Liam Ramos, five, detained by ICE in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, outside his home on 20 January 2026.
Spirit of 1930’s Germany alive and kicking in the “Land of the Free.”
Photograph: Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools
Following the flow…
Jesus really does not like us drawing lines we do not want crossed…
Cartoon – Thanks to the brilliant Naked Pastor
So here are some recent thoughts, poems, favourites and a bit of politics…
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There was a young man
from Cork who got limericks
and haikus confused@forreadingaddicts
There once was a man accused,
he had limericks and haikus confused,
he thought that was fair, so wrote down a pair,
and ended with both of them fused.Reddit – It’s originally from a viewers submission from JacksFilms on youtube (YIAY 583)
A batch from FB’s Bad Archaeology Magazine
There once was a man from Cork
Who got Limericks and Haiku confused
Though with 5-7-5
He was able to thrive
His readers remained unenthused
There once was a man from Cork
Who got limericks and Haiku confused
But with a great lack of syllable
The lines just weren’t fillable
His metrical foot was abused.
This is a haiku
About limericks, but I
Think it’s pretty bad
This is a limerick about
Haikus, though I certainly doubt
It’s that good as a rhyme
But it didn’t take much time
Thanks for reading, I’ll see myself out.
There once was a man from Cork
Who preferred to write poems than talk
It was said of his verse
There is nothing worse
Except perhaps the songs of Bjork.
There once was a man from Cork,
Who got limericks and haiku confused.
He started in error,
But with rhyme and some terror,
He finished with style and bemused.
There once was a man from Japan
whose poetry never would scan
when he was asked why
He said with a sigh
it’s probably because I put too many goddamn syllables in the last sentence
The best limerick I ever heard was this one:
A gay guy who came from Khartoum
Took a lesbian up to his room
And they argued all night
Over who had the right
To do what, and with which, and to whom.
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Father Richard recommends the Welcoming Prayer as a practice to help us surrender to God, Reality, and Love with each moment:
Spiritual teacher Mary Mrozowski (1926–1993) composed and first taught what is now called the Welcoming Prayer, which many have found to be life-changing. The Welcoming Prayer helps us find serenity through surrender in the midst of messy, ordinary moments.
The Welcoming Prayer
When feeling triggered or caught by something unpleasant, begin by simply being present to your feeling, experiencing it not just mentally, but also emotionally and physically.
Don’t try to rationalize or explain the feeling, but witness and give attention to this sensation.
Welcome the feeling, speaking aloud, if you can: “Welcome, [anger, fear, hunger, longing, etc.].”
Repeat this as many times as you need to truly sense yourself embracing and receiving the feeling.Then…
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it’s for my healing.I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons,
situations, and conditions.I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation,
condition, person, or myself.I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within.
Amen.Images…
This week’s images appear in a form inspired by early Christian/Catholic triptych art: a threefold form that tells a unified story.
Image inspiration: Fallen leaves in water surrender to the cycles of seasons. A spider’s web catches and kills a passing fly. Can we surrender to these moments too? Death is an invitation to slip beyond the web of knowing. What might we find if we allowed the cycle of death and resurrection in our own lives?
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Tony Benn story about Management Consultants
Tag: Politics
House of Commons 22 November 1995
I expect that the House has heard of the little document, which is circulating, about the boat race between the NHS and a Japanese crew. Both sides tried hard to do well, but the Japanese won by a mile.
The NHS was very discouraged and set up a consultancy. The consultancy came to the conclusion that the Japanese had eight people rowing and one steering, whereas the NHS had eight people steering and one rowing.
The NHS appointed people to look at the problem and decided to reorganise the structure of the team so that there were three steering managers, three assistant steering managers and a director of steering services, and an incentive was offered to the rower to row harder.
When the NHS lost a second race, it laid off the rower for poor performance and sold the boat. It gave the money it got from selling the boat to provide higher than average pay awards for the director of steering services.
