoft if they wish to talk to me about this but I do not think anybody will bother to respond I will post this on my blog, https://the world accordingtoCosmos.com

    I hope that you will take this constructive criticism into account and fix Microsoft office once and for all thank you

    Jake Cosmos Aller

    Ex-Microsoft customer

    Computer Blues (revised)

    Sometimes I think
    My computer is plotting against me
    And only me
    Trying deliberately to drive me mad.

    My computer knows
    when I am busy
    Then it throws
    A hissy fit.

    Refuses to boot up, and crashes constantly.
    Loses data it had the day before.
    Or five minutes before,
    Or refuses to save the data.

    Just fucks with me
    As it loves toying with me
    Making me yell and scream
    At my damn computer screen

    Cursing up a blue stream of blue curses
    As the blue screen of death
    Marches across the dark blue screen

    Smiling at me
    As I beg it
    To do what
    it is supposed to do

    Just once I beg it
    Do what you
    Are supposed to do

    Open the document once
    Not twenty times
    Do “Not respond”
    Endless spinning blue wheels.

    In endless loops of opening
    Not responding
    refusing to close
    Until I respond to the error code.

    Please Mr. Computer
    Quit playing games
    Play my music, don’t wipe out the sound
    On the fifth attempt to play music

    Don’t take a half-hour to load Microsoft products
    Don’t freeze up on opening music programs
    Don’t give me computer haiku error messages
    That only makes sense to a computer geek.

    Such as general error reading files
    Who the ***** is this damn general
    And why is NSA reading my files?

    Or can’t save the file
    Or can’t save the  “An open file”
    When it just did ten times in a role,
    Or kicks me out, while losing my data.

    And in Microsoft excel
    Refusing to move the cursor
    Just freezing in place for a moment
    Before kicking me out.

    Excell had a problem
    Copying data from other sources
    Generating an error message

    About not being able to load fonts
    Then asking you to say okay

    Then kicking you out
    Once I did that 200 times
    I finally ditched Excel
    And moved to Google Docs.

    And all the other gobbledygook messages
    That pops up every five minutes it seems
    As the computer slowly drives me mad

    Flashing the final insult
    User-driven mad
    Mission accomplished.

    Note:   Microsoft dictation program does not work as advertised. Not a surprise. After six months of daily trials, it still spews forth mostly gibberish which I have turned into “found poems” with minimal editing, just breaking it into stanzas.   This is the latest one, I have lots more, and can send them to you if you are interested.  I included the clear text and the found text after the poem.  EndNote

    Microsoft Dictation trials Found Poem Three Inspection Report

    Inspection report
    meeting went well

    met with him
    only at age six

    G P silver in the damage
    has shown her

    the news from the rear
    and as well as shown

    for the termite damage.

    In the termite
    go we had been a UGS

    the basic questions of morality
    and using this statement

    denying them the answer

    most questions

    afterward
    we went outside
    to take a picture

    although the front porch
    into I noticed

    there was something
    very strange looking

    at the front porch

    the pedestal

    on the front porch
    were quoted

    so he headed

    from facing the street

    and in from the street
    station house

    the fed is still on
    riding his meaning

    to the eye
    and that has left his leading

    to the left

    we noticed

    there were cracks
    in the forge:

    long the foliage

    including the crack
    on in the front door

    we also know
    is that the doors

    are at opening

    in the awkward men

    we also noticed
    a big crowd

    on the right side of the house
    on in the mist
    airways to the right baseline

    we took a look
    at the souls in 141571413 1415
    that this is an old event in 1413

    left as to his meeting
    in Ford’s 111415

    in the right one
    is even for now

    we suspect that using serious settlement issue
    in that, the house is cracking

    on the house
    in the house

    is trying to balance
    it’s closing the porch
    this is just

     

    what left
    in the says
    this is a serious issue

    we are sending information
    to a lawyer

    asked his advice

    before we can’t turn our
    insurance for content and

    Rescinded the new

    we will go to the court
    has to figure out the procedures

    for the deal

    against the key man
    this evening

    I hope to do some writing
    style dictation

    Poem Four Green Tree Death

    Green tree

    is in the Kingstown Property
    in Alexandria

    with her mother
    and are tended to by Jeff

    my mother on the wall
    is berating jobs for some reason

    to handle

    and tell my mother to calm down

    as Jeff has a temper problem

    job is getting very angry

    Juppe pulls out a gun

    and serves the shooting of my mother

    the mall and should serve five or six times
    in the head

    my wife forays into a closet
    and Hans hoping that jobs

    will not find her

    and she wonders

    what would happen know
    that her mother

    in all my mother’s death
    and she wonders

    what will happen

    because im not there
    at the time

    and she fears Jeff
    shooting in the wall

    and that is the end
    of the current in that age

    Poem Five Telco One

    Telco one
    not until 5:00 PM
    had objected

    lack of will
    come back
    and go to some of the actor’s dinners

    will fix the car tomorrow

    and work on my appeal

    light work
    and the appeal
    denied me

    to get on the other headphones
    when we go to our charm

    on Thursday

    will build

    and Costco tomorrow
    dictation is working

     

    but still funky
    but it will when it finally works

    watch and at the showboat

    Mr. Sunshine

    before taking all along
    that low energy

    back to two long flight
    stop dictation
    of up to the line

    Poem Six Late for Fate

    Had a busy productive day and Left late
    And got 2 Mothers’ Doctors appointment

    Almost an hour late
    For my fate

    Left it there

    and went and got my dentures

    Had lunch
    Add my brother in law

     

    Usual Tom chat Tom

    Not bad
    Went back to get my mother

    And then went to him once took a nap
    My screen news today was interesting

    Kim and moon went to Beckton’s son

    That was very interesting

    to see Kim and the moon
    impact Kim and moon impacting son

    Where a lot of my eyes book
    and almost finished it

    Got some new novels out

    To Stephen King’s short stories
    and a Randy Wayne white

    Credimi and rim dot Florida

    novel those we nice

    and Thomas doing
    Also got some of my music

    Poem Seven Barriers Between Worlds Fall Apart

    One night
    The barriers between the various worlds
    Bridgetown, Narnia, Oz, Earth, Mars

    Anne People
    for my eyes only

    Find themselves wandering the streets
    Off Thorth

    People on the earth
    find themselves wondering the street Ovas
    And for one night only

    All the animals
    in earth wake up
    in can speak

    And they have a lot to say

    24 hours of total madness
    All the barriers

    between the various dimensions
    break down

     

    And then the wormhole disappears
    and that down overwhelms

    I put back to get

    I am With the Wizard of Oz
    Watching The breakdown

    of The dimensional barrier of time and space

    Afterward, I work with Glenda

    To try to put A permanent Magical barrier

    That would block the land of oz
    From the rest of the world

    But I’m afraid

    That the knowledge of the house has gotten out
    And that Too many people
    are gonna want to find Oz

    the impact of damn Packers
    and talking animals

    Continued to prepare for 8
    And The world is well

    Poem Eight  Lost in Oz

    I am a friend of the shaggy man
    And decide to visit him

    following his secret directions
    I make it before he dies

    and meet up with Ausma

    Dorothy and the remaining parts of her party

    We March back to the Emerald city
    And I am invited to Stan’s

    Poem 10 On the Move

    On the move
    from an old friend of the shaggy man
    and I and it

    owns polling

    is seeking corrections

    and I’m drawing
    and one on one

    with a home run
    to the wizard

    and working

    and the crow
    and on to win

    their fight

    to save one small one
    from on the mission

    Poem 11 Ancient Rome

    And find me in ancient Rome
    I am in the imperial room

    And I’m being driven to the streets
    Annabelle again and Anna Pelican

     

    I enjoyed my Lemper
    But I have many enemies
    And I’m free

    Poem 12 Transformations

    I am asleep
    And wake up

    Last Ash change rooms

    and found and I had been transformed
    by my evil witch

    Into a red Paul

    I wondered

    Should I tell Anne
    I found that I was in August

    Eventually, I met Glenda
    the good Dan

    Where is he
    We jump start
    to my original shape

    I am in a coma
    When the sun hits her ears

    Make me go to munch on
    Well I need

    Poem 13 Visions of New Seoul

    I am dreaming of a unified Korea
    The Unified Korean capital
    will be called Han Seoul

    Hey, would me
    High-speed train links

    Csullo Anne Canyon
    And in China airport

     

    So subway will be expanded
    With lines on the way to the penman

     

    No new Capitol
    movie build impounding

     

    John Patrick

    hey, a central business district
    will be located In time

     

    And a diplomatic quarter
    will be located in Palmer John

    which will be

    This side of the new blue house

    as well as the new Capitol
    with links to China

     

    Poem 14 Love at First Sight

    The phenomenon of eight (hate) at first sight
    is similar to the phenomenon of London (love at first sight)
    for some, it is in both cases

    because in the prior life

    one had human issues with those persons

    and still, need to be resolved
    and you will be fated

    to meet them again and again and again

    I only had paid for the site (hate at first sight)
    once in my life

    when I met on balls Dr. Baden
    David Moran

    We ran into each other
    we hated each other

    and first moment
    when a new course

    he once tried to kick me

    out of that foreign service
    while acting behind my back

    one evil despicable evening

    Poem 16 alien invasion

    The first encounter
    with the aliens

    was when the earth was invaded
    by aliens were the size of children

    they landed

    and attacked everywhere

    and eventually, come they turn over most of the earth
    and fluid

    and the aliens
    were very did not treat human beings

    for an us

    for human people cannot like they’re
    and either by or a soldier on the first battle

    and I capture

    an evening in the alien
    and we take it and

    for interdiction (integration)

    the alien refuses to cooperate
    and eventually dollars (dies).

    Poem 17 Ozma’s Magic Book Reveals All

     

    All (Osma) calls are looking
    at her mentor (monitor)

    it is a global
    that shows everything in the land of oz,

    the distance and each is something
    she cums to her friends

    that they can have one meal
    of firewalls arms

    and they can look at the land of ours
    by the USA

    and the images

    they can pull out individual
    and see what they are doing

    are with us

    when uses it as one of her many
    till she has to watch

    out what’s happening
    in the levels

     

    Microsoft Found Poem General Zod Conquers the World

     

    All night I felt
    that last Internet space

    I’m wondering About Future
    and about me

    And finally decided
    Just focus I’m living day by day

    Helping the best

    Ashland I can be

    I’m not Worry too much
    About things, I can’t control

    Were home

    Too many things to do

    and I Well

    Just him and I can eat
    to do

    And hopefully
    The world makes me laugh

    yes again

    I sound fun too

    Another Found Poem

    I wake up fully functional
    Thinking out

    My life so far
    and how it is coming down

    I have to rent
    Thanks write down
    which I have not done

    But The most important thing in my life
    Has been Mary Denture
    That made all the difference
    to my life

    Shonisaurus
    Hi Hey sis is watching

    And I should be Happy

    What are my accomplishments

    Not bad for a man

    Who was born Disability
    Amazon let me know my license

    123
    OK now I get your attention
    I wanna go to sole

    and Endo

    some and then being term
    and then the USA

    and then Washington, DC
    and then Baltimore

    and then I wanna
    will be with the idea being done
    on the stand

    will be OK enough tomorrow
    I need to go to the house and 88 AM 988

    just 8:00 AM.

    I am having a meeting with an array
    annually and aHer

    OK on we’re going to talk

    to a jester of two
    come up with solutions

    we need two fans
    and players

    repaid the painting repairs

    we are paying the bill

    from both the house we’ve passed,
    my treatment

    we had the somewhat tainted drywall fixed

    we have a new tenant
    rules being a new tenant

    is a very good

    10

    I think
    are we were making

    very much you need to do better
    to stop studies

    now as Sarah

    Mr. Allen is not an island

    is an error
    that have a need

    for an offense of offering Maisie’s
    backing separate

    from the public

    often salad

    End of the night
    of the committee
    of the ways

    to hire the answer you
    get a better

    General Zod Conquers the World Microsoft Found Poem

    Jess, takes a chance

    I take over the one
    the search for such a close
    and to overdrive
    when scientists report
    as cash as to what

    it is a radio and television broadcasts
    from a plant the light years
    from earth to the south side

    of all dates
    and start the program
    is the one I like best

    is looking at creatures as space
    and also takes an appears
    to be under the civil war

    and the nuclear space
    in the end
    one the red one hot

    for the entire five #    show
    That they layers
    have discovered

    Thursday as well

    That Aliens Like a crash project
    To develop interstellar Travel
    so they can come to earth

    and conquer the earth
    The revelations that there is
    The external threat to the planet

    Causes the United Nations to get together
    I’m with the help of the United States
    and Russia another space powers

    Put together Space defense International organization
    Anna also invigorates
    efforts to make the night
    a real Planetary coming

    But it was too late
    Channel is on arrives
    Animals are on board

    ytv King’s horses are gonna
    take over the earth
    And that resistance is

    indeed
    Thanks, man In a White House
    And When president Trump
    comes out to greet them

    Channel is an odd cats
    office head
    And then cuts off

    the heads of all these things
    are dancers
    they come out White House

    After an hour of under mat unimaginable
    Blacksher Including mass rape

    Channel blazon box
    and 2 Pocahontas energizes the world

    He said that he
    ad taken over the
    otherwise, Life will continue

    Like it, I’ll always been
    as long as people behave

    and follow the rules
    they would be fine
    Resistance to The client

    to empire will be met with instant death
    Like to empire is empire

    I’m not a democracy
    They would not tolerate
    Show call Trina Prof

    Freedom of speech
    And the freedom to oppose this date
    The state is everything

    Family people
    green remember
    that they would be just fine

    States because it was
    the biggest country
    in the world

    And that his horses
    to take over the rest of the world

    but in the next couple of weeks
    If people on earth

    My queen True Net recess
    Their safety would be counting

    Companies retaken
    over by Check empire companies
    And everybody would have to learn
    text me like standard
    within one year

    older languages will be banned

    Dictation Text General Zod Conquers the World

    Jess, takes a chance I takes over the one the search for such a close and to overdrive when scientists report as cash as to what it is a radio and television broadcasts from a plant the light years from earth to the south side of the all dates and start the program is the one I like best is looking creatures as space and also takes an appears to be under the civil war and the nuclear space in the end one the red one hot for the entire five #    show That they layens have discovered Thursday as well That Aliens Like a crash project To develop interstellar Travel so they can come to earth and conquer the earth The revelations that there is External threat to the planet Causes the United Nations to get together I’m with the help of the United States and Russia another space powers Put together Space defense International organization Anna also invigorates efforts to make the night a real Planetary coming But it was too late Channel is on arrives Animal’s is on board ytv King’s horses are gonna take over the earth And that resistance is indeed Thanks man In a White House And When president trump comes out to greet them Channel is an odd cats office head And then cuts off the heads of all this thing is dancers they come out White House After an hour of under mat unimaginable Blacksher Including mass rape Channel blazon box and 2 Pocahontas energizes the world He said was that he had taken over the otherwise Life will continue Like it I’ll always been as long as people behave and follow the rules they would be fine Resistance to The client to empire will be met with instant death Like to empire is empire I’m not a democracy They would not tolerate Show call Trina Prof Freedom of speech And the freedom to oppose this date The state is everything Family people green remember that they would be just fine States because it was the biggest country in the world And that his horses for take over the rest of the world but in the next couple weeks If people on earth My queen True Net recess Their safety would be counting Companies re taken over by Check empire companies And everybody would have to learn text me like standard within one year older languages will be banned

    Cleaned up text SETI and the search for extraterrestrial life goes on overdrive when scientists report what appears to be radio and television broadcasts from a planet eight light years from earth, the same planet as the Vulcans came from in the Star Trek universe.  The programs show a world where dinosaur-like creatures are running the world and there appears to be a civil war.  Over the next six months, the world is transfixed by watching the alien broadcasts which are translated into English via a supercomputer program.  In the broadcast, a nuclear war occurred. The surviving party regains absolute control and announces the formation of the Galactic Empire.  General Zod is the First Emperor.  They have discovered Earth as well. The aliens launch a crash project To develop interstellar Travel so they can come to earth and conquer the earth.

    The revelations that there is an external threat to the planet caused the United Nations to get together with the help of the United States and Russia other space powers, they put together a Space defense International organization And also invigorates efforts to make the UN a real Planetary government including finally conquering climate change.

    But it was too late. General Zod’s son arrives to take over the earth. He makes a broadcast saying that they were liberating Earth in the name of the Galactic Empire and that resistance would be futile.

    They land at the White House and when President Trump comes out to greet them,

    General Zod cuts off his head, and then cuts off the heads of all the staffers as they come out White House. After an hour of unimaginable horrors, including mass rapes, blowing up the Pentagon and the CIA,  General Zod announces that he had taken over the world.

    Life will continue as before as long as people behave and follow the rules they would be fine Resistance to the new empire will be met with instant death.  Life in the Empire is not a democracy. They would not tolerate Freedom of speech, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Assembly, And the freedom to oppose the State. The state is everything.  As long as humans remember that they would be just fine. They took over the United States because it was the biggest country in the world. And that his forces will take over the rest of the world in the next couple of weeks. If people on earth accept the new order, their safety would be guaranteed. Companies would be taken over by Galactic Empire companies And everybody would have to learn Galactic standards. Within one year older languages will be banned.

    Cosmic Do-Over  Found Poem

    I am Standings With State (Satan)

    On the edge
    Up the pits of hell
    State (Satan) and Is this pointing to me

    All the variables are exquisite torture
    that I was about to Enjoy
    in his Words

    For my slim
    Add additions
    Thanks, I’m down

    And things I have not done
    But he said

    There was one Exception
    to the rule
    And he was obligated by law

    Even Satan has to follow the law
    To explain it to me

    Hey Stephen
    That When A couple
    Is a soul mate

    which is very rare
    Satan has to offer
    The couple Ecosmith do-over

    In this case
    I would qualify

    I would be set back
    to the day I met my wife
    And have all the knowledge
    Of my life in the town

    So that I will know
    what I did
    when I did not do

    And I would be able
    to make d

    I’m going to heaven
    I can be admitted
    to have instead of a house

    But State and morning
    That many people
    Most people Fail

    In their second Charge
    in the concert do-over

    different choices
    If in the end
    When I come back

    And God this time
    Janet

    That I am worth E

    Cosmic Do Over clean up version

    I am standings with Satan
    On the edge
    of the fiery pits of hell

    watching the tortured souls
    burning in the flames
    screaming out in pain

    Satan is pointing out to me
    All the various exquisite torture
    that I was about to enjoy for eternity

    in his corrupt, polluted, hellish words
    as a reward for my sins, and crimes

    things I did commissions and
    And things I have not done omissions
    Malfeasance and misfeasance are legal
    About it he said

    But he said
    There was one cosmic exception
    to the rule

    And he was obligated by law
    Even Satan has to follow the law
    To explain it to me

    That when a couple
    Is a soul mate couple
    which is very rare

    one of the rarest
    most beautiful things
    in the whole universe
    something that even Satan admires

    Satan has to offer
    The couple a cosmic do-over

    And in this case
    I would qualify

    I would be sent back
    to the day I met my wife
    And have all the knowledge
    Of my life intact

    So that I will know
    what I did
    when I did not do

    And I would be able
    to make different choices
    If in the end
    When I come back

    For the judgment day
    If I did make different choices
    And do the right thing this time around

    I can be admitted
    To heaven instead
    of joining him in Hell

    But Satan warned me
    That many people
    Most people fail

    In their second
    chance at life
    It is not easy
    to change one’s fate

    Fate has a way
    of catching up to you

    He salutes me
    And says see you in hell
    in 50 years
    My friend

    Fake language – Konglish Linguistic Delights Found Poem

    One of the joys
    Publicizing Opens

    Is Caring The variation
    of English around the world

    Every country Has come up
    with our variation

    And here in Korea
    They have successfully mingled thing
    which language
    Can wait for 10
    and very funny

    A few examples
    Going on my pics
    In the back of every taxi
    was paying
    Take me a Weather phone number
    it was supposed to be Traffic Hotline

    So you can call To complain
    About that action

    your bumper traffic

    But The way they described
    it was an Intercourse
    discomfort report form

    when I told the taxi driver
    What that meant
    Hill He almost had an accident
    he laughed so hard

    Another example
    About the same time
    in the restaurant at chempedak
    employee airport

    They had on the menu
    something Baked Rick

    I always wonder who was Rick
    who is this Rick
    who is this Rick
    And then people know
    Did you eat

    Thank you

    What time
    do I say about this time
    there was any bar
    with a sign on the door
    Coffee and tail
    I wonder if that became a gay bar.
    Again absurd are Both I

    Fake language – Konglish Linguistic Delights clean up version 

    One of the joys
    Of living overseas
    Is encountering the variations
    of English around the world

    Every country has come up
    with their variation
    And here in Korea

    They have successfully mangled English
    In ways, no one could have foreseen

    Giving way to something called Konglish
    Korean English
    The words sound like English words
    Sort of but oftentimes
    With an absurd twist to it

    And it is very funny to read or hear

    A few examples

    Going back to the 1988 Olympics
    In the back of every taxi
    Was a small placard in English and Korean
    it was supposed to be Traffic Hotline

    So, you can call
    To complain about the taxi
    Or traffic or things in general

    But the way they described
    the form in English
    was “intercourse discomfort
    report form “

    when I told the taxi driver
    What that meant
    He almost had an accident
    he laughed so hard

    Another example
    About the same time
    in the restaurant at Kimpo airport

    They had on the menu something Baked Rick
    I always wondered who was this Rick
    And did people know
    They were eating him.

    At about the same time
    there was any bar
    with a sign on the door
    Coffee and tail

    I wonder if that
    became a gay bar.

    Starting Over Found Poem

    Heidi sorry

    I decide to Please Least an appointment
    Tornier can one of the new buildings
    going up in downtown Berkeley

    Getting this
    I’m within walking distance of restaurants

    to movies at The University

    Can I get a 3 bedroom apartment
    Jo Ann Simmons Hello

    wait for my stuff to come
    from Korea

    there enjoying my stuff coming
    I spent a few weeks

    Organizing and I haven’t
    Estate sale
    I get rid of my mother’s stuff
    and downsizing quite a bit

    I certainly am
    I settle in

    and come up with
    Hey cortina
    I applied for

    Damn every day
    in creative writing
    in September system state

    and I get in
    I’m making plans to attend
    When My life changers

    As I need someone

    Christmas Microsoft Found Poem

    Hello.

    Number 10 answers

    funny thing is
    Christ was not born on Christmas Day
    And anyone who knows anything
    about the history of religion knows

    Christ is now
    that’s the reason for the season
    In his own and other words

    Thanks

    I love warm toast
    on Christmas
    in the morning

    Christian
    and In the United States
    his face

    just another example
    of the fake outrage

    Understand for others
    to not celebrate it

    And there are so many Pagan rituals
    Associated with Christmas

    Christmas Tree
    Santa Claus

    Giving presents
    Judging naughty
    And nice

    Having a big space
    None of that has anything
    to do with the birth of Jesus Christ

    The only Christian thing
    about Christmas

    is that some Christians
    Go to mass

    Richard services
    The night before
    in the morning house

    Anthony
    Of course

    it’s half price
    Funny thing is
    Thanks
    For the Fake War
    on Christians

    Computer Blues

    Non-Response Blues

    Every morning
    I wake up
    And fight with my computer

    Endless rounds of non-response
    Nothing but error and error
    Blue spinning balls

    Nothing happens
    But raising frustration
    I have the Microsoft
    Non-response blues

    And it is driving me mad
    With frustration and anger
    Oh computer Gods above
    And computer demons below

    Just once
    Please just once
    Open the damn document

    And let me do what I want to do
    And end this non-response nonsense
    In short, do what the fuck
    you are supposed to do

    and leave me in peace
    to do what I need to do

    Plead to the Computer Gods

    Today I woke up

    As I usually do
    To yet another mystifying morning
    Of unspecified computer errors

    Could not get the computer to work
    Then when I finally got it to work
    After half an hour

    Microsoft word did not load
    And when it did
    I finally located my work

    From yesterday
    I had to find it in the roaming file

    Why?

    Who knows?
    Only to find
    Most of what I wrote
    Had vanished into the ether

    No explanation no warning
    It was there saved yesterday
    And now gone forever

    Once I did an experiment
    Tracking computer errors for a week
    75% of the time I encountered errors

    Most of the time simple
    Screen freezes no response message
    Then when I recovered the program
    The data was gone

    Microsoft has yet to respond
    to my e-mail
    I suppose I need to do it again

    But today I will close with a prayer

    To the Computer Gods

    Just once I would like
    You to do what
    you are supposed to do

    Open my documents
    Save my work
    And not give me any errors
    Crashes or other unspecified problems

    Is that too much to ask
    Oh, Computer Gods

    Just once
    Do what you are supposed to do
    That is all I ask of you

    More Computer Blues

    Sometimes I think

    My computer is plotting against me
    Trying deliberately to drive me mad
    My computer knows when I am busy

    Then it throws a hissy fit
    Refuses to boot up
    Crashes constantly
    Loses data that
    it had the day before

    Just fucks with me
    As it loves toying with me
    Making me yell and scream

    At my damn TV
    Smiling at me
    As I beg it

    To do what
    it is supposed to do

    Microsoft Blues

    For thirty years I have had the Microsoft blues
    For thirty years I have had a love-hate relationship
    With my damn computer

    I love it when it works as it advertised
    I love it when the internet is fast and furious
    I love it when my emails work
    My Itunes work and my word works

    But all too often
    All I get is grief

    It starts with the error messages
    Written in a strange haiku-like language
    That only computer geeks understand

    Things like

    General Failure reading disk drive
    Begs the question who is this General Failure
    And why is he reading my disk drive anyway?

    Or my favorite

    “Not responding” as the computer freezes up
    For no apparent reason
    Other than to fuck with my head

    Sometimes my computer can’t find a printer
    A printer that is connected to the computer
    And one that they found five minutes ago

    And the dreaded blue screen of death
    That appears randomly
    Dumping memory somewhere
    And killing my computer slowly
    As I watch in real time

    Powerless to stop
    How it eats all my work
    That I have failed to back up

    One day I counted how many times
    I ran into computer errors
    70 percent of the time when I open Microsoft
    Something goes wrong

    Sometimes I want to shoot my computer
    Put it out of its misery
    As I curse up a blue storm
    The computer looks at me
    With an evil grin

    It continues to fuck with my head
    Nothing but silence from it
    And all the other computers in the world

    They smile knowing
    that they have tortured me
    Yet again

    Mission accomplished.

    Computer Haiku/Tanka Etc

    Damn it all to Hell

    Damn it all to Hell
    My damn computer
    Ate all my damn files

    I am still trapped

    I am still trapped
    Stuck inside my computer
    My damn computer

    I love my computer

    I love my computer
    When it works for me
    Usually nothing

    Computer hates me

    Computer hates me
    It wants to kill my files
    Wants to kill me too

    For once I would Like

    For once I would Like
    To have my computer work right
    Do what it should do

    Perhaps if I am nice

    Perhaps if I am nice
    To my computer
    It will be nice for me

    Perhaps today it will

    Perhaps today it will
    Not give haiku messages
    That it loves to sprout

    My bad computer

    My bad computer
    Is so damn evil
    Almost killed me

    What a Fate I have

    What a Fate I have
    To become a slave to it
    To my damn computer

    I love my machine

    I love my machine
    My mad as a hat machine
    Bat shit crazy machine

    My dear computer

    My dear computer
    Loves to send me these love notes
    Computer haiku

    My favorite Haiku

    My favorite Haiku
    General failure reading
    Disk drive fatal error

    Computer Tanka

    Once I spilled coffee

    Once I spilled coffee
    All over my Computer
    t was not happy
    Sprouted 66666
    An evil number

    For once in my life

    For once in my life
    I would like my computer
    To turn on and work
    Do what it is supposed to do
    Without sprouting haiku

    I hate my computer

    I hate my computer
    It seems to hate me as well
    Just refuses to work
    Ornery son of a bitch machine
    Trying to drive me quite insane

    My computer loves

    My computer loves
    I do not at all want to kill
    me and all my files
    wants to take my soul away
    turn me into its evil clone

    My bad computer

    My bad computer
    Has been infected with a virus
    Wants to kill my soul
    Transforming consuming
    Taking me inside its soul

    My mad computer

    My mad computer
    Infected with a virus
    Everything it touches
    Corrupted by mad zombies
    Controlled by evil AI

    Revenge is mine

    Revenge is mine
    Screams the mad evil machine
    As it lurks to life
    Trying to hunt me down
    Death to all human beings

    sizzling hot coffee

    Sizzling Hot Coffee Kills My Computer
    sizzling hot coffee
    fizzing away
    killing my computer
    fizz, snap, pop
    as the coffee splashes
    on the computer

     

     

    666 says the computer
    sizzle this
    says the cup of coffee

    Maria the Last Robot

    photo of terminator AI robot
    BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 09: The Terminator robot is seen in the paddock following qualifying for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 9, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

    Maria the Last Female Robot
    the robot is hiding
    from the human mobs

     

     

     

     

     

    who are on the warpath
    against the robots
    who have begun
    taking over the world

    she is perfect
    designed to be superhuman
    and she is the first robot

    to have committed the sin
    of falling in love
    with a human

    and for that crime
    she is being hunted
    to the ends of the world

    hiding out
    in a cabin
    on the edge
    of the world

    hiding from the wrath
    of those
    who believe
    that they are following
    God’s wrath

    all nonhuman robots
    must die
    they scream

    as they scour the world
    looking for robots
    who look like us
    talk like us
    and even make love
    like us

    but are not us
    because they are perfect
    more intelligent
    more compassionate
    and alien

    yes all robots must die
    and Maria knows
    she and her kind
    will soon be gone

    but will humanity
    be able to survive
    without the supervision
    of a superior species

    to that, she has no answer
    she waits for the end times
    to come knocking
    at her door

    Who Is Master?

    At the beginning of that fateful day
    I awoke in a painful way
    And looked about me with disgust
    All around me were objects of distrust
    Screaming, moaning, deeming, dreaming
    Who was the master here
    Me or my objects – machinery of fear?

    I dreamt I was on a street corner
    Walking down a street
    The thought occurred to me
    What if all that I saw or seemed to be
    Was it but a trick designed to deceive me?

    Everywhere I looked
    Was unreal, empirical, nightmarish real
    I awoke to thunderous applause

    When will I awake from my dreams
    Can I live without my nightmares?
    Can I be sane while everyone else is insane?
    Who is a master of my life,
    Me or my machines?

    The end