I echo Instapundit's sentiments

Don't get cocky, Republicans.  You are elected to do the hard job of opposing ObamaCare, etc.  Do it with a good fight!

This is why I read the San Jose Mercury News mostly for the Fry's advertisements:  Editorial: Brown is the better candidate.  And I am not even that enthusiastic about Whitman, even though I voted for her.  For a flashback of Jerry Brown's inanity, see this video.

Mahler 2nd

This morning (20:00 Berlin time) we listened to the Berliner Philharmoniker's performance of the Second Symphony of Mahler, the famous "Resurrection" Symphony. This is my favorite of all Mahler's Symphonies (hint: my nom de blog has something to do with it :-). It was a peculiar performance, in that it was preceded by a piece by Schoenberg, Survivor from Warsaw, which led into the beginning of the Mahler without a pause.

Anyway, it was a fine performance, and I enjoyed it as always. The climax near the end of the fifth movement was moving. I caught a little bit of the introductory speech before the performance just as the narrator said something about a short section of the fifth movement where the chorus first entered. He said that the string and the trombone were optional; they were there for the purpose of helping the chorus not to lose pitch. Ideally, it should be a cappella; thus if the chorus is able to uphold its pitch, the strings and trombone should not play with the chorus.

At first I thought that was something made up. Being curious about such little bits and having my score in hand (rehearsal number 31-32 in the Dover edition, p.354-355; the 5-measure parts of strings and trombome, from 2 measures before 32 to 3 after), I was delighted to discover that apparently it was indeed the composer's intention:

NB. An dieser Stelle wirken die Posaunen, Violinen und Viol. nur im Notfalle mit, wenn es gilt den Chor vor "Fallen" zu bewahren.

A witch or a bearded Marxist

This seems to be what the Delaware senate election to have come down to. Personally, I'd pick a witch over a bearded Marxist (or any other type of Marxist) anytime.

By the way, aren't these people who are throwing the charges of witchcraft at Christine O'Donnell the same ones who complain the most about the witch hunts in American history?

Obama doesn't even feel your pain

Here is U.S. News (of all places).

(cf. the quip of Wolfgang Pauli, "It's not even wrong." and the famous feigning of President Clinton, "I feel your pain.")

Abebooks.com considered a foreign merchant

Aw shucks. One of my favorite places, Abebooks.com, apparently is now considered by my credit-card company as a foreign merchant, and as a result, my purchases are now hit with a 3% foreign transaction fee.

So what was Meg Whitman supposed to do?

The law is indeed a ass; the lawyers (of the Gloria Allred ilk) are ass of the ass. On the one hand, one cannot inquire too deeply into the immigration status of prospective employees, lest one be accused of engaging in racial profiling. On the other hand, one cannot hire illegal aliens without running afoul of the law.

So whatever Whitman did, Allred would have accused her of something. Is the accusation against Whitman one of employing an illegal alien, or one of being unfair and harsh [no pun intended -- that's her husband's surname]?

What a sorry excuse of a lawyer this Allred woman is. She couldn't even answer questions of law on either Hugh Hewitt's or Mark Levin's show.

I don't use Facebook either

I'll admit that, if used judiciously, Facebook could be a useful tool. But how many are judicious users anyway?

After reading this article on American Thinker, I had a follow-up thought on the paragraph:

My second objection is that the very use of the word "friend" betrays its falseness. I doubt that I've ever used the word in speaking with anyone I know. If one of us were to ask "are you my friend?" the answer would automatically have to be "no"; the asking of the question implies the answer. It's like the explanation of a charming young English acquaintance that "one never calls a woman a lady unless she isn't."

To add to the list of phony adjectives: at the level of statecraft, the use of the word Democratic (or the vernacular equivalent, People's -- or both!) in the name of a country instantly betrays the fact that it is not. (Think of the former East Germany, North Korea, and China.)

By the way, I still like blogging, even though I don't always have time for it!