“Here Is the Date When Life on Earth Will End, Long Before the Sun Explodes” —Daily Galaxy
Long, long before the Sun explodes (Five billion years or so), Not even roaches, mites, and toads Will thrive. Where can we go, In several hundred million years, Instead of being baked? We’ll cook in place. As Hades nears, We’ll say the heat is faked.
The first AG the big guy designaetz Has problematic habits when he daetz (He and the boss might make ideal cellmaetz). As word about his frat-boy traetz creaetz PR nightmares, his case disintegraetz.
“Vladimir Shklyarov, Russian ballet star, dies aged 39 after falling from building” —The Guardian
Shklyarov, a dancer of great talents who had condemned the war against Ukraine, died in a fall because he lost his balance (as ballet dancers are so wont to do) on a high balcony. You’d best refrain from knocking what your leader does, or you may find that you have lost your balance, too.
“Physicists Shed Light on Precise Shape of Single Photon” —Sci.News
That science sheds new light on light Should not surprise or shock us. But “Some are Born to Endless Night” And grope through ceaseless ruckus; There’s more of them, it seems, these days. However, hope shines bright. Behold Aurora’s least displays: Each photon in its flight Conforms to laws and does not cheat Nor sneak nor snarl nor sneer. A photon’s true and strong and fleet, A star by which to steer.
“California man arrested after climbing into hospital ceiling and getting stuck Police say man, believed to be under influence of drugs, walked into ER restroom in Upland and did not come out” —The Guardian
He wandered into Upland As giddy as a pup: His limbs were very supple, and He kept on going up.
“The ceiling’s where I’ll lurk!” he Declared, all cock-a-hoop: But then he went cold turkey, And now he’s in the coop.
“AI poetry rated better than poems written by humans, study shows Findings suggest non-expert poetry readers who participated preferred AI works because they find them more straightforward and accessible” —The Guardian
Asked to write a sonnet (subject unspecified), ChatGPT instantly obliged. Half of its sonnet appears below. It wrote the lines in roman font; the italic lines are my replacement for its originals. Full ChatGPT sonnet available on request. (Or you could ask it yourself.) —JG
With shades of pink and gold in soft embrace. ChatGPT, does that look good to you? The quiet whispers time’s unhurried pace. I know it took no time at all to do. The trees, like silent sentinels, stand tall, Well, yes, they would. That is the thing with trees. Each leaf that falls, a story to recall, Not much, unless the tree had some disease. Yet in the heart, a deeper strength remains, And what makes you an expert on the heart? Of dreams that rise and hopes that never fade. Or hopes that rise, and dreams—don’t let me start. So as the day unravels and takes form, Say we’re not looking at the art’s new norm!
“A lowly Scottish soccer club, which once had ‘James Bond’ actor Sean Connery on its books, has been given a six-point deduction for having a sloping field.” —US News and World Report
To the Scottish Professional Football League
Dear Sirs, The fans in Bonnyrigg
were feeling proud and thinking big, till you unjustly stripped away points fairly earned in honest play. No football team should ever yield its right to use a slanted field: remember that both sides defend for half the game at either end. The time I spent at Gordonstoun taught me to take the up-and-down; we teenage boys soon learned to cope with all varieties of slope. We soldiered on, and took our lumps on pitches that were full of bumps. We played on when the goals would flood, when footballs would be lost in mud, we played through hail, we played through snow, we played where milksops feared to go. All brawny Scotsmen should oppose this treatment of the Bonny Rose. Your Bonny Prince, I must respond to save the heritage of Bond. Your mollycoddling’s absurd— I countermand it! Charles the Third
“Justin Welby’s resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury was necessary to ‘change the face’ of how the Church of England tackles abuse, senior colleagues have said.” —The Times
Lord, you know I’m pledged to thee, But why on earth did thou choose me To be the shepherd of thy flock, Then give them the almighty shock Of finding one they thought divine Was just a man without a spine?
That evil wins when men do naught Is something I had long forgot, As through the years your mills ground slow. But now I’m dust and have to go. It looks like justice, I suppose. But will it change a thing? God knows.
“Human rights groups… [say] there has been a recent spate of arrests, forced disappearances and the shuttering of businesses linked to perceived breaches of the hijab laws.” —The Guardian
Iran jails women who refuse hijabs. Oh women of America, rejoice! You only have a President who grabs, And bodies which are Nick Fuentes’ choice.
“A fight is under way to allow Saint-Flour Cathedral… to continue having premium hams dry as they hang from beams in its 135-metre-high tower” —Church Times
Please, cultural affairs committee, Bestow a modicum of pity On our crucial, but petite Commercial venture curing meat.
After all, it wasn’t smoked Charcuterie that once provoked Our Lord and Savior’s fit of rage On that ecclesiastic stage!
So when discussing our appeal, Perhaps you’ll gather for a meal. Before you vote to shut us down, Will that be Grey Poupon, or brown?