I like this idea: free music. You just have to watch a short ad, and the company whose ad you view pays for the song. Essentially, they’re paying you to watch, and I think that’s fair and beneficial for all concerned.
And Elizabeth Bird at Fuse#8, the same blogger who brought us the incredible Top 100 Picture Books Poll last year, is doing it again. Only this time she’s taking votes for the Best 100 Children’s FIctional Chapter books of all time. You get to vote for your top ten, and Ms. Bird will compile the results into a list of the Top 100, to be revealed on her blog starting in February. Votes must be in by January 31st, so start thinking about your list now and as soon as you get it compiled, send it to Betsy.
Wisdom from The Common Room: “There is just something about working on some shared project that somehow loosens the tongue and the thoughts and oils the gears of communication.”
This bit of homespun advice is something I need to remember, both in fostering communication with the young adult members of my family and in advising them in their relationshops.
David Brooks: The educated class believes in global warming, so public skepticism about global warming is on the rise. The educated class supports abortion rights, so public opinion is shifting against them. The educated class supports gun control, so opposition to gun control is mounting.
My retort: Whut she sed.
Britt Hume to Tiger Woods: “He’s said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, “Tiger, turn your faith—turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”
My reaction: Actually, I agree with Mr. Hume, and I hope Tiger Woods and all of us sinners can come to acccept the forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers. Buddhism says, “Reform yourself —or pay for your own sins in your next life.” Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Mr. Woods could use some rest, and forgiveness, about now. Peter Wehner at NRO: Hume’s Gentle Witness.
Chris Matthews on the Tea Party movement: “And they’re monochromatic, right?… Meaning they’re all white. All of them — every single one of them — is white.”
Uhhh. Yeah. I think it’s wonderful that Mr. Matthews is so colorblind that he can look at the Tea Parties and not even see racial differences. Or maybe not, if everyone looks white to him. Now if he’d just quit talking about it.
What do these statements from 2009 have in common?
“The system worked.” ~Janet Napolitano, after a terrorist attempted to blow up a plane on Christmas Day and only failed because of his own incompetence and the vigilance of civilians.
“And as horrific as this tragedy (the Fort Hood massacre) was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” ~General George Casey
“We need to spend our way out of this recession.” ~President Barack Obama
“There is nothing in the hacked e-mails that undermines the science upon which this decision is based.” ~EPA head Lisa Jackson
“I had to hold my nose and stop those firms from failing.” ~Ben Bernanke, US Fed chairman, citing fears of a second Great Depression to explain why he used taxpayer money to bail out firms like AIG last fall.
“I don’t know anything about cars.” — Edward Whitacre Jr., newly appointed chairman of GM, who added that “a business is a business, and I think I can learn”.
“I promise you, I get it. I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive.” ~President Barack Obama.
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.†~Sonya Sotomayor, our newest Supreme Court Justice.
“Never allow a crisis to go to waste.†~Rahm Emanuel.
“Keep your government hands off my Medicare.” ~a speaker at a town hall meeting in South Carolina in July.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.â€
“I know it wasn’t rape-rape.” ~Whoopi Goldberg on Roman Polanski, who pled guilty to having sex with a minor.
“All of the procedural devices that are available to slow down a measure were employed. It didn’t pass until Christmas eve at 7:00 a.m.” ~Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (Before Thanksgiving, Sen.Tom Coburn, R-Okla., backed off a threat to force a reading of the healthcare bill. But appearing miffed, he made clear he did so reluctantly at the request of leadership.)
Here’s to 2010–the next year of what Mr. Walker calls The Post-Ironic Age, in which 1984‘s doublespeak becomes the norm and no one even recognizes it for what it is.
As if it weren’t bad enough with the mandated abortion coverage and the cuts in Medicare, there’s a huge disincentive for couples to get married. Maybe couples will get married and then hide their marriage from the government so that they won’t have to pay a whopping extra $10,000 per year in insurance premiums.
Tonight we went to a performance by the musical theater class that some of my young people—Brown Bear Daughter (14), Artiste Daughter (20), Drama Daughter (18), and Karate Kid (12)—attend. The students all did a fantastic job, presenting songs and choreography such as “The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends” from Oklahoma! and “My New Philosophy” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The last song on the program was something called “Viva la Vida”, a song I’d never heard of. So I asked a friend about my age about it.
She said, “You’re not a Coldplay fan?”
“Not exactly,” I replied. “I’ve heard of Coldplay, but I can’t say I know this particular song.”
“Oh, you’ve heard the song,” she said.”You’re living and breathing; you’ve heard Viva la Vida.”
Then another friend, younger and quite knowledgeable about music of all kinds, began to tell me about her interpretation of the song’s lyrics. “Most people,” she said, “think it’s about the French Revolution. But it’s really about Satan and the end of his reign in the 1000 year millennium. You listen to all the BIblical references, and you’ll see.”
So I listened, as I watched the amazing choreography that the kids had put together, and then I came home and looked up the lyrics. (I did, in fact, recognize the song as one I had heard before, but I wasn’t that familiar with it. So I guess that means I’m still alive, barely.) There’s some controversy about some of the words, but here’s the gist:
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep (sweep) alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
“Now the old king is dead! Long live the King!”
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry (Catholic) choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
Once you’d gone it was never
Never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I’d become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be King?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry (Catholic) choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t (will) call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Whoa-oa-oah! Whoa-oa-oah!
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry (Catholic) choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter will (won’t) call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh. Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
Either Louis VIII is bemoaning his lost throne and lost power in the wake of the French Revolution, or Satan is reminiscing about when he used to “rule the world” with “never an honest word.” Or it’s both—and then some. I think that many modern day song writers write lyrics by throwing around images and metaphors into a kind of mish-mosh, and they are themselves surprised to see what comes out at the end. If you’ve got lots of Biblical images in your head, as the lyricists for Coldplay obviously do, then what comes out is going to have some kind of Biblical meaning (may be somewhat heretical, but nevertheless Biblical) even if you originally set out to write a song about the French Revolution because there’s not a lot of discipline or form to the lyrics themselves. No one tells the lyricists: “This is the meter and the rhyme scheme and the order you have to follow to write song lyrics.” And then the interpretation of the lyrics themselves is left up to the listener. If the song doesn’t really mean anything, specifically, then each listener can make up his or her own meaning. The whole exercise reminds me of when we used to spend hour arguing about the meaning of each specific image and incident in the song American Pie by Don McLean. (Now I’ve dated myself!)
“You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,” said Alice. “Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky?”
“Let’s hear it,” said Humpty Dumpty. “I can explain all the poems that ever were invented — and a good many that haven’t been invented just yet.”
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse:
“‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.”
“That’s enough to begin with,” Humpty Dumpty interrupted: “there are plenty of hard words there. ‘Brillig’ means four o’clock in the afternoon — the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.”
“That’ll do very well,” said Alice: `and ‘slithy’?”
“Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’. ‘Lithe’ is the same as ‘active’. You see it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word.”
“I see it now,” Alice remarked thoughtfully: “and what are ‘toves’?”
“Well, ‘toves’ are something like badgers — they’re something like lizards — and they’re something like corkscrews.”
“They must be very curious-looking creatures.”
“They are that,” said Humpty Dumpty; “also they make their nests under sun-dials — also they live on cheese.”
Ah, that Lewis Carroll, he was ahead of his time! It is a rather catchy tune, and I can Humpty-Dumpty the lyrics with the best of them. And I’m expecting St. Peter to call my name to the sound of Roman Catholic choirs and Jerusalem bells.
Check out this website: Books for Soldiers. You can send books and other materials to U.S. soldiers around the world by signing up at this website and following the instructions.
Operation Paperback is another organization that gives you an address to which you can send a box of books for soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.
AnySoldier.com gives addresses for soldier contacts requesting care packages. You can sign up to get one or more addresses and then send the care package with specific stuff that the soldiers have requested.
At HomefrontHugs USA you can adopt a service person for a six month committment and agree to “send 2 packages a month- they can be small…accompanied by 2 cards or letters.”
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
Any of these would be a great Christmas project, and even if the package or card doesn’t get there until after Christmas, don’t you think it will be greatly appreciated?
Photo: U.S. Army Pfc. Harry Lewis reads a book between missions at a patrol base in As Sadah, Iraq, April 8, 2007. Lewis is from 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment (Airborne Recon), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano) (Released)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009—Friday a group of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders and scholars released the Manhattan Declaration, which addresses the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty. The 4,700-word declaration issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not – under any circumstance – abandon their Christian consciences. Drafted by Dr. Robert George, Dr. Timothy George and Chuck Colson and signed by more than 125 Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders, the Manhattan Declaration is available at DeMossNews.com/ManhattanDeclaration.
The signers of the Manhattan Declaration who appeared at the press conference include:
Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
Donald William Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, Diocese of Washington, D.C.
Harry Jackson Jr., Bishop, Hope Christian Church
Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Diocese of Philadelphia
Timothy George, Professor, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University
Chuck Colson, Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview
Ron Sider, Professor, Palmer Theological Seminary and Director of the Seminary’s Sider Center on Ministry & Public Policy
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center and Founding President of the James Madison Foundation
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
Jim Daly, President and CEO, Focus on the Family
Fr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor, CEO and Archpriest, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
Excerpts from the declaration include:
“We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right – and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation – to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.”
“We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral.”
“. . . We will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriage or the equivalent or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.”
I signed. Click on the logo at the top of this post to read more or to sign the Manhattan Declaration yourself.
As soon as I realized that this middle grade fiction book was about illegal immigrants from Mexico and particularly about the plight of children brought to the U.S. by their parents, I was looking for a political bias or for an author with an axe to grind. And I found it. This story was unabashedly sympathetic to the difficulties and even horrors experienced by these economic immigrants, and it had a message. From the author’s letter to readers at the end of the book:
“Many farmers from Mexico and Central America are forced to come north to work because they can no longer earn a living from farming. They make the dangerous border crossing with smugglers called coyotes, who charge them a lot of money and often take advantage. . . . National troops are being sent down to patrol the border. We are treating these neighbor countries and migrant helpers as if they were our worst enemies.”
I could argue with some of what Ms. Alvarez says. (Forced? We shouldn’t patrol our own border? Maybe some of them are our worst enemies?) However, I couldn’t help finding my own sympathies engaged with the immigrants in the story who are, I believe, emblematic of most of the immigrants who do come to the U.S. Mari and her family come to North Carolina, then to Vermont, in search of simple things: work, a place to live, and opportunity. Mari’s father, uncle, and cousin are hard workers, content with low pay and long hours and a difficult job on a dairy farm. Mari herself is an intelligent, obedient child who just wants to do well in school and take care of her little sisters in the absence of her mother.
Because Return to Sender is a novel, not an essay or a working paper, Ms. Alvarez only has to tell a good story and present more than one aspect of the issue. She fulfills that task. I didn’t feel as if I were being preached at or tricked into believing that all immigrants should be allowed free rein in the U.S. even though the author rather obviously believes something of the sort. The book is written partly from the point of view of Mari, who quickly becomes a sympathetic character, and partly from the viewpoint of Tyler, the eleven year old son of the farmer for whom Mari’s family, the Cruzes, work. Tyler’s feelings and actions are conflicted. He doesn’t understand why his parents are willing to break the law in hiring illegal immigrants even while they tell him that he must obey the laws and rules to be a good citizen. He doesn’t know what to do about his sympathy for Mari’s family and his respect for the law of the land. Tyler even does something he knows is wrong while justifying it to himself with excuses, unintentionally mirroring his parents’ actions. Tyler ultimately falls on the side of compassion and friendship for Mari and her family but not without some bumps along the way.
Tyler, his parents, Tyler’s grandmother who also befriends the Cruz family, the elderly anti-immigration Mr. Rossetti, even Mari and her family, none of them ever resolve the underlying questions that the novel raises. What do we, the United States, do about the thousands of illegal immigrants who cross the border every year? Can we find a way to accommodate them, allow them to work here, and still maintain some kind of security that keeps criminals and terrorists out? Are these immigrants an asset to our country and our work force that should be welcomed or a drain on our resources that should be shunned and criminalized? What about the children who come the United States with their parents or who are born in this country to parents who are here illegally? How can we be compassionate as a people and still maintain the rule of law? What should individuals who are confronted with these situations do? Is it morally wrong, even if it is illegal, to hire people who want to work and whose work you need to keep your business or farm going? Is it morally wrong for people to cross a border to find work? Would you do the same thing if your family were living in poverty with no other way out?
Ms. Alvarez doesn’t really have answers for those questions. I don’t either. But we had better start talking about them seriously and effectively. This novel might be a good start to that conversation for middle school children, particularly if a teacher or other adult can bring out all the nuances and conflicting opinions on this issue. Yes, the book is biased in favor of the open immigration, and it repeated the obligatory, but annoying, slogan of the environmentalists: “we are citizens of the world, and you can save the planet.” Still, the characters and the plot are engaging, and the book could provoke a good, healthy discussion.
In this recent episode of Law and Order, based loosely on the murder of abortionist George Tiller, a TV show seems to present a fair and balanced and truthful view of abortion. What’s up with that?
If you have the time, you can watch the entire episode here by clicking to close the advertisement in the box above.
“There are many miles to go in this legislative journey,†Snowe said. “My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow.â€
My point exactly: Let the Democrats figure out how she’s going to vote tomorrow.
Bo Snerdly is a black man? And why can’t Rush Limbaugh buy anything he wants if he’s got the money, honey, and the sellers have got the time?
Check out this website: 
