Dawnsinger

The Top Thousand Books

The Online Computer Library Center has released a list of the Top 1000 books in library collections, based on "purchase votes"  by member libraries across the globe.   This is a fascinating browse . . . some are no-brainers . . . some are surprising.

See the complete list, with stats & cover art . . .

The Top 10 . . .

10)  Lord of the Rings

9)  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

8) Hamlet

7) Huckleberry Finn

6) The Iliad

5) Odyssey

4) Divine Comedy

3) Mother Goose

2) The Bible

1) The U.S. Census

New releases aside, of course, library purchases are based on user demand, rather than critical merit, which is why Jim Davis' "Garfield"  collections come in at No. 18,  sandwiched between "Tom Sawyer" and "Macbeth."

More notable election commentary

A few more columns worth reading, regarding the election:

Kerry didn't lose the values battle - James Q. Wilson, Wall Street Journal

We weren't dumb enough to vote for Kerry - Mark Steyn, Opinion Telegraph

Election 2004 epiphanies - George Will, Town Hall

Why Democrats are tagged as the party without values -  Dennis Prager, Creators Syndicate

Sunrise in the West - William J. Stuntz, TCS

'Thou shalt not kill' offends Dutch Big Brother

Dutch authorities have destroyed a painting created to protest the slaying of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who was killed by a Muslim extremist last week, because the painting contained the admonition "Thou shalt not kill."  That phrase might offend someone, Dutch officials said.

Local news crews were threatened by police and forced to hand over taped coverage of the destruction.

Somebody needs to pull their finger out of the dike.

Barbra, witches & Jew-bashing

One more note about Barbra Streisand.  The Jefferson quote she posted on her site was lifted from internet chatter posted on left-wing weblogs.   Too bad Barbra's just passing along the quote du jour.  If she'd read Jefferson's letter for herself, she might have reconsidered posting it.

The context was a bitter fight between Federalists and Republicans (of which Jefferson was one) over the direction of the country.  So far, so good.  And it's instructive for those of us who have just seen some of the most vicious political venom of OUR lifetimes to remember that there have been much worse seasons in American politics.   At stake was freedom of speech, in particular, which the federal courts were busy trying to supress.  So the quote itself, in our day of FCC regulation and Patriot Acts, might be relevant . . . although Streisand likely would have been imprisoned in that day for exercising her current freedom of speech.

But Jefferson isn't a buffet, and you can't just take the quotes you like.  Here's what Barbra quoted, in a letter to John Taylor Philadelphia, June 4, 1798:

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to it's true principles."

The previous sentence in Jefferson's letter describes the "witches" in the day's stereotype of  Jews:

"They are circumscribed within such narrow limits, & their population so full, that their numbers will ever be the minority, and they are marked, like the Jews, with such a peculiarity of character as to constitute from that circumstance the natural division of our parties."

If I were Babs, I'd avoid this one.

What Democrats must do to survive

Clinton, Moore, Carville et al. --

Here's what you need to do to win . . . or at least survive  . . . suggesions from the Great Divide.

1) We do not give a hoot about your opinon. Your agenda is laughable. Your elitist, patronizing attitude not only turns us off, it makes us your bitter unrelenting enemy.   We will endure almost anything besides being patronized by rich elitists.

2) We do not care which party wins the next election.  We care that you appeal to our needs and reflect our values.  If YOU do not change, you will dive deeper into irrelevance until you no longer exist.

(Please continue reading below)

Message to Michael Moore, from the family of the fallen . . .

Michael Moore, having had his pseudo-journalistic propaganda shoved back down his throat, is pouting today.  Earlier, his homepage consisted of a mosaic of George W. Bush, composed of the tiny mugshots of the Iraq war dead.  This evening, he's listed the war dead on his home page, adding, "and may they forgive us someday."

One of the names on that list is Spc. Robert Du Sang of Mandeville, LA.  I drove out into the woods of rural Louisiana to break the news to his brother and sister.  I helped prepare his memorial ceremony.  I stood with the family as they faced the media covering the first local Iraq war death.

The Du Sangs, who unlike you, have laid their sacrifice on the altar, are fiery in their belief that Robert died for the right cause, and in their support for President Bush.  To reporters gathered beside Lake Pontchartrain in early July, Robert's big sister Jessie said: "Don't you make my brother's death an anti-war story.  He was a hero, and he believed in what our country is doing there, and so does our family."  ( Read more about it )

The family of Robert Du Sang has a message for you, Michael.  I only wish you had the guts to come down to Southeastern Louisiana to get it in person. 

As for Robert, he is home.

'So much to savor'

Submitted for your approval - Peggy Noonan's wonderful commentary on the Election aftermath

"The biggest loser was the mainstream media . . . every time the big networks and big broadsheet national newspapers tried to pull off a bit of pro-liberal mischief . . . the yeomen of the blogosphere and AM radio and the Internet took them down. It was to me a great historical development in the history of politics in America. It was Agincourt. It was the yeomen of King Harry taking down the French aristocracy with new technology and rough guts. God bless the pajama-clad yeomen of America."

- Peggy Noonan

Healing the Great Divide

Four years ago, a venom-spewing Nancy Pelosi, as newly elected House Minority Leader, set the tone for our political divide. There will be no healing until George W. Bush (who stole the election) is out of office and Democrats are back in power, she vowed. And so it has gone for the past four years.

About the only moment of unity in the past four years came as the dust still settled around the site of the former Word Trade Center, when Congress stood on the steps and sang "God Bless America." Even those who had to choke to get the word "God" past their lips.

And in the Wednesday afternoon wake of John Kerry's concession speech, Pelosi was front and center again, declaring war on George Bush, while telling him that it's up to the Republican leadership to heal the divide. Wrong.

News flash, Nancy . . . the divide is between your extreme left wing of the Democratic Party and the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. A plurality of Americans claim NEITHER party.

(Please continue reading below)

Stern, decency and freedom

BuzzMachine blog evangelist and media pundit Jeff Jarvis has the cover of the new edition of Nation magazine with his article "F*cked by the F*CC" and analysis of the uneven and unequal treatment of the FCC in the assault against Howard Stern and others.

Jarvis has been warning about this turn of events for a long time . . . not just the actions against Stern, but the ramifications for free speech in general. As a longtime columnist for TV Guide and the founder of Entertainment Weekly, he's in a good position to have the big picture.

Read today's roundup, including links to past comments . . .

Read The Nation article online . . .

Copyright on our soul

Islamoyankee has a clever post arising from our recent exchange on copyright issues (How wrong is Christian 'piracy'?), regarding the copyright on the soul and genetic material of a human being.

Read his post and my comment on Islamicate . . .