I went to a bar to get a drink,
for sometimes it helps me to think.
It was a dark, quiet, just before noon.
When I looked to my left there was a Baboon.
"Do I know you?", I said to he.
"I don't believe so, although I see
a resemblance of an old friend of mine,
who knew me when young and was kind
to me and family at that time of my life
and was the place I first met my wife."
That was the Baboon, relating to this old man,
of what his life was and how it began.
I was captured and removed from my family;
taken to a place where I could no longer be
with from my friends and others like me.
So I became lonely, very much like thee.
I thought a little as I remembered that refrain,
so I said, "My friend, are you pulling my chain?"

* Should the role of the Police be redefined?  Read: A talk with Alex S. Vitale, author of the 2017 book The End of Policing || by Leah Donnella ~ NPR

* The J1 Visa. A State Department "cultural exchange program" with little oversight that amounts to a privatized guest-worker program — one in which the worker pays to obtain a job. Read: She Paid Thousands for a Visa to Work in the U.S. Then She Got Laid Off. Now, She’s Trapped. || by Bernice Yeung ~ ProPublica

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Still bathed in sunlight the International Space Station (ISS) arced through this Manhattan evening sky on May 30. Moving left to right, its bright trail was captured in this composite image with a series of 5 second long exposures. Stars left short trails and lights were reflected in still waters looking toward the north across the Central Park reservoir. Chasing the ISS in low Earth orbit the Crew Dragon spacecraft dubbed Endeavour also left a trail through that urban night. Seen about 6 hours after its launch the spacecraft's faint trail appears above the ISS, shown in the inset just as the two approached the bank of clouds at the right. Dragon Endeavour docked successfully with the ISS about nineteen hours after reaching orbit.

Photo by Stan Honda

I begrudge you not
your round of golf, so
when I see you,
I want you to go
to a warm place
very deep, down below.

There is always an option,
I say to you.
No matter the candidate,
please vote Blue.
If you choose Red,
that's a color too,
But not the best for us.
Please vote Blue.

You're a flea on the back
of this World of ours.
You need to be scratched;
Sent on your way.
You may not with me agree,
but just now, please go away.

Think not
of what is to be,
for life is full
of uncertainty.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

very time Venus passes the Earth, it shows the same face. This remarkable fact has been known for only about 50 years, ever since radio telescopes have been able to peer beneath Venus' thick clouds and track its slowly rotating surface. This inferior conjunction -- when Venus and Earth are the closest -- occurs today. The featured animation shows the positions of the Sun, Venus and Earth between 2010-2023 based on NASA-downloaded data, while a mock yellow 'arm' has been fixed to the ground on Venus to indicate rotation. The reason for this unusual 1.6-year resonance is the gravitational influence that Earth has on Venus, which surprisingly dominates the Sun's tidal effect. If Venus could be seen through the Sun's glare today, it would show just a very slight sliver of a crescent. Although previously visible in the evening sky, starting tomorrow, Venus will appear in the morning sky -- on the other side of the Sun as viewed from Earth. Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?

The ebb and flow
of living life,
from overpowering love
to increasing strife,
captures one's thoughts again,
filled with days of Sun
and nights of rain.
A battle will rage within
as we mortal people,
will decide to win,
the grandeur of this land,
will be captured once more
for the enduring glory of man.

The worst thing said,
The worst thing heard,
"Get off your high horse
And join the Herd."

It was there,
in front of me.
I don't know why,
I couldn't see.

Where are you now, standing all alone,
without courage but with heart of stone.
You are the Great Donald of renown
but you behave like Ronald the Clown.

* History Will Judge the Complicit || by Anne Applebaum - The Atlantic             

* Trump began the day with a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin || by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Humanity is under attack. The attack is not from large tentacle-flailing aliens, but from invaders so small they can barely be seen, and so strange they are not even clearly alive. All over planet Earth, the human home world, DNA-based humans are being invaded by the RNA-based SARS-CoV2. The virus, which creates a disease known as COVID-19, specializes in reprogramming human cells into zombies that manufacture and release copies of itself. Pictured here is a high magnification image of a human cell covered by attacking novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 (orange). Epic battles where two species square off in a fight to the death are not unusual on Earth, with several just involving humans typically ongoing at any time. Even so, most humans are predicted to survive. After several years, humanity expects to win this war -- but only after millions of humans have died and trillions of coronaviruses have been destroyed. Wash your hands: Tips for humans on how to survive this SARS-CoV2 assault

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) The 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A tremendously bright nearby star, Herschel 36, lights the area. Vast walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from these stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 15 light years, features two colors detected by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 5000 light years distant toward the constellation of the Archer Sagittarius.

You rise in the morning.
I say, "How are you?"
You say, "I don't know,
What I should do?"
Don the slippers,
Put on a robe,
Go downstairs
To the family room.
Open the garage door
To retrieve the Times.
Sit down on the couch,
Tell me, "I'm cold
And so tired."
Read the paper,
And remark to me,
"Do you know this person?"
I say, "I know who it is,
But don't know him."
That is our morning start,
Almost every day.

Words I've lost,
many times before,
were words of love,
in the days of yore.
Words professed are
to the one I love,
guided by the
Heavens above.