Condemned Convict Prefers Firing Squad

Salt Lake City -- Ronnie Lee Gardner is scheduled to be executed by firing squad, June 18, for a 1985 fatal courthouse shooting. Gardner has refused Utah's lethal injection method and has asked, instead, to be shot. Meantime, the Utah Supreme Court is to hear an appeal aimed at reducing his sentence to life in prison.


Fire When Ready

Utah's capital punishment
Calls for lethal injection.
But convict Ronnie Lee Gardner
Got to make a selection.

Convicted of capital murder,
He said to the judge, guess what?
He'd rather not have any needles;
He'd simply much rather be shot.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Gladiator Graves Discovered

Archaeologists in London say they're dug up dozens of skeletons without heads. They appear to be the remains of Roman Gladiators dating back to the first century A.D. Experts say the skeletons show deadly bites by lions, bears and tigers or other large animals.

Making Their Bones

Lions and Tigers and Bears
Left their bites and also some tears
On gladiators who fought without dread,
But nonetheless ended up dead.
And many more than one lost his head.
They toured the Roman Empire
And few ever lived to retire.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Remembering WW2

Eastern Shore, Md. The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum sponsored World War II weekend, Saturday. Tan Nguyan, who is Vietnamese, dressed in an authentic Japanese colonel’s uniform.

Harbor-ing A Memory

Folks down on the Eastern Shore
Took time out to remember war.
Seems some folks traveled many a mile
To dress up in nineteen forties style.
Re-enactors, old and new,
Depicted folks of world war two.
GI’s have been honored since it all began,
But this year Tan Nguyan recalled Japan.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Idol Winner Bombs

Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox didn't make it into Billboards top ten with their first singles. The lukewarm reception is blamed on mediocrity among the latest American Idol contestants.

Idol-izing

Crystal and Lee didn't fare all that well
As their singles appeared on the charts.
Their music, it seems, just didn't quite jell
Or find its way into our hearts.

How could the idols be so rejected
While recording and doing their thing?
Maybe the fans all simply expected,
Two singers who knew how to sing.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Woods Still Doctoring Sore Neck

Tiger Woods says he's recovering from his neck injury but says "it's still not where I want it to be." Woods plans to compete in this weekend's Memorial Tournament, two weeks away from the US Open in Pebble Beach.



Preparing To Open

Though Tiger's neck
Is on the mend,
He's waiting for
The pain to end.

He's tuning up
For Pebble Beach;
Fans hope it's not
Beyond his reach.

The swelling's down;
Good news by far;
But seems his neck's
Still under par.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Nicklaus And Woods In The Skins Game

Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods will be among ten golfers a Skins Game, this week. The nine-hole event offers a purse of $100,000 to benefit charity.

Fore....Charity

Jack will join Tiger
To play for the skins.
They'll be joined by eight others
When the golfing begins.

Professional golfers
May hook and may slice,
Betting for charity
Using golf balls for dice.

© 2010 Jim Gordon

Rain Cancels President’s Speech

President Obama’s plans for a Memorial Day appearance had to be called off on account of rain. Obama told the thousands on hand to hear him that “a little rain doesn’t hurt anybody, but we don’t want anybody being struck by lightening.”


Washout

The President went to the Land of Lincoln
To speak on Memorial Day.
But the rains came down in bucketfuls
And refused to go away.

He spoke to those who came to hear,
An umbrella o’er his head.
The rain, he said, is not so bad;
‘Tis the lightening we dread.

Despite Obama’s well-laid plans,
And the folks who all turned out,
While Biden spoke at Arlington,
The Prez was….well….rained out.

© 2010 Jim Gordon