Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Why d'you have to make laws,
To protect religion,
Specifically and exclusive of acts,
That are just 'bout livin'?

Like living with the person that you love,
Going out together,
Buying streamers for your big gay party,
Without being rejected as cust'mers,

Because their freedom to be big bigots,
Overrides who you are,
Limiting where you can and cannot go.
There should be just one bar,

The golden rule,
Do what you'd like done, too,
E'en if you'd like to be prejudiced 'gainst,
For then the law'd be prejudiced 'gainst you.

For You, 9525

If you knew you were sick,
With an ailment of death,
At an age less than one would expect,
Would that make your life less?

Would you destroy the world that cut you loose,
Because you couldn't be,
A famous and impactful cynosure,
And example to all human beings?

Would the existential turmoil consume,
The thought you're not alone,
Turning all you see to a reminder,
Of all you've never known,

And never will?
Why not just end it all,
In a fantastic blaze of fire and death?
Or would you rethink it during the fall?

The Tunnel

So, who built this tunnel,
And where was it to go?
Hard to believe it had no dest'nation,
It was a hallway, yo.

Sure there was a rosary found down there,
That put the cops at ease,
'Cause Cath'lics have ne'er been prone to vi'lence,
Probs to be a home for orphaned babies.

They say it's not a crime to dig a hole,
Still, they're anxious to know,
Who took time to dig that impressive thing,
They'll ask no questions, no.

Just shake the hand,
Of people so clever,
Then snap a cuff on them 'till they confess,
To stealing their supplies from the Rexall Centre.

Cease-Fire Two

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute,
A cease fire in Ukraine?
Brokered by Russia's President Putin?
Doesn't that sound insane?

How can Russia cut a deal for rebels,
It's denied a link to?
Putin'll use his mind to pull out weapons?
I guess we'll see Feb fifteen, what he'll do.

Are the foreign armed formations Russia's,
That agreed to dis'ppear?
When asked by Harper to get out before,
Putin said, "we're not there."

Not complaining!
I'm all for no more war,
Nine hundred thousand displaced, thousands dead,
Makes you wonder what it's actually for.

This Is Your Life

So your TV's list'ning,
That's the big news today,
Fears that what's personal's sent to the web,
Own by a third partay,

Transcribed into text, kept for who knows what.
Is there a central file,
With your name on it, held by the gov'ment,
With your emails, Skypes and Facebooks compiled?

Will a computer scan through everything,
When you cross a border?
Will private eyes be able to hack it,
'Stead of plant recorders?

What would you think,
Could you see ev'rything?
A thousand photos of you without smiles,
The foibles of a real human being.

Obama's Last Stand

The state of the union,
Will be addressed Tuesday,
By Barak, in his last months as pres'dent,
Hair almost fully grey.

He is going to propose a tax hike,
On the country's most rich,
With Republicans owning both houses,
I'm sure he'll pull it off without a hitch,

This will be his legacy and last move,
In eight frustrating years,
In which his health care bill was watered down,
While drone bombs seeded fears.

There is one thing,
Bin Laden is no more,
I am sure he will bring that up again,
Over his shoulder as he's shown the door.

Buy Target

So Target is leaving,
Not a long run, fellers,
Seventeen thousand jobs gone just like that,
Should have stuck with Zellers,

Man, they had a niche no one was touching,
'Tween Goodwill and Targé,
Now all their former stores will be empty,
But Target sure isn't going away,

There's still th'executives who made this move,
Down south of the border,
While the unskilled and newly unemployed,
Are a little older.

Is this step one,
To the revolution?
The more people that learn what poor's about,
The more this system will seem perversion.

Say It Ain't So, Andrew

Prince Andrew must be glad,
That his ex-wife Fergie,
Defended him 'gainst prostitution claims,
With her stellar hist'ry.

Buckingham Palace made a statement, too,
Claiming it isn't true,
That Epstein provided him with young girls,
Repeatedly and all over the world,

So once again one has to ask oneself,
What's the motivation,
Of women standing up to ridicule,
For such accusations?

Maybe it's true.
D'ya ever think of that?
Do you realize exploitation's common,
Amongst the rich and the aristocrats?

Two Worlds

The line is getting thick,
Between the world's two worlds,
One side claims to be defending the right,
And following the rules,

Th'other side says it's defending the right,
And following the rules,
Both sides have been known to repress people,
Accusing th'other of threat'ning the world,

What happens when more countries take a side,
Could be quite dramatic,
We've yet to see what new world weapons do,
When they really go at it!

That'd be something,
Same old story, again,
Ideologies can't seem to exist,
Knowing others are still in existence.

Two Stories

I agree that it's sad,
I choose The Interview,
To discuss, instead of The Massacre,
The Taliban did do.

The one is about computer hackers,
Working for Kim-Jong Un,
Though North Korea's telling the U.S.
Dark Seoul Gang's not their organization.

The other's a sad story of revenge,
By ruthless Taliban,
Who killed young children 'cause they lost soldiers;
Don't see the connection?

They both remind,
You can be innocent,
Trying to live in peace and to let live,
Still, others can destroy your contentment.

World Games

Well, this cannot be good,
I'm not a fan of oil,
But these low prices are fanning a fire,
And tempers will soon boil,

Most notably in the great bear Russia,
Where interest rates spiked,
Their media toning down the import,
Though it won't take time for fears to be hiked,

People taking to the streets in anger,
The army lashing out,
A desp'rate country defying the world,
Its pride never in doubt.

Is it OPEC,
Trying to stir the pot?
Something inside me can't shake the feeling,
Some wealthy minds have concocted a plot.

Full Circle

The good ol' U.S.A,
Has avoided shut-down,
Two-nineteen to two-oh-six was the vote,
With a small addition,

Rules put on banks 'cause of two thousand eight,
And the mortgage breakdown,
Will be eased due to Citigroup pressure,
As will already lame enforcement clowns.

It takes so much moxie for protesters,
To keep demanding rights,
While it's easy for banks to pay lawyers,
It is a losing fight.

'Less the next fight,
Is a balls out real brawl,
The majority coming out with strength,
The suits getting pommeled once and for all.

China's Gambit

There's nothing China does,
Without ultimate ends,
This is no different for any country,
They all trick their cit'zens,

To thinking one way, least that's what they try,
But China propogates,
'Cause its structure seems so diff'rent from mine,
A specimen I can investigate.

Like its new commemoration today,
Aft' seventy-sev'n years,
Of the Nanjing massacre by Japan,
A country that it fears.

It makes you think,
'Spite what Pres Xi might say,
It's a gambit to get his people prepped,
For confrontation with Japan one day.

What Is The Syrian Electronic Army?

Who are the SEA,
Who hacked the CBC,
Replacing the day's news with its logo?
An eagle, it seems to me.

They are a group of young Syrians whose,
Electronic Army,
Fight against the distorted facts spewed out,
By the press about their country's uprising.

They use the most modern of war's weapons,
Cyber propaganda,
Under the eye of the Assad regime,
Though they would deny that's their employa,

One day we'll see,
On screens across the world,
A virt'al battle of army logos.
May that replace the gore of missiles hurled.

Gomeshi Turns Himself In

So he's turned himself in,
Not guilty is his plea,
One hundred grand of bail in his pocket,
He can pay to be free,

Though he's missing the two for one bargain,
For time spent on remand,
If he's jailed for the hitting and choking,
He'll serve full time and lose the hundred grand!

He must have some confidence with Henein,
"Good as they get," I've scanned,
Defending a man by now convicted,
By public opinion.

If he's set free,
Will that prove everything?
Do the courts hold sway over the people's mind,
Like Ferguson and Michael Brown's shooting?

A Travesty of Justice

The grand jury is out,
Out to lunch, some might say,
Jamming the verdict of Darren Wilson,
And so justice's day,

Because they're aware that their decision,,
Which is let that cop go,
Who shot and killed Michael Brown, who was brown,
Will lead to mass protest from all who know,

That young, young Michael`s hands were up that night,
That he was not a threat,
Now the gov's taking this time to prepare,
For violence and riots.

That they will cause,
By the preparation,
For why would humans resort to such things,
If not faced with extreme situations?

When Scientists Speak

It couldn't be clearer,
The call from the U.N.,
By twenty-one hundred, all fossil fuels,
Sans CCS must end.

What are the reasons for not listening?
Really there is just one,
There're people and nations with things to lose,
That makes the world's being irrelevant.

Things like money, of course, that's a given,
But there are other things,
Holding on to pow'r, wait, that's money, too,
Wait, money's everything.

'Cause think 'bout it,
What sci'ntists have to lose,
By being so unified and ad'mant,
About such an inconvenient truth?

And The Winner Is

The people have spoken,
(No one I act'lly know),
But now John Tory is the new mayor,
Of central Toronto,

East and west, too, along the waterfront,
'Cept Chow's piece of High Park,
Proving white privilege doesn't exist,
Just confidence that rail tracks can be smart.

So, what of this exec'tive come mayor,
Who says business will,
Help fix this city, because they love it?
(Oh, and cash in their tills).

It's what it is,
Some say better than Ford,
Though, at least with him we knew what we'd get,
Let's wait a few months, then check on the poor.

Finally, Some Progress

Well, Hong Kong's now talking,
To the student leaders,
Though they have no intention of changing,
What it is they need t',

Which is allowing anybody to,
Run for public office,
For it would be irresponsible to,
Just let anyone run, for there's a risk,

That the candidate has not the skills,
That public office needs,
That's why China has a large committee,
That then respons'bly feeds,

The people those,
Who can best lead them all,
Who know what is best for state and the poor,
Someone who the students don't resemble.

Hong Kong's Dilemma

Who'd've thought umbrellas,
Could overwhelm police?
Nine thousand protesters of China's ways,
Taking back Hong Kong streets!

China's agreed to have talks on T.V.,
Aired live for all to see,
With student leaders, 'bout the unfairness,
Of elections, two thousand, seventeen.

'It's not democracy,' the students say,
When candidates are seen,
As picked by a single-party gov'nment,
North of this 'free' country.

But China's set,
And will not change its mind,
It doesn't care about what the world thinks,
It thinks only of its Chinese inside.