This is my musical gift to my friends this year.
It is a vocal, guitar, string arrangement of Gounod/Bach's Ave Maria.
UPDATE: This is the choral version (lots of voices).
Merry Christmas! I love you all very much.
len
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Pickin' At Dads
Christmas is for music. Americana in the back bedroom without prose or professionals. Real folk is real folk. :-)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Jon Taplin's America 3.0 Presentation
Below I've embedded the You Tube presentation by Jon Taplin of his ideas on America 3.0. I recommend it for understanding the economic crises and some potential approaches to resolving these crises. I differ with Tap on some of the details.
1. Innovation is bred not invented. It is a cultural change problem to pick the right cultures at the right time and it is a funding issue as to what conditions must be met to receive funding. In my opinion, California is emblematic of the culture of consumerism and politically lacks the will to adjust its own lifestyle enough to warrant massive block grants. In short, if the automakers have to drive to DC with a plan in hand, California's governor will have to do the same and he shouldn't drive a Hummer. Tap is an unconditional cheerleader for the California Culture. I admit the need for lobbying for one's own but do be do be doo.
2. While the ideas of bottom-up open source America Needs A New Operating system are attractive to the geek in me, I am mistrustful of such metaphors in the details. Policies have to see to details or we will quickly devolve into another Spy Vs Spy episode where one power elite is substituted for a power elite. Nothing changes but the flow of wealth among two competing classes at the same level. In short, meet the new boss.
Let me give you one example. Standards are one of the means by which innovation is shared, but too often, covertly or openly, one of the means by which companies dominate and deny the commons what it needs to sustain itself: access to market.
How does that work? Company A receives a PAS standard for a platform with licensable plugins. Company A then requires all companies submitting the information for applying for the license to include relevant standards used to create the plugin. Company B submits required information including the fact that the plugin is based on standards approved by the same standards organization that provided the PAS. Company A rejects the license application renewal for an application that was approved one year prior minus the information about the standard used by the plugin citing that the plugin implements a technology that is competitive with Company A's technology in the same market.
One year earlier, that was Ok. One year later with the additional information, it is not.
That's cynical? It won't happen.
It did in a soon to be famous case where a proprietary specification was allowed to become an international standard. A very powerful company (NO, it wasn't Microsoft) then denied licenses exactly as described.
Before the power and credibility of the White House are dragged into the internal marketing politics of these companies and market cartels, policies must be clearer as to what can be claimed and what recourses third parties have in the face of exclusionary actions. If we are to use Federal power to drive innovation, we must first set policy for the intellectual property, how it is shared or licensed, and we must ensure that the elite cultivar chosen can suitably be rehosted or replanted in cultures different from that of the original. Otherwise we are completing the branded homogenization of America into a mall where only the bigger brands compete.
I have a few other minor quibbles with Tap's presentation, but in the main he has done an excellent job of outlining the history of economic collapse and pointing to reasonable actions. The devil is in the details and that is what we should be discussing.
Do take the time to watch his presentation.
1. Innovation is bred not invented. It is a cultural change problem to pick the right cultures at the right time and it is a funding issue as to what conditions must be met to receive funding. In my opinion, California is emblematic of the culture of consumerism and politically lacks the will to adjust its own lifestyle enough to warrant massive block grants. In short, if the automakers have to drive to DC with a plan in hand, California's governor will have to do the same and he shouldn't drive a Hummer. Tap is an unconditional cheerleader for the California Culture. I admit the need for lobbying for one's own but do be do be doo.
2. While the ideas of bottom-up open source America Needs A New Operating system are attractive to the geek in me, I am mistrustful of such metaphors in the details. Policies have to see to details or we will quickly devolve into another Spy Vs Spy episode where one power elite is substituted for a power elite. Nothing changes but the flow of wealth among two competing classes at the same level. In short, meet the new boss.
Let me give you one example. Standards are one of the means by which innovation is shared, but too often, covertly or openly, one of the means by which companies dominate and deny the commons what it needs to sustain itself: access to market.
How does that work? Company A receives a PAS standard for a platform with licensable plugins. Company A then requires all companies submitting the information for applying for the license to include relevant standards used to create the plugin. Company B submits required information including the fact that the plugin is based on standards approved by the same standards organization that provided the PAS. Company A rejects the license application renewal for an application that was approved one year prior minus the information about the standard used by the plugin citing that the plugin implements a technology that is competitive with Company A's technology in the same market.
One year earlier, that was Ok. One year later with the additional information, it is not.
That's cynical? It won't happen.
It did in a soon to be famous case where a proprietary specification was allowed to become an international standard. A very powerful company (NO, it wasn't Microsoft) then denied licenses exactly as described.
Before the power and credibility of the White House are dragged into the internal marketing politics of these companies and market cartels, policies must be clearer as to what can be claimed and what recourses third parties have in the face of exclusionary actions. If we are to use Federal power to drive innovation, we must first set policy for the intellectual property, how it is shared or licensed, and we must ensure that the elite cultivar chosen can suitably be rehosted or replanted in cultures different from that of the original. Otherwise we are completing the branded homogenization of America into a mall where only the bigger brands compete.
I have a few other minor quibbles with Tap's presentation, but in the main he has done an excellent job of outlining the history of economic collapse and pointing to reasonable actions. The devil is in the details and that is what we should be discussing.
Do take the time to watch his presentation.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Oh Happy Day
When very young, I played at the church coffee house, in the youth choir, and sweated in a too tight tie in an unairconditioned block building that was our church. As the folk-rock movement blended into those sounds, I was a comfortable kid music wise. With the Beatles and the Causes du Jour, I drifted away and then found myself like so many not liking country and not wanting to hang out and sing church music.
I don't think it ironic but strangely twisted that this year I find that in the next week, on Sunday during the traditional service, the choir will perform one of my new choral works (Epiphany), and that night, I'll perform my new contemporary work with the praise band. There are definite pluses. One, church musicians are better trained and nowhere near the level of arrogance of my old nightclub band mates. Two, they work for free so getting three guitars, drums, bass, piano, keyboards and a horn stack with four background screamers (ah, the good old days of the Motown sound) is reasonable without midi. I get to play the 12-string Rickenbacker stopping occasionally to hold my hand over my head and direct the other singers while I close my eyes and do my best Elvis voice with real musicians. Kitsch with class.
So the Byrds Meet Chicago In Memphis is not a bad sound for a praise song (The Gift). They play the arrangement the way I wrote it without complaint, in fact, with a grateful enthusiasm which is a big contrast from the band days. There is my son on horn, my wife leading the screamers, and me up front. Next time I'll write a marimba part for my daughter because asking her to play tambourine after many years of percussion lessons, well, that would be like handling a ukelele to Eric Clapton. He might play it but then he might not tune it first.
In traditional, I get a choir, a wind section with clarinets, flute and french horn, a bass guitar, a classical pianist and a director. They read the contrapuntal parts, comment on the simplicity and young ladies tell me how much they like the part I wrote for their instrument. I am referred to as The Composer instead of the songwriter. All I have to do is watch, listen, then stand up and bow at the end. Big juju.
And for both, the audience is guaranteed.
Next week, as recompense, I will be the "Special Music" at the traditional service, meaning it's just me and a nylon string singing Gounod's Ave Maria in Latin. It's a nice piece because the Ave Maria text fits the Gounod/Bach melody much better than with the Schubert which is a pretty melody but not originally written for the Ave Maria text. It's easy to play and a study in how to use diminished chords to change the tonal center without changing the key. It isn't easy to sing but that's why God gave me a falsetto.
So this is all pretty cool. I get to stretch in every direction but one: I dare not speak for as my daughter tells me and others, "Dad will open his mouth one day and we'll all get thrown out of church." And she's right. My sense of humor has no place in the congregation. "Ya shag one goat, ya know!"
But I'm glad, awfully glad for this week. Maybe it's worth my failure as a performer and after a lifetime of music, only making second rate. At least when I do these gigs, I rate, and at best, it's for a greater glory than my own.
I'm cool with that. Oh happy days.
I don't think it ironic but strangely twisted that this year I find that in the next week, on Sunday during the traditional service, the choir will perform one of my new choral works (Epiphany), and that night, I'll perform my new contemporary work with the praise band. There are definite pluses. One, church musicians are better trained and nowhere near the level of arrogance of my old nightclub band mates. Two, they work for free so getting three guitars, drums, bass, piano, keyboards and a horn stack with four background screamers (ah, the good old days of the Motown sound) is reasonable without midi. I get to play the 12-string Rickenbacker stopping occasionally to hold my hand over my head and direct the other singers while I close my eyes and do my best Elvis voice with real musicians. Kitsch with class.
So the Byrds Meet Chicago In Memphis is not a bad sound for a praise song (The Gift). They play the arrangement the way I wrote it without complaint, in fact, with a grateful enthusiasm which is a big contrast from the band days. There is my son on horn, my wife leading the screamers, and me up front. Next time I'll write a marimba part for my daughter because asking her to play tambourine after many years of percussion lessons, well, that would be like handling a ukelele to Eric Clapton. He might play it but then he might not tune it first.
In traditional, I get a choir, a wind section with clarinets, flute and french horn, a bass guitar, a classical pianist and a director. They read the contrapuntal parts, comment on the simplicity and young ladies tell me how much they like the part I wrote for their instrument. I am referred to as The Composer instead of the songwriter. All I have to do is watch, listen, then stand up and bow at the end. Big juju.
And for both, the audience is guaranteed.
Next week, as recompense, I will be the "Special Music" at the traditional service, meaning it's just me and a nylon string singing Gounod's Ave Maria in Latin. It's a nice piece because the Ave Maria text fits the Gounod/Bach melody much better than with the Schubert which is a pretty melody but not originally written for the Ave Maria text. It's easy to play and a study in how to use diminished chords to change the tonal center without changing the key. It isn't easy to sing but that's why God gave me a falsetto.
So this is all pretty cool. I get to stretch in every direction but one: I dare not speak for as my daughter tells me and others, "Dad will open his mouth one day and we'll all get thrown out of church." And she's right. My sense of humor has no place in the congregation. "Ya shag one goat, ya know!"
But I'm glad, awfully glad for this week. Maybe it's worth my failure as a performer and after a lifetime of music, only making second rate. At least when I do these gigs, I rate, and at best, it's for a greater glory than my own.
I'm cool with that. Oh happy days.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Dirty Deeds
The scene in Mumbai though terrible is all too familiar to those who live there according to my Indian colleagues. They mourn openly and deeply.
While the pundits analyze and try to make the connections to the usual suspects, I recommend a BBC piece.
As I read some blogs, I find the also familiar comments attempting to tie the attacks back to American foreign policy. Sadly, this makes the critics of those the very people who ensure this attack will be followed by another through providing the exact reactions the killers want and the cycle is guaranteed to continue. I'm not excusing American foreign policy mistakes, but asking if those tieing the attacks to America are completing the attacks?
It’s astonishing to consider an ecosystem of call and response where if they provide the bodies, we’ll provide the reasons. Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
While the pundits analyze and try to make the connections to the usual suspects, I recommend a BBC piece.
As I read some blogs, I find the also familiar comments attempting to tie the attacks back to American foreign policy. Sadly, this makes the critics of those the very people who ensure this attack will be followed by another through providing the exact reactions the killers want and the cycle is guaranteed to continue. I'm not excusing American foreign policy mistakes, but asking if those tieing the attacks to America are completing the attacks?
It’s astonishing to consider an ecosystem of call and response where if they provide the bodies, we’ll provide the reasons. Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Wounded Bride (from The Book of Hosea)
This was written for a service last Sunday morning taken from the Book of Hosea. As our assistant minister pointed out, the books of the prophets are little read but have a lot to recommend them. Prophets are not soothsayers in the Old Testament. They are reflectors of God's thoughts among us. Hosea was given a particularly tough assignment. I will set this to music eventually, but the piece that follows is appropriate.
The Wounded Bride (from The Book of Hosea)
At morning light
A trumpet blows
Answering the heavens
Dark and thundering skies
Are giving birth
He has torn you
That he may heal you
Strikes you down
That he may bind you
Comes to you in rain
To water Earth
Oh how he loves you
Oh how he loves you
Faithfulness and love abide
Hold to his goodness
Grace and forgiveness
This is the promise made
To the wounded bride
Dew rises from the flowers
First fruit of the tree
Like a bird
Our glory flies away
The door of hope is open wide
In a wilderness of pride
Crying to the mountains
Cover me
Oh how he loves you
Oh how he loves you
Faithfulness and love abide
Hold to his goodness
Grace and forgiveness
This is the promise made
To the wounded bride
len bullard - Nov 15 2008
The Wounded Bride (from The Book of Hosea)
At morning light
A trumpet blows
Answering the heavens
Dark and thundering skies
Are giving birth
He has torn you
That he may heal you
Strikes you down
That he may bind you
Comes to you in rain
To water Earth
Oh how he loves you
Oh how he loves you
Faithfulness and love abide
Hold to his goodness
Grace and forgiveness
This is the promise made
To the wounded bride
Dew rises from the flowers
First fruit of the tree
Like a bird
Our glory flies away
The door of hope is open wide
In a wilderness of pride
Crying to the mountains
Cover me
Oh how he loves you
Oh how he loves you
Faithfulness and love abide
Hold to his goodness
Grace and forgiveness
This is the promise made
To the wounded bride
len bullard - Nov 15 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be
Charles Cooper at CNet objects to the founder of Word Perfect contributing $1 million in private funds to groups who fought Proposition 8 in California. His argument comes down to "You are a Utah Mormon. Butt out of California's business."
There are two points to make before going further:
1. There is a determined effort to make this a campaign against the Mormons in some quarters even if Charlie is being subtle about that.
2. There is a willful effort to ignore that minority voting, specifically blacks and hispanics, is responsible for the proposition's success. Charlie is ignoring that altogether.
One could say this is demographic gerrymandering without too many reasonable objections. However one argues it, the gay community is once again discovering that the political coalitions it tries to become part of by claiming similar cause have a nasty habit of throwing them under the bus post-election. Caveat emptor.
All of that said, my opinion, FWIW as a heterosexual, is as follows:
1. The root legal problem is granting state authority to church institutions to perform civil unions. ('by the power vested in me by the State of...').
2. The root social problem is conflating a legal union with a sacred union.
The legal way out of this is to enforce separation of church and state by Federal statute. Churches should not have the vested power to perform legal unions (civil ceremonies) and the state does not have the power over performance of sacred unions (marriage). Persons desiring both civil and sacred unions are obligated to obtain them from the authorities entitled. The State is obligated to grant civil unions to those who are breaking no other laws. The church has full discretion over those to whom sacred unions are granted as they are currently (you discover a church is not obligated to perform a heterosexual marriage today if the couple violates the tenets of the church including membership or any other criteria the church imposes).
That part of this argument IS a Federal, not a State concern. Full stop.
As to the acceptance of gay behavior, history gives all the insight you need there. You'll find repeating behaviors that span recorded history and no evidence that the behaviors change in terms of evolutionary development. Do the best you can.
One more question for Charlie. You object to the private contribution of someone outside of your state into an issue which you assert is your State's to decide. Fair enough.
Should a State or other entity such as a company have the right to enforce social issues over other states or entities as a pre-condition of entering into a contract with that state or entity?
That is done now by California and Oregon and companies such as Microsoft.
Is it the same issue and if so, why doesn't that attract your attention?
There are two points to make before going further:
1. There is a determined effort to make this a campaign against the Mormons in some quarters even if Charlie is being subtle about that.
2. There is a willful effort to ignore that minority voting, specifically blacks and hispanics, is responsible for the proposition's success. Charlie is ignoring that altogether.
One could say this is demographic gerrymandering without too many reasonable objections. However one argues it, the gay community is once again discovering that the political coalitions it tries to become part of by claiming similar cause have a nasty habit of throwing them under the bus post-election. Caveat emptor.
All of that said, my opinion, FWIW as a heterosexual, is as follows:
1. The root legal problem is granting state authority to church institutions to perform civil unions. ('by the power vested in me by the State of...').
2. The root social problem is conflating a legal union with a sacred union.
The legal way out of this is to enforce separation of church and state by Federal statute. Churches should not have the vested power to perform legal unions (civil ceremonies) and the state does not have the power over performance of sacred unions (marriage). Persons desiring both civil and sacred unions are obligated to obtain them from the authorities entitled. The State is obligated to grant civil unions to those who are breaking no other laws. The church has full discretion over those to whom sacred unions are granted as they are currently (you discover a church is not obligated to perform a heterosexual marriage today if the couple violates the tenets of the church including membership or any other criteria the church imposes).
That part of this argument IS a Federal, not a State concern. Full stop.
As to the acceptance of gay behavior, history gives all the insight you need there. You'll find repeating behaviors that span recorded history and no evidence that the behaviors change in terms of evolutionary development. Do the best you can.
One more question for Charlie. You object to the private contribution of someone outside of your state into an issue which you assert is your State's to decide. Fair enough.
Should a State or other entity such as a company have the right to enforce social issues over other states or entities as a pre-condition of entering into a contract with that state or entity?
That is done now by California and Oregon and companies such as Microsoft.
Is it the same issue and if so, why doesn't that attract your attention?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Hang 'em High
I watched some of the ABC interview with William Ayers this morning. It is seldom I've seen such a self-serving bit of misdirection and semantic thuggery: or what it is, lieing.
Ayers skips around the central tenet of blind justice; it is the act not the end that is judged. However high toned his morality in describing his youthful indiscretion, the acts of the Weather Underground are precisely the same as the acts of the 16th Street Church bombers in Birmingham. Those men were brought to justice for a heinous crime. William Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn should be meted out the same. We are a nation of laws, not privilege, and he and his corrupt the very values they espouse.
Hang 'em high.
Ayers skips around the central tenet of blind justice; it is the act not the end that is judged. However high toned his morality in describing his youthful indiscretion, the acts of the Weather Underground are precisely the same as the acts of the 16th Street Church bombers in Birmingham. Those men were brought to justice for a heinous crime. William Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn should be meted out the same. We are a nation of laws, not privilege, and he and his corrupt the very values they espouse.
Hang 'em high.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Circling Coyotes
Jon Taplin and his friends and I go round about some issues political and cultural, but make no mistake, Tap knows his economics. He has a very good blog up today discussing Paulson's new epiphany.
If you have friends who have friends, pass this on.
For the sake of friendship, here are gauzy moments for certain old men who when they were young loved her songs in chevron flight. Love is still the sweet antidote to bitterness because a good wine kept well doesn't become vinegar.
The first is the only Joni Mitchell tune I performed. Simpler, plaintive, and somehow a mirror of my mood then and now.
If you have friends who have friends, pass this on.
For the sake of friendship, here are gauzy moments for certain old men who when they were young loved her songs in chevron flight. Love is still the sweet antidote to bitterness because a good wine kept well doesn't become vinegar.
The first is the only Joni Mitchell tune I performed. Simpler, plaintive, and somehow a mirror of my mood then and now.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Stuck In The Middle With You
As the rage machine keeps firing itself up with old stereotypes and burning new scarecrows, here's a pause for the cause.
The pundits talk about Open Source as a new model for bottom up development of government. It's a bad idea because a) government is top-down by definition even if local and b) government didn't fail, the law did.
Some say we had too many regulations. Some say we didn't have enough. I say it is bad regulations and ineffective proof.
What if to write a new regulation two law makers were required to sit side by side and as one wrote the proposed regulation the other wrote the test that would fail if the regulation failed?
What about pair programming and test-driven design for regulatory law?
The pundits talk about Open Source as a new model for bottom up development of government. It's a bad idea because a) government is top-down by definition even if local and b) government didn't fail, the law did.
Some say we had too many regulations. Some say we didn't have enough. I say it is bad regulations and ineffective proof.
What if to write a new regulation two law makers were required to sit side by side and as one wrote the proposed regulation the other wrote the test that would fail if the regulation failed?
What about pair programming and test-driven design for regulatory law?
Who's That Lady
Today the left wing bloggers who are not attacking Sarah Palin are laying out a strategy to attack the last bastion of conservatism and noObamians: the American South. It seems they need a scarecrow and the white southerners, racists all or so it is blogged, are the new one. They fear a Southern rebellion against the New Boss and a reigniting of conservative philosophy. It isn't happening but it is the devil of their dreams.
It is the hallmark of the inexperienced politico to fight the last war instead of the next one. 2012 will be about The Wrath of Women not so concerned with political power, but who will not consider a declining lifestyle a necessary sacrifice, just an importuning arrogance by a new elite. Wrath isn't an ideology.
Nothing changed. Palin will have a rich vein of resentment to tap in 2012 and Hillary Clinton, who subborned herself to Obama, won't be able to make that trick work. On the other hand, four years is a long time and just as many Democrats fled to the Republicans in 2000 (eg, Senator Shelby), allegiances will be shifting and some unpredictably. The catastrophe of the Obama election for the gay community is but one example of a part of the Obama coalition already feeling the pain of having disregarded the realities of identity politics in the fine print.
The Republican Party will not be revitalized by a surge of the core values of the last 25 years, but a new set of values emerging from a new coalition of voters who find themselves mystified by a wealthy elite of technocrats who insist everyone can't live in the Emerald City but the unworthy can certainly pay taxes to it. If the Republicans want to make a comeback, they need a transparent plan that is neither punitive nor exclusive.
Rome did not fall because it was corrupt; it fell because it failed to produce anything of value except new laws for the provinces.
It is the hallmark of the inexperienced politico to fight the last war instead of the next one. 2012 will be about The Wrath of Women not so concerned with political power, but who will not consider a declining lifestyle a necessary sacrifice, just an importuning arrogance by a new elite. Wrath isn't an ideology.
Nothing changed. Palin will have a rich vein of resentment to tap in 2012 and Hillary Clinton, who subborned herself to Obama, won't be able to make that trick work. On the other hand, four years is a long time and just as many Democrats fled to the Republicans in 2000 (eg, Senator Shelby), allegiances will be shifting and some unpredictably. The catastrophe of the Obama election for the gay community is but one example of a part of the Obama coalition already feeling the pain of having disregarded the realities of identity politics in the fine print.
The Republican Party will not be revitalized by a surge of the core values of the last 25 years, but a new set of values emerging from a new coalition of voters who find themselves mystified by a wealthy elite of technocrats who insist everyone can't live in the Emerald City but the unworthy can certainly pay taxes to it. If the Republicans want to make a comeback, they need a transparent plan that is neither punitive nor exclusive.
Rome did not fall because it was corrupt; it fell because it failed to produce anything of value except new laws for the provinces.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Lady Godiva
It seems the Democrats and the media are determined to provide Governor Sarah Palin with a mighty powerful career in national politics. The pounding continues perhaps because with the election over and no reasonable alternative for placing the rage, Palin is the scarecrow. One of the frequent criticisms is she is a beauty queen. I decided to find out if beauty queens are dumb broads who fade away with their crowns. Here is a short list of women who were beauty queen winners before they went on to other careers:
1. Oprah Winfrey - 1971 Miss Fire Prevention and Miss Black Tennessee
2. Vanessa Williams - Miss America
3. Jeri Ryan - Miss Illinois
4. Halle Berry - Miss Teen All American, Miss Ohio-USA, and first runner-up to Miss USA
5. Diane Sawyer - America Junior Miss
Not a bad start to a much longer list. It seems we place a high value on being able to survive the paegeant process. Good luck, Sarah!
1. Oprah Winfrey - 1971 Miss Fire Prevention and Miss Black Tennessee
2. Vanessa Williams - Miss America
3. Jeri Ryan - Miss Illinois
4. Halle Berry - Miss Teen All American, Miss Ohio-USA, and first runner-up to Miss USA
5. Diane Sawyer - America Junior Miss
Not a bad start to a much longer list. It seems we place a high value on being able to survive the paegeant process. Good luck, Sarah!
Hayley Westenra
Here is someone new to my listening list: Hayley Westenra. She's a kiwi with a beautiful voice and face.
These selections are evocative for me spiritually and personally. It is a pitch perfect rendition of Ave Maria, and then a piece very few singers attempt: Kate Bush's original smash, Wuthering Heights.
Ave Maria
Wuthering Heights
These selections are evocative for me spiritually and personally. It is a pitch perfect rendition of Ave Maria, and then a piece very few singers attempt: Kate Bush's original smash, Wuthering Heights.
Ave Maria
Wuthering Heights
Friday, November 07, 2008
Message In A Bottle
The blogs and comment lists are still crowded with the Get Even topic. Some are just now realizing that "Change" means Clinton III. I'm onboard with that. Making good use of the experienced in the Democratic Party is smart if the transition is to be smooth.
It will be hard for some to transition out of campaign rhetoric to policy making. Intense emotions are addictive as I said before. The Onion piece was funny because it is both precise and good advice. The more zealous supporters need to accept that the President-elect will be distancing himself from them unless they can start working on a more positive agenda. The Republicans will rail a bit longer but it is expected. Gently and without rancor: Proverbs 16:8 or Superbia ante casu.
Meanwhile, a young Senator is taking on a very heavy load given the drop in the market, the jobless numbers, the auto industry implosion, the sabre rattling from Russia and so on.
Change is not the mantra; S.O.S. is.
And for that load, young shoulders may be exactly the right resource.
It will be hard for some to transition out of campaign rhetoric to policy making. Intense emotions are addictive as I said before. The Onion piece was funny because it is both precise and good advice. The more zealous supporters need to accept that the President-elect will be distancing himself from them unless they can start working on a more positive agenda. The Republicans will rail a bit longer but it is expected. Gently and without rancor: Proverbs 16:8 or Superbia ante casu.
Meanwhile, a young Senator is taking on a very heavy load given the drop in the market, the jobless numbers, the auto industry implosion, the sabre rattling from Russia and so on.
Change is not the mantra; S.O.S. is.
And for that load, young shoulders may be exactly the right resource.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
The Onion Strikes Again
Thanks to Rob Koberg for sending this. Much needed laughter.
The Onion Strikes Again!
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
The Onion Strikes Again!
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Longer Boats Are Coming To Win Us
Day 2 of the sigh of relief from the robocalls and the rage producing commercials. Life is good again.
There are mean streets' moments out there but they will pass.
Actually no. We will bring ourselves together or not at all. Don't lay that on him. He will have enough to do.
This one was bitter to the bone. There is no magical manna from heaven to change that. We'll get back to our routines and time does the rest. If the Obama supporters want to make that happen faster, now is the time to drop the stoner rhetoric and get focused on the tasks at hand. Time spent on the Great Get Even is time and resources wasted.
Bottom up systems rely on multiple individuals forming communities and topics of interest to explore problems and come up with the best alternatives. The illusion of the top is the existence of shared values that enable the goals to be selected and shared. If we want this presidency to be about change and restoring our image around the world, pick the one issue for which you have the most passion and knowledge and work with those who share it. Build a longer boat and pick a crew.
Obama doesn't have a mandate or a landslide. He has a clean win of six points. The good news is that stops a repeat of the Bush/Gore let the lawyers decide it debacle. But be smart and realize that a) 47% thought otherwise b) the Democratic blowout of Congress didn't happen and c) the Republican Party isn't going away. Richard Nixon had a landslide and was roasted within two years.
I'm not sure if this is about change as much as getting back to being the country that works together without the demoralizing mind killing fear and paranoia of the last eight years. Look in your hearts and minds and ask if you really do put country first. If you do, drop the partisan rhetoric and pick up an oar and row.
There are mean streets' moments out there but they will pass.
Barack will bring us together
Actually no. We will bring ourselves together or not at all. Don't lay that on him. He will have enough to do.
I don't want no god on my lawn; just a flower I can help along.
This one was bitter to the bone. There is no magical manna from heaven to change that. We'll get back to our routines and time does the rest. If the Obama supporters want to make that happen faster, now is the time to drop the stoner rhetoric and get focused on the tasks at hand. Time spent on the Great Get Even is time and resources wasted.
Cause the soul of nobody knows how a flower grows
Bottom up systems rely on multiple individuals forming communities and topics of interest to explore problems and come up with the best alternatives. The illusion of the top is the existence of shared values that enable the goals to be selected and shared. If we want this presidency to be about change and restoring our image around the world, pick the one issue for which you have the most passion and knowledge and work with those who share it. Build a longer boat and pick a crew.
Mary dropped her pants by the sand and let a parson come and take her hand
Obama doesn't have a mandate or a landslide. He has a clean win of six points. The good news is that stops a repeat of the Bush/Gore let the lawyers decide it debacle. But be smart and realize that a) 47% thought otherwise b) the Democratic blowout of Congress didn't happen and c) the Republican Party isn't going away. Richard Nixon had a landslide and was roasted within two years.
Cause the soul of nobody knows where the parson goes.
I'm not sure if this is about change as much as getting back to being the country that works together without the demoralizing mind killing fear and paranoia of the last eight years. Look in your hearts and minds and ask if you really do put country first. If you do, drop the partisan rhetoric and pick up an oar and row.
Hold on to the shore or they'll be taking the key from the door
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Miles From Nowhere
It's good to know the endless political commercials are over. It's good to be back to watching programs about UFOs the way a kid watches cartoons. The fun can come back to living without the constant harranguing. There are some people I don't want to see for a few months but then, I don't need to. Life is good.
If there was a real loser by their own hand in the election, it is the mainstream media. Trust in them is now at the same level as Congress.
And that makes what comes next devilishly hard. We are in uncharted waters and blind as a bat.
There are very high expectations for this administration worldwide. It will be best to make the most of those while we can. I don't expect them to last and Obama won with a fragile coalition. No one really knows what he has in mind and he didn't win a filibuster proof Congress. The Democrats are now clearly in the driver's seat but unless their maps are better than what I've seen during the election, we won't know where we are going until we are there.
I've the same advice here as on Taplin's blog: bottom up systems don't work by having a master plan. They work because different people put their hand to different tasks and if they share the right values, the illusion of the top is enough to hold them together.
Otherwise, this moment of drunk exhiliration won't last to Christmas. Find the passion you have and work on that. Some will choose energy, some education, some net neutrality, some world hunger.
Some will make it the full time evisceration of Barack Obama just as the left did to Bush and the right did to the Clinton's.
And that means we go nowhere fast.
If there was a real loser by their own hand in the election, it is the mainstream media. Trust in them is now at the same level as Congress.
And that makes what comes next devilishly hard. We are in uncharted waters and blind as a bat.
There are very high expectations for this administration worldwide. It will be best to make the most of those while we can. I don't expect them to last and Obama won with a fragile coalition. No one really knows what he has in mind and he didn't win a filibuster proof Congress. The Democrats are now clearly in the driver's seat but unless their maps are better than what I've seen during the election, we won't know where we are going until we are there.
I've the same advice here as on Taplin's blog: bottom up systems don't work by having a master plan. They work because different people put their hand to different tasks and if they share the right values, the illusion of the top is enough to hold them together.
Otherwise, this moment of drunk exhiliration won't last to Christmas. Find the passion you have and work on that. Some will choose energy, some education, some net neutrality, some world hunger.
Some will make it the full time evisceration of Barack Obama just as the left did to Bush and the right did to the Clinton's.
And that means we go nowhere fast.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Boiling the Barbarian
This election is almost over. No doubt, a lot of people are glad about that.
I didn't support Obama.
I voted for him. I am a Democrat.
I don't like many of his positions, I think his campaign was one of the most mean spirited I've ever seen, and some of his supporters are really ready for Thorazine, but all of that aside, he's our candidate and he will have to step up to the plate now. It is time for a change.
We're a nation of adventurers and gamblers so we roll the dice with Obama and if it comes up snake eyes, we'll try again in four years with Hillary. If we can take eight years of Bush, we can take anything.
From the news:
Wow. Some of you must live in really mean neighborhoods. Here's what is going on in North Alabama:
People started lining up at 5:30 AM. When I got to the polls at 7:20, the lines were long and the cars were parked a mile away. We walked, we talked, we had a good time. In the lines, me and the two black women behind me joked about anyone hesitating inside the polling office (a church) should be immediately taken outside because after two years and a billion dollars, any one who still can't decide is not smart enough to vote.
We voted and headed out to Starbucks, Chick-fil-a, Krispy Kreme and Ben and Jerry's to get our freebies. Now it's back to work and life goes on better than before.
It's a bit of a party down here because everyone is glad it is over and glad to have the right to have our say.
America is Fabulous. Freedom to vote, freedom to be together, and free munchies. It doesn't get better than this.
So put down the bitter butter. You have your moment in the booth and then you have the rest of the day to enjoy it.
Why did I debate his supporters for months on end?
1. It was fun. Because I am a Southern White Male, I've been called names that would mean a fist fight in person. Life in the South is nothing like what the West Coasters make it out to be. After awhile, cultural stereotyping deserves a bit of nose tweaking and toe stomping. Having grown up in a town where only 15% of us were native Southerners and the rest are g---D---- Yankees who call us morons, well it becomes habitual.
Does the phrase "the pleasure of boiling the barbarian" mean anything to you?
2. Only by peering deeply into the darkness do our eyes ever open completely.
But today and for the last nine months, the blacks around me have been walking around with their heads up smiling. Today, I didn't see fear or loathing in their eyes when we joked. There was acceptance.
That can't be anything but good.
Sing it Ray! Let the good feelings wash over you.
I didn't support Obama.
I voted for him. I am a Democrat.
I don't like many of his positions, I think his campaign was one of the most mean spirited I've ever seen, and some of his supporters are really ready for Thorazine, but all of that aside, he's our candidate and he will have to step up to the plate now. It is time for a change.
We're a nation of adventurers and gamblers so we roll the dice with Obama and if it comes up snake eyes, we'll try again in four years with Hillary. If we can take eight years of Bush, we can take anything.
From the news:
BLACK PANTHERS' BLOCK ACCESS TO VOTING STATION
Wow. Some of you must live in really mean neighborhoods. Here's what is going on in North Alabama:
People started lining up at 5:30 AM. When I got to the polls at 7:20, the lines were long and the cars were parked a mile away. We walked, we talked, we had a good time. In the lines, me and the two black women behind me joked about anyone hesitating inside the polling office (a church) should be immediately taken outside because after two years and a billion dollars, any one who still can't decide is not smart enough to vote.
We voted and headed out to Starbucks, Chick-fil-a, Krispy Kreme and Ben and Jerry's to get our freebies. Now it's back to work and life goes on better than before.
It's a bit of a party down here because everyone is glad it is over and glad to have the right to have our say.
America is Fabulous. Freedom to vote, freedom to be together, and free munchies. It doesn't get better than this.
So put down the bitter butter. You have your moment in the booth and then you have the rest of the day to enjoy it.
Why did I debate his supporters for months on end?
1. It was fun. Because I am a Southern White Male, I've been called names that would mean a fist fight in person. Life in the South is nothing like what the West Coasters make it out to be. After awhile, cultural stereotyping deserves a bit of nose tweaking and toe stomping. Having grown up in a town where only 15% of us were native Southerners and the rest are g---D---- Yankees who call us morons, well it becomes habitual.
Does the phrase "the pleasure of boiling the barbarian" mean anything to you?
2. Only by peering deeply into the darkness do our eyes ever open completely.
But today and for the last nine months, the blacks around me have been walking around with their heads up smiling. Today, I didn't see fear or loathing in their eyes when we joked. There was acceptance.
That can't be anything but good.
Sing it Ray! Let the good feelings wash over you.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Virtue of Selfishness
Obama says about his plans to add to the tax burden:
Since the left bloggers have been waging war on objectivism and Ayn Rand in particular, it makes sense that this would surface in Obama's speech. What it reveals is that despite his attempts to portray himself as a centrist, he is what he appears to be: a hard core radical leftist with a socialist philosophy of government and finance.
Obama says he can enrich the individual at the expense of other individuals but that is the oldest con after 'try it, you'll like it'. It only enriches the con man. When done to an eager mark, it is an act of confidence over arrogance. When done to a country simply wanting to be rid of confidence men, it is fraud against justice.
The extreme objectivist position is that if a government gives to each according to needs and takes according to abilities, a society of incapable needy emerges. Experience shows that is too extreme. What happens is the needy move to the capable and unless the capable take more, they can't give more. This is called the 'free rider' dilemma in web communities. The response is usually to close the lists to real contributors with participation agreements for intellectual property that do not harm the commons but do not enable the commons to be pillaged.
Objectivism isn't wrong. Rand overromanticized her position but behaviorally, it is correct.
Selfishness isn't virtuous but neither is theft by a powerful minority in the name of an undiscriminated majority. It is the supreme confidence game which victimizes the poor and the rich simultaneously for the good of a few who are grabbing for wealth and power. In short, it is piracy, a very democratic institution, which, by the way, is why America is a republic.
John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic. You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness.
Since the left bloggers have been waging war on objectivism and Ayn Rand in particular, it makes sense that this would surface in Obama's speech. What it reveals is that despite his attempts to portray himself as a centrist, he is what he appears to be: a hard core radical leftist with a socialist philosophy of government and finance.
Obama says he can enrich the individual at the expense of other individuals but that is the oldest con after 'try it, you'll like it'. It only enriches the con man. When done to an eager mark, it is an act of confidence over arrogance. When done to a country simply wanting to be rid of confidence men, it is fraud against justice.
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. - Ayn Rand -
The extreme objectivist position is that if a government gives to each according to needs and takes according to abilities, a society of incapable needy emerges. Experience shows that is too extreme. What happens is the needy move to the capable and unless the capable take more, they can't give more. This is called the 'free rider' dilemma in web communities. The response is usually to close the lists to real contributors with participation agreements for intellectual property that do not harm the commons but do not enable the commons to be pillaged.
Objectivism isn't wrong. Rand overromanticized her position but behaviorally, it is correct.
Selfishness isn't virtuous but neither is theft by a powerful minority in the name of an undiscriminated majority. It is the supreme confidence game which victimizes the poor and the rich simultaneously for the good of a few who are grabbing for wealth and power. In short, it is piracy, a very democratic institution, which, by the way, is why America is a republic.
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