When 'Social Darwinism' surfs the Web

When "inalienable rights" meet unbridled individualism, what you get is The Cult of the Supreme Self grinding out a "Sherman's March to the Sea" against the culture and the common good.

My lifetime has been spent witnessing a culture's -- a nation's -- descent from the supremacy of The Great Balancing Act between individual liberty and the rights of our patrimony, our shared culture . . . the needs of the many. That descent has been into the abyss of total war involving the immutable, uncompromising "rights" of 300 million American individuals.

In this fight are 300 million armies of one, and like any fight to the finish, the strong win; the weak die. It's the law of the wild, as observed by Mr. Darwin, brought to an alleged "civilization" near you.

Two good examples off the top of my head:

-- The "individual" in the legal person of a transnational corporation cleans the clock of the individual worker.

-- Individual adult women obliterate their unborn children, with the assist of weapons of mass suction, or chemical warfare in the form of saline solution . . . or RU 486 . . . or the "morning after pill."

NOW, AS SOCIAL DARWINISM SPREADS to copyright law, we have come to the point where a dying big industry -- the record industry -- is able to manipulate the levers (and leverage) of government in a bid to, in effect, outlaw its nascent "competition." Even when that "competition" actually might be the sinking record industry's digital lifeboat.

In an absolutely must-read article in the Radio and Internet Newsletter, Kurt Hanson explains the whole digital-copyright mess, perfectly illustrating what it looks like when raw power (and Big Money) embarks on the commercial equivalent of total war, enabled by a regulatory structure that has abandoned any pretense of balancing individual rights with the common good:

In the early days of cylinders and 78 RPM discs and so forth, state copyright laws granted owners of the master recordings various rights to manufacture and sell them, but it was an open question as to whether radio stations had the right to play those recordings.

In fact (as I was reminded recently in the excellent book "Something in the Air" by the Washington Post's Marc Fisher), top crooners of the era like Bing Crosby and Paul Whiteman stamped "Not Licensed for Radio Airplay" on their records and hired lawyers to try to sue the radio stations that played them.

However, a federal court ruled in 1940 that once a record was sold, the buyer had the right to use it in any manner he liked, including broadcasting it on the radio. In other words, the court determined that there were no copyright laws in effect that had granted that particular monopoly right (the right to control who plays it on the radio, sometimes called a "public performance" monopoly right) to the performer. Recording artists had been granted several rights by Congress, the court concluded, but not that one. Thereafter, radio stations knew they were free to play the records they wanted to play.

And the relationship between recording artists and radio stations turned out to be a virtuous one! When radio stations played a Bing Crosby record, its sales didn't go down (as he was apparently afraid they might), they soared!

A healthy economy developed in which record companies and recording artists encouraged radio stations to play their records, knowing they'd mutually benefit. (In fact, record companies eventually went on to hire huge promotional staffs and establish huge budgets for things like trade publication ads and independent promotion companies to encourage more radio stations to play more of their recordings more and more often.)

Had Congress believed that record companies and performers were at risk of not being motivated enough to make enough recordings to serve the interests of the public, Congress could have granted additional monopoly rights (i.e., a "public performance" monopoly right for those sound recordings). But Congress in its wisdom realized that the performers were already adequately motivated to serve the public interest, and thus did not those grant additional rights.

In fact, it wasn't until 1972 that Congress, for the first time, offered any kind of federal copyright protection for sound recordings at all. (Prior to that, as noted above, the right to sell reproductions were covered by a patchwork of state copyright laws.)

Four years later, the Copyright Law of 1976 established that there was a monopoly right to "public performance" for certain types of copyrighted material, but not for sound recordings. Why not? Not to keep hammering this home, but it was because Congress apparently believed that record companies and recording artists were already sufficiently motivated to keep creating enough sound recordings to satisfy the public good.

(Note: Somewhere in this section of this article, I've jumped from talking about the copyright owner of a performance being the performer to being the record label, since record labels deals with performers generally establish the label as the copyright owner.)

If you're Clive Davis or Andrew Lack running a record label, though, you might instinctively view this whole situation from a different perspective. You might think, "I paid for the making of these recordings. They're my property! They should be mine to do with as I please!"

But that's not historically correct. Historically, you started out with no rights at all. Anyone could copy or use anything you created for any purpose whatsoever that they desired. But government eventually realized that the public would benefit if the government granted you certain monopoly rights for a limited period of time. You'd be motivated to produce more art. And the public would benefit.

So government, using the mechanism called copyright law, gave you certain rights: For example, the government gave you a monopoly right, for a limited period of time, to determine who could use your recordings in TV commercials or in films, or put your best songs on a compilation disc and sell them, or use your album cover art on t-shirts. Those are all specific monopoly rights that legislators decided to grant you.

But they didn't grant you monopoly rights over radio airplay! The government felt it was unnecessary. Copyright law is designed to balance rights and freedoms for both copyright owners and copyright users, in such balance to maximize the benefit to the public. Congress felt that they had given you, Clive or Andrew, a sufficient number of rights to keep you motivated to keep making recorded music.

If you're Clive or Andrew, you may know this intellectually, but nonetheless, you may not be happy about it. You still have that "It's mine, I should be able to do anything I want with it" feeling.

Now let's jump forward to 1995. Technology is changing. Music is now being delivered to consumers in digital, as opposed to analog, form (i.e., on CDs) and is about to be transmitted in digital form on cable TV systems (DMX, MusicChoice, and Muzak) and via satellite radio (XM and Sirius).

Having had this "It's mine, I should be able control it" feeling bugging you for years (remember, as far back as the 1930s!), the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) lobbied Congress to pass a law called the "Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act (DPRA)."

Here was the RIAA's argument: Digital transmissions of music were about to allow consumers to make a "perfect digital copy" of the music being transmitted. Those perfect copies were going impact revenues for recording artists horribly -- so horribly, in fact, that they might lack sufficient motivation to record music thereafter. Given that nightmare scenario, the RIAA asked Congress for an additional monopoly right regarding the "public performance" of sound recordings when a digital transmission was involved.

Congress bought it. (In defense of legislators, the RIAA was very early on the curve here, and there was no organized "other side" to raise any effective objections.)

However, Congress did somewhat limit the new monopoly they granted the copyright owners by adding a "statutory" license, so that the music services wouldn't have to negotiate on a song-by-song basis for each song they wanted to play. As for compensation to the copyright owner, Congress instructed the copyright owners and the copyright users to negotiate a royalty rate among themselves, but, if that failed, Congress instructed the Copyright Office to set up an arbitration panel called a CARP that would hold hearing to determine a royalty rate.

Congress also established the four criteria ("policy objectives") the CARP should use, if a CARP was needed at all, to set the royalty rate --

(A) To maximize the availability of creative works to the public;

(B) To afford the copyright owner a fair return for his creative work and the copyright user a fair income under existing economic conditions;

(C) To reflect the relative roles of the copyright owner and the copyright user in the product made available to the public with respect to relative creative contribution, technological contribution, capital investment, cost, risk, and contribution to the opening of new markets for creative expression and media for their communication;

(D) To minimize any disruptive impact on the structure of the industries involved and on generally prevailing industry practices.

These four criteria are spelled out in Section 801(b)(1) of the Copyright Act, by the way. You may in upcoming weeks hear people talking about "the 801(b)(1) standard" and now you'll know what they're talking about.

Note that those four criteria are perfectly in keeping with the general concept of copyright law -- motivating both creators of artistic works (performers) and users of those works (music services) to keep doing what they do, with the ultimate beneficiary being the public.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the "DMCA") contained a whole bundle of new provisions to add new protections and rights for various copyright owners, including the RIAA, the MPAA, vessel hull designers, and computer software firms.

Within that law, the RIAA got webcasting added as a form of digital transmission that would be covered by a "public performance" copyright. (However, somewhere in this process, the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) got an exception inserted for HD Radio; although it's a digital transmission of music, it was specifically excluded from this monopoly right.)

The DMCA also changed the standard under which a webcasting CARP, if one proved necessary, was supposed to determine the appropriate royalty rate.

The new standard was simpler:

The copyright arbitration royalty panel shall establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

There were some additional factors the CARP was instructed to look at, but only to help determine the appropriate "willing buyer / willing seller" rate.

Additional language in the law permitted the sellers -- i.e., the major record labels -- to license their songs as a group without running afoul of antitrust laws.

Since the "willing buyer / willing seller" rule requires a willing seller, and the sellers can operate as a cartel (I'm using the term colloquially here) but the buyers can't, this effectively, I believe, means "whatever the labels feel like."

Which is a quite different standard than the 801(b)(1) standard, which cared about balancing the opportunities for both copyright owners and copyright users, etc.

(Incidentally, Congress, unhappy with the outcome of the CARP processes, in 2004 enacted a law called the "Reform Act" that replaced the trio of arbitrators with a trio of judges (the "Copyright Royalty Board" [CRB]). But pretty much everything else stayed the same.)

So here's where we stand today based on the specific bundle of monopoly rights that Congress has granted the various factions:

Copyright owners of sound recordings have not been granted any rights to control which AM, FM, or HD radio stations play their recordings, because Congress felt that the copyright owners had enough other rights to keep them motivated to keep making records.

However, because of an alleged nascent threat of consumers being able to make "perfect digital copies" of songs transmitted digitally, Congress granted record labels a new monopoly right to control who plays their recordings, meaning effectively that . . .

Satellite radio has to pay a royalty for the use of sound recordings, with a rate being set by an arbitration panel based on several criteria that are designed to be balanced to benefit, overall, the public. (That rate is not public knowledge, but is estimated by stock analysts to be about 3.5% of industry revenues.)

Internet radio also has to pay a royalty for the use of sound recordings, but its rate is set by a trio of judges based on a single criterion that can, in my reading, anyway, be interpreted as "almost whatever the labels feel like."

And thus we end up with a situation in we're in right now, in which a trio of judges granted the copyright owners a royalty rate from Internet radio that is effectively, I believe, more than 100% of the total industry's revenues!

(I think this proves my point that the "willing buyer / willing seller" rule, when the sellers can operate as a group, works out to "whatever the sellers feel like." It turns out that what the sellers feel like is "every penny you have...and more.")

Psalm 82

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

What's the diff between Mexican drug lords and American Idol nuisance Simon Cowell?

The former sell dope to those whose lives are crap, the latter sells crap to dopes.

From The Associated Press via MSNBC:

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the “American Idol” judge says he’s worth five times more to Sony BMG than Bruce Springsteen.

“I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure,” Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million.

“I mean, in the last five years, I’ve probably sold over 100 million records. If (Springsteen) got one hundred (million dollars), I should have got five hundred (million dollars),” he says.

Cowell says he sells all those records because he’s signed “the biggest artist on the planet” — Fox network’s “American Idol.”

SPEAKING OF CRAP, I'm sure Earl May sells more fertilizer than Lamborghini sells cars. So?

If I'm gonna drive cross-country, I'm picking the Lamborghini, not the manure truck.

Want to be a rebel? Defend the obvious

The "natural law is what Eros says it is" crowd has put in a fresh clip. (So much for gun control, eh?) The safety is off. It is taking aim. At the enemy.

Who is David Blankenhorn . . . liberal Democrat?

Say what?

Hey, if it's in USA TODAY, it must be so:

The Harvard-educated Mississippi native is a former VISTA volunteer and community organizer who has made a career of thinking about big issues and telling others what he believes. He's written scores of op-ed pieces and essays, co-edited eight books and written two: the 1995 Fatherless America, which attributes many of society's ills to the lack of involvement of fathers in children's lives, and now, The Future of Marriage. In it, he argues kids need both a mother and a father, and because same-sex marriage can't provide that, it's bad for society and kids.

"We're either going to go in the direction of viewing marriage as a purely private relationship between two people that's defined by those people, or we're going to try to strengthen and maintain marriage as our society's most pro-child institution," he says.

He may sound like a conservative Christian, but Blankenhorn says he's a liberal Democrat.

"I'm not condemning homosexuality. I'm not condemning committed gay relationships," he says. But "the best institutional friend that children have is marriage, and if grownups make a mess of it, the children are going to suffer."

Blankenhorn's attempts to raise consciousness about the importance of fathers led him to help inspire the creation of the National Fatherhood Initiative, a non-partisan group promoting responsible fatherhood. For 20 years, he has focused attention on the fallout of what he sees as a breakdown in the family.

He bristles when people call his think tank conservative; he wants to look deeply at America's core values, and he sees the Manhattan-based Institute for American Values, founded in 1987, as a catalyst for analysis and debate among those with differing views.

The institute's budget of some $1.5 million largely comes from foundations, corporations and individual donations, which support studies, conferences, books and other publications.

"People who say we're a conservative organization are just trying to call us names because they think it'll stigmatize us," he says, clearly rankled that his motives are so often misunderstood.

But as much as his passion for families impresses those who know his work, his blunt outspokenness can be off-putting to people on both sides of the political spectrum. He even criticizes the marriage movement, of which he is considered one of the founders, saying it has "stagnated."

"It's one of the reasons I wrote the book," he says. "I want to stir the pot as much as I can."

THIS GOES TO SHOW YOU. No matter how pure your motives, no matter how impeccable your ideological credentials, no matter how frickin' OBVIOUS any particular cold, hard fact of life might be, you can borrow a whole heapin' helpin' o' trouble for having the temerity to say it out loud.

And the only difference between that state of affairs and some sort of Stalinist police state is . . . well, only the getting tortured and thrown in jail forever part. But between Alberto Gonzales and the Gayfellas, that'll be worked out soon enough.

HAT TIP: Crunchy Con

Psalm 53

To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.

1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Kittens in the wood chipper: Fer or agin'?

From the Revolution 21 Well, DUH! Department comes this bit of advice for new Democrat Congress types, courtesy The Hill:

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report.”

“He said don’t do it … it’s a risk and it’s probably safer not to do it,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. But the freshman lawmaker from Tennessee taped a segment that last week was featured in the 32nd installment of the “Better Know a District” series. Colbert asked Cohen whether he was a black woman. He isn’t.

Eyes (but thankfully, not heads) roll in Emanuel’s office when other freshmen stumble, such as the time Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) got into a debate about the merits of throwing kittens into a wood-chipper, or when Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) explained that he is not his predecessor, convicted felon Bob Ney (R).

YES, IT IS BEST to let the senior members of Congress makes asses of themselves on The Colbert Report.

Psalm 6

To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?
4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

An engineering question . . .

Now if they'd invent the Can-O-Matic newspaper caddy and page turner . . .

We're more better than you. Losers.

I went through a hurricane disaster, and I cannot see pouring anymore money into New Orleans. Those victims have been given MILLIONS of dollars already and what have they done with it, tattoos, massage parlors, engagement rings. You want us taxpayers behind you, show us some progress. How come you don't hear anything about the victims from Missippi?, oh that's right they have rebuilt or are rebuilding. If LA politicians would spend half as much time seeing that it gets rebuilt as they do whining and blaming others the city would be rebuilt. They seem to forget to mention that the government CANNOT come in ANY state until help is asked for, ask your local governer and mayor for money and leave us taxpayers alone.

-- Comment to Martin Savidge's MSNBC "Daily Nightly" post
on New Orleans' plight and the nation's "Katrina fatigue"

* * *

So, what happened?

Has having, for the last generation, a federal government -- by and large dedicated to the proposition that both greed and social Darwinism are good left us a nation of self-centered, self-righteous pricks? Or is it because we're -- by and large -- a nation of self-righteous pricks that we've voted in, then embraced, governments dedicated to the proposition that both greed and social Darwinism are good?

Your classic chicken-or-egg dilemma.

Whatever the cause, whatever the reason -- whatever -- one thing became clear on Aug. 29, 2005, the Day Katrina Hit: The United States aren't. The idea of America -- such as it ever was -- is dead.

And maybe the bacteria that blossomed into America's terminal illness was present from its inception. Present in the hard-nosed Puritans who settled the Massachusetts Bay colony. Present in the Irish settlers of Jansenist stock, convinced they were wretched and God was out to get them.

Present in all the Christ-haunted refuse who washed up onto the golden shores and turned a wild continent into John Winthrop's "city upon a hill," then decided that we prospered because God loved us more. More than the papist and Roman-tainted refuse who remained in the Old World.

More than the squabbling religious and ethnic tribes on the Continent who were too backward to leave Europe behind and transmogrify into the New World Polyglot Uberman.

More than the pagan savages of the Dark Continent, and more than the wily and inscrutable ancients of the Orient.

And now God loves America more than He does New Orleans, because see how they suffer! See how they struggle! See how backward and irrational and Uberless are they!

I was sick of New Orleans when FEMA started handing out $2000 to every resident and watching them buy Plasma TV's with it. Of Course many didn't have to buy them because they just took them for free.

WHAT WE ARE is a country with an Israel-Judah divide, beset with the vestiges of Old Testament self-righteousness while daring, just daring, a most assuredly vengeful God (remember, we're Puritans and Jansenists) to whack us due to our increasingly Sodom-and-Gomorrah societal norms.

And as we pop antidepressants as we pump $3-a-gallon gas into our SUVs before picking up a fifth and a pack of Trojans on the way to our mistress' apartment -- G**dammit, forgot the g**damn porno DVD! -- we amuse ourselves by whacking on the rustics living in the Sinking Slums of New Orleans.

I am sick - of hearing how every taxpayer in America should pony up a couple grand to subsidize the rebuilding of a cesspool of a city that will just be wiped out again by the next "unlucky" hurricane. I'm happy to pay extra for getting people back on their feet in other places, and bankruptcy exists for people who didn't carry insurance and can't pay their debts in situations like these. Let's focus on what will actually help people rebuild their lives instead of flushing more money down this drain.

REALLY, it is all so very Old Testament. In this Lenten season, I keep being drawn back to the book of Job:

So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with severe boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

And he took a potsherd to scrape himself, as he sat among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die."

But he said to her, "Are even you going to speak as senseless women do? We accept good things from God; and should we not accept evil?" Through all this, Job said nothing sinful.

Now when three of Job's friends heard of all the misfortune that had come upon him, they set out each one from his own place: Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath. They met and journeyed together to give him sympathy and comfort.

But when, at a distance, they lifted up their eyes and did not recognize him, they began to weep aloud; they tore their cloaks and threw dust upon their heads.

Then they sat down upon the ground with him seven days and seven nights, but none of them spoke a word to him; for they saw how great was his suffering.

JOB'S WIFE THOUGHT her old man had brought all this trouble upon himself. Kind of like a few frustrated pastors in The City Care Forgot who figured the Almighty had finally gotten around to smiting Sin City.

But by Chapter 15 of Job, even the distraught and compassionate friends who came to sit with the wretched one had turned on him. Figured, according to ancient Hebrew logic and tradition, that God had to be punishing Job for something bad the ol' boy had done:

Then Eliphaz the Temanite spoke and said:

Should a wise man answer with airy opinions, or puff himself up with wind?

Should he argue in speech which does not avail, and in words which are to no profit?

You in fact do away with piety, and you lessen devotion toward God, because your wickedness instructs your mouth, and you choose to speak like the crafty.

Your own mouth condemns you, not I; you own lips refute you.

Are you indeed the first-born of mankind, or were you brought forth before the hills?

Are you privy to the counsels of God, and do you restrict wisdom to yourself?

What do you know that we do not know? What intelligence have you which we have not?

There are gray-haired old men among us more advanced in years than your father.

Are the consolations of God not enough for you, and speech that deals gently with you?

Why do your notions carry you away, and why do your eyes blink, so that you turn your anger against God and let such words escape your mouth!

What is a man that he should be blameless, one born of woman that he should be righteous?

If in his holy ones God places no confidence, and if the heavens are not clean in his sight, how much less so is the abominable, the corrupt: man, who drinks in iniquity like water!

I will show you, if you listen to me; what I have seen I will tell -- what wise men relate and have not contradicted since the days of their fathers, to whom alone the land was given, when no foreigner moved among them.

The wicked man is in torment all his days, and limited years are in store for the tyrant; the sound of terrors is in his ears; when all is prosperous, the spoiler comes upon him.

He despairs of escaping the darkness, and looks ever for the sword; a wanderer, food for the vultures, he knows that his destruction is imminent.

By day the darkness fills him with dread; distress and anguish overpower him.

Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bade defiance to the Almighty, one shall rush sternly upon him with the stout bosses of his shield, like a king prepared for the charge.

Because he has blinded himself with his crassness, padding his loins with fat, he shall dwell in ruinous cities, in houses that are deserted, That are crumbling into clay with no shadow to lengthen over the ground. He shall not be rich, and his possessions shall not endure; for vain shall be his bartering.

A flame shall wither him up in his early growth, and with the wind his blossoms shall disappear.

His stalk shall wither before its time, and his branches shall be green no more.

He shall be like a vine that sheds its grapes unripened, and like an olive tree casting off its bloom.

For the breed of the impious shall be sterile, and fire shall consume the tents of extortioners.

They conceive malice and bring forth emptiness; they give birth to failure.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE . . . and all that rot. And we Americans think we're so modern and advanced and civilized.

Enough of New Orleans, the have elected the same incompetent politicians, they are building on the same swamp that flooded 18 mos ago. Taxpayers have seen how these poor poor people have come to our towns and have lived it up with our money. Spending money like like it was nothing. I am tired of hearing all about the people of New Orleans. We the taxpayers are very worn out hearing about it.

ENOUGH!!.

THERE WAS ONE COMMENT that struck me, though. It came from a gentleman -- I'm assuming it was a gentleman, but I could be wrong -- from Hammond, La. What "doctorj" wrote got my attention because it's precisely what I've been thinking for a long time, now.

And what I wrote near the top of this overlong post.

Reading some of these posts make me despair the future of this country.

It seems some Americans believe in their hearts that they are more "American" than others that live and pay taxes in this country. "United" States of America? I don't think so.

God help us. Not that we think we need Him to, of course.

'I'm with the federal government . . . and I'm here to @#$! you up'

From The Associated Press, via MSNBC:

NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush’s promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action. But the Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment are still struggling to get the 34 heavy-duty pumps working properly.

The pumps are now being pulled out and overhauled because of excessive vibration, Corps officials said. Other problems have included overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets, according to the documents obtained by the AP.

Col. Jeffrey Bedey, who is overseeing levee reconstruction, insisted the pumps would have worked last year and the city was never in danger. Bedey gave assurances that the pumps should be ready for the coming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

The Corps said it decided to press ahead with installation, and then fix the machinery while it was in place, on the theory that some pumping capacity was better than none. And it defended the manufacturer, which was under time pressure.

“Let me give you the scenario: You have four months to build something that nobody has ever built before, and if you don’t, the city floods and the Corps, which already has a black eye, could basically be dissolved. How many people would put up with a second flooding?” said Randy Persica, the Corps’ resident engineer for New Orleans’ three major drainage canals.

The 34 pumps — installed in the drainage canals that take water from this bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city and deposit it in Lake Pontchartrain — represented a new ring of protection that was added to New Orleans’ flood defenses after Katrina. The city also relies on miles of levees and hundreds of other pumps in various locations.

The drainage-canal pumps were custom-designed and built under a $26.6 million contract awarded after competitive bidding to Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla. It was founded in 1926 and supplies flood-control and irrigation pumps all over the world.

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

MWI has run into trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has yet to be resolved.

Archbishop Sheen explains it all (Part 3)

Archbishop Sheen explains it all (Part 2)

Archbishop Sheen explains it all (Part 1)

Or . . . as Johnny Carson used to say on The Tonight Show, "I did not know that."

For instance, do you know what -- or more precisely, who -- the unconsecrated bread and wine represent before Father blesses it and it becomes the Body and Blood of Christ?

You. Us.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, whose cause for canonization you can learn about here, explains that in the Liturgy of the Eucharist we sacramentally die to ourselves -- are crucified with Christ -- that we might have new life in Christ.

Cool, huh?

Parts 2 and 3 of Archbishop Sheen's "Family Retreat" follow. Watch . . . and learn.

Hat tip: The Dawn Patrol

Psalm 93

1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

I don't care who ya are, THIS is funny

Killing the messenger: That's what we do

I was tempted to say something like this: Only in Louisiana would the obvious newspaper lede be . . .

Moments after learning of its first-round opponent in the NCAA tournament, the LSU women’s basketball staff began preparations to play North Carolina-Ashville — preparations that will include assistant coach Carla Berry.

Acting head coach Bob Starkey said Monday that Berry’s status on the staff had not changed in the wake of reports that Berry is the coach who went to LSU officials with allegations of improper conduct between former LSU coach Pokey Chatman and one or more players.

APPARENTLY, Carla Berry is the LSU women's assistant coach who blew the whistle last month on former Coach Pokey Chatman's reputed romantic interest in a former player (or players) when that player (or players) weren't former yet.

And, apparently, the first thing that comes to the mind of Baton Rouge sportswriters is that, somehow, the natural thing is that people who report wrongdoing somehow will suffer the same fate as a leper shipwrecked on Hypochondriac Island.

How retrograde. How uncivilized. How corrupt.

How spot on, actually.

In high school, no one liked a "narc." In the world of work -- not to mention the world o' government -- nobody likes a whistleblower (with the possible exceptions of taxpayers and reporters).

In the Catholic Church . . . . Well, let's not spend several days and hundreds of casualties revisiting all the ways the Bride of Christ has been defiling herself lately, 'kay?

NOPE, nobody likes a narc. Narcs get beat up; narcs get fired. Sometimes, narcs get dead.

It's a beautiful thing, that fallen human nature. And because we're so loathe to acknowledge how routinely rotten we really are, our first reaction to such obvious honesty in sportswriting is to think "How ridiculous!"

Now that's ridiculous.

Psalm 84

To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.

1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Big Sister Is Nagging You

This retooled version of Apple's legendary "1984" ad is popping up everywhere in the blogosphere.

The original -- which aired only once, during the Super Bowl -- introduced us to the Macintosh computer. This brilliant pro-Barack Obama retread introduces us to Big Sister.

Lord help us.

Psalm 70

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.

Rollin' on the River

The abomination of desolation?

What can I say about this op-ed by James Matthew Wilson from The Observer, the student newspaper at Notre Dame? Other than, of course, "Yep. That about covers it."

Read on:

We are now well into the second generation of Catholics growing up almost entirely ignorant of the faith their Church proclaims. The precipitous decline of Catholic school enrollment serves as one obvious indicator that fewer nominal Catholics are receiving the basic catechesis necessary to understand what goes on at Mass, or Who it is we worship there.

In a fashion typical of a culture in decline, most persons in the Catholic community subsist in their observances by habit or listlessly fall away, while a small flowering of devout and engaged Catholics blossom in increasing isolation. The fruitfulness of this group has been great, resulting in moving witnesses to life in Christ, and in an impressive emergence of attempts to address the crises of our age with the rich intellectual traditions of the Church. Most Catholics, however, float through their sacramental velleities, hearing nothing consciously and absorbing a little through proximity and habit.

The greater numbers of young Catholics get their only exposure to the life of the Church at a weekly guitar Mass. They attend public schools, where they are told everything they need to know is taught in its classrooms. They watch their daily glut of television, where they see that everything they desire can be bought somewhere. And they escape their childhood with at best a few years of weekly C.C.D. class, where they get their souls rubber-stamped for Confession, Communion and Confirmation.

Those who go on to attend a Catholic university are likely to receive a couple semesters of theology and perhaps a couple more of philosophy. This, in most circumstances, gives them an understanding of their Church and its sacraments slightly inferior to that which their grandparents imbibed through the Baltimore Catechism by the fifth grade.

Such ignorance of the narratives, creeds and traditions of Catholicism is itself grave. If asked, "Why do Catholics receive the Eucharist?" or "Why must they receive sacramental forgiveness for their sins?" most Catholics could not provide an answer. Indeed, many of the Catholics I know, practicing or not, would stare blankly at such questioning. It would never occur to them that there might be an answer to such queries. Moreover, they would be bored and in disbelief that anyone would bother to ask them.

Ignorance of the Church's faith, however, is just a symptom of an even more grave condition. It is one thing not to know the doctrinal expressions of particular sacred truths; it is another thing - and a more serious thing - to live one's life with a worldview blind to and uninformed by those truths. The great achievement of the so-called secularizing forces of modernity has been in reshaping the way in which we live in and perceive the world. Plenty of persons deny the religious truths their parents and grandparents approved and defended confidently. But plenty more persons affirm their belief in God, or confess they accept myriad other formal doctrines of our faith, while they see the world with the eyes of indifference and unbelief. One can claim to believe in the God Who died for our sins, while at the same time thinking about the world as if none of that business had happened. I do not speak of hypocrisy, but of a loss of religious feeling.

Hat tip: The Parousian Post

Psalm 79

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

Baton Rouge, 1981

IT IS DIFFICULT

to imagine that these places once were new.

That they once were bustling centers of commerce, crowded with downtown shoppers.

Hotel guests at the old White House Inn.

Concertgoers at the old Independence Hall.

People just hangin' on a Saturday afternoon on Third Street . . . before suburbia, malls and the Interstate killed off downtowns across the United States.

I TOOK THESE PHOTOS for my photojournalism class (J 3065) at Louisiana State University . . . long ago and far away from where I am -- and who I am -- now. Just like Baton Rouge in 1981 was long removed and far away from what it was in, say, 1963. What remained were its ghosts.

AND NOW even those ghosts exist only in the furthest corners of the memories of aging folk. Like me.

NOTHING PICTURED HERE REMAINS. See the abandoned buildings straight above the lake in the top photo? The old Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.

HUEY LONG DIED THERE. I was born there. Gone.

THE DECAYING, ghostly presences from a heyday long lost fell to make room for new construction and the promise -- maybe -- of a new heyday in the Red Stick someday. Somehow.

MAYBE.

THAT, I SUPPOSE, depends on what still haunts Baton Rouge (or insert name of your hometown here). On whether it can hold on to its benevolent spirits and exorcise its demons . . . while it still might.

AMEN.

Psalm 75

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, a Psalm or Song of Asaph.

1 Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

(INSERT SNARKY FEMALE-JOCK STEREOTYPE HERE)

ESPN and the New Orleans Times-Picayune are reporting that Louisiana State women's basketball coach former women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman abruptly quit because her LSU bosses got wind that she was in "an inappropriate sexual relationship" with a former player (ESPN) or engaged in "inappropriate conduct with players" (T-P). Take your pick.

Allegedly. Sources say.

LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman -- who got his start in college baseball before the advent of the batting helmet -- wouldn't say much to Baton Rouge's WAFB television, except that the Picayune reporter, James Varney, ought to be "baked in oil."

Famed New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse told reporters that LSU officials should be careful not to leave Varney in the oven too long, and not to turn the heat above 375. He said that so long as the reporter "didn't get all dried out and tough," he'd be "scrumptious drizzled with lemon juice and butter, with a sprinkling of chives and a radicchio garnish. BAM! Kick it up a notch wit some Bac-Os!"

I made that Emeril part up. But not the "baked in oil" part.

For what it's worth, here's an excerpt from the ESPN story:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Pokey Chatman resigned as the head women's basketball coach at Louisiana State University on Wednesday after the university became aware of an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship between Chatman and a former player on Chatman's team, sources told ESPN.com. The university, the sources said, learned of the relationship from an employee within the basketball program.

ESPN.com's attempts to reach the employee by telephone and e-mail on Thursday night were unsuccessful.

Chatman, who initially revealed plans to quit after the postseason, says she will not coach the Lady Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Chatman said: "My resignation yesterday has prompted speculation and rumors that far exceeded my expectations and it is clear that my presence would be a great distraction during the NCAA Tournament."

Assistant coach Bob Starkey, who will take over the team for now, declined to say whether he was aware of any improper conduct.

"There's been 20 to 25 things that are just floating out there, and I think she thought if she just stepped away from it she could eliminate that from even multiplying," Starkey said. "She has her reasons, and hopefully, soon she'll address that herself.''

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman told the Times Picayune of New Orleans, which first reported Chatman's alleged misconduct with one or more players Thursday on its Web site, that no formal inquiry into Chatman's conduct had been opened by the university. He did acknowledge, though, that an informal investigation "might have happened."

"The girl did what she did and LSU had no control over that," Bertman said, referring to Chatman.

IF POKEY WERE A MAN -- and praise Jesus that, with a name like "Pokey," she ain't . . . not now -- I would say, "Dammit, why couldn't he just keep it in his damn pants?" But when it's a 30-something woman coach allegedly getting all lovey dovey with the girls, I am sooooooo at a loss for a snappy rejoinder.

At least one I can print.

Let the 'trials of Job' end with the triumph of Job

And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"

In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.

Once again the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" And Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it."

And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, faultless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil? He still holds fast to his innocence although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause."

And Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has will he give for his life.

But now put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."

And the LORD said to Satan, "He is in your power; only spare his life."

So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with severe boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

And he took a potsherd to scrape himself, as he sat among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die."

But he said to her, "Are even you going to speak as senseless women do? We accept good things from God; and should we not accept evil?" Through all this, Job said nothing sinful.

Now when three of Job's friends heard of all the misfortune that had come upon him, they set out each one from his own place: Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath. They met and journeyed together to give him sympathy and comfort.

But when, at a distance, they lifted up their eyes and did not recognize him, they began to weep aloud; they tore their cloaks and threw dust upon their heads.

Then they sat down upon the ground with him seven days and seven nights, but none of them spoke a word to him; for they saw how great was his suffering.

Job 1:13 - 2:13

ON THIS EARTH, the Lord has no hands and no feet but for yours and mine. We know from the end of Job's story that the afflicted and tested servant of God ended up getting back more than he lost.

But in this Lenten season, when we're called on to do penance and give alms, we find that 26-year-old Kristy Dusseau has lost everything -- everything but her life and her family's great love -- to her fight against leukemia. And she won't begin to be restored from her "trials of Job" unless we help do it.

So let's do it.

Go to Kristy Recovers.com to learn about Kristy and about how to donate.

Here's the address to send checks:

KDLife Trust
28406 Sheeks
Flat Rock, MI 48134

Psalm 127

EDITOR'S NOTE: Just in case you forgot, we continue today with Revolution 21's "Psalms for Lent" series.

A Song of degrees for Solomon.

1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

LBJ on acid

Rod Dreher over at Crunchy Con noted the phony Southern accent Sen. Hillary Clinton affected for her speech commemorating the 1965 attack on civil-rights marchers in Selma, Ala. Br'er Dreher says the hilarity ensuing from the senator's doofusey attempt at a Black Southern drawl -- and better yet, attempted at an African-American church service -- reminded him of Officer Hopkins ("Hoppy") on the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son.

Certainly Hillary (as in Hillary for President . . . if she's elected, will she become like one of those single-named Afghan warlords?) was Hoppy-esque in her fish-out-of-watertude, but calling the woman "Hoppy" doesn't quite cover what it was I heard in the above clip.

I'm a few years older than Rod, and I know EXACTLY what I heard on that clip:

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States.

On acid.

Psalm 20

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.