A Great Night For The GOP???

That's how blogger Andrew Sullivan sums up last night's Democratic Party presidential debate at Drexel University here in Philadelphia. Here's his take:

The winner was clearly Edwards. He was concise, aggressive, completely right
about Clinton and always on point. He seemed unafraid to take her on, while Obama was still playing a too-careful defense. If I were to give an instant sum-up of the debate - and I'm a blogger so it's my job - it would be that Clinton's profound weakness as a general election candidate was pretty badly exposed. And the main alternative just about survived as a credible presidential candidate. In other words: a great night for the GOP.

I think that's pretty much accurate, although I think Senator Dodd also came across strongly, especially when he nailed Hillary for answering the same question on immigration, the now infamous "driver's licenses" question, two different ways in the same response. His poll numbers, though, are not good.

I think Obama comes across too meekly and too reserved. Edwards comes across as the trial lawyer that he is: very strong. Hillary was finally bloodied after two hours of pounding from Edwards, Dodd, and Obama. They nailed her on her high negatives - the "electability" issue, pointing out that she is the one Democratic candidate that could unite the Republicans against her.

Well, where do we go from here? Iowa will tell the story for the Democrats.

PHOTO: Happy Halloween! Our Jack 'O Lantern deisgned by Dan and carved by Jim

Jim

On the subject of two parties disagreeing....

As I look through all of the posts of both mine and Jim on this blog, it occurred to me that either:

1) Nobody is reading this stuff.

2) People don't want to put themselves out there for scrutiny.

Apparently many people disagree with both Jim and Myself; for various reasons unknown. Or maybe there is no reason, using the current blind obedience and hatred methodology fueled by fear and ignorance, nobody sees the need to argue a point with us in public.

I see it occassionally in my own blog as well. Thousands of visitors with no voice. Voyeurs really. But I wonder how so many can think with no voice. I think of the Occam's razor theory ( "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one.") Could it be fear? Could it be anger with divergent opinions and ideas? I am curious, what is it simply that scare people away from a reasonable discussion? One thing is for sure, the comments section of this blog seems to read zero; so nobody has the guts to get up on a soapbox and express an opinion?

Marc

Our Home Grown War Criminals Put On Notice

Former Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently travelled to Paris for a conference or some such. Well, several human rights groups have filed a complaint against him with French authorities citing war crimes he authorized (torture, etc.)

From the Center For Constitutional Rights web site:

October 26, 2007, Paris, France – Today, the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH) along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the French League for Human Rights filed a complaint with the Paris Prosecutor before the “Court of First Instance” (Tribunal de Grande Instance) charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. Rumsfeld was in Paris for a talk sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine, and left through a door connecting to the U.S. embassy to avoid journalists and human rights attorneys outside.

Read more here.

We now have a government whose top officials will not be able to travel internationally without being charged with war crimes. Perhaps George Bush will have this as his legacy: he'll have to stay at home or risk being put on trial.

Jim

A Special Tribute to a Great American

City Opera's Joyce Castle speaks of her long association with Ms. Sills.



(below) The lobby of the New York State Theater , Saturday, October 27, 2007, filled with Beverly Sills' family, friends, associates, and City Opera audience members for a special tribute to Sills.



Maestro Julius Rudel.


Jim and I attended a sparkling performance of Massenet's rare yet delicious opera Le Cendrillon yesterday at the New York City Opera. Only a few days before the event we found out that the public was also invited to a memorial for the important American soprano Beverly Sills, after the matinee. Sills died this past year, and there have been tributes to her in many places.

Sills was not only one of the most famous singers developed by the company, but after her retirement she also became the Director of New York City Opera. Then, she served as Chair of the Lincoln Center Board and still later, as President of the Metropolitan Opera Board. Yesterday's moving memorial started out with a live performance, on stage, of the final chorus, "Make Your Garden Grow" from Bernstein's Candide. Sills was the director who introduced that work to the City Opera repertory, just as she brought super-titles to this country.

After the poignant live performance, spoken tributes and viewings of photos and staged performances took place in the upstairs lobby at the State Theater. The mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle served as the main host, and told some humorous stories about working for Sills. The DVD clips included some wonderful excerpts from Barbiere di Siviglia and Manon, sung at the height of Beverly Sills' career. Maestro Julius Rudel, who often worked with Sills, gave an explanation of why the soprano's rising comet in the 1970s meant so much for the company, for the first time placing it in the international rank of top-notch opera companies.

On a personal note I remember, with great pleasure, having seen Beverly in Manon, Julius Caesar, Le Coq d'Or, Louise and Fledermaus at the City Opera in those balmy years when Rudel ran the company. Sills and bass Norman Treigle were top opera stars at the time, along with several others who rivaled anyone the Met could offer audiences. Beverly Sills had a clear, bright voice and a superbly articulated coloratura technique, but she was also capable of lyric singing in a touching manner.

Beverly Sills' last performance of Manon--one of her favorite and best roles--took place in Philadelphia, at the Academy of Music. In that Manon I was an extra, or 'super,' as such walk-on parts are called in opera. In the wings I complimented Ms. Sills on her performance and when she heard I was a super, she said, "Ah, a super-duper." As many people said at the memorial yesterday, Sills was always cheerful, 'up' and friendly. The other comment that came up again and again by those who knew her started out with the words, "Thanks to Beverly Sills, I became a singer/a vocal coach/an opera fan, etc." Beverly Sills was a unique person and she will be sadly missed in New York and everywhere in the music world.

As Jim and Marc often note in this blog, the political scene in our country currently offers few heroes or even responsible politicians. Yet I'm still proud to be an American for the leading lights we have contributed in such fields as the arts, education and sciences. As the memorial yesterday proved, we have made great contributions to music. Hail and Farewell, dear Beverly Sills!

Dan

Frank Rich "Must Read" In The Times

You have to read Frank Rich's latest column in the New York Times. He talks about the waning power and growing irrelevance of religious right nut case leaders like James Dobson and Tony Perkins.

Here are two wonderful lines from the article:

They must choose mammon over God if they are to maintain the many values
rackets that make up their various business empires.

Whichever candidate or party lands in the White House, this much is
certain: Inauguration Day 2009 is at the very least Armageddon for the reigning
ayatollahs of the American right.

Are the bible bangers finally waking up? Rich thinks so. I hope so.

Jim

The Seasons Are Changing

This is the entrance to one of the beautiful old boathouses along Kelly Drive in Philadelphia's famous boat house row. Most days we pass by the row of quaint nineteenth century structures on one of our daily walks.

We've had a few days of much needed rain. It's been a dry early Fall. Hopefully, we'll still be able to enjoy the changing colors of the leaves, since that occurs here later than it does further North.

Halloween is on Wednesday, but the stores downtown have already begun installing their holiday decorations. Time flies.

Jim

The GW Bush Tally

I am getting in the end of year spirit and I was just thinking about all that we have lost under our current regime. My Dad always used to say that I have to walk into any situation with a good attitude otherwise the outcome will be less than satisfactory for any party involved. I'm having trouble walking into dealing with our government in 2008 largely because of the death tally the Bush Administration has racked up in the last few years.

Here's a partial list:

The death of Habeas Corpus

The rise of the Corporate Government

Dead US Soldiers

Dead Iraqi Civilians

Secret Energy negotiations

Death of Valerie Plame's Career and of countless potential life-saving Intelligence Resources and assets

Death of the CIA as a meaningful resource for intelligence and counter-intelligence.

The murder of the SCHIP program.

The death of a national budget surplus.

The frequent and attempted killing of gay rights.

The attempt to overthrow the 1, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 11th Ammendments to the Constitution (those are the one's I've kept track of).

The nullifcation of the voting populace by a propaganda machine.

The dumping of billions of our taxpayer dollars into corporate coffers and the subsequent gluttony of the many corporate pigs at the Government trough.

And so on. I could go on but the Republicans that might (stress might) read this won't believe a word of this anyway. They'll poo poo me and prattle on about the glory that awaits the US when we vanquish the evile Iranians. Kind of laughable since we already have multiple quagmires in process.

So come on America, give me back a good attitude! Can we at least agree that we need to elect some smart people that are more than sabre rattlers? Or more than actors and lawyers?

I want my good attitude back. And more importantly, I want a country that builds things, that is tolerant of other peoples thoughts and ideas and solves problems with brains and not with guns.

Marc

Oil Prices Continue To Rise, So...?

...when will the run up in the price of oil have an impact on the economy and on our pocketbooks? If this were June, with the summertime driving season ahead of us, the price of gasoline would probably be approaching $4.00 a gallon. You can't convince me that these prices are not manipulated by the big oil companies with the tacit approval of politicians like Bush. What will happen to the price of home heating oil and natural gas in the next few months as winter sets in? It's anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised to see record prices. We'll pay because we have no choice. We have to heat our homes.

Oil at almost $100.00 a barrel is going to have an impact somewhere soon. Our only national energy policy is to let market forces work, as long as corporations reap the profits, that is. What we really need is an emergency national plan to deal with the energy crisis that we are facing. We need a plan like we had in WWII, that will require forced sacrifice and conservation and in all likelihood, eventual rationing. But that's not what we'll get. Instead, we'll all be forced to pay higher an higher prices for our energy needs until the price of gasoline, electricity, and home heating breaks the back of our economy. For some, the cost of energy already consumes so much of their family budgets that they cannot afford to heat their homes in winter. More and more people will fall into this category if something is not done soon.

PHOTO: One of the boat houses on Philadelphia's boat house row. We walk by these beautiful houses on our daily walks. Local high school and college rowing teams use these houses. The Schuylkill River is just on the other side of the house. When the ice caps melt, all of this will probably be under water.

Jim

Lemon Hill Mansion

Here's the picture I tried to post earlier. Driving or walking long Philadelphia's "Kelly Drive" through Fairmount Park, you can catch a glimpse of "Lemon Hill," one of several Fairmount Park mansions. The mansions can be visited, and they are usually decorated around the holidays. Maybe this year we'll get to visit them in December.

Jim

No Bigots Allowed

Blogger continues to have problems with images, so I can't share a picture today. Hopefully, it will be corrected by tomorrow. Meanwhile, Barak Obama is taking the heat for inviting an anti-gay personality on his campaign tour. In the latest plot to try to diffuse the situation, Obama has added an openly gay preacher to the lineup and he personally called the head of the Human Rights Campaign to make amends. Still, there is no way that an anti-gay personality should be on the platform with any presidential candidate who wants to get the gay community's support. The notion of "balance" doesn't apply. You can't balance bigotry. You have to reject it outright.

Jim