Month: December 2006

From STACLU

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There is no doubt that a certain amount of transparency is essential for a modern democracy to function honestly. However, taken to the extreme, complete transparency would effectively make our National Security impotent and threaten the ability of the democracy to secure its very existence. There is a line that must be carefully walked. We must maintain common sense, especially in times that enemies threaten our very existence. We can not be so transparent that our enemies can see through us, and know our techniques and plans to fight them and protect ourselves against them. We should never cede our security to exist over to a utopian ideological dream of a completely transparent government. It is also important to have government watchdogs keeping an eye on government from abusing and overclassifying information that the public has a right to know. The danger lies in allowing too much liberty, especially to absolutist organizations like the ACLU, in that decision making process.

The Investor’s Business Daily brings up some very good points in reference to the recent backing down of the government in trying to obtain a classified document from the ACLU.

“The government blinked,” gloated ACLU executive director Anthony Romero.

Judge Rakoff is notoriously liberal, having declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 2002 (a ruling quickly overturned), and earlier this year forcing the Pentagon to make public thousands of pages of information on suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay. So it’s understandable for prosecutors to not want to fight an unwinnable battle.

Are we nearing the day, however, when the ACLU has our legal system so wrapped around its finger that government secrets can no longer be kept from terrorists? Consider these points:

• The ACLU’s Romero called the subpoena battle “a fight not over a document but over the principle that the government cannot and should not be allowed to intimidate and impede the work of human rights advocates like the ACLU who seek to expose government wrongdoing.”

But if leftist activist groups or journalists, rather than the freely-elected U.S. government, decide what is legitimately secret and what is “intimidation,” there’s little that will remain secret.

Continue reading “Stop the ACLU: Extreme transparency=flaccid security?”

Just 13 Christmas Carols (and Advent Hymns) I like, not favs–that’d be a much longer list–but just some I like. Notice there are no secular songs in the list. That’s because, while I feel I can stretch the list to include Advent songs, secular songs are in no way, shape, fashion or form carols. Yes, I know common parlance has pejorated the term ‘carol” to mean, well just about anything a speaker wants it to mean, but I’m not going to enter the sign-symbol-semantics-pejoration thicket today. Just sayin’–ain’t no secular songs that are Christmas carols, not really.

In no particular order:

The First Noel. You probably know the words. Click the link to sing along with an instrumental accompaniment suitable for voices to sing with.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (Linked to lyrics and a sample of the tune.)

Away in a Manger (lyrics linked) NOT sung to the crappy, urm, poor tune by James R. Murray that darned near everyone and his dog seems to think fits it well. (OK, the tune’s not crappy, just pedestrian and boring–besides being unsuitable to a wide array of voices including most children’s voices.) Here’s an excerpt of a better tune:

OK, so the tempo it’s played is too fast for singing the song properly, but the tune’s beautiful and works much better with the lyrics when sung at a proper tempo~100bpm.

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming Powerful text, beautiful tune. Click the link for both the text and an mp3 of Kathleen Battle (!!) singing the song.

The Seven Joys of Mary. The link’s to the lyrics and a really fun performance by The Great Big Sea. (The web page at the link includes a disconcerting misuse of an apostrophe in the title, but I can forgive that for the rollicking recording of this song :-))

Of the Alfred Burt Carols, one is probably the most-sung: Some Children See Him. Follow the link to discover why, if you don’t already know. 🙂

OK, it’s not strictly a Christmas carol, nor is it limited to Christmas alone in its scope (unless one contemplates the Christmas story, as do many, as the story of God’s Gift to mankind), but Lord Of The Dance, although relatively new and neither carol nor even hymn, is a song to gather the thread of Christmas together into a beautiful and full tapestry. (And a suitable use/adaptation of the tune associated with “Simple Gifts” too. :-))

Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor. See the lyrics at the link, but listen to the mp3 here (the audio player I was testing on that post is a lil cranky. :-))

O Little Town of Bethlehem. The link’s to a clip from a performance by Neal Davis.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. (You’re gonna love that link! Repeated below so you CAN’T miss it! :-)) I’m no fan of the Arthur Sullivan tune mated to the carol text, and I’ve already posted a clip to an arrangement of the tune I do like (in a style I find appropriate for a Christmas Eve service or the like), but here’s areally fun swing band arrangement (and yeh, there’s a sales pitch for the chart at the end of the piece. Oh. Well. :-)). I particularly like the totally inappropriate treatment of the “peace on the earth” segment. Cool. *heh*

Ding Dong Merrily on High The link’s to an interesting and sometimes quite good instrumental arrangement, for those of y’all who like reading along with instrumental scores (you may have to download and install Sibelius Music’s Scorch music player). Here are the lyrics.

Go, Tell It On the Mountain I can’t seem to lay my hands on the arrangement/recording I’m partial to right now, so the link’s to a pdf of a decent arrangement.

Rise Up Shepherd and Follow The link’s to a clip of a credible piano performance. Others by the same performer found here. Lyrics here.

And a bonus, number 14 (even though I could keep on going :-)):

Silent Night I prefer the German lyrics:

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Alles schl�ft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute heilige Paar.
Holder Knab im lockigen Haar,
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Gottes Sohn! O wie lacht
Lieb� aus deinem g�ttlichen Mund,
Da schl�gt uns die rettende Stund,
Christ in deiner Geburt!
Christ in deiner Geburt!

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Die der Welt Heil gebracht,
Aus des Himmels goldenen H�hn
Uns der Gnaden F�lle l��t seh�n
Jesum in Menschengestalt,
Jesum in Menschengestalt

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Wo sich heut alle Macht
V�terlicher Liebe ergo�
Und als Bruder huldvoll umschlo�
Jesus die V�lker der Welt,
Jesus die V�lker der Welt.

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Lange schon uns bedacht,
Als der Herr vom Grimme befreit,
In der V�ter urgrauer Zeit
Aller Welt Schonung verhie�,
Aller Welt Schonung verhie�.

Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Alleluja.
T�nt es laut aus Fern und Nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!

Linked at the Thursday Thirteen Hub and at the Christmas Alliance HQ and submitted to the Carnival of Christmas.

And trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Rightwing Guy, Stuck On Stupid, The Random Yak, , and Pursuing Holiness, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Due to scheduling issues on the distal end of twc’s “lightning Xmas trip” to visit family, I’m at loose ends for a few hours today. Maybe some mechanicking and housework, since the rest of my schedule’s clear. 🙂

[WARNING: rambling semi-rant follows. For “Christmas spirit” see another post at twc today, like the sticky post at the top of the page. 🙂 ]

Continue reading “A Short “Reprieve””

Note: This isn’t an “official” GTB post. 🙂

President Bush has drummed the “jobs Americans won’t do” refrain so many times (here’s one of many), it reminds me of Joseph Goebbels’ principle of “the big lie.”

Well, Mr. President, try this one on for size:

Applicants line up to fill jobs left empty by Swift plant raid

Greely, CO:

The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday.

Yeh, just some more of those “jobs Americans won’t do” freed up for Americans to do them by an uncharacteristic enforcement of laws already on the books, Mr. President.

How in the world did you let this happen, President Bush? Stunning incompetence in your campaign to turn America into Mexico del Norte.

*heh*

[Edited the attribution for “the big lie”]

While on the sweetest shore duty known to a sea going sailor, short of being a Naval Attache in the Down Under (so I’m told, never got to make it there, but had a friend who did), I had to pen a paper on a topic for a Philosphy course. I thought: Hmmm…how can I do something that looks serious, but can’t have that much to read to get my arms around it????

A quandry, but, I went on to think: What about the Turkish and Armenian thing? Ok, I’ll do genocide as a topic, so I’ll learn something, but not have to do a lot of reading…

Foolish me…..I will say, once “engaged,” I found there was much to read and many ways we have determined it can happen, and it’s not always about killing. For instance, I found out that The Muslim Turks would take children from the Christian Aremnians and give them to Turkish families to be raised as Muslims. That, my readers, fits the definition of genocide, as determined in the United Nations definition of the crime of genocide (Resolution 260 (III)A) in 1948. Many other things, brutal and not (at first) come under the umbrella of this word we so fear, and hate, all at once. It’s not a long read, and I’d suggest you take a few minutes and gather some understanding for use in the ongoing discussions, not only about Iraq, but for the future of those in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Continue reading “A Long Time Ago in Master’s Program Far Away – Genocide and People”

Why is it that this reminds me of Mel Brooks’ “Springtime for Hitler and Germany” (the play-within-the-play in The Producers)?

I dunno, but it sure does…

😉

Yeh, it’s all over the web, swamping my inbox, etc., but STACLU was first to point me to it.

Trackposted to Rightwing Guy, Perri Nelson’s Website, , The Random Yak, Stuck On Stupid, Planck’s Constant, Dumb Ox News, and Conservative Cat, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

by Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous

I came across this article several weeks ago from one of my favorite columnists. Professor Williams has a very succinct way of conveying complicated topics and themes. If you are not a regular reader of his, you should at least check out his regular column at Townhall.

In this piece, Professor Williams tackles the Fair Tax, and as we would hope he describes some of the highlights and benefits that would be reaped upon its passage.

If enacted, the Fair Tax would eliminate: the federal individual income tax, alternative minimum tax, corporate and business taxes, capital gains tax, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and estate and gift taxes. These taxes would be replaced by a 23 percent sales tax on all goods and services sold at the retail level. The Fair Tax would be revenue-neutral in the sense that it would replace the revenue from current federal taxes; thus, it would change the way government is funded. Our current tax code is an abomination, and we desperately need that change. The time Americans spend simply complying with our tax code comes to 5.8 billion hours of record-keeping, filing taxes, consulting, legal and accounting services. Breaking those hours down to a 40-hour work week, it translates into a workforce of 2.77 million people. That’s more than the workforce of our auto, aircraft, computer and steel manufacturing industries combined.

The Fair Tax has much to recommend in its favor, such as being a more efficient form of taxation. It would go a long way toward protecting our privacy and preventing Congress from using the tax code to micromanage our lives. The Fair Tax is an excellent idea, but only under three conditions: first, the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment that created the income tax; second, a provision fixing the tax at, say, 23 percent; and third, a constitutional amendment mandating that a tax increase requires a three-fourths vote of Congress. Notwithstanding any provisions within the Fair Tax, if the Sixteenth Amendment weren’t repealed, down the road we’d find ourselves with a national sales tax and an income tax.

But, what I found to be the most interesting is the Professor William’s take on the prospects of the passage of the Fair tax. Seeing it as a tremendous obstacle, Professor Williams is quite pessimistic in outlook. While we here at the Fair Tax Blogburst respectfully disagree with this synopsis, his underlying rationale for the difficulty of passage of the Fair tax cannot be ignored.

You say, “Williams, it sounds as if you don’t trust Congress.” I don’t trust Congress any farther than I can toss an elephant. During the debate prior to ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, congressmen said that only the rich would ever pay income taxes. In 1917, only one-half of one percent of income earners paid income taxes. Those earning $250,000 a year in today’s dollars paid one percent, and those earning $6 million in today’s dollars paid 7 percent. The lie that only the rich would ever pay income taxes was simply propaganda to dupe Americans into ratifying the Sixteenth Amendment.

Here’s my prediction: The Fair Tax will never become law. The two most powerful congressional committees are the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees. These committees write tax law, and as such they are able to confer tax privileges on some Americans at the expense of other Americans. The Fair Tax would reduce or eliminate this form of congressional privilege-granting power and, subsequently, campaign contributions from the beneficiaries would dwindle.

The method used to finance the federal government is very important, but I’ve always argued that government spending is the true measure of its impact on our lives. If there were a Fair Tax, what’s to stop Congress from deficit spending or inflating the currency? Deficit spending and inflation are simply alternative forms, albeit less obvious, of taxation.

You say, “What’s Williams’ solution?” My solution is an amendment limiting federal spending to a fixed percentage, say, 10 percent of the gross domestic product. You say, “Why 10 percent?” If 10 percent is good enough for the Baptist Church, it certainly ought to be good enough for Congress.

The question we must ask is “What makes Williams think that this will pass any easier than the FairTax?” The outcome is doubtful for the exact same reasons that Williams argues would doom the FairTax — the committees which decide where certain monies are spent can also confer privileges on some Americans at the expense of other Americans. Limiting spending to 10% would eliminate much of the congressional privilege-granting power, and corresponding campaign contributions.

The one thing that the FairTax has behind it is the power of a grassroots organization. Ultimately, this is still a government of, by, and for the people. It is up to us to see that our representatives perform as we believe they should. It is up to us to insure passage of the FairTax bill. We must take Mr. Williams arguments for the FairTax and spread them as widely as possible, while ignoring his pessimism. Together, we can get this done.

And maybe in the meantime we can also cut spending, thus reducing the amount of tax required for the FairTax. Now isn’t that an idea?

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Comment: Jonathan’s take is ceertainly valid, but… wouldn’t it really be muuuuuch better to sweep Congress clean of the political elite who love spending YOUR money? A dream, yeh, but what a dream! Down with the 21st Century robber barons inhabiting Congress! *heh*

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OK, so I’ve posted this here a couple of times already, but still, instead of anything political or anything lambasting the forces of secularism or commercialism or whatever, here’s something that’s made a regular appearance in some form or another in my Christmas correspondence for the past 16 years or so.

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The Gift

Trees and lights and bells and carols;
Bright-wrapped packages, piled high;
Winter’s sharp blow joins the heralds:
“Christmas-time is nigh!”

Mailmen hurry; shoppers scurry;
Time is fleeing – Oh! So fast!
Parties gather, loud and merry,
Grander than in Christmas’ past.

Pause a moment to remember
That a Savior’s simple birth
Still stirs angel wings in susur’ –
“Peace to men; good will on earth!”

Now the Father’s hands that molded
The first Adam in the clay,
Gently ’round a manger folded,
Cradle a Baby in the hay.

So the Greatest Gift extended,
Gift of love and peace to all,
“God’s great love to man descended”
Calls us to a manger stall.

©1990 David Needham

X-posted at The Wide Awakes

Tracked back to The Christmas Alliance 2006 HQ

And, trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Rightwing Guy, Wake Up America, Planck’s Constant, The Random Yak, The HILL Chronicles, and Adam’s Blog, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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All-new, thanks to The Conservative Cat.

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If it’s Tuesday, we’d be better off if it were Belgium… instead of low-brow, harmless farce, Jean Fraud Kerry

Well, with Kpilot installed and my Palm data fully synced to the desktop under Ubuntu, “Easy Ubuntu” pulling a buncha media codecs and apps off the web and installing them (so video, mp3, etc., all just work seamlessly), the latest Linux GUI box is looking more and more like nearly a full replacement for any Windows box in the stable here at twc central.

(Of course, there’s still the lack of decent music transcription available for Linux. No, let’s not get all steamed about the “great” music transcription apps for Linux, cos they aren’t. Really. Great looking scores, I’ll admit, but crappy interfaces. I want to sit at a midi keyboard and just play the stuff in. And there’s no Linux music transcription software yet that does that as well as what I already have on a Windows box. And no, running my fav transcription software under WINE doesn’t work. Yet.*)

Everything else I do–or that even any average computer user might do–is doable with a slick Linux GUI, now. (And free office apps? Oh, yeh. Works for this tightwad.)

But it’s still not “Aunt Tilly ready” cos it takes downloading and installing tons of extras from more than a few different repositories, learning some command line syntax (gotta love “sudo”–cute trick to teach old DOS dogs) and a few other things in order to get a Linux GUI box to the point where it’s as slick as–well, slicker than, really–a Windows box right, urm, outa the box.

But if you like to tinker, you can certainly build a nice Linux box using Ubuntu or Puppy Linux or Xandros or one of the other nicely-done GUI-based distros for a newbie user, be it “Aunt Tilly” or your elderly parents or whomever, much less expensively than buying a piece of crap $400 Dell or HP that’ll be a doorstop in no time flat. And when they call tech support (you), at least they’ll be able to understand the language you speak. I hope.

Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, and Planck’s Constant, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Continue reading “A wee tad closer to an all-Linux twc”