as noticed in THIS DAY IN HISTORY -- www.nytimes.com/
- ON THIS DAY -
On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
400th Anniversary of Authorized Version (King James translation of Bible) -- an entire read-through event
From King James Bible Trust : calendar of events (2011)
Location: St Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom
Organisation: St Michael’s Without
Topic: Bible
Website: http://www.stmichaelsbath.org.uk/welcome_/the_king_james_bible_challenge_2011.phtml
In the beginning was the Word...
Bath Literature Festival and St Michael’s Without celebrate the 400th anniversary of The King James Bible with a continuous Bible reading challenge; and they need your help!
Bath Literature Festival 2011, in collaboration with The Observer Newspaper and The Church of St Michael’s Without, is excited to reveal its plans for the ambitious Bath Bible Challenge as part of a series of events to celebrate the literary significance of the 1611 King James Bible.
Due to start on Tuesday 1 March, a non-stop read of the King James Bible will continue day and night until Saturday 5 March. Taking place at St Michael’s Without on Broad Street, the church will be open to ALL members of the public to participate and join a number of high profile readers, local celebrities and LitFest authors in this extraordinary commemoration of arguably the singularly most influential piece of literature in the English language.
Volunteers can sign up for one hour slots throughout the five day period, during which they will take it turns to read for approximately fifteen minutes. Teams of volunteers are encouraged, as are those looking for a personal challenge and might want to sign-up for an all-nighter! Event managers will be onsite to ensure the smooth running of the event, so countless volunteers are needed. For those who feel they need any coaching before their reading, theatre director Hannah Drake will be on hand with professional tips and techniques.
So far, the writers Alexander McCall Smith, Kate Mosse, Amanda Vickery, Adam Nicolson and Bel Mooney, the pianist Joanna MacGregor, the film director Roger Michell, the celebrity chef Valentine Warner, the broadcasters Daisy Goodwin and Sheena McDonald, the actor Bill Paterson, and the Chief Executive of English Heritage Simon Thurley have all agreed to take part.
The reading will be completed by the actor Timothy West. It will then be marked by a special peal of church bells that will ring out across the city.
Location: St Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom
Organisation: St Michael’s Without
Topic: Bible
Website: http://www.stmichaelsbath.org.uk/welcome_/the_king_james_bible_challenge_2011.phtml
In the beginning was the Word...
Bath Literature Festival and St Michael’s Without celebrate the 400th anniversary of The King James Bible with a continuous Bible reading challenge; and they need your help!
Bath Literature Festival 2011, in collaboration with The Observer Newspaper and The Church of St Michael’s Without, is excited to reveal its plans for the ambitious Bath Bible Challenge as part of a series of events to celebrate the literary significance of the 1611 King James Bible.
Due to start on Tuesday 1 March, a non-stop read of the King James Bible will continue day and night until Saturday 5 March. Taking place at St Michael’s Without on Broad Street, the church will be open to ALL members of the public to participate and join a number of high profile readers, local celebrities and LitFest authors in this extraordinary commemoration of arguably the singularly most influential piece of literature in the English language.
Volunteers can sign up for one hour slots throughout the five day period, during which they will take it turns to read for approximately fifteen minutes. Teams of volunteers are encouraged, as are those looking for a personal challenge and might want to sign-up for an all-nighter! Event managers will be onsite to ensure the smooth running of the event, so countless volunteers are needed. For those who feel they need any coaching before their reading, theatre director Hannah Drake will be on hand with professional tips and techniques.
So far, the writers Alexander McCall Smith, Kate Mosse, Amanda Vickery, Adam Nicolson and Bel Mooney, the pianist Joanna MacGregor, the film director Roger Michell, the celebrity chef Valentine Warner, the broadcasters Daisy Goodwin and Sheena McDonald, the actor Bill Paterson, and the Chief Executive of English Heritage Simon Thurley have all agreed to take part.
The reading will be completed by the actor Timothy West. It will then be marked by a special peal of church bells that will ring out across the city.
Today is the birthday of Anthony Burgess (born in England 1917)
from The Writer's Almanac (Garrison Keillor list serv) -- minnesota public radio
Today (Feb. 25) is the birthday of the novelist who said, 'Every grain of experience is food for the greedy growing soul of the artist.' That's Anthony Burgess, best-known as the author of the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange (1962). He was born in Manchester, England, on this day in 1917.
He grew up a cradle Catholic in England, wanted to be a classical musician, didn't get in to music school, and majored in English literature instead. Then he joined the army. He resented authority, was not very well liked by his peers, and did things that got him in trouble. Once, he did not report back from leave on time, and the British military police hunted him down, treating him as a deserter. Still, he did well in the army and rose through the ranks. He was good at languages, and he held important positions in military intelligence and as an instructor. It was an incident that occurred during his unhappy army days of World War II that would inspire him to write A Clockwork Orange two decades later.
After the army, he got a job with the British colonial service, and was posted to Malaysia. He taught in a boys school, became fluent in Malaysian, published some books of literary criticism, and wrote novels for pleasure on the side. At the time, he thought of fiction writing as a 'gentlemanly hobby,' expecting to make no money from it.
From Malaysia he went to a teaching post in Borneo. He started to get headaches, and then one day he collapsed in front of the classroom while giving a history lecture. The Colonial Service flew him back to London, checked him into a neurological ward, and doctors proclaimed that he had a brain tumor -- an inoperable one -- and that he had one year to live. He also no longer had a job.
He might have spent his 'terminal year' traveling, but he didn't have any money. In fact, he was determined to make money for his future widow, and decided he would do this by writing at a furious pace. He wrote five novels in the year following his diagnosis. It turns out that he did not have a brain tumor, and he did not die. He kept writing at a furious pace, though, outliving his wife by many years and eventually dying of lung cancer (he was a heavy smoker) in 1993, more than 30 years and 30 books later.
His wrote his most famous book, A Clockwork Orange, in just three weeks. He wrote it in 1962, but it was based on something that happened a couple of decades before, when he was in the army. He was newly married, and his wife was pregnant. One night, while he was at the army base, his wife was mugged by four young U.S. Army deserters in London. After the attack, his wife miscarried their child.
A Clockwork Orange is set in futuristic England and features a teenage anti-hero named Alex who leads his gang of friends on acts of random violence. Originally, the book had 21 chapters. He chose the number carefully, he said, for '21 is symbol of human maturity, or used to be, since at 21 you got to vote and assumed adult responsibility.' But the American publisher didn't like the last chapter, the one where the anti-hero Alex -- as Anthony Burgess himself describes it -- 'grows up and realizes that ultraviolence is a bit of a bore, and it's time he had a wife and a malenky googoogooing malchickiwick to call him dadada. This was meant to be a mature conclusion, but nobody in America has ever liked the idea.'
Burgess was desperate for money, and he didn't really think his book was all that good. He actually thought the American publisher was 'being charitable in accepting the work at all.' So he accepted the cutting of the final chapter for the U.S. edition.
And then Stanley Kubrick bought the film rights, and it was the American version of A Clockwork Orange that he used as a basis for the movie --- the one without the final chapter of Alex's maturation and redemption. Kubrick's movie made Burgess' book a big best-seller. Burgess was grateful that Kubrick made him rich, but was sorry that his book "became known as the raw material for a film that seemed to glorify sex and violence."
Today (Feb. 25) is the birthday of the novelist who said, 'Every grain of experience is food for the greedy growing soul of the artist.' That's Anthony Burgess, best-known as the author of the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange (1962). He was born in Manchester, England, on this day in 1917.
He grew up a cradle Catholic in England, wanted to be a classical musician, didn't get in to music school, and majored in English literature instead. Then he joined the army. He resented authority, was not very well liked by his peers, and did things that got him in trouble. Once, he did not report back from leave on time, and the British military police hunted him down, treating him as a deserter. Still, he did well in the army and rose through the ranks. He was good at languages, and he held important positions in military intelligence and as an instructor. It was an incident that occurred during his unhappy army days of World War II that would inspire him to write A Clockwork Orange two decades later.
After the army, he got a job with the British colonial service, and was posted to Malaysia. He taught in a boys school, became fluent in Malaysian, published some books of literary criticism, and wrote novels for pleasure on the side. At the time, he thought of fiction writing as a 'gentlemanly hobby,' expecting to make no money from it.
From Malaysia he went to a teaching post in Borneo. He started to get headaches, and then one day he collapsed in front of the classroom while giving a history lecture. The Colonial Service flew him back to London, checked him into a neurological ward, and doctors proclaimed that he had a brain tumor -- an inoperable one -- and that he had one year to live. He also no longer had a job.
He might have spent his 'terminal year' traveling, but he didn't have any money. In fact, he was determined to make money for his future widow, and decided he would do this by writing at a furious pace. He wrote five novels in the year following his diagnosis. It turns out that he did not have a brain tumor, and he did not die. He kept writing at a furious pace, though, outliving his wife by many years and eventually dying of lung cancer (he was a heavy smoker) in 1993, more than 30 years and 30 books later.
His wrote his most famous book, A Clockwork Orange, in just three weeks. He wrote it in 1962, but it was based on something that happened a couple of decades before, when he was in the army. He was newly married, and his wife was pregnant. One night, while he was at the army base, his wife was mugged by four young U.S. Army deserters in London. After the attack, his wife miscarried their child.
A Clockwork Orange is set in futuristic England and features a teenage anti-hero named Alex who leads his gang of friends on acts of random violence. Originally, the book had 21 chapters. He chose the number carefully, he said, for '21 is symbol of human maturity, or used to be, since at 21 you got to vote and assumed adult responsibility.' But the American publisher didn't like the last chapter, the one where the anti-hero Alex -- as Anthony Burgess himself describes it -- 'grows up and realizes that ultraviolence is a bit of a bore, and it's time he had a wife and a malenky googoogooing malchickiwick to call him dadada. This was meant to be a mature conclusion, but nobody in America has ever liked the idea.'
Burgess was desperate for money, and he didn't really think his book was all that good. He actually thought the American publisher was 'being charitable in accepting the work at all.' So he accepted the cutting of the final chapter for the U.S. edition.
And then Stanley Kubrick bought the film rights, and it was the American version of A Clockwork Orange that he used as a basis for the movie --- the one without the final chapter of Alex's maturation and redemption. Kubrick's movie made Burgess' book a big best-seller. Burgess was grateful that Kubrick made him rich, but was sorry that his book "became known as the raw material for a film that seemed to glorify sex and violence."
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tarwacki murder -- update in S. Bend Tribune / WSBT coverage reporter (Lou Mumford)
www.wsbt.com/
By LOU MUMFORD
Tribune Staff Writer
NILES—Despite rumors fueled by an entry on a Facebook page, the Feb. 5, 2010, slayings of Niles area couple John and Carolyn Tarwacki remain unsolved, a Michigan State Police investigator said Thursday.
"If it's on Facebook, it's got to be true, right?'' said Detective Sgt. Fabian Suarez. "But, no, there have been no arrests, nothing.''
Because police monitor social networking sites like Facebook, they're aware of entries such as the one that spawned rumors that someone is in custody, Suarez said. But accusing someone of a crime is much different than obtaining the necessary evidence to make an arrest, he said.
As for whether police have a suspect in the case, Suarez said he had no comment.
"We're moving ahead. ... I think we're getting closer,'' he said.
The Tarwackis were discovered dead in their home on Carberry Road, just south of Yankee Street and about a quarter mile outside the east Niles city limits, a little more than a year ago. John Tarwacki Sr., of South Bend, the father of John Tarwacki, discovered the crime after he was notified the couple had failed to show up for a business meeting. Both worked in music education for Quinlan & Fabish.
Police said they believe the killer parked his car on Yankee near Carberry shortly after 6:30 a.m. that day, hiked a short distance through a wooded area, jumped a fence to the backyard of the Tarwacki residence and entered through the back door. There was no sign of forced entry.
Suarez said last month police had conducted more than 300 interviews and followed up on nearly 700 tips, managing to eliminate potential suspects but otherwise having little success. He called the case the most difficult in his 22-year career, pointing out the Tarwackis' apparent down-to-earth lifestyle should have kept them out of harm's way.
By LOU MUMFORD
Tribune Staff Writer
NILES—Despite rumors fueled by an entry on a Facebook page, the Feb. 5, 2010, slayings of Niles area couple John and Carolyn Tarwacki remain unsolved, a Michigan State Police investigator said Thursday.
"If it's on Facebook, it's got to be true, right?'' said Detective Sgt. Fabian Suarez. "But, no, there have been no arrests, nothing.''
Because police monitor social networking sites like Facebook, they're aware of entries such as the one that spawned rumors that someone is in custody, Suarez said. But accusing someone of a crime is much different than obtaining the necessary evidence to make an arrest, he said.
As for whether police have a suspect in the case, Suarez said he had no comment.
"We're moving ahead. ... I think we're getting closer,'' he said.
The Tarwackis were discovered dead in their home on Carberry Road, just south of Yankee Street and about a quarter mile outside the east Niles city limits, a little more than a year ago. John Tarwacki Sr., of South Bend, the father of John Tarwacki, discovered the crime after he was notified the couple had failed to show up for a business meeting. Both worked in music education for Quinlan & Fabish.
Police said they believe the killer parked his car on Yankee near Carberry shortly after 6:30 a.m. that day, hiked a short distance through a wooded area, jumped a fence to the backyard of the Tarwacki residence and entered through the back door. There was no sign of forced entry.
Suarez said last month police had conducted more than 300 interviews and followed up on nearly 700 tips, managing to eliminate potential suspects but otherwise having little success. He called the case the most difficult in his 22-year career, pointing out the Tarwackis' apparent down-to-earth lifestyle should have kept them out of harm's way.
Shuttle Discovery reaches orbit -- on way to Space Station (delayed since last fall)
NASA dot-gov -- mission pages / Shuttle
Space shuttle Discovery has reached orbit and is on its way to the International Space Station. "Good to be here," Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey radioed soon after the three main engines shut off and the external fuel tank was jettisoned. The official launch time was 4:53:24 p.m. EST.
The post-launch news conference is expected to begin at about 6 p.m. on NASA TV. The participants will be Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations; Mike Moses, launch integration manager and chairman of the Mission Management Team; and Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Space shuttle Discovery has reached orbit and is on its way to the International Space Station. "Good to be here," Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey radioed soon after the three main engines shut off and the external fuel tank was jettisoned. The official launch time was 4:53:24 p.m. EST.
The post-launch news conference is expected to begin at about 6 p.m. on NASA TV. The participants will be Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations; Mike Moses, launch integration manager and chairman of the Mission Management Team; and Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
What if Lincoln were a Wisconsin State Legislator -- Chicago Tribune blogging columnist E. Zorn
Published online at www.chicagotribune.com/
Events in Wisconsin -- particularly the indignation of Republicans who are now seething at the Democratic state senator's parliamentary trick of running away to avoid a legislative quorum -- prompts me (Eric Zorn )to reprint this passage from Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And other frequently asked questions about Abraham Lincoln by my long-time friend Gerald J. Prokopowicz, history department chairman at East Carolina University and former historical director of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Ft. Wayne, Ind.
In the 1840s. the Whigs’ grandiose plans to build canals and railroads across Illinois were in ruins, victim of the economic downturn that historians call the Panic of 1837.
The Democrats in the state legislature, who had opposed the plan, now had an opportunity to destroy one of the most important elements in the Whig plan for centralized economic development, the State Bank of Illinois.
Previous legislation had specified that the state bank would be required to pay its debts in gold instead of paper money, starting with the end of the next legislative session. The bank did not have nearly enough gold on hand to meet its obligations, so the requirement to pay specie was tantamount to the ruin of the bank.
The Whigs thought that they had until March, 1841, when the regular legislative session normally ended, to find a solution. But the Democrats cleverly moved to adjourn the legislature in December, 1840, which would trigger the bank’s demise, after which they would immediately begin a new session.
There was only one way that Lincoln and his fellow Whigs could find to stop the Democratic majority from passing a motion to adjourn: Don’t show up.
With the Whigs absent, there would be no quorum. The Democratic Speaker sent the sergeant at arms into the streets and saloons of Springfield to round up any nearby Whig legislators, while Lincoln and two comrades sat in the back of the room making sure that their strategy was working.
Whatever satisfaction they felt at having pulled off their parliamentary trick evaporated when the Speaker recognized them as present and announced that a quorum had been met.
Lincoln and his fellow Whig enforcers quickly tried to leave, and, finding the chamber doors locked, resorted to climbing out of a window and dropping to the ground. Their self-defenestration was in vain, however, as the motion to adjourn passed, with the predicted consequences for the state bank. Lincoln was afterward embarrassed by what he had done and did not speak of it.
Events in Wisconsin -- particularly the indignation of Republicans who are now seething at the Democratic state senator's parliamentary trick of running away to avoid a legislative quorum -- prompts me (Eric Zorn )to reprint this passage from Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And other frequently asked questions about Abraham Lincoln by my long-time friend Gerald J. Prokopowicz, history department chairman at East Carolina University and former historical director of the Lincoln Museum in Fort Ft. Wayne, Ind.
In the 1840s. the Whigs’ grandiose plans to build canals and railroads across Illinois were in ruins, victim of the economic downturn that historians call the Panic of 1837.
The Democrats in the state legislature, who had opposed the plan, now had an opportunity to destroy one of the most important elements in the Whig plan for centralized economic development, the State Bank of Illinois.
Previous legislation had specified that the state bank would be required to pay its debts in gold instead of paper money, starting with the end of the next legislative session. The bank did not have nearly enough gold on hand to meet its obligations, so the requirement to pay specie was tantamount to the ruin of the bank.
The Whigs thought that they had until March, 1841, when the regular legislative session normally ended, to find a solution. But the Democrats cleverly moved to adjourn the legislature in December, 1840, which would trigger the bank’s demise, after which they would immediately begin a new session.
There was only one way that Lincoln and his fellow Whigs could find to stop the Democratic majority from passing a motion to adjourn: Don’t show up.
With the Whigs absent, there would be no quorum. The Democratic Speaker sent the sergeant at arms into the streets and saloons of Springfield to round up any nearby Whig legislators, while Lincoln and two comrades sat in the back of the room making sure that their strategy was working.
Whatever satisfaction they felt at having pulled off their parliamentary trick evaporated when the Speaker recognized them as present and announced that a quorum had been met.
Lincoln and his fellow Whig enforcers quickly tried to leave, and, finding the chamber doors locked, resorted to climbing out of a window and dropping to the ground. Their self-defenestration was in vain, however, as the motion to adjourn passed, with the predicted consequences for the state bank. Lincoln was afterward embarrassed by what he had done and did not speak of it.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Juror Summons -- date and time -- 2/22/11
I am serving during the Week of MIDTERM EXAMINATIONS (seventh week of Winter Semester) -- not what I call opportune. Becky is, by the way, doing better with medication and rest from work with her illness: Shingles. Thanks for keeping her in your prayers.
AS A BERRIEN COUNTY resident with a driver's license, my name was "in the juror pool" -- assigned to group 00003
Candidate ID : 0000025877
Status: Confirmed
Pending Request: None
Pool ID : 0001110203
Next Reporting Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Original Summons Date: Monday, February 21, 2011
On-Call: No (See "Next Reporting Date" above and report as indicated)
Court Location: BERRIEN COUNTY TRIAL COURT- St. Joseph
Court Address: 811 Port Street Click here for map & directions
St. Joseph, MI 49085
AS A BERRIEN COUNTY resident with a driver's license, my name was "in the juror pool" -- assigned to group 00003
Candidate ID : 0000025877
Status: Confirmed
Pending Request: None
Pool ID : 0001110203
Next Reporting Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Original Summons Date: Monday, February 21, 2011
On-Call: No (See "Next Reporting Date" above and report as indicated)
Court Location: BERRIEN COUNTY TRIAL COURT- St. Joseph
Court Address: 811 Port Street Click here for map & directions
St. Joseph, MI 49085
Friday, February 18, 2011
Today is the 80th birthday of Toni Morrison!
Today (Feb. 18, 2011) is the 80th birthday of novelist Toni Morrison, born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio (1931). Both of her parents had moved up from the South, seeking a better life. In Lorain, her family moved around a lot, often living in tiny apartments above grocery stores. They didn't live in a black neighborhood so much as a poor one, filled with immigrants from all over the world. Despite the poverty, she said: 'My parents made all of us feel as though there were these rather extraordinary deserving people within us. I felt like an aristocrat -- or what I think an aristocrat is.' Her mother -- Who came from a family of musicians -- sang while she did chores, everything from opera arias to the blues. Her parents told her ghost stories and folklore and stories of life in the South, and they encouraged her to read everything -- she devoured Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, and Leo Tolstoy. And she listened to the radio. She said: 'I was a radio child. You get in the habit of gathering information that way, and imagining the rest. You make it up. It was horrible to see pictures of Hamlet and Cinderella -- it was awful. I hate to see pictures of my characters, good or bad -- although I always compliment the artists.'
She went to Howard University and then to Cornell for graduate school. She got a teaching job at Texas Southern University, and then at Howard, where she met a Jamaican architect named Harold Morrison. They fell in love, got married, and had a son named Ford. She kept teaching part time, but mostly stayed home and cared for her son. Her marriage started to unravel -- she and her husband realized they didn't have much in common. She missed being able to talk about literature with someone. Feeling bored and isolated, she joined a writing group. She brought in some of her more academic work, but then she ran out of that, and it was her turn to bring in a piece. So she wrote a quick draft of a short story about a young black girl who wanted blue eyes. Everyone thought it was great.
When she got divorced, she had a three-year-old son and another on the way. She went home to Lorain for a while, then accepted a job as an editor with a division of Random House. She was working full time and caring for two young sons, but she decided to work on a novel on top of everything else. She said: 'I was in a place where I knew I was not going to be for a long time; I didn't have any friends and didn't make any, didn't want any because I was on my way somewhere else. So I wrote as a thing to do. If I had played the piano, I think I would have done that -- but I didn't have a piano and don't play. So I wrote.' She expanded on the story she had written for her writing group. She said: 'I was quite content to be the only reader. I thought that everything that needed to be written had been written; there was so much. I am not being facetious when I say I wrote The Bluest Eye in order to read it. And I think that is what makes the difference, because I could look at it as a reader, really as a reader, and not as my own work. And then I could say, 'This doesn't make me feel right,' and I could change it. That's what I mean by the distance. People always say that to be a good writer you have to read; that sounds like they're collecting ideas and information. But what it ought to mean is that you have to be able to read what you write critically. And with distance. And surrender to it and know the problems and not get all fraught.'
She published The Bluest Eye in 1970. By the time it was published, she had already started working on her second novel, Sula (1973). She has been writing ever since, and her novels include Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and most recently, A Mercy (2008). She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
A Mercy begins: 'Don't be afraid. My telling can't hurt you in spite of what I have done and I promise to lie quietly in the dark -- weeping perhaps or occasionally seeing the blood once more -- but I will never again unfold my limbs to rise up and bare teeth. I explain. You can think what I tell you a confession, if you like, but one full of curiosities familiar only in dreams and during those moments when a dog's profile plays in the steam of a kettle. Or when a corn-husk doll sitting on a shelf is soon splaying in the corner of a room and the wicked of how it got there is plain. Stranger things happen all the time everywhere. You know. I know you know.'
Toni Morrison said: 'I read all the reviews of my work, collect them in fact. I am very interested in the responses I get to my work, not only because it reflects my own work's reception, but also because it reflects the way in which women's and African-American literature is received and discussed.'
And, 'The Nobel Prize is the best thing that can happen to a writer in terms of how it affects your contracts, the publishers, and the seriousness with which your work is taken. On the other hand, it does interfere with your private life, or it can if you let it, and it has zero effect on the writing. It doesn't help you write better and if you let it, it will intimidate you about future projects. But the downside is very small compared to the upside.'
And, 'My books are always questions for me. What if? How does it feel to ...? Or what would it look like if you took racism out? Or what does it look like if you have the perfect town, everything you ever wanted? And so you ask a question, put it in a time when it would be theatrical to ask, and find the people who can articulate it for you and try to make them interesting. The rest of it is all structure, how to put it together.'
She went to Howard University and then to Cornell for graduate school. She got a teaching job at Texas Southern University, and then at Howard, where she met a Jamaican architect named Harold Morrison. They fell in love, got married, and had a son named Ford. She kept teaching part time, but mostly stayed home and cared for her son. Her marriage started to unravel -- she and her husband realized they didn't have much in common. She missed being able to talk about literature with someone. Feeling bored and isolated, she joined a writing group. She brought in some of her more academic work, but then she ran out of that, and it was her turn to bring in a piece. So she wrote a quick draft of a short story about a young black girl who wanted blue eyes. Everyone thought it was great.
When she got divorced, she had a three-year-old son and another on the way. She went home to Lorain for a while, then accepted a job as an editor with a division of Random House. She was working full time and caring for two young sons, but she decided to work on a novel on top of everything else. She said: 'I was in a place where I knew I was not going to be for a long time; I didn't have any friends and didn't make any, didn't want any because I was on my way somewhere else. So I wrote as a thing to do. If I had played the piano, I think I would have done that -- but I didn't have a piano and don't play. So I wrote.' She expanded on the story she had written for her writing group. She said: 'I was quite content to be the only reader. I thought that everything that needed to be written had been written; there was so much. I am not being facetious when I say I wrote The Bluest Eye in order to read it. And I think that is what makes the difference, because I could look at it as a reader, really as a reader, and not as my own work. And then I could say, 'This doesn't make me feel right,' and I could change it. That's what I mean by the distance. People always say that to be a good writer you have to read; that sounds like they're collecting ideas and information. But what it ought to mean is that you have to be able to read what you write critically. And with distance. And surrender to it and know the problems and not get all fraught.'
She published The Bluest Eye in 1970. By the time it was published, she had already started working on her second novel, Sula (1973). She has been writing ever since, and her novels include Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and most recently, A Mercy (2008). She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
A Mercy begins: 'Don't be afraid. My telling can't hurt you in spite of what I have done and I promise to lie quietly in the dark -- weeping perhaps or occasionally seeing the blood once more -- but I will never again unfold my limbs to rise up and bare teeth. I explain. You can think what I tell you a confession, if you like, but one full of curiosities familiar only in dreams and during those moments when a dog's profile plays in the steam of a kettle. Or when a corn-husk doll sitting on a shelf is soon splaying in the corner of a room and the wicked of how it got there is plain. Stranger things happen all the time everywhere. You know. I know you know.'
Toni Morrison said: 'I read all the reviews of my work, collect them in fact. I am very interested in the responses I get to my work, not only because it reflects my own work's reception, but also because it reflects the way in which women's and African-American literature is received and discussed.'
And, 'The Nobel Prize is the best thing that can happen to a writer in terms of how it affects your contracts, the publishers, and the seriousness with which your work is taken. On the other hand, it does interfere with your private life, or it can if you let it, and it has zero effect on the writing. It doesn't help you write better and if you let it, it will intimidate you about future projects. But the downside is very small compared to the upside.'
And, 'My books are always questions for me. What if? How does it feel to ...? Or what would it look like if you took racism out? Or what does it look like if you have the perfect town, everything you ever wanted? And so you ask a question, put it in a time when it would be theatrical to ask, and find the people who can articulate it for you and try to make them interesting. The rest of it is all structure, how to put it together.'
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Shingles - diagnosis and treatment
from www.shingles.org/ help website
Shingles is an infection caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same infection that causes chicken pox. The main difference, however, is that shingles generally erupts in a band on one side of the body, rather than all over your body. It is important to see your doctor as soon as possible if you think you may have shingles.
The goals of treatment for shingles are to:
Shorten the duration of the eruptive stage or rash
Speed up healing of the lesions
Relieve patient discomfort
Shorten the duration of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)
Shingles is usually treated with:
Prescription oral antiviral drugs to reduce the duration of the infection
Prescription and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce inflammation
Prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers and prescription antidepressants to help with the pain.
The duration of shingles can be significantly reduced for many people with the use of oral prescription antiviral medications. It is important to go to the doctor as soon as you suspect you may have shingles. Shingles should be diagnosed and treated early (within 72 hours, or 3 days) after the rash appears. Oral antiviral medications like FAMVIR® (famciclovir) are used to treat shingles.
Shingles is an infection caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same infection that causes chicken pox. The main difference, however, is that shingles generally erupts in a band on one side of the body, rather than all over your body. It is important to see your doctor as soon as possible if you think you may have shingles.
The goals of treatment for shingles are to:
Shorten the duration of the eruptive stage or rash
Speed up healing of the lesions
Relieve patient discomfort
Shorten the duration of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)
Shingles is usually treated with:
Prescription oral antiviral drugs to reduce the duration of the infection
Prescription and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce inflammation
Prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers and prescription antidepressants to help with the pain.
The duration of shingles can be significantly reduced for many people with the use of oral prescription antiviral medications. It is important to go to the doctor as soon as you suspect you may have shingles. Shingles should be diagnosed and treated early (within 72 hours, or 3 days) after the rash appears. Oral antiviral medications like FAMVIR® (famciclovir) are used to treat shingles.
Praise to Westminster Dog Show ; same-old as far as Grammy Ceremony (Meghan Daum column)
Meghan Daum is an arts-cultural beat columnist for the LA Times =
It's been a big week for glittery, over-the-top and slightly perplexing contests. First the Grammy Awards ceremony, with its requisite preening and prancing and bizarre outfits, then two evenings of the Westminster dog show, which offered more of the same.
Not that the Leonberger or Finnish spitz showed up in a giant egg, as Lady Gaga did Sunday night. Nor did fans of the bearded collie, which was among the runners-up for best in show, take to defacing the Wikipedia page of the night's big winner, the Scottish deerhound, as Justin Bieber's fans did to the Esperanza Spalding page when she beat him for best new artist.
Still, the two events, which tend to fall within a few weeks of each other every year, have always shared some key traits. There are, for starters, the exotic names. Consider the following (those under 25 not eligible for this challenge): Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon, Lamb of God, Casablanca's Thrilling Seduction, Swizz Beatz, Fireside's Spontaneous Combustion. Which are humans with an Auto-Tune machine and a dream, and which are high-achieving canines? Before I began this column I couldn't have told you. In fact, I'm still not sure.
Then there are the hairstyles. Red-haired singer Florence Welch sported her shaggy/wavy do, Lady Gaga wore a side ponytail that brought to mind a lopsided unicorn, and rapper Nicki Minaj had a leopard-print dye job under what can only be described as a massive white pouf of fiberglass insulation accented with a streak of black. As unique as these looks seem at first glance, they're merely knockoffs of the preferred coiffures of the Irish setter, the briard and the bichon frise.
The two events part ways, however, when it comes to judging standards. As with most big pop culture competitions, the Grammy Awards tend to reflect some nebulous combination of big sales and artistic merit, though the fact that past winners have included the elevator-ish likes of Kenny G, not to mention the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli, suggest that artistry has always been a rather fluid concept.
The dog show, on the other hand, has standards that are almost crudely transparent. Sure, the judges bring their own tastes and biases to the ring, but their task would appear to be as much a science as an art. Dogs are evaluated on, among other things, the size of their heads, the width of their shoulders, their gait, the arch of their tails and their overall body proportions. The standards can be specific down to fractions of an inch: the Ibizan hound must be 22 1/2 inches to 27 1/2 inches at the shoulder, for instance. And you thought being in a beauty pageant contestant was hard.
Speaking of which, dog shows are often equated (disparagingly) with beauty pageants, the idea being that it's just as shallow to favor dogs that conform to standards as it is to glorify women who fall within a relatively narrow range of body types, facial features and, arguably, personalities. It also bears mentioning that with millions of adoptable animals in shelters or on the street there's something vulgar about celebrating dogs bred for head size and height at the withers.
But there's also something kind of great about it, no matter how arbitrary or even silly the standards sound to the layperson. Because, let's face it, standards are rare these days. We're obsessed with contests, with survivors and competing bachelorettes and wannabe chefs, but we're a little fuzzy on what makes a winner. Is it raw talent? Is it originality? It is that intangible thing called star quality? Can any of these things really be accurately assessed anyway?
When you think about it, most of our opinions come down to the old "American Bandstand" school of criticism: "It has a good beat; I can dance to it." Beauty pageants, which are fundamentally about breast-to-waist-to-hip ratio, try to maintain the pretense that they're not quite as superficial as all that, hence the scholarship programs and the interview portion of the contest. The Grammys purport to represent the best of the recording industry, as judged by the recording industry.
But dogs don't vote each other on or off the island. They don't have to answer questions about world peace. They don't even have to wear swimsuits. All they have to do, quite literally, is measure up. And we really don't see enough of that these days.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum-westminster-20110217,0,2687133,print.column
It's been a big week for glittery, over-the-top and slightly perplexing contests. First the Grammy Awards ceremony, with its requisite preening and prancing and bizarre outfits, then two evenings of the Westminster dog show, which offered more of the same.
Not that the Leonberger or Finnish spitz showed up in a giant egg, as Lady Gaga did Sunday night. Nor did fans of the bearded collie, which was among the runners-up for best in show, take to defacing the Wikipedia page of the night's big winner, the Scottish deerhound, as Justin Bieber's fans did to the Esperanza Spalding page when she beat him for best new artist.
Still, the two events, which tend to fall within a few weeks of each other every year, have always shared some key traits. There are, for starters, the exotic names. Consider the following (those under 25 not eligible for this challenge): Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon, Lamb of God, Casablanca's Thrilling Seduction, Swizz Beatz, Fireside's Spontaneous Combustion. Which are humans with an Auto-Tune machine and a dream, and which are high-achieving canines? Before I began this column I couldn't have told you. In fact, I'm still not sure.
Then there are the hairstyles. Red-haired singer Florence Welch sported her shaggy/wavy do, Lady Gaga wore a side ponytail that brought to mind a lopsided unicorn, and rapper Nicki Minaj had a leopard-print dye job under what can only be described as a massive white pouf of fiberglass insulation accented with a streak of black. As unique as these looks seem at first glance, they're merely knockoffs of the preferred coiffures of the Irish setter, the briard and the bichon frise.
The two events part ways, however, when it comes to judging standards. As with most big pop culture competitions, the Grammy Awards tend to reflect some nebulous combination of big sales and artistic merit, though the fact that past winners have included the elevator-ish likes of Kenny G, not to mention the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli, suggest that artistry has always been a rather fluid concept.
The dog show, on the other hand, has standards that are almost crudely transparent. Sure, the judges bring their own tastes and biases to the ring, but their task would appear to be as much a science as an art. Dogs are evaluated on, among other things, the size of their heads, the width of their shoulders, their gait, the arch of their tails and their overall body proportions. The standards can be specific down to fractions of an inch: the Ibizan hound must be 22 1/2 inches to 27 1/2 inches at the shoulder, for instance. And you thought being in a beauty pageant contestant was hard.
Speaking of which, dog shows are often equated (disparagingly) with beauty pageants, the idea being that it's just as shallow to favor dogs that conform to standards as it is to glorify women who fall within a relatively narrow range of body types, facial features and, arguably, personalities. It also bears mentioning that with millions of adoptable animals in shelters or on the street there's something vulgar about celebrating dogs bred for head size and height at the withers.
But there's also something kind of great about it, no matter how arbitrary or even silly the standards sound to the layperson. Because, let's face it, standards are rare these days. We're obsessed with contests, with survivors and competing bachelorettes and wannabe chefs, but we're a little fuzzy on what makes a winner. Is it raw talent? Is it originality? It is that intangible thing called star quality? Can any of these things really be accurately assessed anyway?
When you think about it, most of our opinions come down to the old "American Bandstand" school of criticism: "It has a good beat; I can dance to it." Beauty pageants, which are fundamentally about breast-to-waist-to-hip ratio, try to maintain the pretense that they're not quite as superficial as all that, hence the scholarship programs and the interview portion of the contest. The Grammys purport to represent the best of the recording industry, as judged by the recording industry.
But dogs don't vote each other on or off the island. They don't have to answer questions about world peace. They don't even have to wear swimsuits. All they have to do, quite literally, is measure up. And we really don't see enough of that these days.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum-westminster-20110217,0,2687133,print.column
Monday, February 14, 2011
Today is Valentines Day (but who is Valentine himself)?
from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac for today (2/14/11):
Today is Valentine's Day.
Everyone agrees that Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr named St. Valentine. The problem is, there are at least three St. Valentines, all of them martyrs, and not much is known about any of them. One St. Valentine -- Valentine of Terni, from the second century A.D. -- was a bishop, and he was martyred in Rome, but that's all we know. According to legend, another St. Valentine -- Valentine of Rome -- bravely disobeyed the Roman Emperor Claudius II, who had forbidden young men from getting married because he thought unmarried men made better soldiers. Valentine married people anyway, and he was executed on this day in the year 270 A.D. At some point, it was claimed that both of these saints were martyred on February 14th, but there is no reason to think that it is true in either case.
Today is Valentine's Day.
Everyone agrees that Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr named St. Valentine. The problem is, there are at least three St. Valentines, all of them martyrs, and not much is known about any of them. One St. Valentine -- Valentine of Terni, from the second century A.D. -- was a bishop, and he was martyred in Rome, but that's all we know. According to legend, another St. Valentine -- Valentine of Rome -- bravely disobeyed the Roman Emperor Claudius II, who had forbidden young men from getting married because he thought unmarried men made better soldiers. Valentine married people anyway, and he was executed on this day in the year 270 A.D. At some point, it was claimed that both of these saints were martyred on February 14th, but there is no reason to think that it is true in either case.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Two who changed the world: Lincoln & Darwin (born Feb. 12, 1809)
from Writer's Almanac (Garrison Keillor list serv):
Saturday, Feb. 12 is the birthday of two men who were born on exactly the same day in 1809: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was born on this day near Hodgenville, Kentucky (1809). Though he's generally considered possibly the greatest president in our country's history, fairly little is known about his early life. Unlike most presidents, he never wrote any memoirs. We know that he was born in a log cabin and had barely a year of traditional schooling. His mother died when he was nine, and he spent much of his adolescence working with an ax. But when he was in his early 20s, Lincoln apparently decided to make himself into a respectable man. Residents of the town of New Salem, Illinois, said that they remembered Lincoln just appearing in their town one day. People remembered him because he was one of the tallest people anyone had ever seen, about 6 feet 4 inches, and the pants that he wore were so short that they didn't even cover his ankles.
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England (1809). On the famous voyage to the southern tip of South America when he was only 22, Darwin brought with him a book called Principles of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell, which suggested that the earth was millions of years old. And along the journey, Darwin got a chance to explore the Galapagos Islands. These islands were spaced far enough apart that the animals on them had evolved over time into different species. It took him a long time to publish his findings, mainly because he was afraid of being attacked as an atheist. But about 20 years after he first came up with the idea, he published his book On the Origin of Species (1859).
Saturday, Feb. 12 is the birthday of two men who were born on exactly the same day in 1809: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was born on this day near Hodgenville, Kentucky (1809). Though he's generally considered possibly the greatest president in our country's history, fairly little is known about his early life. Unlike most presidents, he never wrote any memoirs. We know that he was born in a log cabin and had barely a year of traditional schooling. His mother died when he was nine, and he spent much of his adolescence working with an ax. But when he was in his early 20s, Lincoln apparently decided to make himself into a respectable man. Residents of the town of New Salem, Illinois, said that they remembered Lincoln just appearing in their town one day. People remembered him because he was one of the tallest people anyone had ever seen, about 6 feet 4 inches, and the pants that he wore were so short that they didn't even cover his ankles.
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England (1809). On the famous voyage to the southern tip of South America when he was only 22, Darwin brought with him a book called Principles of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell, which suggested that the earth was millions of years old. And along the journey, Darwin got a chance to explore the Galapagos Islands. These islands were spaced far enough apart that the animals on them had evolved over time into different species. It took him a long time to publish his findings, mainly because he was afraid of being attacked as an atheist. But about 20 years after he first came up with the idea, he published his book On the Origin of Species (1859).
Egyptian Military Government -- breaking news (9 a.m. Sunday U.S. time)
CAIRO -- Egypt's military leaders dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution on Sunday, meeting two key demands of protesters who have been keeping up pressure for immediate steps to push forward the transition to democratic, civilian rule after forcing Hosni Mubarak out of power.
In their latest communique, the military rulers that took over when Mubarak stepped down Friday, said they will run the country for six months, or until presidential and parliament elections can be held.
The military leaders said they were forming a committee to amend the constitution and set the rules for popular referendum to endorse the amendments.
Both the lower and upper houses of parliament are being dissolved. The last parliamentary elections in November and December were heavily rigged by the ruling party, virtually shutting out any opposition representation.
The caretaker Cabinet, which was appointed by Mubarak shortly after the mass pro-democracy protests began on Jan. 25, will remain in place until a new Cabinet in formed - a step that is not expected to happen until after elections.
The ruling military council reiterated that it would abide by all of Egypt's international treaties agreed in the Mubarak era, most importantly the peace treaty with Israel.
www.washingtonpost.com/
In their latest communique, the military rulers that took over when Mubarak stepped down Friday, said they will run the country for six months, or until presidential and parliament elections can be held.
The military leaders said they were forming a committee to amend the constitution and set the rules for popular referendum to endorse the amendments.
Both the lower and upper houses of parliament are being dissolved. The last parliamentary elections in November and December were heavily rigged by the ruling party, virtually shutting out any opposition representation.
The caretaker Cabinet, which was appointed by Mubarak shortly after the mass pro-democracy protests began on Jan. 25, will remain in place until a new Cabinet in formed - a step that is not expected to happen until after elections.
The ruling military council reiterated that it would abide by all of Egypt's international treaties agreed in the Mubarak era, most importantly the peace treaty with Israel.
www.washingtonpost.com/
Today - Lincoln's Birthday Celebration at Springfield, IL Church
from http://lincolnschurch.org/
Lincoln's Birthday Worship Celebration
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Featured guest speaker — Dr. Stewart Winger, Associate Professor of History, Illinois State University
Program and Continental Breakfast
"Niagara, Gettysburg, and Lincoln’s Poetic Reclamation of the Bible and Christian Thought"
8:30 a.m.
in Cook Lounge
Worship Celebration
"Sin and Confession in Lincoln"
10:30 a.m.
in the Sanctuary
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and Historian Mark Noll have both claimed that of all the religious voices who attempted to come to terms with the cataclysmic American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s was by far the deepest and the most theologically profound, in spite of the fact that Lincoln was not, by the standards of the day, an orthodox, conventional, “technical” Christian. Why? Both Niebuhr and Noll struggled to explain this paradox. But could it be that because Lincoln did not read the Bible literally, he was for that very reason more open to its power?
Perhaps we can learn from Lincoln. As Christians, we should consider whether our literal-mindedness just might prevent us from finding a richer and deeper involvement with our tradition. The annual Lincoln’s Birthday worship celebration at First Presbyterian Church, held Sunday, February 13, will offer the community the chance to explore these questions further.
Lincoln's Birthday Worship Celebration
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Featured guest speaker — Dr. Stewart Winger, Associate Professor of History, Illinois State University
Program and Continental Breakfast
"Niagara, Gettysburg, and Lincoln’s Poetic Reclamation of the Bible and Christian Thought"
8:30 a.m.
in Cook Lounge
Worship Celebration
"Sin and Confession in Lincoln"
10:30 a.m.
in the Sanctuary
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and Historian Mark Noll have both claimed that of all the religious voices who attempted to come to terms with the cataclysmic American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s was by far the deepest and the most theologically profound, in spite of the fact that Lincoln was not, by the standards of the day, an orthodox, conventional, “technical” Christian. Why? Both Niebuhr and Noll struggled to explain this paradox. But could it be that because Lincoln did not read the Bible literally, he was for that very reason more open to its power?
Perhaps we can learn from Lincoln. As Christians, we should consider whether our literal-mindedness just might prevent us from finding a richer and deeper involvement with our tradition. The annual Lincoln’s Birthday worship celebration at First Presbyterian Church, held Sunday, February 13, will offer the community the chance to explore these questions further.
Friday, February 11, 2011
This day in history: Birthday of Thomas Alva Edison
from Minnesota Public Radio (Garrison Keillor):
Today (Feb. 11, 2011) is the birthday of Thomas Alva Edison, born in Milan, Ohio (1847). He eventually amassed 1,093 patents, the most patents ever issued to a single person in American history. Among his greatest inventions: the phonograph, the light bulb, and the movie camera.
Today (Feb. 11, 2011) is the birthday of Thomas Alva Edison, born in Milan, Ohio (1847). He eventually amassed 1,093 patents, the most patents ever issued to a single person in American history. Among his greatest inventions: the phonograph, the light bulb, and the movie camera.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Today in history (born in 1812): Charles Dickens
from Writer's Almanac (Garrison Keillor for daily list serv):
It's the birthday of Charles Dickens, born in Portsmouth, England (1812), who had a relatively happy childhood until his father's debts sent the Dickens family into poverty. At the age of 12, Charles was pulled out of school and had to work in a factory pasting the labels onto shoe polish, while his younger siblings lived with his parents in debtors' prison. In some of his most famous novels, Oliver Twist (1837–38), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), and A Christmas Carol (1843), he revealed the plight of England's poor. After he became one of the most famous men in England, Dickens used his wealth and influence to convince the upper classes to give to the poor. He was also opposed to capital punishment and worked internationally for prison reform, helped set up a halfway house for former prostitutes, and promoted public education and better sanitation systems throughout England.
It's the birthday of Charles Dickens, born in Portsmouth, England (1812), who had a relatively happy childhood until his father's debts sent the Dickens family into poverty. At the age of 12, Charles was pulled out of school and had to work in a factory pasting the labels onto shoe polish, while his younger siblings lived with his parents in debtors' prison. In some of his most famous novels, Oliver Twist (1837–38), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), and A Christmas Carol (1843), he revealed the plight of England's poor. After he became one of the most famous men in England, Dickens used his wealth and influence to convince the upper classes to give to the poor. He was also opposed to capital punishment and worked internationally for prison reform, helped set up a halfway house for former prostitutes, and promoted public education and better sanitation systems throughout England.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
25 years ago in Political History: Feb. 4, 1986 -- SOTU (Reagan)
This Day In Political History: President Reagan delivers his State of the Union address, which was originally scheduled for Jan. 28 but postponed because of the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle. The speech, Reagan's fifth SOTU, is credited for a good delivery and an affirmation of values but criticized by members of both parties for lacking specifics or offering new proposals (Feb. 4, 1986).
from Reagan2020us.com website
Confident in our future and secure in our values, Americans are striving forward to embrace the future. We see it not only in our recovery but in three straight years of falling crime rates, as families and communities band together to fight pornography, drugs, and lawlessness and to give back to their children the safe and, yes, innocent childhood they deserve. We see it in the renaissance in education, the rising SAT scores for three years - last year's increase, the greatest since 1963. It wasn't government and Washington lobbies that turned education around; it was the American people who, in reaching for excellence, knew to reach back to basics. We must continue the advance by supporting discipline in our schools, vouchers that give parents freedom of choice; and we must give back to our children their lost right to acknowledge God in their classrooms.
http://reagan2020.us/speeches/state_of_the_union_1986.asp
from Reagan2020us.com website
Confident in our future and secure in our values, Americans are striving forward to embrace the future. We see it not only in our recovery but in three straight years of falling crime rates, as families and communities band together to fight pornography, drugs, and lawlessness and to give back to their children the safe and, yes, innocent childhood they deserve. We see it in the renaissance in education, the rising SAT scores for three years - last year's increase, the greatest since 1963. It wasn't government and Washington lobbies that turned education around; it was the American people who, in reaching for excellence, knew to reach back to basics. We must continue the advance by supporting discipline in our schools, vouchers that give parents freedom of choice; and we must give back to our children their lost right to acknowledge God in their classrooms.
http://reagan2020.us/speeches/state_of_the_union_1986.asp
Michael Olgren - Emergency Room perspective on Super Bowl - heart attack warnings/prevention
from Michigan Live! (http://www.mlive.com/) - posted online Saturday 2/5/2011
Football fans getting ready for Super Bowl parties might want to put heart meds on their shopping lists. Practicing stress reduction techniques might not hurt, either.
A recent study effectively added the big game to the List of Things We Like That Are Bad For Us.
How bad?
Researchers found a spike in cardiac deaths after the Los Angeles Rams lost a particularly intense game in 1980.
Local doctors who were asked about the findings were quick to reassure fans that they can still enjoy the Super Bowl. But they were also eager to use the study as a teaching moment — to encourage people to take care of their hearts.
The study published Monday in the journal Clinical Cardiology was done by Los Angeles-area researchers led by Dr. Robert Kloner, of the Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital and USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
Analyzing cardiac deaths after the 1980 Super Bowl, they found:
• A 15 percent increase for men
• A 27 percent increase for women
• A 22 percent increase for people older than 65.
They did not, however, find an increase in deaths after the L.A. Raiders won the Super Bowl in a less thrilling game in 1984.
Dr. Michael Olgren, medical director of the emergency department at Saint Mary's Health Care, gives advice on how to maintain a healthy heart during the Super Bowl.
There are many possible reasons for the increase in deaths, and one is emotional stress, said Dr. Michael Olgren, medical director of emergency services at Saint Mary’s Health Care.
“It’s hard to say for sure if someone’s heart attack is caused by stress, but I have had patients who had stressful events and ended up having a heart attack,” he said.
Studies have shown increases in heart attacks following high-stress events, including bombings in the Middle East, earthquakes and other natural disasters — and the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany, said Dr. Mike Vredenburg, a cardiologist with West Michigan Heart.
The adrenaline rush from emotional events — good and bad — can be hazardous to the heart, he added.
“Either side of the ball, there could be a risk.”
There is also the issue of Super Bowl snacks. Gobbling high-fat food (think cheesy nachos, ribs, wings) can cause spasms in the arteries, the doctors said. And overdosing on salty foods can cause people who have congestive heart failure to retain water — which could lead to breathing problems.
Skipping heart or blood pressure medication could also be a factor, Olgren said. If you go to someone else’s house to watch the game, don’t forget to pack your meds, he said.
Some people who have a heart condition might not realize it until they have a heart attack — and that’s another issue altogether, Vredenburg said. He encouraged people to see a family doctor on a regular basis, to exercise regularly, to avoid fatty foods and not to smoke.
“It’s a whole constellation of things that go together that cause an event,” he said.
The higher death rate for women surprised the researchers who conducted the study. They speculated that, in addition to being upset about the game, the women might be stressed by dealing with the unhappy men in their lives.
“While this is just one study, it does illustrate a key message from the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women program (which was held Friday),” said Cindy Bouma, a spokeswoman for the association’s Midwest Affiliate.
“For many years, researchers assumed that studies done with one gender would apply to both. We’re now learning that men and women can react differently to cardiac events. For example, a women may have heart attack symptoms that are more subtle than a man, including pain along the jaw line.
“Do they have different triggers as well? Possibly.”
Olgren said he won’t be rooting for the Packers or the Steelers on Sunday. He’s a Lions fan (which might carry its own heart risks). But he said even ardent fans should be able to use common sense when watching the game. ”I don’t think that takes the fun out of it,” he said. “Go ahead and enjoy the Super Bowl. Take your medication and don’t go way overboard on eating.”
Football fans getting ready for Super Bowl parties might want to put heart meds on their shopping lists. Practicing stress reduction techniques might not hurt, either.
A recent study effectively added the big game to the List of Things We Like That Are Bad For Us.
How bad?
Researchers found a spike in cardiac deaths after the Los Angeles Rams lost a particularly intense game in 1980.
Local doctors who were asked about the findings were quick to reassure fans that they can still enjoy the Super Bowl. But they were also eager to use the study as a teaching moment — to encourage people to take care of their hearts.
The study published Monday in the journal Clinical Cardiology was done by Los Angeles-area researchers led by Dr. Robert Kloner, of the Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital and USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
Analyzing cardiac deaths after the 1980 Super Bowl, they found:
• A 15 percent increase for men
• A 27 percent increase for women
• A 22 percent increase for people older than 65.
They did not, however, find an increase in deaths after the L.A. Raiders won the Super Bowl in a less thrilling game in 1984.
Dr. Michael Olgren, medical director of the emergency department at Saint Mary's Health Care, gives advice on how to maintain a healthy heart during the Super Bowl.
There are many possible reasons for the increase in deaths, and one is emotional stress, said Dr. Michael Olgren, medical director of emergency services at Saint Mary’s Health Care.
“It’s hard to say for sure if someone’s heart attack is caused by stress, but I have had patients who had stressful events and ended up having a heart attack,” he said.
Studies have shown increases in heart attacks following high-stress events, including bombings in the Middle East, earthquakes and other natural disasters — and the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany, said Dr. Mike Vredenburg, a cardiologist with West Michigan Heart.
The adrenaline rush from emotional events — good and bad — can be hazardous to the heart, he added.
“Either side of the ball, there could be a risk.”
There is also the issue of Super Bowl snacks. Gobbling high-fat food (think cheesy nachos, ribs, wings) can cause spasms in the arteries, the doctors said. And overdosing on salty foods can cause people who have congestive heart failure to retain water — which could lead to breathing problems.
Skipping heart or blood pressure medication could also be a factor, Olgren said. If you go to someone else’s house to watch the game, don’t forget to pack your meds, he said.
Some people who have a heart condition might not realize it until they have a heart attack — and that’s another issue altogether, Vredenburg said. He encouraged people to see a family doctor on a regular basis, to exercise regularly, to avoid fatty foods and not to smoke.
“It’s a whole constellation of things that go together that cause an event,” he said.
The higher death rate for women surprised the researchers who conducted the study. They speculated that, in addition to being upset about the game, the women might be stressed by dealing with the unhappy men in their lives.
“While this is just one study, it does illustrate a key message from the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women program (which was held Friday),” said Cindy Bouma, a spokeswoman for the association’s Midwest Affiliate.
“For many years, researchers assumed that studies done with one gender would apply to both. We’re now learning that men and women can react differently to cardiac events. For example, a women may have heart attack symptoms that are more subtle than a man, including pain along the jaw line.
“Do they have different triggers as well? Possibly.”
Olgren said he won’t be rooting for the Packers or the Steelers on Sunday. He’s a Lions fan (which might carry its own heart risks). But he said even ardent fans should be able to use common sense when watching the game. ”I don’t think that takes the fun out of it,” he said. “Go ahead and enjoy the Super Bowl. Take your medication and don’t go way overboard on eating.”
Friday, February 4, 2011
Obama Super Bowl suggestions - Cake recipe (Weekend of Feb. 6, 2011)
from Obama-Food-o-rama (Google blog here at blogger)
Obama Family Chili, Turkey Lasagna, Baked Chicken, the President Obama Burger and the Michelle Melt...and a new recipe for White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be serving "Super Bowl foods" on Sunday, according to a White House aide, when they host a party for America's biggest football event, which matches the Green Bay Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The guest list for the President and First Lady's Super Bowl party includes a bipartisan gang of lawmakers, a few Cabinet Secretaries, White House staffers, Presidential Pals, and the glam singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and her husband, singer Marc Anthony. But let's talk about *your* Super Bowl party.
There are plenty of White House recipes that would be swell if you're hosting a big crowd. President Obama's own Obama Family Chili recipe is delish, and easy. It can be served over rice, or elbow macaroni--and don't forget the hot sauce, the President's favorite condiment. A big pan of Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford's Turkey Lasagna with spinach is ideal for a crowd, too. And if you have kids who love "chicken fingers," try Assistant Chef Sam Kass' Baked Chicken strips--and your kids will never eat the unhealthy fried stuff again. If you're firing up the grill, frequent White House guest chef Spike Mendelsohn of DC's Good Stuff Eatery has created the President Obama Burger and the Michelle Melt, two delicious sandwich options. White House Zucchini Quesadillas are a good choice for finger foods, if you make multiple batches and slice 'em up.
For a sweet ending, the recipe for White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake, created by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses is perfect for a Super Bowl party. If your team wins, it's a victory cake, and if your team loses, well, there's no better way to forget the bitter taste of defeat than with a nice slice of cake. Plus, the cranberries are a good symbol for the bloody battle that football stands in for in American culture, aren't they? Yosses' cake is fairly easy to make, and the tartness of the cranberries is balanced by the sweetness of the caramel. The recipe takes about an hour and a half from start to finish, and Yosses suggests serving it warm or at room temperature. Check the sidebar of the blog for more of Yosses' delights.
White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
Topping
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cake
5 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 10-inch cake pan (or 10-inch springform pan) with cooking spray. (If using a springform pan, place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any caramel that may leak out.)
To make the topping:
1. Melt butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture is bubbling and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan as you stir, about 5 minutes. Pour into the prepared cake pan and swirl the pan to distribute the mixture evenly.
2. Pour cranberries and walnuts, if using, into the caramel, and spread evenly. Set aside.
To make the cake:
1. Beat egg yolks, orange juice concentrate and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add half the sugar. Beat until thick and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl with clean beaters on medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add the rest of the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Sift flour and baking powder over the egg yolk mixture; fold in until just combined. Fold in the egg whites until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
4. Pour the batter over the cranberries and brown-sugar caramel in the cake pan. Tap the pan lightly to remove air pockets.
5. Bake about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
*Serves 8-10, depending on size of slices.
Obama Family Chili, Turkey Lasagna, Baked Chicken, the President Obama Burger and the Michelle Melt...and a new recipe for White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be serving "Super Bowl foods" on Sunday, according to a White House aide, when they host a party for America's biggest football event, which matches the Green Bay Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The guest list for the President and First Lady's Super Bowl party includes a bipartisan gang of lawmakers, a few Cabinet Secretaries, White House staffers, Presidential Pals, and the glam singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and her husband, singer Marc Anthony. But let's talk about *your* Super Bowl party.
There are plenty of White House recipes that would be swell if you're hosting a big crowd. President Obama's own Obama Family Chili recipe is delish, and easy. It can be served over rice, or elbow macaroni--and don't forget the hot sauce, the President's favorite condiment. A big pan of Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford's Turkey Lasagna with spinach is ideal for a crowd, too. And if you have kids who love "chicken fingers," try Assistant Chef Sam Kass' Baked Chicken strips--and your kids will never eat the unhealthy fried stuff again. If you're firing up the grill, frequent White House guest chef Spike Mendelsohn of DC's Good Stuff Eatery has created the President Obama Burger and the Michelle Melt, two delicious sandwich options. White House Zucchini Quesadillas are a good choice for finger foods, if you make multiple batches and slice 'em up.
For a sweet ending, the recipe for White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake, created by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses is perfect for a Super Bowl party. If your team wins, it's a victory cake, and if your team loses, well, there's no better way to forget the bitter taste of defeat than with a nice slice of cake. Plus, the cranberries are a good symbol for the bloody battle that football stands in for in American culture, aren't they? Yosses' cake is fairly easy to make, and the tartness of the cranberries is balanced by the sweetness of the caramel. The recipe takes about an hour and a half from start to finish, and Yosses suggests serving it warm or at room temperature. Check the sidebar of the blog for more of Yosses' delights.
White House Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
Topping
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cake
5 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 10-inch cake pan (or 10-inch springform pan) with cooking spray. (If using a springform pan, place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any caramel that may leak out.)
To make the topping:
1. Melt butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture is bubbling and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan as you stir, about 5 minutes. Pour into the prepared cake pan and swirl the pan to distribute the mixture evenly.
2. Pour cranberries and walnuts, if using, into the caramel, and spread evenly. Set aside.
To make the cake:
1. Beat egg yolks, orange juice concentrate and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add half the sugar. Beat until thick and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl with clean beaters on medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add the rest of the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Sift flour and baking powder over the egg yolk mixture; fold in until just combined. Fold in the egg whites until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
4. Pour the batter over the cranberries and brown-sugar caramel in the cake pan. Tap the pan lightly to remove air pockets.
5. Bake about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
*Serves 8-10, depending on size of slices.
On this date in history (1906) -- birthday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
from Writer's Almanac (a list serv from Minnesota Public Radio: Garrison Keillor) --
It's the birthday of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, born in Breslau, Germany (1906). He was a star student who earned his doctorate in theology when he was just 21. In 1930, he went to New York City to study at Union Theological Seminary. He didn't think much of the school, but he loved the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where he taught Sunday school, learned gospel music, and started to think about the role of social justice in Christianity.
He went back to Germany, and he was ordained in 1931, when he was 25 years old. But a couple of years later, Hitler rose to power, which caused a huge rift in the German Evangelical Church. The big debate was not about Hitler's racist policies toward Jewish people, per se, but whether the Church should continue to convert and baptize Jewish people. Everything about the history of Christianity pointed towards 'yes' -- proselytizing, converting, and baptizing were central to the religion. But a group of hard-core Nazi followers within the German Evangelical Church decreed that only Aryan people should be welcomed into the church, no matter what. Bonhoeffer opposed the pro-Nazi contingent within the Church, and he was outspoken in his opposition to the Nazis and Hitler especially. Two days after Hitler was inaugurated as the chancellor, Bonhoeffer -- who was then 26 years old -- got on national radio and gave a speech about the danger of following any leader who demanded a cult-like following, saying that such a leader could easily become a 'misleader.' The German authorities cut him off during his speech.
From then on, he worked tirelessly to oppose the Nazi regime. He wrote essays and gave lectures about the obligation of the Church to fight social injustice and to fight for non-Christians as well as Christians. He worked to publicize the truth about what was happening under the Nazis, sending updates to his friends and contacts outside of Germany, because he was afraid that the international community would believe the propaganda by powerful Nazi supporters in the German Evangelical Church. In 1933, he turned down a position in Berlin in protest because only Aryan pastors were allowed to serve. He had succeeded in forming a splinter group within the Church called the 'Confessing Church,' which was opposed to the Nazi regime, but slowly more and more of his friends within the Confessing Church cowed to Hitler's influence.
Frustrated and lonely, he accepted a position in London. He returned to Germany two years later, in 1935, but his work was becoming increasingly difficult. He was banned from Berlin and from any public speaking. He trained young, radical pastors in secret. After the widespread violence and burning of synagogues in November of 1938, known as Kristallnacht, some Christians maintained that this was the curse of the Jewish people, since they were responsible for Jesus' execution. Bonhoeffer had no patience with that argument. He said that the Nazis were simply evil and that Christianity had no place in their doctrine.
By 1939, the situation had gotten so dire, and Bonhoeffer's opportunities were so limited, that he decided to leave Germany and come to the United States, where he had been offered a position at Union Seminary. As soon as he got there, he changed his mind, convinced that he was being a coward. He went back to Germany and started working as a double agent. On the surface he was working for German Military Intelligence, for the Abwehr, the rival to the Schutzstaffel (or SS). In reality, Bonhoeffer was spreading information about the German Resistance, as were many other members of the Abwehr, including its leader. Despite a lifetime of pacifism, Bonhoeffer finally joined in the attempt to assassinate Hitler, convinced it was the only option. He was arrested in 1943 on much smaller charges of misusing his position as an intelligence agent. He was in prison for 18 months, where he continued to write, and his writings were smuggled out of prison and later published as Letters and Papers from Prison.
In 1944, after an attempt to assassinate Hitler failed, the extent of Bonhoeffer's work in the resistance movement came to light. The SS uncovered the extent to which the Abwehr was working to undermine the regime, and Hitler ordered them all executed. Bonhoeffer's final message was to a friend and bishop in England: 'This is the end -- for me the beginning of life.' He was killed on April 9, 1945; three weeks later, Hitler committed suicide, and one month after Bonhoeffer's death, Germany surrendered.
In prison, he wrote: 'We have learned a bit too late in the day that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.'
It's the birthday of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, born in Breslau, Germany (1906). He was a star student who earned his doctorate in theology when he was just 21. In 1930, he went to New York City to study at Union Theological Seminary. He didn't think much of the school, but he loved the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where he taught Sunday school, learned gospel music, and started to think about the role of social justice in Christianity.
He went back to Germany, and he was ordained in 1931, when he was 25 years old. But a couple of years later, Hitler rose to power, which caused a huge rift in the German Evangelical Church. The big debate was not about Hitler's racist policies toward Jewish people, per se, but whether the Church should continue to convert and baptize Jewish people. Everything about the history of Christianity pointed towards 'yes' -- proselytizing, converting, and baptizing were central to the religion. But a group of hard-core Nazi followers within the German Evangelical Church decreed that only Aryan people should be welcomed into the church, no matter what. Bonhoeffer opposed the pro-Nazi contingent within the Church, and he was outspoken in his opposition to the Nazis and Hitler especially. Two days after Hitler was inaugurated as the chancellor, Bonhoeffer -- who was then 26 years old -- got on national radio and gave a speech about the danger of following any leader who demanded a cult-like following, saying that such a leader could easily become a 'misleader.' The German authorities cut him off during his speech.
From then on, he worked tirelessly to oppose the Nazi regime. He wrote essays and gave lectures about the obligation of the Church to fight social injustice and to fight for non-Christians as well as Christians. He worked to publicize the truth about what was happening under the Nazis, sending updates to his friends and contacts outside of Germany, because he was afraid that the international community would believe the propaganda by powerful Nazi supporters in the German Evangelical Church. In 1933, he turned down a position in Berlin in protest because only Aryan pastors were allowed to serve. He had succeeded in forming a splinter group within the Church called the 'Confessing Church,' which was opposed to the Nazi regime, but slowly more and more of his friends within the Confessing Church cowed to Hitler's influence.
Frustrated and lonely, he accepted a position in London. He returned to Germany two years later, in 1935, but his work was becoming increasingly difficult. He was banned from Berlin and from any public speaking. He trained young, radical pastors in secret. After the widespread violence and burning of synagogues in November of 1938, known as Kristallnacht, some Christians maintained that this was the curse of the Jewish people, since they were responsible for Jesus' execution. Bonhoeffer had no patience with that argument. He said that the Nazis were simply evil and that Christianity had no place in their doctrine.
By 1939, the situation had gotten so dire, and Bonhoeffer's opportunities were so limited, that he decided to leave Germany and come to the United States, where he had been offered a position at Union Seminary. As soon as he got there, he changed his mind, convinced that he was being a coward. He went back to Germany and started working as a double agent. On the surface he was working for German Military Intelligence, for the Abwehr, the rival to the Schutzstaffel (or SS). In reality, Bonhoeffer was spreading information about the German Resistance, as were many other members of the Abwehr, including its leader. Despite a lifetime of pacifism, Bonhoeffer finally joined in the attempt to assassinate Hitler, convinced it was the only option. He was arrested in 1943 on much smaller charges of misusing his position as an intelligence agent. He was in prison for 18 months, where he continued to write, and his writings were smuggled out of prison and later published as Letters and Papers from Prison.
In 1944, after an attempt to assassinate Hitler failed, the extent of Bonhoeffer's work in the resistance movement came to light. The SS uncovered the extent to which the Abwehr was working to undermine the regime, and Hitler ordered them all executed. Bonhoeffer's final message was to a friend and bishop in England: 'This is the end -- for me the beginning of life.' He was killed on April 9, 1945; three weeks later, Hitler committed suicide, and one month after Bonhoeffer's death, Germany surrendered.
In prison, he wrote: 'We have learned a bit too late in the day that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.'
Thursday, February 3, 2011
NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly - comments to Prayer Breakfast (Feb. 3, 2011)
www.washingtonpost.com/ online posted story excerpt:
NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), seriously injured during the Tucson shooting rampage last month, also spoke briefly at the breakfast and gave the closing prayer.
The National Prayer Breakfast is a decades-old Washington event attended by members of Congress who are in prayer groups, as well as faith activists and professionals from across the spectrum. Presidents have been addressing the largely evangelical group each year since 1953.
In his brief remarks, Kelly said, "I hadn't been a big believer in fate until recently. I thought the world just spins and the clock just ticks and things happen for no particular reason." He said he has come to believe, however, that things happen for a reason, "that maybe something good can come from all of this."
Kelly said his wife's health continues to improve. She was recently moved to a rehabilitation center in Houston.
NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), seriously injured during the Tucson shooting rampage last month, also spoke briefly at the breakfast and gave the closing prayer.
The National Prayer Breakfast is a decades-old Washington event attended by members of Congress who are in prayer groups, as well as faith activists and professionals from across the spectrum. Presidents have been addressing the largely evangelical group each year since 1953.
In his brief remarks, Kelly said, "I hadn't been a big believer in fate until recently. I thought the world just spins and the clock just ticks and things happen for no particular reason." He said he has come to believe, however, that things happen for a reason, "that maybe something good can come from all of this."
Kelly said his wife's health continues to improve. She was recently moved to a rehabilitation center in Houston.
National Prayer Breakfast - Feb. 3 - Obama to speak also Repr. Giffords' husband
President Obama will deliver remarks to more than 3,000 Christian lawmakers, CEOS, lobbysits and faith leaders this morning at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, which is being held at the Washington Hilton. First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will accompany the President to the 8:00 AM event.
It's the President's third time attending the Prayer Breakfast since taking office. Now in its 59th year, the event is organized by Members of the US Congress and members of The Fellowship Foundation, a semi-secret and powerful coalition of conservative Christians (so secret that they have no website for their organization, nor is there one for the event). Every sitting president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has attended the National Prayer Breakfasts.
The Fellowship Foundation is also known as "The Family," and is regarded as the most politically connected fundamentalist organization in America, and includes high-ranking government officials, corporate heads, ambassadors, leaders of humanitarian aid organizations, among others. The goal of the group is ostensibly to encourage individuals to have more religion in their lives through a better, personal relationship with Jesus...but it's also to influence political decision makers.
It's the President's third time attending the Prayer Breakfast since taking office. Now in its 59th year, the event is organized by Members of the US Congress and members of The Fellowship Foundation, a semi-secret and powerful coalition of conservative Christians (so secret that they have no website for their organization, nor is there one for the event). Every sitting president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has attended the National Prayer Breakfasts.
The Fellowship Foundation is also known as "The Family," and is regarded as the most politically connected fundamentalist organization in America, and includes high-ranking government officials, corporate heads, ambassadors, leaders of humanitarian aid organizations, among others. The goal of the group is ostensibly to encourage individuals to have more religion in their lives through a better, personal relationship with Jesus...but it's also to influence political decision makers.
Nicholas D. Kristof on Tahrir Square - scene of violence on Feb. 2, 2011
NY Times columnist/blogger Nicholas D. Kristof - at Cairo, Egypt
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/opinion/03kristof.html?_r=1&hp
"Pro-government thugs at Tahrir Square used clubs, machetes, swords and straight razors on Wednesday to try to crush Egypt’s democracy movement, but, for me, the most memorable moment of a sickening day was one of inspiration: watching two women stand up to a mob.
I was on Tahrir Square, watching armed young men pour in to scream in support of President Hosni Mubarak and to battle the pro-democracy protesters. Everybody, me included, tried to give them a wide berth, and the bodies of the injured being carried away added to the tension. Then along came two middle-age sisters, Amal and Minna, walking toward the square to join the pro-democracy movement. They had their heads covered in the conservative Muslim style, and they looked timid and frail as thugs surrounded them, jostled them, shouted at them.
Yet side by side with the ugliest of humanity, you find the best. The two sisters stood their ground. They explained calmly to the mob why they favored democratic reform and listened patiently to the screams of the pro-Mubarak mob. When the women refused to be cowed, the men lost interest and began to move on — and the two women continued to walk to the center of Tahrir Square.
I approached the women and told them I was awed by their courage. I jotted down their names and asked why they had risked the mob’s wrath to come to Tahrir Square. “We need democracy in Egypt,” Amal told me, looking quite composed. “We just want what you have.”
But when I tried to interview them on video, thugs swarmed us again. I appeased the members of the mob by interviewing them (as one polished his razor), and the two sisters managed again to slip away and continue toward the center of Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, to do their part for Egyptian democracy.
Thuggery and courage coexisted all day in Tahrir Square, just like that. The events were sometimes presented by the news media as “clashes” between rival factions, but that’s a bit misleading. This was an organized government crackdown, but it relied on armed hoodlums, not on police or army troops.
The pro-Mubarak forces arrived in busloads that mysteriously were waved past checkpoints. These forces emerged at the same time in both Alexandria and Cairo, and they seemed to have been briefed to carry the same kinds of signs and scream the same slogans. They singled out foreign journalists, especially camera crews, presumably because they didn’t want their brutality covered. A number of journalists were beaten up, although far and away it was Egyptians who suffered the most.
Until the arrival of these thugs, Tahrir Square had been remarkably peaceful, partly because pro-democracy volunteers checked I.D.’s and frisked everyone entering. One man, a suspected police infiltrator, was caught with a gun on Tuesday quite close to me, and I was impressed with the way volunteers disarmed him and dragged him to an army unit — all while forming a protective cordon around him to keep him from being harmed.
In contrast, the pro-Mubarak mobs were picking fights. At first, the army kept them away from the pro-democracy crowds, but then the pro-Mubarak thugs charged into the square and began attacking. . ."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/opinion/03kristof.html?_r=1&hp
"Pro-government thugs at Tahrir Square used clubs, machetes, swords and straight razors on Wednesday to try to crush Egypt’s democracy movement, but, for me, the most memorable moment of a sickening day was one of inspiration: watching two women stand up to a mob.
I was on Tahrir Square, watching armed young men pour in to scream in support of President Hosni Mubarak and to battle the pro-democracy protesters. Everybody, me included, tried to give them a wide berth, and the bodies of the injured being carried away added to the tension. Then along came two middle-age sisters, Amal and Minna, walking toward the square to join the pro-democracy movement. They had their heads covered in the conservative Muslim style, and they looked timid and frail as thugs surrounded them, jostled them, shouted at them.
Yet side by side with the ugliest of humanity, you find the best. The two sisters stood their ground. They explained calmly to the mob why they favored democratic reform and listened patiently to the screams of the pro-Mubarak mob. When the women refused to be cowed, the men lost interest and began to move on — and the two women continued to walk to the center of Tahrir Square.
I approached the women and told them I was awed by their courage. I jotted down their names and asked why they had risked the mob’s wrath to come to Tahrir Square. “We need democracy in Egypt,” Amal told me, looking quite composed. “We just want what you have.”
But when I tried to interview them on video, thugs swarmed us again. I appeased the members of the mob by interviewing them (as one polished his razor), and the two sisters managed again to slip away and continue toward the center of Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, to do their part for Egyptian democracy.
Thuggery and courage coexisted all day in Tahrir Square, just like that. The events were sometimes presented by the news media as “clashes” between rival factions, but that’s a bit misleading. This was an organized government crackdown, but it relied on armed hoodlums, not on police or army troops.
The pro-Mubarak forces arrived in busloads that mysteriously were waved past checkpoints. These forces emerged at the same time in both Alexandria and Cairo, and they seemed to have been briefed to carry the same kinds of signs and scream the same slogans. They singled out foreign journalists, especially camera crews, presumably because they didn’t want their brutality covered. A number of journalists were beaten up, although far and away it was Egyptians who suffered the most.
Until the arrival of these thugs, Tahrir Square had been remarkably peaceful, partly because pro-democracy volunteers checked I.D.’s and frisked everyone entering. One man, a suspected police infiltrator, was caught with a gun on Tuesday quite close to me, and I was impressed with the way volunteers disarmed him and dragged him to an army unit — all while forming a protective cordon around him to keep him from being harmed.
In contrast, the pro-Mubarak mobs were picking fights. At first, the army kept them away from the pro-democracy crowds, but then the pro-Mubarak thugs charged into the square and began attacking. . ."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
AP Reports : No shadow seen, therefore. . .
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — To the relief of the winter-weary, the world's most famous groundhog is predicting an early spring.
Punxsutawney Phil emerged around dawn on Groundhog Day on Wednesday to make his 125th annual weather forecast in front of thousands who braved muddy, icy conditions. Phil's handlers revealed that Pennsylvania's prophetic rodent was rooting for the Steelers in this Sunday's Super Bowl and that he had not seen his shadow.
Phil's handlers, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, concoct the forecasts. Several thousand revelers gathered in the pre-dawn hours on a small hill called Gobbler's Knob to hear the prediction.
Before Wednesday, Phil had seen his shadow 98 times and hadn't seen it 15 times since 1887. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.
Punxsutawney Phil emerged around dawn on Groundhog Day on Wednesday to make his 125th annual weather forecast in front of thousands who braved muddy, icy conditions. Phil's handlers revealed that Pennsylvania's prophetic rodent was rooting for the Steelers in this Sunday's Super Bowl and that he had not seen his shadow.
Phil's handlers, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, concoct the forecasts. Several thousand revelers gathered in the pre-dawn hours on a small hill called Gobbler's Knob to hear the prediction.
Before Wednesday, Phil had seen his shadow 98 times and hadn't seen it 15 times since 1887. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.
On a tiny hill in rural Pennsylvania . . .early on Feb. 2, 2011
The world's most famous groundhog is due to make his 125th annual weather forecast Wednesday on a tiny hill in Pennsylvania.
Punxsutawney Phil is scheduled to emerge at about dawn when his handlers will announce whether the animal has "seen" his shadow and is therefore predicting six more weeks of wintry weather, or has failed to see it, signaling an early spring.
The forecasts are concocted by Phil's handlers, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle.
Since 1887, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and hasn't seen it 15 times. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.
The tradition traces its origins to a German superstition.
coverage from MSNBC dot-com -- early on Wed. morning 2/2/2011
Punxsutawney Phil is scheduled to emerge at about dawn when his handlers will announce whether the animal has "seen" his shadow and is therefore predicting six more weeks of wintry weather, or has failed to see it, signaling an early spring.
The forecasts are concocted by Phil's handlers, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle.
Since 1887, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and hasn't seen it 15 times. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.
The tradition traces its origins to a German superstition.
coverage from MSNBC dot-com -- early on Wed. morning 2/2/2011
Severe Weather hits our part of the Midwestern U.S.A. -- posted latest bulletin (2/2/2011: Groundhog Day)
BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/
WEDNESDAY.
* TIMING...HEAVY SNOW WITH SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER
HOUR WILL INTO EARLY MORNING BEFORE BEGINNING TO DIMINISH IN
INTENSITY. SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...BUT WILL TAPER
FURTHER IN INTENSITY. WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL
CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. SOME SLEET MAY MIX IN WITH
THE SNOW THIS EVENING OUTSIDE THE HEAVIER BANDS. NORTHEAST WINDS
OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
DAYBREAK.
* MAIN IMPACT...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 12 TO 18 INCHES ARE
EXPECTED...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS IN NORTHWEST AND NORTH
CENTRAL INDIANA AND INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. SOME
LOCALIZED SLIGHTLY HIGHER STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE
POSSIBLE DUE TO LINGERING LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH
GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH WILL CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS...WITH
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND ZERO VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW AND
SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING. SNOW DRIFTS OF 4 TO 8 FEET ARE LIKELY IN
MANY OPEN AREAS.
* OTHER IMPACTS...TRAVEL WILL BE HIGHLY IMPACTED WITH HEAVY SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW CREATING VERY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. HIGHWAY
CREWS WILL LIKELY HAVE A HARD TIME KEEPING UP WITH THE
CONDITIONS...LEADING TO SEVERAL ROAD CLOSURES. UNNECESSARY
TRAVEL SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. POWER OUTAGES WILL ALSO
BE POSSIBLE DUE TO WET HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS.
WEDNESDAY.
* TIMING...HEAVY SNOW WITH SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER
HOUR WILL INTO EARLY MORNING BEFORE BEGINNING TO DIMINISH IN
INTENSITY. SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...BUT WILL TAPER
FURTHER IN INTENSITY. WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL
CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. SOME SLEET MAY MIX IN WITH
THE SNOW THIS EVENING OUTSIDE THE HEAVIER BANDS. NORTHEAST WINDS
OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
DAYBREAK.
* MAIN IMPACT...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 12 TO 18 INCHES ARE
EXPECTED...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS IN NORTHWEST AND NORTH
CENTRAL INDIANA AND INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. SOME
LOCALIZED SLIGHTLY HIGHER STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE
POSSIBLE DUE TO LINGERING LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH
GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH WILL CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS...WITH
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND ZERO VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW AND
SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING. SNOW DRIFTS OF 4 TO 8 FEET ARE LIKELY IN
MANY OPEN AREAS.
* OTHER IMPACTS...TRAVEL WILL BE HIGHLY IMPACTED WITH HEAVY SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW CREATING VERY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. HIGHWAY
CREWS WILL LIKELY HAVE A HARD TIME KEEPING UP WITH THE
CONDITIONS...LEADING TO SEVERAL ROAD CLOSURES. UNNECESSARY
TRAVEL SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. POWER OUTAGES WILL ALSO
BE POSSIBLE DUE TO WET HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS.
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