Break It Down!: December 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Happy New Year: Here's to Auld Lang Syne Redux!

This Issue has been revised from the Break It Down post originally conceived, created, and published December 29, 2010, and re-posted December 28, 2011, and December 31, 2014. This is my last post of 2015, and 444^th Edition of Break It Down, which debuted August 20, 2007 on the BlogSpot platform. I migrated the principal site to WordPress August 3, 2012, approximately three weeks before the Fifth Anniversary of the blog. You may find this and most other posts at either site.

With this post I wish you a blessed and bountiful Happy New Year. And while I’m at it, today is my “born day.” So, without asking, and without further ado, I’m taking a point of special privilege. Before you read the post, click on the link and check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzdGlVWlS1Y

Now, enjoy today’s blog.

The one-half fortnight between Christmas and New Year's Days is a unique occurrence in the unfolding of the American edition of the Gregorian Calendar. It is the only instance in which the space of a mere seven days separates two major holidays. Unquestionably, the timing is propitious. Millions of holiday travelers return home from their Christmas commemoration and revelry, just in time to get a day off to "celebrate" the New Year...and recuperate from the old, most notably their extracurricular activities, including the exploits of New Year's Eve.

In last week's post, I presented a re-airing my personally crafted Christmas Concert (12 Days of Christmas: The e-Concert - 2015) from the past Noels. This week, I doubled down and reverted to my trusty time capsule. Once again, this tack permits new readers to catch-up by seeing the piece, it allows long-time readers to reflect upon both the passing year as well as the theme lifted in the post, and finally, it ensures that those busy readers, with no time to invest in checking out a new blog during the holidays, will not have to miss anything. It's a win, win...win!

With that loosely framed preamble behind us, here's the déjà vu all over again:

Since we are still in the Sweet Spot of the holidays, I shall practice minimalism. For your purposes, that means the blog should be available, but not intrusive. To that end, I

am taking a page from the Christmas e-concert, but going a step further. Instead of a concert, I give you a song…of reflection.

Robert Burns, a Scot, wrote a poem (Auld Lang Syne) in 1788 that has come to symbolize the spirit of mass contemplation that people around the world invoke as the clock strikes midnight, signaling not just the dawn of a new day, but of a new year. Undoubtedly, you have been somewhere, at sometime, when you joined those assembled to sing Auld Lang Syne, which loosely translated means, Times gone by.

Once again, that time is upon us. After thoughtful reflection on my 2015, I have had no choice but to conclude, my travails have been few and small, especially when compared to my blessings, which have been both abundant and vast! All praises to the one true, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God; a mighty fortress is He.

No need to thank me for my inherent thoughtfulness. But, by all means, “Drink a cup of kindness,” or eggnog, or Champagne, or “name your favorite adult beverage,” for me. And, if you are a teetotaler, water will do nicely, thank-you!

As I complete my last post for this year, and, prayerfully and faithfully prepare to embrace 2016, I leave with you this familiar Irish Toast:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I invite you to click on the link below, which leads to a Smooth Jazz interpretation of Auld Lang Syne, arranged and performed by Donnie Thomas (and listen to the remainder of this week’s edition of Break It Down):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bffBdmlf0Wo

It has been my unique honor and privilege to visit with you briefly for each of the 52 weeks this year. I hope you have derived a fraction of the pleasure reading the blog posts that I have experienced from preparing and providing them to you. May 2016 bring you the fulfillment of all your fondest desires. Happy New Year: Here’s to AuldLang Syne Redux!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bffBdmlf0Wo

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/question279.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_spot

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

12 Days of Christmas: The e-Concert - 2015

It’s time to Break It Down!

Re-sent 12/24/15; edited to activate hyperlinks for song titles. Merry Christmas!

(Revised from Break It Down – 12/24/08, 12/22/10, 12/21/11, 12/26/12, and 12/25/13)

Merry Christmas to you! I know some of you are caught up in the whole “We Are The (Secular) World” trip; thus you substitute Holiday for Christmas in seasonal greetings. Of course, those innately curious enough to conduct the requisite etymological research know that the root derivation of holiday is “Holy Day;” but I digress; that is fodder for another day.

By now, many of you should have already begun your well planned and no doubt, richly deserved hiatus from work. Perhaps you have finished your shopping and taken care of all the major errands that accompany preparing for the Big Day. Maybe all that remains is packing and/or traveling; or that throw-down cooking marathon that precedes the arrival of family, friends, and guests, whom you will host over the coming week.

As is my custom, I will not use this Christmas Season Post, if you will allow me to call it that, to challenge you to sort through the facts, be they esoteric or mundane. Not the election, or the economy, no wars, and absolutely no (further) references to Steve Harvey and/or the Philippines, Colombia, or the Miss Universe Pageant. No, this is your time to take advantage of the opportunity to hang out with your guests, or to be a guest, and enjoy the hospitality of friends and family.

In the true spirit of keeping it simple for both you and me, I am, as the title suggests, reprising a previous post, or in this case, posts. In fact, not just any previous posts…not even just any prior Christmas Posts. I am, essentially re-posting my entry from several Christmas’ past, with a notable caveat. In my eight preceding Christmas Season posts, I have presented an e-Christmas Concert on five occasions. This year, I am pressing the reset button on the Concert.

The English playwright and poet, William Congreve, in the opening line of his 1697 Play entitled “The Mourning Bride,” asserted, “Music has Charms to soothe a savage Breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.” I think Congreve was on to something. If indeed music is capable of enabling us to overcome our basest instincts, and in so doing, ennoble us to pursue our finer impulses, and then indeed, we should take more opportunities to render ourselves captivated by its magical spell. (By the way, it really is breast…not beast; caught you thinking, didn’t I?)

So, I identified and pulled together an assortment of my favorite Christmas Standards by several of my favorite artists. This year, I am offering a new variation of the artistic olio I pulled together for your reading, viewing, and listening pleasure a number of years ago. Below, you will find brief summaries accompanying a hot link to a YouTube video interpretation and a song for each of the 12 Days of Christmas listed and included in the form of a Yuletide e-concert.

The legendary Godfather of Soul, as James Brown became known, died on Christmas Day (2006, aged 73), as did Eartha Kitt (2008, aged 81), whom shall ever remain, to many of us, the incomparably personified Catwoman. There was both a surreal sadness and a resolute completeness associated with them ending their respective earthly journeys on Christmas Day, two years apart. Both artists were born in South Carolina; Brown in Barnwell, and Kitt, in North.

Brown was renowned for his energetic performances, which earned him another of his many titles, “Hardest working man in show business.” His rendition of Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto James Brown was a reminder that he had earned his chops the hard way, and that he was much more than just flash and dash.

Kitt’s Eartha Kitt - Nothin' For Christmas // Christmas Essentials is on my list, not only because it is a classic; it is, but also because it’s less well known than everybody’s fave, by her, Santa Baby. I felt it deserved to be featured, so I did.

The Temptations - Silent Night is quite simply personifies Christmas for many of us. After several names changes, and adding and subtracting new and old members became a group in 1961. A current version of the Franchise still performs today.

Stevie Wonder-Someday At Christmas has been a staple for many years. Stevie, one of the one-name icons is regarded as a musical genius of the ages, and his rendition of this classic is golden.

Marvin Gaye *☆* The Christmas Song; a classic sung by a classic. Marvin, yet another one-name icon made music so compelling that he made singing The Star Spangled Banner not only patriotic, but cool. His version of The Christmas Song is must hear music.

The Emotions - What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas: Christmas is one of the most hyped holidays on the American calendar, and songs like this one by the Emotions is one of the reasons Christmas Songs are so popular. These ladies were at the top of their considerable game on this tune.

Luther Vandross - My Favorite Things is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. The song was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production, and sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film. As standards go, this is classic. Luther, another one-name icon, is Luther; he kills it…softly.

Otis Redding - Merry Christmas Bab: Otis, one-name icon…check. He is among the many artists who were with us for too short a time, but who definitely made his mark during his too brief sojourn. His jovial treatment of this classic is epic Otis.

Boyz II Men- Let It Snow: Great song, deft rendition. Enough said!

Whitney Houston (feat. The Georgia Mass Choir) "Joy to the World: Whitney, yes, another one-name icon is joined by the Georgia Mass Choir on the potent delivery of this perennial standard. She sings with verve, power, and yet nuance, all in one rendition.

Ledisi - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christma: One of my favorite artists doing work on one of the most popular songs of the Season. Bravo!

Will Downing *☆* Christmas Time Is Here: One of the classic voices of our time, singing one of the foremost Christmas standards of all time. Well done.

That’s it, 12 artists and videos and/or songs. Add it all up and you get “12 Days Of Christmas: The e-Concert – 2015!” Enjoy it again, and by all means, remember the Reason for the Season!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Koch and a Smile: Masking an Illiberal Agenda

It's time to Break It Down!

The Koch Family is a well known for having made its mark as a bastion of industrialists and businesspeople. In contemporary times their most notable associations have been made visible through their vast array of political activities and control of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States (with 2013 revenues of $115 billion). Family patriarch, Fred C. Koch, started the business, which developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy oil into gasoline.

The senior Mr. Koch’s hardline conservative leanings are well documented. He was a founding member of the John Birch Society (JBS) is an advocacy group supporting anti-communism and limited government. It has been described as radical right. That portends much for the activism of several of the current Koch Foundations. During the 80’s and 90’s Fred C. Koch’s four sons litigated for control of Koch Industries. At the end of the day, the last two men standing, as it relates to Koch Industries, were Charles and David.

Four sons of Fred C. and Mary Robinson Koch:

• Frederick R. Koch (born 1933), collector

• Charles G. Koch (born 1935), Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Koch Industries

• David H. Koch (born 1940), Executive Vice President of Koch Industries

• William Koch (born 1940), businessman, sailor, and collector

The Koch family foundations are a related group of non-profit organizations that began with the establishment of the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation in 1953, and that now includes the Charles Koch Foundation, the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Koch Cultural Trust. The organizations collectively have a stated goal of "advancing liberty and freedom" through the support of various causes which "further social progress and sustainable prosperity." In addition to the direct action of the non-profits, the groups have also contributed financially to other philanthropic organizations in the fields of research, public well-being, arts, and education, including contributions to scholarship programs, university support, and loan assistance through organizations like the United Negro College Fund.

The Koch brothers have indicated that they intend to raise almost $900 million in support of candidates in the 2016 elections, and have given more than $100 million to conservative and libertarian policy and advocacy groups in the United States, including the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, and more recently "Americans for Prosperity".

"Americans for Prosperity", founded by David Koch, has been reported by Kenneth Vogel of Politico to be one of the main nonprofit groups assisting the Tea Party movement; but in 2010, Koch spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia distanced the Kochs from the tea parties and FreedomWorks saying that "no funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties."According to the Koch Family Foundations and Philanthropy website, "the foundations and the individual giving of Koch family members" have financially supported organizations "fostering entrepreneurship, education, human services, at-risk youth, arts and culture, and medical research."

According to the environmentalist group Greenpeace; the Koch brothers have played an active role in opposing climate change legislation. Organizations that the Koch brothers help fund, such as Americans for Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato institute, and the Manhattan Institute, have been active in questioning global warming. According to salon.com, through Americans for Prosperity the Koch brothers influenced more than 400 members of Congress to sign a pledge to vote against climate change legislation that does not include offsetting tax cuts.

While the Koch family has been making substantial donations to criminal justice reform organizations for nearly a decade, most recently the Kochs headed a bipartisan resolution to make more serious leaps to reform. Included in these are aims at eliminating over criminalization and over incarceration, which generally harms low-income and minority communities, as well as reducing recidivism rates, diminishing barriers faced by the rehabilitated seeking employment, and law enforcement's Asset forfeiture to deprive the incarcerated of property.

Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, has pointed out that, although their critics are usually unaware of the fact, the Koch brothers have supported more than just what are generally considered conservative causes. They opposed George W. Bush on many issues, are pro-choice, support same sex marriage, and had worked closely with the Obama White House for the Obama administration's criminal justice reform initiatives that aligned with their own.

This counter narrative brings us face-to-face with the notion that despite a significant historical footprint in the arena of conservative and ultra-conservative politics and policies the Brothers are expanding their range of interest to encompass addressing the needs of the poor. At first blush, one may be tempted to wonder if these leopards have shed their spots, or at least altered them in some meaningful way. That is a fair contemplation.

Upon further reflection, one may recall that after the 2012 General Election, the GOP did a results audit to examine the micro and macro results of the election, and to determine the cause of causes that they failed to capture the White House. One of the findings of that analysis revealed was that Mitt Romney’s efforts were torpedoed, largely, due to something characterized as an “empathy gap” Among voters seeking a candidate who “cares about people like me”, President Obama clobbered Romney 81 percent to 18 percent ― by far the widest gap among the four traits commonly measured (the others are vision for the future, shares my values and strong leader.

To that end, lets rip the thinly disguised veneer away and just admit that this initiative is part of a grand design to mind-game people who traditionally have recognized that their interest are not well served by people who vote and frame policy in a way that aligns with the interests of the Koch Brothers and/or their Foundations.

The brothers have invested millions of dollars in programs to win over an unlikely demographic target for their small government conservatism – poor people. The related outreach includes turkey giveaways, GED training and English-language instruction for Hispanic immigrants, community holiday meals and healthy living classes for predominantly African American groups, vocational training and couponing classes for the under-employed. The strategy calls for presenting a more compassionate side of the brothers’ politics to new audiences, while fighting the perception that their groups are merely fronts for rich Republicans seeking to game the political process for personal gain. Not surprisingly, the efforts do include a healthy dose of proselytizing about free enterprise and how it can do more than government to lift people out of poverty.

Once again, that sounds good, and may even be true, if you discount the almost certain bait and switch elements waiting in the wings.

Eventually, the Koch network will throw its clout behind a GOP nominee who supports a tax plan that lavishes its largest windfalls on the rich; would repeal Obamacare’s coverage expansion for many millions and replace it with something that would almost certainly cover far fewer people; resoundingly rejects a minimum wage hike to keep pace with inflation; and pledges fealty to the Paul Ryan vision, which would block-grant safety net programs to the states, potentially “increasing poverty and financial hardship,” as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities puts it. Broadly speaking, the GOP candidates are already committed to a vision built around the idea that rolling back Obama’s redistributive policies, and unshackling runaway growth, is the way to jog loose stagnating wages and stagnant opportunity. As conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru recently put it: “Republicans do not seem to be even trying to erode the Democratic advantage on middle-class economics.”

And that’s fine! Let’s put this contrast before the voters — again. Obviously one doesn’t want to dismiss out of hand the possibility that there may be a backlash among swing voters to Obama’s government activism or that a candidate like Marco Rubio may effectively employ his humble background to sell conservative policies in a way Mitt Romney couldn’t. But right now, it seems doubtful that slathering the same old economic vision with fat from free turkeys will make it any easier to swallow.

Election season begins in earnest February 1^st. Until then, just recognize…” Koch and a Smile: Masking an Illiberal Agenda!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_family

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/14/the-koch-brothers-grand-plan-to-liberate-the-poor/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines

http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/08/27/myths-and-facts-about-the-koch-brothers/200570

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/27/3584354/kochs-indigent-defense/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/12/05/inside-the-koch-empire-how-the-brothers-plan-to-reshape-america/

https://consortiumnews.com/2013/10/08/the-koch-brothers-samson-option/

http://rare.us/story/the-koch-brothers-are-doing-something-really-great-for-poor-people-accused-of-crimes/

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers

http://www.salon.com/2014/05/12/fake_concern_for_the_poor_koch_brothers’_new_political_epiphany/

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/09/19/the-koch-brothers-are-helping-the-poor-its-more-like-indoctrinating-them/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_C._Koch