Ivory Dome

In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword’s origin. The first is the "Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in Robert de Boron’s poem Merlin, in which Excalibur can only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Sir Thomas Malory. Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake after breaking his first sword in a fight with King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel," and Arthur takes it from a hand rising out of the lake.

As Arthur lies dying, he tells Sir Bedivere (Sir Griflet in some versions) to return his sword to the lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere is reluctant to throw away such a precious sword, so twice he only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When Bedivere tells him the sword simply fell into the water, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur into the lake. Before the sword strikes the water’s surface, a hand reaches up to grasp it and pulls it under. Arthur leaves on a death barge with the three queens to Avalon, where as his legend says, he will one day return to rule in Britain’s darkest hour.

Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d’Arthur, and confusingly calls both swords Excalibur. The film Excalibur attempts to rectify this by having only one sword, which Arthur inherits through his father and later breaks; the Lady of the Lake then repairs it.

England (pronounced /ˈɪŋglənd/) (Old English: Englaland, Middle English: Engelond) is the largest and most populous constituent country^[1][2] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Its inhabitants account for more than 79% of the total population of the United Kingdom,^[3] whilst the mainland territory of England occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and English Channel.

England became a unified state during the 10th century and takes its name from the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes who settled in the territory during the 5th and 6th centuries. The capital of England is London, which is the largest urban area in Great Britain, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most, but not all, measures.^[4]

England ranks amongst the world’s most influential and far-reaching centers of cultural development.^[5] It is the place of origin of both the English language and the Church of England, and English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; in addition, London was the center of the British Empire, and the country was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.^[6] England was the first country in the world to become industrialized. England is home to the Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science. England was the world’s first parliamentary democracy^[ and consequently many constitutional, governmental and legal innovations that had their origin in England have been widely adopted by other nations.

The Kingdom of England was a separate state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain,^[8] with the Principality of Wales already in the English state.

Today England is about to be transformed into a Islamic state. Political correctness, the insanity of multiculturalism, and liberal ideology has  been taken to extremes beyond what we witness even here, in the US.

Liberal lunacy daily moves England towards it’s final fate. The roots of England have long been dead. Little is left of what once was the center of Western civilization and one of the greatest military powers in history.

Societies flourish in connection with their communal piety. Disbelief is the ground of multiculturalism. England is the host which tolerates all because it believes nothing. Christianity is under attack in every way possible, while many in power, and even more of the ordinary English people convert to Islam and are celebrated and made into celebrities. Even children are converting. The recently chosen Miss England is Muslim.

The more England tries to accommodate Islam the greater the threat grow. Even fairy tales are being banned in an effort to appease a religion that has always been birthed in blood.

The list of efforts to appease Islam in England is endless. Even  the flag the flag of England, the banner of St. George is headed for the trash heap of history.

In the story of King Arthur, it is said that in a time of England’s greatest need, Arthur and Excalibur will return. Arthur, Excalibur England needs you now. All of Western civilization needs you.

Harmony, perhaps another word for Roots? Harmony is what the nation needs. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Harmony for all.

There is one thing that could provide that for us. One thing that could bring us together as a nation. One thing that erases the boundaries between the sexes and the races that have that been so firmly entrenched by the left.

That one thing already exists. It was created over 200 years ago. A time when among the elite, reason, not emotion ruled. That thing is called the American Constitution. The most perfect form of government in history laid out in simple easily understood language.

Through the trickery and and outright lies of the left, combined with the unbelievable apathy of the American voter that document essentially no longer exists. A document created in the highest ideals of moral and Christian ethic, lies in ruin. Battered and worth little more than the roll of paper next to your toilet. A worthless document mirrored by the current leaders of this Nation.

While some of the candidates for president are good men, only one promises, and indeed has lived and preached and pushed hard his entire public life for a return to strict compliance with the constitution as written and intended by the founders. That one man is Ron Paul. He is not perfect, but his single promise and unswerving dedication to restore this nation to strict compliance with the Constitution as meant and intended by the founders is worth more than all the promises of all the other candidates combined. 

Our constitution, if followed can restore our roots as a nation. It can restore harmony.

From Wiki Also this weeks list of new words and terms all dealing with music.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813, Leipzig; 13 February 1883, Venice) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas" as they were later called). Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner always wrote the scenario and libretto for his works himself.

Wagner’s compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their contrapuntal texture, rich chromaticism, harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: musical themes associated with specific characters, locales, or plot elements. Wagner pioneered advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, which greatly influenced the development of European classical music.

He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total artwork"), the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876). Wagner even went so far as to build his own opera house to try to stage these works as he had imagined them.

Wagner’s music dramas are his primary artistic legacy. These can be divided chronologically into three periods.

Wagner’s early stage began at age 19 with his first attempt at an opera, Die Hochzeit (The Wedding), which Wagner abandoned at an early stage of composition in 1832. Wagner’s three completed early-stage operas are Die Feen (The Fairies), Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love), and Rienzi. Their compositional style was conventional, and did not exhibit the innovations that marked Wagner’s place in musical history. Later in life, Wagner said that he did not consider these immature works to be part of his oeuvre; he was irritated by the ongoing popularity of Rienzi during his lifetime. These works are seldom performed, though the overture to Rienzi has become a concert piece.

Wagner’s middle stage output is considered to be of remarkably higher quality, and begins to show the deepening of his powers as a dramatist and composer. This period began with Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), followed by Tannhäuser and Lohengrin. These works are widely performed today.

Wagner’s late stage operas are his masterpieces that advanced the art of opera. Some are of the opinion that Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Iseult) is Wagner’s greatest single opera. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is Wagner’s only comedy still in the repertoire (his early Das Liebesverbot is forgotten) and one of the lengthiest operas still performed. Der Ring des Nibelungen, commonly referred to as the Ring cycle, is a set of four operas based loosely on figures and elements of Teutonic myth, particularly from later period Norse mythology. Taking 26 years to complete, and requiring roughly 15 hours to perform, the Ring cycle has been called the most ambitious musical work ever composed. Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal, which was written especially for the opening of Wagner’s Festspielhaus in Bayreuth and which is described in the score as a "Bühnenweihfestspiel" (festival play for the consecration of the stage), is a contemplative work based on the Christian legend of the Holy Grail.

Wagner drew largely from Northern European mythology and legend, notably Icelandic sources such as the Poetic Edda, the Volsunga Saga and the German Nibelungenlied. Through his operas and theoretical essays, Wagner exerted a strong influence on the operatic medium. He was an advocate of a new form of opera which he called "music drama", in which all the musical and dramatic elements were fused together. Unlike other opera composers, who generally left the task of writing the libretto (the text and lyrics) to others, Wagner wrote his own libretti, which he referred to as "poems". Further, Wagner developed a compositional style in which the orchestra’s role is equal to that of the singers. The orchestra’s dramatic role includes its performance of the leitmotifs, musical themes that announce specific characters, locales, and plot elements; their complex interleaving and evolution illuminates the progression of the drama.

Wagner’s musical style is often considered the epitome of classical music’s Romantic period, due to its unprecedented exploration of emotional expression. He introduced new ideas in harmony and musical form, including extreme chromaticism. In Tristan und Isolde, he explored the limits of the traditional tonal system that gave keys and chords their identity, pointing the way to atonality in the 20th century. Some music historians date the beginning of modern classical music to the first notes of Tristan, the so-called Tristan chord.

The man was truly a genius, music being the greatest of his many talents. His work named, Siegfried funeral march is one of the most moving songs I know. The quality of the video is not great but the music is fantastic as well as the composure of the conductor when at 5.50 his stand falls and he loses his sheet music, he never bats an eye.

Perhaps the most devastating thing brought to this nation by liberalism is the destruction of roots. And most likly this si their intent.

We witness a nation growing ever more violent, ever more in conflict on just about every issue of National importance. Congress spends most of it’s time demonizing the other side of the isle.

Criminals run amok. Even the language, the single most important aspect of any Nation continues to become more and more a copy of the Biblical tower of Babel.

There is nothing that ties the nation together that is not ridiculed and mocked by the left. The military is vilified because of supposedly causing innocent deaths in Iraq, while each day thousands of children are gleefully put to death in the Nations abortion mills. Christianity is scoffed at, ridiculed and blamed for all, while Islam is promoted at every opportunity.

Women are against men, black against white, brown against black. All the fault of the old dead White guys. Our cities, states, and the entire nation slowly becomes Balkanized. We drift aimlessly in the world, all values and moral principal stripped, in a futile effort to legislate equality. Even the most debase cultures any one can dream up are raised to hero status by the left.

The death of Heath Ledger is a good example. Here was a man who was not gay, but for money he was willing to play the part to the hilt. He stood on stage at the MTV awards and joyfully accepted, to the screams of delight from that audience the award for, "Hottest Kiss of the year".

The roots of our nation are dead. Soon the rest of all that has made this country great will die with them. "Show of hands" a band from Englandistan sings well of the danger we face.

From Wiki.

As an academic discipline, Western political philosophy has its origins in ancient Greek society, when city-states were experimenting with various forms of political organization including monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. One of the first, extremely important classical works of political philosophy is Plato’s The Republic, which was followed by Aristotle’s Politics. Roman political philosophy was influenced by the Stoics, and the Roman statesman Cicero wrote on political philosophy.

The early Christian philosophy of Augustine of Hippo was by and large a rewrite of Plato in a Christian context. The main change that Christian thought brought was to moderate the Stoicism and theory of justice of the Roman world, and emphasize the role of the state in applying mercy as a moral example. Augustine also preached that one was not a member of his or her city, but was either a citizen of the City of God (Civitas Dei) or the City of Man (Civitas Terrena). Augustine’s The City of God is an influential work of this period that refuted the thesis, after the First Sack of Rome, that the Christian view could be realized on Earth at all – a view many Christian Romans held.

Other political philosophies that have influenced today’s world include:

Determinism

metaphysics

ontology

And some good music about the epic struggle for freedom during the Boer wars.

As we enter closer to electing a new president I thought this video of Red Skelton from Jan. 4th, 1969 might be interesting. Pay particular attention to his definition of a republic.