Monday, March 31, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
An Eloquent
Musical Indictment
of Government Bureaucracy
To This We’ve Come
THE CONSUL
" ... My child is dead; John's mother is dying, and all you give me is papers – papers – PAPERS! ..."
An Opera in Three Acts
Music and Libretto by
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Patricia Neway, who created the role of Magda Sorel, presents here one of the most moving scenes in the operatic literature. Menotti won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for The Consul. The show also won the New York Drama Critics Award for Best Musical. This performance was televised in 1960, ten years after the opera’s first appearance.
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| Gian Carlo Menotti (1907-2011) |
Friday, March 28, 2014
The Most Eloquent
Musical Indictment
of Government Bureaucracy
Ever Written
To This We’ve Come
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| Gian Carlo Menotti c. 1949 |
Thursday, March 27, 2014
A Change of Pace
Think of something gentle
Think of something kind
Dwell today on something not designed
To make you lose your mind.
Think of something pretty
Think of something soft
Take time away each day from Microsoft
And soar aloft
Where Spirit reigns in Bliss
Away from all the Madness
Where Kindness ever dissipates the Sadness
In the Realm of Gladness
~ FreeThinke- 3/27/2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The WORK ETHIC
that Built the USA
and Made it Great
has Fallen Prey to
The WELFARE STATE
The Cato Institute released an updated 2013 study (original study in 1955) showing that welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Even worse, welfare pays more than $15 per hour in 13 states.
According to the study, welfare benefits have increased faster than minimum wage. It's now more profitable to sit at home than it is to earn an honest day's pay.
Hawaii is the biggest offender, where welfare recipients earn $29.13 an hour, or $60,590 a year for doing nothing.
Here is the list of the states where the pre-tax equivalent yearly “salaries” received by welfare recipients pay more than available jobs:
1. Hawaii: $60,590
2. District of Columbia: $50,820
3. Massachusetts: $50,540
4. Connecticut: $44,370
5. New York: $43,700
6. New Jersey: $43,450
7. Rhode Island: $43,330
8. Vermont: $42,350
9. New Hampshire: $39,750
10. Maryland: $38,160
11. California: $37,160
12. Oregon: $34,300
13. Wyoming: $32,620
14. Nevada: $29,820
15. Minnesota: $29,350
16. Delaware: $29,220
17. Washington: $28,840
18. North Dakota: $28,830
19. Pennsylvania: $28,670
20. New Mexico: $27,900
21. Montana: $26,930
22. South Dakota: $26,610
23. Kansas: $26,490
24. Michigan: $26,430
25. Alaska: $26,400
26. Ohio: $26,200
27. North Carolina: $25,760
28. West Virginia: $24,900
29. Alabama: $23,310
30. Indiana: $22,900
31. Missouri: $22,800
32. Oklahoma: $22,480
33. Louisiana: $22,250
34. South Carolina: $21,910
As a point of reference the average Middle Class annual income today is $50,000, down from $54,000 at the beginning of the 2008 Recession.
Hawaii, DC, and Massachusetts pay more in welfare than average workers are able to earn there. Is it any wonder that so many stay home rather than look for a job. Time for a drastic change. America is virtually bankrupt.
Have we gone mad? How could we hope to undo this extravagant stupidity in public policy?
US Presidents:
$400,000 a year while in office
Representatives and Senators:
$174,000
Speaker of the House:
$223,500
Majority or Minority Leader
$193,400
Average income for teachers - $40,065
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN
AFGHANISTAN $38,000
Think about this:
Nancy Pelosi, already a very rich woman, earned $174,000 a year as a US Representative. She earned $223,500 a year as Speaker. She receives $193,400 a year as Minority Leader. Doubtless at the rate things are going others who follow in her wake will eventually receive more
Nancy Pelosi is just one of many hundreds of senators
and representatives that float in and out every
year.
[NOTE: The retirement income members of congress receive (from is, the taxpayers) is determined by a formula that takes into account the years served and the average pay for the top three years in terms of payment. For example, a member elected before 1984 ... who worked for 22 years and who had a top three-year average salary of $153,900 would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,645 per year. A member elected after 1984 would have been enrolled under the FERS plan, and their pension payment under the same conditions ($153,900 top three-year average salary and 22 years of service [not in citation given]) would be $55,404. [not in citation given].[3] In 2002, the average pension payment ranged from $41,000 to $55,000.[4]]
[NOTE: The average annual retirement income in the USA for a COUPLE is about 50K, but the figure’s meaning is distorted, because it averages in the incomes of the super-rich, which may amount to millions per month and hundreds of millions per year –– or more –– along with that of the burger flippers, lawn care service workers, store clerks, waiter and waitresses, domestic assistants (i.e. house maids), etc. Omitting the top 5% would doubtless bring the average down to less than 20K per year. Exact figures are not readily available.]
Don’t you think paring down the rewards that come through serving in congress would be a good place to start paring down the costs of government?
SOURCES:
Monday, March 24, 2014
MOTHER BUYS A ROBOT
IT SLAPS PEOPLE WHEN THEY LIE
She decides to test it out at dinner one night,
and asks her son what he did that afternoon.
The son says, "I did some schoolwork."
The robot slaps the son.
The son says, "OK! OK!
I was at a friend's house watching movies."
I was at a friend's house watching movies."
The father asks, "What movie did you watch?"
The son says, "Toy Story."
The robot slaps the son.
The son says, "OK, OK, we were watching porn."
The father says, "What? At your age
I didn't even know what porn was."
The robot slaps the father.
The mother says, "Well, you certainly are your father’s son."
The ROBOT SLAPS the MOTHER.
*... ROBOT FOR SALE ...*
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| Sayonara! |
... ROBOTS ...
Bane or Boon?
Marvel or Menace?
Bane or Boon?
Marvel or Menace?
Sunday, March 23, 2014
SUNDAY MEDITATION
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| Oswald Chambers (1874-1917), Theologian |
Am I Carnally Minded?
Oswald Chambers: My Utmost for His Highest - 3/23/2013
Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal . . . ? —1 Corinthians 3:3
The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.
Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.
If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.
What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it-it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.
_______________________________
CARNAL
1. Pertaining to flesh; fleshly; sensual; opposed to spiritual; as carnal pleasure.
2. Being in the natural state; unregenerate.
"The carnal mind is enmity against God." Rom. 8.
3. Pertaining to the ceremonial law; as carnal ordinances. Heb. 9:10.
4. Lecherous; lustful; libidinous; given to sensual indulgence.
________________________________
QUESTIONS:
1. What do these words suggest to you?
2. Are they meant to be a condemnation of sex and sexual desire?
3. Do they irritate you, and put you immediately in a defensive mode?
4. Do they provoke curiosity?
5. What is meant by the term "Self-Justification?"
6. Is it a good thing or a bad thing, or possibly a bit of both?
7. Is advice of this sort meant to apply to the way we think of others, or only the way we regard ourselves as individuals?
8. Do you think "religion" may be going out of style, and is, therefore, no longer relevant in modern life?
9. If your answer is yes, please explain why this may be so?
10. What does the term "Salvation" mean to you?
Friday, March 21, 2014
.jpeg) |
| Sheldon Harnick - American lyricist and songwriter (born 1924) |
Thursday, March 20, 2014
The Wit and Wisdom
of ANN COULTER
Nemesis of Leftists
Part VI of a New Series (Concluded)
Random Quotes from Miss Coulter’s Work
'You remember what a fabulous success court-ordered "desegregation" plans have been. Few failures have been more spectacular. Illiterate students knifing one another between acts of sodomy in the stairwell is just one of the many eggs that had to be broken to make the left's omelette of transferring power from states to the federal government.'
'While the form of treachery varies slightly from case to case, liberals always manage to take the position that most undermines American security.'
“Democrats couldn't care less if people in Indiana hate them. But if Europeans curl their lips, liberals can't look at themselves in the mirror.”
'If we're so cruel to minorities, why do they keep coming here? Why aren't they sneaking across the Mexican border to make their way to the Taliban?'
'Swing voters are more appropriately known as the 'idiot voters' because they have no set of philosophical principles. By the age of fourteen, you're either a Conservative or a Liberal if you have an IQ above [that of] a toaster.'
'Liberals become indignant when you question their patriotism, but simultaneously work overtime to give terrorists a cushion for the next attack and laugh at dumb Americans who love their country and hate the enemy.'
'If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president.'
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
The Wit and Wisdom
of ANN COULTER
Nemesis of Leftists
Part V of a New Series
Random Quotes from Miss Coulter’s Work
'“Even with a Democratic president behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a far larger percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for it. Eminent Democratic luminaries voted against it, including Senators Ernest Hollings, Richard Russell, Sam Ervin, Albert Gore Sr., J. William Fulbright (Bill Clinton’s mentor) and of course, Robert Byrd. Overall, 82 percent of Senate Republicans supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, compared to only 66 percent of Democrats. In the House, 80 percent of Republicans voted for it, while only 63 percent of Democrats did.'
'Crediting Democrats for finally coming on board with Republicans civil rights policies by supporting the 1964 act would be nearly as absurd as giving the Democrats all the glory for President Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts –– which passed with the support of 99 percent of Republicans but only 29 percent of Democrats.”'
'The New York Times editorial page is like a Ouija board that has only three answers, no matter what the question. The answers are: higher taxes, more restrictions on political speech and stricter gun control.'
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
'
The Wit and Wisdom
of ANN COULTER
Nemesis of Leftists
Part IV of a New Series
Random Quotes from Miss Coulter’s Work
'“It’s often said that those who are unduly bothered by gays are latent homosexuals. Isn’t it possible that people obsessed with racism are themselves racist?”'
'“Pilate was required to release one of the prisoners, so he gave the mob the choice of Jesus or Barabbas, a notorious murderer and insurrectionist –– in other words someone who incites mobs."'
'Again, the mob "spoke with one voice" demanding "with loud shouts" that Jesus be crucified.”'
Monday, March 17, 2014
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
~~~~~~~ On St. Paddy’s Day ~~~~~~~
On city streets and hills and village squares
Neighbors celebrate with ethnic pride
Something ancient ~~ veiled in mist ~~ with airs
That sound like merry mourning countrywide.
Pipes of clay so white and pints of brew
Abound among the throngs that flood the pubs
Declaiming Emerald the sacred hue ~~
Decrying England’s cruel historic snubs.
Yet, maudlin sentiment soon drowns the ire.
‘Tis nostalgia that’s the order of the day ~~
Sweet dreams of something mythic ~~ far away
Dissolve with drink the potency of fire.
A nation’s wounded pride may fill its heart,
Yet give no strength save that which tears apart.
~ FreeThinke ~ The Sandpiper ~ Spring 1997
The Wit and Wisdom
of ANN COULTER
Nemesis of Leftists
Part III of a New Series
Random Quotes from Miss Coulter’s Work
'In his fawning hagiography of Teddy Kennedy, Clymer wrote that Kennedy's liberal voting record made up for his killing that girl at Chappaquiddick. I didn't believe it either, but Adam Clymer actually wrote: Kennedy's "achievements as a senator have towered over his time, changing the lives of far more Americans than remember the name Mary Jo Kopechne." (A review in The Washington Monthly said Clymer's Chappaquiddick section did "not sugarcoat his subject's flaws.")'
'This is the way addled liberals really think. Even as they champion sucking the brains out of little babies, they think of themselves as indelibly compassionate because they favor an overweening, behemoth federal government.'
'That's what the Supreme Court did in Roe vs. Wade, and has repeatedly done in periodic codicils to its original edict. ... In Stenberg vs. Carhart, the court expanded the apocryphal abortion right to an all-new right to stick a fork in the head of a half-born baby.'
'The first lunacy keeps being rewritten to give abortion enthusiasts everything they could possibly want.'