Damned If We Do...

(Courtesy of/http://pretmetmohammed.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/pmm-shia-sunni.jpg)

Reformations are not pretty (that's to say the least.)

Look at the example now throughout the Middle East.

Muslims, having splintered into multitudes of sects,

Each of them interpreting the same religious texts

Do not trust each other well enough to compromise;

Ancient grievances behind the chaos on the rise.

Every time we've intervened we've just made matters worse.

Every time that someone dies it's us the mullahs curse.

Time we let Islamic leaders deal with their own crap;

We should stick to wiping ISIL forces off the map.

There's no winning strategy to fight religious wars.

All that we'll accomplish is to die on foreign shores.

Not Hospitable

(Courtesy of/Mike Licht)

Indiana's famed for Hoosier hospitality;

Seems that's only true if you're not LGB or T.

Their new law protects discrimination in the state

If you plan to choose a same sex partner for your mate.

Businesses which don't approve of who you pick to wed

Because their religion dictates what's allowed in bed

Can refuse you service if you're lesbian or gay;

Prompting major companies to question if they'll stay:

Apple and Alcoa, Eli Lilly, Angie's List,

NCAA and a growing movement who insist

They're not feeling welcome now that bigotry has won;

Hospitality includes accepting everyone.

Fear of Flying

Used to be a fan of flying...  Now, though?  Not so much.

I prefer my feet and solid ground to stay in touch.

Once I'd hop a flight to destinations near and far.

Nowadays I only go if I can go by car.

Wouldn't have a qualm if I were flying on my own

But a flight with my 2 sons - though both are fully grown -

Makes my stomach hurt to picture what it would feel like

Sitting with them, knowing that our plane's about to strike

Into buildings, oceans, mountains... Wanting to provide

Comfort, strength - while watching, helpless, as my children died.

I can't bear to think about them falling from the sky

Thus, this former aviator's now afraid to fly.

Failing in Yemen

(Courtesy of/news.yahoo.com)

No one wants to say that Yemen's failing as a state

But the situation on the ground ain't looking great.

President has fled the country; Houthis hold the streets...

I'd say the criteria for failing's one it meets.

Saudis and Iranians engaged in proxy war;

Former leaders want to loot the country even more.

Sunni fighting Shia with al Qaeda in the mix

Yemen's problems may yet prove impossible to fix.

On the brink of civil war - the final coffin nail -

What else would you call this if it's not an epic fail?

U.S. forces left already; writing's on the wall

As another sign of Arab Spring becomes its Fall.

Readying for Reno

The adjustor's coming here in order to assess

If our home insurance plan will cover for the mess

Winter left behind it with its snow and wind and ice;

Taking out our stairs and dripping through the ceiling... Twice.

So, I have to clean the house - again - a task I hate.

We've sure had a lot of strangers visiting of late;

Coming by in preparation for the reno start...

There's a lot of work before they tear your house apart.

This place hasn't looked so neat since we had both the boys

And we filled it up with our accumulated toys.

But, I can't have people here discussing future jobs

Learning that they're working for a bunch of lazy slobs.

The Tsarnaev Defense

Prosecution's wrapping up Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial

And, although we know he's guilty, it took them awhile.

His defense will make their case in just a day or 2.

They've already said the allegations made are true.

All that's left to argue now is if the boy should die

Or if he's a victim, too...  Manipulated by

Tamerlan, his older brother, and the crimes he did

Do not merit death because Dzhokhar was just a kid.

Mother was deported and divorcing his sick dad;

All alone - his parents gone - his brother all he had.

Thus, despite the horrors at the Boston Marathon,

Defense plans to argue that Dzhokhar was just a pawn.

As the mom of teenage boys, I'd buy that argument...

If my older son jumped off a bridge, as down he went,

Right behind - I'm pretty sure - his "little" brother would

Follow without pausing to consider if he should.

The Cruz Conspiracy

(I suspect Late-Night comics of funding the Cruz campaign.)

Like a late-night comic's gift from heaven comes Ted Cruz,

Saying he's put on his Presidential running shoes.

Cruz, who is Canadian, claims Texas as his home;

Land where the conservatives and long-horned cattle roam.

He's the guy who's so far right, the right thinks he's a nut;

Same guy who insisted that the government be shut.

He's the guy who filibustered; reading Dr. Seuss...

He's the guy who looks like he's got 2 or 3 screws loose.

Due to rules for secret Super PACs we'll never know

If Ted Cruz contributors include The Daily Show.

But, since there's no Sarah Palin (though there's always Trump)

Cruz provides the perfect target on which they can jump.