Another year, another decade, in the books

With progress and setbacks and a few crooks.

The human project continues, good or bad

And the weight of it all can make you mad.

But if you want to lighten the load you carry

Then read this article by Dave Barry!

In many ways it’s a privilege to feel depressed

About politics and leaders who aren’t the best.

Our first world problems are so far removed

From the lives of billions that have improved

By marginal amounts, just a slight breadth,

Making the difference between life and death.

The thing which is really most disturbing

Is the success that Donnie has had in curbing

The independent thinking of his political base

Which wants to believe him whatever the case.

He successfully manipulates what people think –

Like Obama’s a foreigner or defense agencies stink.

It rarely seems that economists are right

Their forecasts infrequently shed any light
On the major events that take us by surprise

Or the predictions which fail to materialize.

So what do we do with this latest read?

Hope for the best and guzzle some mead!

I have to agree that this move is a joke
And sends the wrong message to our young folk.
Protest in democracy is totally vital
But comes at a cost and is not time idyll.
Part of the value is in breaking a rule
Not being given a day off from school.

Two things strike me as pretty crazy.

First, regulators aren’t just being lazy,

How in the world could they ever stop

A child from eating this magnetic slop?

And what the heck is with these tots –

Downing magnets like they were shots?

Growing up in New York I soon understood

The value of diversity in our big neighborhood.

One thing I noticed about some of the mothers

Was how they praised their sons over others.

Oh yes they formed a very loud cheer squad…

But only one Jewish mother had a son who was God.

Reflecting on that first Christmas Eve

It was tough on Joseph, I have to believe.

They traveled all day and into the night

And found nowhere to sleep or get a bite.

With a pregnant wife, well, it is as it is…

And the fact remains, the kid wasn’t his.

So this article highlights attending mass

Which, let’s face it, can be a pain in the… neck.

But what strikes me as a point that is lost

Is that actually it’s a good relative cost.

Rather than hearing a parent’s crazy idea

You can reflect on life and sing Ave Maria!

I’ve a lot of issues with online culture,

Which often seems to be like a vulture

Watching society wither and decay

Before swooping in to collect its pay.

But it didn’t make us tired of the rich

It’s their own behavior that’s the bitch.