Fred Smith is a testing expert who is also a humorist.
Christmas Eve 2016
This night before Christmas I have trouble rhyming.
What’s been flying around has thrown off my timing.
At this gay time of year, I much want to summon
A few lines of good cheer. They just aren’t comin’.
Tried scanning a few words ‘bout jolly old St. Nick.
But someone stole his sleigh and the ride made me sick.
A cheater seized the reins. He’s the Anti-Santa,
Bringing coal now, not joy. Let’s call him the Ranter.
And what he says and does have given me great pause.
From what I can see, he’s an insanity Claus:
“I’ll put MY NAME in Christmas, make it great again;
I will fly across the sky, Savior of rich men;
Change the colors of the day, removing the red,
Keep the green aflowing, and adding gold instead;
Each day will be White Christmas in my wonderland;
Everyone will bow to me and will understand:
How far better it is to receive and not give
In my grabby, take-all world, where the elite live.
The measure of a man is the reach of his wealth,
Not the size of his hands, but his cunning and stealth.”
With such values and views spewing forth from his mouth,
He polluted the globe from the North to the South.
He smiled when his jet sled alighted in Russia,
But scowled when the GPS couldn’t find Prussia.
Africa and Asia, too, he went shooting past,
For he knew his secret was to keep moving fast.
He frowned o’er Muslim lands all of whom love ISIS;
Remembered he had some plan to end that crisis.
Looked down on Latino friends, but then most of all,
Squinted over Mexico, wherefore to build the wall.
Immigrants were off his list on this Christmas Eve;
Much to do in the states, many left to deceive.
(But thank heavens, his travels were not being led
By a mule named Rudolph with a face ever red.)
Next, he tweeted his team of transitional elves,
Telling them to take back gifts from everyone’s shelves.
Reminding them the world exists to exploit and steal.
“And never forget the fact this is my New Deal.”
What he meant was contained in his strange gift sack—
Rich bundles for the few who have nothing they lack.
Each elf he chose had done things dubious at best.
But those very things it seems made them pass his test.
One or more had engaged boldly and without fear
Re fossil fuels, private schools, poisoning the air;
Unions, worker safety, predatory lending;
Capping minimum wages but not defense spending.
Anti-civil rights, voting rights and immigration;
All elves pledge fealty to deregulation.
Challenge this Santa’s wish list—it will come to naught.
Do you think you’ll get relief taking him to court?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But I have faith, Virginia, Santa will return.
You cannot highjack goodness, the Ranter will learn.
Though this imposter now appears to command the sky
His comeuppance will be swift in the by and by.
Scripture shows men fail building hubristic towers;
Falling to confusion wrought by higher powers.
Just as Midas’s golden dream turned into grief,
So, he’ll see the meek prevail to his disbelief.
Soon Dear Santa will be our north star in the night.
You can still hear him roar, though he’s not now in sight.
Yet his warmth and kindness shall always be our light.
“Merry Christmas to all! And don’t give up the fight!!”
“Merry Christmas to all! And don’t give up the fight!!” I can’t give up. Their is a common theme or metaphor that I learned as a young man just graduated from a HBCU. It is imagine yourself in the middle of an ocean trying to reach the land; if you stop, you drown, you gotta keep on moving. The version came from a book I read at the time, Black Life in Corporate America, just a little boy from Harlem ready to prove that I can do any thing that they can do. We are not inferior. My first assignment I was enabled to increase the corporate Bank’s productivity by 400% & quality by 90%.
The private sector is far from perfect. Yet, in education we find a proliferation of misinformation claiming they are th saviors of minority children that have not overcome the achievement gap created by American greed that places profit over people. Institutionalize racism that is major part of the private sector fabric will not change if they were to lead public schools. We would be replacing one oppressor with with another. Our school systems need equality in funding. More qualified principal leadership not the current small sized feifdoms where principals have become Queens & Kings patronizing our children to maintain their job rather educating & challenging them to work harder & smarter to over come their short comings. Grade are given away like Christmas. Therefore, graduation rate increase without the rigor of learning; the engagement and time on task that is effectively raising standards. Public schools can be successful when leadership cares more about student learning than making it easier to graduate high school.
TODAY OUR SAVIOR WAS BORN! PRINCE OF PEACE!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL IN THE NEW YEAR!
“Merry Christmas to all! And don’t give up the fight!!” I can’t give up. Their is a common theme or metaphor that I learned as a young man just graduated from a HBCU. It is imagine yourself in the middle of an ocean trying to reach the land; if you stop, you drown, you gotta keep on moving. The version came from a book I read at the time, Black Life in Corporate America, just a little boy from Harlem ready to prove that I can do any thing that they can do. We are not inferior. My first assignment I was enabled to increase the corporate Bank’s productivity by 400% & quality by 90%.
The private sector is far from perfect. Yet, in education we find a proliferation of misinformation claiming the private sector is the savior of minority children that have not overcome the achievement gap. Yet, this gap by an American greed that places profit over people. Institutionalize racism is a major part of the private sector’s fabric. It will not change if private sector were to lead public schools. We would be replacing one oppressor with with another.
Our school systems need equality in funding. More qualified principal leadership not the current “small sized” fiefdoms where principals have become Queens & Kings patronizing our children to maintain their job rather than educating & challenging youth to work harder & smarter to over come their short comings.
Grades are given away like Christmas. Therefore, graduation rate increase without the rigor of learning; the engagement and time on task that is effective in raising standards. Public schools can be successful when leadership cares more about student learning than making it easier to graduate high school, leading to higher graduation rates that make principals look good.
“Merry Christmas to all! And don’t give up the fight!!” I can’t give up. Their is a common theme or metaphor that I learned as a young man just graduated from a HBCU. It is imagine yourself in the middle of an ocean trying to reach the land; if you stop, you drown, you gotta keep on moving. The version came from a book I read at the time, Black Life in Corporate America, just a little boy from Harlem ready to prove that I can do any thing that they can do. We are not inferior. My first assignment I was enabled to increase the corporate Bank’s productivity by 400% & quality by 90%.
The private sector is far from perfect. Yet, in education we find a proliferation of misinformation claiming the private sector is the savior of minority children that have not overcome the achievement gap. Yet, this gap was created by an American greed that places profit over people. Institutionalize racism is a major part of the private sector’s fabric. It will not change if private sector were to lead public schools. We would be replacing one oppressor with with another.
Our school systems need equality in funding. More qualified principal leadership not the current “small sized” fiefdoms where principals have become Queens & Kings patronizing our children to maintain their job rather than educating & challenging youth to work harder & smarter to over come their short comings.
Grades are given away like Christmas. Therefore, graduation rate increase without the rigor of learning; the engagement and time on task that is effective in raising standards. Public schools can be successful when leadership cares more about student learning than making it easier to graduate high school, leading to higher graduation rates that make principals look good.
Everett, welcome to the blog and thanks for that great metaphor.
And don’t give up the fight!!”
An ode to Little Fingers?