Merry Christmas to all and I hope you’re staying warm.
Yes, not leaving house until Wednesday. It was below zero the last few nights.
Just for reference, when I first moved down here (So Mo) thirty years ago, it hit -7 a couple nights. This frigidity is nothing new.
Everyone, stay inside mostly and stay warm. Happy whatever’s on your plate this time of year.
Merry christmas all
Ran into this last night while listening to a selection of Monkees songs. It’s a Spanish villancico from the 16th century which has become a Christmas carol. The boys sing it a capella and do a hauntingly good job. Who would have thought?
Merry Christmas to everyone too. I’m going to listen to the first three cantatas of Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium this afternoon. A sample: here’s the wonderful bass solo from Cantata I for Christmas Day: “Großer Herr, o starker König”– as performed in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach served as Cantor from 1723 to 1750.
Bach is the best therapy I know for the political and meteorological ugliness of the past two weeks.
Merry Christmas to All
We are having a heat wave here in the Front Range of CO. It is 24! After having two days below zero, down to at least -18 without windchill I might have to break out the shorts. And my frozen pipe did not burst.
Wishing Neo and all of her readers an improving weather situation– whatever that might mean for their particular circumstances. I just saw Bill Jacobson’s account of the floodwaters that hit his home in Rhode Island yesterday:
“So how was your day? My morning was spent watching the wind-driven water rise over our seawall, all the way to our house. This video was taken from our second-floor bedroom window. The dock straight ahead and not fully submerged is ours, our backyard runs from the dock to the house and was completely underwater with white caps.”
PA Cat: Amen, nothing matches miraculous JSB for a thorough inner cleansing. In honor of our daughter’s visit from Cambridge, we’ve been listening to Nine Lessons and Carols by the treasured Kings College Choir, whose matins which we’ve been privileged to hear live during visits.
huxley:
There is a translation to English in the “more” text of this version, if you hit “more” again and scroll down a bit:
I remember when I was a senior at CU..1973. We had 2 weeks of subzero lows and highs of barely single digits for the weeks over xmas and New Years. I got back to Boulder a few days after New Year’s when it broke and zoomed up to 50….everyone was walking around in shorts and tee shirts if felt so different!
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating!
Power outages surged in NC to nearly half a million customers this morning; down to more like 350,000 at noon — and remember that’s service addresses; the number of cold people is much higher. Both the TVA in TN and Duke Energy in NC are doing rolling blackouts because they can’t meet demand. But both are so proud of their green energy profiles.
Green energy, never there when needed. But always available in the future.
huxley…many thanks for that one.
Simple and unadorned. Just right.
Like a stable long ago it seems.
Blessed Christmas y’all.
Stay out of harm’s way…in whatever form harm hangs out in your neighborhood.
And hold tight to the promise.
“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us…” Some snippets of Isaiah 9.
Love the clip of the lyre bird and his astonishing repertoire, and have shared it with 21-month-old grandson who almost gets it. Plenty cold here and glad to have power after last night’s frigid gale. Merry Xmas all.
One of the most glorious of all Christmas music is Handel’s Messiah and from it the Hallelujah Chorus. Handel is reported to have said “I did think I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God” after writing it.
I have been blessed to have been part of choirs that have performed this. It is awe inspiring.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In yesterday’s (12/23) last entry, Neo wrote, “The people in charge of these Jan 6 prosecutions are petty little tyrants drunk with vindictive power. They’re just toying with people.”
So here’s something from Sword&Scales quarterly, the free publication of the Pacific Legal Foundation, to which I donate:
Maine Retiree Locked in Eight-Year Legal Battle
“GASTON ROBERGE HAD HIS FAIR SHARE of trials and tribulations long before his legal battle against the government even began.
“After surviving three heart attacks, chemotherapy, and losing sight in one of his eyes, the New England businessman decided it was time to retire. In 1986, with medical bills still piling up, he and his wife Monique planned to sell their empty 2.8-acre lot in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, near where they once ran a motel. The proceeds from the sale would help fund Gaston’s medical bills and retirement.
“The couple’s plans would have to wait, however, as they would spend the next eight years (and thousands of dollars in legal fees) fighting the government.
“For years, Gaston had an arrangement with the town where they paid him to dump clean fill—rock, brick, ceramics, concrete, and asphalt paving fragments—on his land. Gaston never imagined this agreement would set off any red flags with the federal government. But right after a developer offered Gaston $440,000 for the property, the Army Corps of Engineers came out of the woodwork claiming that his plot of land was a wetland protected by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Gaston had no idea his land was considered a wetland. The government didn’t care. Army Corps officials asserted that because he had allowed the town to deposit clean fill on the land, he was guilty of illegally filling a wetland without a permit—an offense often accompanied by astronomically high fines.
“To say Gaston and Monique were shocked would be an understatement. Suddenly they’d found themselves accused of violating a federal environmental law that was completely unknown to them. Worse, the buyer who’d offered them $440,000 withdrew the offer, frightened away. Instead of a nest egg, the Roberges were stuck with an empty lot they couldn’t sell.
“For the next eight years, Gaston battled the Army Corps in court. The government had effectively taken his property and left him with nothing, violating the Fifth Amendment (which says the government cannot take private property without just compensation). And for what? Gaston wasn’t a polluter. He wasn’t big industry. The fill dumped on his land wasn’t even his. Why was the government ruthlessly going after an aging ex-motel owner in Maine?
“The chilling answer appeared when a government memo came to light in the discovery phase of the case: An Army Corps official wrote, ‘Roberge would be a good one to squash and set an example—Old Orchard is heating up these days.’
In other words, the government’s actions weren’t about Gaston Roberge at all. In fact, the Corps was eventually forced to acknowledge that Gaston’s lot didn’t even contain wetlands.
“The government’s primary motive was to hit back against property development on the Maine coast, and it didn’t care that it was running roughshod over an innocent man to do it. In 1994, the government finally settled with Gaston, who was then 81 years old, for $338,000.
“Meanwhile, the Corps official who’d suggested making an example out of Gaston kept his position of power—although his supervisors did require him to attend a sensitivity course.”
After the Gasron story, I hesitated to comment with this for a minute, and then I realized I had to.
Everyone!!
Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Hanukkah!!!
Happy Holidays!!!
Joyous New Year!!!
. . . and so on, with all possible Good Fellowship and Love!!!
May your Burdens be lifted and your Sorrows transformed!!!
And may the Spirit of the Season dwell in your heart throughout the years!!!
All my Love,
Minta
Paul Nachman:
And that is why government bureaucrats from the top (on down?) started using non-government email and more recently even further secretive communications when they make their plans. The EPA got caught (Clinton an Obama juntas) but did the directors of that agency suffer any consequences?
Ginny McCarthy has another federal muckey muck gig, breaking federal regs concerning official business on private systems, no problem. But then again HRC had her personal server and system.
Move along peons nothing to see.
Thank you, Minta! 🙂
Re: Riu Riu Chiu
om:
Thanks for the full professional treatment with the reverb of a big space. I enjoyed the handclaps too.
I read the wiki entry on the song and the lyrics are seriously Christian:
_________________________
This one that is born is the Great King, Christ the Patriarch clothed in flesh. He redeemed us when He made himself small, though He was Infinite He would make himself finite.
I saw a thousand boys (angels) go singing, here making a thousand voices while flying, telling the shepherds of glory in the heavens, and peace to the world since Jesus has been born.
huxley…many thanks for that one.
Simple and unadorned. Just right.
Like a stable long ago it seems.
John Guilfoyle:
Glad you enjoyed it.
It’s odd. The older I get, the stranger and more miraculous the world seems (not that there isn’t a lot of dull as dirt stuff too), so the Christ story seems less odd.
There is a deep mystery at the heart of Christianity.
Huxley…deep mystery and even deeper wonder & joy.
And that dull as dirt stuff has its own wonder. But that’s for another day.
I’m fond of being on the side of the odd.
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Merry Christmas to all and I hope you’re staying warm.
Yes, not leaving house until Wednesday. It was below zero the last few nights.
Just for reference, when I first moved down here (So Mo) thirty years ago, it hit -7 a couple nights. This frigidity is nothing new.
Everyone, stay inside mostly and stay warm. Happy whatever’s on your plate this time of year.
Merry christmas all
Ran into this last night while listening to a selection of Monkees songs. It’s a Spanish villancico from the 16th century which has become a Christmas carol. The boys sing it a capella and do a hauntingly good job. Who would have thought?
–Monkees, “Riu Riu Chiu” (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_hlYgCNFZc
The Monkees were underrated as musicians.
Merry Christmas!
Let nothing you dismay.
Merry Christmas to everyone too. I’m going to listen to the first three cantatas of Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium this afternoon. A sample: here’s the wonderful bass solo from Cantata I for Christmas Day: “Großer Herr, o starker König”– as performed in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach served as Cantor from 1723 to 1750.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmVOCrJCO6w&ab_channel=VariousArtists-Topic
Bach is the best therapy I know for the political and meteorological ugliness of the past two weeks.
Merry Christmas to All
We are having a heat wave here in the Front Range of CO. It is 24! After having two days below zero, down to at least -18 without windchill I might have to break out the shorts. And my frozen pipe did not burst.
Wishing Neo and all of her readers an improving weather situation– whatever that might mean for their particular circumstances. I just saw Bill Jacobson’s account of the floodwaters that hit his home in Rhode Island yesterday:
“So how was your day? My morning was spent watching the wind-driven water rise over our seawall, all the way to our house. This video was taken from our second-floor bedroom window. The dock straight ahead and not fully submerged is ours, our backyard runs from the dock to the house and was completely underwater with white caps.”
Video here: https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/12/a-perfect-storm/
not leaving house until Wednesday
That’s the right idea. Merry Christmas to all!
PA Cat: Amen, nothing matches miraculous JSB for a thorough inner cleansing. In honor of our daughter’s visit from Cambridge, we’ve been listening to Nine Lessons and Carols by the treasured Kings College Choir, whose matins which we’ve been privileged to hear live during visits.
huxley:
There is a translation to English in the “more” text of this version, if you hit “more” again and scroll down a bit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EJl6nSVVrlg
And of course, Merry Christmas to all!
Shirehome,
I remember when I was a senior at CU..1973. We had 2 weeks of subzero lows and highs of barely single digits for the weeks over xmas and New Years. I got back to Boulder a few days after New Year’s when it broke and zoomed up to 50….everyone was walking around in shorts and tee shirts if felt so different!
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating!
Power outages surged in NC to nearly half a million customers this morning; down to more like 350,000 at noon — and remember that’s service addresses; the number of cold people is much higher. Both the TVA in TN and Duke Energy in NC are doing rolling blackouts because they can’t meet demand. But both are so proud of their green energy profiles.
Green energy, never there when needed. But always available in the future.
huxley…many thanks for that one.
Simple and unadorned. Just right.
Like a stable long ago it seems.
Blessed Christmas y’all.
Stay out of harm’s way…in whatever form harm hangs out in your neighborhood.
And hold tight to the promise.
“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us…” Some snippets of Isaiah 9.
Matt Taibbi, Twitter Files continued, TWITTER AND “OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES”: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1606701397109796866.html
Love the clip of the lyre bird and his astonishing repertoire, and have shared it with 21-month-old grandson who almost gets it. Plenty cold here and glad to have power after last night’s frigid gale. Merry Xmas all.
One of the most glorious of all Christmas music is Handel’s Messiah and from it the Hallelujah Chorus. Handel is reported to have said “I did think I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God” after writing it.
I have been blessed to have been part of choirs that have performed this. It is awe inspiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Merry Christmas
Hmm
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2018/12/the-bethlehem-shepherds-were-not-just-country-bumpkins.html
In yesterday’s (12/23) last entry, Neo wrote, “The people in charge of these Jan 6 prosecutions are petty little tyrants drunk with vindictive power. They’re just toying with people.”
So here’s something from Sword&Scales quarterly, the free publication of the Pacific Legal Foundation, to which I donate:
Maine Retiree Locked in Eight-Year Legal Battle
“GASTON ROBERGE HAD HIS FAIR SHARE of trials and tribulations long before his legal battle against the government even began.
“After surviving three heart attacks, chemotherapy, and losing sight in one of his eyes, the New England businessman decided it was time to retire. In 1986, with medical bills still piling up, he and his wife Monique planned to sell their empty 2.8-acre lot in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, near where they once ran a motel. The proceeds from the sale would help fund Gaston’s medical bills and retirement.
“The couple’s plans would have to wait, however, as they would spend the next eight years (and thousands of dollars in legal fees) fighting the government.
“For years, Gaston had an arrangement with the town where they paid him to dump clean fill—rock, brick, ceramics, concrete, and asphalt paving fragments—on his land. Gaston never imagined this agreement would set off any red flags with the federal government. But right after a developer offered Gaston $440,000 for the property, the Army Corps of Engineers came out of the woodwork claiming that his plot of land was a wetland protected by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Gaston had no idea his land was considered a wetland. The government didn’t care. Army Corps officials asserted that because he had allowed the town to deposit clean fill on the land, he was guilty of illegally filling a wetland without a permit—an offense often accompanied by astronomically high fines.
“To say Gaston and Monique were shocked would be an understatement. Suddenly they’d found themselves accused of violating a federal environmental law that was completely unknown to them. Worse, the buyer who’d offered them $440,000 withdrew the offer, frightened away. Instead of a nest egg, the Roberges were stuck with an empty lot they couldn’t sell.
“For the next eight years, Gaston battled the Army Corps in court. The government had effectively taken his property and left him with nothing, violating the Fifth Amendment (which says the government cannot take private property without just compensation). And for what? Gaston wasn’t a polluter. He wasn’t big industry. The fill dumped on his land wasn’t even his. Why was the government ruthlessly going after an aging ex-motel owner in Maine?
“The chilling answer appeared when a government memo came to light in the discovery phase of the case: An Army Corps official wrote, ‘Roberge would be a good one to squash and set an example—Old Orchard is heating up these days.’
In other words, the government’s actions weren’t about Gaston Roberge at all. In fact, the Corps was eventually forced to acknowledge that Gaston’s lot didn’t even contain wetlands.
“The government’s primary motive was to hit back against property development on the Maine coast, and it didn’t care that it was running roughshod over an innocent man to do it. In 1994, the government finally settled with Gaston, who was then 81 years old, for $338,000.
“Meanwhile, the Corps official who’d suggested making an example out of Gaston kept his position of power—although his supervisors did require him to attend a sensitivity course.”
After the Gasron story, I hesitated to comment with this for a minute, and then I realized I had to.
Everyone!!
Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Hanukkah!!!
Happy Holidays!!!
Joyous New Year!!!
. . . and so on, with all possible Good Fellowship and Love!!!
May your Burdens be lifted and your Sorrows transformed!!!
And may the Spirit of the Season dwell in your heart throughout the years!!!
All my Love,
Minta
Paul Nachman:
And that is why government bureaucrats from the top (on down?) started using non-government email and more recently even further secretive communications when they make their plans. The EPA got caught (Clinton an Obama juntas) but did the directors of that agency suffer any consequences?
Ginny McCarthy has another federal muckey muck gig, breaking federal regs concerning official business on private systems, no problem. But then again HRC had her personal server and system.
Move along peons nothing to see.
Thank you, Minta! 🙂
Re: Riu Riu Chiu
om:
Thanks for the full professional treatment with the reverb of a big space. I enjoyed the handclaps too.
I read the wiki entry on the song and the lyrics are seriously Christian:
_________________________
This one that is born is the Great King, Christ the Patriarch clothed in flesh. He redeemed us when He made himself small, though He was Infinite He would make himself finite.
I saw a thousand boys (angels) go singing, here making a thousand voices while flying, telling the shepherds of glory in the heavens, and peace to the world since Jesus has been born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADu_R%C3%ADu_Ch%C3%ADu
_________________________
An interesting choice for the Monkees.
huxley…many thanks for that one.
Simple and unadorned. Just right.
Like a stable long ago it seems.
John Guilfoyle:
Glad you enjoyed it.
It’s odd. The older I get, the stranger and more miraculous the world seems (not that there isn’t a lot of dull as dirt stuff too), so the Christ story seems less odd.
There is a deep mystery at the heart of Christianity.
Huxley…deep mystery and even deeper wonder & joy.
And that dull as dirt stuff has its own wonder. But that’s for another day.
I’m fond of being on the side of the odd.