Presumably you know what to do by now…
About the song: apparently Harry Belafonte never performed this classic for TV; if he did, no one’s put it on YouTube. Every year, I admire his rendition of “Mary’s Boy Child” more. The singer introduced the song into the popular Christmas canon in 1956, after hearing it sung by a choir. It has been covered many, many times by singers ranging from Andy Williams to Charlotte Church, but is one of the very few Christmas songs without an interpretation by Bing Crosby.
Ethics Alarms 
Here ais an article worth commenting about.
https://www.thefp.com/p/colorado-court-trump-2024-peter-meijer-democracy
I am in an ethical pickle with one of the Rush fans groups. Apparently, someone decided that Secret Santa would be a good thing. Yesterday, a package Rush memorabilia arrived, unbeknownst to me. Today, I received an email asking if I had the tracking number for the gift I was chosen to send to another member, again unbeknownst to me. I had no idea I hadbeen chosen and have no idea who the person selected for me is, where said person lives, or that I had been chosen to give this person a Rush-related gift. What do I do? I have no clue.
jvb
You have no obligation to do anything, legally or ethically. Indeed, I’d say that as a matter of principle you shouldn’t allow yourself to be pulled into a gift exchange without notice or consent. This is reminiscent of chain letters and related schemes. Someone sent you something you didn’t ask for: keep it. If you find out who it is, say thanks. You owe no gift to whoever was assigned to you.
This reminded me of a weird experience many years ago. We received, from Italy, ten framed and lovely pencil drawings of Italian landmarks. The letter accompanying them asked us to sell the drawings to galleries and split the money with the artist. Nope. We kept the art—they’re still around here some place. And I didn’t, and don’t, feel bad about doing so. Nobody has the right to make me their agent without my agreements and consent.
Thanks. I reached the same conclusion as you did Your recent post on this came round and your seemed to have thr same questions.
I checked my emails and found nothing about it and, if it occurred on Facebook, I didn’t see a post because I have stopped checking the site ever since it became more about scrolling ads than posts.
jvb
Hey! I could secretly send the guy an Italian pencil drawing!
Whitey @HBCUs?
Why Is Sports Media SCARED TO MENTION Racially Obvious
Why indeed…
PWS
In case you happened to be at the New York Philharmonic’s 2023 concert of George Frideric Handel’s Magnum Opus – the Messiah – and were enjoying yourself a little bit too much, the Philharmonic has you covered. Handel, ambitiously, converts 50 some odd scriptures into a longer than 2 hour narrative covering the prophecies of Christ’s birth, his birth, his life and suffering, his death and resurrection, his coming Glory and his redemptive purpose.
As you scroll through the program notes learning all about Handel’s life and his efforts to construct this unequalled masterpiece, you will be reminded that everything is done by horrible racists.
Here’s an excerpt from the notes, labeled “Problematic Contexts” –
Thank you, The Editors, no one cares except self-loathing neurotic white liberals and no one reasonable cares about them.
I love all the clarifying in the end where it turns out Handel actually isn’t a villain during a day in age where the practice of slave trade was *world-wide* and the vast majority of people did not bat an eye at it.
That program note reads like a Robert Benchley parody. Who ARE these people and how did they get that way?
“where the practice of slave trade was *world-wide* and the vast majority of people did not bat an eye at it.”
should say “where the practice of slavery was a *world-wide* sin that all people groups took part in and the vast majority of people did not bat an eye at it.”
“Who ARE these people and how did they get that way?” To answer these questions, I Will attempt to use logic to explain the illogical. Let’s start with the program notes by the “Editors” It states, “Art lovers often must face a conflict between the magnificence of a work and difficult, sometimes painful issues that it raises.” Unless I missed something Handel’s Messiah does not bring up painful slavery issues. Conversely, D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation does deal with painful slavery issues. So, if Messiah is not itself evil what is the issue? Is it because Handel may have had some financial interest in the African slave trade? OK, what should be done? Boycott the Messiah? Condemn Handel? To what end? Handel is dead. He won’t care and isn’t reformable.
I surmise the editor’s condemnation of Handel is to demonstrate how virtuous, enlightened, and woke they are. I suggest they do this because they have no noteworthy accomplishments to give themselves the attention they desire. They don’t comprehend that blowing out someone else’s candle does not make theirs shine brighter.
I could be wrong they could be true antislavery advocates. However, if that is the case why don’t they condemn all slavery, not just the African slave trade? The institution of slavery is as old as man. Egyptians enslaved Jews and other peoples. Before the Norman conquest, slavery was widely practiced in the British Isles. Various Native American tribes practiced slavery as did various African Tribes. The Romans also practiced slavery. Sex slavery is still practiced today. None of these types of slavery get much lip service.
It is hypocritical to single out only one group of slaveholders. It is counterproductive to keep stirring the pot dredging up the past. No one can change the past. No one can right the wrongs committed centuries ago to people long dead. To do so is to do it for something other than altruistic motives. It is simply wrong and unethical.
Tom: I see that you tried to post this twice and that a cry for help ended up in Spam Hell before the comment went through. If there is anyone who can explain what the Hell WordPress is doing that does this, I’d love to know the reason. I’m sorry. On the plus side, only eaten comments now turn up in the EA spam, so they are easy to spot. Just a few years ago, it would pick up a hundred bot-authored comments a day. Apparently even bots don’t visit as often as they used to.
Jack,
My problem was that WordPress said I was logged in but when I tried to post the comment WordPress said I wasn’t logged in. I logged in again but got the same error and the comment wouldn’t post. I then and cleared the browser history, cash, cookies, etc. then logged into WordPress again and the comment took. Either my actions cleared the problem or the planets moved back into alignment.
Thanks for getting back to me.