For Christ, For Truth, For Liberty

We love, love, LOVE Bollywood films. Good stories, handsome casts, unintentional cultural misinterpretations, the music, the costumes, the sets…Bollywood today is Hollywood of the 30s and 40s: excellence in film and entertainment. Those who don’t watch Bollywood films because they “don’t like subtitled films” are missing out big-time. This is especially true for Christians and those with what Sarah Palin calls “traditional values”; Bollywood movies don’t celebrate and focus on baseness, coarseness, or vulgarity like the majority of currently produced American films, and they don’t misuse sexuality to the extent American entertainment does (in comparison, one would almost say “not at all”). Because of their focus on story and character, Bollywood films tend to stay with us for days, me especially. They’re quite affecting.

Bollywood films are obviously interesting from a cultural perspective, as well; many of them are set in India either in whole or part, or, at the very least, we see the Western world through Indian eyes, and how these two worlds blend together, often beautifully, but sometimes a bit jarringly due to the differing cultural mores and traditions. Such is the case with Kal Ho Naa Ho, set as it is in modern New York City.

The film, in short, follows three young friends; a serious young woman, the two men who both love her, one of whom is not only willing to let the other win her, but helps him do so, in order to ensure her better happiness, for he has a secret he will not and cannot divluge.  I’m afraid to tell you much more and give the tale away, but it is well worth watching! It stars Bollywood’s biggest actor, Shah Rukh Khan, as well as one of India’s most popular actresses, Preity Zinta. Saif Ali Khan also stars, playing a character I think is a bit alien to his usual type very well. If you’re looking for a good introduction to Bollywood, you could do worse.

The following song is from a party scene in the film The tune is very catchy, especially once it hits the chorus (as in, I ordered it from iTunes immediately after seeing the movie). Trust me, you’ll like it (if not, I worry about your capacity for being happy). Enjoy!

(There’s a better-quality version of the video here, but no subs.)

The George Washington National Masonic Memorial

View On Black.

Designed to mimic the great Lighthouse at Alexandria and built on the very hill Thomas Jefferson had suggested be the location of America’s Capitol, the George Washington National Masonic Memorial has Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian accents (meant to symbolize strength, wisdom, and beauty, thus reflecting Washington’s service to America). At the very peak is an Egyptian pyramid topped with a finial resembling a flame. According to the Memorial website,

As Washington was the guiding light for the American Republic and Freemasonry, so would the Memorial shine the light of the Masonic tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.

Ground for the Memorial was broken in mid-1922, and the cornerstone dedicated in 1923. Building continued through the Great Depression as Freemasons provided the funds toward its completion. No money was borrowed for the project.

Finally, in 1932, the bicentennial year of Washington’s birth (and still in the beginning of the Depression), President Hoover took part in the dedication of the memorial. There is a terrific slideshow of photos documenting the construction of the Memorial here.

After the end of WWII, workers began to work on the completion of the gigantic interior, which includes a museum with some fascinating Washington-related artifacts, including the tool used to bleed him on his deathbed (!) and the Death Clock, stopped by Martha’s hand at the moment of her husband’s death. The memorial was completed in 1970.

Again, if you are in Washington or the surrounding area, I highly, highly recommend you visit the Memorial. Visits are free (though donations are gladly accepted) and you do have the option of a self-guided tour as well. My photos can’t do any of this justice.

I don’t know why, but this song has been in my head all day.

Gotta love it.

Well, hockey is, of course, my game. I love it, and this Olympics’ hockey has been thrilling, thrilling, thrilling. We are so proud of and excited about the Team USA men’s hockey team here!

That said, we are (like half the country, apparently) mesmerized by curling. It’s a sport we don’t know the rules of, it mimics housecleaning, everyone wears ugly shoes, it involves sliding large rocks over ice, to say nothing of SCREAMING at the rocks…But here we are, hypnotized by it! Hubby is really enjoying it, and I don’t mind watching it while working away (though I do prefer men’s curling to women’s, because the men seem more thoughtful about it).

Tonight, listening to Special Report with Bret Baier while I cooked dinner, we heard the estimable Dr. Charles Krauthammer waxing enthralled and enthusiastic over the sport (we can call it that?) of curling. No joke. He loves it, despite spending his first two hours of watching it having no idea what the rules of the game are.

So don’t feel badly, America. Dr. Krauthammer’s newfound appreciation of the sport is, as far as we are concerned, a golden seal of approval on curling and all of its mystical weirdness.

Poor Ben.

Poor Ben, trapped in the snow! Y’all liked this last Friday, so here it is in full-size. That expression is something else!

Larger.

The snow is coming down again today, and furiously at that. Something tells me the crocus are wisely hiding below ground for a looooong time this year!

Via Commentary:

…excavations conducted by archeologist Eilat Mazar in the Ophel area revealed a section of an ancient city wall of Jerusalem. According to the press release from the Hebrew University, under whose auspices the project was carried out, the dig uncovered the wall as well as an inner gatehouse for entry into the royal quarter of the ancient city and an additional royal structure adjacent to the gatehouse as well as a corner tower. While ancient buildings are not uncommon in the city, the significance of this discovery is the fact that these edifices can be dated to the 10th century before the Common Era — the time of King Solomon, credited by the Bible for the construction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Pottery found at the lowest levels of the dig is dated to this era.

Even more telling is the fact that bullae — seal impressions — with Hebrew names were found, as well as seal impressions on jar handles inscribed with the words “to the king,” which means they were employed by the Israelite state in that time. Inscriptions on the jars, which Mazar says are the largest ever found in Jerusalem, showed them to be the property of a royal official.

This discovery is not just of significance to those of Jewish descent, or Jewish or Christian faith. As the blog post at <i>Commentary</i> points out, for almost two hundred years there have been academics, intellectuals, and, let’s face it, Jew-haters who have denied and brushed away any suggestion that there was indeed a Jewish kingdom or empire, ever, claiming it was all just religious poppycock. By repeating this lie often enough, certain parties hope to obtain the world’s belief and thus the ability to easily shove Israel off the map.

…contrary to those who speak of the Jewish presence in the city as a passing phase in ancient times, the discovery of Jewish seals, which speak directly of an Israelite state, proves that what Mazar has found are not the remains of a Jebusite fort conquered by the Jews but rather of a great city built by David and his son Solomon.

While finding ancient Jewish artifacts as well as the traces of Solomon’s city in Jerusalem may seem nothing out of the ordinary, for the last century and a half, a great many academics and intellectuals have attempted to put down the existence of the ancient Jewish kingdom — which has always served as a symbol of Jewish nationhood — as a religiously inspired fiction.

…Palestinian propagandists and the Palestinian Authority itself, which has steadfastly denied any Jewish connection to the Old City, the Temple Mount, or even the Western Wall, have copied revisionist scholarly work doubting Jewish history and incorporated that work into their negotiating position about the city’s future. The Muslim religious authority that controls the site of the Temple Mount has vandalized the area, destroying a treasure trove of antiquities in the ancient place because its officials fear that any find revealing the Jewish origins of the place will undermine their fallacious claims that seek to portray Jews as foreign occupiers in their own ancient capital.

It serves the purposes of the enemies of modern Israel to pretend that there is no such thing as biblical history or an ancient kingdom of Israel.

(You have no idea what sort of day it has been with the computer today. But better late than never!)

His Excellency

Delightful!

At wine class last night, another couple told us that we were expecting another foot of snow on Monday. Eeek! We can handle it, but goodness.

At any rate, here are a two lovelies from the garden for you to enjoy and, I hope, bring a little summer to your day. It’s not all fruits & veggies in our garden patch!

Nigella With Bee

Also known as &quot;love-in-a-mist&quot;, this was one of my favourites in the garden! The plant is so very unique and pretty, with so many colours on a single bloom. A very enjoyable flower, and one I highly recommend! They were easy as pie to grow, and the deer never bothered them.

Big tiny flower.

Nigella

That’s a dianthus behind it; it was one of the ‘damaged’, frost-bitten plants at Lowe’s. We bought several of them in tiny little cups for only ten cents apiece in June or early July; by autumn, the dianthus plants (also known as Sweet William) were bigger across than soccer balls. Not bad for a dime! So haunt those garden centers, you never know what you will come home with!

Larger.

As always, my shop is here, and you may browse my gallery on Flickr.

Thomas Sowell rocks it, as usual:

…if we stop and think about it — which politicians don’t expect us to — what is obscene about wealth? Wouldn’t we consider it great if every human being on earth had a billion dollars and lived in a place that could rival the Taj Mahal?

Poverty is obscene. It is poverty that needs to be reduced — and increasing a country’s productivity has done that far more widely than redistributing income by targeting “the rich.”

You can see the agenda behind the rhetoric when profits are called “unconscionable” but taxes never are, even when taxes take more than half of what someone has earned, or add much more to the prices we have to pay than profits do.

The assumption that what A pays B is any business of C is an assumption that means a dangerous power being transferred to politicians to tell us all what incomes we can and cannot receive.

Sowell then goes on to explain that this day could, indeed, be coming. A must-read!

By the way, he has a real humdinger of a series called “Fallacies about what’s fair” that begins <a href=”http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/fair-233570-europe-groups.html”>here</a>. It should be required reading for everyone, but especially parents, teachers, and politicians, though the skulls of the latter are probably too thick to be penetrated by such wisdom.

(What a grand world, where we have Thomas Sowell and Walter E. Williams living at the same time…)

Two today, one classical, and one purely American (well, mostly), with some (I hope) interesting historical tidbits thrown in.

First, Veretski Pass playing “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with a Jewish flair. It’s only about a minute long, and it’s quite amusing.

Second is James Cagney in the terrific “Yankee Doodle Dandy”. Here, Cagney, as the great American vaudevillian, producer, and composer George M. Cohan, portrays one of our most despicable Presidents, FDR, joshing with an adoring press. But darnit, despite my loathing for FDR and his policies, this number from the 1937 musical “I’d Rather Be Right” (if only, FDR!), is a delight. Keep up with the lyrics on this one!

And, FOR the record, Cagney was and is vastly underrated as a dancer. Remarkable hoofer, wasn’t he? Cohan approved of both the selection and performance of Cagney as himself, and, despite the fact that he was dying of stomach cancer, snuck out of his apartment in a wheelchair, defying doctor’s orders, in order to see the movie.

You may read a Time review of “I’d Rather Be Right” here; the reviewer notes that

In the genial person of Song-and-Dance Man Cohan. President Roosevelt admits that “the trouble with this country is that I don’t know what the trouble with this country is.”

…President Cohan confides: “I’m really quite a hero. I only have to say ‘My friends . . .’, and the stocks go down to zero.”

Sounds familiar…

Interestingly, Cohan absolutely hated, despised, and loathed FDR (as well as Actor’s Equity, the theatre performers’ and managers’ union). Cohan had no part in writing or producing “I’d Rather Be Right”, at least not so far as I can tell. It makes me wonder if his performance as FDR had any sort of edge to it, seeing how much the conservative performer hated the man. He must have certainly enjoyed delivering those lines, though.

(The entire libretto of “I’d Rather Be Right” is available for viewing here.)

It’s snowing a I tap away, and the icicles hanging off our (and everyone’s) home are reaching sci-fi proportions. Still, in all honesty, though it’s a mess to drive and walk in, to say nothing of the bitter cold, the snow is beautiful, and makes the perpetually grey skies of winter much easier to take. There’s something magical about this stuff, though I still contend it was not the Almighty’s intention for anyone to actually live year round in such a climate.

On to some photos?

The neighborhood gathers to dig free of the snow. (Bigger.) Snow blowers aren’t really as helpful as you might think when you have over twenty inches of heavy snow on the ground! Folks gathered to help clear the walks and driveways of those who had gotten a late start, or of course for people who were unable to do any clearing.

…Of course, since I am from Michigan, everyone seems to think this is “my kind of weather”, and that Michigan is *always* covered in a foot or more of snow, even in summer.

Trust me, neither of these assumptions is true. However, I mostly try to be nice about it.

Though the snow is quite fun to play in, and it is exciting to see such a great deal of it. I’ll give them that much…

He dances, he dances in the snow

Ben frolics in the snow. Largify.

BTW, these are all so dark because the clouds overhead were, as you might imagine, pretty thick. There wasn’t much sunlight to go around, despite its being almost noon. And y’all down South wonder why we’re all so hateful toward the winter weather? We go through WEEKS when it is always like this.

Isn’t Ben cute? I made him run through the snow with me this morning. He’s learned to sort of leap through it like Shamu through the ocean.

You can see all of my “snowpacolypse” shots here; I’ll be adding a few really fun ones of Ben later.

This story from the Financial Times is rather interesting:

More prosperous American shoppers seem to be defying continuing high unemployment levels and economic uncertainty to renew their spending on luxuries such as jewellery, fashion and cosmetics.

…Fabrizio Freda, chief executive of Estee Lauder, has said that sales of its beauty products at “prestige” stores – such as traditional department stores – had grown faster than at “mass” drugstores and discounters during November and December, reversing the trend seen earlier in the year.

“We view this as a return of the aspirational customer”, he said.

…Neiman Marcus, which operates about 43 luxury fashion stores serving the most affluent US consumers, said that its strongest categories included women’s couture clothing and precious jewellery.

Let me state right off the bat that I don’t mind people buying couture, perfume, whatever. I don’t. Not my bag, but then, the folks with all La Cruset in their kitchen and a closet full of couture would probably shriek in horror at the idea of vintage of any label and observe our vintage glassware with utter disdain.

No, what interests me here with this story is the psychology of it, considering that the economy is still extraordinarily shaky and we have twenty percent unemployment. Many economists are worried that this supposed recovery (and it’s weak if that is what it is) is going to be a double-dipper, meaning we’re headed for another rocky season. Worse, the present White House administration and Congress are not at all interested in protecting and defending private property rights, small business (any business, really, other than lining their own pockets and staying in power), or capitalism.

So the economy is not good. I do not care if the article says people aren’t as worried about losing their job; this dame isn’t buying that.

The Estee Lauder CEO probably hit the nail on the head without truly realizing what he was saying when he brought up aspirational consumers.   [Read more →]

Well, here we are, mostly dug out of the snow. There are probably twenty inches or so on the ground, and Ben could not BE having any more fun. Of course, we are now expecting another six to nine inches tomorrow. Ah, well, bring it on; we got through the first storm without too much trouble. More wood shall be brought in from the yard so it is dry in time should we need it, the radio batteries will be checked, another bag of de-icer looked for at the hardware store, and we will watch it come down. So long as the water and power (read: heat) stays on, I am pretty happy. For some reason, such powerful and productive storms make me think of the pioneers, and what they went through and dealt with.

At any rate, here is your Monday song to cheer you up. Sorry it’s late, but today has been one of those days, for reasons I cannot figure. Enjoy! This one’s a true classic.

Thank God for giving us this fine and great man. He always believed in America, because he understood our Founders and agreed with their principles, and because he still believed in the “average”, “everyday” American. Reagan, like the Founders and those like them, believed that individuals knew enough to take care of themselves and their neighborhood, without government interference or “help“.

And it’s beyond time to pray He have mercy and send us another (dozen).

Happy birthday, Mr. Reagan!

(Sorry this is late, friends; we have about two feet of fresh, heavy snow on the ground and lost power for about eight or so hours this morning. Stay warm and safe!)

(Larger.)

The remarks recorded by James Madison at the end of the Constitutional Convention:

Whilst the last members were signing it [i.e., the Constitution] Doct FRANKLIN looking towards the Presidents Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that Painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have said he, often and often in the course of the Session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun.

May it always be so, and the sacrifices and work of our Founders, including James Madison, not be in vain. We must defend our liberties valiantly against all that would touch that precious jewel, and do so with courage.

By the way, please don’t forget that you can purchase my prints, all of which are signed and numbered, from my shop!

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Fouad Ajami suggests that the bloom is off the Obama rose:

Americans don’t deify their leaders or hang on their utterances, but Mr. Obama succumbed to what the devotees said of him: He was the Awaited One. A measure of reticence could have served him. But the flight had been heady, and in the manner of Icarus, Mr. Obama flew too close to the sun.

We have had stylish presidents, none more so than JFK. But Kennedy was an ironist and never fell for his own mystique. Mr. Obama’s self-regard comes without irony—he himself now owns up to the “remoteness and detachment” of his governing style. …Mr. Obama was smitten with his own specialness.

…A historical hallmark of “isms” and charismatic movements is to dig deeper when they falter—to insist that the “thing” itself, whether it be Peronism, or socialism, etc., had not been tried but that the leader had been undone by forces that hemmed him in.

…There had been that magical moment—the campaign of 2008—and the true believers want to return to it. But reality is merciless. The spell is broken.

Unfortunately, it may well be too late for America, whether those who a year ago saw Obama as ‘the one’, as hope and change and the promise of a brighter America. Their gullibility, nurtured by a press that has entirely abandoned its duty, has placed this nation in great peril.

Now, if you are an attentive Rush fan, you almost hurt yourself laughing over the ballroom dance line.

Not sure what all the fuss is about? Here.

Let’s start a happy new thing here, shall we? For a couple of months I’ve wanted to share music that I think (or hope) you’ll enjoy, and “Monday Melodies” seems to fit so very nicely. It’s the beginning of the week, so why not perk it up with a song? Make a joyful noise and all that, in the face of another week of drudgery and frustration (don’t deny it, y’all)?

We’ll inaugurate this new tradition with one of the best movie endings (sorry) ever. From “Lilies of The Field” (a very sweet movie), here is Sidney Poitier lip-syncing to Jester Harrison’s “Amen”. Infectiously joyful! Enjoy, and happy Monday.

Lace

A tree at Monticello. No idea what it is…! Large.

Friends, I’ll be honest with you: I skipped the SOTU last night. This is the first time I’ve missed one in I do not know how long, but the prospect of allowing all of that bombastic hot air into my home was too much to bear. (I got to watch my hockey team inexplicably drop yet another game instead.) Really, I’m of the mind we should go back to the way this was done in Jefferson’s time and through the late 1800s: on paper. No television, no radio, no glorification of the president, no sitting through applause or wondering why Nancy Pelosi looks like she’s got a broken tailbone, one missing cheek, and the worst dry eyes ever.

I did tune in to hear BHO blaming We, The People, for his failures. Klassy guy. Even George III didn’t go that far, did he? And his snide, petulant treatment of the Supreme Court justices was nothing short of appalling. Put BHO and the SCOTUS in a room together, and the coffee service will have more genuine accomplishments to its name than the President. Separation of powers, buddy. Ever hear of it? To say nothing of common respect…

Most disturbing, however, was this passage:

…the cost of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will continue to skyrocket. That’s why I’ve called for a bipartisan fiscal commission, modeled on a proposal by Republican Judd Gregg and Democrat Kent Conrad. This can’t be one of those Washington gimmicks that lets us pretend we solved a problem. The commission will have to provide a specific set of solutions by a certain deadline. Yesterday, the Senate blocked a bill that would have created this commission. So I will issue an executive order that will allow us to go forward, because I refuse to pass this problem on to another generation of Americans. And when the vote comes tomorrow, the Senate should restore the pay-as-you-go law that was a big reason why we had record surpluses in the 1990s.

That is frightening. This POTUS is stating his intent to stampede over the elected representatives of the people—no matter how pathetic and awful they are—and do what he wants on his own. He’s already made it clear that he does not care to listen to We, The People; nor will he listen to more cautious elements within his own party, much less those on the other side of the aisle who have been, to their credit, continually offering alternative suggestions to BHOs policy proposals.

Moreover, this man has already signed an executive order giving INTERPOL authority above US law and US law enforcement officers, not to mention the establishment of the Council of Governors, which will deal with the  “synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States”. Remember that “civilian national security force” promised to us?

Regardless, his willingness to disregard the balance of powers is and should be unnerving and unsettling. This is what Woodrow Wilson and FDR did, and they were both very, very nasty men indeed.

If we must hear such awful and un-American things as came out of our President’s mouth last night, I’d rather listen to a speech by Hugo Chavez. Despite being evil, he’s at least somehow comical. Barack Obama is simply tiresome.

Freely available online to all comers, too. From the press release:

Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, based in Washington, D.C., will host “Reviving The Constitution,” a Constitution Town Hall, in Chantilly, Virginia, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST on January 30, 2010.  The event will also be available online.

“At a time when the Constitution is largely ignored in Washington, it is vital for citizens to remember its enduring principles,” said Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry P. Arnn.  “This town hall will discuss how those principles have been undermined, and how they can be recovered.”

The town hall will consist of a panel of constitutional scholars making brief presentations, followed by questions from both present and online participants.  Topics to be covered include:

 The Declaration of Independence and the Principles of Free Government

 The American Constitution

 The Constitution and the Civil War

 The Progressive Attack on the Constitution

 American Government Today and What Citizens Can Do to Revive the Constitution

“The Constitution is not just the domain of judges and lawyers,” said Kirby Center Director Dr. David J. Bobb. “It is the responsibility of all Americans to understand and uphold it, and our aim with this town hall is to help equip citizens to do so.”

This event is open to the media.  Further information and registration instructions can be found at constitutiontownhall.com.

According to an email I received from Hillsdale this afternoon, thus far over 13,000 Americans have signed up to take part, myself included (making sure that there will be a few things waiting to be embroidered right next to the computer). Again, there is no cost to be part of the online group, so if you’ll be able to sit through part or all of the Town Hall, be sure to sign up!

Yes, yes, I’m the last to see this, right? But just in case I’m not…This is hilarious. Don’t be drinking or handling anything dangerous while viewing, okay?

Tee hee…!

Jefferson’s Vegetable Garden

(Let’s get it out of the way: Yes, we’d ALL love gardens like this, wouldn’t we? Wow! Definitely enjoy large. Oh, for a wide-angle lens!)

Like many of the Founders, Jefferson considered himself an agrarian first and foremost. Like Washington, Jefferson was always investigating and inventing new methods of cultivation and production. Jefferson of course introduced a few new plants to America. Though he grew many things over the years, Jefferson still placed a premium on varieties that produced well and in a hardily: “I am curious to select one or two of the best species or variety of every garden vegetable, and to reject all others from the garden to avoid the dangers of mixing or degeneracy.”

The vegetable garden is divided into 24 growing plots along its 1,000-foot terrace. The view, as you can see, is quite remarkable. Beneath it are Jefferson’s orchards, vineyards, and berry squares; using clever landscaping he created microclimates for more tender plants like figs and French artichokes.

Being in the hills of Virginia meant, of course, that the critters were interested in Jefferson’s veggies, too, though their palates were presumably not so interested in the subtleties of flavour or production. Therefore, Jefferson had the garden and orchard surrounded with a ten-foot high wooden fence that ran about 3/4 mile.

Beautiful, peaceful, bountiful place…

Have a lovely weekend!

No offense to Thomas Jefferson, but…I just compared him to Michael Jackson.

It has to do with money, if that makes more sense…

It’s alive & well in Massachusetts.

However, Brown is a bit of a moderate. Therefore, his constituents will have to stay on him and make sure he adheres to the law of the land, the Constitution.

Still, to see the seat occupied by the Kennedys longer than many of us have been alive is astounding. Wow!

First of all, thanks to my website man, Mark of Lonestar Bit Ranch. He claims he didn’t do anything to help me out last night, but looking at my interface here, he clearly did some sort of magic with the interwebs on my behalf. So, if you need a website or something along those lines, hire him.

(He also said reading emails from me was like dealing with Myrna Loy. Does that trump Jay Nordlinger telling me I remind him of WFB? Hmmmm…)

Also, please do not forget that today is day 2 of Indie Fixx’s charity auction raising money for Haiti. If my calendar is correct, you may still bid on day 1 items as well, at least until 11:59PM EST.

Okay, okay, enough with the announcements. Here is your Friday photo!

(Untitled)

So we say farewell (“At last!”, think some of you) to Mount Vernon, home of the rightfully vaunted Father of Our Country, our first president, one of our most tenacious military leaders, a brilliant Founder, a husband, stepfather, farmer, architect, horseman, businessman, a fine man, and my hero, George Washington. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. I wasn’t at my best the day we were there but loved every single second we spent walking around the land Washington had owned, cultivated, and lived on.

We definitely hope to return soon; it’s a beautiful, relaxing, graceful place to visit.

Definitely worth viewing large!

You may view the rest of my Mount Vernon photos here; images from Monticello are being added presently.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Just an FYI: Jen at Indie Fixx is hosting an auction of indie goods and art in order to raise money for the survivors in Haiti. Today is only the first day, and it sounds like she has quite a few wonderful things to sell. You bid on the item you like in comments, and the winner sends the funds to Jen (who will donate all of it to the Red Cross relief efforts), while the artist sends the item to you. Check it out and please pass it on!

Well, this isn’t good. William Tucker at NRO explains why thermal energy probably won’t be able to cross the finish line as a viable source of “alternative energy”.  Fascinating article.

Am I the only one who thinks it is odd that the President of the United States is giving interviews to People magazine? President George W. Bush did it, too, but I don’t care who the POTUS is; People? Especially when it’s a policy—a war policy—interview?

Then again, People probably has a higher readership than the New York Times. So this might be the best way to get news out to da people.