Anacreon In Heaven

The origin of the American national anthem goes back to, of all things, a British drinking song called Anacreon In Heaven or the Anacreontic Song.  The American lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key, inspired by the siege of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, wrote a new set of lyrics, which became known as the Star Spangled Banner.  Here's what I think is a pretty good version of the earlier song:

 Go here for the Anacreontic lyrics.

Riddle Me This

Why is it racist to require voters to present an ID at the polls, but it's OK when the NAACP (who oppose voter ID laws) requires media to present not one, but two forms of ID when attending their own convention?  At least one of the IDs must have a photo.  Read the story by Katie Pavlich at Townhall.

Life's A Beach

Thanks to Tropical Storm Debby, the inhabitants of southern Alabama have a new beach on which to frolic and sunbathe.  The beach is the result of a series of events, both natural and man-made, that has occured in the Gulf of Mexico.  Back in 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped away a mile-long section of Dauphin Island.  The resulting channel became known as the Katrina Cut.  As part of the settlement from their oil spill, BP built a rock wall along the cut.  The wall stands on the submerged remains of that section of the island.  Now, thanks to Debby, sand has built up on most of the southern side of the wall, forming the new beach.

Read the story at Al.com.

Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine died earlier today of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, in the company of his wife Tova, and his children.  I remember Borgnine playing the title character of the TV show McHale's Navy, and for his portrayal of NFL football coach Vince Lombardi in the TV movie Legend in Granite, but those roles were but a small part of his body of work.

Borgnine, originally named Ermes Effron Borgnino, was born in Connecticut to parents who had immigrated from Italy.  He spent ten years in the United States Navy, including a re-enlistment after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  He won an Oscar for portraying the title role in the 1955 movie Marty.  During the 1980's, he was a regular on the show Airwolf.  He was married five times, including a marriage to actress Ethel Merman that lasted a month.

Read more at CNN Entertainment, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Fox News and People.

Does Obamacare Really Equal Romneycare?

No it doesn't, according to Mona Charen, writing in National Review.  According to Charen, there are quite a few important differences between the two, which Romney's campaign should start pointing out.

The Massachusetts law contained an individual mandate (which states, unlike the federal government, are allowed to impose). But it did not consist of 2,700 pages of new regulations; 159 new boards and commissions; more than $500 billion in new taxes (and counting); the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a rationing board whose decisions are unreviewable by the courts and practically untouchable by Congress itself; restrictions on religious liberty; Medicare cuts; affirmative-action mandates for medical and dental schools; huge new authority over one-seventh of the U.S. economy for the secretary of health and human services, and open-ended regulations of the way doctors and others perform their jobs.

The way in which Romneycare was brought about (and modified under Romney's successor Deval Patrick) also needs to be told.  To further quote Charen:

Romney agreed to the mandate believing that Massachusetts citizens would get the opportunity to purchase inexpensive, catastrophic plans. But the legislature, together with Romney’s successor as governor, Deval Patrick, changed the law to require insurers to offer three tiers of coverage — all of them far beyond catastrophic care. Perhaps Romney ought to have foreseen what future legislatures and governors would do — but that’s a far cry from the accusation that Romneycare was indistinguishable from Obamacare.

and

The bill that passed the legislature contained a number of features Romney couldn’t countenance. He opposed the mandate, preferring to permit individuals to post a $10,000 bond in lieu of insurance. The legislature overrode him. He vetoed the employer mandate, coverage for illegal aliens, the creation of a new bureaucracy to be called the Public Health Council, a provision limiting improvements to Medicaid, and another provision expanding Medicaid coverage to include dental care. His vetoes were overridden.

See that?  Romney didn't even want a mandate.  He vetoed it (and some other provisions), but his veto was overridden.  Read the entire article.

Does This Really Exist?

While browsing around TechSideline (a site for Virginia Tech sports fans), I ran across a video for an iPhone app called Word Lens.  Put the lens in front of text in one language, and it translates the text into another.  I know about software that enables a computer to recognize printed characters, and about translation software, such as Google's "Translate" function, so I can see where it might be possible to combine the the two.  Speaking of Google, a search therewith led to the makers of Word Lens, Quest Visual.  Here's the video, which demonstrates Spanish into English, and a little bit of vice versa:

"When in the Course of Human events....

....it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Continue reading.

As we enjoy our gatherings and watch the fireworks, it's always good to remember what we're celebrating.  Everyone have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Andy Griffith 1926-2012

Andy Griffith, whose acting career included starring roles in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, passed away this morning at his home in Manteo, North Carolina, which is on Roanoke Island.  He was 86, and is survived by his second wife Cindi Knight and two children from his first marriage.

Griffith was born in Mount Airy, NC and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in music.  Although famous as an actor, he was also a talented singer and played trombone.  In 2007, he was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  Other awards he received include the Medal of Freedom in 2005 and a Grammy for his 1996 album I Love to Tell the Story - 25 Timeless Hymns.

For more on the life and death of Andy Griffith, read the stories at CNN (including a slide show), Fox News, CBS News and USA Today.  See also his entry in Biography.com.

Among the things Andy Griffith did late in life was advise Brad Paisley on being patient.

Monday Links

Now that I've got electricity again, it's time to report on what's going on out there.

From Fox News, the Romney campaign accuses Obama of "vicious lies" about Bain Capital.

From the Telegraph, a Danish study claims that women are more likely to commit suicide if they own a cat.

From Political Pistachio, the Air Force Patched has been changed to remove the word "God".

From FrontPageMag, a Christian who was stoned (and I don't mean on what Obama used to call "choom", or in the Bob Dylan sense) speaks about his experience.

From CNS News, Steve King (the congressman, not the horror writer) says that Obama is governing like a king. (Was the pun intended, congressman King?)

From ABC News, islamists in Mali continue vandalizing graves and mausoleums in Timbuktu.

From CNN, Enrique Peña Nieto has been projected as the winner of Mexico's presidential elections.  He is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which at one time ruled Mexico for 70 consecutive years.

From SFGate, will there be a live-action Zombie zone in Detroit?

From CBS Local in Denver, some evacuees from the Waldo Canyon fire have returned to their homes, only to find them vandalized or burglarized.

Pro-life group Personhood USA reports about violence against their leaders from pro-abortion thugs.

From the Foundry (part of the Heritage Network), the broken promises of Obamacare.  Whether or not you agree with the SCOTUS decision calling the Obamacare mandate a "tax", there sure are a lot of real taxes built into the law.

From Canada Free Press, Obama has a Consitutional crisis.

Finally, from the Washington Examiner, we've got a stink bug crisis.

Power's Back

Last Friday evening, an exceptionally nasty thunderstorm came though my area, resulting in electric power being cut off.  It was restored only about an hour ago.  With temperatures being in the 90's, it's been pretty uncomfortable around here, but now everything has a chance to get back to normal.  While hiking yesterday, there were quite a few trees that had fallen down on the trails.  I also had to steer around some trees while driving on some of the local roads.

This report from MSNBC states that the thunderstorms were a phenomenom called a derecho, which can produce hurricane-force winds, but in a straight line instead of a circular motion as in a tropical storm.  According to Canada.com, about 800,000 customers lost power in Maryland.  Weather.com has pictures of damage from the derecho.  Accuweather calls Friday's storms a "super derecho".