Yup, lots of activity in my neighborhood this morning. I passed the middle school kids at the bus stop, trying to look like they weren't scared and unhappy that the summer is over.

NukeSpawn was complaining (slightly) about having to start getting up at 6 again.

I politely suppressed my maniacal laughter.

:-)

Humm. Channeling Tom Fan here but I think there are a couple of typos, like:
...acting attorney general with (will?) be... and
... have vowed now (not?)...

Thank you for your attention.

We were at a wedding on the weekend, and mr dr spent a great deal of time talking golf with a gentleman sitting at the table with us. I gleaned that Tiger only has to win one tourney (possibly not even win it to win the cup just show up and play decently). It makes no sense at all, but then its golf and it's all greek to me.

The newscast this morning had the breaking news, but the seriousness of the announcers voice seemed to indicate something really solemn. I thought for sure Cheney was resigning or something at least of that magnitude. But no, just Gonzales. I was sort of suprised that they didn't just put it into the regular news rotation without comment. It seemed rather a done deal wven without the announcement.

Nice to see you use the word "neoteny." Usually it only appears in that sentence, "Neoteny recapitulates oncology," which everybody now knows is completely wrong.

>But otherwise the Bush Administration seems to be evaporating before our eyes...<

This is a bad thing? Not in my book.

Ya made me look up the work "neoteny." That concludes any new learning I can do for today.

I kinda liked the Hugh Hewitt quote ("the opportunity to nominate a young, charismatic terrorism-fighter from the ranks of the present or past ... ") for its utter, utter cluelessness. Um, zackly how many young, charismatic terrorism-fighters have we got running amok in the Torqueberto Justice Department anyway.

Say, ya don't think ol Hewitt had a specific candidate in mind, do ya?

Glad to hear your eldest is taking AP classes, Joel. The Associated Press can always use more good reporters. Oh, wait...

BTW, Joel, your work as a father is NEVER done. Trust me on this. The only thing that changes is the subject matter. And if you also happen to be a family patriarch (as I am), then it is a lifetime appointment.

*Snoopy-dancing*

My son who hasn't seen the front side of noon all summer without military intervention got up at six before anybody else and was out the door ten minutes early. I'm checking his room for pods.

We told him he can't exhibit symptoms of seniorities until May after he has taken all his AP tests.

He still hasn't finished all the college application essays he has had a month to do, so somethings are still unchanged.

It may not be the context Joel anticipated, but this "Dazed and Confused" quote sums it up: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."

So, a few days ago Joel was complaining about his stagnated earnings. Now he mentions his daughter's college aspirations. (Children can be so unreasonable that way.) Suddenly it all makes sense.

Here in Virginia book learning doesn't start until next week, which gives my son, who also starts 11th grade, an additional week of freedom. By which I mean a week to finally do the summer-work assigned by the sadistic instructors of his own AP classes.

In my opinion AP classes have gotten entirely out of hand. There is clearly a collusion between high schools and colleges to guarantee that all promising students burn themselves out by the middle of their Junior year. This is so unnecessary.

I mean, my high school didn't even *have* AP classes. Of course, we also attended classes barefoot.

And regarding neotenization. (Joel coins a new word! Just like Shakespeare!) I have concluded that this is one of the cruel side-effects of aging. Perspective makes the students look vastly younger that when we were in school because we are not, in fact, eternally young.

I suspect this is the origin of the alleged prudishness of adults. We look at these youngsters, think back our own high school years, and recoil in horror. (Not my own high school years, of course. But I heard stories. ) For these are mere children. Babies really. And yet some of them might actually be kissing in provocative ways.

Not my own son, of course. He's in band.

Our eldest just started high school as well, Joel. We're fortunate to be in the same building (myself, my wife and our daughter)and that she's enrolled in honours courses. Good luck to you, your wife and your children in the upcoming year.

Memo to self: Don't eat any German ducks.

"Bird flu at German poultry farm
Sat Aug 25, 4:45 PM ET

"German authorities will destroy 160,000 poultry at a Bavarian farm following the discovery there of the highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu, local authorities said Saturday.

Tests on a number of ducks from the farm at Wachenroth near the southern city of Erlangen, 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Munich, confirmed the strain, local authority spokeswoman Annika Fritzsche told AFP.

Investigations will continue to determine how the virus -- which in its highly pathogenic strain can also infect humans, sometimes fatally -- entered the farm, Fritzsche said.

It was detected in three young ducks from a batch delivered four weeks ago by a supplier in the northern German state of Lower Saxony, whose premises will also be inspected, a spokeswoman for the agriculture ministry in Berlin said.

H5N1 was found in other ducks in Bavaria this month and over the summer around 50 wild birds were found dead with the virus across the country.

Wild birds can infect domesticated birds with the highly pathogenic strain. Experts fear it will mutate into a strain that can be transmitted between humans."

---------------

Or as they say on the old war movies, "Ve haf ways of making you quack."

Listening to NPR commentary about Fredo's replacement:

Chertoff--Thumbs down: too close to the torture business as DHS jefe--problems with Senate confirmation.

Hatch--Thumbs down: too defensive of Alberto in Senate hearings. (Way, way too nasty in the ancient Anita Hill hearings for my taste.) Again, potential problems with Senate confirmation.

Clement--Thumbs sideways: yeah, probably the interim AG.

Former Sen. John Danforth--Thumbs up: has the quality most important for the next appointment, or replacement (according to the commentator)...personal integrity. And a pastor to boot.

Since Alberto's resignation is effective on Sept. 17, Bush unable (or unlikely--anyone know when Congress reconvenes? pj?) to make a recess appointment.

RD,

Keep your head in the sand. My son is in band too and I have eyewitness evidence that band members can lip-lock with the best of them.

I can't discuss AP classes without regressing into shameless parental bragging, but there clearly are too many. They offer AP Music Theory. 'Nuff said.

yellojkt, my son assures me that on band trips all they ever do is get together for inspirational sing-a-longs and to share cookie recipes.

From the NYT:
Many bloggers have settled on "Gonzo Gone." Meanwhile, Rachel Sklar of Huffington Post jokingly "wanted to beat the New York Post and the Daily News to tomorrow's identical headline" with "GONZO GONE-ZO!"

In March, Politico published a list of possible successors:

Republicans close to the White House continued to discuss potential replacements, including John Danforth, an Episcopal minister and former Republican senator from Missouri. "I think it is going to come down to who is willing to take the job," said an official close to the process.

Among the names floated Monday by administration officials were Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and White House anti-terrorism coordinator Frances Townsend. Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson is a White House prospect. So is former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, but sources were unsure whether he would want the job.

On Monday [?] night, Republican officials said two other figures who are being seriously considered are Securities and Exchange Committee Chairman Chris Cox, who is former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and is popular with conservatives; and former Attorney General William P. Barr, who served under President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and is now general counsel of Verizon Communications

I hope that having two Achenbach daughters in high school at the same time does not disturb the tranquility of Joel's porch. For as I recall, when my younger brother and I were in high school together things could get dicey. To many comparisons by teachers, awkward violations of class protocol, and the sudden existence of a paid informer.

This was especially hellish for me because my younger brother quickly became known as the "cuter [Padouk]."

My first (and probably only) child has about 10 more days before she gets on the bus for the first time to head off to kindergarten.

All I can say is... well... I can't say nuttin' 'cause I'm already getting weepy. Why the heck can't you just freeze them at 4 years old? That's like the best year -- they listen (sort of), they think their parents are gods, they don't eat much, and they're still cute enough that you're not tempted to drown or strangle them.

I know I b!tch and moan about underemployment/unemployment and all that, but it's given me the chance to witness a blossoming even more special than those moonflower thingies.

Dangit.

Now I gotta go cover myself in sawdust and other manly stuff before the neighbors start talking.

Loomis,

Bush couldn't make a recess appointment since the position is not empty and I really don't think he'd make one for Attorney General. The Senate is back next week, so they will be around on Sept. 17th (that's Constitution Day, by the way).

I pretty much agree with your comments on possible successors. I disagree about Hatch, though. I think he would be confirmed fairly easily. It's a comparatively short-term appointment and he has a lot of friends on both sides in the Senate. It's not like the John Tower situation. Hatch is 73. Don't know how much of a factor that would be.

I agree with you about Danforth. He's the opposite of Gonzalez in that he has no ties to Bush. They might not want someone that independent. He'd be capable of doing more internal investigations that the White House would like. He's 71 and he might not want the job.

In the late 60's or early 70's a US Marine pilot named Frederick Smith returned from Vietnam and pitched a money-making idea to bankers in Memphis, TN: an overnight air delivery service. Well, the idea took off. By the early 80's, when I entered the work force, Federal Express was used daily in all information businesses. We'd pay about $20 to ship documents to clients, with a guarantee they'd have the document by 10 the next morning. It was amazing to think business could be done so fast.
By the mid-80's, fax machines could roll out curly, slippery documents within a few minutes of sending. Then people could hold those papers down on a copier and get dim-looking material that they could then parse over the telephone with the sender.
Telecommunications came next, where somebody who was good with computers could send or receive the documents from computer to computer, print it and go.
By this time my head was spinning and I left the work force for several years to get my bearings.
When I came back, you could look stuff up on computers like they were encyclopedias. You could e-mail people in an instant. I don't even know all the things you could do then, and I still don't now.

Federal Express, UPS, DHL and others are still in business, mainly for materials shipping, I guess, or information of a more formal kind, stuff that needs to be seen in its original form. Remember the term "original," as in, "send me the originals?"
FedEx, as it is now called, must still be doing well, to be sponsoring this golf post-season, kind of like the Masters in pro tennis, or the Nextel Cup end-of-year thing they have now in NASCAR.
I don't know or care about the points structure, but I wanted to share this POV. I also know that there was a vacuum tube method of transmitting information somewhere back in time, way before Fred Smith. I think they still use that at banks with drive up personal service.

I'm glad everyone's brats are going back to school. Now maybe I can shop at the mall without having to dodge out of the way of those kids wearing the Heelys and those over-priviledged potty mouthed younguns.
Best of all, when I take vacation this fall, there will be less families.

Good morning. Let me first say Joel's scoop on Laura Bush, opening the Kit, is pure genius and made me disturb my colleagues with my laughter.

The Boy survived the first four days of sixth grade last week and was still willing to return to school today. His college-type, A day B day schedule is providing a severe lesson in time management, but I think we'll all come out the other side as better persons. A larger school (6th - 12th) with a metro-wide draw apparently means many more cute girls. Fortunately, right now all he wants to do is look at them and maybe dance with them, not too close.

He has three core honors courses and one core regular course, and I'll be interested to see whether I can tell any significant difference. The whole school is a public, application-only deal which bills itself as college prep and seems to mean it. One of his friends in a local private school has the opportunity this year to take ping-pong as an elective, and his parents have the joy of paying for that. Sheesh.

Someone, I can't remember who, was proposing Patrick Fitzgerald for the AG job. That would make an interesting cabinet meeting, Cheney facing PF.

The Fungi crutched his way to the bus stop this morning. He could get public transport for the handicapped but won't ask for it. I don't know where he got that obstinate, thick skull. (wink) In the mean times he's developing triceps of steel.

Witch no1 starts college next week and W2 gets into grade 9 next Thursday. There is some laptop computer/router shopping in my near future I'm afraid.
There will be one very lonely Puppy soon.

YourStrawberry23, you're talking to the wrong crowd. Firstly, that would be "fewer" families, not "less" families, unless they have embarked on a program of weight loss. Secondly, it should be obvious by now that with the excellent parenting demonstrated by the respondents to the Achenblog, the Children of the Boodle are not brats but are, rather, well-behaved, fiscally-conscious, socially aware, young persons of extraordinary grace and refinement. So you can keep that potty-mouth $#!* to yourself.

YourStrawberry23, you're talking to the wrong crowd. Firstly, that would be "fewer" families, not "less" families, unless they have embarked on a program of weight loss. Secondly, it should be obvious by now that with the excellent parenting demonstrated by the respondents to the Achenblog, the Children of the Boodle are not brats but are, rather, well-behaved, fiscally-conscious, socially aware, young persons of extraordinary grace and refinement. So you can keep that potty-mouth $#!* to yourself.

OK, I swear I only hit the "Submit" button once. I don't think it's a WaPo software problem. There are signs that it's a developing hardware problem in the button on my trackpad. Fooey.

byoolin: Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Say this like Elmer Fudd, deepening your voice somewhat, and you'll sound just our HS biology teacher. Or this: The theory of spontaneous generation stated things as simply as, for example: Frogs come from mud; Mice come from rags...

He was one of the best teachers among all my years of schooling. An injury during his service in WWII left him with the speech impediment.

Good riddance!

FYI: We're serving watercress sandwiches (no crusts), lemonade, and tea cookies in the bunker.

Just thought I'd mention it.

There was a small news blip the other day that Laura Bush would not be going on a trip with Mr. Bush due to a pinched nerve.

Then Karl Rove and Gonzales resign. Think maybe conscious, sane Laura has taken over the controls?

I'm bringing the fresh strawberries dipped in milk chocolate, Mudge.

If Laura's in charge now, we may have a small ray of hope to survive the next year and a half. We still have 511 days to go.

Watercress wreaks havok in the vicinity of my hemorroidal tissues. Would it be rude if I brought my own PBJ's into the bunker?

Shreiking, Crutched? What happened to the Fungi? I should read on the weekends just to keep up.

Before we get too too misty eyed about Father Danforth (he is an ordained Episcopal priest after all), please remember that it was he who pushed to get his buddy and protege Clarence "whatever Scalia says goes double for me" Thomas the Supreme nod.

Jack, you may bring your PBJs. You may also borrow the hemorrhoid cushion from my chair if Scotty isn't using it.

Don't forget the pinochle deck.

I've whipped together my Top Ten memories of Torqueberto.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2007/08/torqueberto-top-ten.html

This would also be a good time to check how close bc came to calling the resignation speech.

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?p=174

It seems odd that the back to school part of the kit is drawing the umbrage. I personally fear the increase in traffic the school year entails.

And SciTim, while I think the world of the SciKids, my own progeny displays uncanny personality faults that neither nature or nuture can fully take responsibility for.

I thank you, 'Mudge, from the bottom of my ummm...errr...bottom. Yes, that's it.

dr, the Fungi got his left foot crushed under the frame of his bike by the loaded trailer of a big rig. Thanks to the miracle of this newfangled cell phone thing I was on the accident site just a few minutes afther the ambulance. So I had to look at the first aid stuff and at the loading on the stretcher. You know what, I'm not sure it's a good thing.
Anyway he's having a second (minor, if everything has gone according to plan) surgery Wednesday PM. After that, it's physiotherapy for a few months then another surgery (major this time, no options) and more physio. He's young, lean and strong he's going to get better but it will take time. Patience is not something the young ones have in excess but he will have to learn that many things take time, they just can't be rushed. Like the healing of bones and tendons.

I'll bring the wacky tobaccy.

Well, I *would* if I had a teenager or other younger-type person around. All my contacts from the "old school" seem to be incarcerated or worse.

Dang prohibitionists.

Ai chihuahua, Shriek!!! :-O

Best wishes for Fungi's swift recovery!

As regards my Top Ten memories of Torqueberto, all I can say is I don't recall, that is to say, I have no remembrance, or possibly I never even knew of this individual.

Shriek hope you sons foot recovers well - ouch!

sd,
Sorry to hear about your minor denizen's foot. I'm glad he wasn't injured worse. Sounds like a bad mash-up. I'm sure it will heal and recover, but those time frames seem enormous in a youngster's life.

I went over to the homepage to do some blog-plugging and the news story comments sure do act like a great BertoStorm Rod. Over 53 pages of comments and counting. I'm not sure many were in support of Torquie.

SCC your - going back into hiding.

Shrieking, oh my. I wish him good speed in recovery.

He won't take the 'handicapped' transport because he isn't handicapped, he is injured. It seems to be a point of personal pride with injured young men.

I recall several points of high dudgeon with broken leg boy/man whilst trying dropping him off in a handicapped area. You do not want to know what he said when I suggested he get a handcapped permit for parking. Shudders.

ScienceTim, I'm talking to the right crowd. I don't how it is where you live, but in the DC area, even the precious suburban kids get out of control when their parents turn their backs. They are of course, enabled by their parents who are in denial that they're children could ever mibehave because they are educated and were brought up properly.

Also, thank you for correcting my grammar on the less vs. few.

Joel and fellow boodlers with high school children:

It costs so much more to send kids through college these days. Just warning you. Everyone must plan for this! One of the rewards however is that in most cases the kids know this and really appreciate the opportunity to have the college experience. I am happy for them.

We have 4 kids between my hubby and me and 3 are in college right now. Ouch! But our utility bill has dropped and there is good food still on the shelves. We take solace wherever we can. And weep sometimes, too.

Nothing stays the same. Martooni, your 4 year old is still really all yours...enjoy!

That was funny yello. When I first read about Fredo and dubya litteraly killing people for political gain I had a dry heave. This is so vile as to defy understanding.
I'm drowning in Italian Gold tomatoes. Made two batches of tomato sauce, with and without ground veal plus a batch of ratatouille last weekend.
If I can find cilantro what about fresh salsa for the bunker?

To cyclist out there, I have a couple of tidbits of info that came during my converstion with the orthopedist who opereted on the Fungi. (No mycologist needed!) We waited some time for the portable x-ray machine to come then some more for the surgical theater to be prepared (he was getting a little impatient there for a while, those 11PM operations were getting to him), so we talked maybe half an hour together.
Unlike my son, cyclists usually get hurt mostly from being projected, so:
-Wear a helmet. Hatless cyclist keep the neurosurgeons busy.
- Lots of broken arms and wrists from defensive moves even in low impact accidents. Roll with the fall.
- Broken ribs. Again roll with the fall or for off-road cycling, wear those chest protector that are mandatory in rodeos and other horse riding events.

pj's 11:51:
Loomis,
Bush couldn't make a recess appointment since the position is not empty...

pj,
My point and the point made on NPR...the position *will be open* on Sept. 18. Thanks for answering my question and letting us know that Congress reconvenes next week--which makes moot the question of a recess appointment--and your insider opinion about Mr. Utah-R, Sen. Hatch.

*a little too close psychographically to Cheney's Wyoming, IMHO*

And a salute to K-guy. Thanks for the memories, the Danforth memories, on your 12:53. *shuddering*

"I don't how it is where you live" YourStrawberry23, you never spoke a truer word. As the parent of a "precious suburban kid" who graduated from public school with a 4.21 GPA, worked every summer from age 14, never had an arrest, a ticket or an accident, got accepted to her first choice university (and was offered Merit and other scholarships at several others) and graduated in four years on the dean's list, moved to Boston and got a good job in her field competing against Harvard grads, I have to agree completely. You do not know how it is.

birdie - indeed, college tuitions are scary. It's been said before, but I think it bears worth repeating - there exist many small private colleges that offer generous financial aid to worthy and motivated students. Don't ignore them.

Also, as I have patiently explained to my son, in-state tuition is a glorious, glorious thing.

Another one in the Duh! category is the WaPo's headline "Va. Shooter had Disorder" on the front page. It bothered me this morning and still bothers me.
What, the kid wasn't well in the head? I'm speechless. Flabbergasted. You could tip me over with a feather. Jeez.

k-guy,
You are well-briefed for congressional testimony. And congrats on the success of your kid. I can only hope to be so lucky.

sb23,
Unless I am particularly unobservant (and I am, but my wife isn't), my kid has gotten away with a lot less stuff than I had by his age. I've had to resort to watching marathons of Degrassi:TNG to get some vicarious excitement from out of control teenagers. My son is a little disturbed by how wrapped up I've gotten into the show. He uses the commercials as examples of how I am so NOT their target demographic.

Yes indeed, RD. I told my children when they were still at tender ages that they would be going to state universities unless they wished to fund their own college educations. It all worked out. Older child graduated from Appalachian State, the university she decided she wanted to attend when she was a seventh grader. Younger child is a senior (SENIOR!!! I don't know how that happened) at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she has a tuition waiver for having graduated from the NC School of Science and Math.

Gonna put in a small plug here for an excellent (and underpriced) school which I may or may not have attended.

http://www.miami.muohio.edu/about_miami/recognition/index.cfm

It's also one of the most beautiful campuses in America and let's just not talk about my story re: a friend walking on the Great Seal set in the sidewalk behind the Sciences building.

Yello, I Degrassi has been around so long here starting in my teens/twenties. I have watched variations of the show from grade school on up. My educational experiences were quite tame compared to it.

SD, hope your son's injuries heal as quickly as possible. What an ordeal!

I take your point about the VA Tech shooter story - but the point is that the high school had identified the disorder - "The condition, called selective mutism, is a symptom of a larger social anxiety disorder." - and developed a program for treating him. But they couldn't tell the college because of privacy issues. So, it seems like there's some common sense that needs to prevail there. Of course, it would also would have helped if he hadn't been able to buy guns.

Now, if we could just get Cheney and Bush to resign...

I think it ill humored to jump too hard on SB23, there is something in the doors of a mall that sucks the good sense out of most teens (high achieving, goal oriented, hardly have time to go to a mall or weren't allowed until they were 18 teens included).

I do want to give a shout out for the gracious correction of less vs. fewer. This increasingly common misuse drives me almost as bonkers as teens at the mall.

Let me note that my accidental double-posting to sb23 was intended as ironic humor. See, I decried the use of the term "potty-mouth" and then pretended to express myself in vulgarity with"$#!*" (in retrospect, I should have gone for "$#!+"). And, see, I'm not really that clueless, so the declaration of the perfection of our parenting and the excellence of our offspring also was a joke. See? Eh? Eh? Get it? Eh?

No? Oh, well.

frostbitten- I am not a fan of the teenager/mall combination. My daughter wishes I would just drop her off with her friends, but it ain't happening. Part of it is the disappearance of good sense that occurs when roving bands of hormonal teens are loose in the mall. The other part is what the hubby calls "Madison Avenue hypnosis" that comes over them. They gotta have this, they gotta have that...

But I thought SB23 sounded a little ill humoured himself.

yellojkt - When I stop to think of my shenanigans as a 16 year old and the activities of my 14 yr old daughter and 16 yr old son, I am always taken aback. I was a good kid, didn't drink, good grades but I was at a lot of places that my parents knew nothing about. (I was the oldest of 7, so there was a reason for that) I am very observant and neither of my kids have come close to being as free to exercise bad judgment as I was...I'm really not an ogre and I don't want to shelter them too much but I think I just got lucky with the gene pool I married into...they just don't seem to want to misbehave.

I know, I know...it's early days!

But Tim, your kids ARE perfect. Just ask them.

I correctly identify your post as ironic HumourTim. I know that my kids have some imperfections (I'm certain they could solve Martooni's procurement woes quickly for example) and I certainly did not recognized myself in the perfect parent picture. I will give them one quality: they absolutely never hanged out in malls. Of course the 13 years old still has some time in front of her to make me a lier.

Mostly, I got the gist of the article. It's the headline I find completely uninformative (if that's a word).

I know that post wasn't structured well and I'm sorry!

Oh and in my view, this is a good day for America. Good riddance, Torqueberto.

Kurusawaguy:

Thanks for remembering about Danforth's role in CT affair to which you referred!There's got to be someone else.

Joel, et al: I am so glad that both of my children are not only long out of grades one through twelve but also happily, successfully, finished with college, and both working in careers related to their talents and education. And both in DC area. Younger one, I believe, is contemplating grad school at some point though he hasn't shared any real info with me yet, but he did tell me he was reading three weighty books at the same time about a month ago, so that was a clue . . ..

Older one--the daughter--is going to get married, apparently, at some point within a year or so . . ..

No matter what the age of a child is, even when fully adult,you never stop being a parent, but you learn--increasingly--to do it from afar. Inspiration for them (and hidden perspiration on your part as the parent who is struggling to give them more space so they can learn to make their own decisions)gradually but with more and more latitude (and the hidden escape routes you give them so when peer pressure comes along they can blame it totally on you the parent as the "smother one")is how I was able to raise daughter and son successfully. Sorry about the ()'s but typing quickly and not being in an editorial mode right now.

Martooni--your little girl will turn into a great lady. I think you already know that. Hug her, hold her tight--just not too tight--so she can explore. (I know, I know, it's hard for fathers.)

Kim-point well taken on a little ill humour on SB23's part.

I have little patience for most teens at malls, and zero for my own Frostdottir who will surely be digging herself out of credit card debt by the time she's 19 (she'll be 18 on 9/11).

I am an ogre. Qualities often noted in my annual "meanest mom on the planet" nomination are "doesn't think shopping or talking on the phone are hobbies," "won't engage in conversation while I'm on the phone with someone else," and the absolutely insufferable "makes me ask before I invite someone to sleep over, and sometimes says no even then."

Zapper Alert for 2:35, thanks.

:-)

The article Joel linked to, which describes how "No Child Left Behind" may actually be harming the education of some gifted students, raises some good points.

In our school district, however, I don't see how it really applies because "gifted" students are pulled out into a separate program. Further, a truly gifted child will find a way to remain motivated and engaged through clubs and activities. Not to mention libraries. Such a child is seldom limited by the classroom.

Where the issues raised by this article become worrisome is with regards to children who, although bright, are not considered "gifted." These are the children, including some who are simply "late bloomers," who are at risk of being short-changed.

I am concerned about this because, if history is to be any guide, sometimes it is *not* the kid who is labeled "gifted" as a seven-year-old who really comes through and takes the world by storm.

I dunno, Scotty; I thought the 2:35 posting by teen had a refreshing clarity of expression. I am fond of transparent prose that lets us see what the author chooses to express without a lot of frippery and window-dressing. And, you know, furbelows and spelling and words and stuff.

My son has never been the kind of kid who wants to spend a Saturday hanging out at the mall with his buds. He's the kind of kid who wants to spend Saturday sitting around the living room in his sweats playing Nintendo and watching MythBusters.

He worries me.

ScienceKid#1 has been a bit of a child-rearing problem, lately, I must admit. The kid has been staying up late, well past bed-time, reading a college textbook on vertebrate biology for its entertainment value. Especially the naughty bits about notochords. I don't know what will become of that child.

RD, you and I must have the same son. Mine goes to an all-boy school. We will be arranging prom dates no doubt. He's in the 6th grade this year, I better start looking now!

'lo, everrrrybudddddddy (Grover voice)

Very busy revising course and rehearsing for school on Wednesday.

Frosti, you and me would tie for Meanest Mommy in the Known Universe, although CeePeeBoy does not see it quite the same way that the lovely Dots did; for which, tired that I am, I rejoice.

The narcissistic/very-extra-special parents and children take up so much space that we miss the ordinary and good ones.

RD is right on the AP overload. And, to all the parents and AP-overload high schoolers, less will be the new more. I see your kids in the next phase and many of them look so worn-out and over-ma-educated! Not all, surely, but I wish that children/young adults simply read more, rather than over-dosed on classes. And, it would be great if more middle-class kids had physical experiences that could range from taking out the garbage/mowing/raking to bike riding/hiking/walking.

Now, if you feel umbrage rising,don't think I am talking about any of you in particular....I am just saying about something concerning the cohort of the young these days.

Enjoy this annual take on young people from Beloit College: The 2007 Mindset concerning the college class of 2011.
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php

I love that we're spelling it "humour" now - no doubt the Canadian and Beatles influence.

The Boy is closer in spirit to RD's son than ScienceTim's, but at least when he plays World of Warcraft he's interacting on some social level with actual people.

Or so he and his father claim.

RDP;

Nintendo might worry me too.

MythBusters, not so much.

:-)

Slyness,
Congratulations on having a tuition-waivered kid! UNC-Chapel Hill may be the academic "flagship", but the whole UNC system's competently run. A grad school friend teaches at Appalachian State.

My wife left Gifted and Talented teaching this year for English as Second Language. Dealing with the non-ironic parents got to be too much trouble.

We had a bad thunderstorm sweep through Saturday night so I made my son turn off the computer. He tried to get together some people via text message to see a movie but ended up watching 'Donnie Darko' with me instead.

SciTim, Sciencekid#1 could turn out disturbingly like me.
You should intervene immediately. Just sayin'.

Joel's lead was hilarious but not quite a scoop-- The national Enquirer has been publishing news on the secret divorce between the Bushes for over a year now.

Apparently, W's been drinking and Laura's had enough, and so it goes with the drama.

Not that I even TOUCHED the magazines, but my eyes automatically lock on print as I walk through checkout, processing details directly into my memory.

I have no power over my speed-reading whatsoever. I've tried handicapping my eyes with heavy bags. I've tried hobbling them with sedatives. No effect.

Wilbrodog is now in training for guide work so I can navigate checkouts with my eyes closed against such salacious slander about our esteemed officials.

SciTim, maybe Dooley could help?

CP, Jack, Bayou, and anyone else I'm forgetting, I have to keep reminding myself that you look at fall in a whole other light. As a parent fall always was routine and settling in to normal. For teachers, it's ramping up to normal.

I salute teachers. No matter how much I loved my kids and their herd of friends, no way did I want to live with them at work too. There have been times when it felt like I was escaping to work. You face the hordes of fall, and I'm really glad that people like you, talented, caring people show up to do it, right across the continent.

She's a piece of work, Dave, for sure! Her middle school was an IB magnet and she absolutely refused, would not consider, hated the thought of taking IB in high school. Then she went to NCSSM for her junior and senior years. I tell her it ruined her for life. Never again will she be in the exclusive company of like-minded and equally intelligent peers. She seems to be outgrowing the grumpy stage, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.

Congrats to anyone sending their kids back to school, unless of course you will miss them too much.

Wildlife report; Had to stop twice on the way to the post office to remove some slithering friends. I use a walking stick for most of the snakes.

Speaking of snakes,I was glad to see Gonzales and Rove go. Now if we could just get rid of the King Cobra and the Sidewinder, the world would be a better place.

Off for a dip and then back to work after my mini 4 day vacation.

Thanks for kind words, DR; the annual handing off of children from summer-routines into school is always profound and touching. Thank you for trusting us and helping us toe the line on all kinds of things.

Here is my recent boodle dream: DR, you were helping me knit anatomically correct lichen species for use in Jack's classroom. Then, Dooley wanted knitted dinosaur bone models....and I woke up.

Martooni -- about little Bean Blossom, well, why on earth do you think I grow moonflowers?!!! Turn around and blink twice and she goes through another door entirely! Enjoy all seasons, especially the kindergarten threshold.

CP, that sounds interesting. Knitted dinosaur bones. Hmmm, I bet you could out of wire.

I recall some yarn in the deep dark stash that actually feels like lichens, dry, flaky, and sort of dimly lit green. I keep worrying that its going to get wet and become one of the slimacious liverworts, second picture down.

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/liverwts.html

Aloha-perhaps your son attends a football powerhouse located near an all girls school? Frostdottir's best year of school was 5th grade at Sacred Hearts. Her teacher was astonishingly beautiful, which totally disarmed Frostdottir, and then proved to have a will of iron suited perfectly for a girl whose stated reason for attending school at all was "because that's where the kids are."

You know, that story about how Fairfax County had identified and created an IEP for Cho when he was a student here is just so sad.

It's wonderful that the county took the trouble to discover what it was he was suffering from.. something that only 1% of the population apparently has. But it wasn't their job to tell Va Tech about it. It was his parents' job and they clearly failed to grasp the importance of doing so. Maybe they didn't really even understand what services the county was actually providing, given the language and culture differences.

You have to remember... there is no Special Ed in college. Colleges will provide accommodations to someone with a disability (which he most definitely had). The college would have been happy to provide those accommodations if his parents had only notified them of the disability. You can't expect that he would do so himself since that was what his disability was all about: the inability to talk to strangers.

This just adds a new dimension to the whole tragedy. Maybe next time someone sets of mental alarms to a college professor or administrator, as Cho did with his English professor, an off-the-record phone call to his or her high school counselor might be the first step to take. Just imagine what that one simple step might have accomplished (and I'm not faulting anyone for not doing it... just presenting it as an option in the future).

Oh, dear TBG, if only we could do what you suggest. Technically, this is against the law for both college professors and high school counselors.

And even such graceful and elliptical conversations are complex and fraught with legal danger.

In terms of the disability support services on campus, unless the student can manage the communication with professors, even such programs are hampered by privacy laws, name the Buckley Act.

*Sigh* Obviously there needs to be a middle ground, where the communication can be made to get kids the services they need. Time to amend the Buckley Act, I'd say.

Frosti - yes, you are thinking of the right school. It is still a football powerhouse of sorts, which concerned us as Alohaboy is not an athlete by any measure of the word. They have a new president who has committed to making the school back into an academic institution as it was 25-30 years ago. With that we thought it was worth a try for Alohaboy, who seems to really enjoy being there. He's even trying harder then he did at his old school, which had girls. Seems the girls intimidated him and he tried to stay under the radar to avoid being embarrassed (his word).

SD, sorry to hear about the the lad's foot. Sounds painful and a long rehab to follow. Hang in there. Tell him this - it's a great excuse to get out of dancing if he doesn't feel like it, and then he can suggest a quiet little table in the corner....

Lemondade from lemons all all. :-)

Ha, Error! Only you would suggest that particular kind of lemonade.

SCC: "Lemonade"

By the way, I almost got ill listening to Bush's remarks about Gonzales. The waves of self-pity, how politics had destroyed old Al... everything BUT responsibility for his own actions in defense of the Liar-In-Chief.

He either deserves an Oscar or is utterly delusional.

Well, part of the problem is that there are millions and millions of people with various and sundry kinds of mental problems and disturbances, from mild and severe, and almost none of them go out an shoot 57 people. And I don't see that it makes too much difference whether the person in question is a teen or a youbng adult, or an older adult. Part of the problem is identifying people who may be dangerous to themselves or others, regardless of the local environment. Cho happened to be a college student, so a lot of the focus is on the college. But suppose Cho was a sheet metal worker or a finish carpenter, or whatever white-collar or blue-collar job who went "postal" and did basically the same thing at XYZ Corp. instead of Virginia Tech. Would we be asking that XYZ Corp. should have found some way to "get help" for one of its employees, when we ask that from Virginia Tech?

I don't have an answer, I only raise the question.

Also, Cho was 23 years old--an adult. We talk about him as if he was a "kid," because he was also a college student, but in fact he wasn't. So part of me agrees with Slyness that we need to get "kids" the services they need, and another part of me says we need to get "everybody" the services they need -- and another part of me says this is the real world, and we can't help EVERYone, all the time, every place, everywhere.

So among other things we have to think about some sort of societal "triage," even for purely mental/behavioral problems. There are thousands of homeless crazies walking around the streets--and by and large we let them alone because they tend not to go postal and kill anyone (they only die of hypothermia on cold winter nights).

So, all else being equal, why should we intervene to help a relatively well-off middle-class or upper middle-class 23-year-old adult as opposed to an indigant 59-year-old homeless person? Certainly not because one is a college student and one is virtually "invisible."

If we knew who was going to turn out to be the killer, sure, then the answer is easy. And sometimes we know--and don't do anything. And sometimes we DON'T know--and don't do anything.

It would have been nice to stop Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris--now that we know what they were going to do. But what have we done about all the other near-Klebolds walking around who haven't "gone off" yet, but have virtually all the same symptoms and warning signs? Pretty much nothing.

Which is why I need to walk disconsolately to the bus and go home and have a drink.

Bush is in my neck of the woods today:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003855861_webbush27m.html
I suppose I should be there with the protesters, but I'm just glad I don't have to deal with the traffic (I'm off today). And Bush probably won't see or hear the protesters anyway.

Curmudgeon, you're so right.

Even "mental illnesses" aside, there are many physical illnesses that can alter behavior and cognition that too often go unrecognized and untreated.

Schizophrenia, for instance, in up to 3% of cases may well be caused by malnutrition associated with celiac disease.

I think the only way is to educate more people overall about mental illness and, you know, most mentally ill people DEPEND on their families to get them the help they need.

When that fails, there may be somebody else in the support network who is able and willing to advocate for that person-- but if the person doesn't know the first thing about mental illness or what they can legally do, that's a big stumbling block.

The second, of course, is insurance issues.

I know a pastor who used to work as a psychiatric nurse, and she shared a story where a mentally ill patient was released even though he was a clear danger to himself and others in what he was saying-- because the insurance sent a social worker to evaluate him, and the social worker didn't have the training to really determine he wasn't in need of hospitalization then.
Yes, the patient attempted sucide and attacked a family member within 24 hours of that "determination."

We do, painfully, need to safeguard the civil rights of the mentally ill-- they're often disbelieved when they complain of abuse, so they are ripe for exploition and abuse at the hands of others who take advantage of that.

But is it a civil right to refuse treatment for a dangerous illness?

That's a good question; in the past as Mudge well knows, people (such as Typhoid Mary) have been quarantined forcibly, against their will, for public safety.

But we can't begin to debate this issue if we don't track it more thoroughly.

Mudge... when Cho started college he was 18, technically partially adult, but still a kid really. And he had a disability that the county had bothered to investigate and diagnose (and believe me, it's not easy to get the county to agree to test--at no cost to the parents--and diagnose a disability in a kid that still manages to get good grades and test highly on standardized tests, which Cho must have done if he got into Va Tech). They also made accommodations for Cho and they are required to make those accommodations once they've determined he's got a disability.

Colleges are supposed to provide them, too, under the ADA. There's no Special Ed in college, but the ADA steps in for students with disabilities... learning, emotional or physical. But it's up to the student to ask for the accommodation and someone whose disability is that he cannot talk to strangers isn't going to ask. So it was his parents' job. I'm going to assume they paid for college; they were active in that aspect. It's just a shame they didn't understand that what they thought were "demons" was a diagnosed mental condition.

They had no idea he would go ballistic. No one did and no one should have suspected it. But it's just one more piece to the puzzle. Perhaps if he HAD gotten help he wouldn't have gone off like he did.

No one is faulting the schools, at least I'm certainly not. I actually think the Post has done a service to Fairfax County by pointing out that when he was an FCPS student, he was getting the help he needed to succeed in school. That the county had bothered to figure out what was wrong with him and deal with this rare disability.

I also wonder if he HAD gotten the same treatment and accommodations at Tech if the problem just wouldn't have come to a head down the road in a workplace somewhere. If he didn't find a job that allowed for his disability (whether they knew about it or not) he very likely would have become one of those "homeless crazies"--or worse.

It's just so sad... the whole thing.

I have to share today's story.

Today was the first day of school in my district. I was in a classroom trying to get the tuner to work with the LCD projector. When I finally succeeded, the first thing I saw and heard was the BIG BREAKING NEWS!!! And I tossed the remote and started dancing around the classroom. The teacher, my tech coworker, and the students got to see the real nutty me. When I saw one kid laughing, I excused myself, picked up my laptop, and walked very sedately out into the hallway.

Now I can back-boodle.

Mudge... I agree that in practice, identifying potential time bombs is difficult and the institution the time bomb works for or is getting an education from should not be blamed for not noticing or not doing anything (as an alkie, I've managed to lie my way through numerous interviews with health pros and counselors and was able to convince them all that I was 'normal').

That said, I think that employers and schools and other institutions should try harder to identify potential problems. Ideally, they would do this to help those with the problems. But they won't, so from the reality perspective, they should do this because it would protect not only their employees or students (or whoever else happens to wander the halls of their facilities), but would also reduce their risk from lawsuits and other liabilities after a nutcase goes off *if* they can prove that they not only screened, but made a serious effort to find/provide treatment/counseling for said nutcase.

Of course, that opens a very large can of worms, ethically speaking, and would be a civil liberties nightmare, but what else can be done? Give *everyone* a gun? Build "safe rooms"? Metal detectors everywhere? Arm and deputize the janitors?

I think this is one of those problems where we end up focusing too much on the result instead of the cause. Figuring out how to identify and calm down a potential suicidal with mass-murdering tendencies before he acts is practically impossible. Figuring out what it is that makes certain people suicidal with mass-murdering tendencies is nearly as impossible, but a bit closer to the root of the problem.

Find the true root (or roots) of this problem and you'll be very appreciated (rich and famous is reserved for those who do silly things or were born that way).

CP: "...boodle dream..." *L* I have school dreams beginning the week before teacher work days that persist throughout the year. the longer I teach, the more it seems like that there is a stand-up element to the craft. The lesson needs an anecdote here and there or somethini gross to keep their attention. The research says that an instructor only has 15-25 teachable seconds per mnute for boys and girls respectively. The remainder of the minute is fraught with thoughts of sex and drugs and rock 'n roll. *that's all my body needs*

dr, thanks for the kind words.

Joel's advice about sarcasm reminded me...

Did anyone else listen to the commentary on tabloids on Marketplace this morning? I loved the way the guy described the relationship between the tabloid and its readership: Both know they are in on the joke, and the fun is in pretending the other side is really serious about it.

Well, that set me straight. When I would visit Miami as a kid, I thought Americans must be absolutely stupid to believe all that stuff with the badly Photoshopped images (or whatever was done before Photoshop and GIMP). I wondered how such stupid people could run such a cool country.

Yeah, the reason the sarcasm advice reminded me was...

I don't know. I think the commentator said that the prevalent sarcasm of bloggers and other online commentators has killed tabloids other than those dealing with celebrity plastic surgery horrors.

a bea c... no offense, but whatever happened to books, chalk, crayons and fingerpaint?

It's been a while, but I seem to remember that those things never "crashed", never required the signing of a "EULA", and worked even when the power went out.

Don't get me wrong... without today's technology I'd be dead in the water (very crippled, anyway), but I thought schools were supposed to provide the basics -- reading, writing, arithmetic -- so that if technology fails, the kids could create new stuff to replace it.

I'm sure I'm behind the times. What this country needs are kids who know how to apply fonts in Word so they can get their MSCE's and teach others to apply fonts in Word. Or Excel. We don't need no stinking programmers. That's what India and Estonia are for.

Sorry... I'm in a grumpy and Ludditish mood.

NPR's "This I Believe" essay was very good today (they almost always are)--and somewhat on topic, being by a mother-to-be meditating on what kind of child she would like to bring into the world.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13863318

A strange and wonderful thing happened today... a fairy door showed up on my doorstep. I am truly speechless. Martooni makes very magical doors, and the Boodle makes for some very magical friends. I can't ever thank you folks enough.

Martooni, you'll be happy to know it matches my bar perfectly.

What's up, friends? It seem I can never get here until night now. Still tired to the bone. I can't seem to get moving on the things I need to do. Grandsons gone home and school today. G-girl still here, and going Wednesday, on her birthday. We have this huge birthday cake, and no one to eat it. I will be giving away free cake.

I saw the breaking news this morning about the attorney general. It was shocking. I thought perhaps he might try to hang tough. After his testimony before Congress, he was a goner anyway. How can the attorney general of the USA expect any one to listen to him when he has lied more ways than Carter has liver pills? I told my dad, we know politicians lie, but aren't they suppose to be great at it, I mean really good? You know the kind of good wherein we don't notice that they lied.

And after he was exposed going to the hospital to torture poor Ashcroft, his tenure was shot anyway.

And they (parents) pay at private schools for their children to play "ping pong", Ivansmom? I tell you, I live and I learn. I am always fascinated at the different worlds we live in here in America. Fascinated and pained(?) is more like it.

I am off to bed. Have a good night, boodle, and sweet dreams. I feel really old, and have felt this way for awhile. I hope I'm not depressed. As if I need another pill to take. Of course, I could be feeling this way because I am old.

Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't. I loved that commercial because it speaks to me on so many levels. I mean I really feel nutty as fruitcake some days, and will tell any one that listens, hey I am a nut. And some days it completely opposite. I feel every pain in the world. The mother that has lost a child, the grandmother that worries about her grand children, the mother that wishes she could drill school into her daughter's head, and a friend that wants desperately to see all the people she loves go to heaven. Oh, isn't life something else, people. It hurts so much of the time, and sometimes it is wonderful.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Hello, friends. The comment monster ate my comment. It was just rambling, so I will not try to go back over it.

I am still very tired and not quite myself yet, but perhaps can get some rest at some point this week.

Have a good night, and sweet dreams.

My computer is acting up really bad, so if you don't hear from me, don't think the worse, I can't get you is probably more likely the case.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Well, I see you got the rambling. I'm a nut today, so overlook the rambling.

Again, good night.

Martooni, we still have all that. But, if we don't teach the kids to change the fonts, who will want to give them a job?

Take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

We saw it at a big geek event, then showed it to our staff during pre-service week. This is why we have the interactive boards, the projectors, the fonts, the gadgets. Otherwise, kids tune us out.

Not everyone is raising kids to love learning the way Boodlers are.

Fairy doors magically appeared on your doorstep, EF? How very bizarre. Who woulda thunk it.

*being one of about 20 or 25 Boodlers who are secretly chortling and jumping up and down and unable to contain s----eating grins from ear to ear, and sending attaboy thoughts at random to anybody out there who may happen to make Fairy Doors as a hobby or whatever*

>How very bizarre.

Not only that I shorted out two keyboards before I was able to get that post out Mudge. I think I need some Gatorade.

EF: I'm so happy to hear the fairy door showed up. Several boodlers organized that -- I hope they speak up and explicate -- and Martooni, I know, did a fantastic job on it. We're all thinking about you, Error, and beaming you our positive vibes.

Meanwhile, there's this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701235.html?hpid=topnews

[Maybe he just ran out of TP????]

Joel, if that happened in a Ladies' I'd certainly think it was a request for TP rather than an invitation to raunchy acts.

What's next, being arrested for asking for a light in a bar?

Why do I suspect that bloggers will have a field day with the Larry Craig story.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/051699.php

Wilbrod, it depends upon HOW you request the light.

With the foot: Definitely a felony.

Noted. It's a felony to ask with a footsie even if you're wearing high heels? Man, this sexual business gets more complicated every year.

It was fun while it lasted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701332.html?hpid=topnews

Good for you ER. You never know when a Fairy door will come handy.
What's this thing with guys getting romantically excited in public bathrooms? I can think of so many better places and so few worse locations.
And beside, rabbits tap their feet when they are axcited but I never felt the urge myself. I'm not normal maybe.
The mare pony we rented out last year just got a cute little philly this morning. Witch no.1 HAD to go see the new baby, a nice bay Morgan like her mother. The horse's owner was backing out of her driveway when she noticed the new addition to the herd. Things went so smoothly nobody witnessed the event.

SCC ...are excited.
I'm really getting worster and worster.

JasusGud, Shrieking, you breed Morgan Horses? My most beloved and beautiful and smoothed-gaited horse-people? Pacers? (Some of them?) I'm now entirely in your power to command me to help you socialize your foals to the halter and the saddle.

I cannot believe I've been a Boodle-buddy for almost two years and did not have this information.

I thought we were talking about dogs.

So silly and lost, me.

Stroke their noses and teach them the change-of-leg for me.

Error so glad the fairies made a delivery to your home.

Mudge thank you for so elequently describing how I felt when I read Errors' post. There are some very special boodlers out there who need to stand and take a bow - BRAVO.

I've never met a Morgan myself, but I'm literate on the breed, and share Yoki's sentiments.

Yoki, Wilbrodog wishes to say he's been known to pace and has changed leads on command, and likes carrots. Does that make him any more special?

Hello, all.

Sorry for being MIA on the Boodle today, I took a personal day off, and it was just wonderful.

Anyway, I found a very questionable draft form for White House HR Actions from now until January 2009:

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?p=196

Interesting that the Falcons and Bengals are playing on MNF this evening, both teams dealing with legal problems...

bc

Wilbrodog likes carrots? I'm impressed.

EF, we hope the fairy door has a salubrious effect. That's what we're aiming for. Martooni does great work, doesn't he? Please know that your friends here are thinking about you, and we wish you health and prosperity.

Gosh, I catch up on backboodling, I see that EF's door showed up! I am *so* happy about that.

And I think I know where on the bar you're putting that, EF.

Ay, carrumba, WaPo Radio going off the air?

Now, can someone get those tapes from the afternoon of July 3rd, 2006? That was clearly a high point in WaPo Radio's short existence...

Hmm, better yet, how about the Joel Achenbach box set? Think we could convince Rhino Records to get that together for us?

bc

G'night all. I'm going to bed early, so I can get up at 5 to watch the lunar eclipse. Hope I get to see it, it's supposed to be low in the western sky.

Beautiful moonrise tonight, the last full moon of the summer in a day or two.

Brilliant bc, I see you used your time well today :-).

I was devastated to learn the WaPo radio station is going off the air. Joel, tell me the truth: was it that little visit bc and I made to the station with you and Downie that time that killed it? You can tell me the truth; I can take it. (It was bc, wasn't it? I just knew it was all his fault. Oh, I feel so...used.)

Error, so happy you like your fairy door. I'd like to be half as caring a person as the ones who instigated your gift.

For a normally slow Monday in August, we have had tons of interesting news today. My joy at Gonzo's departure was immediately tempored by thoughts of why now, what do they have up their sleeves? It's terrible to distrust the government so completely. Spoke to a cousin at the surprise birthday party on Saturday who lives in Vancouver, BC and holds dual citizenship. She loves it there and I felt a bit of envy for those of you living in a more sane country.

We just discovered the coolest thing! It's very calm here tonight and through the open window we heard a foghorn! In a year of being here, it's the first time we've heard it. Crickets and a foghorn, what a great way to drift off to sleep.

is anyone watching the lunar eclipse?

Error... so glad the door arrived! The fairies in your yard have been having a heck of a time with the groundhogs, I understand, and they need a place to get away.

Did anyone notice this line in the Larry Craig article about the "Singing Senators"? It said the group included "then-Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), who broke up the group when he went on to become attorney general."

Excuse me? I believe John Ashcroft stopped being a Singing Senator when the good people of Missouri thought a corpse would do a better job in Washington than Ashcroft would.

And here, I've spotted a second bunch of flowers forming on the big Heliconia collinsiana. There's a picture of one here:

http://www.fairchildgarden.org/index.cfm?section=livingcollections&subsection=collections&page=heliconiadescriptions

My big clump (probably 10 feet in diameter and nearly as tall) is derived from one piece of rhizome planted in winter 2003. The little plant, all of 2 feet tall, survived a big tree falling on it in Frances the next summer, then Jeanne. Last year, one of the big shoots did a feeble attempt at flowering. Finally, now, the payoff.

On the other hand, the big leaves are very whitish (glaucous) on the undersides and the clump is an impressive sight toward sunset, glowing white in the sun.

TBG, you are funny! a bea c, I told "S" to wake me for the eclipse if it was unusual in any way, otherwise I just can't get up that early.

The moonrise was spectacular this evening rising over the Atlantic Ocean and the Ocean City, Md., boardwalk.

I'll watch it tomorrow morning right after I get up, a bea c. You watching it?

GWE was right--it was a terrific moonrise tonight about 7:45 p.m.

Gee Dave, those flowers are gorgeous! And here I was all excited because my sunflowers are finally blooming.

>The fairies in your yard have been having a heck of a time with the groundhogs,

Max Leader was brazenly gnoshing in the driveway stones when I pulled up today. And the concrete I put in? The Groundhog Nation pooled their dough and sent me a check for "improvements". Seems it sealed the burrow better. *sigh*

I should've watched Monday Night Football with the sound off. The Michael Vick apologists are just astounding. Sort of like Bush talking about Gonzales.

TBG, are you travelling again? The moon has been beautiful here too - the eclipse is at 1:30 or sometime here, so I won't be watching.

Thanks for letting us know the door arrived, Error. Glad you like it.

SD, hope you get some pictures of the filly that you can share with us sometime. Dave, those are beautiful plants. How wonderful to have them in your yard.

Enjoying a few days here "down th' beach" with the girl. Arrived this afternoon and after a dip in the pool went to the boardwalk for slices of pizza, soft ice cream and people watching. The perfect night in Ocean City!

I thought this quote from Craig was very insightful:

"I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

Counsel could have reminded him that, perhaps, he was just suffering from a Tony Orlando and Dawn "Knock Three Times" tune cootie and things just got a little out of control. I think most reasonable people would understand . . . .

;-)

Just went to look at the moon, lovely tonight. Must be magnificent over the ocen TBG - have fun at the beach.

Night all

Will somebody please be fair and remind those who missed the discussion(s) what a fairy door is? It sounds questionable appearing the same day as the unfortunate Senator from Idaho's mounting problems. :-)

Birdie said "mounting." Hahaha

birdie, a fairy door is a small (6" by 4" or otherwise dimensioned) wooden door which plays on the imagination; it might open to the world of fairie or different otherworldly oceans and islands and continents of wonder. Fairy doors are a small window which opens for us, and gives our magical selves a place to play.

Darn..the eclipse happens around 3 AM here in Colorado and storm clouds have moved in. Not sure it is worth it to set the alarm. But the moon last night was spectacular. So big and bright one could nearly read a book. And Mars is close by too and looked huge. More reasons to be glad to be alive!

RD--thanks for the words about private schools. Three of four kids attend or attended in-state schools---not as expensive but with room and board it really adds up. The fourth is a junior at the Colorado School of Mines...a very tough engineering-oriented school but a stellar rep. And the kid is a she who loves math!

Too many typos and infelicitous expressions to own. Forgive!

Jack, the boodle should give you some great stories for bio-capture of the students. Try the one about mice and sexual proclivities and olfactory glands of a few days back. Wilbrod can help you draft a lesson.

I like these:

+asparagus and changes in urine;
+Coriolis forces: is the direction the water swirls down the drain same in both the N.Hemisphere v. S. Hemisphere?
+hoax that last blonde will be born in Finland circa 2050;
+there is a molecule named 'arsole'("Studies on the Chemistry of the Arsoles", G. Markl and H. Hauptmann, J. Organomet. Chem., 248 (1983) 269.);
+Phthalic Acid can be mispronounced to special effect

Other funny-weird sciency things to be shared I am sure that you can tell as well as SciTim, RD, BC and even the dark but kind overlord J. Mysteriousian Achenboodlebach.

Yoki, very cool. Wonder what color EF got. :-)

birdie... Fairy doors are the product of the boodle's resident handyman, the Handy Hippie Martooni himself. College Parkian describes them well here (including pictures)...

http://minxterbloom.squarespace.com/journal/2007/8/4/droll-duet-of-doors.html

CeePee also conspired with Martooni and several boodlers to send one to Error Flynn, who is dealing with fighting groundhogs and other "bad humors" right now.

Ha ha, bill, birdie. Too bad the Senator doesn't know any lawyers, eh? Poor guy, no one to go to for legal advice...

Martooni makes fabulous little doors which could be conducive to fairies - small elven-like people. CP has pictures here on her blog:
http://minxterbloom.squarespace.com/

Off to bed, but my goodness, doesn't the mixster just deserve this pubicizing?

Yoki!

Bad Sneakers, you sound like me. I have standing orders to get me up for the Northern Lights (I've never seen them), but that's about it. When I was younger, and living away from city lights, I tried valiantly to stay awake for meteor showers and the like. But my body just wants to sleep from about 2 am till 5.

What time does the eclispe happen on the east coast? And shoot I am sorry I didn't know about it.

Ok, here's a pic of the fairy door in a temporary? installation.

http://web.mac.com/errorflynn/iWeb/Error%20Flynn/Error%20Blog/Error%20Blog.html

Thanks, mostlylurking TBG and Yoki. Fairy doors look like fun. It makes sense they would come from Martooni. The one and only dang hippie, on this blog, anyway. I was only a hippie wannabe in the day. Peace.

BTW, the big moon is now peeping out through cracks in the clouds. So tempting to wake at 3 AM. We'll see....

The eclipse starts at 4:50 ayem EDT and ends about 8:24.
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html
I just heard about it today during the local weather - that's what the boodle is for, to make sure we don't miss these things. Not that I'm getting up, mind you.

Error Flynn--that is a really nice fairy door--very polished. Good choice of alcohol, too. Thanks for sharing :-)

Such a generous group of boodlers here on Achenblog.

I bet Loomis can confirm this, but I have always assumed that Gonzales became Bush's "abogado," not through brilliant legal manuevering (although other lawyers in Gonzales's big firm may have done so), but through a slavish devotion to fund raising which does not involve the practice of law but the diligent practice of constantly pressuring the local business community to pony up to the greatest extent possible.

I thought that the best part of Fletcher and Smith's analysis today of where things started to fall apart was when Gonzales started to have to actually practice law (picking up when he was named to the Texas Supreme Court):

On the court, Gonzales was a moderate. Lacking a litigation background, he often arrived at work early and stayed late, reading cases that some other justices knew just from their citations, a former colleague said.

As White House counsel beginning in 2001, Gonzales surrounded himself with bright, conservative lawyers. They subscribed to controversial legal theories, such as the belief that the Constitution gives the president much more authority than Congress or the judiciary, and contended that international treaties are subject to "situational" adherence.

Gonzales had little experience with much of federal law or national security matters. Many colleagues described him as a relatively passive participant in the sometimes acrimonious administration debates driven -- and often won, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- by Cheney's ideologically hard-line legal counsel, David Addington.

Gonzales was "unassuming, pleasant and quiet," said a former official who sat in interagency meetings on terrorism matters. "He never made an impression on me." The suspicion that Gonzales was a disconnected figurehead while political officials decided events would resurface among lawmakers in the controversy over the prosecutor firings."

I thought this was a really good analysis of a fish out of water.

Bush's abogado? I think of Gonzales as more like the consiglieri.

Gosh, I see that infinity signs looks more like um, a backdoor symbol, if you know what I mean. I love the green and tan colors, very manly.

Hope you enjoyed the verbiage that came with the fairy door, Error.

Thanks mostly. I will be up all night so it is very doable.

>Hope you enjoyed the verbiage that came with the fairy door, Error.

Really not fair about that note. You people are breaking my heart here. I just really can't talk about it. Got a call from an old friend shortly after; I was a mess for hours.

I thought the infinity sign was very cool.

*faxing ef a cyber hug*

Wow, I didn't think my haiku was that bad, but it's okay if you don't wanna comment, I'll just kick myself yet again for being gauche.

Ah well, tomorrow's another day.

*Faxing EF a lot more than just one cyber hug, plus a big hammer for bopping groundhogs and gnomes with.*

> if you don't wanna comment

Please don't take my lack of an articulate comment as a reflection on the content of any of the messages. There just really are no words to do them justice.

No sign of eclipse. Has it been pre-empted or is it just later at the western edge of the EDT zone?

Meeting a neighbor in the street peering through the trees for a view of the eclipse, I was advised of a new vantage point, and lo, it was the moon in obscurity. What I had been watching through the trees was another neighbors mercury vapor yard light. Feeling foolish at 5 a.m. does not bode a good day ahead. It is nice, however, to have neighbors who also stumble around in the dark.

*suspending backBoodling for the eclipse watch*

:-)

*pinhole-viewer-holding Grover waves*

Oh, not THAT kind of eclipse? Sorry...

;-)

I can't see anything either,clouds rolled in a little while ago. But since I am on the clock for 2 more hours, I will check in a bit.

grumble grumble stupid eclipse-ruining clouds and haze grumble grumble.

The eclipse is very nice what with the lightenining sky in the east as the moon is almost gone.

SCC as the moon slowly disappears.

It's gone. We have achieved complete elipsitude.

Shiloh, don't feel too silly. I doubt I even found the right location of the moon, it's a partially cloudy night here.

However the mill smoke makes for a very nice pink pre-dawn light.

I also enjoyed smelling the donuts from the local bakery and Wilbrodog liked the surprise sniff time so early.

It's surprisingly nice pre-dawn weather, just cool and clammy enough.

Speaking of temperature...
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/raskin/13789

'Morning, Boodle. Given the above reports, I have decided not to run outside in my skivvies to watch the eclipse. I don't know how many moons my neighbors can handle.

Midst the wonderful news about the departure of Torqueberto comes this piece of shocking news: we're running out of bullets. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701793.html?hpid=artslot
Yes, it's like the next-to-last scene of a bad movie, when the beleagured good guys are surrounded by the enemy and are running so low on ammo they have to scurry from corpse to corpse getting ammo clips from their web belts.

What I can't figure out is we're hardly even shooting anybody--and we're running low. Have the effing insurgents stolen it all? Just another sign of our crack administration's inability to conduct warfare. Supplies for domestic police agencies are running up to a year behind. A year. Can you imagine?

If there's an increased demand for the stuff, the administration has had six years to figure it out and do something about it. Apparently that hasn't happened. What a surprise.

The money graf: "Alliant, which operates the government's Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri, is the government's primary supplier of small-caliber ammunition. The company is also a leading supplier for police departments across the country. In April 2000, the Lake City plant had 650 employees and produced 350 million rounds a year, he said. Today, he said, it runs at full capacity 24 hours a day, employing 2,500 workers and producing 1.2 billion rounds a year."

So yes, on the one hand, they've tripled capacity. But on the other hand...it ain't enough.

Of course, these are basically the same people who still haven't figured out how to put enough armor on our Humvees.

I forgot to look for the eclipse on my dog walk, but it would have been too overcast to see anything. They really aren't that impressive in my opinion.

The sun is up and there is no sign of the moon so I regret to annouce that the moon has disappered. Panic may now ensue.

That is all... Lovers.

Dang, I can't see the eclipse from my porch - too many trees. And the NASA webcast is busy! I'm trying to get there!

I had heard about the ammo problem, Mudge. The local police department issued new guns a few months back. The cop in the family (husband to third daughter) fussed and fussed that they were allowed not nearly enough rounds for practice. That's scary. Remind me to stay out of situations where the police may need to use guns.

I've seen some pretty blood-red moons, and I think full lunar eclipses are more interesting to see (and easier on the eye) than partial solar eclipses.

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Pretty pics here of impending doom. http://www.zetatalk.com/index/reddust.htm

Still not fully BackBoodled, but just saw WaPo Radio's getting the ax...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701332.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/?hpid=news-col-blog

*SIGH*