§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Auld Lang Syne

{Song #45 « Song #46 » Song #47}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #46 is Auld Lang Syne, based on a poem by Robert Burns and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many English-speaking (and other) countries, and is often sung to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight.

Auld Lang Syne - "Happy New Year" :)
h/t Andrew Grumman - Maestro

Post #1,065 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Auld Lang Syne

"It's the empty suit, stupid!"

Related Link » Obama and Our Post-Modern Race Problem
The president always knew that his greatest appeal was not as a leader but as a cultural symbol.

“The lie of seeing clothes where there were none amounted to a sophistication — joining oneself to an obvious falsehood in order to achieve social acceptance. In such a sophistication there is an unspoken agreement not to see what one clearly sees — in this case the emperor's flagrant nakedness. America's primary race problem today is our new "sophistication" around racial matters. Political correctness is a compendium of sophistications in which we join ourselves to obvious falsehoods ("diversity") and refuse to see obvious realities (the irrelevance of diversity to minority development). I would argue further that Barack Obama's election to the presidency of the United States was essentially an American sophistication, a national exercise in seeing what was not there and a refusal to see what was there — all to escape the stigma not of stupidity but of racism. Barack Obama, elegant and professorially articulate, was an invitation to sophistication that America simply could not bring itself to turn down. If "hope and change" was an empty political slogan, it was also beautiful clothing that people could passionately describe without ever having seen. [...] A greater problem for our nation today is that we have a president whose benign — and therefore desirable — blackness exempted him from the political individuation process that makes for strong, clear-headed leaders. He has not had to gamble his popularity on his principles, and it is impossible to know one's true beliefs without this. In the future he may stumble now and then into a right action, but there is no hard-earned center to the man out of which he might truly lead.”

— By SHELBY STEELE, senior research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, DECEMBER 29, 2009 (WSJ)

Mr. Steele presents an erudite essay on the guilt-ridden self-indulgence of the American electorate in November, 2008. His observations are insightful and unabashedly articulate. I urge my blog-readers to read the entire essay.

I have just a minor quibble. Steele bases his insights on their apparent analogy with the parable, "The Emperor's New Clothes", in which the mass hysteria is burst when a child observes naively that the emperor has no clothes.

I suggest that a much more accurate analogy is available from a paraphrasing of a phrase coined by Clinton-campaign strategist James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid", in which one substitutes "empty suit" for "economy".

America's electorate was mesmerized not by the fiction of a "clothed emperor" but by the fiction of a "full suit".

Post #1,064 "It's the empty suit, stupid!"

The Balance of Life

Related Link » 90% of Life is Showing Up
“90% of life is showing up.”
— Woody Allen

Related Link » The Balance of Life
“10% of life is getting directions.”
— TheBigHenry's 10% Rule

Most would agree that showing up is the easy part; whereas getting directions is "where it's at", to coin a phrase.

I believe preparation is more important than follow-up, though the latter is also an important component for a rewarding life. Education is more important than zealous initiative, which, in turn, is more important than merely being where the action is. Such a regression in effort, of course, is inversely proportional to the corresponding potential rewards.

No pain; no gain. Trite but true; most of the time.

Post #1,063 The Balance of Life

And so it goes ...

Related Link » Wisdom Quotes
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
— Albert Einstein

Related Link » Entropy Quotations
“You should call it entropy. [...] Nobody knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage.”
— John Von Neumann

Related Link » And so it goes ...
“Two things increase without limit: entropy and the hopeless ignorance of The Obama Administration; and I'm not sure about entropy.”
— TheBigHenry, hopelessly resigned to this immutable law of nature.

Related Link » Napolitano: “System worked” in terror attack attempt on Detroit-bound plane
“The system worked.”
— Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security

I rest my case, and my weary soul.


Sharp Dressed Man

Post #1,062 And so it goes ...

Revolution - Constitution - Entropy - Decline

Related Link » revolution
“1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.”
— Dictionary.com
Related Link » constitution
“8. the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed.”
— Dictionary.com
Related Link » entropy
“4. a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.”
— Dictionary.com
Related Link » decline
“15. a failing or gradual loss, as in strength, character, power, or value; deterioration: the decline of the Roman Empire.”
— Dictionary.com

WHEREAS, George Washington lead our Nation through its Revolution;

WHEREAS, George Washington, along with the brilliant stewardship of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers, presided over the framing of our Constitution;

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln oversaw the rebirth of our Nation, thereby reconstituting its vitality, and greatly postponing its long stage of entropy;

WHEREAS, Barack Obama, along with His left-wing liberal lackeys in Congress, has brought our Nation to the threshold of decline and fall;

NOW, THEREFORE, let me make this as clear as The Obama Himself purports to do repeatedly (and, ad nauseam): The Obama Himself and His gaggle of merd-droppings will go down in history, alright; but not in the manner to which they fancy themselves entitled.

Rather, these insufferable delusions of grandeur, along with their entourage of venomous scheisselings (Rahm "It Up Your Ass" Emanuel, et al.) who presume to know what is good for us mere mortals, will go down in history in the manner that Franklin Roosevelt branded the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Undiscovered Country
(click to enlarge)

Post #1,061 Revolution - Constitution - Entropy - Decline

Kosher, schmosher — Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas!

Related Link » Only In America
 h/t Theo

Oh, well, if it's boneless AND smoked ...

Post #1,060 Kosher, schmosher — Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas!

For the Duration

Related Link » Where Did These Guys Come From?
“These true believers, then, don’t really care that the blue dogs (if such really exist) bite the dust in 2010, if Harry Reid goes up in smoke, or indeed, if Barack Obama is reelected. Instead, they will institutionalize an agenda that will affect America for generations, move it sharply to the left, and earn a spot in the academic pantheon of American heroes. Asking why would Obama & Co. be so self-destructive to push through an array of proposals that have no more than 45% of the public’s support is like asking whether the English Prof who teaches incomprehensible Foucauldian theory worries whether he has only 2 students, or whether the well-off union boss is all that upset that membership has sunk to 30% of the workforce, or multimillion-dollar-earning Sarah-Palin-interviewing Katie Couric is worried about her sinking ratings, or whether the New York Times columnists are upset that their mother paper is broke, subscription and readership down, and laying off thousands of blue-collar employees. Instead, for the true believer, it is all about the self, and the sense of the self — and damn all other considerations. (We saw that with Jimmy Carter as well; that he destroyed liberal Democrat politics for a generation meant nothing; that he won prizes and jet-setted the world for thirty years meant everything). For these people, it is always about them — all the time. Let us eat cake as they end up liberal icons for the duration.” [emphasis added]
— ‘Victor Davis Hanson, December 23rd, 2009’

I would gladly accept their iconic liberal-status for the duration, if I could be confident that they will rot in hell for eternity.

h/t Theo

Post #1,059 For the Duration

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: White Christmas

{Song #44 « Song #45 » Song #46}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #45 is White Christmas, composed by Irving Berlin. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the best selling single of all time. Think about that; a Russian-born Jewish American wrote a song about Christmas that a Roman-Catholic American of English-Irish heritage turned into the most popular song (not just Christmas song) of all time! God Bless America.

Bing Crosby Singing Irving Berlin's White Christmas
h/t auntielizzie

Post #1,058 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: White Christmas

Yo, dude, that streptococcus was my friend!

Related Link » Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too
“But before we cede the entire moral penthouse to "committed vegetarians" and "strong ethical vegans", we might consider that plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot. This is not meant as a trite argument or a chuckled aside.”
— ‘By NATALIE ANGIER, December 21, 2009 (NYT)’

Far be it from me to issue a chuckle when discussing mass murder. Though I do support capital punishment (as a cost-containment strategy), I am continually aggrieved by the wanton slaying of innocent life merely to sustain the life of the privileged classes.

How can we continue to pledge allegiance to the Judeo-Christian golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto juice", when we (yes, Pookie, that includes you, too) continue our rampage on a daily basis, be it at McDonald's or at our local pharmacy?

As always, I must credit The New York Times, the undisputed paragon of ethical standards in the reportage of news and pseudo-news, for continuing their crusade for the ethical treatment of vegetables. Nevertheless, there is always room for broadening the scope of any crusade, be it war on global warming, war on terror, war on healthcare, or war on what-have-you.

Whatever happened to war on ignorance and stupidity? Did we lose that one too?

BTW, Herman the virus is a friend of mine, too.

Post #1,057 Yo, dude, that streptococcus was my friend!

... perhaps, the end of the beginning

Related Link » Freshman Alabama Congressman Switches Parties to Join GOP
“Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, announced Tuesday that he's switching parties to become a Republican. ‘I have become increasingly concerned that the bills and policies pushed by the current Democratic leadership are not good for north Alabama or our nation’, Griffith said during a press conference Tuesday. ‘I am announcing today that I'm joining the Republican conference immediately’, he said. ‘Our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt’.”
— ‘By Chad Pergram, December 22, 2009 (FOXNews.com)’

Related Link » "The End of the Beginning"
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
— ‘Winston Churchill, November 10, 1942 (The Lord Mayor's Luncheon, Mansion House)’

Hope and change that I can fervently believe in. Sen. Lieberman, kind sir — come join the party. Sometimes, change is good.


Change!

Post #1,056 ... perhaps, the end of the beginning

The Wise and Noble Few

Related Link » The "Science" Mantra
“Science is one of the great achievements of the human mind and the biggest reason why we live not only longer but more vigorously in our old age, in addition to all the ways in which it provides us with things that make life easier and more enjoyable. Like anything valuable, science has been seized upon by politicians and ideologues, and used to forward their own agendas. [...] "Global warming" hysteria is only the latest in this long line of notions, whose main argument is that there is no argument, because it is "science". The recently revealed destruction of raw data at the bottom of the global warming hysteria, as well as revelations of attempts to prevent critics of this hysteria from being published in leading journals, suggests that the disinterested search for truth — the hallmark of real science — has taken a back seat to a political crusade. [...] When a business accused of fraud begins shredding its memos and deleting its e-mails, the media are quick to proclaim these actions as signs of guilt. But, after the global warming advocates began a systematic destruction of evidence, the big television networks went for days without even reporting these facts, much less commenting on them. As for politicians, Senator Barbara Boxer has urged prosecution of the hackers who uncovered and revealed the e-mails! People who have in the past applauded whistleblowers in business, in the military, or in Republican administrations, and who lionized the New York Times for publishing the classified Pentagon papers, are now shocked and outraged that someone dared to expose massive evidence of manipulations, concealment and destruction of data — and deliberate cover-ups of all this — in the global warming establishment. Factual data are crucial in real science. Einstein himself urged that his own theory of [general] relativity not be accepted until it could be empirically verified. This verification came when scientists around the world observed an eclipse of the sun and discovered that light behaved as Einstein's theory said it would behave, however implausible that might have seemed beforehand. [...] People who talk about the corrupting influence of money seem to automatically assume that it is only private money that is corrupting. But, when governments have billions of dollars invested in the global warming crusade, massive programs underway and whole political careers at risk if that crusade gets undermined, do not expect the disinterested search for truth. Among the intelligentsia, there have always been many who are ready to jump on virtually any bandwagon that will take them to the promised land, where the wise and noble few — like themselves — can take the rest of us poor dummies in hand and tell us how we had better change the way we live our lives.” [emphasis added; [clarification] inserted]
— ‘Thomas Sowell, December 22, 2009 (Townhall.com)’

You had me at bacon.

Post #1,055 The Wise and Noble Few

A night that will live in infamy: "It's Teddy"

Related Link » Senate Democrats Unite to Advance Key Health Care Reform Bill
“It was the middle of the night in Washington, but all 100 senators were gathered in the Capitol for a key procedural vote on health care reform legislation. Democrats needed every single one of the 58 Democrats in the Senate, plus the two independents who normally vote with them, to vote for cloture, which limits debate and Republican delaying tactics, and they got it. All 40 Republicans voted against cloture.” [emphasis added]
— Cindy Saine, 21 December 2009 (Voice of America ®)

Related Link » The Kennedys on the Meaning of Life
“Well, I think I'll open the door of the Georgetown house some morning about 2:00 A.M., look up and down the street, and if there's no one there, I'll whisper, "It's Bobby".”
— JFK, to Ben Bradlee, on how he intended to announce the appointment of his brother to the position of attorney general, 1960
h/t JFK Presidential Library

There is infamy (Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941), and there's infamy (Democrats ambush the American way of life, December 21, 2009). There is cronyism (JFK appoints his brother Bobby as Attorney General), and there's cronyism (Democrats, on a strictly partisan vote, present their Democrat President with an abomination of a healthcare bill that Teddy Kennedy championed his entire so-called "career" in the US Senate). The parallels are striking, as were/will be the repercussions.

Never in the course of human events have so many owed so much to so few. With the barest minimum of votes for cloture, 58 Democrats and their like-minded 2 Independents rammed down 300 million Americans' throats a gigantic piece of absolute dreck simply to grant their Democrat President a self-glorifying and completely undeserved claim of victory for His "signature" piece-of-shit legislation, which was, in reality, the self-glorification sought by the now-deceased scion of liberal-socialist agenda in America. The eventual costs will be staggering ($trillions) for as long as we and our decedents shall live.

Congratulations, all you f*cking morons who celebrate this night of infamy.

h/t Theo

Post #1,054 A night that will live in infamy: "It's Teddy"

Just Beyond Uranus

Related Link » Cartoon Round Up
“Planet Pelosi — way, way out there”
— Jeff Parker, CagleCartoons.com

I get the cartoonist's message, but I think he mispositioned Planet Pelosi. He placed her beyond Pluto, but she belongs just beyond Uranus, where all the other crap resides.

Post #1,053 Just Beyond Uranus

Wishin' and hopin' and changin' ...

Related Link » U.S.-Israeli Arms Cooperation Quietly Growing
“WASHINGTON — Leaders in Washington and Jerusalem have publicly locked horns over the issue of West Bank settlements. And Israeli public opinion has largely viewed America’s new administration as unfriendly. But behind the scenes, strategic security relations between the two countries are flourishing.”
— By Nathan Guttman, December 16, 2009 (Forward.com)

Maybe so. One can only hope. Because The Obama's word is, like, His bond, you know? But, "Wishin' and hopin' and changin' ..." (you can sing along if you're so inclined) is part and parcel of the whole hopey-dopey Kool-Aid drinkin', smokin'-dopin' mirror thing. When dealing with The Obama, you know, you just don't know, you know?

I know, I know. Miracles can happen when you least expect them. Maybe The Obama will let Israel borrow a couple of B2 bombers for a weekend trip. Maybe He will throw in a couple of bunker busters and a few bottles of champaign. Maybe Pelosi and Reid will be handcuffed to the bunker busters. Maybe shit-laden pigs will fly wingmen ... "Yeah, maybe (maybe maybe baby)" ...



Post #1,052 Wishin' and hopin' and changin' ...

The Obamanologist Saves or Creates (Snow) Jobs

Related Link » Snow Bears Down on East Coast
“Snowplows cleared the runway at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Washington as President Barack Obama returned from climate talks in Copenhagen. The White House said Obama rode in a motorcade back to the White House, instead of taking his helicopter, because of the conditions. Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty had declared a snow emergency for the city and forecasters warned the conditions could worsen.”
— December 19, 2009 (Associated Press)

There is no denying President Obama's persuasive powers. No sooner did he return from Hopendopenhagen, armed with iron-clad promises ('cross my heart and hopey-dopey to die') from recalcitrant 3rd rate world nations, did global warming come to a screeching halt, as millions of cars careened about the highways and byways of mid-Atlantic US states.

Do not f*ck with The Obamanologist!


h/t Theo

Post #1,051 The Obamanologist Saves or Creates (Snow) Jobs

Don't Let Obamanure Get You Down

Related Link » Be Happy!: Why this is the best holiday season ever.
“We're going through some tough economic times right now, but this holiday season, take a moment to appreciate how good we really have it.”
— ‘From ReasonTV, December 16, 2009’

Happy holidays, all y'all!

Post #1,050 Don't Let Obamanure Get You Down

Pelosi: My CO2 doesn't stink!

Related Link » Pelosi taking 20 House members to Copenhagen
“The House of Representatives has taken historic action to address the climate crisis and transition our country to a clean energy economy”, Pelosi said. “We see Copenhagen as a meeting about job creation – how do we move forward to create millions of clean energy jobs and new technologies to keep America number one. We are going to send a message of support for the Obama Administration’s efforts and we bring with us the strong commitment of the Congress to take action, as the House of Representatives did in June.” [emphasis added]
— ‘Glenn Thrush, December 16, 2009 (POLITICO)’

Copenhagen is a meeting about job creation? I thought it was a circus about climate proctology. And wouldn't an email message to The Obama, pledging undying support for His Administration's efforts, have been much more eco-friendly than spewing all that CO2 from her jets?

OK, maybe her CO2 doesn't stink; after all, it is an odorless gas. But stand clear of her H2S, man. That horseshit will knock - you - out. Seriously.



Post #1,049 Pelosi: My CO2 doesn't stink!

The Perpetually Perplexed Axis

Related Link » The Long March From California to Copenhagen
“We are seeing a strange era in which the once last bastion of capitalism, the free-market US, is trying to emulate the California model — and, in turn, the world wishes to follow what the Obama administration is trying to do in America. Note well: California depends on ‘them’ [the productive classes] producing real wealth in food, fiber, manufacturing, oil, gas, timber, construction, and high-technology. In turn, the US depends on 50 states doing the same to provide for the expansive regulatory and administrative federal class; and the world relies on the US economy to provide the growth and capital to redistribute (e.g., we can’t all be the Obamas, Valerie Jarrett, David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Van Jones, Timothy Geithner, etc., who have made good livings as advocates, regulators, bureaucrats, legislators, etc., without having to worry about meeting a payroll). In truth, in some ways, the world economy depends every day on some engineer, farmer, architect, radiator shop owner, truck driver or plumber getting up at 5AM, going to work, toiling hard, and producing real wealth so that an array of bureaucrats, regulators, and redistributors can manage the proper allotment of much of the natural largess produced. The whole system from California to Copenhagen will keep on working as long as the productive classes feel there are still incentives to jump out bed at 5AM. When ‘they’ don’t, the power is cut off to thousands of gears and cogs — and the world looks more like Ecuador or Somalia than the U.S.” [emphasis added and [comments] inserted]
— Victor Davis Hanson, December 17th, 2009

The Perpetually-perplexed Axis Powers have become a formidable foe to the Allies of Western Civilization. And this 21st Century World War is raging on many fronts, to see what the future of humanity holds in store. Will the Axis prevail, thereby bringing about retrogression to the divine pleasures of neo-Medieval times, only this time with much depleted natural resources? Or, will sanity, free markets, traditional entrepreneurial spirit, and American "can do" mentality lead us back on the road to heaven-on-earth, through legitimate scientific research, technological advancements, true wealth-generating endeavors, and personal accountability, you know, all the good things freedom has to offer humanity, which those hippie ass-holes of the '60s who are now entering their own 60's while screaming for handouts ruined in the name of flower power, free "love", free unprotected sex, free lunch, free poetry, and free shit?

For the love of god and/or anything else you might hold dear, like, maybe, personal liberty, the pursuit of happiness, your kids' well-being, your grandkids' welfare, anything at all that millions of patriots died for in the valiant hope that future generations will prosper, don't let it all slip away because a bunch of f*cking morons like Pelosi, Reid, Boxer, Schumer, Holyshitwood, Frank, Dodd, Biden, Rahm "It Up Your Ass" Emanuel, and most of all, Mr. and Mrs. Obama want to change things because, well, just because ... who the f*ck knows.

Do you really want a world according-to-those-perpetually-perplexed f*cking morons?

Well, do ya punk?

Call it!

Post #1,048 The Perpetually Perplexed Axis

3rd Grade Diplomacy

h/t Theo

Post #1,047 3rd Grade Diplomacy

Republic: a Constitutionally limited representative government

Related Link » Majoritarianism in its place
“First, democratic as may be, these polities [liberal democracies] must not permit majority opinion to prevail in all circumstances [tyranny of the majority]. There are fundamental human rights that must not be breached and there may also be entrenched rights - embodied, for example, in a constitution [see Bill of Rights in US Constitution]. That a majority is in favour of violating someone's fundamental rights is not an acceptable reason for doing it, and if a legislature or judiciary can see that this does not happen, so much the better. Second, it is an assumption of representative democracy that political representatives, while broadly representing the interests and opinions of their constituents, do so according to their own best judgement. They are not mandated delegates, obliged to do the exact bidding of those who elect them. [...] These are not ‘illiberal and anti-democratic’ features of pluralist democracy; they are integral to it - and something to be uncomfortable about only if one thinks unrestrained majoritarianism on all issues and in all spheres should be the guiding principle. But it shouldn't. There is no single principle that, prevailing, would ensure for us a just and liveable world. We have to operate with many values. That's more messy and can lead us into situations of tension or, sometimes, overt contradiction. But it's the way of the world. If you know something better, bring it on. Simple majoritarianism isn't it [see Churchill's famous dictum].” [emphasis added; [editorial remarks] inserted]
— Norman Geras, December 16, 2009

Norm discusses eloquently a recurring misunderstanding among multitudes of very vocal, passionate, and politically-challenged protesters. I have also attempted on quite a few occasions (see, for example, here, here, and here) to inform those who seem not to understand how a constitutionally limited representative government, namely a republic, differs from what Norm refers to as majoritarianism.

Majority rule, if not constitutionally limited, can and does lead to tyranny. This is why our Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. They did so by institutionalizing in our blessed Constitution, the concepts of: representative government (not government via mandated delegates); protection of individual rights from the tyranny of the majority (via the Bill of Rights); and, the beauty of a tripartite government's checks and balances (via Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches).

(click to enlarge)
h/t Theo

Post #1,046 Republic: a Constitutionally limited representative government

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Ode to Joy

{Song #43 « Song #44 » Song #45}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #44 is Ode to Joy, composed by Beethoven.

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire and is considered one of Beethoven's greatest masterpieces. It was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The words are sung during the final movement by four vocal soloists and a chorus. They were taken from the "Ode to Joy", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additions made by the composer.

Beethoven's Ode to Joy (choral finale Symphony #9)
h/t RRRGroup2

“The Ninth Symphony was premiered on May 7, 1824 in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. This was the composer's first on-stage appearance in twelve years; the hall was packed. The soprano and alto parts were interpreted by two famous young singers: Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger. Although the performance was officially directed by Michael Umlauf, the theatre's Kapellmeister, Beethoven shared the stage with him. [...] [Umlauf] instructed the singers and musicians to ignore the totally deaf Beethoven. [...] When the audience applauded [...] Beethoven was several measures off and still conducting. Because of that, the contralto, Caroline Unger, walked over and turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause. [...] The whole audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, raised hands, so that Beethoven, who could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovation gestures. [...] Beethoven left the concert deeply moved.” [emphasis added]
— ‘From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia’

UPDATE: December 16, 2009
Happy 239th birthday, Ludwig!

Thirteen-year-old Beethoven

Post #1,045 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Ode to Joy

We Are the System

Related Link » Is America a Deer in the Headlights?
“Spiraling public debt, a sinking currency, and a bankrupt popular culture are simply symptoms when the body politic no longer adheres to a time-honored protocol of proven success. [...] When schools cannot guarantee that their graduates are literate, know basic math, and have some sense of being American — the rights and responsibilities of citizenship — then those, rich or poor, who seek government assistance and violate the protocols will grow, and those able to pay sufficient taxes for them and who follow the letter of the law will shrink. [...] [M]illions will never again vote for a Chicago politician and his coterie of insiders like Emanuel, Axlerod, Jarrett, etc. They will value experience at governance, not gimmicky hopey/changey bromides. The voters want a Truman/Eisenhower sort of figure to talk no-nonsense, be tough with our enemies, supportive of our allies, and one who will pay down not expand the national debt.”
— ‘Victor Davis Hanson, December 13th, 2009’

God help us, we need a miraculous National leader like Abraham Lincoln. But we could make do with a very good one, like Truman, Eisenhower, or Reagan. We also need an industrial-strength eradication of the putrid Congressional incumbents. The leftist assault on American traditions and values have been devastating to our Nation's well-being and our society's self-respect.

We need the remnants of America's decency and honor to shake off the stupefying effects of false prophets' decadence and ineptitude. Now is truly the time that tries wo/men's souls. Life is not about free lunch and gaming the "system". We are the system.

Post #1,044 We Are the System

Death Shark is kicking ass and taking names

Related Link » New Israeli unmanned wonder boat deployed in Persian Gulf

“The first unmanned stealth craft on the seas, designated Protector SV or Death Shark, recently deployed in the Persian Gulf, is in high demand after its successful performance with the Singapore Navy. [...] Operated by remote control from a shore base, the crewless nine-meter long speedboat is armed with a Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range. This system is a Typhoon-type heavy MK-49 Mod 0 machine gun capable of laser accuracy up to a range of 50 kilometers, which sticks to its target, whether on land, air or sea, even as the rigid-hull inflatable bounces on the waves at 40 knots. The Death Shark's four cameras, functioning at the same distance and high definition as satellite cameras, can capture a license plate number from a distance of 26 kilometers. The stealth craft is also equipped with a sonar or radar system and electro-optics which transmit a three-dimensional image to its shore base, instruments for jamming enemy electronics and weapons for taking on large warships, such as torpedoes and explosive charges. [...] Among its other features, the craft is equipped for active interception of terrorist incursions by sea, like the one that held Mumbai to siege in Nov. 2008.”
— ‘DEBKAfile Special Report December 13, 2009’

Post #1,043 Death Shark is kicking ass and taking names

Hope and change via bioengineering

Related Link » Direct photosynthetic recycling of carbon dioxide to isobutyraldehyde
“One approach to [the reduction of CO2 emissions] is to recycle CO2 directly into fuels or chemicals using photosynthesis [in cyanobacteria]. Here we genetically engineered Synechococcus elongatus [a cyanobacterium] ... to produce isobutyraldehyde and isobutanol directly from CO2 ... Isobutyraldehyde is a precursor for the synthesis of other chemicals, and isobutanol can be used as a gasoline substitute.”
— ‘Shota Atsumi, et al., Nature Biotechnology 27, 1177 - 1180 (2009)’

If we stipulate that the energy of sunlight [photo-] and the work of cyanobacteria [synthesis] are essentially free, then this process might just be that elusive "free lunch", namely the production of a gasoline substitute plus other useful chemicals. And, as an added bonus, the recycling of CO2 becomes "free desert":

sunlight + CO2 → [photosynthesis] → isobutanol + isobutyraldehyde + O2

If cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) could become the rescuers of planet Earth from climatic disaster, then we should focus on blue-green energy, instead of that old fashioned green energy. Now that's the kind of change I can believe in — based on legitimate science and bioengineering, as opposed to illegitimate climate-proctology.


Breathless

Post #1,042 Hope and change via bioengineering

A Garden-variety Cunning Linguist

Related Link » VARIOUS VIEWS AND STYLES OF GNOME CHOMSKY THE GARDEN NOAM

h/t Norm
Yesam Chumpsky

Post #1,041 A Garden-variety Cunning Linguist

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: The Wanderer

{Song #42 « Song #43 » Song #44}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #43 is The Wanderer, sung by Dion (DiMucci).

"The Wanderer" is a song recorded with an uncredited background vocal group, the Del-Satins, in a rockier style than Dion's earlier hits with the Belmonts. The Del-Satins were an established doowop group led by Stan Ziska (later known as Stan Sommers), who at the time were also contracted to Laurie Records, and who later formed the core of "Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge".

As for the Long Island group known as "The Brooklyn Bridge", their story has, for me, a personal twist to it:

A Battle of the Bands was conducted on Long Island in early 1969. A group of students from Hicksville High School competed along with many other groups for the coveted title of best band on Long Island. The record producer who owned the right to Johnny Maestro and the Del Satins selected the Hicksville group (who did not win the competition) to join forces with Maestro and the Del Satins. The result was the formation of The Brooklyn Bridge.

The personal twist is that I graduated from that same Hicksville High School in 1959.

The Wanderer - Dion
h/t Roselyne14

Post #1,040 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: The Wanderer

Roller Suit — Get Down on It

Related Link » Body blading
“Body blading (also known as buggy rollin') is an extreme sport that involves descending down a slope while wearing a flexible aerodynamic plastic roller suit that has wheels on the feet, knees, torso, and arms. This suit was created by Jean-Yves Blondeau, and he is one of the premier body bladers.”
— ‘From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia’

Roller Suit in Swiss Alps
h/t Theo

Post #1,039 Roller Suit — Get Down on It

Gore Dreaming of a Brown Xmas

Related Link » Video: It's A Climategate Christmas


Horseshit Roasting on an Open Fire

Post #1,038 Gore Dreaming of a Brown Xmas

Macho Mocha

Related Link » Christmas trees banned for climate summit
“But Christmas is a religious holiday that has no place at a United Nations function, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Svend Olling, who is the head of practical planning for the climate summit. ‘We have to remember that this is a UN conference and, as the centre then becomes UN territory, there can be no Christmas trees in the decor, because the UN wishes to maintain neutrality,’ said Olling.”
— ‘The Copenhagen Post, 04 December 2009’

Monday morning. I jump out of bed and race downstairs for a bracing cup of coffee; black, no sugar — macho mocha. I return to my war room (i.e., my computer nooky). Tension mounts as I boot my trusty desktop, waiting for the latest atrocity-broadside from our nasty village — Earth.

What is The Obamitude up to now? Has the Pelosi-Reed cabal finally imploded under the sheer weight of our $quadrillion debt? Have Frank and Dodd finally been indicted for crimes against ordinary insanity? Is Biden still droning on and on? And what about Dubya? Is he still messing with gas prices and the winter solstice?

None of the above. Instead, the Danes are banning Christmas trees, presumably in deference to the Muslim-majority UN. Oh, the humanity!

I search for more meaty subject matter. I stumble across: "Onion Found to Have Multi-layered Skins"; "Tiger Turds Found in Woods"; "Pope Admits He's Catholic"; "Sean Penn Proposes to I'madinnerjacket"; "Carter Claims to Have Saved or Created a Quintillion Lives"; "Letterman Admits Affair with Oprah"; "Olbermann Rear-ends Doberman"; etc.

I get back into bed. Tuesday is another day.

Post #1,037 Macho Mocha

Value Added Algebraically

Related Link » algebraic addition
“(mathematics) The addition of algebraic quantities in the sense that adding a negative quantity is the same as subtracting a positive one.”
— ‘From Sci-Tech Dictionary’

We have all been hearing about so-called "value added" quantities, lately. Value added tax (VAT) and value added data (!) are a couple of the more egregious concepts currently bandied about by politicians and climate-proctologists, the latter being doubly sinister because they happen to be politicians as well. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at this scam concept.

Arithmetic is that elementary branch of mathematics that comprises the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. But subtraction is introduced only to delay the introduction of the concept of negative quantities, so as not to alarm and confuse young children (who learn the concept of "take away" early on).

Once the concept of negative quantities is introduced, however, subtraction is subsumed by the more general concept of algebraic addition. And this is the cover that scumbags like Barney Frank and the denizens of East Anglia University use to scam their unsuspecting supporters, many of whom never relinquished their reliance on the concept of subtraction.

Consider how devious these bastards are. How many people, when they hear "value added", even consider the possibility that it can (and often does) imply a diminishment of value? Show of hands? I thought so.

(click to enlarge)

Post #1,036 Value Added Algebraically

Narcissism means never having to use peripheral vision

Related Link » Love means never having to say you're sorry
— ‘From the 1970 film "Love Story" starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal’

Related Link » Narcissism
“The terms narcissism, narcissistic, and narcissist are often used as pejoratives, denoting vanity, conceit, egotism or simple selfishness.”
— ‘From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia’

Sooner or later, imperceptibly at first but at an ever accelerated rate, every mature gentleman becomes cognizant of his invisibility to all young women, as well as to narcissists of all ages and genders (there is, of course, much overlap between these two large classes of asses). This natural phenomenon affects even male narcissists who prance around Holyshitwood and its satellite Districts, though many such men have access to the only antidotes for inevitable invisibility, namely money, drugs, and/or scalped invitations to White-House power lunches.

Such realizations, of course, can be somewhat disheartening (unless you happen to have access to the above-mentioned antidotes), but they can also provide an opportunity to observe, and possibly learn from, the single-mindedness of the "me, me, me" (cl)asses. It's not a major consolation, mind you, but still ...

So what have I learned so far? Not much, really. Perhaps some humility, which is not a bad thing (are you paying attention, O Humble One? Nah). What goes around, comes around. And even the youngest and most attractive inevitably become invisible, except for those who learn to use their peripheral vision at an earlier age, which is to say they acquire some humility to ward off abject poverty of substance.



Post #1,035 Narcissism means never having to use peripheral vision

A Thousand Words for "Perverse"

Related Link » Obama Ignores 'Climate-Gate' in Revising Copenhagen Plans
“The White House is shrugging off the Climate-gate e-mails. ‘I think there's no real scientific basis for the dispute of (global warming)’, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this week. And Obama's top science adviser, John Holdren, downplayed the e-mails Friday, telling Congress that the controversy involves a small group of scientists and how they have interpreted and shared global warming data. ‘It's important to understand that these kinds of controversies and even accusations of bias and improper manipulation are not all that uncommon in science, in all branches of science’, he said at a congressional hearing.” [emphasis added]
— ‘From FOXNews.com, December 05, 2009’

Someone please remind me whence this piece-of-shit "science" advisor slithered into this gang of shit heads. His very existence is an insult to all branches of science, not to mention the human genome itself.

Related Link » Definition of perverse
per⋅verse
– adjective
1. willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired;
Origin: 1325–75; ME ; L perversus facing the wrong way; [emphasis added]
— ‘From Dictionary.com’

Facing the wrong way, yet again ...

Post #1,034 A Thousand Words for "Perverse"

Jobs (and Lives) Saved or Created

Related Link » Our Present Anxieties
Reset button/‘they did it’ diplomacy
“But what is different from past Presidents is the serial, incessant whine of ‘poor me’, ‘Bush did it’, ‘we have to hit the reset the button’ with the Russians, the Arabs, the Iranians, the Europeans, etc. I thought all this would have the usual shelf-life of 6 months. But here it is nearly a year and we are getting more, not less of it. We are back to the lamentations of Jimmy Carter, who, 30 years after his disastrous leadership in 1979-80 on the Iranian hostage crisis, is still talking about how others would have done worse, and how he had saved thousands of lives.” [emphasis added]
— ‘Victor Davis Hanson, December 4th, 2009’

As usual, Prof. Hanson cuts to the chase, and brings to bear his wealth of historical knowledge to expose hypocrisy and slight-of-hand where it festers in the compost-heap of leftist policy. Consider this latest in a rash of analogies between the whiny Carter Administration and the new (and improved?) Obama version.

As Hanson points out, one of Carter's more egregious instances of disingenuousness is how he had saved thousands of lives. The Obama, of course, has already softened up the playing field with his ingenious concept of "saved or created"! Clearly, Carter, who fancies himself a mere mortal among men of action, can not have aspired, much as he might have wished, to the ranks of the immortals.

The Obama, however, as has been ordained by the likes of Chris "Tingly" Matthews, has no such encumbrances of humility. When He writes the next in His never-ending glorifications of Himself, The Obama will surely claim to have saved, or created, not thousands, not millions, but billions of lives.

Check that; make it trillions.


Note the use of the royal "We".

Post #1,033 Jobs (and Lives) Saved or Created

A Thousand Words for "Evil"

Related Link » Boxer Suggests Leaked E-Mails Represent 'Criminal' Hacker Conspiracy
“Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is calling the leaked e-mails from climate scientists at a British university research unit a "theft" and "crime" that should be investigated, despite calls from Republicans to investigate the contents of the e-mails themselves -- not the way they were leaked.”
— ‘FOXNews, December 03, 2009’

Post #1,032 A Thousand Words for "Evil"

If you seek Amy, get health insurance ...

Related Link » Weirdest Questions Asked on Yahoo! Answers
“I dont want to go to e.r. or dr office cuz i gots no insurance”
— ‘Danniell...’

Click to enlarge (so to speak)

They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Stupid tw*ts, however, are a whole 'nother ball game (as it were).

Post #1,031 If you seek Amy, get health insurance ...

A Thousand Words for "Canadian"

h/t Theo

Post #1,030 A Thousand Words for "Canadian"

A Thousand Words for "Tight"

h/t Theo

Post #1,029 A Thousand Words for "Tight"

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Heart of Glass

{Song #41 « Song #42 » Song #43}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #42 is Heart of Glass, sung by Blondie (Debbie Harry - lead vocals).

"Heart of Glass" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie. Featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, it was released as a single in 1979 and topped the charts in several countries, most notably in the United Kingdom and United States. Rolling Stone ranked the song number 255 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

What can I say; I'm partial to blonds. It's got a great beat too.

Heart Of Glass - Blondie (Debbie Harry)
h/t hushhush112

Related Link » Heart of Glass: Music Video
“The "Heart of Glass" promotional video was filmed at the Studio 54 discothèque in New York City with director Stanley Dorfman. The video begins with footage of New York City in the night, before joining Blondie perform at Studio 54. Then, the video alternates between close-ups of Harry's face as she lip-syncs, and mid-distance shots of the entire band. In the video Harry wears a silver dress designed by Stephen Sprouse. To create the dress, Sprouse photo-printed a picture of television scan lines onto a piece of fabric, and then, according to Harry, ‘put a layer of cotton fabric underneath and a layer of chiffon on top, and then the scan-lines would do this op-art thing’. [...] ‘Draped in a sheer, silver Sprouse dress,’ Kris Needs summarized, while writing for Mojo Classic, ‘Debbie sang through gritted teeth, while the boys cavorted with mirror balls’. Studying Harry's attitude in the ‘effortlessly cool’ video, music writer Pat Kane felt she ‘exuded a steely confidence about her sexual impact ... The Marilyn [Monroe] do has artfully fallen over, and she's in the funkiest of dresses: one strap across her shoulder, swirling silks around about her. Her iconic face shows flickers of interest, amidst the boredom and ennui of the song's lyrics’. [...] Reviewing the Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision DVD for Pitchfork Media, Jess Harvell wrote that while ‘owning your own copy of 'Heart of Glass' may not seem as cool [anymore] ... there's the always luminous Deborah Harry, who would give boiling asparagus an erotic charge, all while looking too bored to live’.”
— ‘From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia’

Post #1,028 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: Heart of Glass

Blood for Poppy Seeds

So if you haven't heard about The Obama's surge of American troops to Afghanistan, you must still be obsessing about President Bush's successful surge in Iraq, despite the brazen and slanderous leftist claims that it was motivated by "blood for oil".

But now that the leftists' water-boy is in the White House, I'm not hearing much about The Obama's motives in Afghanistan: blood for poppy seeds. That's right; poppy seeds. It's no secret that virtually the entire earth's output of poppy seeds comes from Afghanistan. And, it is a poorly-disguised "secret" that The Obama and his craven cronies crave poppy-seed bagels with their smoked-salmon omelets at Sunday brunch.

Leftist hypocrites!

(click to enlarge)
Country Cookin'.

Post #1,027 Blood for Poppy Seeds

Hoist with their own putrid leotards! (Redux)

Related Link » Climatologism Temporarily Indisposed
“You’ll note that the allegation is he ‘overstated the case for man-made climate change’. That would suggest excessive enthusiasm, something along the lines of Gorean exuberance. ‘I really really think warming is caused by human activity, and its really really bad. Come on, people …’ Something like that. In fact, what is alleged to have happened is entirely different and in scientific terms, orders of magnitude more sinister than simple overstatement. It’s the purposeful, conspiratorial doctoring of data in presentations to avoid undercutting arguments for climate change, obscuring inconvenient facts, and actively attempting to isolate and silence opposing views.”
— ‘Jules Crittenden, December 2, 2009’

Give the motherf*ckers a fair trial and then hang them.


The Hot Gates.

Post #1,026 Hoist with their own putrid leotards! (Redux)