Joy to the World is a popular Christmas carol.
The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts’ collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. Watts wrote the words of “Joy to the World” as a hymn glorifying Christ’s triumphant return at the end of the age,[1] rather than a Christmas song celebrating his first coming as a babe born in a stable. Only the second half of Watts’ lyrics are still used today.[2]
The music was adapted and arranged to Watts’ lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel, not least because the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing…) appears in the orchestra opening and accompaniment of the recitative Comfort Ye from Handel’s Messiah, and the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses Lift up your heads and Glory to God from the same oratorio. However, Handel did not compose the entire tune.[3]
As of the late 20th century, “Joy to the World” was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.[4]
Tina Fey And 30 Rock Persistently Touch The Third Rail That Is Blackface
by Toure | 5:16 pm, December 11th, 2010
Editor’s Note: On Friday MSNBC had booked regular contributor Touré on The Dylan Ratigan Show to deliver a “rant” on NBC’s 30 Rock and their use of blackface as a comedic device. Alas, he was bumped by Bill Clinton’s improvised filibuster of a Presidential press conference and his commentary never made air. Fortunately he has graciously agreed to allow Mediaite to republish his thoughts here, which follow below:
Blackface is the third rail of the American stage. Any time a white person significantly darkens their skin and steps in front of an audience they risk deeply offending much of the audience and suffering a performative death. Blackface originates from white actors in the 1800s who used makeup to darken their skin and then do horrific caricatures of Black people which helped perpetuate the image of Blacks as lesser human beings. Whenever a modern performer blackens up they tap into deep pains in the American collective memory. When Ted Danson put on blackface at a Friars Club roast he almost lost his career. Angelina Jolie is so beloved that she was able to steal sweet Jennifer Aniston’s widely-coveted husband and remain a hot commodity but when she merely browned her skin to play terrorism widow Marianne Pearl in A Mighty Heart many feathers were ruffled and the film did poorly at the box office. And yet somehow Tina Fey, the genius behind 30 Rock, the best sitcom on TV, can repeatedly put a character in blackface and succeed. How does she do it?
On Thursday’s episode, Fey put Jenna, who’s played by Jane Krakowski, in blackface for the second time, and I nearly died laughing. One of the reasons it succeeded is because it was placed in a situation that was completely ridiculous. Jenna was at a costume party dressed as the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann and mirroring her cross-dressing boyfriend as he’s giving us Natalie Portman in the great new film Black Swan and thus they’re two Black swans
Video:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/tina-fey-and-30-rock-persistently-touch-the-third-rail-that-is-blackface/
Sunday MTP Panel on PBO tax cuts
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/40629392#40629392
Op-Ed Contributor
What Progressives Don’t Understand About Obama
By ISHMAEL REED
THIS:
When these progressives refer to themselves as Mr. Obama’s base, all they see is themselves. They ignore polls showing steadfast support for the president among blacks and Latinos. And now they are whispering about a primary challenge against the president. Brilliant! The kind of suicidal gesture that destroyed Jimmy Carter — and a way to lose the black vote forever.
Unlike white progressives, blacks and Latinos are not used to getting it all. They know how it feels to be unemployed and unable to buy your children Christmas presents. They know when not to shout. The president, the coolest man in the room, who worked among the unemployed in Chicago, knows too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12…
Source: Indianapolis Star
U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek a return engagement as Indiana’s governor in 2012.
“It was a very hard decision,” said Bayh, who served two terms as the state’s top executive from 1989 to 1997. “A big part of me wants to.”
But, he told The Indianapolis Star, he decided that not disrupting his twin sons’ lives, now that they are freshmen in high school, took precedence over political ambition.
Bayh’s decision ends, at least for now, an era in Indiana politics. The son of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, he burst onto the political scene in 1986 when at age 30 he won election as secretary of state before sweeping to victory as governor two years later.
… Without Bayh heading the Democratic ticket, the odds of a Republican holding on to the governor’s office go up.
Read more: http://www.indystar.com/article/20101211/NEWS05/1012110… /
This bitch right here…. Every photo shows a look of disgust on her face.
Palin in Haiti. WTF is she doing in Haiti? Photo op/attention.
http://www.adn.com/2010/12/11/1599481/sarah-palin-in-haiti.html#id=1599587&view=large_view
WTF does Palin wanna go to Haiti when she hates black people? Should we forget Palin wanted Dr. Laura to re-load and continue to yell the word “nigger”? Fk bitch.
LOL C’mon, SG2; you know this is a show to get your vote in the 2012 POTUS election.
Bet that hiefer was sanitizing her hands nonstop. If you’re looking for the black vote, YOU.AIN’T GONNA.GET.MINE.!
Prince William & Kate Middleton Share Two Official Engagement Photos
Saturday December 11, 2010 07:00 PM EST
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222_20448202,00.html
Axelrod is holding it down on Face the Nation. Bob Schieffer asking the most stupid questions. “Is it all about the President?” YES, Mofo, it is for y’all.
As the Ground Shifts, Biden Plays a Bigger RoleBy HELENE COOPER
Published: December 11, 2010
WASHINGTON — It was the end of a long and testy gripe session with House Democrats on Wednesday, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had had enough.
For two hours, Mr. Biden had been going back and forth with furious members of his own party over President Obama’s deal with Republicans on tax cuts. In a basement room at the Capitol, Mr. Biden was trying to convince Democrats that the deal was the best one they were going to get.
Then Representative Anthony Weiner of New York got up and asserted that Mr. Obama was acting like a “negotiator in chief” instead of a “leader” who gets things done.
Mr. Biden erupted. “There’s no goddamned way I’m going to stand here and talk about the president like that,” the vice president said, according to two people in the room.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/us/politics/12biden.html?_r=2&om_rid=DRaeQf&om_mid=_BNBOFcB8WI20DR
Blizzard Socks Midwest With 20 Inches Of Snow
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/11/blizzard-midwest-20-inches-snow-_n_795462.html#comments
MINNEAPOLIS — A powerful snowstorm socked the upper Midwest on Saturday with as much as 20 inches of snow, forcing authorities to close roads across five states as heavy winds made for treacherous driving conditions.
The snowstorm was expected to be followed by dangerous cold. North Dakota experienced wind chills of 20 degrees below zero, and the arctic air was expected to drop temperatures below zero by Sunday night throughout the Dakotas and in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Eastern Minnesota’s Oakdale area got 20 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was moving eastward, where it dumped about a foot of snow in Chippewa County in northwestern Wisconsin and was expected to drop 20 to 24 inches by Sunday morning in the Eau Claire area.
Stay warm, Ametia! :)
The sun is out, the snow has stopped, and we can DIG it! :-)
Good the snow has stopped. Be careful up there.
Good morning all!!
Good Morning, Dannie & 3 Chics!
Ametia, where u @? I heard the heavy snow deflated the bubble room of the metrodome up there. The high there is going to be 6 degrees. Good Lord!
Here’s some hot chocolate. Drink up.
http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/hotchocolate-3-with-marshmallows.s600x600.jpg
Good morning, Dannie & SG2! Slept in a bit this morning.
Happy Sunday to y’all.
Thanks for the hot chocolate, SG2. Yepper, the dome is doomed untill Monday. Vikings get an extra day to warm up. :-)