Romney schedules visit to New Orleans (Friday following Convention) - Hurricane Isaac aftermath of flooding

from www.nola.com/

President Barack Obama will visit New Orleans Monday (Labor Day September 3, 2012) to survey Hurricane Isaac damage, the White House announced today. He'll be in town a couple days behind his GOP presidential opponent, Mitt Romney, who is visiting New Orleans this afternoon (Friday August 31, 2012)  -- just one day after his party's nomination in Tampa.The Romney campaign said Romney's visit is in response to an invitation from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Romney's visit will allow him to demonstrate concern for area residents, who experienced another hurricane on the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And he'll have three-day jump start on President Obama.His visit, though, with so many homes and businesses still without power after Hurricane Isaac ravaged the metropolitan New Orleans area earlier this week, isn't without some political risk.
"Since he is not currently a government official, he has no assistance to offer, and all he can do is get in the way (especially with his large entourage/Secret Service and by diverting local law enforcement attention away from recovery)," said Brian Brox, a political scientist at Tulane University. " I understand Jindal's offer and Romney's acceptance (this will allow Romney to get some optics of doing the kind of chief executive things we expect presidents to do), but I would think the best possible outcome of this visit would be that he just doesn't get in the way."
The White House said details of President Obama's visit will be released later.

Dr. Adolph Brown - Berrien Springs (Michigan) High School September 5, 7 p.m. Lecture

Details at homeoftheshamrocks.org/ 

Special Two-Day beginning of High School year for Berrien Springs students (grades 9 - 12):

The first two days of school, September 4^th & 5^th, 2012 will be very unique and different this year.  The focus of both days will be to teach, model, role play, and engage students in discussion about learning expectations, positive behavior supports, academic success and growth mind set.  Our instruction these two days is based on proven effective educational research.  These two days will create a foundation for a successful school year for all students.  Subsequently, all high school students are required to be in the building for both days.

All of our site instructional programs have been informed of this requirement of our students.  Students scheduled for off-site programs morning or afternoon will have an adjusted schedule for both days.  These schedules will be posted throughout the building.

Parents are also encouraged to join us for a culminating event scheduled for Wednesday, September 5^{th, 2012} in the high school gym at 7:00 p.m.  The district has invited nationally known motivational speaker and educator Dr. Adolph Brown to address students and parents. 

NOTIFICATION FROM Dr. Eichberg (Building Principal) -- phone 269 - 471 - 1748

Lecture on St. Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Nagel (humans' place in the universe)

"Life, Mind, and Evolution: A Tale of Two Thomases"

Wednesday September 5, 2012,  7 p.m.

Student Center Lounge, Moreau Center (www.moreaucenter.com ), St. Mary's College, Notre Dame

Free admission and Open to the Public

2012 McMahon Aquinas Lecture with John Haldane

Renowned philosopher John Haldane will give the 2012 McMahon Aquinas Lecture titled “Life, Mind, and Evolution: A Tale of Two Thomases” on Wednesday, September 5 at 7 p.m. in St. Mary's College Student Center Lounge, Notre Dame, IN.

 Haldane is author or editor of some 20 books, has published nearly 200 articles, and is a frequent contributor to numerous newspapers, magazines, television and radio programs. He is director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at St. Andrews University in Scotland, chairman of the Royal Institute for Philosophy in London, and consultor to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture in Rome. In his McMahon Aquinas Lecture, Haldane will explore two very different accounts of the nature of human beings and their place in the Universe—those of the contemporary philosopher Thomas Nagel and of the great medieval theologian St. Thomas Aquinas—considering how these relate to the question of evolution.

Michael Waddell, holder of the Edna and George McMahon Aquinas Chair in Philosophy at Saint Mary's College, stated, “John Haldane is one of the most prolific and innovative scholars working on the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas today. He has brought Aquinas's ideas into conversation with an extraordinary range of contemporary thinkers and issues, spanning the fields of art, culture, politics, science, environmental studies, philosophy and theology. We are delighted that he will be delivering the 2012 McMahon Aquinas Lecture.”

The Edna and George McMahon Aquinas Chair in Philosophy sponsors the annual McMahon Aquinas Lecture, which focuses on a topic related to the philosophy of Aquinas.

Neil Armstrong private service - on a "Blue Moon" (second full moon) day of August

from USA TODAY article

Today is the day of a private service for Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who died last Saturday August 25, 2012 in Ohio at age 82.

A blue moon occurs when there's a second full moon in one calendar month. It won't happen again until July 2015. The full moon cycle is 29.5 days so a blue moon is uncommon and has come to mean something rare. The moon actually won't be colored blue.  Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb said the moon is far more important to lovers, literature and folklore than to science.  Armstrong's family has suggested paying tribute to him by looking at the moon and giving the astronaut a wink.

Lunar pioneers plan to attend a private service in Ohio for astronaut Neil Armstrong today, following an event to announce a children's health fund in his honor.  Amstrong's family scheduled a private service in Cincinnati. A public memorial service is being planned for early September in Washington, D.C.

Tropical Storm Isaac weakens (Aug. 30) -- to become Tropical Depression

from NOLA dot-com (Times-Picayune report from NOAA) -- as of 2 a.m. online posting

AT 1 a.m. CDT, Tropical Storm Isaac is moving toward the northwest at about 5 mph. This general motion is expected to continue today followed by a turn toward the North-Northwest by tonight or early Friday.

The maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. The strongest winds are primarily occurring over water or near the coast. Steady weakening is expected during the next 48 hours as Isaac continues to move over land. Isaac should become a Tropical Depression by tonight.

Even though Isaac is no longer a hurricane, life threatening hazards from storm surge and inland flooding are still occurring. The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters. The water could reach the following depths above ground if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide.

The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of on shore winds. Surge related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and tidal cycle and can vary greatly over short distances. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves.

Isaac is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 7 to 14 inches with possible isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches over much of Louisiana.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/08/tropical_storm_isaac_steadily.html

Born on this date in 1732: Thinking Person's Philosopher: John Locke

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):

August 28, 1732 was the birthday of the man who said, "The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts": British philosopher John Locke,  born in Wrington, Somerset, England (1632). He believed all of our knowledge is derived from the senses. He also believed that we can know about morality with the same precision we know about math, because we create our ideas. His Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1688) was an instant success and sparked debate all across Europe.
Locke said, "Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours."

Romney "joke" or gaffe about Birth Certificate -- Columnist and Blogger Q/A (her Aug. 24 column)

from WASHINGTON POST (Tuesday chat-discussion, 8/28/2012):

Q.  Joke about birth certificates - yet he seeks groveling over Biden off-script remark

 

Your Friday column putting the remark in context of the Michigan Hospitals didn't help explain the cluelessness of the 64-year-old; for his being "endorsed" by Birther Donald Trump it's unlikely that Romney wasn't aware of the kerfuffle. Will anyone ask Romney about his first 100 days of office planning to dismantle the Obama home brewing operation? It just seems like he and Ann will be polar opposites of the First Couple.

• – August 28, 2012 9:45 AM

A.

Alexandra Petri :

Oh, I hadn't thought about the beer consequences! Dang. Well, hopefully by then the recipe will be out so the famed honey-tinged beer will not perish from the earth.
I think Romney is aware of the kerfuffle. But what he said Friday was not in his prepared remarks. Then again it seems unlikely that anyone would ever hand you a sheet of paper saying "Make a birther joke now!" To what extent it was premeditated, with all its ramifications lovingly sketched forth, is, I think, debatable. I don't presume to peer into anyone's internal controls, and but my general operating assumption is that people are more often incompetent than malevolent, so whenever I am given the choice between "subtle, knowing, subliminally poisoning message control" and "ill-considered remark," I usually assume the latter. Either way, it's not a thing one hopes to hear from a candidate for president.

          – August 28, 2012 11:14 AM