Christmas Eve

The shopping is done and I have a minute to sit down. The unwrapped gifts need a little attention so this is just a short rest. We're giving the kids a few small items... no going overboard.

Our house guests Carl & Dale are loaded with gifts for their families and heading back to Shaktoolik today. 40 minutes until airport check-in. In the Bush, Santa's sleigh is an airplane!

Dinner with the cousins will be at our house tomorrow. So a big feast is in the works. Here we go with Christmas!

Don't Tase Me, Bro

The memorable quote of 2007!

Hungry Like The Wolf

Seems like a few unlucky dogs are killed by wolves every year. When wolves are really hungry, they will even enter a dog lot and eat dogs off the chain. This year, some healthy wild wolves even ate a human.

I can't blame the wolf pack for trying to survive, but damn. Hope someone kills those wolves before they carry off small children.

Now I can't get Duran Duran out of my head.

In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Smell like I sound, I'm lost in a crowd
And I'm hungry like the wolf

Cool, man, cool. 1982 had the best pop music ever.

Check it out:
Hungry Like The Wolf, Tainted Love, 867-5309, Private Eyes, Don't Stop Believin', Mountain Music, Always On My Mind, Physical, I Love Rock And Roll, Ebony And Ivory, Eye Of The Tiger, Centerfold, Maneater, Jack & Diane, Don't You Want Me, Up Where We Belong, Abracadabra, Hard To Say I'm Sorry, I Can't Go For That, Mickey, Who Can It Be Now?, Chariots Of Fire, Hurts So Good, Little Red Corvette, 1999, White Wedding, Shock the Monkey, Sexual Healing. Oh, and some little album called Thriller. Does that playlist rock or what?

'The Arctic is screaming,' expert says

This IndyStar.com article issues an ominous Arctic ice warning.

Last week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: 'At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions.'

I don't believe the 12-21-2012-Mayan-astrology predictions... but might think differently if my house floats away in 5 years.

New Slideshows

Hi family, I finally put up some new photos.

Jon's trip to the dentist was pretty funny. He had some cavities filled under anesthesia... I might rename the slideshow "legally inebriated 5 year old." Or else, "I can't move too good Mommy."


And this other album is just a few random "shots" from the kids' basketball teams. ugh. That was a groaner.


Love,
Andrew

OpenCourseWare for High Schools

Campus Technology reports:

Five years after the initial pilot of MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative, it's now making its way into secondary education with the launch this week of "Highlights for High School," which aims to bolster high school STEM education through free and open course materials, from complete curricula and syllabi to videos, lecture notes, and animations.

Right now, Highlights for High School has resources for AP Biology, Calculus, and Physics. There is a nice collection of physics video demonstrations and chemistry/physics labs. Good stuff and well organized.

And if MIT isn't enough of a challenge for teenage autodidacts, Open Culture has a list of other university courses online.

Vote the issue or vote the polls?

Polls can be manipulated (Penn & Teller on Frank Luntz) so why not vote the issue? And the most important issue is foreign policy. Especially when so many politicians have been so wrong in the last 4 1/2 years. Take a look back...

The 2002 Downing Street Memo is sometimes known as the "smoking gun" which shows that President Bush pre-fabricated the case for invading Iraq. It reads in part:

It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

In October 2002, only 23 Senators and 133 Representatives did NOT vote to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq. As Thomas R. Eddlem wrote:

The president has no powers to order the military to do anything, unless Congress first orders it. Only Congress has the power "to make rules for the regulation and government of the land and naval forces" under the Constitution. Only Congress can "declare war," and only Congress can declare "enemy combatants" under its exclusive power to "make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water."

Later, in 2003, Donald Rumsfeld's advisor, Richard Perle admitted the Iraq invasion was illegal. Mr. Pearle said,

international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone

So am I placing the blame on Bush for leading the charge? Or placing blame on Congress for authorizing and supporting him? The answer is both!

The vast majority in 2002 and the new, 2007 Democratic Congress continue to support the President's illegal occupation of Iraq. Helen Thomas asks tougher questions than most congressmen!

But here is the real question: Will Americans research the issues before voting in 2008? Or just read the polls?