This is sobering reading.
Hanson begins:
The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based on federal test scores), and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation, along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking manufacturing base, and an elite environmental ethos that restricts commerce and productivity without curbing consumption.
During this unscientific experiment, three times a week I rode a bike on a 20-mile trip over various rural roads in southwestern Fresno County. I also drove my car over to the coast to work, on various routes through towns like San Joaquin, Mendota, and Firebaugh. And near my home I have been driving, shopping, and touring by intent the rather segregated and impoverished areas of Caruthers, Fowler, Laton, Orange Cove, Parlier, and Selma.
OS urges you to read the balance of the essay.
Recovery and renewal can come, but if California began tomorrow to do absolutely everything right, it will take ten years to turn things around in any significant manner. Judging by November's ballot, they still lack the will to do so. OS fears that the impending attempts to bail this state's culture out with cash will only increase the long-term pain.
As things now stand, California is an object lesson for the rest of us in WhatNotToDo.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Kaziah Hancock And Her Soldier Boys: A Portrait Of Compassion
Some things just leave one speechless, and in tears.
God bless her.
God bless her.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Run, Alvin, Run!
Undaunted by his loss in the Senate race this November, South Carolina's Alvin Greene has filed to run for a newly-open House seat.
After all, he garnered 350,000 votes in the November race. There's a lot of love out there for the young man. And, just imagine the sort of contribution he could make for the Democrat caucus in D.C.!
Dream big, young man. Greatness awaits.
After all, he garnered 350,000 votes in the November race. There's a lot of love out there for the young man. And, just imagine the sort of contribution he could make for the Democrat caucus in D.C.!
Dream big, young man. Greatness awaits.
Scoring OS's 2010 Prediction List
It's interesting reading, ruminations from a year ago. So, in fairness, here's the list, admissions of being wide of the mark, and a few more or less on the money.
The 2010 list
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
Missed on that one. Calculated Risk reported last week. The FDIC is probably finished closing banks for the year. The total was 157 failures in 2010, up from 140 failures in 2009. There are now 919 banks on the 'problem list', with total assets of some $407 billion. The big banks have paid back their TARP advances, and are back to business as usual. HellsBells, the credit-card come-ons have begun appearing in OS mailbox again. Just like old times. Deja vu all over again.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
Perhaps premature on that one. FDIC hasn't hit a crisis point yet, and here's hoping they don't. OS takes no joy in predicting future pain.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
True, true(by any sort of honest accounting standards), and thankfully a prediction that did not come true. The F-150 did lead the charge for Ford. GM flogged shares at $33, to allow Treasury to get some of its money back. They've got to get their customer base back, and hopefully not go underwater at less than $33.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
Whooodathunkit. 63 GOP seats picked up in the House, 6 picked up in the Senate. Could have been more, but Harry Reid pulled out a squeaker, and California remained true-blue. The bigger news is the hundreds upon hundreds of utterly pissed-off conservative who ran for state house and senate seats, and won. The Democrat gerrymander is about to go down in flames. The Tea Party took aim at the appropriate target, namely, the scuzzbags who run the GOP as a country club.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
Well, there was a pullback in midsummer, but OS completely underestimated the determination of the Fed to print money come what may. There is no logic to the securities markets, and it feels like a huge bubble. OS dipped in and out, made a few bucks, and left. The bleeding in pension funds and local governments lies ahead. The StimulusGasm of 2009 allowed everyone to pretend one more year.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
Can u say WikiLeaks? The story hasn't broken, but it will. Wait for it, be patient.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
Thank Heaven, as of this date, OS is wrong. His opinion of the Obama administration remains unchanged. The UK foiled the UPS package bomb plot. BigSis concentrated on techniques of groping passengers, and appearing to be on the job. We still have a major angel on our national shoulder, since we didn't get hit.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
Happy to report OS was wrong on this one.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
Yep, on the money, except that Brown was too discredited by the time the election arrived to stage a crisis. Good riddance, BTW. They need to fire the EU next. Here's hoping.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
On the money. The software attack was a stroke of genius, the kind only the Israelis can pull off. They also just assassinated one of the Iranian wonks in charge of undoing the damage, and injured the other. Two attacks, same day. Score one for the good guys. Obama has no intention of doing anything, as he hates Israel.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
Pretty close. He came back, much chastened, played some good golf, lost the stupid fist-pump, and began acting a bit more human. He did well at The Open, and the gallery acted with real class. If he really really really learned some life lessons from the experience, perhaps his best years are ahead. If he gets it going too quickly, and the ego and fist pump returns, he's doomed. He'll screw up again, and there will be no grace left. Golf's equivalent of Pete Rose. Let's keep a good thought for him. Life is tragic enough without that kind of tragedy playing out.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Feelings ran very high. Blessedly, OS was wrong about the violence. It is a real worry for him. Once the genie of political violence is let loose in the land, events have a way of taking horrible tragic turns. We don't want to go there. Anyone within earshot jabbering about it is someone to freaking avoid. Please.
Not a bad list, and the darkest predictions did not come true, blessedly.
The 2010 list
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
Missed on that one. Calculated Risk reported last week. The FDIC is probably finished closing banks for the year. The total was 157 failures in 2010, up from 140 failures in 2009. There are now 919 banks on the 'problem list', with total assets of some $407 billion. The big banks have paid back their TARP advances, and are back to business as usual. HellsBells, the credit-card come-ons have begun appearing in OS mailbox again. Just like old times. Deja vu all over again.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
Perhaps premature on that one. FDIC hasn't hit a crisis point yet, and here's hoping they don't. OS takes no joy in predicting future pain.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
True, true(by any sort of honest accounting standards), and thankfully a prediction that did not come true. The F-150 did lead the charge for Ford. GM flogged shares at $33, to allow Treasury to get some of its money back. They've got to get their customer base back, and hopefully not go underwater at less than $33.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
Whooodathunkit. 63 GOP seats picked up in the House, 6 picked up in the Senate. Could have been more, but Harry Reid pulled out a squeaker, and California remained true-blue. The bigger news is the hundreds upon hundreds of utterly pissed-off conservative who ran for state house and senate seats, and won. The Democrat gerrymander is about to go down in flames. The Tea Party took aim at the appropriate target, namely, the scuzzbags who run the GOP as a country club.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
Well, there was a pullback in midsummer, but OS completely underestimated the determination of the Fed to print money come what may. There is no logic to the securities markets, and it feels like a huge bubble. OS dipped in and out, made a few bucks, and left. The bleeding in pension funds and local governments lies ahead. The StimulusGasm of 2009 allowed everyone to pretend one more year.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
Can u say WikiLeaks? The story hasn't broken, but it will. Wait for it, be patient.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
Thank Heaven, as of this date, OS is wrong. His opinion of the Obama administration remains unchanged. The UK foiled the UPS package bomb plot. BigSis concentrated on techniques of groping passengers, and appearing to be on the job. We still have a major angel on our national shoulder, since we didn't get hit.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
Happy to report OS was wrong on this one.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
Yep, on the money, except that Brown was too discredited by the time the election arrived to stage a crisis. Good riddance, BTW. They need to fire the EU next. Here's hoping.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
On the money. The software attack was a stroke of genius, the kind only the Israelis can pull off. They also just assassinated one of the Iranian wonks in charge of undoing the damage, and injured the other. Two attacks, same day. Score one for the good guys. Obama has no intention of doing anything, as he hates Israel.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
Pretty close. He came back, much chastened, played some good golf, lost the stupid fist-pump, and began acting a bit more human. He did well at The Open, and the gallery acted with real class. If he really really really learned some life lessons from the experience, perhaps his best years are ahead. If he gets it going too quickly, and the ego and fist pump returns, he's doomed. He'll screw up again, and there will be no grace left. Golf's equivalent of Pete Rose. Let's keep a good thought for him. Life is tragic enough without that kind of tragedy playing out.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Feelings ran very high. Blessedly, OS was wrong about the violence. It is a real worry for him. Once the genie of political violence is let loose in the land, events have a way of taking horrible tragic turns. We don't want to go there. Anyone within earshot jabbering about it is someone to freaking avoid. Please.
Not a bad list, and the darkest predictions did not come true, blessedly.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
New York String Orchestra: Green Shoots Nominee
Music teaching in much of the United States consists of the following:
Mom-n-Dad, with a child eager to learn music(sometimes, sometimes not), engage a teacher with a good local reputation. Teacher teaches Junior some technique, and begins putting him/her through his Rota of favored pieces. That Rota ensures that both Teacher and Junior look good for Mom-n-Dad, who happily write checks. That Rota tends to omit any and all material that might expose weaknesses in Junior's technique and Teacher's grasp of musical styles.
Usually, Junior graduates from high school, heads to University and other interests, and can call up bits of pieces from the rota in the future. Junior marries, has children, and the process begins again.
Sometimes, Junior thinks that music will be a great profession. Junior enters a good conservatory/university music school, and is confronted by a Professor who sez: 'Let's hear a D harmonic minor scale, two octaves, please', and Junior sez: 'What's that?'. The Theory Graduate Assistant sez, 'Please write an A-major scale in both treble and bass clefs, and Junior sez: 'What's that?'. The Orchestra Professor places a middle Haydn symphony on Junior's stand, and Junior sez: 'Who's that?'.
Two years of pain and torment follow, and Junior either survives the Trial By Fire (because Teacher's rota turns out to have been a house of cards), or heads off to pre-med or business, or worse, the Music Education major. On that track, Junior may well end up as a Teacher with a Rota...
If Junior joins the local Youth Orchestra, he/she is run through a standard Rota of about a dozen nineteenth-century Russian pieces, which sound impressive, and neglect such inconveniences as learning how to perform Bach, Mozart, or even get familiar with Beethoven and Bartok. That comes later, in the Trial By Fire, the reasoning goes. The immediate idea is to keep Mom-n-Dad writing checks, and everyone feeling good about themselves.
One effort, quietly underway since the late 1960's, runs counter to that grim march over the cultural cliff, The New York String Orchestra.
The New York Times reviewed its Christmas Eve concert, and the news is heartening. They were performing Mozart and Mendellssohn, not Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich 5.
Green Shoots nominee. A donation link is found at the first link above.
If only we had about twenty such efforts in a nation of 380,000,000 people...
Mom-n-Dad, with a child eager to learn music(sometimes, sometimes not), engage a teacher with a good local reputation. Teacher teaches Junior some technique, and begins putting him/her through his Rota of favored pieces. That Rota ensures that both Teacher and Junior look good for Mom-n-Dad, who happily write checks. That Rota tends to omit any and all material that might expose weaknesses in Junior's technique and Teacher's grasp of musical styles.
Usually, Junior graduates from high school, heads to University and other interests, and can call up bits of pieces from the rota in the future. Junior marries, has children, and the process begins again.
Sometimes, Junior thinks that music will be a great profession. Junior enters a good conservatory/university music school, and is confronted by a Professor who sez: 'Let's hear a D harmonic minor scale, two octaves, please', and Junior sez: 'What's that?'. The Theory Graduate Assistant sez, 'Please write an A-major scale in both treble and bass clefs, and Junior sez: 'What's that?'. The Orchestra Professor places a middle Haydn symphony on Junior's stand, and Junior sez: 'Who's that?'.
Two years of pain and torment follow, and Junior either survives the Trial By Fire (because Teacher's rota turns out to have been a house of cards), or heads off to pre-med or business, or worse, the Music Education major. On that track, Junior may well end up as a Teacher with a Rota...
If Junior joins the local Youth Orchestra, he/she is run through a standard Rota of about a dozen nineteenth-century Russian pieces, which sound impressive, and neglect such inconveniences as learning how to perform Bach, Mozart, or even get familiar with Beethoven and Bartok. That comes later, in the Trial By Fire, the reasoning goes. The immediate idea is to keep Mom-n-Dad writing checks, and everyone feeling good about themselves.
One effort, quietly underway since the late 1960's, runs counter to that grim march over the cultural cliff, The New York String Orchestra.
The New York Times reviewed its Christmas Eve concert, and the news is heartening. They were performing Mozart and Mendellssohn, not Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich 5.
Green Shoots nominee. A donation link is found at the first link above.
If only we had about twenty such efforts in a nation of 380,000,000 people...
In Hoc Anno Domini: Vermont C. Royster
HT to Jesse, who as always, seems to have the wisest words to share:
Royster wrote for the Wall Street Journal from 1936-1971, with a break in the 1940's to captain a destroyer in the Pacific campaign. He was the long-time editor of the opinion page.
Royster was an extraordinary man from an extraordinary family, an encouraging fact which should remind us of the powerful influence we can all wield from our humble homes.
OS hopes you enjoy and appreciate Mr. Royster's message as much as he does, and that you will find it worthy to pass along to those you love.
In Hoc Anno Domini
By Vermont C. Royster
December 24, 1949
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.
Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.
But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Royster wrote for the Wall Street Journal from 1936-1971, with a break in the 1940's to captain a destroyer in the Pacific campaign. He was the long-time editor of the opinion page.
Royster was an extraordinary man from an extraordinary family, an encouraging fact which should remind us of the powerful influence we can all wield from our humble homes.
OS hopes you enjoy and appreciate Mr. Royster's message as much as he does, and that you will find it worthy to pass along to those you love.
In Hoc Anno Domini
By Vermont C. Royster
December 24, 1949
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.
Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.
But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Friday, December 24, 2010
OldSouth Wishes One And All A Merry Christmas: Jessye's Carol At Ely Cathedral
O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only son, Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols From King's College Cambridge
Christmas arrives for OS on Christmas Eve morning (since he first heard the service in 1980), with the broadcast of The Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols from King's.
It begins with one boy's voice, singing in the silence:
'Once in royal David's city, stood a lowly cattle shed...',
as humble and understated an event as the Incarnation itself.
Quietly, and with that calm British dignity, the story is read from scripture, the carols are sung, from Genesis to the first chapter of John's gospel. Few experiences are more moving than to sit still and listen to the story told in this manner.
This week, OS ruminated over the past decades of Christmases from 1980.
Some of those years were very good, some incredibly dark. Some years, it was that ninety minutes on Christmas Eve that kept him going. The events of the past thirty years have arrived to this Christmas, with OS's hopes and fears so overwhelmingly met that words fail. The story can't be told for decades yet. But it does find a parallel in the story told at King's.
Merry Christmas, ya'll, wherever Christmas finds you this year. It's a privilege to know that a few folks around the world read his scribbles and benefit from them.
The link to access the webcast is here.
3:00 pm GMT BBC Radio 4
In the US:
10:00 am Eastern
9:00 am Central
8:00 am Mountain
7:00 am Pacific
It begins with one boy's voice, singing in the silence:
'Once in royal David's city, stood a lowly cattle shed...',
as humble and understated an event as the Incarnation itself.
Quietly, and with that calm British dignity, the story is read from scripture, the carols are sung, from Genesis to the first chapter of John's gospel. Few experiences are more moving than to sit still and listen to the story told in this manner.
This week, OS ruminated over the past decades of Christmases from 1980.
Some of those years were very good, some incredibly dark. Some years, it was that ninety minutes on Christmas Eve that kept him going. The events of the past thirty years have arrived to this Christmas, with OS's hopes and fears so overwhelmingly met that words fail. The story can't be told for decades yet. But it does find a parallel in the story told at King's.
Merry Christmas, ya'll, wherever Christmas finds you this year. It's a privilege to know that a few folks around the world read his scribbles and benefit from them.
The link to access the webcast is here.
3:00 pm GMT BBC Radio 4
In the US:
10:00 am Eastern
9:00 am Central
8:00 am Mountain
7:00 am Pacific
First White Christmas Since 1993 On The Way To Middle Tennessee!
OS plans to hunker down. This could be quite something. Conditions are developing for a real snowfall.
There had been plans earlier in the year to visit friends in the UK this week--blessedly canceled, considering the chaos winter has created there. We could have traveled over into one blizzard and home to another. Hunkering down seems like the better option. Oh to be a kid again, with a sled, a dog, a long hill, and the fearlessness of youth. Christmas 1969 was magical.
From National Weather Service:
..POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL ON CHRISTMAS IN
17 YEARS...
A STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES WILL MOVE INTO
THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES THIS WEEKEND INCLUDING MIDDLE TENNESSEE.
MOISTURE WILL BE DRAWN NORTH AHEAD OF THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AS
COLDER AIR SINKS SOUTHWARD. A MIX OF SNOW...SLEET AND RAIN IS
EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH SNOW CONTINUING INTO SATURDAY NIGHT.
AT THIS TIME...AN ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH UP TO TWO
INCHES OVER MOST PARTS OF THE MID STATE AND UP TO THREE INCHES
ALONG THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU BY LATE SUNDAY. SINCE THIS EVENT IS
STILL TWO TO THREE DAYS AWAY...UNCERTAINITY REMAINS IN THE
EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE STORM SYSTEM AND SNOW AMOUNTS.
PEOPLE PLANNING TRAVEL ON CHRISTMAS EVE OR CHRISTMAS DAY...MAY
WANT TO CONSIDER TRAVELING EARLIER...PERHAPS THURSDAY OR EARLY FRIDAY
AS IT APPEARS THE WINTRY PRECIPITATION COULD BEGIN IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
AS EARLY AS FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AS ROAD CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY DETERIORATE
QUICKLY ONCE THE SNOW BEGINS.
THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY NINE CHRISTMASES WITH MEASURABLE AMOUNTS OF
SNOW SINCE SNOWFALL RECORD KEEPING BEGAN IN NASHVILLE BACK IN THE
WINTER OF 1884 AND 1885. THE LAST TIME MEASURABLE SNOW FELL ON
CHRISTMAS DAY IN NASHVILLE WAS IN 1993 WHEN THREE TENTHS OF AN
INCH WAS MEASURED. TRACE AMOUNTS OF SNOW FELL ON CHRISTMAS IN
2002. STATISTICALLY THERE IS ONLY A 7 PERCENT CHANCE OF MEASURABLE
SNOW ON ANY GIVEN CHRISTMAS. THE MOST SNOW EVER TO FALL ON
CHRISTMAS IN NASHVILLE IS 2.7 INCHES IN 1969.
There had been plans earlier in the year to visit friends in the UK this week--blessedly canceled, considering the chaos winter has created there. We could have traveled over into one blizzard and home to another. Hunkering down seems like the better option. Oh to be a kid again, with a sled, a dog, a long hill, and the fearlessness of youth. Christmas 1969 was magical.
From National Weather Service:
..POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL ON CHRISTMAS IN
17 YEARS...
A STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES WILL MOVE INTO
THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES THIS WEEKEND INCLUDING MIDDLE TENNESSEE.
MOISTURE WILL BE DRAWN NORTH AHEAD OF THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AS
COLDER AIR SINKS SOUTHWARD. A MIX OF SNOW...SLEET AND RAIN IS
EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH SNOW CONTINUING INTO SATURDAY NIGHT.
AT THIS TIME...AN ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH UP TO TWO
INCHES OVER MOST PARTS OF THE MID STATE AND UP TO THREE INCHES
ALONG THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU BY LATE SUNDAY. SINCE THIS EVENT IS
STILL TWO TO THREE DAYS AWAY...UNCERTAINITY REMAINS IN THE
EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE STORM SYSTEM AND SNOW AMOUNTS.
PEOPLE PLANNING TRAVEL ON CHRISTMAS EVE OR CHRISTMAS DAY...MAY
WANT TO CONSIDER TRAVELING EARLIER...PERHAPS THURSDAY OR EARLY FRIDAY
AS IT APPEARS THE WINTRY PRECIPITATION COULD BEGIN IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
AS EARLY AS FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AS ROAD CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY DETERIORATE
QUICKLY ONCE THE SNOW BEGINS.
THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY NINE CHRISTMASES WITH MEASURABLE AMOUNTS OF
SNOW SINCE SNOWFALL RECORD KEEPING BEGAN IN NASHVILLE BACK IN THE
WINTER OF 1884 AND 1885. THE LAST TIME MEASURABLE SNOW FELL ON
CHRISTMAS DAY IN NASHVILLE WAS IN 1993 WHEN THREE TENTHS OF AN
INCH WAS MEASURED. TRACE AMOUNTS OF SNOW FELL ON CHRISTMAS IN
2002. STATISTICALLY THERE IS ONLY A 7 PERCENT CHANCE OF MEASURABLE
SNOW ON ANY GIVEN CHRISTMAS. THE MOST SNOW EVER TO FALL ON
CHRISTMAS IN NASHVILLE IS 2.7 INCHES IN 1969.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Nile Gardiner Says It Best: Obama As The Anti-Reagan
Sometimes, it takes a view from overseas to confirm what we dare not tell ourselves.
With Barack Obama there appears to be no great moral cause which drives his foreign policy, no overarching strategy for enhancing American global power, no concept of a global war against Islamist militants, and no desire to strengthen America’s defences. In fact Obama’s approach to international affairs is the exact opposite of Reagan’s. It is based upon a naïve belief that America’s enemies can be won over through “engagement” rather than confronted with maximum strength, and that US security can be advanced by making major concessions. Obama’s extending the hand of friendship to Iran, and his drive to sign a New START Treaty with Moscow which gives the Russians a say over America’s missile defence plans are perfect examples.
Jesse recalls words from a distance of over four decades, the words of Bobby Kennedy.
It is not realistic to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgement, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief; forces ultimately more powerful than all the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
Both posts within one-half hour of one another, authors five time zones separated from the other.
Any questions?
With Barack Obama there appears to be no great moral cause which drives his foreign policy, no overarching strategy for enhancing American global power, no concept of a global war against Islamist militants, and no desire to strengthen America’s defences. In fact Obama’s approach to international affairs is the exact opposite of Reagan’s. It is based upon a naïve belief that America’s enemies can be won over through “engagement” rather than confronted with maximum strength, and that US security can be advanced by making major concessions. Obama’s extending the hand of friendship to Iran, and his drive to sign a New START Treaty with Moscow which gives the Russians a say over America’s missile defence plans are perfect examples.
Jesse recalls words from a distance of over four decades, the words of Bobby Kennedy.
It is not realistic to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgement, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief; forces ultimately more powerful than all the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
Both posts within one-half hour of one another, authors five time zones separated from the other.
Any questions?
A Christmas Gift To Give Yourself: The King's Singers Christmas Special With Mormon Tabernacle Choir
You can purchase it here.
OS has had the joy of hearing The Kings Singers in person several times over the past few years, and nominates them for the Green Shoots Award for 2010.
They sing flawlessly, with enough confidence to record a live album at Cadogan Hall in London this month, and sell it hot off the CD duplicator to the audience in attendance. That requires truckloads of chutzpah in this age of manufactured studio recordings. You can buy that one here.
It isn't just the flawless singing, across every musical genre, from Renaissance to avant-garde to Beatles and jazz--it's the joy and goodwill they exude. After every concert, they stand on their feet for another hour and talk with any and all in the lobby afterward, patiently answering the same questions, spreading good cheer, signing programs and CD's, having their pictures taken, etc. etc. etc. All gladly done, and in many ways, the best part of the event for the audience.
OS had heard the group as they were in the throes of preparation for the Mormon Tabernacle special, which involved several journeys to Utah. They were excited about the project, and tonight, OS heard why. It was just...glorious. Not just their singing, but the whole event.
So, this one gets bought for the family collection, even though it arrives next week.
If any of OS's readers are within any reasonable drive of a Kings Singers concert--don't deny yourself the joy of hearing them. The entertainment industry has been sucking the culture dry for decades. These guys add value back in, everywhere they go.
Their website, and a jolly good one it is, is here.
OS has had the joy of hearing The Kings Singers in person several times over the past few years, and nominates them for the Green Shoots Award for 2010.
They sing flawlessly, with enough confidence to record a live album at Cadogan Hall in London this month, and sell it hot off the CD duplicator to the audience in attendance. That requires truckloads of chutzpah in this age of manufactured studio recordings. You can buy that one here.
It isn't just the flawless singing, across every musical genre, from Renaissance to avant-garde to Beatles and jazz--it's the joy and goodwill they exude. After every concert, they stand on their feet for another hour and talk with any and all in the lobby afterward, patiently answering the same questions, spreading good cheer, signing programs and CD's, having their pictures taken, etc. etc. etc. All gladly done, and in many ways, the best part of the event for the audience.
OS had heard the group as they were in the throes of preparation for the Mormon Tabernacle special, which involved several journeys to Utah. They were excited about the project, and tonight, OS heard why. It was just...glorious. Not just their singing, but the whole event.
So, this one gets bought for the family collection, even though it arrives next week.
If any of OS's readers are within any reasonable drive of a Kings Singers concert--don't deny yourself the joy of hearing them. The entertainment industry has been sucking the culture dry for decades. These guys add value back in, everywhere they go.
Their website, and a jolly good one it is, is here.
QE2: Central Banks Around The World Begin Quietly Heading For The Exits
It had to happen, sooner or later.
It is evident, with the wholesale printing of money by the Fed, Harry Reid's attempt to bend the culture over the table with a 2000 page omnibus spending bill, and all those WikiLeaks cables circulating: There are no grownups in charge in Washington.
Yet.
So, our creditors are beginning to do what all prudent investors do: Get out of town while they can.
All that hot cash gotta land somewhere. Oil/gas/gold/silver/soybean/wheat/rice price spikes, anyone?
Thanks, Barry.
Thanks, Ben.
Thanks, Congress.
It is evident, with the wholesale printing of money by the Fed, Harry Reid's attempt to bend the culture over the table with a 2000 page omnibus spending bill, and all those WikiLeaks cables circulating: There are no grownups in charge in Washington.
Yet.
So, our creditors are beginning to do what all prudent investors do: Get out of town while they can.
All that hot cash gotta land somewhere. Oil/gas/gold/silver/soybean/wheat/rice price spikes, anyone?
Thanks, Barry.
Thanks, Ben.
Thanks, Congress.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thomas Hardy 'The Oxen': Christmas In Our Time
If you have the privilege of attending a performance of Vaughan-Williams' Hodie,
you will be surprised to experience that the piece's central moment occurs several minutes before its conclusion, when the baritone sings the wonderful setting of Thomas Hardy's poem, 'The Oxen'.
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
“Now they are all on their knees,”
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen.
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few believe
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve
“Come; see the oxen kneel
“In the lonely barton by yonder comb
Our childhood used to know,”
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.
It is often intoned that we live in an age of skepticism, a 'post-modern' age, an age of disbelief.
OS begs to differ. He thinks we live in an Age of Disappointment. So much technical progress, so little human progress, so many utopian dreams gone so tragically wrong.
We hear the Song of the Angels, see the images of the Holy Family at the creche, hear the promise of outrageous grace offered us in that child, and so many of us head the other direction, away from the manger. We'll not get taken in this time, thank you. It's too good to be true, and we've learned not to play the sucker.
But, the question lingers: What if, hope against hope, it is all true? If God showed up as one of us, then that has to change our view of things.
This is what Thomas Hardy captured so succinctly, and what Vaughan-Williams set to music so sensitively.
And, here we all are, hoping it might be so.
OS's hope this Christmas is that we will all 'go with him in the gloom', run toward the manger instead of away from it. Our hope lies there, and nowhere else.
you will be surprised to experience that the piece's central moment occurs several minutes before its conclusion, when the baritone sings the wonderful setting of Thomas Hardy's poem, 'The Oxen'.
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
“Now they are all on their knees,”
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen.
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few believe
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve
“Come; see the oxen kneel
“In the lonely barton by yonder comb
Our childhood used to know,”
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.
It is often intoned that we live in an age of skepticism, a 'post-modern' age, an age of disbelief.
OS begs to differ. He thinks we live in an Age of Disappointment. So much technical progress, so little human progress, so many utopian dreams gone so tragically wrong.
We hear the Song of the Angels, see the images of the Holy Family at the creche, hear the promise of outrageous grace offered us in that child, and so many of us head the other direction, away from the manger. We'll not get taken in this time, thank you. It's too good to be true, and we've learned not to play the sucker.
But, the question lingers: What if, hope against hope, it is all true? If God showed up as one of us, then that has to change our view of things.
This is what Thomas Hardy captured so succinctly, and what Vaughan-Williams set to music so sensitively.
And, here we all are, hoping it might be so.
OS's hope this Christmas is that we will all 'go with him in the gloom', run toward the manger instead of away from it. Our hope lies there, and nowhere else.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Let No Good Deed...(In Maryland)...
...go unpunished.
Looks like any idiot can qualify for a gun-and-badge these days.
This idiot never stopped to consider that his victims might tell their story to the local CBS affiliate.
Looks like any idiot can qualify for a gun-and-badge these days.
This idiot never stopped to consider that his victims might tell their story to the local CBS affiliate.
OldSouth's Christmas List
No, no, no...not a list of stuff he wants. He's got more stuff than he can use, needs to offload some of it, if truth be known. He's overwhelmingly blessed above anything he deserves. Making a list of desired 'stuff' would be, well, crass.
And not a snarky list of things he's like to see happen, like seeing Zimbabwe Ben marooned in Zimbabwe for six weeks...other people do that stuff better anyway.
Rather, OS hopes to make a list of suggestions for a happy, blessed Christmas, here in The New Normal; which, if we take the right approach, could make it a really great Christmas for his readers.
If you live within a drive of a city or university town in the English-speaking world, there is at least one church (usually more) offering really good Christmas music--like performances of Messiah, or Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Avoid the schlock churned out by the evangelicals, all throwaway cheesiness with dramatic sounding titles like 'Bethlehem's Hour' or 'The Sheep Meet The Baby King Jesus'. It's just shit, and is best avoided.
If you're really fortunate, you'll get to attend a performance of of Ralph Vaughan-Williams' Hodie, hands-down one of the best pieces of music produced in the twentieth century.
The good 'organs and choir robes' churches also provide Christmas Eve services. OS hopes you avail yourself of that opportunity as well.
On Christmas Eve afternoon, at 3:00 pm UK time (that's 10:00 am Eastern US, 9:00 am Central US), the great tradition of Lessons and Carols from Kings is heard 'round the world via BBC3.
Many American Public Media radio affiliates carry the broadcast as well.
The Lessons and Carols service is a work of genius. An opening hymn, a bidding prayer, nine lessons from the Bible retelling the story from Genesis through the Gospel of John, nine sung carols. No sermon needed, and one of the most powerful presentations of the Christian message ever devised.
The service booklet is found here. It's a valuable aid as you follow the service.
And, if you'll notice--almost every bit of this glorious Christmas music is offered gratis to the community.
A blessed Christmas to all.
And not a snarky list of things he's like to see happen, like seeing Zimbabwe Ben marooned in Zimbabwe for six weeks...other people do that stuff better anyway.
Rather, OS hopes to make a list of suggestions for a happy, blessed Christmas, here in The New Normal; which, if we take the right approach, could make it a really great Christmas for his readers.
If you live within a drive of a city or university town in the English-speaking world, there is at least one church (usually more) offering really good Christmas music--like performances of Messiah, or Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Avoid the schlock churned out by the evangelicals, all throwaway cheesiness with dramatic sounding titles like 'Bethlehem's Hour' or 'The Sheep Meet The Baby King Jesus'. It's just shit, and is best avoided.
If you're really fortunate, you'll get to attend a performance of of Ralph Vaughan-Williams' Hodie, hands-down one of the best pieces of music produced in the twentieth century.
The good 'organs and choir robes' churches also provide Christmas Eve services. OS hopes you avail yourself of that opportunity as well.
On Christmas Eve afternoon, at 3:00 pm UK time (that's 10:00 am Eastern US, 9:00 am Central US), the great tradition of Lessons and Carols from Kings is heard 'round the world via BBC3.
Many American Public Media radio affiliates carry the broadcast as well.
The Lessons and Carols service is a work of genius. An opening hymn, a bidding prayer, nine lessons from the Bible retelling the story from Genesis through the Gospel of John, nine sung carols. No sermon needed, and one of the most powerful presentations of the Christian message ever devised.
The service booklet is found here. It's a valuable aid as you follow the service.
And, if you'll notice--almost every bit of this glorious Christmas music is offered gratis to the community.
A blessed Christmas to all.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Lunch In Zimbabwe: HT Greg Mankiw
Greg Mankiw, an econ professor at Harvard, occasionally shares photos from colleagues and students in their travels. The pics from Zimbabwe, the poster child of Quantitative Easing, never fail to entertain. Or give one pause.
By the way, the price of milk, eggs, cheese, and other staples are beginning to climb rapidly on the store shelves. What happens to a culture with 20% unemployment and rising costs of staples?
We may soon find out. Jesse's post from this morning contains a detailed account.
By the way, the price of milk, eggs, cheese, and other staples are beginning to climb rapidly on the store shelves. What happens to a culture with 20% unemployment and rising costs of staples?
We may soon find out. Jesse's post from this morning contains a detailed account.
The Reid Bend-The-Culture-Over-The-Table Omnibus Bill Appears To Be Dead. For Now.
Here's hoping the report is accurate.
Reported by National Review this evening:
Speaking now on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) says he is “sorry and disappointed” to announce that he does not have the votes for the omnibus spending package. Instead, he will work with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) to draft a temporary continuing resolution to fund the government into early next year.
Reid says nine Republican senators approached him today to tell him that while they would like to see the bill passed, they could not vote for it. He did not reveal the names of the nine. A top Senate source tells National Review Online that “it looks like Harry Reid buckled under the threat of Republicans reading [the bill] aloud.”
Reid says he intends to file cloture tonight on the DREAM Act and repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, with an aim toward holding up-or-down votes on Saturday.
It's difficult to know how to begin to describe the magnitude of the outrage this bill was, how it was dropped upon the Senate with no notice, with the demand that yet another 2000-page (plus hundreds of pages of technical specs) be voted on without the chance to be read or debated. Over 1 trillion dollars. Pork projects stretching to the horizon.
The word 'reckless' comes to mind.
'Juvenile'. 'Cynical'. 'Shameless'. 'Dangerous'. 'Evil'.
It was, at heart, a legislative attempt to nullify the November election. Had it passed, Obama would have signed it in a heartbeat, rendering the new Congress in great part powerless to carry out the reforms and reductions in spending demanded by the electorate. A 60+ seat swing in the House in a mid-term is a powerful correction. Add several seats gained by conservatives in the Senate, and it is a clear indication of the mood of the electorate.
OS does not advocate violence, but he fears it may yet occur (and in this instance may have occurred), if the Administration and its fellow travelers attempt to nullify the effect of elections via the legislative process, the regulatory process, and the veto.
When people come to believe that their votes (and electoral efforts, such as donations and canvassing) are futile, cultures tend to boil over. Once the political violence genie is loosed from its captivity, things have a way of going in all manner of unexpected and tragic directions. 1861-65 should remain fresh in our minds. It is unnerving to see the scenes from Athens and London as well. We're not immune here, ya'll.
Please, for the love of God and country, we don't want to go that route. Kudos to Mitch McConnell, Tom Coburn, and so many others who stood tall this week. Shame on GOP senators like Snowe and Collins of Maine and Bennett of Utah, who would have unblinkingly voted for this tragedy. Bennett's gone with this Congress, and someone-somewhere in Maine, please challenge for those seats in the primary at next opportunity.
Even if you aren't the perfect candidate--it doesn't require a genius to stand up and vote 'NO' when ridiculous bills come up.
Reported by National Review this evening:
Speaking now on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) says he is “sorry and disappointed” to announce that he does not have the votes for the omnibus spending package. Instead, he will work with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) to draft a temporary continuing resolution to fund the government into early next year.
Reid says nine Republican senators approached him today to tell him that while they would like to see the bill passed, they could not vote for it. He did not reveal the names of the nine. A top Senate source tells National Review Online that “it looks like Harry Reid buckled under the threat of Republicans reading [the bill] aloud.”
Reid says he intends to file cloture tonight on the DREAM Act and repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, with an aim toward holding up-or-down votes on Saturday.
It's difficult to know how to begin to describe the magnitude of the outrage this bill was, how it was dropped upon the Senate with no notice, with the demand that yet another 2000-page (plus hundreds of pages of technical specs) be voted on without the chance to be read or debated. Over 1 trillion dollars. Pork projects stretching to the horizon.
The word 'reckless' comes to mind.
'Juvenile'. 'Cynical'. 'Shameless'. 'Dangerous'. 'Evil'.
It was, at heart, a legislative attempt to nullify the November election. Had it passed, Obama would have signed it in a heartbeat, rendering the new Congress in great part powerless to carry out the reforms and reductions in spending demanded by the electorate. A 60+ seat swing in the House in a mid-term is a powerful correction. Add several seats gained by conservatives in the Senate, and it is a clear indication of the mood of the electorate.
OS does not advocate violence, but he fears it may yet occur (and in this instance may have occurred), if the Administration and its fellow travelers attempt to nullify the effect of elections via the legislative process, the regulatory process, and the veto.
When people come to believe that their votes (and electoral efforts, such as donations and canvassing) are futile, cultures tend to boil over. Once the political violence genie is loosed from its captivity, things have a way of going in all manner of unexpected and tragic directions. 1861-65 should remain fresh in our minds. It is unnerving to see the scenes from Athens and London as well. We're not immune here, ya'll.
Please, for the love of God and country, we don't want to go that route. Kudos to Mitch McConnell, Tom Coburn, and so many others who stood tall this week. Shame on GOP senators like Snowe and Collins of Maine and Bennett of Utah, who would have unblinkingly voted for this tragedy. Bennett's gone with this Congress, and someone-somewhere in Maine, please challenge for those seats in the primary at next opportunity.
Even if you aren't the perfect candidate--it doesn't require a genius to stand up and vote 'NO' when ridiculous bills come up.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Just Another Day For Big Sis and DHS
Stonewalling FOIA request for results of a DHS investigation of the case of an illegal alien, with two DUI's, never deported, who drove drunk again, and killed a nun.
Since he was smuggled in as a child, he would be one of those eligible to remain under the terms of the DREAM act pushed by Harry Reid.
Wonder if the stonewall coincided with the need to have zero bad news whilst trying to flog this legislation through?
On to another tragedy: Last night's murder of a Border Patrol agent in Arizona.
No problem...the lawsuit against Arizona continues...'cuz BigSis assures us there's really not a problem, except that the Governor and Legislature and citizenry are all racist and stuff and don't have the right to run their own state 'cuz they not our kind of people...
And that the violence will remain on the Mexican side of the border, and we need to be more welcoming and accommodating to all those poor immigrants, and...
Since he was smuggled in as a child, he would be one of those eligible to remain under the terms of the DREAM act pushed by Harry Reid.
Wonder if the stonewall coincided with the need to have zero bad news whilst trying to flog this legislation through?
On to another tragedy: Last night's murder of a Border Patrol agent in Arizona.
No problem...the lawsuit against Arizona continues...'cuz BigSis assures us there's really not a problem, except that the Governor and Legislature and citizenry are all racist and stuff and don't have the right to run their own state 'cuz they not our kind of people...
And that the violence will remain on the Mexican side of the border, and we need to be more welcoming and accommodating to all those poor immigrants, and...
The Great Lame-Duck Porkulous Omnibus Push The Country Over The Cliff Budget Bill
Introduced today, Dec. 14, 2010, at 12:15 pm.
The take-it-or-leave-it, no-need-to-debate-it, bend-the-country-over-the-table, Mother-of-all-spending-bills.
Including:
$277,000 for potato pest management in Wisconsin
$246,000 for bovine tuberculosis in Michigan and Minnesota
$522,000 for cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in New Jersey
$500,000 for oyster safety in Florida
$349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina
$413,000 for peanut research in Alabama
$247,000 for virus free wine grapes in Washington
$208,000 beaver management in North Carolina
$94,000 for blackbird management in Louisiana
$165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont
$235,000 for noxious weed management in Nevada
$100,000 for the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage Visitor’s Center in New York
$300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii
$400,000 for solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas
And that's just one recital of a few of the items, taken from a cursory glance...
And we wonder why the world is beginning to run the hell away from our Treasury debt?
The take-it-or-leave-it, no-need-to-debate-it, bend-the-country-over-the-table, Mother-of-all-spending-bills.
Including:
$277,000 for potato pest management in Wisconsin
$246,000 for bovine tuberculosis in Michigan and Minnesota
$522,000 for cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in New Jersey
$500,000 for oyster safety in Florida
$349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina
$413,000 for peanut research in Alabama
$247,000 for virus free wine grapes in Washington
$208,000 beaver management in North Carolina
$94,000 for blackbird management in Louisiana
$165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont
$235,000 for noxious weed management in Nevada
$100,000 for the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage Visitor’s Center in New York
$300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii
$400,000 for solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas
And that's just one recital of a few of the items, taken from a cursory glance...
And we wonder why the world is beginning to run the hell away from our Treasury debt?
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Boehner: 'I Thought The Election Was Over'
Really, he said that.
He also said:
“You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”
Poor guy, he hasn't read the memo: For people like Obama, Miz Nancy, John Kerry, Barney Frank, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin (The list stretches on to the horizon.), the campaign never ends!
It's what they live for, John! That next thrilling Tuesday when they count the votes and decide who's loved and who's not. Sort of like sophomore class president elections.
Govern? Govern? That's for chumps!
To be fair to Mr. Boehner, he suffers from his sincerity. He's so very small-town Midwest--unglamorous, to the point, blunt, impatient with idiots, just wants to get the job done and move on to the next thing to get done. He's a grownup trapped in a frat house, trying to keep the kids from burning the place down, explaining that Mom-n-Dad have cancelled the credit cards.
OS wishes him well, and does not mean to ridicule him. He's a good man, with a tough job ahead of him.
And that bit about playing golf with Obama? Don't hold yer breath, John. You understand what the game is about, that hard core of integrity and dedication required to play well. He's not about to tee it up with you, good buddy.
He also said:
“You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”
Poor guy, he hasn't read the memo: For people like Obama, Miz Nancy, John Kerry, Barney Frank, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin (The list stretches on to the horizon.), the campaign never ends!
It's what they live for, John! That next thrilling Tuesday when they count the votes and decide who's loved and who's not. Sort of like sophomore class president elections.
Govern? Govern? That's for chumps!
To be fair to Mr. Boehner, he suffers from his sincerity. He's so very small-town Midwest--unglamorous, to the point, blunt, impatient with idiots, just wants to get the job done and move on to the next thing to get done. He's a grownup trapped in a frat house, trying to keep the kids from burning the place down, explaining that Mom-n-Dad have cancelled the credit cards.
OS wishes him well, and does not mean to ridicule him. He's a good man, with a tough job ahead of him.
And that bit about playing golf with Obama? Don't hold yer breath, John. You understand what the game is about, that hard core of integrity and dedication required to play well. He's not about to tee it up with you, good buddy.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Culture/Economy, Economy/Culture: NYT Comments On Unemployment Rate For NYC's Young Black Male Population
It's all so politely phrased, but it sets OS's hair on fire to read it.
The report, written by Michelle Holder, a labor market analyst with the Community Service Society, noted that during the recession that began in December 2007, working-age black men suffered an especially large increase of unemployment. The jobless rate for that group jumped to 17.9 percent in 2009 from 9 percent in 2006. Among young men of all races, age 16 to 24, the overall jobless rate rose to 24.6 percent during the recession.
The report, entitled “Unemployment in New York City During the Recession and Early Recovery,” noted that the jobless rate for Hispanic men, age 16 to 24, rose to 24.7 percent during the recession, while their labor force participation rate was 42 percent. For all men age 16 to 24 in New York City, the jobless rate was 22.4 percent during the period studied, while the labor force participation rate was 42 percent. According to the report, women with less than a high school diploma had the lowest labor force participation rate of any group: 28 percent.
The group with the lowest jobless rate during the recession and the early part of the recovery — the recession ended in June 2009 — was Asian women, age 55 to 64. Their unemployment rate in 2009 was 4.5 percent, the report found.
The crucial bit for OS is that 'participation rate'. If 42 percent are 'participating', i.e. employed or actively in the system seeking employment, then 58 percent are off the radar. They don't have enough hope or belief in the future to participate in the above-ground economy or culture.
Contrast with the Asian women 55-64 stat.
This is not a racist rant, not at all. The difference in culture, expectations, family dynamics, etc. impact these numbers so strongly. It isn't that people with black skin or hispanic heritage are inherently incapable--but something happened along the way, and amongst their young men, the level of belief in the future has faded away.
So, where are they? Where do they go? What do they do? What does the future look like for them?
What should we be doing about this? Whatever we've done to date hasn't worked, so please--no more rants from the Left about how we should just throw more money in the direction of the NEA and Urban League.
The report, written by Michelle Holder, a labor market analyst with the Community Service Society, noted that during the recession that began in December 2007, working-age black men suffered an especially large increase of unemployment. The jobless rate for that group jumped to 17.9 percent in 2009 from 9 percent in 2006. Among young men of all races, age 16 to 24, the overall jobless rate rose to 24.6 percent during the recession.
The report, entitled “Unemployment in New York City During the Recession and Early Recovery,” noted that the jobless rate for Hispanic men, age 16 to 24, rose to 24.7 percent during the recession, while their labor force participation rate was 42 percent. For all men age 16 to 24 in New York City, the jobless rate was 22.4 percent during the period studied, while the labor force participation rate was 42 percent. According to the report, women with less than a high school diploma had the lowest labor force participation rate of any group: 28 percent.
The group with the lowest jobless rate during the recession and the early part of the recovery — the recession ended in June 2009 — was Asian women, age 55 to 64. Their unemployment rate in 2009 was 4.5 percent, the report found.
The crucial bit for OS is that 'participation rate'. If 42 percent are 'participating', i.e. employed or actively in the system seeking employment, then 58 percent are off the radar. They don't have enough hope or belief in the future to participate in the above-ground economy or culture.
Contrast with the Asian women 55-64 stat.
This is not a racist rant, not at all. The difference in culture, expectations, family dynamics, etc. impact these numbers so strongly. It isn't that people with black skin or hispanic heritage are inherently incapable--but something happened along the way, and amongst their young men, the level of belief in the future has faded away.
So, where are they? Where do they go? What do they do? What does the future look like for them?
What should we be doing about this? Whatever we've done to date hasn't worked, so please--no more rants from the Left about how we should just throw more money in the direction of the NEA and Urban League.
Following The Trail Of Bread Crumbs: Sirius XM
OS follows a few stocks with interest, sometimes owning them, sometimes not, so he's not trying to pump his portfolio today, or ever. Life is too short, and he assumes his readers aren't stupid.
Sirius XM is a very cool service, in OS's humble opinion. He's considering installing it in Mrs. OS's car for Christmas, since she tends to drive around a bit for her profession. There are home and portable systems as well, but the lion's share of its business comes from car installations.
Sirius as a stock has had a perilous history, with a lot of fluctuations, a merger with XM, loads of debt, and...Howard Stern.
Brandon Matthews is the pseudonym for a financial blogger who follows Sirius. He's been screaming 'Buy, Buy, Buy!' for quite a while, and he's been right! Stock has gone 'to-the-moon-Alice' this year. Now, it's stalled, and he's questioning why.
There are are number of reasons, but it comes back to that automotive install 'thing'. And to the realities of The New Normal.
Edmunds.com wrote that subprime lending deals are “booming,” based on a report from Experian. Bear in mind that this Expedia report of “booming” lending in the subprime arena was probably released on the day that Sirius XM shares fell. Hmmm. The devil is in the details, and quite frankly the only thing “booming,” is the rate in which consumers are avoiding new car purchases.
Despite higher priced loans this year, the loan balances of financial institutions are plummeting. In the third quarter, the average loan financed increased $2500.00 over the third quarter of 2009. Yet the total outstanding automotive loan balance dropped $23 BILLION in the same period, which Edmunds describes as “another indicator consumers are not replacing existing vehicles in their households.”
He has more to say, and includes an interesting chart to illustrate.
Long story short, nothing and nobody escapes the reality of the real economy, the one that people like us out here in the heartland live in. This household is not replacing cars anytime soon, but is planning to spend about 6k next year to keep its fleet of three in good health. OS will happily write checks to JimBob The Local Mechanic, but it will be 2012 (at least) before he'll willingly make that next purchase.
Which will be a used car. In cash.
Who in their right mind, in this climate, signs a six-year note on a rapidly deflating asset like a car? Who allows a lender to hold a gun to the family's head, if it can be avoided?
OS has much much more to say, but is attempting to remain pithy.
Moh', latuh.
(N.B.: OS made some money on Sirius, but got cold feet last month and cashed out. No position currently. Read the disclaimer to your right, 'cuz OS's advice and two bucks will buy you a cup of overpriced coffee.)
Sirius XM is a very cool service, in OS's humble opinion. He's considering installing it in Mrs. OS's car for Christmas, since she tends to drive around a bit for her profession. There are home and portable systems as well, but the lion's share of its business comes from car installations.
Sirius as a stock has had a perilous history, with a lot of fluctuations, a merger with XM, loads of debt, and...Howard Stern.
Brandon Matthews is the pseudonym for a financial blogger who follows Sirius. He's been screaming 'Buy, Buy, Buy!' for quite a while, and he's been right! Stock has gone 'to-the-moon-Alice' this year. Now, it's stalled, and he's questioning why.
There are are number of reasons, but it comes back to that automotive install 'thing'. And to the realities of The New Normal.
Edmunds.com wrote that subprime lending deals are “booming,” based on a report from Experian. Bear in mind that this Expedia report of “booming” lending in the subprime arena was probably released on the day that Sirius XM shares fell. Hmmm. The devil is in the details, and quite frankly the only thing “booming,” is the rate in which consumers are avoiding new car purchases.
Despite higher priced loans this year, the loan balances of financial institutions are plummeting. In the third quarter, the average loan financed increased $2500.00 over the third quarter of 2009. Yet the total outstanding automotive loan balance dropped $23 BILLION in the same period, which Edmunds describes as “another indicator consumers are not replacing existing vehicles in their households.”
He has more to say, and includes an interesting chart to illustrate.
Long story short, nothing and nobody escapes the reality of the real economy, the one that people like us out here in the heartland live in. This household is not replacing cars anytime soon, but is planning to spend about 6k next year to keep its fleet of three in good health. OS will happily write checks to JimBob The Local Mechanic, but it will be 2012 (at least) before he'll willingly make that next purchase.
Which will be a used car. In cash.
Who in their right mind, in this climate, signs a six-year note on a rapidly deflating asset like a car? Who allows a lender to hold a gun to the family's head, if it can be avoided?
OS has much much more to say, but is attempting to remain pithy.
Moh', latuh.
(N.B.: OS made some money on Sirius, but got cold feet last month and cashed out. No position currently. Read the disclaimer to your right, 'cuz OS's advice and two bucks will buy you a cup of overpriced coffee.)
More Tales From The Land Of The New Normal: Louisville Orchestra/Indianapolis Symphony
Louisville Orchestra is in Chapter 11, and the musicians claim it shouldn't be.
Once again, the classic mistake of mistaking assets for cash flow rears its head.
Speaking of assets and cash flow: Indianapolis Symphony is deeply in the red, with its endowment crushed by the downturn, and Zimbambwe Ben making damn sure no organization can earn interest on what endowment remains.
Good luck to them both, here in the age of The New Normal...
Once again, the classic mistake of mistaking assets for cash flow rears its head.
Speaking of assets and cash flow: Indianapolis Symphony is deeply in the red, with its endowment crushed by the downturn, and Zimbambwe Ben making damn sure no organization can earn interest on what endowment remains.
Good luck to them both, here in the age of The New Normal...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Scotland Yard Seeking 14 In Connection With Attack On Charles And Camilla
...and the fifteenth hooligan is well-known, the son of a rock star, now attending Cambridge...
The fourteen's faces were published today, and OS passes the article along in an attempt to be neighborly.
If ya'll think all those rioters were students, these images should dispel that notion.
The Metropolitan Police refused to say which of those pictured was involved in a particular incident, but senior sources said officers were ‘very keen’ to identify all 14.
It is understood anarchists from Italy, Germany, Spain and Latvia were among the militants who brought mayhem to Central London.
Others came from as far away as Argentina, arrived in London at least a week before the protest and were involved in planning the attacks on the Treasury and the Palace of Westminster, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
Some are thought to belong to an anarchist group called Black Bloc, which originated in Holland and Germany, and has taken part in riots all over the world.
Hmmm...
But, a fifteenth participant has been identified.
And, he's a student at Cambridge, whose life won't be greatly affected by any rise in tuition fees.
The privately-educated pop star’s son who caused national outrage by swinging from the Union Flag on the Cenotaph was also seen clutching a rock for use as potential ammunition against the police.
As these exclusive pictures show, Charlie Gilmour – the adopted son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who is worth about £78 million – seemed prepared for violence as mayhem erupted during the protest over university tuition fees.
The 21-year-old grabbed the stone from roadworks in Whitehall. With a scarf wrapped around his face in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his identity, the long-haired Cambridge history student tossed and caught the missile menacingly with his right hand as police struggled to defend the Palace of Westminster from the mob.
Words are just inadequate to describe a kid like this, but 'ingrate sociopath' immediately comes to mind.
His name is Charlie Gilmour, and he is an amoral creep.
Mom and Dad, if your kid is at Cambridge (and it's not a big place), Charlie is close at hand, and could well become part of your family history.
Good luck.
The fourteen's faces were published today, and OS passes the article along in an attempt to be neighborly.
If ya'll think all those rioters were students, these images should dispel that notion.
The Metropolitan Police refused to say which of those pictured was involved in a particular incident, but senior sources said officers were ‘very keen’ to identify all 14.
It is understood anarchists from Italy, Germany, Spain and Latvia were among the militants who brought mayhem to Central London.
Others came from as far away as Argentina, arrived in London at least a week before the protest and were involved in planning the attacks on the Treasury and the Palace of Westminster, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
Some are thought to belong to an anarchist group called Black Bloc, which originated in Holland and Germany, and has taken part in riots all over the world.
Hmmm...
But, a fifteenth participant has been identified.
And, he's a student at Cambridge, whose life won't be greatly affected by any rise in tuition fees.
The privately-educated pop star’s son who caused national outrage by swinging from the Union Flag on the Cenotaph was also seen clutching a rock for use as potential ammunition against the police.
As these exclusive pictures show, Charlie Gilmour – the adopted son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who is worth about £78 million – seemed prepared for violence as mayhem erupted during the protest over university tuition fees.
The 21-year-old grabbed the stone from roadworks in Whitehall. With a scarf wrapped around his face in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his identity, the long-haired Cambridge history student tossed and caught the missile menacingly with his right hand as police struggled to defend the Palace of Westminster from the mob.
Words are just inadequate to describe a kid like this, but 'ingrate sociopath' immediately comes to mind.
His name is Charlie Gilmour, and he is an amoral creep.
Mom and Dad, if your kid is at Cambridge (and it's not a big place), Charlie is close at hand, and could well become part of your family history.
Good luck.
Joy Breaks Through: Year One Of Ben The Sprollie
In the darkest times, light breaks through in the most unexpected ways. Some weeks ago, OS tripped across a wonderful blog from Greenhill Farm, in Northern Ireland, which chronicles life on the farm and the joys of owning a small pack of working border collies.
Ben is a Sprollie, a cross between a springer spaniel and border collie. OS mis-identified him initially as a border collie. In any case, he's a fabulous dog.
It is a joyful relief to check in on this gang.
Today is Ben's first birthday, and here is the account of his first year from six weeks through today.
Enjoy.
Happy birthday, Ben. You're a credit to your breed.
Ben is a Sprollie, a cross between a springer spaniel and border collie. OS mis-identified him initially as a border collie. In any case, he's a fabulous dog.
It is a joyful relief to check in on this gang.
Today is Ben's first birthday, and here is the account of his first year from six weeks through today.
Enjoy.
Happy birthday, Ben. You're a credit to your breed.
Mark Madoff's Suicide: 'Nobody Wants To Believe The Truth'
This is tragically sad, especially for the children and loved ones left behind.
Condolences to the innocents who must go forward in the shadow of the Madoff tragedy.
A question is left suspended in the air: What 'truth' was he attempting to convey that no one wished to believe?
From today's WSJ:
NEW YORK—Bernard Madoff's elder son was found dead Saturday of an apparent suicide on the second anniversary of his father's arrest, according to law-enforcement officials.
Mark Madoff, 46 years old, was found hanged with a dog leash attached to a living-room-ceiling pipe in his apartment by his father-in-law, Martin London, law-enforcement officials said. A relative notified police around 7:30 a.m. No suicide note was found, the officials said.
Mark Madoff's 2-year-old son, Nick, was found unharmed in a bedroom in the apartment, along with a dog. Police said that because the toddler was left alone, they are notifying the city's Administration for Children's Services. The child was released to Mr. London. Detectives took at least one computer, an Apple, and BlackBerries as per a search warrant for analysis.
Law-enforcement officials said Mr. London went to the apartment in Manhattan's SoHo section at the request of Mark Madoff's wife, Stephanie Morgan, who was in Florida, where she received an email Saturday morning from her husband indicating that she should have someone check on their son. According to police, one email to her read "Please send someone to take care of Nick" and another "I love you." He also sent an email to his attorney, Martin Flumenbaum. According to police it read "Nobody wants to believe the truth. Please take care of my family."
It will take years and much research to sort out all the many stories that converged to create this enormous tragedy.
OS just hopes some lessons are learned along the way. Like, if something walks, talks, and quacks like a Ponzi scheme, it likely is. And that greed is a pernicious vice, because it seduces, captures, and then utterly destroys its victims, and everything they love, even if they die rich.
Condolences to the innocents who must go forward in the shadow of the Madoff tragedy.
A question is left suspended in the air: What 'truth' was he attempting to convey that no one wished to believe?
From today's WSJ:
NEW YORK—Bernard Madoff's elder son was found dead Saturday of an apparent suicide on the second anniversary of his father's arrest, according to law-enforcement officials.
Mark Madoff, 46 years old, was found hanged with a dog leash attached to a living-room-ceiling pipe in his apartment by his father-in-law, Martin London, law-enforcement officials said. A relative notified police around 7:30 a.m. No suicide note was found, the officials said.
Mark Madoff's 2-year-old son, Nick, was found unharmed in a bedroom in the apartment, along with a dog. Police said that because the toddler was left alone, they are notifying the city's Administration for Children's Services. The child was released to Mr. London. Detectives took at least one computer, an Apple, and BlackBerries as per a search warrant for analysis.
Law-enforcement officials said Mr. London went to the apartment in Manhattan's SoHo section at the request of Mark Madoff's wife, Stephanie Morgan, who was in Florida, where she received an email Saturday morning from her husband indicating that she should have someone check on their son. According to police, one email to her read "Please send someone to take care of Nick" and another "I love you." He also sent an email to his attorney, Martin Flumenbaum. According to police it read "Nobody wants to believe the truth. Please take care of my family."
It will take years and much research to sort out all the many stories that converged to create this enormous tragedy.
OS just hopes some lessons are learned along the way. Like, if something walks, talks, and quacks like a Ponzi scheme, it likely is. And that greed is a pernicious vice, because it seduces, captures, and then utterly destroys its victims, and everything they love, even if they die rich.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Bloomberg Poll On National Sentiment: Obama Does Not Fare Well
That Hope-n-Change magic has definitely worn off.
From Bloomberg, yesterday:
More than 50 percent of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when President Barack Obama took office, and two-thirds believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.
The survey, conducted Dec. 4-7, finds that 51 percent of respondents think their situation has deteriorated, compared with 35 percent who say they’re doing better. The balance isn’t sure. Americans have grown more downbeat about the country’s future in just the last couple of months, the poll shows. The pessimism cuts across political parties and age groups, and is common to both sexes.
In fairness, the article notes Reagan's low poll numbers at the same point of his first term.
But, this is different. Reagan did not go to war on the Constitution and the culture, and the streets did not fill with middle-class people begging for a return to the rule of law. He remained cheerful and decisive, even when the news was grim, and was guided by his love of country, not his loyalty to ideology.
He had also had four successful careers by the time he entered office, in the movies, in public relations, in TV, and as governor of California. He knew something about life, and how to work with people.
This, sadly, is a different day.
From Bloomberg, yesterday:
More than 50 percent of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when President Barack Obama took office, and two-thirds believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.
The survey, conducted Dec. 4-7, finds that 51 percent of respondents think their situation has deteriorated, compared with 35 percent who say they’re doing better. The balance isn’t sure. Americans have grown more downbeat about the country’s future in just the last couple of months, the poll shows. The pessimism cuts across political parties and age groups, and is common to both sexes.
In fairness, the article notes Reagan's low poll numbers at the same point of his first term.
But, this is different. Reagan did not go to war on the Constitution and the culture, and the streets did not fill with middle-class people begging for a return to the rule of law. He remained cheerful and decisive, even when the news was grim, and was guided by his love of country, not his loyalty to ideology.
He had also had four successful careers by the time he entered office, in the movies, in public relations, in TV, and as governor of California. He knew something about life, and how to work with people.
This, sadly, is a different day.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
The Knives Are Drawn, Blue On Blue: The Democrat Left Rejects The Tax Deal
OldSouth just loves watching the leftists do that circular firing squad thang!
Just in from HuffPost, about thirty minutes ago:
WASHINGTON -- In a meeting on Thursday morning, the House Democratic caucus rejected the president's proposed deal on the Bush tax cuts but did not fully submarine the possibility of its passage, multiple sources tell The Huffington Post.
Members, by voice vote, passed a motion to reject the deal as currently written. The motion had been put forward by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) and was seconded, informally, by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.).
"It was an indication of disapproval and a rejection of the deal as currently written," said one House Democratic aide.
The vote, which was conducted with something less than a full caucus present, was as much a repudiation of the substance of the deal as the White House's handling of it. According to sources, several members spoke out about the provision that deals with the estate tax, calling it too generous to the wealthy in its current incarnation. But there was also evident frustration with the administration for essentially cutting House Democrats out of the negotiations.
"The White House f---ed up in how they rolled this out and this is a vote sharing that frustration," said one aide. "But it is not a deal killer."
DeFazio added, "They said take it or leave it. We left it."
Hmmmm...OS remembers this was how the following initiatives were handled, in classic Leftie Politburo Take-It-Or-Leave-It fashion.
TARP: Remember how Henry Paulson demanded Congress give him dictatorial powers? When that failed, the whole stinking package was passed by the House (outside the limits of the Constitution) as a Senate bill that came to them. Not a word of protest from the Left. They were proud of what they did.
The Great Stimulus of 2009, in which Obama, Geithner, and Romer all swore that unemployment would be brought below 8%. Take it or leave it. They took it, proudly, and left us with the bill.
The GM and Chrysler bailouts, which turned bankruptcy law on its head. It was a proud moment for the Left.
Let's not forget Obamacare, ya'll, a true bend-the-culture-over-the-table moment if ever there were one. The Left were especially, hot-diggity proud of that one.
So, OS reads of their indignation with a bit of a grin on his grizzled face.
This quote is especially charming:
"The House was not consulted during the negotiations that produced this package, and our support cannot be taken for granted now or in the future," said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
(Thumping sound of old guy falling off his chair, laughing...)
The Lefties suffer from one basic delusion: They truly believe that all the wealth of a nation belongs to its government, and that it is dispensed to the serfs at the pleasure of the rulers. They didn't get the memo that that idea was repudiated in the sixteenth century, with the simultaneous emergence of both the Reformation and Renaissance. They despise the memo from 1792, the US Constitution.
They especially love the idea that they get to tax the labor and earnings of a person the entirety of his life, and if he manages to build wealth anyway, they get to steal it from his descendants.
Saddle up, ya'll. Gonna have to keep throwing these clowns out of office, from local town councils all the way to the White House. They just don't ever read the memos.
Just in from HuffPost, about thirty minutes ago:
WASHINGTON -- In a meeting on Thursday morning, the House Democratic caucus rejected the president's proposed deal on the Bush tax cuts but did not fully submarine the possibility of its passage, multiple sources tell The Huffington Post.
Members, by voice vote, passed a motion to reject the deal as currently written. The motion had been put forward by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) and was seconded, informally, by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.).
"It was an indication of disapproval and a rejection of the deal as currently written," said one House Democratic aide.
The vote, which was conducted with something less than a full caucus present, was as much a repudiation of the substance of the deal as the White House's handling of it. According to sources, several members spoke out about the provision that deals with the estate tax, calling it too generous to the wealthy in its current incarnation. But there was also evident frustration with the administration for essentially cutting House Democrats out of the negotiations.
"The White House f---ed up in how they rolled this out and this is a vote sharing that frustration," said one aide. "But it is not a deal killer."
DeFazio added, "They said take it or leave it. We left it."
Hmmmm...OS remembers this was how the following initiatives were handled, in classic Leftie Politburo Take-It-Or-Leave-It fashion.
TARP: Remember how Henry Paulson demanded Congress give him dictatorial powers? When that failed, the whole stinking package was passed by the House (outside the limits of the Constitution) as a Senate bill that came to them. Not a word of protest from the Left. They were proud of what they did.
The Great Stimulus of 2009, in which Obama, Geithner, and Romer all swore that unemployment would be brought below 8%. Take it or leave it. They took it, proudly, and left us with the bill.
The GM and Chrysler bailouts, which turned bankruptcy law on its head. It was a proud moment for the Left.
Let's not forget Obamacare, ya'll, a true bend-the-culture-over-the-table moment if ever there were one. The Left were especially, hot-diggity proud of that one.
So, OS reads of their indignation with a bit of a grin on his grizzled face.
This quote is especially charming:
"The House was not consulted during the negotiations that produced this package, and our support cannot be taken for granted now or in the future," said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
(Thumping sound of old guy falling off his chair, laughing...)
The Lefties suffer from one basic delusion: They truly believe that all the wealth of a nation belongs to its government, and that it is dispensed to the serfs at the pleasure of the rulers. They didn't get the memo that that idea was repudiated in the sixteenth century, with the simultaneous emergence of both the Reformation and Renaissance. They despise the memo from 1792, the US Constitution.
They especially love the idea that they get to tax the labor and earnings of a person the entirety of his life, and if he manages to build wealth anyway, they get to steal it from his descendants.
Saddle up, ya'll. Gonna have to keep throwing these clowns out of office, from local town councils all the way to the White House. They just don't ever read the memos.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
International Test Results In Reading, Math, Science: Shanghai Wins
OS keeps coming back to the same tired theme: We have major economic challenges as a result of the terrible way we have behaved as a culture for the past several decades.
The results have been published for the Program for International Student Assessment. Fifteen-year-olds around the world were tested for reading, math and sciences.
Here's a summary chart.
You'll have to keep scrolling down to find the United States students. Past Shanghai, Finland, Singapore, Hong Kong (Keep going, bubbah, this'll take a while!), Australia, Canada, etc.
Go browsing this evening to view the condition of Shanghai in 1945, to get a bit of perspective.
Now, what does this mean? By the time a kid is fifteen, his/her work ethic and intellectual curiosity is pretty well set in stone. There are exceptions, and OS has witnessed a blessed few of them, but they are exceptions. That means that the generation of kids now fifteen will struggle to compete with their peers in a global economy for the next fifty years!
Remember Jimmy Carter? OS does! This is the guy, who in payment for the votes of the NEA, established a new Cabinet department: The Department of Education. The message was as follows: Write us checks. Big ones. Bigger ones each subsequent year. If you don't do that, you are anti-educashun, and you obviously hate children.
We'll take it from here, and deliver you a wonderful educashon system, assuming you write us more checks, keep yoh' mouths shut, and don't question the experts, e.g., us. The NEA, Department of Education, and Democrat Party have lived hand-in-glove for over thirty years now. Hundreds of billions, poured down the rat-hole.
This hasn't worked well at all. The results are simply inexcusable.
For a sampling of what the NEA feeds its constituency on a daily basis, go here.
Time to begin the debate in earnest about what to do. It must begin with the admission of failure.
In the meantime, Mom and Dad, if you can--homeschool or private-school. If you can't do that, understand that the public schools have failed, and one way or another, you'll have to see that Junior arrives to adulthood as an educated person.
Best wishes.
The results have been published for the Program for International Student Assessment. Fifteen-year-olds around the world were tested for reading, math and sciences.
Here's a summary chart.
You'll have to keep scrolling down to find the United States students. Past Shanghai, Finland, Singapore, Hong Kong (Keep going, bubbah, this'll take a while!), Australia, Canada, etc.
Go browsing this evening to view the condition of Shanghai in 1945, to get a bit of perspective.
Now, what does this mean? By the time a kid is fifteen, his/her work ethic and intellectual curiosity is pretty well set in stone. There are exceptions, and OS has witnessed a blessed few of them, but they are exceptions. That means that the generation of kids now fifteen will struggle to compete with their peers in a global economy for the next fifty years!
Remember Jimmy Carter? OS does! This is the guy, who in payment for the votes of the NEA, established a new Cabinet department: The Department of Education. The message was as follows: Write us checks. Big ones. Bigger ones each subsequent year. If you don't do that, you are anti-educashun, and you obviously hate children.
We'll take it from here, and deliver you a wonderful educashon system, assuming you write us more checks, keep yoh' mouths shut, and don't question the experts, e.g., us. The NEA, Department of Education, and Democrat Party have lived hand-in-glove for over thirty years now. Hundreds of billions, poured down the rat-hole.
This hasn't worked well at all. The results are simply inexcusable.
For a sampling of what the NEA feeds its constituency on a daily basis, go here.
Time to begin the debate in earnest about what to do. It must begin with the admission of failure.
In the meantime, Mom and Dad, if you can--homeschool or private-school. If you can't do that, understand that the public schools have failed, and one way or another, you'll have to see that Junior arrives to adulthood as an educated person.
Best wishes.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Weekend Roundup From The US Southern Border
More mayhem, with a new twist--Japanese organized crime presence reported as well.
But all is well--the DOJ lawsuit against Arizona proceeds apace. And the Senate Democrats want to ban border patrol from our national forest areas that border the Mexican border.
Wonder why, wonder why, wonder why they'd want an open route for the smugglers? It makes no sense, unless there's bunch-o-money-honey on the table. Or the prospect of a supply of illegal voters, or maybe they want to repeal the 1848 Treaty of Hidalgo, or...make up your own reasons. OS can't supply one that makes sense.
But all is well--the DOJ lawsuit against Arizona proceeds apace. And the Senate Democrats want to ban border patrol from our national forest areas that border the Mexican border.
Wonder why, wonder why, wonder why they'd want an open route for the smugglers? It makes no sense, unless there's bunch-o-money-honey on the table. Or the prospect of a supply of illegal voters, or maybe they want to repeal the 1848 Treaty of Hidalgo, or...make up your own reasons. OS can't supply one that makes sense.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Louisville Orchestra Files For Chapter 11: High Arts In The Age Of The New Normal
OldSouth, to anyone who follows his scribbles, loves his visits to Louisville, Kentucky. It is truly one of the great places of North America, and if the professional planets aligned, he and Mrs. OS would happily relocate there.
So, today's announcement of a Chapter 11 filing by Louisville Orchestra is sad news, a public admission that a once-great organization has cornered itself into a major problem over the years.
OS made a previous mention of its travails, and quotes the questions he posed to both sides.
One question needs to be answered by the musicians first, with one following upon it:
'Articulate why this music is essential to the culture--why is it important that it should be performed in this city? What are you doing, and what would you be willing to do, past showing up to rehearsals and concerts well-prepared, to make certain it lives in the minds and hearts of the people around you, your neighbors?'
To management: 'This orchestra used to be an integral part of life in this city. What was the business model that worked, and how can it be applied now?'
A bankruptcy filing, properly undertaken, is not necessarily a bad thing. It is an admission, before things come totally unwound, that a business is not functioning, and that everyone involved must step back and sort the issues out. Not just the cash-flow issues, 'cuz that's just symptoms. What has to be truly sorted is the entire business model, and the role of the business in the world around it.
We are now in the age of The New Normal. The cultural ground has shifted under our feet in major ways, as has the economic ground. It is going to take a long, long time to dig this country out of a recession caused by at least forty years of wrong-headed excesses. Even then, we are not going to look like we did in the 1950's, sad to say.
So, where (and how) does a business in the business of presenting high-quality orchestra music function in The New Normal? Management cannot assume that a high percentage of the populace of Louisville could answer the question 'How many symphonies did Beethoven compose?', since many respondents might ask 'Who's Beethoven?', or 'Isn't he that dog in the old Disney movie?'. And that's among respondents in the prosperous neighborhoods!
First and foremost, OS preaches, the orchestra must be an organization that teaches, filled with musicians that teach, and vitally integrate themselves into the churches, synagogues, schools and neighborhoods of the city. Families of motivated music students buy tickets and write donation checks. They are core audience. Management must find ways to encourage that process along as well. Without core audience, nothing else matters.
Concerts need to take place in the neighborhood venues, (churches, schools, union halls, fraternal lodges, ball parks etc.) because driving downtown at night and attempting to park is a pain. And, as nice as downtown is, it's still downtown at night in a major city. Stuff happens there, and people who don't go there at night don't run the risk of any of it happening to them that evening.
Look at models that work--the minor league baseball team seems to be thriving? Why?
People go downtown for that. What are they doing right? OS has booked group outings there, and the experience was first-rate.
On and on it goes.
And, the good news is: Nashville Symphony went through Chapter 11 in the late 80's. It was messy, but eventually, and with the leadership and generosity of a major patron, they turned it around, moved into a fabulous new hall, and have a core audience.
And a future.
Louisville Orchestra can as well, if they're willing to go through the messy part, ask the right questions, and plan for a new life in The New Normal.
Good luck to them.
So, today's announcement of a Chapter 11 filing by Louisville Orchestra is sad news, a public admission that a once-great organization has cornered itself into a major problem over the years.
OS made a previous mention of its travails, and quotes the questions he posed to both sides.
One question needs to be answered by the musicians first, with one following upon it:
'Articulate why this music is essential to the culture--why is it important that it should be performed in this city? What are you doing, and what would you be willing to do, past showing up to rehearsals and concerts well-prepared, to make certain it lives in the minds and hearts of the people around you, your neighbors?'
To management: 'This orchestra used to be an integral part of life in this city. What was the business model that worked, and how can it be applied now?'
A bankruptcy filing, properly undertaken, is not necessarily a bad thing. It is an admission, before things come totally unwound, that a business is not functioning, and that everyone involved must step back and sort the issues out. Not just the cash-flow issues, 'cuz that's just symptoms. What has to be truly sorted is the entire business model, and the role of the business in the world around it.
We are now in the age of The New Normal. The cultural ground has shifted under our feet in major ways, as has the economic ground. It is going to take a long, long time to dig this country out of a recession caused by at least forty years of wrong-headed excesses. Even then, we are not going to look like we did in the 1950's, sad to say.
So, where (and how) does a business in the business of presenting high-quality orchestra music function in The New Normal? Management cannot assume that a high percentage of the populace of Louisville could answer the question 'How many symphonies did Beethoven compose?', since many respondents might ask 'Who's Beethoven?', or 'Isn't he that dog in the old Disney movie?'. And that's among respondents in the prosperous neighborhoods!
First and foremost, OS preaches, the orchestra must be an organization that teaches, filled with musicians that teach, and vitally integrate themselves into the churches, synagogues, schools and neighborhoods of the city. Families of motivated music students buy tickets and write donation checks. They are core audience. Management must find ways to encourage that process along as well. Without core audience, nothing else matters.
Concerts need to take place in the neighborhood venues, (churches, schools, union halls, fraternal lodges, ball parks etc.) because driving downtown at night and attempting to park is a pain. And, as nice as downtown is, it's still downtown at night in a major city. Stuff happens there, and people who don't go there at night don't run the risk of any of it happening to them that evening.
Look at models that work--the minor league baseball team seems to be thriving? Why?
People go downtown for that. What are they doing right? OS has booked group outings there, and the experience was first-rate.
On and on it goes.
And, the good news is: Nashville Symphony went through Chapter 11 in the late 80's. It was messy, but eventually, and with the leadership and generosity of a major patron, they turned it around, moved into a fabulous new hall, and have a core audience.
And a future.
Louisville Orchestra can as well, if they're willing to go through the messy part, ask the right questions, and plan for a new life in The New Normal.
Good luck to them.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
David Stockman on CNBC 3 December 2010
This interview by David Stockman, Reagan's budget director from the 1980's, is worth spending a few minutes to view. This took place on CNBC, which OS never bothers to watch, because, well, they feature clowns like Cramer. Friday, however, he was surfing, and lo and behold, there was Mr. Stockman!
(OS stayed with the channel for a couple of more hours, which was devoted to the talking heads screaming at each other about whether to go short or long on Netflix. One of the guest heads has a huge short position, is about to take a huge bath, and was desperately trying to trash the company, attempting to herd the shareholders to hit that 'Sell' button before he begins to bleed profusely. Just another day on Tout-TV.)
The interview is beginning to show up on the blogs of sober writers, so OS thinks it may be good to make it available.
Stockman was reviled by the Dems in the 1980's, who predicted disaster if his ideas were to be implemented. They hated and reviled him even more, because many of those ideas were implemented, and worked. And because he worked for Reagan. Let no good deed go unpunished, ya'll.
So, it's interesting to see him resurface, now gray-headed, but still his calm, thoughtful self. He's saying, like so many others, that we are in for a rough ride, unless we make some tough decisions as a society.
(OS stayed with the channel for a couple of more hours, which was devoted to the talking heads screaming at each other about whether to go short or long on Netflix. One of the guest heads has a huge short position, is about to take a huge bath, and was desperately trying to trash the company, attempting to herd the shareholders to hit that 'Sell' button before he begins to bleed profusely. Just another day on Tout-TV.)
The interview is beginning to show up on the blogs of sober writers, so OS thinks it may be good to make it available.
Stockman was reviled by the Dems in the 1980's, who predicted disaster if his ideas were to be implemented. They hated and reviled him even more, because many of those ideas were implemented, and worked. And because he worked for Reagan. Let no good deed go unpunished, ya'll.
So, it's interesting to see him resurface, now gray-headed, but still his calm, thoughtful self. He's saying, like so many others, that we are in for a rough ride, unless we make some tough decisions as a society.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Deja Vu All Over Again: Jimmy Carter Redux
Calculated Risk's chart gallery is a great resource for those who wish to cut through the verbiage and understand the challenges we face.
This recent chart is chilling: It is a chronological boom-and-bust display since 1960. (Click on the graph for a better view.)
The really bad stuff began about 1969, when Nixon abandoned reason and hard money at the same time. However, Jimmy Carter, who blessedly served only one term, left us in near-shambles, due to his ineptitude. His departure in 1981 is simultaneous to a deep recession and spike in unemployment. OS remembers those dark days much too well.
The red line is the unemployment rate. The blue is the 'participation rate', e.g. those still active in the workforce, either working or seeking employment. The black line is the percentage of total population in the active workforce.
Compare now to 1981/1982. Pretty ugly, is it not? Those who predicted Obama Term 1 would equal Carter Term 2 were actually pretty cogent.
The official unemployment rate is now 9.8%. The true rate is about double that.
Obama and the Democrat leadership remain unrepentant. Not surprising: So is Jimmy Carter.
The Man Who Writes Your Children's Academic Papers: Chronicle Of Higher Education
HT John Lott.
In the 'I-Just-Can't-Make-This-Stuff-Up' Hall of Fame, OldSouth proudly presents this offering from a gent who has spent the first part of his career creating academic work for student clients, who turn his work in under their own names. Kid's who can't write, research, or think in a linear fashion to save their lives, mysteriously generate the kind of academic work that allows them to graduate from prestigious institutions.
Does no one notice? Or do many just look the other way?
He is understandably cynical, and wicked funny.
It was difficult to cherry-pick the best paragraphs, because the writing is just so good!
So, here's a sample:
I have become a master of the admissions essay. I have written these for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, some at elite universities. I can explain exactly why you're Brown material, why the Wharton M.B.A. program would benefit from your presence, how certain life experiences have prepared you for the rigors of your chosen course of study. I do not mean to be insensitive, but I can't tell you how many times I've been paid to write about somebody helping a loved one battle cancer. I've written essays that could be adapted into Meryl Streep movies.
I do a lot of work for seminary students. I like seminary students. They seem so blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in paying somebody to help them cheat in courses that are largely about walking in the light of God and providing an ethical model for others to follow. I have been commissioned to write many a passionate condemnation of America's moral decay as exemplified by abortion, gay marriage, or the teaching of evolution. All in all, we may presume that clerical authorities see these as a greater threat than the plagiarism committed by the future frocked.
With respect to America's nurses, fear not. Our lives are in capable hands—just hands that can't write a lick. Nursing students account for one of my company's biggest customer bases. I've written case-management plans, reports on nursing ethics, and essays on why nurse practitioners are lighting the way to the future of medicine. I've even written pharmaceutical-treatment courses, for patients who I hope were hypothetical.
This would be funnier, were it fictional. It isn't. It appears this man exists, and his work is circulating in academia. The scary part to OS is that those JD's become judges, and those MD's treat patients. OS knows of one physician now practicing, who as a coed at a top-twenty school managed to make it through on 'the horizontal plan', trading her favors for passing work product. OS suspects the dean may have been involved in some 'transactional academia' for all four years as well. It would be more humorous, were there not the lives of patients involved.
OS suspects this author is beginning to go public, with his literary agent at his side, with a view to a movie script deal. This is the stuff of movies, after all. Too fantastical not to be true. Lights-camera-action, ya'll.
This essay does begin to answer why OS keeps running into people with advanced degrees from reputable schools who can't seem to put two coherent clauses of English together.
There is a partial solution, called pen-and-paper. Student sits in a room, under the eye of the exam monitor, is handed a paper with relevant questions, and in the course of two hours, must create cogent responses from the content of his mind. The professor grades them, and compares usage of English between papers submitted and live essay completed.
Enough. OS has a deadline. Writing. Under his own name.
In the 'I-Just-Can't-Make-This-Stuff-Up' Hall of Fame, OldSouth proudly presents this offering from a gent who has spent the first part of his career creating academic work for student clients, who turn his work in under their own names. Kid's who can't write, research, or think in a linear fashion to save their lives, mysteriously generate the kind of academic work that allows them to graduate from prestigious institutions.
Does no one notice? Or do many just look the other way?
He is understandably cynical, and wicked funny.
It was difficult to cherry-pick the best paragraphs, because the writing is just so good!
So, here's a sample:
I have become a master of the admissions essay. I have written these for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, some at elite universities. I can explain exactly why you're Brown material, why the Wharton M.B.A. program would benefit from your presence, how certain life experiences have prepared you for the rigors of your chosen course of study. I do not mean to be insensitive, but I can't tell you how many times I've been paid to write about somebody helping a loved one battle cancer. I've written essays that could be adapted into Meryl Streep movies.
I do a lot of work for seminary students. I like seminary students. They seem so blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in paying somebody to help them cheat in courses that are largely about walking in the light of God and providing an ethical model for others to follow. I have been commissioned to write many a passionate condemnation of America's moral decay as exemplified by abortion, gay marriage, or the teaching of evolution. All in all, we may presume that clerical authorities see these as a greater threat than the plagiarism committed by the future frocked.
With respect to America's nurses, fear not. Our lives are in capable hands—just hands that can't write a lick. Nursing students account for one of my company's biggest customer bases. I've written case-management plans, reports on nursing ethics, and essays on why nurse practitioners are lighting the way to the future of medicine. I've even written pharmaceutical-treatment courses, for patients who I hope were hypothetical.
This would be funnier, were it fictional. It isn't. It appears this man exists, and his work is circulating in academia. The scary part to OS is that those JD's become judges, and those MD's treat patients. OS knows of one physician now practicing, who as a coed at a top-twenty school managed to make it through on 'the horizontal plan', trading her favors for passing work product. OS suspects the dean may have been involved in some 'transactional academia' for all four years as well. It would be more humorous, were there not the lives of patients involved.
OS suspects this author is beginning to go public, with his literary agent at his side, with a view to a movie script deal. This is the stuff of movies, after all. Too fantastical not to be true. Lights-camera-action, ya'll.
This essay does begin to answer why OS keeps running into people with advanced degrees from reputable schools who can't seem to put two coherent clauses of English together.
There is a partial solution, called pen-and-paper. Student sits in a room, under the eye of the exam monitor, is handed a paper with relevant questions, and in the course of two hours, must create cogent responses from the content of his mind. The professor grades them, and compares usage of English between papers submitted and live essay completed.
Enough. OS has a deadline. Writing. Under his own name.
The European Bailout Trip Through The Twilight Zone
From NPR's Planet Money, this morning.
(If hard-core libs like the NPR folks have figured out the math doesn't work, then it's gotta be problematic.)
December 3, 2010 - STEVE INSKEEP, host:
For a long time, people in the financial industry seemed to be following a don't ask, don't tell policy when it came to financial risks. Ireland is the latest country being forced to change that. Like its other European neighbors, it's been spending a lot of money it doesn't have. And it wound up in the situation that debt-ridden countries fear - unable to borrow, at least not at a reasonable rate.
This week, Europe agreed to lend Ireland the money that nobody else will. Alex Blumberg and Chana Joffe-Walt of our Planet Money team report that the money to bail out Ireland comes from a surprising place.
CHANA JOFFE-WALT: The bailout sounds very serious and very substantial.
Mr. SATYAJIT DAS (Financial risk consultant): The European Financial stability fund. This is a 750 billion euro, so it's pretty close to a trillion dollar facility.
ALEX BLUMBERG: Satyajit Das is an author and financial risk consultant. And he says two things. One, that trillion dollars, it's not all for Ireland. Two, that trillion dollars doesnt actually exist. In fact, the stabilization fund currently has no money in it at all.
JOFFE-WALT: The trillion dollars, its more aspirational - a trillion dollars that could be there, if needed.
BLUMBERG: If needed, the Stabilization Fund could borrow money and then lend that money to Ireland. And maybe in the future, other European countries that are having trouble borrowing, like Portugal and Spain.
JOFFE-WALT: But that's confusing, because if people are scared of loaning money to Ireland, Portugal and Spain, why would they loan money to a fund, whose sole function is to loan money to Ireland, Portugal and Spain?
BLUMBERG: Ah, because the fund is safer, it's backed by 14 different European countries who all guarantee your money back.
JOFFE-WALT: Wait. But don't those European countries include Spain and Portugal?
BLUMBERG: Well, yes. They do.
Mr. DAS: Portugal, who can't borrow is guaranteeing this. So you've got basically, people who are being lent to who can't pay you back, and the guarantors aren't solvent either. So exactly, what are you doing?
Does one get the sinking feeling that we'll be called upon to 'contribute' to this venture? Or that the Chinese and Indians will be ponying up money, and extracting interest in some interesting ways besides cash payments?
OS says it again. The Euro is not a currency. It is a ball and chain, shackled to the feet of every child in Europe.
Clarke and Daw, the Australian comedy team, sum it all up best.
(If hard-core libs like the NPR folks have figured out the math doesn't work, then it's gotta be problematic.)
December 3, 2010 - STEVE INSKEEP, host:
For a long time, people in the financial industry seemed to be following a don't ask, don't tell policy when it came to financial risks. Ireland is the latest country being forced to change that. Like its other European neighbors, it's been spending a lot of money it doesn't have. And it wound up in the situation that debt-ridden countries fear - unable to borrow, at least not at a reasonable rate.
This week, Europe agreed to lend Ireland the money that nobody else will. Alex Blumberg and Chana Joffe-Walt of our Planet Money team report that the money to bail out Ireland comes from a surprising place.
CHANA JOFFE-WALT: The bailout sounds very serious and very substantial.
Mr. SATYAJIT DAS (Financial risk consultant): The European Financial stability fund. This is a 750 billion euro, so it's pretty close to a trillion dollar facility.
ALEX BLUMBERG: Satyajit Das is an author and financial risk consultant. And he says two things. One, that trillion dollars, it's not all for Ireland. Two, that trillion dollars doesnt actually exist. In fact, the stabilization fund currently has no money in it at all.
JOFFE-WALT: The trillion dollars, its more aspirational - a trillion dollars that could be there, if needed.
BLUMBERG: If needed, the Stabilization Fund could borrow money and then lend that money to Ireland. And maybe in the future, other European countries that are having trouble borrowing, like Portugal and Spain.
JOFFE-WALT: But that's confusing, because if people are scared of loaning money to Ireland, Portugal and Spain, why would they loan money to a fund, whose sole function is to loan money to Ireland, Portugal and Spain?
BLUMBERG: Ah, because the fund is safer, it's backed by 14 different European countries who all guarantee your money back.
JOFFE-WALT: Wait. But don't those European countries include Spain and Portugal?
BLUMBERG: Well, yes. They do.
Mr. DAS: Portugal, who can't borrow is guaranteeing this. So you've got basically, people who are being lent to who can't pay you back, and the guarantors aren't solvent either. So exactly, what are you doing?
Does one get the sinking feeling that we'll be called upon to 'contribute' to this venture? Or that the Chinese and Indians will be ponying up money, and extracting interest in some interesting ways besides cash payments?
OS says it again. The Euro is not a currency. It is a ball and chain, shackled to the feet of every child in Europe.
Clarke and Daw, the Australian comedy team, sum it all up best.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Home Again, Thursday Evening Return From Louisville
Several happy days spent in Louisville, still a favorite town in OS's travels. He met up with friends from around the Midwest, each with a tale to tell, but the specifics will be scrubbed here sufficiently to grant them their deserved privacy.
Things in general don't seem as depressed there as on previous visits, which is welcome news. OS is not one of these guys who wishes to emulate Jonah, who preached
'The End Is Near', was heeded, and his listeners were spared. He then was cheesed off at the Almighty for not raining fire down upon the former infidels anyway, and ended up with some 'Splainin-To-Do-Lucy to his Maker.
When things improve, OS is genuinely happy. Restaurants had diners, even if they weren't jammed. Stores had shoppers, even if the parking lots weren't filled. The airport parking lot was well-filled. And the mood in general seemed more upbeat.
Ford Motor's survival and re-emergence will result in retooling of one of its manufacturing facilities in Louisville early next year, which is most welcome news to a city that lives off its factories.
A much-needed bridge just upriver from Louisville may well be built, funded by tolls imposed on commuter traffic across the other bridges. So, some good things appear to be in the offing.
The friends had interesting tales to share. One lives in a small Midwestern town that is working heroically to maintain good schools, churches, and civic life. He runs a still-surviving small business, but his has always been a two-income household by necessity, with kids to raise and educate. His wife is very qualified in her industry's fields of expertise, but the jobs (or rather the firms that could make use of her gifts) have just simply vanished or operate as shells of their former selves. She is one of the 99-ers, the final unemployment check came this week, and as he talked, I saw some real fear in his eyes. Never had seen that in him in all these years. Certainly not despairing, but fear has crept in, a new experience in his life. OS passed on a second-hand job lead, but it would put the spouse in another city, six hours away from the family. She's willing to do that, if that is what is required. No whining, mind you.
Another friend works with an endowment fund that does significantly good things. She reports that the fund principal was really hammered; and with the subsequent crushing of interest rates by Zimbabwe Ben, there is only half the previous income to work with, and it's becoming tough to do some of the things for which the endowment was established. The New Normal. No despair, but a grim sense of 'We're just going to have to get through this, and keep our chins up.'
OS is helping revise a vita for another friend who got caught in the political undertow at his downsizing firm. A brilliant gent who never expected to have to do this at this point of his career. The New Normal. Again, no despair, but a real sense of loss to contend with as he forges on to his new and unexpected life.
The trip out of town took a while to complete, working around the traffic. OS decided to escape southward on the Preston Highway, through the outer southern 'burbs. It was sobering to drive by the large trailer parks. Things have not been going well, and the folks there, by definition, live on the edge of the economy and culture. What happens if, Heaven forbid, things take another serious downturn? What will The New Normal look like for them? Same experience driving much of the trip home on the old 31-W. The little towns are looking even shabbier than this time last year, and they weren't doing well then.
Not despairing, not fearing, but a bit worried. What are we prepared to do to aid people so much less fortunate if the ReallyBadStuff some predict begins to happen?
The folks in the trailer parks are not a rabble. They are people, with bodies and souls.
Things in general don't seem as depressed there as on previous visits, which is welcome news. OS is not one of these guys who wishes to emulate Jonah, who preached
'The End Is Near', was heeded, and his listeners were spared. He then was cheesed off at the Almighty for not raining fire down upon the former infidels anyway, and ended up with some 'Splainin-To-Do-Lucy to his Maker.
When things improve, OS is genuinely happy. Restaurants had diners, even if they weren't jammed. Stores had shoppers, even if the parking lots weren't filled. The airport parking lot was well-filled. And the mood in general seemed more upbeat.
Ford Motor's survival and re-emergence will result in retooling of one of its manufacturing facilities in Louisville early next year, which is most welcome news to a city that lives off its factories.
A much-needed bridge just upriver from Louisville may well be built, funded by tolls imposed on commuter traffic across the other bridges. So, some good things appear to be in the offing.
The friends had interesting tales to share. One lives in a small Midwestern town that is working heroically to maintain good schools, churches, and civic life. He runs a still-surviving small business, but his has always been a two-income household by necessity, with kids to raise and educate. His wife is very qualified in her industry's fields of expertise, but the jobs (or rather the firms that could make use of her gifts) have just simply vanished or operate as shells of their former selves. She is one of the 99-ers, the final unemployment check came this week, and as he talked, I saw some real fear in his eyes. Never had seen that in him in all these years. Certainly not despairing, but fear has crept in, a new experience in his life. OS passed on a second-hand job lead, but it would put the spouse in another city, six hours away from the family. She's willing to do that, if that is what is required. No whining, mind you.
Another friend works with an endowment fund that does significantly good things. She reports that the fund principal was really hammered; and with the subsequent crushing of interest rates by Zimbabwe Ben, there is only half the previous income to work with, and it's becoming tough to do some of the things for which the endowment was established. The New Normal. No despair, but a grim sense of 'We're just going to have to get through this, and keep our chins up.'
OS is helping revise a vita for another friend who got caught in the political undertow at his downsizing firm. A brilliant gent who never expected to have to do this at this point of his career. The New Normal. Again, no despair, but a real sense of loss to contend with as he forges on to his new and unexpected life.
The trip out of town took a while to complete, working around the traffic. OS decided to escape southward on the Preston Highway, through the outer southern 'burbs. It was sobering to drive by the large trailer parks. Things have not been going well, and the folks there, by definition, live on the edge of the economy and culture. What happens if, Heaven forbid, things take another serious downturn? What will The New Normal look like for them? Same experience driving much of the trip home on the old 31-W. The little towns are looking even shabbier than this time last year, and they weren't doing well then.
Not despairing, not fearing, but a bit worried. What are we prepared to do to aid people so much less fortunate if the ReallyBadStuff some predict begins to happen?
The folks in the trailer parks are not a rabble. They are people, with bodies and souls.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
When His Lips Move, Assume He's Lying: Obama Reverses His Support Of Offshore Oil Exploration
Nice little country ya got here, Mr. and Mrs. America. Too bad we're gonna have to SHUT YOUR GAS PUMPS, HEAT AND LIGHTS OFF, 'cuz you don't seem to understand we MEAN WHAT WE SAY ABOUT OUR CAP-N-TAX BILL!
Right, Vito? Right, Gino? It would be SHAME if your way of life were to, say, BURN DOWN AROUND YOU! Right, Vito? Right, Gino?
Yeah, Boss, it would be a cryin' shame, Boss...
One year, eleven months and counting until we can show these clowns the door.
Chin-straps on until then.
Right, Vito? Right, Gino? It would be SHAME if your way of life were to, say, BURN DOWN AROUND YOU! Right, Vito? Right, Gino?
Yeah, Boss, it would be a cryin' shame, Boss...
One year, eleven months and counting until we can show these clowns the door.
Chin-straps on until then.
Sometimes, Only Laughter Will Do: The HP Printer Execution In Iraq
So, a soldier in Iraq has an HP printer he needs for his unit's work.
But, it doesn't work.
So, he calls HP tech support, who demand money for their assistance.
Here is the soldier's completely appropriate response.
OS hasn't checked to see if the suits at HP have begun to spin this bit of video, or how. Hopefully, though, this wonderful minute of pushback against US corporate idiocy will travel the world, say, a couple of hundred times; and cause someone, somewhere, within the upper reaches of HP managment and its board to feel some sight sense of, well, shame.
We may be able to assist by simply leaving HP printers on the shelf of the local retailer for the next month or so. Easy, peasy, and doesn't involve a moment or penny of sacrifice on our our part. Jest sayin'...
Appeals to reason and decency are now completely futile in great swathes of American culture. Only laughter (and sometimes a machine gun) will do...
Printer problem in Iraq - Watch more Funny Videos
But, it doesn't work.
So, he calls HP tech support, who demand money for their assistance.
Here is the soldier's completely appropriate response.
OS hasn't checked to see if the suits at HP have begun to spin this bit of video, or how. Hopefully, though, this wonderful minute of pushback against US corporate idiocy will travel the world, say, a couple of hundred times; and cause someone, somewhere, within the upper reaches of HP managment and its board to feel some sight sense of, well, shame.
We may be able to assist by simply leaving HP printers on the shelf of the local retailer for the next month or so. Easy, peasy, and doesn't involve a moment or penny of sacrifice on our our part. Jest sayin'...
Appeals to reason and decency are now completely futile in great swathes of American culture. Only laughter (and sometimes a machine gun) will do...
Printer problem in Iraq - Watch more Funny Videos
Just For Grins: Daniel Radcliffe Sings The Periodic Table
The young man has real theatrical chops, in case there were ever any doubt.
Hope you enjoy.
Here's hoping he avoids the downside of fame and fortune. We really could use another actor the stature of Olivier or Gielgud, who consistently contributes to the culture over the course of decades.
Hope you enjoy.
Here's hoping he avoids the downside of fame and fortune. We really could use another actor the stature of Olivier or Gielgud, who consistently contributes to the culture over the course of decades.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The 271 Million Dollar Revenge Bill The Feds Are Sending New Jersey
Cancel our tunnel to Manhattan will you? Just because you can't afford it?
We'll fix youze guys, but good!
Does anyone breathing think for a moment that New York, California, or Illinois would have received the same treatment at the hands of the Obama Clown Circus?
OS has a suggestion: Let 'em frickin' sue. Force them to litigate it, go into a federal court in New Jersey and justify every last penny of it, and justify why they deserve to claw it back from New Jersey.
Let it go to trial, just in time for the 2012 election cycle. After New Jersey administers a high colonic discovery process upon the Obama Administration, and the scandals break out. It will be delicious.
HopeyChangey needs New Jersey in 2012, which is in the New York media market. He also needs New York.
Let 'em sue, if they are stupid enough to do it. If they look like they may prevail, settle for .20 on the dollar, and they'll go away, just to avoid looking like the schmucks they are.
We'll fix youze guys, but good!
Does anyone breathing think for a moment that New York, California, or Illinois would have received the same treatment at the hands of the Obama Clown Circus?
OS has a suggestion: Let 'em frickin' sue. Force them to litigate it, go into a federal court in New Jersey and justify every last penny of it, and justify why they deserve to claw it back from New Jersey.
Let it go to trial, just in time for the 2012 election cycle. After New Jersey administers a high colonic discovery process upon the Obama Administration, and the scandals break out. It will be delicious.
HopeyChangey needs New Jersey in 2012, which is in the New York media market. He also needs New York.
Let 'em sue, if they are stupid enough to do it. If they look like they may prevail, settle for .20 on the dollar, and they'll go away, just to avoid looking like the schmucks they are.
Nigel Farage: Shades of 1776
Bravo, Mr. Farage.
Could we please lease him to address our Congress? They still haven't seemed to get the message, yet.
Could we please lease him to address our Congress? They still haven't seemed to get the message, yet.
Eastern Europe, Hung Out To Dry By Obama And Miz Hilary
Surf, and ye shall find.
The most recent round of WikiLeaks will provide reading material for months to come.
The venality and incompetence already revealed take one's breath away.
This tidbit from Poland:
President Obama cancelled anti-missile shield plans in Poland and the Czech Republic to get Russia support for UN sanctions against Iran, documents made public by Wikileaks reveal.
The whistle blowing web site, publishing diplomatic cables and other documents via The New York Times, the Guardian (UK) and other media outlets, show that George Bush’s anti-missile shield plan to station 10 interceptor rockets in Poland not far from the Kaliningrad (Russia) border and a radar system in the Czech Republic was seen as an obstacle by Washington in getting tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The diplomatic cables show that the US believes that Iran has already received missiles from North Korea which could threaten western Europe.
The released documents show that Russia had intensified its campaign against the anti-missile shield in 2009, with Moscow believing the system would be directed at Poland’s immediate east and not Iran.
In September, President Obama cancelled the anti-missile system.
Well, that worked out well, now didn't it?
Give up a defensive shield against weapons one knows are in place, in exchange for the promise of cooperation from that most trustworthy of regimes, the Russian government of Putin.
What could possibly go wrong?
HT Midwest Conservative Journal
The most recent round of WikiLeaks will provide reading material for months to come.
The venality and incompetence already revealed take one's breath away.
This tidbit from Poland:
President Obama cancelled anti-missile shield plans in Poland and the Czech Republic to get Russia support for UN sanctions against Iran, documents made public by Wikileaks reveal.
The whistle blowing web site, publishing diplomatic cables and other documents via The New York Times, the Guardian (UK) and other media outlets, show that George Bush’s anti-missile shield plan to station 10 interceptor rockets in Poland not far from the Kaliningrad (Russia) border and a radar system in the Czech Republic was seen as an obstacle by Washington in getting tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The diplomatic cables show that the US believes that Iran has already received missiles from North Korea which could threaten western Europe.
The released documents show that Russia had intensified its campaign against the anti-missile shield in 2009, with Moscow believing the system would be directed at Poland’s immediate east and not Iran.
In September, President Obama cancelled the anti-missile system.
Well, that worked out well, now didn't it?
Give up a defensive shield against weapons one knows are in place, in exchange for the promise of cooperation from that most trustworthy of regimes, the Russian government of Putin.
What could possibly go wrong?
HT Midwest Conservative Journal
Monday, November 29, 2010
Pastor Peters' Pithy, Profound Thanksgiving Message
OS scribbles.
Pastor Peters writes, ya'll! That's why OS keeps him linked on the right side of his page. He takes Reformation orthodoxy and makes it sing.
This latest offering is one of his best, and OS encourages one and all, from all points of the compass, to take the time to read and digest his thoughts.
He reminds us of the things that truly constitute The Good Life, and ends with a profound few lines about the proper role of earthly government in that scheme of things.
The worst in us is the selfishness that thinks of me before others and before God. What is in our interest is not what defines the Christian life but what is good and right and true, what glorifies God and is true to His grace, and what promotes and extends His gracious reign of love and compassion.
What is the best in us is nothing less than faith that hears and responds, that receives and rejoices in all that God's mercy provides us. What is best in us is nothing less than a grateful heart which overflows with thanksgiving that we get not what we deserve but grace upon grace and mercy new each and every morning. What is best in us is nothing more and nothing less than living in faithfulness to Christ even when this path is unpopular, misunderstood, and causes us to be persecuted for His name's sake.
So what is the role of government except to provide us a free arena in which we have the liberty to live out this peaceful, quiet, godly and dignified life of faith? This is why God has given the sword of His authority to the leaders of the nations – not to bring His kingdom on the earth by human might but to provide the freedom and opportunity for us to live unhindered and unconstrained, the good, the peaceful, the quiet, the godly and the dignified life that Christ has made possible by His dying for sin and His rising to everlasting life. Such a government not only protects the weak and the vulnerable, seeks justice and equity, and encourages virtue, it allows us the freedom to be the people God has called us to be in our baptism. This is the government for which we give thanks tonight and for which we pray daily.
Pastor Peters writes, ya'll! That's why OS keeps him linked on the right side of his page. He takes Reformation orthodoxy and makes it sing.
This latest offering is one of his best, and OS encourages one and all, from all points of the compass, to take the time to read and digest his thoughts.
He reminds us of the things that truly constitute The Good Life, and ends with a profound few lines about the proper role of earthly government in that scheme of things.
The worst in us is the selfishness that thinks of me before others and before God. What is in our interest is not what defines the Christian life but what is good and right and true, what glorifies God and is true to His grace, and what promotes and extends His gracious reign of love and compassion.
What is the best in us is nothing less than faith that hears and responds, that receives and rejoices in all that God's mercy provides us. What is best in us is nothing less than a grateful heart which overflows with thanksgiving that we get not what we deserve but grace upon grace and mercy new each and every morning. What is best in us is nothing more and nothing less than living in faithfulness to Christ even when this path is unpopular, misunderstood, and causes us to be persecuted for His name's sake.
So what is the role of government except to provide us a free arena in which we have the liberty to live out this peaceful, quiet, godly and dignified life of faith? This is why God has given the sword of His authority to the leaders of the nations – not to bring His kingdom on the earth by human might but to provide the freedom and opportunity for us to live unhindered and unconstrained, the good, the peaceful, the quiet, the godly and the dignified life that Christ has made possible by His dying for sin and His rising to everlasting life. Such a government not only protects the weak and the vulnerable, seeks justice and equity, and encourages virtue, it allows us the freedom to be the people God has called us to be in our baptism. This is the government for which we give thanks tonight and for which we pray daily.
When The Transcendental Invades The Mundane: Handel At The Mall Food Court
Much to say about this, but OS first invites you to watch:
OS, as a kid, once sat in on a lecture by composer Warren Benson, then on faculty at Eastman School of Music. One thing stuck in his young brain that day, when the grizzled old guy declared: 'A well-written piece of music not only works well when performed well, it stands up well under abuse!'
Handel knew how to write music that 'stands up well'. This performance was certainly not abusive, but it was a far cry from what he first heard in Dublin in the late 1740's. It was heartening to see the diners begin to rise to their feet and begin to sing along, which means the piece has not totally departed our cultural memory, despite the best efforts of the joyless secularists who would have us scoff at this and listen to Schönberg instead.
Much of what the man wrote was work-a-day stuff, well-crafted, but not the stuff of inspiration. Every so often, and throughout Messiah, Handel located his true voice, found his eternal mojo.
Mojo + command of craft=immortal creations. The ones that never fail to inspire, stop us in our tracks, bring tears to our eyes.
Menotti did it when he composed 'Ahmal and the Night Visitors' in 1951, for live performance on NBC Television. OS just attended a local church staging of the piece, a far cry from that first performance, and so many professional performances since. The piece moved everyone to their shoes, with tears of joy daubed from many an eye that afternoon.
Ralph Vaughan-Williams, in the final years of his life, achieved it with his Christmas cantata 'Hodie', still neglected by many. OS has watched the most cynical musicians and audiences nearly come unglued when they first hear the setting of Thomas Hardy's poem that opens with
'Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock;
'Now they are all on their knees', an elder said,
as we sat in a flock,
by the embers in hearth-side ease.'
Inspired command of craft. And the transcendental breaks through, even in the most mundane locations, for the least likely people.
OS hopes this Christmas, his readers have at least one of those moments.
OS, as a kid, once sat in on a lecture by composer Warren Benson, then on faculty at Eastman School of Music. One thing stuck in his young brain that day, when the grizzled old guy declared: 'A well-written piece of music not only works well when performed well, it stands up well under abuse!'
Handel knew how to write music that 'stands up well'. This performance was certainly not abusive, but it was a far cry from what he first heard in Dublin in the late 1740's. It was heartening to see the diners begin to rise to their feet and begin to sing along, which means the piece has not totally departed our cultural memory, despite the best efforts of the joyless secularists who would have us scoff at this and listen to Schönberg instead.
Much of what the man wrote was work-a-day stuff, well-crafted, but not the stuff of inspiration. Every so often, and throughout Messiah, Handel located his true voice, found his eternal mojo.
Mojo + command of craft=immortal creations. The ones that never fail to inspire, stop us in our tracks, bring tears to our eyes.
Menotti did it when he composed 'Ahmal and the Night Visitors' in 1951, for live performance on NBC Television. OS just attended a local church staging of the piece, a far cry from that first performance, and so many professional performances since. The piece moved everyone to their shoes, with tears of joy daubed from many an eye that afternoon.
Ralph Vaughan-Williams, in the final years of his life, achieved it with his Christmas cantata 'Hodie', still neglected by many. OS has watched the most cynical musicians and audiences nearly come unglued when they first hear the setting of Thomas Hardy's poem that opens with
'Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock;
'Now they are all on their knees', an elder said,
as we sat in a flock,
by the embers in hearth-side ease.'
Inspired command of craft. And the transcendental breaks through, even in the most mundane locations, for the least likely people.
OS hopes this Christmas, his readers have at least one of those moments.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Good Idea For Sunday Morning: The Greenland Solution
Greenland's people saw the writing on the wall in the 1980's:
Mene, mene, tekel, upharsim--or words to that effect...
Being translated: If we hitch our wagon to the clown show in Brussels, they'll screw us.
So, they left. In 1985.
Fast forward twenty-five years. They're solvent and prosperous, and Europe is broke.
They're free, and increasingly, Europe isn't.
Alex Singleton of The Telegraph calmly explains:
If you think that leaving the EU would be catastrophic, take a look at Greenland. By rights its people ought to be poor. Their island is isolated, suffers from freezing weather, has a workforce of only 28,000 and relies on fish for 82 per cent of its exports. But it turns out that since leaving the EU, Greenland has been so freed of EU red tape and of the destruction of the Common Fisheries Policy, that the average income of the islanders today is higher than those living in Britain, Germany and France.
Actually, OS deliberately listed things in the wrong order: They are free, therefore they are solvent and prosperous.
So, why should a grumpy guy from Tennessee be scribbling about this? Well, ya'll, look at the US map. The bluest states of the US, the ones that drank the socialist Kool-Aid the longest and deepest are...insolvent and increasingly impoverished. They are also chaotic and crime-ridden. (New York, Illinois, Kuhlifornia, Michigan top that list.)
The state least affected by the Great Recession is (May I have the envelope, please!) North Dakota, a traditional butt of jokes by our elites. They farm, they allow their oil resources to be developed, they don't tax everything that moves. The government maintains order, maintains the roads, and otherwise leaves people alone.
What a concept.
As the Great Recession deepens (and it will, when the cheap money runs out), and the heavy hand of HopeyChangey is increasingly felt in the land (and it will, cuz that who He is), it may be time for the states of the union to rethink their relationship with Washington. This year's travails in Louisiana, where most of the real damage was done by HopeyChangey, not BP, should be a warning to us all.
They probably can't leave like Greenland did, but they can certainly distance themselves, and set up firewalls.
Mene, mene, tekel, upharsim--or words to that effect...
Being translated: If we hitch our wagon to the clown show in Brussels, they'll screw us.
So, they left. In 1985.
Fast forward twenty-five years. They're solvent and prosperous, and Europe is broke.
They're free, and increasingly, Europe isn't.
Alex Singleton of The Telegraph calmly explains:
If you think that leaving the EU would be catastrophic, take a look at Greenland. By rights its people ought to be poor. Their island is isolated, suffers from freezing weather, has a workforce of only 28,000 and relies on fish for 82 per cent of its exports. But it turns out that since leaving the EU, Greenland has been so freed of EU red tape and of the destruction of the Common Fisheries Policy, that the average income of the islanders today is higher than those living in Britain, Germany and France.
Actually, OS deliberately listed things in the wrong order: They are free, therefore they are solvent and prosperous.
So, why should a grumpy guy from Tennessee be scribbling about this? Well, ya'll, look at the US map. The bluest states of the US, the ones that drank the socialist Kool-Aid the longest and deepest are...insolvent and increasingly impoverished. They are also chaotic and crime-ridden. (New York, Illinois, Kuhlifornia, Michigan top that list.)
The state least affected by the Great Recession is (May I have the envelope, please!) North Dakota, a traditional butt of jokes by our elites. They farm, they allow their oil resources to be developed, they don't tax everything that moves. The government maintains order, maintains the roads, and otherwise leaves people alone.
What a concept.
As the Great Recession deepens (and it will, when the cheap money runs out), and the heavy hand of HopeyChangey is increasingly felt in the land (and it will, cuz that who He is), it may be time for the states of the union to rethink their relationship with Washington. This year's travails in Louisiana, where most of the real damage was done by HopeyChangey, not BP, should be a warning to us all.
They probably can't leave like Greenland did, but they can certainly distance themselves, and set up firewalls.
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