Music For Resurrection Day

(Hat tip to Mark Alexander of A New Dark Age Is Dawning)

"Wele'n Sefyll Rhwng y Mwrtwydd" ("Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"):


Lyrics in Welsh:

Wele'n sefyll rhwng y myrtwydd
Wrthrych teilwng o fy mryd;
Er mai o ran, yr wy'n adnabod
Ei_fod uwchlaw gwrthrychau'r byd:
Henffych fore, henffych fore,
Y caf ei weled fel y mae.

Rhosyn Saron yw ei enw,
Gwyn a gwridog, teg o bryd;
Ar ddeng mil y mae'n rhagori
O wrthrychau penna'r byd:
Ffrind pechadur, ffrind pechadur,
Dyma_ei beilat ar y môr.

Beth sy imi mwy a wnelwyf
Ag eilunod gwael y llawr?
Tystio'r wyf nad yw eu cwmni
I'w cystadlu â Iesu mawr:
O! am aros, o am aros
Yn ei gariad ddyddiau f'oes.

Parsing and translation of the Welsh words:

Music For Holy Saturday

Based on the Lamentations of Jeremiah and composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (3 February 1525 or 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594):

Music For Good Friday

(If you must have politics, please keep scrolling)

A capella magnificence:

Let's Stop the Bleeding

by Sam Huntington

According to an article in the Daily Caller the other day, the Internal Revenue Service once again demonstrated its arrogance  when it decided to spend $60,000 on the production of two parody videos, one of which was a Star Trek imitation. Jim Treacher wrote, “Thanks to the sequester that Obama has been fighting even though it was his idea, we might not get a sequel to the following masterpiece. …It’s got the same production values and acting talent as a porn movie, except the only one getting screwed is you.”

Subsequently, a good friend asked, “Why do we need the IRS again?” I could not answer.

FEATURED QUESTION: Blogging

(This post stuck here for a few days. Please scroll down for other material)


I've been blogging for nearly eight years.

I'm curious about a few matters related to blogging.

Recommended Reading

Recently, my high school American Literature class read F. Scott Fizgerald's short story "The Baby Party." Published in 1925, the story presents themes that apply to our society today.

Short story below the fold.

Agenda 21 — At The Local Level

(With a hat tip to Political Tea Leaves)

Please make time to watch the video below. Then, investigate what is happening at your local level.


Now, read Obama's Plans for the Suburbs.

New world order! And at the local level, where it will have a direct effect on YOU!

Don't be an ostrich:

More information at Political Tea Leaves.

Spring!

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Robins everywhere!

They've been around for a few weeks. But now that today is Palm Sunday, which typically marks the end of weather here Northern Virginia, I'm seeing even more of these beautiful birds, the harbingers of spring.

The song of the robin:

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Egyptian ‘scholars’ claim the colonists ate hundreds of millions of Native Americans

No Money for White House Tours, But $20 Mil for Palestinian Authority

Disabled man, 42, faces jail for LAUGHING too loudly in his own home

Sequestration Lies

See the graphic below the fold (hat tip to Asylum Watch):

Brutal Honesty

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

From the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin (2003) comes So Much for That, a 2010 novel about the effects of devastating illnesses upon two middle-class families: the Knackers and the Burdinas.  Both families, the married couples longtime best friends, are struggling with the emotional and financial burdens of combating life-and-death illnesses.

Shep Knacker, entrepreneur of Knack of All Trades, has worked for decades with a particular goal in mind — a goal that he calls "The Afterlife":

What is a racist?

by Sam Huntington

One definition reads, “Racialism is normally defined as any view, practice, or action that reflects a belief that one race of human beings is superior to others, or that any racial group is inferior to others."

There is some context, however. On the question of whether or not he was a racist, Enoch Powell answered, "If by racialist one suggests a conscious difference among men and nations of various backgrounds, then in that context everyone is a racist. On the other hand, if by racialist one means a man who despises a human being because of his race, or a man who believes that one race is superior to another, then no, I am not a racist."

The Lorax? Really?

Last week, I conversed with a parent concerned about the education that her seventh-grade daughter is receiving in one of the "finest" public schools in one of the "finest" school districts in the United States.

The account I received was beyond disconcerting.

It was dismaying!

Kerry's America

By Sam Huntington

“In America, you have a right to be stupid … if you want to be. And we tolerate it. We somehow make it through that. Now, I think that’s a virtue. I think that’s something worth fighting for.” —John Fauxbrain Kerry, American Secretary of State

The Panel Of "The Uninvited"

At CPAC 2013 on March 16, 2013

Videos below the fold.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Forget the controversy related to the Molly Maguires. Instead, enjoy the music below — music with an Irish flavor:


The genius of Mancini, who grew up in the steel town of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

John Brennan Sworn in on Constitution Without a Bill of Rights

Federal workers owe $3.5 billion in back taxes

ObamaCare Damage: 100% Health Insurance Premium Increases for Next Year

Mayor Bloomberg's new health crusade: too-loud earbuds

Recommended Reading

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

See The Lexicon wars: the meaning of jihad by Tammy Swofford in the Daily Times Pakistan. Excerpt below the fold:

One wonders ...

How did we ever find ourselves in this gosh-awful predicament?

Wait, wait, don't tell me ...

An Illustration: Obamanomics

And that's the way it is...

Our Fatal Folly

By Sam Huntington

In spite of infrequent episodes of discrimination toward Catholics and Jews, at various times and places —we do not live in a perfect world— there has never been an official requirement that anyone recant their religious beliefs as a condition of serving the American people.

However, there has been an underlying expectation that individuals appointed to positions of public trust freely and honestly give their oath of allegiance to the Constitution; there was an expectation that servants of the people would be culturally American.

Ponder This

The words of Ammianus Marcellinus (325/330–after 391):

In consequence of this state of things, the few houses that were formerly famed for devotion to serious pursuits now teem with the sports of sluggish indolence, re-echoing to the sound of singing and the tinkling of flutes and lyres. In short, in place of the philosopher the singer is called in, and in place of the orator the teacher of stagecraft, and while the libraries are shut up forever like tombs, water-organs are manufactured and lyres as large as carriages, and flutes and instruments heavy for gesticulating actors.

At last we have reached such a state of baseness...

Read more HERE.

I recently encountered the words of Ammianus Marcellinus in the following context — in a letter to the editor of the Washington Post:

Here's The Job That I Want!

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

The President's chief of staff to the dog gets an annual salary of $102,000!

From this source:

Star Trek Prophecy?

Forget the pacifistic message. Instead, apply the following to the blogosphere, where rancor rules:

Musical Interlude: J.S. Bach

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

California Guitar Trio's rendition of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor:




The traditional version (pipe organ):

The genius of Bach!

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Obama Officials Called Female Reporter [vile names] For Asking Tough Questions

The Toilet Restaurant [photo essay]

FBI Employees Sexting, Sending Porn, Bugging Co-Workers Offices

Cupcakes against gun violence

Recommended Reading (Video Added)

(Two posts today.  Please scroll down)

See Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read (hat tip to Western Hero for the link).

Idiocracy is upon us and growing fast.

Does the video below the fold come as a surprise (hat tip to Right Truth)?

The Wry Truth

Hat tip to Conservative Hideout 2.0:

Commenters are encouraged to cite examples.

The Third Shoe

by MacKubin Thomas Owens

The Department of Defense faces some stark choices in the future due to the threat of sequestration. But the continual sounds of shoes dropping at the Pentagon suggest that the sequester may be the least of its problems.

Jihad Watch Wins CPAC Award, Barred From Receiving It

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Robert Spencer writes:

Civic Literacy Exam

Take the test HERE (hat tip to Bunkerville).


About the test:

Sequestration

Hat tip to Mike's America:

"This Woman Is My Mother"

If you must have politics, please scroll down)

The words in the title of this post appear with frequency in Mira Bartók's memoir The Memory Palace, a first-person narrative about growing up with a schizophrenic mother.

Occasionally, the author varies the sentence by writing "This creature is my mother."

A sad book?

Not really — even though the author's mother, formerly a piano prodigy, deteriorates mentally over the years until she lives the last seventeen years of her life as a homeless person.

Musical Interlude

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

I miss Henry Mancini (1924-1994), whom Mr. AOW and I saw live twice when he conducted the National Symphony Orchestra — and his jazz combo too, of course.

"The Pink Panther," "Baby Elephant Walk," and "Peter Gunn" (apologies for the abrupt ending of the version below):



The theme from The Thornbirds:

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

White House Report Claims Sequestration Will Affect Federal Department That No Longer Exists [Thanks for the link, Warren!]

Obama’s EEOC: We’ll Sue You If You Don’t Hire Criminals

Washington University holds porn star panel in main university chapel

Report: $2 billion spent annually for Medicaid emergencies, largely for illegal immigrant baby deliveries

Recommended Reading

(Two posts today.  Please scroll down)

See Smoke coming out of the keyhole by Tammy Swofford in the Daily Times Pakistan.  Denial is temporary, reality is inevitable.

Did The White House Threaten Bob Woodward?

Recently, journalist Bob Woodward, sometimes credited with bringing down the Nixon Presidency, wrote an article about Obama and sequestration.

Now comes this (with a hat tip to Will of MFS - The Other News):