LookIt

Time for a new Christmas song

Some "traditional" Christmas songs are rather new, but most of the new ones are pretty blah. They are often gooey and romanticize a celebration that, for many of us, is far from stress-free. On the other hand, many recent "novelty" Christmas songs make the holiday sound like there's nothing good about it.

And then there is The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams. It could be the new Christmas anthem, at least for the US. It wraps up many modern American Christmas themes: families that don't talk to each other, religious differences, kids asking inappropriate questions, and, most importantly, overcoming all that with warmth and humor. It comes from Dar's Mortal City album from about ten years ago. Here is an MP3 of Dar singing the song in Santa Cruz last month.

If you like the song, you will probably like the rest of the album, which contains other well-named songs like The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-ed and Southern California Wants to be Western New York. If you find yourself humming the song this month instead of the modern Christmas schmaltz, pass it along. It takes a lot of hums to make a new Christmas classic.

Dar sometimes sings kinda fast, so here are the lyrics:

Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday,
Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay."
And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree,
He watched his son hang candy canes all made with Red Dye Number 3.
He told his niece, "It's Christmas Eve, I know our life is not your style,"
She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you, and its been awhile,"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said,
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses.

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch,
'Til Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"
His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the kitchen,
And it was Jane who spoke, she said, "It's true, your cousin's not a Christian,"
"But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share,
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
And where does magic come from? I think magic's in the learning,
'Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning.

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, don't bother."
Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked like Tim and like her father.
He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year,
He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here."
He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve, saying,
"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and
Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold.

ICANN and legalities

Bret Fausett points to two lawsuits against VeriSign and ICANN for violating U.S. anti-trust laws. They state the obvious: VeriSign and ICANN made an agreement that is to the large financial benefit of the two corporations and the financial detriment of nearly everyone else.

The proposed contract is absurd, but so is ICANN's request that people comment on it before ICANN approves it. Anyone familiar with legal negotiations could see that there is no room for significant negotiation on the part of ICANN. In the extremely unlikely case that ICANN listened to the near-universal condemnation of the contract and went back to VeriSign with significant changes, VeriSign would think about it for about two seconds and say "no, we'll just keep suing you".

The real issue is that ICANN has completely blown it as a non-profit corporation. In the U.S., being a non-profit corporation means you have many responsibilities to the public that normal corporations don't. In exchange for you meeting those responsibilities, you get both a different tax liability (essentially: no taxes) and you get to parade yourself around as a "non-profit", which in turn brings you greater credibility in some circles. ICANN certainly touts its non-profit status in many places, particularly on their own web site.

ICANN became a non-profit after the U.S. and California reviewed ICANN's articles of incorporation. There, ICANN promised:
The Corporation shall operate for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole, carrying out its activities in conformity with relevant principles of international law and applicable international conventions and local law and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with these Articles and its Bylaws, through open and transparent processes that enable competition and open entry in Internet-related markets. To this effect, the Corporation shall cooperate as appropriate with relevant international organizations.

A normal, for-profit corporation, rarely makes any such promises when it organizes. In the seven years since ICANN promised to do that (and, in return, got its non-profit status), it has generally failed to meet these promises. The proposed contract with VeriSign is an amazingly clear abrogation of multiple parts of that promise.

ICANN can move forwards in a couple of different ways. The most likely method would be to vigorously defend its part of the lawsuits (and others that will probably come on the same topic), spending money that would clearly be better spent " for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole". The outcome of this will be years of uncertainty for all parties involved, a possible massive fine for ICANN, and the possibility that the US or California will take away their non-profit status.

A far better method is for ICANN to finally admit that they are not living up to their articles of incorporation, nor to the general expectations of what a U.S. non-profit should do. They can convert themselves to a for-profit corporation. At that point, their agreement with VeriSign (and anyone else, for that matter) becomes an agreement between two normal for-profit corporations, which have very different, less limited rules.

By increasing the level of honesty about who ICANN is and what it is trying to do, everyone would be better off. Taking this kind of step out of denial is difficult for anyone, particularly for a group of people as large as ICANN's board of directors. It can and should be done both for the benefit of the stability of Internet and for the long-term benefit of ICANN itself.

Dealing with the homeless issue

Folks who don't have homeless people where they live won't recognize this nearly as much as those of us who do. As for me: guilty as presented.