NY Governor Vows to Make State the "Progressive Capital" of the U.S.

I just listened to most of Andrew Cuomo's State of the State speech. If I ever had any question about whether socialist progressive Democrats understand what the rest of America wants, New York's newly elected governor definitively answered that question.

They get it.

With an understanding of America's complaints as clear as that of any conservative, Cuomo neatly listed New Yorkers' complaints: too much government, government corruption, enormous ever-rising property taxes, huge spending on schools with no gain for students, declining job and business opportunities, etc., etc., etc.

No matter. Socialist progressive Democrats like Cuomo are intent on shoving their progressive dream down America's collective gullet anyway, cleverly (they think) disguised as capitalistic enterprise.

High on Cuomo's list of promised fixes is the state's spending on Medicaid health care for the 4.7 million poor people enrolled in the program. New York spends 40% of its money on Medicaid, which this year amounts to $54 billion of a total budget of $136 billion. And who are among the medical experts Cuomo is putting in charge of New York's "Medicaid redesign team"? None other than Cuomo's old buddy, campaign supporter, and "medical-care stakeholder," Dr. SEIU.

SEIU United Health Care Workers East is "a vast local union that represents hundreds of thousands of nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, home-care aides and other health-care workers."

As Cuomo pointed out, most emphatically, “We must turn this crisis into opportunity to fundamentally remake our state into the progressive capital of the nation."

This is not an empty threat. Cuomo, it should be remembered, is one of the original authors of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "affordable housing" fiasco responsible for derailing the U.S. economy.

Hold on to your hats New Yorkers, and drop your wallet into Andrew Cuomo's collection box. Sick and poor? Stand aside. The SEIU is waiting.

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A Whole Lot of Shakin': 112th Opening Livestreamed; Gibbsy Moves On

Image courtesy Free Republic via The Looking Spoon.

As the U.S. Constitution moves into the House Chamber today, proudly being read by the new House majority of Republicans on Friday today [Rush reports], Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he is resigning his job as Obama's chief spokesman. According to the Associated Press, "Gibbs is leaving to become an outside political adviser to Obama and to give speeches in the private sector." He's scheduled to be leaving in February.

Livestreaming of Congress's opening session will be available starting at noon on facebook, with a comment section, at the PledgeToAmerica page.

All members of Congress take the following oath:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

As The Other McCain pointed out, "The 112th Congress will read the Constitution. The 111th Congress never even read the bills they voted for."

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Pakistani Pol Assassinated for Trying to Help Condemned Christian Woman, Aasia Bibi

Salman Taseer listens to Aasia Bibi at a prison near Lahore, Pakistan.

When Aasia Bibi, a Punjabi Catholic mother of five from a rural village of Pakistan, was sentenced to death for reportedly insulting the founder of Islam and thus violating Pakistan's so-called "blasphemy" law, the governor of the Punjab Province, Salman Taseer, visited her in jail and asked Pakistan's president to consider granting her clemency.

On New Year's Eve, as terrorists were making their final preparations to bomb Saints Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt, thousands of members of Pakistan’s religious parties in three cities protested Taseer's efforts to overturn Bibi’s conviction.

Today Taseer was assassinated, shot nine times as he left an Islamabad restaurant by a Pakistani policeman who reportedly told authorities he killed Taseer for campaigning to repeal Pakistan's blasphemy law.
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The Face of Martyrdom in Egypt

Body parts covered with newspaper outside the Saints Coptic Orthodox Church

In today's Western world, a great many young people have not encountered the true meaning of the word martyr. To make it clear: a martyr is a person who is killed because of his or her religious belief, particularly somebody who chooses to die rather than deny that religious belief. This is a word that was well understood by many of this nation's founders and is still well understood by many immigrants to the U.S. who flee here for religious freedom. Martyrdom is a word that is not much used, but more and more frequently, I believe, it is a word that needs to be used if we are to accurately describe current events so that we can understand and deal with them.

The New Year's bombing of a church in Alexandria Egypt is being presented by many as a routine part of an ongoing "political conflict" between Christians and Muslims, as though there is some kind of moral equivalency between martyring innocent people (the Islamic tactic) and holding peaceful demonstrations to bring to the attention of political authorities one's perceived right to protection from being forced to choose between being murdered and abandoning one's religious belief.

(AINA) -- The car explosion that went off in front of Saints Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria killed 21 and injured 96 parishioners who were attending a New Year's Eve Mass. According to church officials and eyewitnesses, there are many more victims that are still unidentified and whose body parts were strewn all over the street outside the church. The body parts were covered with newspapers until they were brought inside the church after some Muslims started stepping on them and chanting Jihadi chants.

According to eyewitnesses, a green Skoda car pulled up outside the church shortly after midnight. Two men got out, one of them talked shortly on his mobile phone, and the explosion occurred almost immediately after they left the scene. On the back of the Skoda was a sticker with the words "the rest is coming" (video of car explosion and Muslims shouting "Allah Akbar").

It was reported that the bomb, locally made, had 100KG [220 pounds] of explosives in addition to having nails, glass and iron balls inside. The strength of it not only caused glass panes to be shattered in all the neighborhood, but also made body parts fly into the building's fourth floor, and to the mosque facing the church.

Egypt's Minister of the Interior, Habib el Adly, called the bombing an "individual case," which sounds to me like the Egyptian way of saying "lone bomber." The Minister was quick to blame either al-Qaida or the Israeli Mousad; however, Egyptian Copts think Egyptian state security is the culprit.

Question: Why would Copts blame Egyptian state security, whose commander in chief is President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt with dictatorial powers since 1981?

Answer: Egyptian state security forces have a history of disappearing before Muslim attacks on churches. Last January 6, security forces were withdrawn from the Nag Hammadi Cathedral a couple of hours before Muslim attackers gunned down worshipers leaving a Christmas Eve Mass celebrated according to the Coptic calendar. Nine people died and eleven were injured. Again, this January, only about 30 minutes into 2011:

Eyewitnesses confirmed that security forces guarding the church withdrew nearly one hour before the blast, leaving only four policemen and an officer to guard such a big church and nearly 2000 people attending the midnight mass. "Normally they would have waited until the mass was over," said [Hany] el-Gezeiry [ head of Copts4Egypt]. He also commented on the Muslim's schadenfreude at the massacre at the church, who were heard chanting "Allah Akbar."

11-year-old Maysoon Ghatas Fahmy, a Kosheh Martyr

Egyptian security also has a history of being "unable" to convict murderers of Christians. One notorious incident occurred in January of  2000, when 21 Copts were massacred by Muslims in the outskirts of el-Kosheh. Eventually, all 89 defendants were released without bail and had their charges dropped or were acquitted. The only person convicted was a Muslim charged with the accidental killing of another Muslim.

After the [2011] blast, traumatized Copts were angered by chants of "Allah Akbar" from Muslims and began hurling stones at the mosque. Immediately security forces which were absent during the car blast and the ensuing events, appeared and starting shooting tear gas at the Copts, and they in turn hurled stones at them, said an eyewitness. Fifteen Copts were rounded up from their homes by the authorities.

[snip]

Nakhla said that he was preparing a complaint to be presented to President Mubarak asking for the resignation of Interior Minister Habib el Adly for failing in his duty of protecting the Copts, and for not telling the truth by saying that it was a suicide attack by one individual, when everyone could see the detonated car, just to clear his security personnel of the responsibility of letting the Skoda park in front of the church. "This 100KG bomb could not have been transported by one individual as the Interior Minister wants us to believe."

On January 1, the funeral of the 21 people killed in the church massacre took place at St. Mina's Monastery in King Mariout, 50 km from Alexandria. It was attended by representatives of the President, Minsters, the governor of Alexandria, as well as nearly 10,000 Copts who traveled from Alexandria. After the funeral, the Copts, angry with the governor of Alexandria, shouted "resign" and "we do not want you."

Yesterday, in Cairo, Egypt's capital, protesters carried large wooden crosses toward the city's TV and radio building, but were stopped by about 2,000 riot police. One Christian protester said that "Muslim and Coptic protesters are planning to form a 'human shield' outside major churches in Cairo on Coptic Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 in a show of solidarity.

To pile tragedy on top of tragedy, the Coptic religious leader, Pope Shenouda, is considering cancelling Christmas celebrations.

Inside the Saints Church, the floor was still stained with blood, two statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were toppled and benches were scattered by the impact of the blast. A wooden cross hanging on the church gate was covered with a white sheet stained with victims' blood and bits of human flesh remained stuck on the gate. Young Christian men prevented cleaners from removing the flesh.

"Leave them. This is pure blood," one of the men shouted.

It is the blood of martyrs.

Hat tip: Zilla of the Resistance.
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Until the Disaster Has Passed . . . A Coptic Chant of Psalm 57

American hearts go out to our Coptic Christian brothers and sisters in Egypt. Yesterday in Alexandria, at least 21 people were killed and 79 96 injured, almost all Christians, apparently by a 2 Muslim suicide bomber[s] who attacked worshipers as they left a midnight New Year's service.* Christianity was first adopted by Egyptians under Roman rule about 70 years after Cleopatra was bitten by the asp, brought to Alexandria by Mark, one of Christ's apostles. These days Egyptian Copts, many of them direct descendants of those early converts, are suffering increasing harassment and violent assaults by Muslims. The Egyptian government is pointing a finger at al Qaeda. [*amended 12:30 ET]

Here, in English translation, is a Chant of Psalm 57 from the Canonical Book of the Coptic Orthodox Church. It seems an especially appropriate prayer today.

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Starting the New Year on the Right Foot . . .

That's what I hope to do.

I've had a blessed holiday time, even if I do have to reclaim that word in its original, non-PC definition, as a time of festivity and recreation. I've made preparations for a holy day, celebrated the Holy Day itself, and had tons of fun preparing for the New Year. I've visited with people I seldom see, shared special meals, and enjoyed at least my portion of good cheer. During this time of respite, I've concentrated much more on the beauty of the season than on the continuous assaults being launched on beauty in all her forms. As a result, I am emerging from this holiday season as intended: greatly restored. In this, I know, I am not alone: whatever our individual worries and sorrows, a great many of us managed to find some portion of cheer during our holiday season.

In the New Year, we have reason to believe, the Dark Forces are not going to have quite as easy a time as they did in the last. This year, patriots will ring in the New Year with a renewal of allegiance to that great shield of human liberty: the Constitution of the United States.

In 2010, Republicans in Congress issued a Pledge to America in which they stated:

We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Republicans in the House, now the majority party, are honoring that Pledge by changing the House rules to require that every bill contain a statement by the author citing the constitutional authority to enact the proposed law:

As promised in the Pledge, members will not be able to introduce a bill or joint resolution without a “statement citing as specifically as practicable the power or powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact” it. This will serve to refocus members of Congress, with every bill they introduce, on the Constitution that they take an oath to support and defend.

To show they mean business, Republicans plan to read the U.S. Constitution in its entirety on the House floor on January 6.

Democrat pundits have been screeching from the rooftops that the planned reading of the Constitution will be mere window dressing. They wouldn't be screeching, however, if they did not have some inkling of the tremendous power on the American people inherent in the text of the Constitution. A public reading of the Constitution, combined with the requirement that bills cite the Constitutional powers that will make them lawful, will bring discussions of the actual text of U.S. Constitution not only into public discourse, but also into classrooms and dinner-table discussions.

This is good news for conservatives and bad news for socialist progressives. The Constitution, so carefully constructed, does not leave much room for doublespeak, the socialist-progressives' native tongue and the recently adopted official language of the Democrat Party. A revival of appreciation for the Constitution of the United States is going to be very, very good for this country--and it will give many patriots even more practice holding Congressional feet to the fire.
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A Cup o' Kindness and a Right Guid-willie Waught . . .

Dougie MacLean sings Scottish poet Robbie Burns' poignant classic about two old friends who meet after a long separation:

Enjoy. And don't neglect to take a cup o' kindness, my jo.

With hearty wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year.

English:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and days of old long ago?

CHORUS:
For old long ago, my dear, for old long ago, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for old long ago.

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since days of old long ago.

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine [dinner];
But seas between us broad have roared
since days of old long ago.

CHORUS

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for days of old long ago.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for old long ago.

CHORUS

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U.S. Constitution Won't Affect Congress . . .

The 112th Congress will be just like the 111th:

He hopes.

Text of the U.S. Constitution here. This document, which was written (ahem) more than 200 years ago, would make excellent reading for Democrats too, and even for WaPo wonks.
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Food Rationing to Combat Global Warming?

Chinese farmers try to save some vegetables from an early snowfall.

According to Louise Gray, the Environment Correspondent for the UK Telegraph:

Global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind that climate change experts are calling for Second World War-style rationing in rich countries to bring down carbon emissions.

The idea is to "halt economic growth in the rich world over the next twenty years, " according to the director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Professor Kevin Anderson.

This would mean a drastic change in lifestyles for many people in countries like Britain as everyone will have to buy less ‘carbon intensive’ goods and services such as long haul flights and fuel hungry cars.

[snip]

This could mean a limit on electricity so people are forced to turn the heating down, turn off the lights and replace old electrical goods like huge fridges with more efficient models. Food that has travelled from abroad may be limited and goods that require a lot of energy to manufacture.

“The Second World War and the concept of rationing is something we need to seriously consider if we are to address the scale of the problem we face,” he said.

And governments could make it a criminal act to grow food in your own backyard and give some of it to your hungry neighbors--that's if you live in a "rich" country. If you live in a non-"rich" country, do what you like; rich countries will even help you pay for what you do, or at least pay your dictators to enjoy themselves.

From John Griffing at American Thinker:

Meet the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a new legislative proposal [a bill passed by the House in 2009 and passed by the Senate on December 19th, while you were hanging ornaments on your Christmas tree] designed to centralize control over food stocks to protect Americans from "terror."

Next thing you know, the TSA will be frisking tomatoes and cabbages.

The motive may indeed be to protect the food supply from the actions of terrorists, but what about acts of government terror? Can centralized control by the government protect the people against the whims of human nature? This question is not being asked by those so in favor of surrendering control of food to an entity that cannot even manage a budget, much less an oil spill or other natural disaster. Now we are to believe that this same inefficient, broken entity can guarantee the safety of our food?

A Florida orange, January 16, 2010 (courtesy mothertrip).

Why not? The socialist hero Stalin did it in the Ukraine, and his "artificial famine . . . intended to break the will of Ukrainians--Communists and non-Communists alike--who clung to their national identity," caused the deaths of seven million people.

Something stinks, and it smells like government cheese. Usually when people ask for power, it is because they want power, regardless of the stated motive.

What good, for example, can be gained from removing the right of Americans to grow their own food, as several of the provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act do? The Ninth Amendment arguably guarantees this and other unenumerated rights. The Ninth Amendment reads:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

To clarify, how can the rights to life, liberty, and property enshrined in the Constitution exist without the ability of citizens to attend to bodily needs -- i.e., sustenance?

The FSMA doesn't merely wrest control of the food supply from citizens. Dangerously, the FSMA proceeds to transfer U.S. food sovereignty to the WTO, with one provision reading, "Nothing in this Act shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the U.S. is a party." This provision is significant, since the WTO draws all its food safety standards from the controversial Codex Alimentarius, which is thought by some to be a vast postwar scheme to control the world's population by means of food. The bottom line vis-à-vis food is that Americans lose control, and foreign bureaucrats gain control.

Great. Our legislators don't care if the FSMA is inconsistent with U.S. Constitution, but it better not be  inconsistent with the World Trade Organization or that friendly, super-organized, sterling defender of human rights (or something), the U.N.

I hear the cold wind howling.
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Another Cold Winter Makes Greenies Sweat

When NYC looks like this:

December 27, 2010 (courtesy Woman Honor Thyself).

And Philadelphia looks like this:

December 27, 2010 (courtesy Matt Rourke/AP).

And Raleigh, North Carolina looks like this:

December 27, 2010 (courtesy Jim R. Bounds/AP).

. . . I start reflecting on that great winter reality known as cold.

While a great number of Americans are cold tonight, and many travelers are still uncomfortably stranded due to those annual weather events known as blizzards, I wonder how many of the so-called staunch environmentalists I know would in actual fact prefer to rely on the heat produced by "green" sources instead of the carbon-based sources (derived from actual green vegetable matter) that they are mostly using. Like the rest of us, environmentalists living in cold climes are turning up the heat to keep both themselves and their water pipes from freezing. If they are lucky enough to have a fireplace or a wood stove, you can bet that they are throwing another log on the fire.

Darn. If only the Good Lord hadn't made all life on Planet Earth, both animal and vegetable, carbon based, so that when it goes up in smoke it turns back into carbon and oxygen.

Winters like the ones being experienced in  many of the 48 contiguous states, plus Alaska, are not good arguments for politically correct traffic lights that don't create enough warmth to stay clear of snow:

An LED traffic light covered with snow on a clear day. A traffic light like this might not be at all visible to motorists in a night blizzard.

A planet that hasn't warmed in 15 years and that might be sliding into one of Earth's regularly scheduled mini ice ages is, likewise, not a good argument for erecting energy inefficient wind turbines whose blades literally freeze up in cold weather:

Wind generators in eleven Minnesota cities couldn't handle winter (courtesy Jim Gehrz, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune). 

For some carbon-averse people, of course, winter is not much of a problem:

Obama chills with a shaved ice dessert while "Holiday" vacationing in Hawaii.

But for others, winter is one giant impediment to their plan to regulate ("real hard") Americans' use of energy to heat their homes, their intention to "tax 'em real hard" for all kinds of carbon consumption, and their determination "make 'em buy permits" to use energy to stay warm, grow food, and make things.  Hear it for yourself:

Van Jones professes to be afraid that Congress will eliminate the Clean Air Act, making it impossible for the EPA to regulate, tax, and carbon-credit Americans out the energy we need to stay alive and--excuse the expression, socialists--prosper.

Eliminating the Clean Air Act--now there's an idea whose season has come.

Thanks for the alert, teresamerica!
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Christmas Plot to Blow up Big Ben and London Stock Exchange

Westminster Palace (Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben

The nine Religion of Peacers who were arrested in the UK five days before Christmas for plotting terrorism were charged yesterday.

From the UK Telegraph:

Details of the alleged plot were outlined at City of Westminster magistrates’ court.

The defendants, aged 19 to 28, were charged on Sunday with conspiracy to cause an explosion and conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism, having been arrested during early-morning raids in Cardiff, London and Stoke-on-Trent on Dec 20.

The group allegedly carried out a "reconnaissance trip" as they considered which UK landmarks to bomb. Among the sites under consideration were Westminster Abbey, Westminster Palace (home of Parliament), Big Ben, the London Stock Exchange, the London Eye, the Mayor's office, the U.S. Embassy, and the Church of Scientology near Blackfriars.

After their "reconnaissance trip," the group stopped at a McDonalds.

The London Eye

Police searches are said to have uncovered two issues of the al Qaeda extremist magazine Inspire, which is published in English in Yemen and is aimed at a Western audience. An article in issue one was entitled “How to make a pipe bomb in the kitchen of your mom”, while issue two included “What to expect in jihad” and “Tips for our brothers in the US”.

Other allegedly extremist material found was entitled 39 Ways which said it was intended to help people “serve and participate in jihad”.

The inspiration for the plot allegedly is Anwar Al-Awlaki, the dual Yemeni/U.S. citizen who preaches violent jihad against the West.

Between Oct 1 and Dec 20, the men are alleged to have downloaded information from the internet, discussed acts of terrorism and tested explosives while “unlawfully and maliciously” conspiring to “endanger life or cause serious injury” with one or more explosions.

The defendants are: Mohammed Chowdhury, 20; Shah Rahman, 28; Omar Latif, 26; Abdul Miah, 24; Gurukanth Desai, 28; Usman Khan, 19; Nazam Hussain, 25; Mohibur Rahman, 26; and Abul Shahjahan, 26. All nine men are of Bangladeshi origin.

The nine are due to appear in court again on Jan 14.
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Wear all the Pink You Want: It's Not Stopping Rationing of Breast Cancer Drugs

Commenters over at Stilton Jarlsberg's Hope n' Change Cartoons have been discussing who is going to be weeded out after they're done weeding out old people. Young kids with serious health problems or gays with expensive-to-treat HIV/AIDS? To which I might add: people with relatively rare and hard-to-diagnose health problems or people seriously injured in major auto accidents? And then there are those pesky women with late-stage breast cancer, who are already being denied medical treatment in the People's Republic of Oregon.

Perhaps the bean counters in the gov't bureaucrat-run socialist health care system (who are paid with our tax dollars!) will go after everybody with a costly medical problem to keep the electorate confused and fatigued so that we just get sick of fighting them and give up.

A little something that the government was up to while you were trimming your Christmas tree and doing your last-minute shopping was reversing its previous approval of the world's best-selling cancer drug for treatment of advanced breast cancer. This drug, Avastin, also is used to limit the growth of cancerous colon, brain, kidney, and lung tumors.

Many women with late-stage breast cancer who take Avastin live an additional three to five months, which the government does not consider "sufficient" benefit, even though taking the drug does improve quality of life for those women.

However, for reasons not yet understood, some women who take Avastin live much longer, even years longer. "It is clear that some breast cancer patients derive substantial benefit from Avastin," said Dr. Julie Gralow of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, who helped conduct the initial study of Avastin in breast cancer. "We don't know how to select those tumors or patients yet." 

Government solution: restrict access to this expensive drug for women on Medicare and Medicaid, even though Avastin is approved for treatment of late-stage breast cancer in Europe. "Patients with colorectal, lung, renal and brain cancers will still have access to Avastin through Medicare," but not patients with breast cancer.

In the eyes of this administration, women who are dying of breast cancer, especially those over the age of 65 or poor, are not worth the cost of treatment with the world's best-selling cancer drug. As Stilton Jarlsberg pointed out:

The alleged "cost savings" come from denial of expensive care to those who most need it, in order to fund more people being added to the government coffers. It's "inefficient" for lots of money to be spent on one person who is nearing death...which is why Obamacare levies fines (in the form of additional taxes) on people who have paid for "too much" health insurance with their own money.


And in determining what sort of medical treatment people will receive under Obamacare, consider some of the decisions that are already being made: the government is increasingly refuse to pay for medicines that will improve the quality of life, but not "cure" a condition. Which should terrify anyone with HIV...or cancer...or any geriatric illness.


Obamacare is not about medicine; it's about power and wealth redistribution. And part of shepherding the "wealth" is making sure the "unfit" won't share in it...even if they're the ones who earned it and contributed it (albeit not voluntarily) to the system.

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On the Second Day of Christmas: A Hedgehog and a Little Bear

A Russian samovar

I may be back at work, but I am not ready for Christmas to be over. Today is only the second day of Christmas, after all.

If, like me, you are not ready to pick up the yoke of the world again, relax a bit more and enjoy this charming little animated film, which is based on a bedtime story from the "gentle universe" of the great Russian children's writer, Sergey Kozlov. This film, released in 1975, and animated and directed by Yuri Norstein, won outstanding animation awards in London, Sidney, and Chicago and in 2003 was voted #1 Animated Film of All Time in Tokyo.

Recommended beverage for viewing: Hot tea sweetened with raspberry jam, which is a good drink to have in hand on the windy, stormy East Coast tonight.

Hat tip: Wax lips.
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Hallelujah from Quinhagak, Alaska

It gets to me every time: This version is from the fifth graders of the Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat School in the village of Quinhagak.

Hat tip: snaggletoothie of the Loyal Opposition

Hat tip: Wax Lips.
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Mary Had a Baby -- Melissa Davis & the Nathaniel Dett Chorale

A stunningly beautiful version of the traditional spiritual:

Lyrics:

Mary had a baby. Oh, My Lord.
Oh, Mary had a baby. Oh, My Lord.

Where was he born?
Born in a manger, Lord.
Oh yes. Oh, My Lord.

What did they call him?
Oh, some called him one thing.

What did they call him?
Oh, but I'll call him another.

What did they call him?
Oh, and some say Emmanuel.

What did they call him?
Oh, I'll call him Sweet Little Jesus Boy.

I'll call him Jesus.
Oh, Jesus.

Wonderful Counselor.
My Jesus, Everlasting Father.

He is the Prince of Peace.
Oh, yes. Oh, My Lord.

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My Christmas Gift to You, Dear Friends

Some time back, I was astonished to find this breathtaking recording of the revered Irish tenor, John McCormack (1884-1945), singing the beloved 18th-century hymn, Adeste Fideles, and I have been saving it up as a Christmas gift to my dear friends in the blogosphere. McCormack was widely considered the best Irish tenor ever born and, in some respects, one of the three greatest tenors of all time.

McCormack began his wildly successful career in the Choir of Dublin's Cathedral and eventually became a naturalized American citizen and patriot. In this recording produced by the Victor Talking Machine Company, the bass voice belongs to another famous singer of the day, William F. Hooley. This recording dates from 1915.

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Latin

Adeste Fideles,
Laeti triumphantes,
Veníte, veníte in Bethlehem.
Natum vidéte,
Regem Angelorum:

          Veníte adoremus,
          Veníte adoremus
          Veníte adoremus Dóminum

Deum de Deo,
Lumen de lúmine,
Gestant puellae viscera
Deum verum,
Genitum non factum:

Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum

English

O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethelehem;
Come and behold him,
Born the King of angels:

           O come, let us adore him,
           O come, let us adore him,
           O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

God from God,
Light from Light,
Born of a virgin;
True God,
Begotten, not made:

           O come, let us adore him,
           O come, let us adore him,
           O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

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To Drive the Cold Winter Away - Colonial Christmas Song

I can just see merry Ben Franklin with a pint in his hand singing this traditional Christmas song with his pals at the Every Night Club:

Lyrics:

All hail to the days that merit more praise
Than all of the rest of the year,
And welcome the night that double delights
As well for the poor as the peer.

Good fortune attend each merry man's friend
Who doth but the best he may,
And wholly consort with carols and sport
To drive the cold winter away.

Tis ill for a mind be anger inclined
To think of small injuries now;
If wrath do you seek, do not lend her thy cheek
Nor let her inhabit thy brow.

Cast out of thy books malevolent looks:
Both beauty and youth decay;
And spend the night long in carols and song
To drive the cold winter away.

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Sugar Plum Kitty

The dear Angel over at Woman Honor Thyself reminds us that 'tis the season to be jolly, and showing other people the jolly side of life is the special gift of my new blogger friend, Amusing Bunni. Shamelessly swiped from Bunni's blog comes the following Christmas treat:

Myself, I'm rummaging in the closet for that sweater with giant rhinestone snowflakes so I can join the Christmas Sweater Club I heard about from Angel and from PJMom of the best chocolate dessert fame.

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Will Somebody Please Tell the National Intelligence Office to Turn on the TV?

During an afternoon interview on ABC by Diane Sawyer, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, was unaware that 12 Muslim men had been arrested as terror-bombing threats in three different cities in the UK that morning. You knew about it. I knew about. Europe certainly knew about it, and so did the Middle East, but the U.S. Director of National Intelligence--the guy who briefs the president of the United States about intelligence--didn't know about it:

"I was a little surprised you didn't know about London," Sawyer told Clapper.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't," he replied.  

That's a pretty clear statement. This is what his office had to say about that lapse:

"Director Clapper had not yet been briefed on the arrests in the United Kingdom at the time of this interview taping," said ODNI spokeswoman Jamie Smith in a statement to ABC's Jake Tapper.

Smith explained that Clapper had been working on other matters during the day, following developments on the Korean Peninsula and issues surrounding the ratification of the START nuclear pact. He was not briefed on the London arrests, she said, because it was not centered in the homeland and required no action on his part.

Got it. Clapper was "too busy" working on national security to learn about the capture of terrorists planning imminent bombings in the UK, but he had plenty of time to be interviewed by Diane Sawyer.  Anyway, it was just another story about a bunch of Muslim wack-jobs attempting to blow up innocent people who are minding their own business. Ho hum. Though I must admit it is a daily occurrence.

I find it interesting that Clapper's staff decides what Clapper gets to know about. I sure hope they are not the same people filtering the information that reaches Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder, who have an astonishingly laissez-faire attitude toward Islamic terrorism, because whoever is filtering the information Clapper gets are the same people who filter the information that reaches the president.

Not to worry, though. Obama could have learned about the arrests on his famous BlackBerry.

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EU erases Christmas and Easter from calendar; Ramadan stays

. . . and so do other Muslim holidays, as well as Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and Chinese holidays. EU "holidays" too. Interestingly, the calendar was produced as an EU propaganda "Christmas gift" for three million European school children.

From the UK Telegraph:

The European Commission has come under fire for producing more than three million copies of an EU diary for secondary schools which contains no reference to Christmas but includes Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim festivities.

More than 330,000 copies of the diaries, accompanied by 51 pages of glossy information about the EU, have been delivered to British schools as a "sought after" Christmas gift to pupils from the commission.

But Christians have been angered because the diary section for December 25 is blank and the bottom of the page with Christmas Day is marked only with the secular message: "A true friend is someone who shares your concerns and will double your joy".

While the euro calendar marks Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Chinese festivities as well as Europe Day and other key EU anniversaries, there are no Christian festivals marked, despite the fact Christianity is Europe's majority religion.

Majority. That's such a non-PC word.  Majority = knuckdragging bigots ready for "retraining." They should just shut up and pay their taxes to support privileged minorities who have legitimate holidays to celebrate. And their children should be made to feel that there is something a bit wrong and embarrassing about celebrating a Christian holiday.

Johanna Touzel, the spokesman for the Catholic Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, said the absence of Christian festivals as "just astonishing".

"Christmas and Easter are important feasts for hundreds of millions of Christians and Europeans. It is a strange omission. I hope it was not intentional," she said.

Obviously, Christians were not included in the design of a calendar intended for 3 million school children, most of whom are Christian. That's interesting. Where does the EU keep its Christian employees, if any? Chained in the basement?

"If the commission does not mark Christmas as a feast in its diaries then it should be working as normal on December 25."

I like that idea. How about passing out some lumps of coal to replace those festive alcoholic beverages that the EU commission is no doubt imbibing?

A commission spokesman described the diary as a "blunder" and said that in the interests of political correctness there would no references to any religious festivals in future editions.

All Christian holidays were excluded. Obviously the result of "carelessness."

"We're sorry about it, and we'll correct that in next edition. Religious holidays may not be mentioned at all to avoid any controversy," he said.

Uh huh. Europe is famous for its lack of "controversy."

H/t: Vlad Tepes.

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