An attack ad worth your attention

The partisan venom, let's shelve

For the moment, while all of us delve

In this criminal's past

And agree now, at last,

That it's Kony in 2012.

The Savant acknowledges the critics of this campaign and recognizes there is more to the history of Central Africa's problems than Joseph Kony and the L.R.A. but the man is an international criminal and is there any justification for the brutal conscription of children as soldiers and sex slaves?

The argument goes that Northern Uganda has been at peace for several years and that the L.R.A.'s influence has declined and that pursuing Kony and his band may only incite him and his followers to further violence. Has that ever been a good argument for letting crimes against humanity and their perpetrators go unpunished?

Yes the video is propaganda and grossly simplifies the very complex problems occurring in the region but if the movement has helped to raise awareness to the point of drawing such criticism it has been successful and maybe this is a model for how to get the public to recognize important issues without George Clooney having to get our attention first.

Playing Crazy Eights with ethics

Fertility drugs are a fix,
Not a means for this mom to get kicks.
Were her docs in a trance?
When it comes to implants,
Don't they think that "enough" might mean six?

Octuplets Fallout:
Should Fertility Specialists Set Limits?
By Bonnie Rochman, Time, 2/2/09

A new campaign slogan?

What conservative thinking forbids
Could put Palin's campaign on the skids.
It's easy decidin'
On Obama and Biden
For the welfare of all of her kids.

**** Obama/Biden '08 ****
For the Sake of Sarah's Kids

[N.B. - I, for one, am not opposed to the McCain/Palin ticket for such a trite and sexist reason as her choice to be a working mom. It's that I can't imagine spending four years listening to that voice!]

A New Twist in the Debate on Mothers
By Jodi Kantor and Rachel L. Swarns
The New York Times, 9/1/08

Dora the Destroyer?

Fisher-Price could be losing its shirt
Over marketing toys that can hurt.
Now, Transformers I get
As a possible threat,
But "the terror of Ernie and Bert?"

At Toy Stores, Recall Casts Doubt on Trusted Friends
By Donna St. George and Delphine Schrank
The Washington Post, 8/3/07

When Big Bird has lost his Street cred
What else is there left to be said?
Has Mattel, in its greed,
Just forgotten the need
To ensure that they haven't missed lead?

Lead Paint Prompts Mattel to Recall 967,000 Toys
By Louise Story, The New York Times, 8/2/07

Appreciating the gravity of the situation

When the stork brought her bundle of joy,
No one told her he wasn't a toy.
So Brit got confused
When words that they used
Were "Bouncing" and "Baby" and "Boy."

Officials Pay a Visit to Spears
Social workers are called after
the singer's baby falls from a chair.
By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 4/12/06

What he did for Love - 40

Succeeding at tennis is tricky;
So a parent who isn't too picky
As to how his kids win,
Might commit a small sin
And slip their opponent a Mickey.

Frenchman gets 8 yrs jail for drugging tennis foes
By Jean-Yves Saint-Ceran, Reuters
The Washington Post, 3/9/06

No previous history of violence

Those with children who love Papa Smurf
Better censor the sites that they surf.
As to mayhem and death:
Who'da thunk UNICEF
Could out-shock Cronenberg on that turf?



Smurfs 'bombed' in UN ad campaign
BBC News, 10/12/05