"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
OK, so I lie about other things, too
Just see if I’m lying about this, too. Go. I’ll wait.
[imagine elevator muzak here]
[imagine elevator muzak here]
[imagine elevator muzak here]
[imagine elevator muzak here]
[imagine elevator muzak here]
[yeh, more elevator muzak here]
Back, now? OK, now you know I was. Lying to you, that is. Sorry. Nah. I’m not.
Prisons for kids gives us several headlines this week
Kris, over at Anywhere But Here, has a sample of news from our country’s prisons for kids (otherwise falsely labeled, “public schools”). “Guards in Scuffle,” “Inmate Death Threats” and “Parolee Abuse” are three articles you ought to check out. (OK, I admit it: I made up those titles. Kris is more generous and conventional in labeling the incidents.)
Another illustration of the eternal nature of civil service corruption
The lil ditty (indeed, Kipling included it in his “Departmental Ditties” so I’m not using the term in a demeaning fashion) below always brings a wry smile to my face. Most of us have known a “Potipher Gubbins” in our own lives: someone who through connections, schmoozing ability (or outright brown-nosing), or other qualities rises far beyond their level of competence and reaps rewards far beyond their accomplishments. (In fact, such people are so common, there are whole classes of them: politicians, school administrators, petty bureaucrats of all stripes, etc.). So here’s
Study of an Elevation, In Indian Ink
This ditty is a string of lies.
But-how the deuce did Gubbins rise?Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.
Stands at the top of the tree;
And I muse in my bed on the reasons that led
To the hoisting of Potiphar G.Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,
Is seven years junior to Me;
Each bridge that he makes either buckles or breaks,
And his work is as rough as he.Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,
Is coarse as a chimpanzee;
And I can’t understand why you gave him your hand,
Lovely Mehitabel Lee.Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,
Is dear to the Powers that Be;
For They bow and They smile in an affable style,
Which is seldom accorded to Me.Potiphar Gubbins, C.E.,
Is certain as certain can be
Of a highly paid post which is claimed by a host
Of seniors — including Me.Careless and lazy is he,
Greatly inferior to Me.
What is the spell that you manage so well,
Commonplace Potiphar G.?Lovely Mehitabel Lee,
Let me inquire of thee,
Should I have riz to where Potiphar is,
Hadst thou been mated to Me?
When I first read this (and as with much poetry, I of course read it aloud), it not only resonated with TRUTH, it answered an immediate need: I had another “contract” song to write to fullfill my grade in a composition class, and this text simply wrote its own song out for me–the ostinato in the accompaniment, the tune, the rest of the piano part, even the lovely lil “B” section interlude (once I moved the third verse down and swapped the positions of the last two verses). Thanks, Rudyard!
🙂
Yeh, I probably ought to dig that old exercise out, polish it up, fix a couple of places in the piano part, etc…, but why? It’s not as though it’s the kind of art song that’ll find a lot f use. Still, it’s an enjoyable sing for me, every now and then.
“DST is complete bulls**** and we should take it out behind the woodshed, and shoot it in the back of the neck.”—Kim duToit
Not much to argue with there. If strong (heartfelt, accurately reflecting state of mind but a wee tad crude) language gives you “the vapors” (heh), you might want to get out the smelling salts before clicking on over to Kim’s post on Daylight Savings Time. 🙂
It’s spring: Dan shows us how to watch the cardinals
A great run-down on what’s going to happen in the Catholic church (at least, procedurally) in the next few weeks over at Riehl World View. Dan’s assembled an easily-digestible agenda for folks who’re unfamiliar with the procedure to follow.
If you’re wondering what the next few days and weeks holds for the Roman Catholic church, check out A Concise Overview Of Papal Funeral Rites And Transition
It’s a little more involved than a typical gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention… but not by much. 🙂
My only argument is his rendering of “john” for [???] ???? ???
See Today’s Translated Terror Update/Statement From Al-Qaida In The Land Of The Two Rivers
(Please make some small allowance for my complete reliance on machine translation of the original Arabic communiqué from (n)Al Cue-da. Such poetic names for things… )
Well, not in a Baptist (or Lutheran or Presbyterian or… ) church, perhaps. 🙂
According to the majority of reports I’ve seen (in various places), the song represented in the pic (above) and the text (below) was one of the favorite (if not the favorite) hymns of Karol Jozef Wojtyla, also known as Pope John Paul II. For those of y’all who, like me, do not read, speak or even understand how Polish can even be read spoken…or understood *s*, the translation is, I’m assured, pretty close to the Polish text in every sense except for syllabes matching up with the tune. (Thx to J.C. on C-M-D for locating the pic and the lyrics)
Interesting. I’m not a big fan of Mariology (or as most in my circle might call it, “Mariolotry” *heh*),
but it’s still interesting. Verse 1 in the pic, two more verses below.
Serdeczna Matko
Serdeczna Matko, opiekunko ludzi.
Niech Cie placz sierot do litosei wzbudzi.
Wygnancy Ewy do Ciebie wolamy.
Zmilujsie zmiluj niech sie nie tulamy.Do kogoz mamy, wzdychac nadzne dziatki.
Pylko do Ciebie ukochanej Matki.
U ktorej serce otwarte kazdemu.
A osobliwie nedza strapionemuBeloved Mother, guardian of our nation.
O hearken to our supplication.
Your loyal children kneeling we beseech you.
Grant us the graces to be loyal to you.Where shall we seek our solace in distress?
Where shall we turn, whom guilt and sin oppress?
Thine open heart, our refuge e’er shall be.
When trials assail us on life’s stormy sea.
When I get a chance, I may just play with transcribing the pic of the hymn into a more usable (readable/singable) version. Better (for voices) key, for one thing. 
May 18, 1920—April 2, 2005—eternity.
By all accounts, a decent Christian man.
Requiescat in pace, Karol Jozef Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. Until we meet.
Bye-bye.
“Clearly what the schools need is more money and higher salaries for principals. That will fixe [sic] everything.”
Jerry Pournelle’s sarcasm pencil is sharp today.
🙂
Of the top five problems I see in “prisons for kids” (also disingenuously called “public schools”) today, every level of administration has to rank close to the top. I have been privileged to know two intelligent and capable principals. Neither are principals, now. One retired and another was promoted to his level of incompetence. The rest? Object lessons in how idiots, bullies and poltroons suck up public funds.
While I have never found the axiom “Those who can do; those who can’t teach” to be a universal truth (I know some very fine teachers), I know of only two exceptions to this axiom: “Those who can teach bust a gut to do so in the face of almost overwhelming opposition from theose who can’t teach: administrators.”
Of course, many who can teach simply leave in the face of such overwhelming opposition to teaching/learning, often leaving a sad mix of beaten down teachers and lazy (and sometimes even stupid) bums putting their time in until retirement.
*Remove remote dictates to local schools. And invite to a “tea party” then shoot (or hang, I don’t really care) the politicians and bureaucrats who attempt to insinuate themselves into local schools from afar.
*Fire (or hang, for all I care) all the administrators (and mourn for the few good ones caught in the housecleaning).
*Require responsible behavior from both students and parents (dump—”viciously” prune from the student body—students who refuse to learn. Put ’em in labor camps for all I care.)
*Sweep out the bums marking time to retirement. Buying them out would be better than letting them stay. (“Three generations of idiots is enough” *heh*)
*Burn to the ground all the colleges’ and universities’ education departments. Send the professors to labor camps to work alongside with the products of their theories.
I know this may sound a bit harsh, but It’s For the Childrenâ„¢, so surely it’d fly… All one need to is repeat the mantra over and over, It’s For the Childrenâ„¢… It’s For the Childrenâ„¢… It’s For the Childrenâ„¢…
And you know the really neat thing? Since Judge Greer has laid down the principal that severely mentally/physically handicapped people can be… capped, all that would be needed to get the ball rolling would be for a judge to declare some “school” administrators to be in a “Persistant Vegetative State” and there we are! I’m sure that after that, we’d have “education” professors lining up and begging for slots in work camps…
Neat, huh?
No. You DON’T want to know…
No energy for blogging (or darned near anything else) today. Just this: you’ve noticed the weird disconnect between Sandy Berger’s (now-admitted) crimes (h/t Instapundit) and the slap on the wrist he is getting, as opposed to the “slap her upside the head with the LA phone book” approach the feds took to Martha Stewart’s non-crime (previously noted here and here).
Do note again: NEVER cooperate with the feds.(h/t: David Burkhead via Jerry Pournelle’s Current Mail). They will “Martha” you if they want to. Only if you’re an insider doing the bidding of a corrupt former president will you get a bye like Berger…
Oh, there’s much more, but this Berger slap on the wrist just makes me sick. (or maybe it’s something else causing the runs, I dunno… ) Whatever, I’d like to put a “special gift” down Berger’s pants for the Fourth of July. Won’t do it, of course, but mostly because the resultant spread of waste matter would be toxic. OK, wouldn’t do it even if there were a way to control the spread of Berger waste. It’s just such a picture of justice.
I hope he lives a very, very long time and learns some shame. It’s a forlorn hope*, I know. Such weasels are not born with a conscience and there’s little hope of him developing one at his advanced stage of moral decomposition, but one can dream, eh?
But it’s hard to wrap my mind around the thought that yesterday (03/31/05) stands as such a picture of the death of justice in America. On the one hand we have a helpless, profoundly disabled woman murdered via torture by judicial fiat. On the other, Sandy Berger arranges with his buddies in the feds to get a slap on the wrist and essentially walk for having stolen and destroyed classified documents relating to the Clintoonistas’ handling of anti-terrorist measures.**
*note: yes, I know I’m misusing the military term “forlorn hope” in a non-military context. But just imagine hopes that slime like Berger are even able to develop a conscience as a “hope” sent out ahead of the advance of an army of citizen warriors fighting for some sort of ethics in business, government, etc. Sure, it’s bound to be shot down, but maybe it can be an example of the best we can hope for and buy the army time to rally… Yeh, a sad, weak analogy, but I told you up front I have no energy for this today. Just doing this now cos I really can’t do anything else right now…
**”Clintoonistas”? Yeh. , That whole administration reminded me of a bad caricature of banana republic corruption. Still does.
