progeny

a chuckle

From Jimmy Carter's Keynote Address at St. Olaf's Nobel Peace Prize Forum:

I have obviously received compliments in my life and good introductions like St. Olaf College President Chris Thomforde just gave me. It's always very important for any human being, particularly a speaker, to be brought down a level and not become too proud of oneself because of the sometimes-unwarranted accolades. One of those experiences, which Fritz Mondale and I shared, was the involuntary retirement we had from the White House because of the election of 1980. Even before that, in one of the most glorious days of my life, which some of you are old enough to remember, Fritz and I were inaugurated in January 1977 to be the leaders of this country. Rosie and I walked down Pennsylvania Avenue. We sat in a very cold place and watched the crowd and parade go by, and finally after the parade was all done-we were still freezing-we started walking toward the White House to take up residence there for the first time.

My family was with me, my mother and children and so forth, and as we walked toward the White House we were surrounded by the news media, with their television cameras and microphones, and they wanted to ask me a few questions. My press secretary Jodie Powell said, "Nobody speaks to the news media. The ceremonies are over." And my mother said, "Jodie, you can go to hell." I'm quoting her accurately. She said, "You might tell Jimmy what to do, but you don't tell me what to do." So immediately all the news media got around my mama, as you can well imagine, and stuck the microphones in her face. I was listening to her comments. The first question she got was, "Miss Lillian, aren't you proud of your son?" And my chest swelled up and Mama said, "Which one?" Sometimes, that's what we need to go through.

[full text]

Love,

Laura

Scenes from Minnesota

   

On PHC this evening: Heard of that new Chet Atkins diet? You just pick at your food.

Love,

Laura

P.S. Anyone heard of a sandwich loaf before?

Harry Potter and the Last Lion

Something to think about as the last hours tick down for the next episode....

When reading Order of the Phoenix I was struck by the similarty between the Ministry of Magic and the British government during the late 1930s appeasement phase with that other You Know Who.

Now someone on the Wall Street Journal opinion page has written a column about this.  It's kind of interesting, putting Fudge in the role of Neville Chamberiln and Dumbledore in the role of Winston Churchill.  If you've read Volume II of William Manchester's The Last Lion it makes sense.

I  think there's a point here, but actually think that the allegory goes further - there's a striking similarity between pure blood wizards and the British upper classse in the 1930s - they're snobby, they're all related to each other, and several are sympathizers with the bad guys.

Like I said, interesting - at least to me.  Plus, its one of the few things on the WSJ opinion page that doesn't make me want to throw things.  Not that I found it by looking there - I saw a link on another blog.

John

Bastille Day Birthday!

From What's New

1. POLITICAL SCIENCE: IS THE CONGRESSMAN DOING CLIMATE STUDIES? Who among us has not engaged in disputes over research findings? Disagreements between researchers are a normal part of the scientific process. The success and credibility of science is anchored in the willingness of scientists to make their data and methods available to other scientists for independent testing. Openness is a sacred obligation. However, three scientists, who have had their share of such disputes, recently received letters from Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, demanding complete records, going back 10 years, of their paleoclimate work, including computer codes and a list of all studies on which they were authors and the source of funding – by next Monday. Their climate studies, which support global warming, figured prominently in the 2001 report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It seems unlikely that Rep Barton plans to repeat their studies; his record of support for environmental legislation is 0%. Barton is, however, among the top recipients of campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, and the aggressive tone of his letters sounds to most scientists like an effort to intimidate.

NYT Editorial

Link: 'Get Out, You Damned One' - New York Times.