Is the devil really your father?

A couple of Sunday school kids were arguing if there really is a Devil. One terminated the day's discussion with the statement "I think it's like Santa Claus, it is really your father". With Christmas Day streaking toward us at high speed, the timing of the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of Gounod's Faust was sure to confuse the devout. For centuries, the story of Dr. Faustus has twitted the creative energies of many composers. Opera News for November had quite a scholarly article or the subject while omitting two versions which are favorites of this blogger. The two extra favorites are Boito's Mefistofele and the Broadway version, titled Damyankees. As a maturing liberal student of electrical engineering (and Detroit Tigers fan) he ethought it most clever of the aging realtor to demand an "escape clause". The Broadway writer must have gotten the idea from Boito. The Devil promises nothing but pleasures for 24 years; If any pleasure causes Faust to say "Stay. Thou art beautiful". the Devil wins Faust's soul. But, in 24 years, Faust has not said the magic words. Back in his study, he opens his Bible and immediately he has a vision of a beautiful land where the potholes get filled and the laws are just(The rich pay their share of taxes) ; as the heavenly chorus swells, Faust says ""Arrestate!); the devil starts sinking into the earth yelling "Faust.Faust!". As the chorus and orchestra get to or over the EPA level for permitted sound level, nobody feels sorry for the Devil.

Is Bad Hair a Felony?

In the past week, a former governor of the state of Illinois, famous for his ample black hair, was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for his offenses. Meanwhile, a blowhard named Donald Trump threatened to sponsor a debate for GOP presidential candidates until a total lack of interest became manifest. Mr Trump has for a long time been famous for a flagrant combover of the hairs of his head, plus perhaps augmentations. There has been no published threat of prosecution of Mr Trump for hair offenses. Now, to this writer, it appears that there is a shortage of space for incarceration of the likes of MR's Trump or Blagoyovich and that prison capacity should be reserved for those who are proven threats to the health of society. The fates of the gentlemen just mentioned should be grouped with smokers of hashish; The scarce resources of the state should be devoted to the nourishment of deserving poor, children and the aged. Other offenses should be punished by fines and similar penalties. Those who continue to grow hair should be left to do it. If cash becomes less scarce, some might be devoted to providing hats to those individuals who no longer can protect their bare scalps.from ultraviolet radiation.

Is America Great?

How did it get that way? By people working together. To work together, people must be moved to cooperation for a shared objective. There lies the intractable problem. Some people wish to render to the "guvmint" as little as possible of their wealth; apparently their recollection of how they obtained this wealth is that they gathered up gold nuggets among the manna that came from heaven. There is a departure from good sense here that acts as though God will maintain tax-free the superhighways he has given us, along with the free military complex. Others of us understand that our elected legislators levied taxes to pay for filling the inevitable potholes, to feed our troops in Afghanistan and buy the ammunition they so freely use, to fuel their humvees and to pay the salaries of cavalierly congresspersons who swore an oath to a radical of apparent Swedish background to obey him a rather than to uphold their oath of office and to pass the laws that will protect the less rich 99% of the citizenry and begin to retrieve the shameful gains of the super-rich. Grover Norquist must have learned a lot from Mephistofele