News Limerick: January 25, 2019

They indicted that guy Roger Stone
Who for crimes he has done must atone
But when all’s said and done
Things have still just begun
For they don’t think he acted alone

Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone indicted by special counsel in Russia investigation

News Limerick: January 24, 2019

There’s two presidents in Venezuela
Which I fear may distress mi abuela
For when invites are sent
Someone’s time will be spent
Thinking who to invite to the gala

A whole brunch of trouble

I’d like to tell you a story about my weekend. It starts out with a very kind invitation from an elderly widow a few houses up. Let’s call her Mrs. Whitman. I hear she doesn’t get out too much and is rather lonely, so I guess she decided she wanted to get to know her neighbors a bit better. She invited us and a few of her other neighbors over for a casual get together this morning.

Mrs. Whitman is apparently something of an experienced chef because she prepared some truly amazing food, much of it from scratch. The rolls and cheesy grits were quite tasty, but the quiche really blew me away. I had to compliment her on it, of course.

The problem is one of the other guys who was there. We’ll call him “Tony”. Tony is really competitive and can find a way to turn anything into a fight. I don’t know how he does it, but it always bothers me and I sometimes let it get under my skin a bit too much. In any case, today Tony was in rare form, even for him.

As soon as I complimented Mrs. Whitman’s quiche, Tony had to jump in with an even more superlative compliment comparing it to something he’d eaten on a fancy European trip across France and Italy and how this surpassed even the master chefs there. Flattered, Mrs. Whitman insisted he have the last slice.

I really don’t know what came over me. I think I said something like, “Oh, but I must have just a taste more, it’s truly divine” as I quickly reached for the pie server to cut off just a bit for myself. Tony’s hand was already halfway to there and we locked eyes as we each laid our hands on it.

That must be why we didn’t notice that the cut glass pitcher of sweet tea was right there next to it. Of course, our sudden movement as we each went to pull the server our way somehow ended up going sideways, and we knocked the half full pitcher right over into Mrs. Whitman’s lap. It bounced off and fell to the hard wood floor. As it landed just wrong, the handle snapped off and shattered.

To make matters worse, that delicate pitcher had been a wedding gift and was one of the few things she had left that brought to mind her dear departed husband. Needless to say, the brunch was completely ruined in that single instant. Nothing either of us could say could repair the damage done. We all said our goodbyes rather awkwardly shortly thereafter and I don’t expect to be invited back.

It just goes to show - one mad grapple spoils the brunch.

Oh, and if you're feeling bad for Mrs. Whitman? She really only invited us over because she’s the leader of a local grannie gang. She wanted us all out of our houses so her people could break into our places.

Luckily we have a good security system, “Safe Hello”, which caught them and set off an alarm. By the time we were on our way out, the cops had already arrived at the street and were rounding up the culprits.

Here’s the real twist, though. Tony is one of their enforcers and was in on it too! So we know due to Safe Hello Tony’s Whitman’s friend.

A-Voting

[To the tune of "A-roving"; clean and G-rated, if slow tempo, version here]

Election Day, it’s time to vote
Mark well what I do say
Election Day, it’s time to vote
Unless you are a giant dolt

     (Chorus)
It’s time to go a-voting, Election Day!
A-voting, a-voting I’ll fill my ballot with black pen
It’s time to go a-voting, Election Day!

I looked up all the candidates
Mark well what I do say
I looked up all the candidates
Found some were sane and some were nuts

(Chorus)

I went into my polling place
Mark well what I do say
I went into my polling place
For I had studied every race

(Chorus)

They handed me my ballot then
Mark well what I do say
They handed me my ballot then
And to the booth I gladly went

(Chorus)

I filled my ballot out with care
Mark well what I do say
I filled my ballot out with care
For that’s the reason I was there

(Chorus)

When I was done I checked it twice
Mark well what I do say
When I was done I checked it twice
There’d be no rolling of the dice

(Chorus)

I put my ballot in the box
Mark well what I do say
I put my ballot in the box
And got a sticker! Voting Rocks!

(Chorus)

Some responses

I reject the thin offer of your thoughts and your prayers
Sickly saccharine sweet they should stick to your tongue
Their paper-thin promise of protection leaves the space between us
empty

You think you present me with a gift of comfort
When what I need is for you to do and to stand
The gift you are giving is to yourself
As you swaddle yourself in impotent, ignorant inaction

---

Don't think to tell me of God's will
Where was God when the trigger clicked
When the bullets flew
When blood spilled?

God will not save us
Because God has already given
All that we need
To change the world

Our strength
Our voices
Our minds
Ourselves

---

How can you expect more bullets to solve this?
How can you expect the threat of death to deter?
Hyped on violence and sick twisted words
An attacker fears no pain

And one more life is one too many

D’var Behar-Bechukotai

In reading this past week’s parsha, I found several verses particularly troubling.

“Such male and female slaves as you may have—it is from the nations round about you that you may acquire male and female slaves. You may also buy them from among the children of aliens resident among you, or from their families that are among you, whom they begot in your land. These shall become your property: you may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property for all time.” (Leviticus 25:44-46)

This stands in stark contrast to what I remember reading and learning elsewhere, including during the many Passover seders I’ve attended over the years.

“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:20)

And again a chapter later:

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

What’s going on here now one book later? I decided to check each passage for context. The Exodus text takes place during Moses’ ascent to Mount Sinai while the Jews were still wandering through the desert and nomadic. The latter, however, has an interesting preface toward the start of the chapter.

“Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the LORD.” (Leviticus 25:2)

It’s not clear, but it seems this preface “when you enter the land” may apply to not just the rest of that sentence but the chapter itself. This led me to four words in each of these passages that may indicate the principle difference. In the more familiar and comfortable text, we read “stranger in the land.” Breaking that apart, that is “stranger” and “in the land.” I’ve heard that a stranger is simply a friend you haven’t met yet, and “in the land” implies having crossed the border of a the future state to live within and alongside the Jewish people.

However, the text from this past week states “nations round about you.” That is “nations” and “round about you” - outside your borders. I think you may start to see the distinction in this as I did. When someone intentionally crosses the border of the land and becomes part of the community, we are to welcome them, respect them, and treat them fairly. However, when they stand in opposition we are permitted to treat them as the threat they show themselves to be.

Of course, there was one more part of this text last week that still stands out. It also says you can “buy them [slaves] from among the children of aliens resident among you.” Does this not contradict everything I just said?

Perhaps not. In particular, it uses the word “alien” instead of “stranger”. It also does not say they are “in the land,” but rather “resident among you.” They simply “reside” there, they are not “in” with you.

As an “alien” who has chosen not to come into the land, they have brought the border with them. They may be acting not simply as separate, but aggressively so. They refuse to say to us “you are my people and I will stand with you.” Should there be war, would they fight alongside the Israelites? Would they feed their neighbors if they were hungry? No - they have intentionally set themselves apart and hold themselves separate.

The punishment still seems somewhat harsh - “keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property for all time” - but that’s another story and shall be told another time.

So, what lesson can we learn? The lesson of intent and mutual support. When you live in a place, do not hold yourself separate from the other residents and the people of that land. Support them and care for them as you do your own people. Do not bring borders into the land to maintain an “us versus them” mentality. And for those come to live and work as part of the nation, welcome them. This teaches us to care for others as we wish to be cared for, both when we are the stranger and when we are the nation.

Lord of the Pings

A friend got an email from Amazon signed:

"Best regards, 

Aragorn
Amazon Web Services"

So I wrote a poem:

All that’s on hold is not bitter,
Not every caller is lost;
The password so strong is no quitter,
Root login protect at all cost. 

From sleep the VMs shall be woken
A light from the LEDs springs
Restart all the Blades with ring tokens
The cloud will respond to all pings

The best thing

Roses are red
for a new one
today

But—
the best thing about it
was that I was able
(for the first day)
to work
on the weekend

Red but not only

Roses are red
or... "red
but not only"; a
good thing
to be thankful to be.

The only thing
I have ever
learned
is that it
doesn't

matter.

The code path not taken

My code fails to work

The hours tick by, useless—

Just one equals sign

"The Time of Silence" by Sleepin and Bedbunkle

Hello 5:30 frenemy

Here once again it's you I see

I truly wish that I were asleep

Yet I was woken when I heard a peep

And the dreams I had are now buried in my brain

And I remain

Awake to seek - my caffeine

Dual ACDC power supplies

CPUs, racks of blades
Liquid cooled, we've got it made
Server rooms with fiber lines
Where the gigabits keep on flowin' through the night
The website's themed blue
The service ain't free
We need banner ads to pay the fee
Hey user base
Get with the times
The perks, the features, they cost some pretty dimes
Pay wall, pay wall, login costs you money
Pay wall, pay wall, register your credit cards
Pay wall, pay wall, login costs you money
Pay wall, pay wall, register your credit cards

We run fine with quad cores

Every one's bit sixty four

We log your use, 'til you sign out

Then cookies keep tabs on web sites you've found

The website's themed blue

The service ain't free

We need banner ads to pay the fee

Hey user base

No privacy

You surf, you browse, we like what we see

Pay wall, pay wall, login costs you money
Pay wall, pay wall, register your credit cards
Pay wall, pay wall, login costs you money
Pay wall, pay wall, register your credit cards

Too many chickens!

What happens when your kids inspire silliness? Why, I'm so glad you asked.

News Limerick: Times are changing

The sticklers for time say, "That's great!
Let's sync to it, don't hesitate.
We'll meet to discuss
How this affects us
You know that we'll smirk if you're late."

It's about time: New atomic clock is more accurate

Space Limerick: Dark Flight

This video's meteorite
Was taken amidst its dark flight
Skydivers beware
It wouldn't fight fair
Velocity augments its might

Norwegian Skydiver Almost Gets Hit by Falling Meteor — and Captures it on Film

Space Limerick: NASA reduces work with Roscosmos

As tensions continue to rise
Cooperative spirit soon dies
But how will it end
As foe or a friend
And how will we stay in the skies?

NASA Severs Most Ties With Russia, Sparing Station But Pushing For U.S. Launches Again

Space Limerick: Take this Opportunity to do some Spring cleaning

The Martian dust sunlight was screening

But now towards the sun it is leaning

As seasons there change

The winds rearrange

The rover just had some Spring cleaning

Opportunity Rover Gets Power Boost from Wind Events on Mars

The Abbey Formerly Known as Downton

I was watching on the TV

The channel was on PBS

I cried with Lady Mary

When Carson brought booze I said,"Yes."

Lord Grantham was speechless

And Bates was hobbling everywhere

The footmen vied for screentime

The maids they just pretend to care

'Cause it's time for Downton Abbey

Gonna watch it later, how 'bout you?

Tonight I'm gonna party like it's nineteen twenty-two

Space Limerick: Lonely Planet

A planet without any star
It seems that it isn't too far
We may change our tune
"That isn't a moon!"
The Empire strikes from in thar

Baby Free-Floating Planet Found Alone, Away From A Star

Dishward bound

Hello dishes my old friend

I've come to clean up you again

The scraps of food that I'll be scraping

While at grunge I will be gaping

And morsels that swirl slowly down the drain

Still remain

Amidst the sound of soap suds.