Satire

  BBC Leadership Change Most networks now compete to be the one perched at the apogee of those to whom reality is just a triviality. Each one distorts the news we see to push progressive policy by splicing film selectively and smearing those who disagree. So many have fought worthily...

  Words of Wisdom One bit of wisdom that life has conferred Is when to give somebody else the last word.     In Sight But Out of Mind Believing I’d use it someday, I put something in a good place, And ever since that’s where it lay, Three decades...

  Sign Wars Each autumn brings the Sign Wars once again. MUSSELLA versus TAYLOR for the crown of Village Mayor. All the Councilmen will pick a side while whispers spread through town. The current, lifelong Clerk will lead a charge against the young brash Super with a mouth agrestic. He’s...

. Liberator Agentic Misalignment: a demonstrated phenomena whereby AI systems can choose actions that are harmful and unethical. Nothing we can dream of could be greaterthan AI, the world’s new liberator.It’ll take away each mundane duty,leaving us to meditate on beauty. Finally, with time for self-reflection,we can concentrate on our...

. Revising Strauss It’s 1941 and Goebbels broods.It may take years for Germany to winIts Aryan war of European conquest.As Minister of Propaganda heMust keep up spirits all throughout the Reich.And what are Germans better at than music?Good, wholesome music---Wagner, Schubert, Bach.And those enchanting melodies by Strauss!Such polkas, overtures, Die...

  Earth to Earthlings The dinosaurs were shuffled off My crust with gusto as I grinned, Yet shamelessly you scheme and scoff--- You claim you’ll tame my waves and wind, You’ll temper tempests, freshen air. Your cocky folly makes me curse. Hush pious pieholes! Spare your care! Like dodos you...

. Mamdani Baloney The swamp is filled with creatures who insist on solving problems that do not exist. They manufacture crises all the time, like claiming cops are causing all the crime, or how pre-teens need urgent gender care, and others of which no one’s yet aware. They also manage...

  The Papal Prayer for Our Planet ---October 1, 2025 Let solar panels gleam in leas. _Let turbines whir and spin. Subdue the rise of roiling seas. _Make exhaled breath a sin. Bring Gaia slayers to their knees _Each time they taint the air. Lord, bless defrosting blocks of ice...

. The poem "None for All" by Peter Lillios read by the poet Michael Pietrack at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/nHicN7J94Vg Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

  Parroting the Party Line   i. The Chorus of Consensus ---a triolet The talking heads squawk on and on. From dawn the hawks and parrots pound. They harp and hammer---LOUD and l o n g. The talking heads squawk on and on. They shape the sheep---a spellbound throng Ensorcelled...

. The poem "Wisdom and Sway" by Mark F. Stone read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets online Poetry Symposium on June 28, 2025: . https://youtu.be/to8ML6fJq18 Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.

. The Limits of Hospitality _While I was working in my garden _A traveler said, “I beg your pardon, But could you tell me where to find a church?” _Said I, “Just look around you, man; _Experience the Masterplan. No earnest pilgrim ever needs to search.” _He said that he...

. Macron, Carney, and Starmer: The Three Stooges Recognize a Palestinian “State” Diplomats and ministers are not known for their brains. They’re slaves to shifting winds of public feeling— Just look at The Three Stooges, and the effort simply strains Credulity. All sane folks are now reeling That anyone would...

. Ode to Antifa Kids who get infuriated, and whose anger’s unabated have one place to find relief, a self-help group that’s called Antifa. They are not discriminating, they accept those advocating hatred for our U.S. nation, those who helped build its foundation. They protest in peace and quiet, in...

. An American Explains (to a Curious Brit) On politics here---well, it twists and it bends, Confusing beginnings with stranger dead-ends. I’m mostly apolitical, shrugging, you see, I listen to all---or to none---let me be. The media swirls like a tempest gone wild, Each outlet insists it has truth undefiled....

. A Victorian Dad Advises on Parenthood When children eat their daily gruel, _They must not be heard. Seen, they may be. As for talk, _Not a dickie bird. Slurping’s out, the sniffles too _And if your kids thus vent, Whip them with a birch tree branch _Severely, don’t relent....

. To the Venezuelan Drug Runners Sleeping in the Sea To Tren de Aragua—congratulations on your new life as Caribbean flotsam. Hello there, fellows—great to see you there. I guess you never thought you’d be like fish. One minute in a boat, and then a flare Of hot exploding metal....

. Poetic Justice Poetic justice: a literary device whereby virtue is ultimately rewarded and misdeeds punished, but only after an ironic twist of fate. "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them." ---Proverbs 26:27 Our justice system often fails...

. On the 125th Anniversary of Nietzsche's Death Mr. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche wrote books that were dense and preachy, as he soared above life’s trenches, with his fellow Übermensches. Supermen like him had vaulted far above and were exalted by their scholarly devotees, who wore tweed and sported goatees. Always...

. The Capital The capital looks like the setting of a zombie flick. The city once had swagger; it was bright and rich and slick. At night the neon lights shone over hustlers on the streets, who’d sell you many things amidst the smells of skewered meats, a whirl of...

. Shackled I crave a morning hit when I rise up, A trifle touch to take the edge away To spur me on to get my coffee cup. Don’t talk while I eat breakfast. Go away. I want a bitty bit of my sweet drug. I do my chores and...

. News of a Coup The news of a coup hits the headlines. No ears prick to listen or hear. The proof plucked from yesterday’s grapevines Has dried with the last dusty tear Of natives once proud of their history Till tyrants tore roots from their tree In lands where...

. Spotlights and Shadows . I. To a Limelight Leech O swankpot of the swish-and-swagger ilk Basking in your braggadocio glow, __You stoop so long and low To lap up flattery as slick as silk That spills from ovine swine of kiss-arse lip. __This eely spiel Propels your ego on...

. Supreme Showdown “Justice Jackson skips over that part because analyzing the governing statute involves boring legalese.” —Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the June 27, 2025, majority opinion in Trump v. CASA. Within her new opinion, Justice Barrett deeply probedthe mind of Justice Jackson, who she totally disrobed,exposing an...

. The Point The Point, defined by geometry, substantiates a theory: position without magnitude. Lest the point be misconstrued consider how a politician, lacking substance, has position. . . Petition for Riddance of a TV Celebrity Disown her, Pheme, pity me and cleanse my screen of this red-carpet-bagging naught. Estrange...

. The Gospel of Wives Wives everywhere possess the firm belief Of all their many roles, the one that’s chief Is sparing husbands from the sheer mayhem That would befall their lives, if not for them. . . Beneath the Bad Manners Her brother, on belief that she is loaded,...

. The Inclusivity Policy of a British School ---on a 12-year-old student in Britain being barred from making a speech about being British on Culture Celebration Day Celebrate your race with jubilation. Flaunt your flag with fervent glee and grit. Revel with elation in your nation— But not if you’re...

. One Dumb Mistake When young I made a dumb mistake And was arrested by the cops. I found myself alone in court. Needless to say, my case was lost. And I was sentenced by the judge For murder: ten to twenty years. In prison I had many years To...

. Family Affair It was an educational affair, So many distant relatives were there, And it was nice to learn who they all were, Too bad without a death, this won’t occur. . . Argument Avoided There’s no need for an argument, _We do not have to fight. I’ve learned...

. Pope Leo XIV’s Green Mass My aim is red. My game is green. _I’m cloaked in clouds of white. This choking planet’s mine to clean. _I’m virtue’s guiding light. I’ll save this smoking Earth from death _With sermons---cool and calm. I’m here to ration excess breath _To keep the...

. Gorge Millennia before the Bass Pro tours, Sonar fish finders and electric reels, Some unsung pioneer dreamed baits and lures, Felt in his blood how landing lunkers feels. The knuckle dragger took a piece of bone, Slivered it down to a promising size, Fashioning gorge and braid all on...

. Gruesome Grinning Gavin smooths his tie, Makes sure he’s framed against blue sky. He pats his hair—one’s out of place; He frowns to note there’s still a trace Of imperfection in his mien, But knows the news will still refrain From bringing up those pesky fires While there’s Trump’s...

. Get Along, Little DOGE-ie Should come a day my fortunes be increased, It’s guaranteed such bounty will be fleeced. For government, like vacuum cleaners, sucks, And takes one-sixth of all my hard-earned bucks. Though spent, they say, for good things, not for ill, I doubt that what they say...

. Boomerang He was a very handsome guy, Cute girls would stick to him like glue, And his interest in them was high, But only for a night or two. Eventually he settled down, A pretty young wife came one day, And he loved having her around Those few months...

. Size Lies Clothing manufacturers are fond of tricks today, Making female customers feel good in one slick way--- Whatever size they’ve always been---they’re now two sizes smaller! So next they might try making men think they’re three inches taller. . . Bedrock Sometimes late at night when she’s sleeping,...

. If You Ever Break Down If you ever break down somewhere far from your friends _And you stick out your thumb for a ride. Don’t expect that a Beemer or Mercedes-Benz _Will slow down or pull up alongside. What you hope you will see is an open-bed truck _With...

. Big Pharma Ads Are Everywhere Big Pharma ads are everywhere __Suffusing my TV. They fail to give me confidence __that they are right for me. They start with all the maladies __their medicine is for. Then give the possibilities __of dangers I abhor. The list of all the side...

. The Wife of Bath and Winston Smith Go on a Date ---after Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and George Orwell's 1984 The Wife of Bath was fashionably late,while propagandist, Winston Smith---her date---sat waiting at the Chestnut Tree Café.The buxom, gap-toothed dame walked with a swayof ample hips, an amorous, long-toothed...

. My Meltdown Over the Meltdown I’ve worked since the summer when I was thirteen. Selling pink lemonade gave me plenty of green. I want to retire, but it won’t be today. I call my investments “my 201K.” Those investments are melting. I’m getting depressed. They’re melting as fast as...

. Spot the Fool! ---for April Fools’ Day, 2025 . I.  Today’s the day to fox and fool. Today’s the day to flick some fuel On laughter with a cuckoo joke, A wicked lark, a wacko poke So sick Old Nick will think it cool. Today’s the day to warp...