GKC, of course:
CHRISTIANITY is always out of fashion because it is always sane; and all fashions are mild insanities.
When Italy is mad on art the Church seems too Puritanical. When England is mad on Puritanism the Church seems too artistic.
When you quarrel with us now you class us with kingship and despotism; but when you quarrelled with us first it was because we would not accept the divine despotism of Henry VIII.
The Church always seems to be behind the times, when it is really beyond the times; it is waiting till the last fad shall have seen its last summer. It keeps the key of a permanent virtue.
Of course, GKC had never met a Liturgeist (nor Marty Haugen...)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Red's Trading Post: Chapter 54 of the Saga
In brutally brief: Red's Trading post is a licensed gun dealer. In the last couple of years sometime, a BATFE audit found a few highly technical problems in their gun-sales paperwork--stuff that both you and I and any other normal person would simply ignore.
Not BATFE. They decided to try to pull Red's firearms license.
The saga with Red's began when the ATF inspection in 2000 discovered various paperwork violations, Horsley said, just shortly after he arrived to take over the store, mistakes such as a customer failing to write down the county in which he lived.
In 2001, "they couldn't find any violations," he told WND. A few other minor problems were found later, including a failure to put up a poster.
"I wasn't alarmed because this agent … had told us we were one of the best small gun shops he'd ever seen," Horsley told WND.
Then early in 2006, "We get a letter that 'We're [ATF] revoking your license,'" Horsley said. "I just came unglued. I couldn't believe it."
Within the last month, BATFE returned to inspect MORE records, and an old guy started taking pictures of the inspection process, and of the (taxpayer-funded) rental cars they used. In addition, the proprietor of Red's blogged about their presence and their inspection.
And the poooooooor widdle BATFE supervisor went off crying to Mom about it.
The inspectors, however, suddenly left, and within days, the federal agency's version arrived in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
"[The federal agency] notifies the court than an inspection of Red's Trading Post … was initiated on July 17, 2007. The inspection was suspended due to the threat to the inspectors' safety created by Ryan Horsley, the Manager of Red's," the court filing said.
The filing documented how some unidentified person had taken pictures of the inspectors at work.
"At about this time, Supervisor Young's assistant from the Spokane office contacted her and advised that Mr. Horsley had updated his internet blog (http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/) to include the information that ATF, and Supervisor Young personally, was at the store conducting an inspection," the filing said. So Young contacted others.
"The Director of Industry Operations, Richard Van Loan, agreed with Supervisor Young's assessment that the photographing of the rental car used by ATF personnel, coupled with the instantaneous posting on the internet of ATF's presence … posed a credible threat to their safety and was designed to harass and intimidate," the court filing said.
The court filing noted two other times when the inspectors had been photographed, including once by a news team.
It appears as though BATFE Supervisor Linda Young has a problem dealing with Horsley. Too bad that she is also acting like a typical 5-year-old child.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
Not BATFE. They decided to try to pull Red's firearms license.
The saga with Red's began when the ATF inspection in 2000 discovered various paperwork violations, Horsley said, just shortly after he arrived to take over the store, mistakes such as a customer failing to write down the county in which he lived.
In 2001, "they couldn't find any violations," he told WND. A few other minor problems were found later, including a failure to put up a poster.
"I wasn't alarmed because this agent … had told us we were one of the best small gun shops he'd ever seen," Horsley told WND.
Then early in 2006, "We get a letter that 'We're [ATF] revoking your license,'" Horsley said. "I just came unglued. I couldn't believe it."
Within the last month, BATFE returned to inspect MORE records, and an old guy started taking pictures of the inspection process, and of the (taxpayer-funded) rental cars they used. In addition, the proprietor of Red's blogged about their presence and their inspection.
And the poooooooor widdle BATFE supervisor went off crying to Mom about it.
The inspectors, however, suddenly left, and within days, the federal agency's version arrived in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
"[The federal agency] notifies the court than an inspection of Red's Trading Post … was initiated on July 17, 2007. The inspection was suspended due to the threat to the inspectors' safety created by Ryan Horsley, the Manager of Red's," the court filing said.
The filing documented how some unidentified person had taken pictures of the inspectors at work.
"At about this time, Supervisor Young's assistant from the Spokane office contacted her and advised that Mr. Horsley had updated his internet blog (http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/) to include the information that ATF, and Supervisor Young personally, was at the store conducting an inspection," the filing said. So Young contacted others.
"The Director of Industry Operations, Richard Van Loan, agreed with Supervisor Young's assessment that the photographing of the rental car used by ATF personnel, coupled with the instantaneous posting on the internet of ATF's presence … posed a credible threat to their safety and was designed to harass and intimidate," the court filing said.
The court filing noted two other times when the inspectors had been photographed, including once by a news team.
It appears as though BATFE Supervisor Linda Young has a problem dealing with Horsley. Too bad that she is also acting like a typical 5-year-old child.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
LBO's Becoming An Endangered Species
In business news...
Citigroup is one of the banks that will ... be left holding the bag after investors took a pass on the sale of $10 billion of loans at Chrysler’s auto unit for the company’s leveraged buyout. ... It isn’t good news for either the banks or the buyout firms. There will come a point, if we aren’t there already, when banks refuse to make new loan commitments....
Chatter among investment bankers lately has focused on Citigroup, which is said to be clamping down especially hard on making new loans. ... Citi has the misfortune of having been involved in a lot of the buyout loans that have soured lately, including Allison Transmission, U.S. Foodservice, Dollar General and ServiceMaster. It also has a role in three of the coming megadeals that still need to be financed: First Data, TXU and Clear Channel Communications.
This has serious implications for LBOs and for the KKR's of the world who gin up these deals, and may end in some serious re-pricing of buyouts.
Which is to say that 'asset-deflation' may be underway in this marketplace, just like in housing.
Citigroup is one of the banks that will ... be left holding the bag after investors took a pass on the sale of $10 billion of loans at Chrysler’s auto unit for the company’s leveraged buyout. ... It isn’t good news for either the banks or the buyout firms. There will come a point, if we aren’t there already, when banks refuse to make new loan commitments....
Chatter among investment bankers lately has focused on Citigroup, which is said to be clamping down especially hard on making new loans. ... Citi has the misfortune of having been involved in a lot of the buyout loans that have soured lately, including Allison Transmission, U.S. Foodservice, Dollar General and ServiceMaster. It also has a role in three of the coming megadeals that still need to be financed: First Data, TXU and Clear Channel Communications.
This has serious implications for LBOs and for the KKR's of the world who gin up these deals, and may end in some serious re-pricing of buyouts.
Which is to say that 'asset-deflation' may be underway in this marketplace, just like in housing.
Ruuuudeee!! Makes a Point
Via the AmSpec blog, from The Corner, dissing Tricky Dick and his moronic minions:
As I was about to leave his office, Mayor Giuliani said there was something he wanted me to see. He stood, walked to his desk, riffled among some papers for a moment, then found what he wanted and picked it up. He showed me a bound report. “This is hilarious,” Giuliani said. “You’ll love it.”
The federal government, he explained, had just conducted a study of Yankee Stadium, checking it for accessibility to the disabled. The inspectors had found some three thousand instances in which Yankee Stadium failed to meet federal standards.
The path of travel out of the Yankee dugout was accessible only by steps, not a ramp, making it impossible to get a wheelchair onto the field. The dressing bench in the Yankee locker room was forty-five inches long by sixteen inches deep instead of the required forty-eight inches long by twenty-four inches deep. The toilets in the locker room had a seat height of sixteen inches, one inch below the required seventeen inches. The spout of the drinking fountain in the weight room was forty-two inches off the floor instead of the required thirty-six inches.
"The urinals are too high,” Giuliani continued, laughing. “The toilet paper dispenser is incorrectly mounted on the back wall of the toilet. Do you believe anybody does this? I mean, people get paid to do this.”
After I ran a "cost of regulations" post, a commenter stated that he did not believe the 'cost of regulation' was as high as the post stated.
Hope he reads this post, too. He'll have a chance to apologize.
As I was about to leave his office, Mayor Giuliani said there was something he wanted me to see. He stood, walked to his desk, riffled among some papers for a moment, then found what he wanted and picked it up. He showed me a bound report. “This is hilarious,” Giuliani said. “You’ll love it.”
The federal government, he explained, had just conducted a study of Yankee Stadium, checking it for accessibility to the disabled. The inspectors had found some three thousand instances in which Yankee Stadium failed to meet federal standards.
The path of travel out of the Yankee dugout was accessible only by steps, not a ramp, making it impossible to get a wheelchair onto the field. The dressing bench in the Yankee locker room was forty-five inches long by sixteen inches deep instead of the required forty-eight inches long by twenty-four inches deep. The toilets in the locker room had a seat height of sixteen inches, one inch below the required seventeen inches. The spout of the drinking fountain in the weight room was forty-two inches off the floor instead of the required thirty-six inches.
"The urinals are too high,” Giuliani continued, laughing. “The toilet paper dispenser is incorrectly mounted on the back wall of the toilet. Do you believe anybody does this? I mean, people get paid to do this.”
After I ran a "cost of regulations" post, a commenter stated that he did not believe the 'cost of regulation' was as high as the post stated.
Hope he reads this post, too. He'll have a chance to apologize.
Games Prosecutors Play
The Ramos/Compean case gets even more strange.
Now, according to an amicus filing, the US Attorney may have used a "sentencing guideline" to manufacture a criminal offense.
[According to] a copy of an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") legal brief filed by Reps. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Virgil Goode (R-Va.), and Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the former agents' appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans. They accuse the prosecution of "creating a purported criminal offense never enacted into law by Congress," and of charging Ramos and Compean with a "non-existent crime."
Simply discharging a firearm near a violent crime is not illegal, the brief argued, saying the law they were convicted under is not a law at all, but a sentencing factor used to help a jury determine jail time after a conviction.
As you might expect, the relevant statute's wording is sloppy (Congress wrote it...that's a hint.)
The brief argued that, for a 10-year sentence, a defendant must be convicted under the specific terms laid out in section 924(c)(1)(a) (see section).
This provision is applicable, the section says, to "any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime ... uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm ..."
If, and only if, these conditions apply can a defendant be sentenced to ten years in prison for the "discharge" of a firearm.The brief argued that the shooting of drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila was not "in relation to" the drug crime because Ramos and Compean were themselves not participants in the drug crime.
Now you and I might think that the 'use/carry of a firearm during/in re a crime of violence or drug trafficking' applies ONLY to the perpetrators of the crime.
Not according to the Prosecutor, if this amicus is credible. The way this deal came down, anybody using a weapon in those circumstances is "a criminal" and subject to a 10-year sentence.
There's a screw loose here, someplace.
Now, according to an amicus filing, the US Attorney may have used a "sentencing guideline" to manufacture a criminal offense.
[According to] a copy of an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") legal brief filed by Reps. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Virgil Goode (R-Va.), and Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the former agents' appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans. They accuse the prosecution of "creating a purported criminal offense never enacted into law by Congress," and of charging Ramos and Compean with a "non-existent crime."
Simply discharging a firearm near a violent crime is not illegal, the brief argued, saying the law they were convicted under is not a law at all, but a sentencing factor used to help a jury determine jail time after a conviction.
As you might expect, the relevant statute's wording is sloppy (Congress wrote it...that's a hint.)
The brief argued that, for a 10-year sentence, a defendant must be convicted under the specific terms laid out in section 924(c)(1)(a) (see section).
This provision is applicable, the section says, to "any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime ... uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm ..."
If, and only if, these conditions apply can a defendant be sentenced to ten years in prison for the "discharge" of a firearm.The brief argued that the shooting of drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila was not "in relation to" the drug crime because Ramos and Compean were themselves not participants in the drug crime.
Now you and I might think that the 'use/carry of a firearm during/in re a crime of violence or drug trafficking' applies ONLY to the perpetrators of the crime.
Not according to the Prosecutor, if this amicus is credible. The way this deal came down, anybody using a weapon in those circumstances is "a criminal" and subject to a 10-year sentence.
There's a screw loose here, someplace.
THE Leak in the Faucet: Water & Sewer Utilities
Ahhhh...the Gummints.
Americans lose 30% of their tap water to leaky and inefficient municipal systems before it even gets piped into homes, said Meeusen, citing federal government statistics. Another 30% is lost after waste water is piped out of the home and back to the treatment plants.
That statement was made by the CEO of Badger Meter.
Americans lose 30% of their tap water to leaky and inefficient municipal systems before it even gets piped into homes, said Meeusen, citing federal government statistics. Another 30% is lost after waste water is piped out of the home and back to the treatment plants.
That statement was made by the CEO of Badger Meter.
IRS Loses Before Jury; Levy Lacks Foundation
Apparently this fellow has a compelling case, at least for a Louisiana Federal jury.
The Internal Revenue Service has lost a lawyer's challenge in front of a jury to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation's income tax, and the victorious attorney now is setting his sights higher.
Although the legal citations in the case tend to run the length of paragraphs, Newsbusters explained the substance of his arguments against the federal income tax this way:
Quite simply, he proved that the definition of Income as defined by the Supreme Court is NOT income from our labor, but rather things like interest and profit. You CANNOT tax a person's labor because it is a God-given right that we may work to support ourselves.
If I charge you $500 to fix your toilet, what part of that is profit or capital gain? The answer: You cannot decipher. Therefore, you cannot tax something that is considered an equal exchange on labor. You fix my toilet, I give you $500. It is quite simple.
"There are three points that are important," he told WND. "There's no law making the average working man liable [for income taxes], there's no law or regulation that allows the IRS to contend that earnings are 100 percent profit received in exchange for nothing, and the right to earn a living through any lawful occupation is a constitutionally protected fundamental right, and it is exempt from taxation."
I'd bet that IRS appeals, but I suspect there will be no takers.
The Internal Revenue Service has lost a lawyer's challenge in front of a jury to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation's income tax, and the victorious attorney now is setting his sights higher.
Although the legal citations in the case tend to run the length of paragraphs, Newsbusters explained the substance of his arguments against the federal income tax this way:
Quite simply, he proved that the definition of Income as defined by the Supreme Court is NOT income from our labor, but rather things like interest and profit. You CANNOT tax a person's labor because it is a God-given right that we may work to support ourselves.
If I charge you $500 to fix your toilet, what part of that is profit or capital gain? The answer: You cannot decipher. Therefore, you cannot tax something that is considered an equal exchange on labor. You fix my toilet, I give you $500. It is quite simple.
"There are three points that are important," he told WND. "There's no law making the average working man liable [for income taxes], there's no law or regulation that allows the IRS to contend that earnings are 100 percent profit received in exchange for nothing, and the right to earn a living through any lawful occupation is a constitutionally protected fundamental right, and it is exempt from taxation."
I'd bet that IRS appeals, but I suspect there will be no takers.
Clarification on Kennedy Annulment
Ed Peters is a Canon lawyer now teaching at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit; before this, he was a canonist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
He also has a blog, and has clarified the information regarding the Rauch/Kennedy annulment. In fact, Rome did not "reverse" the annulment as we originally posted.
Sheila Rauch Kennedy, in her oddly organized book, Shattered Faith, at p. 215, quotes her letter to the Tribunal of Boston: ". . . in accordance with canon law, I am appealing your affirmative decision to the [Roman] Rota as the Court of Second Instance . . ." My emphasis.
Thus we must conclude that, because he had only one of the two necessary affirmative decisions (as explained below), Joseph Kennedy never received an annulment from the Catholic Church; the Roman Rota did not overturn an American annulment in this case for the simple reason that there was no annulment to overturn.
While the effect was the same (neither Kennedy nor Rauch can marry again in the Church), the predicate for that statement is different.
He also has a blog, and has clarified the information regarding the Rauch/Kennedy annulment. In fact, Rome did not "reverse" the annulment as we originally posted.
Sheila Rauch Kennedy, in her oddly organized book, Shattered Faith, at p. 215, quotes her letter to the Tribunal of Boston: ". . . in accordance with canon law, I am appealing your affirmative decision to the [Roman] Rota as the Court of Second Instance . . ." My emphasis.
Thus we must conclude that, because he had only one of the two necessary affirmative decisions (as explained below), Joseph Kennedy never received an annulment from the Catholic Church; the Roman Rota did not overturn an American annulment in this case for the simple reason that there was no annulment to overturn.
While the effect was the same (neither Kennedy nor Rauch can marry again in the Church), the predicate for that statement is different.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Pharmaceuticals for Liturgeists
As you've noticed, we've mentioned that "the '60's are over."
Tiresome to keep repeating it.
Fortunately, there IS a pharmacological solution, which Jeff Miller offers!
Get an extra bottle for that Certain Special Someone who's still housed in Milwaukee, but could return to a Benedictine Monastery offshore someplace...
Tiresome to keep repeating it.
Fortunately, there IS a pharmacological solution, which Jeff Miller offers!
Get an extra bottle for that Certain Special Someone who's still housed in Milwaukee, but could return to a Benedictine Monastery offshore someplace...
Marty Haugen's Legacy
From an interview of Marty Haugen in the (appropriately-titled) Worship magazine...
[A] chaplain suggested that I apply for a Catholic church job. I said I didn’t know anything about the Catholic liturgy, and he said, well, these days, nobody does—you’ll feel right at home. And he was right.
Pithy. And it gets better.
There is an energy that rises when the presiding minister calls for a response in the sermon and then a musician calls forth a response in the song. The congregation responds, and the choir has a voice, and there are all these voices.
Yah--but that "sermon-response" thing is decidedly a part of the Fundamentalist/Southern Baptist tradition, not to be confused with the Roman Catholic tradition. The difference? Priests are pastors, not "preachers." More important, priests act "in persona Christi," which does not make them "equals" with the Faithful. There's a lacuna in the understanding of the priesthood here, thus, while the 'music' part of the above is more-or-less appropriate, it's misleading to identify one with the other.
I was in my early twenties, like many musicians and also priests who had been ordained right after the Second Vatican Council. We were young and enthusiastic and not that far from the sixties.
Well, Marty, we're now forty YEARS from the '60's.
We still had this vision that the world could be changed and that institutions could be radically changed. If the cardinals and bishops had understood the implications of what they were unleashing, they might not have made all the changes.
Actually, the "Cardinals and Bishops" did NOT make 'all those changes.' They were made largely by LitWonk BureauWeenies--the Liturgeists--although some Bishops must take the blame for allowing this crap.
A lot of Catholic music from that period has now moved into Protestant churches.
As Gomer often said to the Sarge: "Surprise, surprise!!"
I approached composition from the standpoint of music, and I tried to make the text work with the music. But I realized very quickly that that was a distortion of the role of music in worship. What the Lutheran church taught me was how critically important it is that music support the Word. Learning to compose for the text—to make the music support the text—was a long process for me....
(...which may or may not be complete. He doesn't mention Gregorian Chant, by the way...)
Interactive singing, back and forth, creates a dialogue. When we all stand and face the wall and sing in the same direction, there is no give and take between us. When Jesus encountered someone, he looked at the person and invited a response
That little passage demonstrates Haugen's utterly Lutheran understanding of the liturgy and Ordination (again.). I don't question his bona fides--but the statement is simply wrong, from a Catholic point of view. The appropriate 'response' is gratitude and praise for the Sacrifice Christ made for us, and for the Body of Christ given in communion, which is not a 'dialog' in the strict sense. And of course, that "face the wall" thing--it's a mis-statement of 'facing East', towards God, Who will return 'from the East.' The priest leads his flock. He does not ignore them.
On "Praise Teams":
...they may be responding to a perception that the current state of much church music-making isn’t carrying everything that it should carry, that there’s something lacking. There is a sense in many parishes that the way we’ve sung music in the past, although it’s been strong, is not enough now.
As we've mentioned before, the "praise music" phenom is an extension and deepening of the "entertainment" attribute. Haugen's lack of enthusiasm is probably correctly placed.
Unless we face that tension, we run the risk of abandoning tradition and running off who knows where, or abandoning the culture and becoming a museum piece.
That's a false dichotomy, precisely as Benedict XVI foresaw it in the Motu Proprio. The tradition informs the culture, not vice-versa.
The psalms came from all kinds of situations. Some psalms are topdown; they were obviously written and performed by the Levites at the temple in Jerusalem. Other psalms, like the pilgrimage psalms, may have been sort of composed on the way, like songs you sing in the car. A psalm like “I lift up my eyes to the hills” (Ps. 121), for example, sounds like people were walking up to Jerusalem, singing back and forth to each other
.
The psalms were finally put together by something like a hymnal committee. They said, OK, these are the official songs. Some are the formal high church stuff. Some are the ones that people love. I’m simplifying it, but I think that the process was very much a sifting through, top-down and bottom-up. There are psalms of lament, psalms of praise, psalms of anger, psalms of ecstatic rejoicing, psalms of loneliness and isolation. There are individual psalms and very communal psalms
I'll leave that to better-informed Bibliophiles--but I don't think that Marty has his 'sources' theory correct.
(In concluding, "How to Go About Being a Music Minister":)
Well, what helped me was going back to the Scriptures and then taking courses in theology and seeing myself not primarily as a minister of music but as a minister of the Word and a minister of the peoples’ prayer. And then I asked, how can I use music to do that? I found tht the more I knew about traditions of the past, the more I felt confident that I was on the right track.
Yup. STILL no mention of Gregorian Chant.
[A] chaplain suggested that I apply for a Catholic church job. I said I didn’t know anything about the Catholic liturgy, and he said, well, these days, nobody does—you’ll feel right at home. And he was right.
Pithy. And it gets better.
There is an energy that rises when the presiding minister calls for a response in the sermon and then a musician calls forth a response in the song. The congregation responds, and the choir has a voice, and there are all these voices.
Yah--but that "sermon-response" thing is decidedly a part of the Fundamentalist/Southern Baptist tradition, not to be confused with the Roman Catholic tradition. The difference? Priests are pastors, not "preachers." More important, priests act "in persona Christi," which does not make them "equals" with the Faithful. There's a lacuna in the understanding of the priesthood here, thus, while the 'music' part of the above is more-or-less appropriate, it's misleading to identify one with the other.
I was in my early twenties, like many musicians and also priests who had been ordained right after the Second Vatican Council. We were young and enthusiastic and not that far from the sixties.
Well, Marty, we're now forty YEARS from the '60's.
We still had this vision that the world could be changed and that institutions could be radically changed. If the cardinals and bishops had understood the implications of what they were unleashing, they might not have made all the changes.
Actually, the "Cardinals and Bishops" did NOT make 'all those changes.' They were made largely by LitWonk BureauWeenies--the Liturgeists--although some Bishops must take the blame for allowing this crap.
A lot of Catholic music from that period has now moved into Protestant churches.
As Gomer often said to the Sarge: "Surprise, surprise!!"
I approached composition from the standpoint of music, and I tried to make the text work with the music. But I realized very quickly that that was a distortion of the role of music in worship. What the Lutheran church taught me was how critically important it is that music support the Word. Learning to compose for the text—to make the music support the text—was a long process for me....
(...which may or may not be complete. He doesn't mention Gregorian Chant, by the way...)
Interactive singing, back and forth, creates a dialogue. When we all stand and face the wall and sing in the same direction, there is no give and take between us. When Jesus encountered someone, he looked at the person and invited a response
That little passage demonstrates Haugen's utterly Lutheran understanding of the liturgy and Ordination (again.). I don't question his bona fides--but the statement is simply wrong, from a Catholic point of view. The appropriate 'response' is gratitude and praise for the Sacrifice Christ made for us, and for the Body of Christ given in communion, which is not a 'dialog' in the strict sense. And of course, that "face the wall" thing--it's a mis-statement of 'facing East', towards God, Who will return 'from the East.' The priest leads his flock. He does not ignore them.
On "Praise Teams":
...they may be responding to a perception that the current state of much church music-making isn’t carrying everything that it should carry, that there’s something lacking. There is a sense in many parishes that the way we’ve sung music in the past, although it’s been strong, is not enough now.
As we've mentioned before, the "praise music" phenom is an extension and deepening of the "entertainment" attribute. Haugen's lack of enthusiasm is probably correctly placed.
Unless we face that tension, we run the risk of abandoning tradition and running off who knows where, or abandoning the culture and becoming a museum piece.
That's a false dichotomy, precisely as Benedict XVI foresaw it in the Motu Proprio. The tradition informs the culture, not vice-versa.
The psalms came from all kinds of situations. Some psalms are topdown; they were obviously written and performed by the Levites at the temple in Jerusalem. Other psalms, like the pilgrimage psalms, may have been sort of composed on the way, like songs you sing in the car. A psalm like “I lift up my eyes to the hills” (Ps. 121), for example, sounds like people were walking up to Jerusalem, singing back and forth to each other
.
The psalms were finally put together by something like a hymnal committee. They said, OK, these are the official songs. Some are the formal high church stuff. Some are the ones that people love. I’m simplifying it, but I think that the process was very much a sifting through, top-down and bottom-up. There are psalms of lament, psalms of praise, psalms of anger, psalms of ecstatic rejoicing, psalms of loneliness and isolation. There are individual psalms and very communal psalms
I'll leave that to better-informed Bibliophiles--but I don't think that Marty has his 'sources' theory correct.
(In concluding, "How to Go About Being a Music Minister":)
Well, what helped me was going back to the Scriptures and then taking courses in theology and seeing myself not primarily as a minister of music but as a minister of the Word and a minister of the peoples’ prayer. And then I asked, how can I use music to do that? I found tht the more I knew about traditions of the past, the more I felt confident that I was on the right track.
Yup. STILL no mention of Gregorian Chant.
Cheese, Then Phones, Then a Lawsuit
It's becoming obvious. First, they buy the cheese. Then they buy the phones. Then they will sue the locals for "invidious race-based oppression and arrest."
Police questioned two men from Michigan who were buying a large quantity of Tracfones from Dollar General and Pamida Wednesday, July 11.
According to the police report, the men said a friend was giving them away as a promotion in selling garage doors.
The report said the men had a clipboard with a print-out of every Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Shopko that sells Tracfones in Wisconsin.
"Without question, the two individuals were using the Tracfones for something other than a garage door promotion," said the report.
The report said both men appeared to be extremely nervous and several times brought up the fact that they were pulled over only because they are of Middle Eastern descent.
Police found a pillow case on the passenger side front seat containing 74 Tracfones that were removed from their original packaging.
"This is why we don't think the phones were for a garage door promotion," said Police Chief Dale Heeringa.
Heeringa's racist minions should have waited for them to hit the local cheese store. THEN we'd know for sure and he could drop-ship these bozos to Gitmo.
HT: Jessica, again!
Police questioned two men from Michigan who were buying a large quantity of Tracfones from Dollar General and Pamida Wednesday, July 11.
According to the police report, the men said a friend was giving them away as a promotion in selling garage doors.
The report said the men had a clipboard with a print-out of every Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Shopko that sells Tracfones in Wisconsin.
"Without question, the two individuals were using the Tracfones for something other than a garage door promotion," said the report.
The report said both men appeared to be extremely nervous and several times brought up the fact that they were pulled over only because they are of Middle Eastern descent.
Police found a pillow case on the passenger side front seat containing 74 Tracfones that were removed from their original packaging.
"This is why we don't think the phones were for a garage door promotion," said Police Chief Dale Heeringa.
Heeringa's racist minions should have waited for them to hit the local cheese store. THEN we'd know for sure and he could drop-ship these bozos to Gitmo.
HT: Jessica, again!
Good Catch, Jess: The Governor Lies Again!!
Jessica noticed this whopper which (yawn) the MSM printed:
...the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article today puts the blame for cutting prosecutors' positions completely at the feet of "lawmakers", and leaves the Doyle administration (Read: Department of Administration) completely out of it.
The audit notes that the State Prosecutors Office in DOA calculates the funding formulas. DOA wrote the response letter to the audit. The biggest hit, notes the audit, came in 2003, when 15 prosecutors statewide lost their jobs. Let's look back at how the Journal Sentinel reported those cuts at the time:
District attorneys from Waukesha, Racine and four other counties plan to ask the state Supreme Court today to halt the Doyle administration's plans to fire 15 prosecutors from 12 counties effective Sunday.
In fact, at the time, in 2003, Doyle's spokesman defended the prosecutors' cuts after DAs (including my husband) said they would sue to block them:
"The district attorneys have the same obligation to the taxpayers that the governor does," Leistikow said. "The taxpayers expect the district attorneys to be more fiscally responsible than this."
Obviously, someone at the JS doesn't "check the clips."
...the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article today puts the blame for cutting prosecutors' positions completely at the feet of "lawmakers", and leaves the Doyle administration (Read: Department of Administration) completely out of it.
The audit notes that the State Prosecutors Office in DOA calculates the funding formulas. DOA wrote the response letter to the audit. The biggest hit, notes the audit, came in 2003, when 15 prosecutors statewide lost their jobs. Let's look back at how the Journal Sentinel reported those cuts at the time:
District attorneys from Waukesha, Racine and four other counties plan to ask the state Supreme Court today to halt the Doyle administration's plans to fire 15 prosecutors from 12 counties effective Sunday.
In fact, at the time, in 2003, Doyle's spokesman defended the prosecutors' cuts after DAs (including my husband) said they would sue to block them:
"The district attorneys have the same obligation to the taxpayers that the governor does," Leistikow said. "The taxpayers expect the district attorneys to be more fiscally responsible than this."
Obviously, someone at the JS doesn't "check the clips."
ISP's Ranked; AT&T Mediocre
Computerworld ran a survey of its readers to determine "who's the best" ISP provider. Strictly broadband, inclusive of cable offerings. They got 1200 or so responses.
Here's the breakdown:
There's little doubt as to the best U.S. broadband ISP, according to our readers -- Verizon FiOS wins by a wide margin. Overall, its users rated it at 4.4 out of 5, far better than the five other ISPs, which are bunched together in their ratings, with Cox Communications at a 3.9 rating, Time Warner at 3.8, AT&T and Verizon DSL tied at 3.7, and Comcast, the worst-rated ISP of all, at a lowly 3.5.
I know some folks stuck with Comcast, and they would wholeheartedly agree. As an SBC/ATT user, the mid-range rank for that provider doesn't surprise me at all.
Here's the breakdown:
There's little doubt as to the best U.S. broadband ISP, according to our readers -- Verizon FiOS wins by a wide margin. Overall, its users rated it at 4.4 out of 5, far better than the five other ISPs, which are bunched together in their ratings, with Cox Communications at a 3.9 rating, Time Warner at 3.8, AT&T and Verizon DSL tied at 3.7, and Comcast, the worst-rated ISP of all, at a lowly 3.5.
I know some folks stuck with Comcast, and they would wholeheartedly agree. As an SBC/ATT user, the mid-range rank for that provider doesn't surprise me at all.
City of Milwaukee Cuts Social Service Dollars: Children to be Affected
What can you say?
The Milwaukee Common Council committee believes that it's more important to redevelop old factory sites than to Save the Children.
Ald. Joe Davis asked that the funds be moved to make them available for the possible purchase and development of the 82-acre former Tower Automotive site on W. Capitol Drive.
...The committee heard pleas from Barbara Notestein, director of the Safe & Sound crime-fighting initiative, and others not to reduce funds for youth-serving agencies next year, but the $200,000 cut remained, leaving a $1.2 million allotment.
Guess it's not GWBush, after all.
The Milwaukee Common Council committee believes that it's more important to redevelop old factory sites than to Save the Children.
Ald. Joe Davis asked that the funds be moved to make them available for the possible purchase and development of the 82-acre former Tower Automotive site on W. Capitol Drive.
...The committee heard pleas from Barbara Notestein, director of the Safe & Sound crime-fighting initiative, and others not to reduce funds for youth-serving agencies next year, but the $200,000 cut remained, leaving a $1.2 million allotment.
Guess it's not GWBush, after all.
Security? Nope. Just Those Wacky Cheeseheads
....or at least, we hope so.
Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September.
The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included "wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances," including block cheese, the bulletin said.
So, Achmed, the question is: "Which is best for IED's--Mozarella, Cheddar, or Bleu"?
For general terrorism purposes, I think an exploded block of Stinky would be very effective. With that stuff all over the walls of the airport, you'd reduce economic activity substantially.
Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September.
The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included "wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances," including block cheese, the bulletin said.
So, Achmed, the question is: "Which is best for IED's--Mozarella, Cheddar, or Bleu"?
For general terrorism purposes, I think an exploded block of Stinky would be very effective. With that stuff all over the walls of the airport, you'd reduce economic activity substantially.
"Hate Crimes" and Blogging
Maybe it's a straw in the wind blowing from Canada.
A website featuring comments by, for and about "principled conservatism" is being investigated by the Canadian government, and could be fined or ordered shut down for some postings about Islam and homosexuality.
Connie Wilkins, who with Mark Fournier runs Canada's Free Dominion site and posts articles, comments and blogs on a wide range of issues, said she just was notified by the nation's Human Rights Commission about the investigation.
The scenario bears a close resemblance to the situation feared by opponents in the United States should a pending "hate crimes" legislation be approved by Congress and signed into law by the president. It would essentially provide an enhanced penalty for a range of crimes if someone perceives they are being targeted for being part of a recognized population segment, such as the homosexual community.
While the concept of "hate crimes" is asinine, and while there must be a predicate-crime to which one attaches the "hate" enhancement, (and expressing opinion is not yet a "crime,") it doesn't take much imagination to envision a mission-creep-infected "agency" of the Gummint which views free expression as a punishable offense.
A website featuring comments by, for and about "principled conservatism" is being investigated by the Canadian government, and could be fined or ordered shut down for some postings about Islam and homosexuality.
Connie Wilkins, who with Mark Fournier runs Canada's Free Dominion site and posts articles, comments and blogs on a wide range of issues, said she just was notified by the nation's Human Rights Commission about the investigation.
The scenario bears a close resemblance to the situation feared by opponents in the United States should a pending "hate crimes" legislation be approved by Congress and signed into law by the president. It would essentially provide an enhanced penalty for a range of crimes if someone perceives they are being targeted for being part of a recognized population segment, such as the homosexual community.
While the concept of "hate crimes" is asinine, and while there must be a predicate-crime to which one attaches the "hate" enhancement, (and expressing opinion is not yet a "crime,") it doesn't take much imagination to envision a mission-creep-infected "agency" of the Gummint which views free expression as a punishable offense.
Economists
Stolen from a newsletter:
A party of economists is climbing the Alps. After several hours they became hopelessly lost.
One of them studies the map, turning it up and down, sighting distant landmarks, consulting his compass, and finally the sun.
Then he turns to the others and says, “See that big mountain over there?”
“Yes,” say the others.
“Well, according to my calculations, we’re standing on top of it.”
A party of economists is climbing the Alps. After several hours they became hopelessly lost.
One of them studies the map, turning it up and down, sighting distant landmarks, consulting his compass, and finally the sun.
Then he turns to the others and says, “See that big mountain over there?”
“Yes,” say the others.
“Well, according to my calculations, we’re standing on top of it.”
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
MySpace and Sex Predators
Whoa, Nellie:
MySpace has identified more than 29,000 registered sex offenders among those registered to use its site -- more than four times what the company said in May it had found from an investigation, according to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Cooper released the number Sunday in a statement (download PDF) supporting proposed legislation in North Carolina that would require a parent's permission before a person under 18 could join a social networking site.
"[The 29,000] includes just the predators who signed up using their real names and not the ones who failed to register or used fake names," Cooper said in the statement. Cooper is one of eight state attorneys general who asked MySpace in May to turn over the names of users who are registered sex offenders.
That means that there are 29000 extraordinarily stupid sex offenders. I'd like to bet that ALL sex offenders are extraordinarily stupid, but I don't think I'd win a new home in Door County...
MySpace has identified more than 29,000 registered sex offenders among those registered to use its site -- more than four times what the company said in May it had found from an investigation, according to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Cooper released the number Sunday in a statement (download PDF) supporting proposed legislation in North Carolina that would require a parent's permission before a person under 18 could join a social networking site.
"[The 29,000] includes just the predators who signed up using their real names and not the ones who failed to register or used fake names," Cooper said in the statement. Cooper is one of eight state attorneys general who asked MySpace in May to turn over the names of users who are registered sex offenders.
That means that there are 29000 extraordinarily stupid sex offenders. I'd like to bet that ALL sex offenders are extraordinarily stupid, but I don't think I'd win a new home in Door County...
Monday, July 23, 2007
Mediocrity--the Church's Music
Of COURSE I agree with this guy Michael Lawrence.
Here are only a few excerpts from what is a very good essay--but it's worth reading in its entirety.
Art indeed had its beginnings as an expression of religion--the expression of religion, probably in the days before languages were spoken. It is the way in which religion has become manifest in this world from time immemorial. And yet the idea that one should "sing artistically unto God" [the better translation of the verse in Ps. 47] is a stumbling block to many and a folly to others.
...This ecclesiastical suspicion of the arts [likely begun around the time of the 'Enlightenment'] is evidenced by the scourge of mediocrity that has descended upon sacred art in general--and perhaps upon sacred music in a most particular way. Contrary to the perceptions of some, this problem of musical mediocrity is not an issue stemming from the Second Vatican Council, for the examples of mediocre music go back at least to the 19th century.
...a rather lengthy directory of lukewarm Catholic music can be produced without even mentioning "On Eagles' Wings" or "Be Not Afraid," let alone "Mother at Your Feet is Kneeling" or "Bring Flowers of the Fairest." [Or as I have said: "From Tin Pan Alley to Broadway in only 100 years of evolution"]
...One of the excuses put forth by many of the apologists of mediocrity is that singing high falutin' art music is not as important as ministering to the pastoral-liturgical needs of the faithful. Generally this problem is falsely set up as an "either or." For one thing, how pastoral is it to feed the people with musical stones (whether they come from the 1860's, the 1940's or the 1970's) instead of bread? For another, what's wrong with bringing the people up to the level of the music, rather than bringing the music down to the level of the people? (This presumes a rather poor level of taste amongst the people which I'm not certain is always accurate. [Exactly the same "problem" as Latin. The presumption of stupidity is false; but the inclination to laziness or shirking one's duty as a teacher is profound.]
It seems to me, however, that it is our duty to be prophetic witnesses in our lay apostolate to the power that beauty has in bringing people to Christ and His Church. In order to do this, we must think always as musicians--as artists. The going will be tough, and resistance will be found in some very surprising (i.e. "conservative") places, but we must stay true to our vocation, to our duty.
...we musicians must cultivate a love of truly artistic music amongst the people. Most are quite receptive to this if they are approached as the intelligent people that they are. Your enthusiasm will rub off on them, and great fruit will come from this. The best way to put a stop to the culture of mediocrity is to make people aware of those things which are better than that to which they've been exposed heretofore.
What better thing have you to do as a musician and artist?
Here are only a few excerpts from what is a very good essay--but it's worth reading in its entirety.
Art indeed had its beginnings as an expression of religion--the expression of religion, probably in the days before languages were spoken. It is the way in which religion has become manifest in this world from time immemorial. And yet the idea that one should "sing artistically unto God" [the better translation of the verse in Ps. 47] is a stumbling block to many and a folly to others.
...This ecclesiastical suspicion of the arts [likely begun around the time of the 'Enlightenment'] is evidenced by the scourge of mediocrity that has descended upon sacred art in general--and perhaps upon sacred music in a most particular way. Contrary to the perceptions of some, this problem of musical mediocrity is not an issue stemming from the Second Vatican Council, for the examples of mediocre music go back at least to the 19th century.
...a rather lengthy directory of lukewarm Catholic music can be produced without even mentioning "On Eagles' Wings" or "Be Not Afraid," let alone "Mother at Your Feet is Kneeling" or "Bring Flowers of the Fairest." [Or as I have said: "From Tin Pan Alley to Broadway in only 100 years of evolution"]
...One of the excuses put forth by many of the apologists of mediocrity is that singing high falutin' art music is not as important as ministering to the pastoral-liturgical needs of the faithful. Generally this problem is falsely set up as an "either or." For one thing, how pastoral is it to feed the people with musical stones (whether they come from the 1860's, the 1940's or the 1970's) instead of bread? For another, what's wrong with bringing the people up to the level of the music, rather than bringing the music down to the level of the people? (This presumes a rather poor level of taste amongst the people which I'm not certain is always accurate. [Exactly the same "problem" as Latin. The presumption of stupidity is false; but the inclination to laziness or shirking one's duty as a teacher is profound.]
It seems to me, however, that it is our duty to be prophetic witnesses in our lay apostolate to the power that beauty has in bringing people to Christ and His Church. In order to do this, we must think always as musicians--as artists. The going will be tough, and resistance will be found in some very surprising (i.e. "conservative") places, but we must stay true to our vocation, to our duty.
...we musicians must cultivate a love of truly artistic music amongst the people. Most are quite receptive to this if they are approached as the intelligent people that they are. Your enthusiasm will rub off on them, and great fruit will come from this. The best way to put a stop to the culture of mediocrity is to make people aware of those things which are better than that to which they've been exposed heretofore.
What better thing have you to do as a musician and artist?
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