Ten things I know about the mosque

1. America missed a golden opportunity to showcase its Constitutional freedoms. The instinctive response of Americans should have been the same as President Obama's: Muslims have every right to build there. Where one religion can build a church, so can all religions.

2. The First Amendment comes down to this: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." It does not come down to: "The First Amendment gives me the right to repeat the N-word 11 times on the radio to an inoffensive black woman, and when you attack me for saying it, you are in violation of my First Amendment rights."

3. The choice of location shows flawed judgment on the part of its imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf. He undoubtedly knows that now, and I expect his project to be relocated. The imam would be prudent to chose another location, because the far right wing has seized on the issue as an occasion for fanning hatred against Muslims. It has also narrowly reframed the project as a mosque, rather than a community center with a prayer room, which is what it would be. To oppose it on the grounds that it is Muslim is religious prejudice and nothing else. The Muslims who attacked the World Trade Center are not the Muslims who are building the center.

4. One buried motive for the attacks on Park51 is exploitation of the insane belief of 20% of Americans that President Obama is a Muslim. Zealots like Glenn Beck, with his almost daily insinuations about the Muslim grandfather Obama never knew and the father he met only once, are encouraging this mistaken belief.

5. The Bill of Rights has a parallel with pregnancy. You can't be a little pregnant, and you can't be a little free. Nor can you serve yourself from it cafeteria style.

6. Somewhere on the Right is an anonymous genius at creating memes. Sarah Palin floats a suspicious number of them: Death Panels, Ground Zero Mosque, 9/11 Mosque, Terror Babies. Her tweets are mine fields of coded words; for her, "patriot" is defined as, "those who agree with me." When she says "Americans," it is not inclusive. These two must have been carefully composed in advance to be tweeted within 60 seconds of each other:

By using the evocative word "shackles" she associates Dr. Laura's use of the N-word with the suffering of slaves. By implying Dr. Laura was silenced by "Constitutional obstructionists," she employs the methodology of the Big Lie, defined in Mein Kampf as an untruth so colossal that "no one would believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." She uses the trigger word "reload" to evoke her support of Second Amendment activists while attacking "activists" for evoking the First.

7. Many Americans and a great many politicians have either never taken a civics class or disagree with what they should have learned there. The major opinion sources in America that seem to devote the most attention to the Bill of Rights are Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, all distorting it as an everyday practice. Bill O'Reilly, to his credit, doesn't indulge in this.

8. A meme is infecting our society that Muslims are terrorists and hate America; they are the enemy. It is a cliche to say, "the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful," but is true. When Muslim nations are bombed by America, can those nations be expected to applaud? In Iran after 9/11 there were candlelight marches in sympathy with the United States.

9. I find hope in the words of two American strippers interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Cassandra, who works at New York Dolls, just around the corner from the proposed community center, said she worried that calls to prayer might wake up the neighbors. The WSJ writes: "But when she was told that the organizers aren't planning loudspeakers, she said she didn't have a problem with the project: 'I don't know what the big deal is. It's freedom of religion, you know?'"

Chris works in the Pussycat Lounge, even closer to the site. When the airplanes struck the World Trade Center, Chris became a Red Cross volunteer working with survivors. The WSJ writes she "sat on a barstool in a tiny, shiny red dress and defended Park51. 'They're not building a mosque in the World Trade Center. It's all good. You have your synagogues and your churches. And you have a mosque.'" Chris lost eight of her friends on Sept. 11, 2001, firefighters from the Brooklyn firehouse she lived next to at the time, but "the people who did it are not going to the mosque."

Cassandra and Chris reflect American values more instinctively and correctly on this issue, let it be said, than Sarah Palin, Howard Dean, Newt Gingrich, Harry Reid and Rudy Giuliani, who should know better.

10. I wonder how many Americans realize the community center is not intended for Ground Zero. What will be constructed there includes a 55,000 square foot retail mall. This mall will be deep enough to connect with subway lines -- deep enough, that is, to theoretically be embedded in the ashes of some of the 9/11 victims.

What might have been more appropriate? On September 12, 2001, I wrote a little op-ed column:

A Green Field

If there is to be a memorial, let it not be of stone and steel. Fly no flag above it, for it is not the possession of a nation but a sorrow shared with the world.

Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out park benches where old people can sun in the springtime, and a pond where children can skate in the winter.

Beneath this field will lie entombed forever some of the victims of September 11. It is not where they thought to end their lives. Like the sailors of the battleship Arizona, they rest where they fell.

Let this field stretch from one end of the destruction to the other. Let this open space among the towers mark the emptiness in our hearts. But do not make it a sad place. Give it no name. Let people think of it as the green field. Every living thing that is planted here will show faith in the future.

Let students from all lands take a sunny corner of the field and plant a crop there. Perhaps corn, our native grain. Let the harvest be shared all over the world, with friends and enemies, because that is the teaching of our religions. Let the harvest show that life prevails over death, and let the sharing show that we love our neighbors.

Do not build again on this place. No building can stand here. No building, no statue, no column, no arch, no symbol, no name, no date, no statement. Just the comfort of the earth, to remind us that we share it.

Credits: Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Journal

Betty White Scores Emmy For Hosting 'SNL'

The Betty White phenomenon keeps getting bigger.

White won an Emmy Award for best guest actress in a comedy series for her turn as "Saturday Night Live" host. The honor came Saturday at the creative arts ceremony that is precursor to the main Aug. 29 Emmy show.

The trophy is the fifth prime-time Emmy received by the 88-year-old White, according to the TV academy. Her previous honors came for classic sitcoms including "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls."

So far this year, besides the "SNL" gig, White made a splash with the new TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland," scored with a clever Super Bowl commercial and played a mad librarian on ABC's sitcom "The Middle."

She did not attend Saturday's ceremony, which included presenters Jane Lynch of "Glee," Elizabeth Mitchell of "Lost" and Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men."

Neil Patrick Harris was a presenter and winner, taking the trophy for best guest actor in a comedy series for his appearance on "Glee." The guest acting trophies for drama series went to John Lithgow for "Dexter" and Ann-Margret for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which has won Emmy acting honors for six consecutive years.

Harris, who stars in "How I Met Your Mother," shared in another award. The Tony Awards show, which he hosted to critical acclaim, was recognized as best special class program.

The top network winner was HBO with 17 trophies, followed by ABC with 15 and Fox with nine. CBS, NBC and PBS each claimed seven. "The Pacific," HBO's World War II miniseries, captured a leading seven creative arts awards.

Four trophies went to "Disney Prep & Landing," an animated Christmas special. Other big winners, with three trophies each, were freshman sitcom "Modern Family," "Saturday Night Live" and "The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Concert."

Randy Newman won a trophy for original music and lyrics for "When I'm Gone," written for the departed series "Monk."

John Leverence, senior vice president of awards, received the Syd Cassyd Founders Award for his service to the TV academy.

The creative arts ceremony will air Friday on the E! channel. Next Sunday's 62nd annual prime-time Emmy ceremony, with Jimmy Fallon as host, will air live on NBC.

Other winners at the creative arts Emmys, which honor technical and other achievements, included:

Host, reality or reality-competition series: Jeff Probst, "Survivor," CBS.

Voice-over performance: Anne Hathaway, "The Simpsons: Once Upon a Time in Springfield," Fox.

Reality program: "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," ABC.

Commercial: "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like: Old Spice Body Wash."

Animated Program: "Disney Prep & Landing," ABC.

Nonfiction series: "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," PBS.

Writing for a variety, music or comedy series: "The Colbert Report: 5076 (in Iraq)," Comedy Central.

Music composition for a series (original dramatic score): "24: 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.," Fox.

Music composition for a miniseries, movie or special: "Temple Grandin," HBO.

Choreography: "So You Think You Can Dance," Fox.

Casting for a drama series: "Mad Men," AMC.

Casting for a miniseries, movie or a special: "The Pacific," HBO.

Casting for a comedy series: "Modern Family," ABC.

Costumes for a miniseries, movie or a special: "Return to Cranford (Masterpiece), Part 2," PBS.

Costumes for a variety-music program or a musical (more than one award possible): "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Episode 09-1266)," ABC; "So You Think You Can Dance (Top 12 perform)," Fox; "Titan Maximum: Went to Party, Got Crabs," Cartoon Network.

Costumes for a series: "The Tudors: Episode No. 408," Showtime.

Credits: NPR

Just start it!

One of the biggest themes of The Simple Dollar is goals. I find goal-setting – figuring out a specific goal, writing it down, coming up with a specific plan to get there, and following that plan – to be incredibly empowering. Diving head-first into such planning has quite literally changed my life, as it made The Simple Dollar and my subsequent writing opportunities possible. It made paying off all of our credit card debts, car loans, and student loans possible, leaving us with just a mortgage. Goal-setting gave me a framework for writing two books in the past three years, and it’s giving me a framework for learning how to play the piano and countless other personal objectives.

If you roll back the clock five years, I was buried in debt. I had vague dreams of being a writer. The Simple Dollar hadn’t even popped into my mind yet.

What took me from there to here? I attribute it to goals, of course, but there’s something much more specific than that at the core here.

The start.

The Simple Dollar was born because I sat down one evening and decided to stop dreaming about it and start doing it. I threw together a rough site design on Blogspot and wrote my first article within a couple of hours.

I started paying off debts because I sat down one evening and decided I needed to get my financial life under control. I studied all of my debts, came up with a plan for tackling them, and started cleaning out my closets within the first few hours.

When I look around my life, there are so many other things I would love to accomplish. I have several big household projects that are just sitting on the back burner. I’ve got ideas for two future books and at least two blogs I’d love to start. I’d like to run a 5K next fall.

Big goals, big dreams. None of them will happen until I sit down and make the decision to get started with them. I can dream all I want, but until I get started, nothing will happen.

Which brings us back to you.

Almost all of us have a dream or two floating out there. A big home project we’d like to pull off. A career change. A lifestyle change. A diet change. A change in our social circle. A new skill we’d like to learn.

It is so easy to dream about these things. But it’s not the dreaming that changes a life – it’s the doing and the accomplishing.

Today is the day to get started on one of those big goals.

Here’s my challenge to you. Tonight, go home and spend two hours on the big thing you’re dreaming most about in your life. Sit down, figure out a plan for how to get from where you’re at to where you want to be. Write out that whole plan. Then take the first big step towards getting there, whatever that might be.

You’ll feel so good about things that you’ll barely be able to wait until your next opportunity to take a whack at it. Soon, you’ll find yourself moving towards a goal that you thought was out of reach – and growing as a person at the same time.

That’s a big win, no matter how you slice it.

Credits: Trent Hamm, Christian Science Monitor

'Turducken,' 'Vuvuzela,' And More New Dictionary Words

Facebook History

Credits: this isn't happiness

Your place in God's family

It was obvious. Summer vacation was at its peak. On the road, carloads of families and friends were coming and going – bikes piled in racks on the backs of cars, canoes strapped to the tops, boats pulled by trailers – enjoying a week, maybe two, with their loved ones.

My own family and some dear friends were returning from a week in a rented cottage in the mountains. There we enjoyed walks, real treks, swimming, picnicking, fishing, games around the fire in the cool evenings, mornings reading on a porch with a serene view.

On the highway, though, observing this stream of families just enjoying being families, I found myself returning again and again to an offhand but withering remark someone made during our week together about a family we knew. It seemed unjust and cruel.

It’s my practice to pray when I’m disturbed about something, and so when this kept coming to my thought, I turned to God to confirm in prayer the spiritual facts. Someone had recently shared with me a spiritual fact about the concept of family in an e-mail message. She wrote, “Family is evidence of God’s love for all of Her children – not a collection of disparate personalities, not a source of discord or frustration. Family, as a reflection of God’s love, is harmonious, a source of strength and peace.” Though this lifted my thought somewhat from the slur on that dear family, still the cruel remark returned and seemed more impressed on my thought than even these comforting statements about the spiritual concept of family.

Family is an adored idea in the hearts of many, evoking warmth, love, affection, and support. But like all things human, families are subject to failures, faults, even deep sadness. I realized that to get the loft needed, I had to go higher. And what helped me was an unexpected realization.

For months I’d been thinking about God’s sons and daughters as His spiritual, complete idea – the reflection, the very image of God, as described in the first chapter of Genesis. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, amplified that description in her work “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” where she wrote, among many other descriptions, that “man is the image of Love” (p. 475). And I was contrasting this concept of spiritual man with the mortal personality we are accustomed to thinking of as us – a mixture of good, even bright personal attributes, and an assortment of shortcomings, faults, and frailties.

The spiritual individuality, our actual identity, was expressed masterfully by Christ Jesus. One small episode has meant much to me in highlighting the difference between the material personality he shunned and the spiritual identity that he lived. In Matthew’s Gospel a man approached Jesus with this understandable greeting: “Good Master.” Jesus answered him, but corrected the greeting with the question “Why callest thou me good?” and added, “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matt. 19:16, 17).

Had Jesus accepted that the good he expressed was personal, he would have subtly claimed a mortal personage, a mixture of good and bad. His faithfulness to his true nature, the Christly idea, saved him from the mortal trappings of personality, hinging on mortality, which includes sinning, being sick, and dying. Turning a mortal identity down in an apparently harmless context literally saved his life. His resurrection was the result of understanding his spiritual selfhood at all times.

Then it dawned on me in the middle of the night. If we are each God’s spiritual idea, actually unburdened by mortal personality and free to express our likeness to God, then family, God’s loving idea, is also free from having a personality. In spiritual reality, in all of God’s universe of ideas, there are no bad families, unloving families, dysfunctional, broken, or cruel families. There is just God’s family, which Mrs. Eddy described when discussing how “[a] human sense of Deity yields to the divine sense, even as the material sense of personality yields to the incorporeal sense of God and man as the infinite Principle and infinite idea, – as one Father with His universal family, held in the gospel of Love" (Science and Health, pp. 576-577). We all fit in this family; we are all at home in Love.

The “Our Father” from the Lord’s Prayer is the head of every household. And that opening address in this healing prayer is spiritually interpreted as “Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious” (Science and Health, p. 16).

With this realization, my thought was at rest, and I could see this as a waymark for my prayers – not just for a particular family, but as the basis for upholding the peace and goodness of family as God’s idea.

Credits: Rebecca Odegaard, Christian Science Monitor

Ground Zero Mosque: Digging a Hole in the Soul of America

I must admit that I was not fond of the idea of a Islamic community center and mosque being built near the site where the World Trade Center once stood. But this artircle opened my eyes and I am now second thinking myself.

It was a day we will never forget. It was a day that changed the course of this nation forever. It was a day that permanently bruised our hearts, with the potential of healing almost seeming impossible. Yet, with love, faith and compassion, we showed the world and showed ourselves through the promotion of one of our nation's greatest values -- tolerance -- we can overcome fear and hate.

Today, ten years later, I peer through the front windows of my apartment and still see a large gaping hole that once was the home to the World Trade Center. I pass by the firehouse on my block and say hello to the firemen who lost almost all of their guys on that day. This is my neighborhood, my backyard. And in my backyard, I have no tolerance for a new fear-mongering, hateful rhetoric that has sprung up over the proposed $100 million Islamic cultural center that they plan on building blocks away from Ground Zero.

It is not insensitive to put a cultural center of any sort, that has a place of worship, anywhere in our city. This is what makes our country and our city great. As a nation that was founded by men and women who were being persecuted for their particular faith, we should know that the best path to finding freedom is finding freedom for others. We were formed as a pluralistic society and this means we welcome all religions. Islam did not attack the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, sick and twisted men did, who not only hijacked four airplanes but also hijacked a religion. Let us not stereotype the over one billion Muslims around the world because of the evil acts of a few. A decision like this one, to support or not support the construction of this center, defines who we are as a nation. It's at the essence of our values, our freedom of expression, freedom of religion and religious tolerance.

As the Chairman of The Foundation Of Ethnic Understanding, my partner Rabbi Marc Schneier (also the Vice President, World Jewish Congress; Chairman, World Jewish Congress United States) and I have worked tirelessly to promote dialogue among different ethnic groups all over the world, particularly Jews and Muslims. We have witnessed the power of the fostering of this dialogue. We know that we must fight Antisemitism and Islamaphobia together and at the same time. We welcome and support this cultural center, as it will continue constructive conversations around a moderate approach to co-existence between all people, regardless of religious preference. In fact, we strongly feel that this center will bridge the divide that many of our nation's citizens have with the Islamic faith.

There are moments that define our nation. There are moments that test the strength of our character. There are moments that test the essence of our freedoms. Let this be that moment and let us pass this test with grace and dignity. As I will not stand for any sort of Islamaphobia in my backyard.

Credits: Russell Simmons, CNN

2010 Could Be Hottest Year Yet

Duh! Thanks for that news flash!

Federal climate scientists say that 2010 is shaping up to be the hottest year yet seen, with average global temperatures for the first six months of the year beating the previous record, set in 1998, by 1.19 degrees Fahrenheit. The National Climatic Data Center's scientists added that this year's warm weather did not appear to be a one-off. "Each of the 10 warmest average global temperatures recorded since 1880 have occurred in the last fifteen years," the center reported. The center also notes that Arctic sea-ice shrank to record lows in June, covering an area almost 11 percent lower than the usual June average, marking the 19th consecutive year of summer ice declines. At the other end of the Earth, Antarctic sea ice was up a little more than 8 percent, in the largest June expansion on record.

Credits: Slate Magazine via MSNBC

Fat-Bottomed Girls Are More Forgetful

I wonder if this applies to men as well. If so, I think that I may have found the root of all my forgetfulness.

Researchers have long known that fat people can suffer cognitive impairments, but a new study suggests that the location of the flab can make a difference, too. Women who carry their weight on their hips experience markedly more deterioration of memory and cognitive function than those who carry their fat higher on their body, researchers found. The exact reason isn't yet known, but scientists speculate that hormones released by hip fat could cause inflammation and lead to reduced cognitive ability. The findings suggest that obesity could play a role in the decline of mental ability as people age and that certain body types could be more vulnerable to the effect than others. "The fat may contribute to the formation of plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease or a restricted blood flow to the brain," said the study's lead author. "The added weight definitely had a detrimental effect."

Credits: Slate Magazine via CNN

18th Century "Ghost Ship" Found at Ground Zero

On Tuesday, workers excavating the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan stumbled upon an astonishing find: the hull of an 18th century ship. Archaeologists were summoned, and upon further investigation, the hull turned out to be more than 30 feet long, making it the biggest archeological find in Manhattan since 1982. The wooden frame was "so perfectly contoured that [it was] clearly part of a ship," an archaeologist told the Times, noting that the whole ship may be two to three times bigger than the portion found. Experts suspect that the ship was used as landfill material and say that it probably hasn't been disturbed since the 18th century. Because construction couldn't be stopped and the timber began to deteriorate as soon as it hit open air, archaeologists had to race against time and the weather to take the ship's measurements. "I kept thinking of how closely it came to being destroyed," an expert told the Guardian.

Credits: New York Times

Julia R. Ewan neighbors question church leaders over proposed move

This is a piece of local news that caught my eye this morning. Are the members of this neighborhood association completely oblivious to what their comments are doing to the image of their neighborhood? While the argument could be made that physical image of their neighborhood while be impacted, one thing is for certain. The perceptual image of their neighborhood may never be the same.

"An overflow crowd of 200 people squeezed into the former Julia R. Ewan Elementary School cafeteria Tuesday night in an emotional meeting where neighbors expressed concerns to Vineyard Community Church officials about the church's plans to buy and move into the building.

Several made it clear Vineyard was not welcome in the neighborhood, off Richmond Road between the Idle Hour Country Club and Henry Clay Boulevard. Some residents have signs in their yards opposing Vineyard's proposed move.

Some at the meeting said they were concerned about increased traffic throughout the neighborhood, parking, noise, and outreach programs the church might have. Others worried the church and its ministry to the poor would lower property values.

Valerie Askren, president of the Fairway Neighborhood Association, said the forum was intended to let residents communicate their concerns with the church.

A Lexington Board of Adjustment hearing on a conditional use permit for the church is scheduled for July 30.

The Rev. Kevin Clark is pastor of the church, which now meets at 817 Winchester Road. He said the church has a contract on the building for $1.5 million, pending approval of the conditional use permit.

Community Trust Bank has approved a loan for the church, Clark said.

In addressing the audience, Clark started off with an apology, saying Vineyard "had no idea we would cause this much ruckus in this neighborhood."

One of the missions of the church is serving the poor, which Clark said, "We are honored to do." But he said there were misconceptions of how that is carried out.

The church does not plan to open a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen or clothes closet. Vineyard partners with groups such as God's Pantry, Lexington Rescue Mission and the Catholic Action Center at their sites to feed, clothe and house the poor. He said there was no reason for his church "to reinvent the wheel."

Several people expressed concern about the traffic that a Christmas toy giveaway has attracted to Vineyard's church on Winchester Road. Executive pastor Jimmy Fields said it drew about 3,000 adults over several days in December.

One resident asked whether the church would agree to a deed restriction to not have the giveaway at its new location. Clark said no, but added that the Catholic Action Center, which runs the toy giveaway, is discussing keeping the project at the Winchester Road location even if Vineyard moves.

To meet city requirements, the church needs 100 parking spaces, which Clark said it can provide. The school had 86 spaces. The church has found ways to add an additional 50 spaces.

The 500 worshippers at Vineyard are distributed among three services, one on Saturday evening and two on Sunday morning. The church will have teams in the parking lot and on nearby streets to prevent blocked driveways. An emergency telephone number will be published in the Fairway Neighborhood newsletter for residents to call if someone has parked "inconsiderately."

One woman told Clark he was not being candid in saying how the church would handle additional cars if the church grew. It has grown from 12 members eight years ago to its current size of 500.

Another resident asked: if neighbors raised the money, how much would the church take to back out of its deal to buy the school from the current owner? The owner, Bill Meade, bought the school at auction in May 2009.

Meade, who was sitting on the front row, promptly stood up and said, "How much money have you got?"

A couple of people said Fairway was an inappropriate neighborhood for the church that says unabashedly it serves primarily the poor and the meek. "There are not many of those in this neighborhood," one speaker told Clark."

Credits: Beverly Fortune, Lexington Herald Leader

My reason...err, excuse for not being on here

I really have slacked off on writing or posting things here on my blog lately. For the few people who actually read this, I apologize. Believe it or not though, there is actually someone other than myself to blame for my absence. Her name is Angenette Crawford-Sharp. She is my wife. For the last four-and-a-half years, she has been a Middle School Science Teacher. the most dedicated, almost to a fault, Middle School Science Teacher that any school, student or parent could hope to have. She was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING at what she did. Unfortunately, that meant at times that our children and I went on the back burner.

The woman has boundless energy. She was getting up at 4:45 am so that she could get dressed and be at the bus stop by 5:46 am. She would ride the bus to the Transit Center where she would transfer to the bus that would take her down the street that her school was on. This entire process lasted until roughly 6:30 am. You have to understand that this was late by her standards. Before we lost our car, and she was able to drive to work, she was there at 6:00 am so that she could have "ample" time to set-up for the day. The roughly 45 minute travel time which that time of the morning would take about 12 minutes in a car was a real cramp to her style.

The school day actually started at 8:30 am and would last until 4:00 pm. During that time she would teach 5 classes and end the day by conducting a meeting because she was the Team Lead. She attended countless meetings on her team and departments behalf and relayed that information to her constituents in a timely and efficient manner. She handled all discipline issues and discipline referrals for her team. She coordinated field trip and PRO activities with the other 8th grade team and their team lead. She also worked very hard to coordinate her lessons with the other 8th grade Science teacher. All the while, he made no attempt to do the same. Last but not least, there were the parent contacts. I would guess that she spent a third of her day emailing or calling parents. She talked to them about their child's grades and what it would take for them to get the grade that the parent wanted. She talked to them about their child's discipline or more appropriately put, lack thereof.

Busy day right? I get exhausted just thinking about it. Guess what though. It is just getting started. At  the end of each day, she would hitch a ride home with a co-worker of her's who lives on our side of town. At this point you may be wondering why she didn't catch a ride with that person in the morning to avoid having to get up so early and ride the bus. The answer is fairly simple. That person did not get to school early enough to allow my wife the time that she needed to prepare for her students and her day.

Once she arrived home, I would immediately run out the door and head to work. Which left her at home alone 4 out of 5 weeknights. From the time she walked in the door, she would entertain our children who would cling to her from the moment that she walked in the door until the moment that their head hit the pillow that night. She fed them a snack even though most days I had just given them a snack. She prepared dinner and had it on the table at 6:00 pm every night. She bathed them, read to them and then put them down to bed at 8:30 pm.

It was at this point, nearly 16 hours into her day, that she would take a shower, and get herself ready for bed. But only so that she could sit in bed, surrounded by papers and projects that she was grading and lessons that needed prepared for the next day. A few times, I would come in the door between 10:30 pm and 12:30 am and find her slumped over in this pile of papers asleep. But most of the time, she was still hard at it, insisting that she "finish looking over one last classes" assignments for that day.

It wasn't until I turned the light off and insisted that she lay down that she finally conceded that the day was in fact over. This generally happened around 1:30 am. Only so that she could get up and do it all over again in roughly 3 hours.

You may or may not have noticed that my last blog entry was posted on June 3rd. My wife's last day of the school year was on June 4th. Since that day, I have delighted in every moment that I have been able to spend with her and our children Lauryn and Ben. Especially her. I am attempting to make up for the lost "us" time that we missed over the last 4 and a half years. And that friends, is why I haven't posted a blog entry for the last 13 days. I have been spending time with my wife.

I will do my very best in the coming days and weeks to do better about posting on here. I must warn you though. I don't anticipate my wife starting her new job as a Nursing Assistant until mid to late July. So, if my entries are sparse in the time in between, I do hope that you understand. :)

Golden Girls Star Rue McClanahan Dies at 76

Golden Girl Rue McClanahan has died at the age of 76.

"She passed away at 1 a.m. this morning," her manager, Barbara Lawrence, tells PEOPLE. "She had a massive stroke."

McClanahan, who played man-happy Blanche Devereaux on the still-popular '80s sitcom Golden Girls, had suffered a minor stroke earlier this year while recovering from bypass surgery. Lawrence adds that at the time of her death Thursday, McClanahan “had her family with her. She went in peace."

Still in syndication, Golden Girls ran on NBC from 1985 to 1992. Only last year, McClanahan's costar, Beatrice Arthur, died from cancer. Estelle Getty died in 2008. Surviving star Betty White, 88, is currently enjoying a remarkable resurgence in her career, having recently hosted Saturday Night Live.

Born in Healdton, Okla., Rue lived in six towns by the time she was 8. Her father was a road builder who moved from one project to another. She found solace in acting ("the only thing I ever wanted to do") and after four years at the University of Tulsa moved to New York, where she worked as a part-time file clerk while trying to find jobs in the theater.

Her first job was off Broadway, in 1957, and she finally hit Broadway in 1969. TV work came from soap operas, until she made it on CBS's Maude, starring Beatrice Arthur, starting in 1972. She played Maude's best friend Vivian.

But it was Golden Girls that put her on the map and led to fame, fortune – and several husbands. In all, she had six, including actor Morrow Wilson, whom she wed in 1997 and who survives her, as does a son, Mark Bish, from her first marriage.



Credits: Charlotte Triggs and Stephen M. Silverman, PEOPLE

Doodle 4 Google: 9-year-old's drawing hung on the biggest fridge of them all

Just days after its wildly successful Pac-Man logo, Google has changed its banner once again. Today, the company turns to budding artist Makenzie Melton, the 9-year-old winner of this year's Doodle 4 Google contest.

The annual competition collects thousands of student submissions and millions of votes from Google users. Poll results crowned Makenzie, a third grader from El Dorado Springs, Mo. Along with the honor of ruling Google's homepage for a day, Makenzie will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a new computer, and $25,000 for her school to build a new computer lab.

Makenzie says that her Doodle 4 Google drawing, called "Rainforest Habitat,” aims to raise awareness that "the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals. I love everything except spiders and snakes, but I would still save them.”

While the contest is open to students in kindergarten through grade 12, elementary schoolers have dominated the competition. Both of the previous Doodle 4 Google winners were in sixth grade.

Today's special logo shows again that Google is committed to increasingly frequent novelty banners. Before Pac-Man (which you can still play for free, by the way), there was the Tchaikovsky dancers, the Thumbelina flipbook, the Topeka April Fools' joke, and several others – all within a month of each other.

Credits: Chris Gaylord, Christian Science Monitor

Man Uses Helium Balloons To Cross English Channel

In a goofy yet mesmerizing stunt, an American adventurer crossed the English Channel on Friday carried by a bundle of helium balloons, ending a quiet and serene flight by touching down in a French cabbage patch.

Jonathan Trappe, 36, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was strapped in a specially equipped chair below a bright cluster of balloons when he lifted off early Friday from Kent, in southeast England.

About five hours later, he lowered himself into a French field by cutting some of the balloons away.

"It was just an exceptional, quiet, peaceful experience," Trappe told Sky News television, which covered the adventure.

Asked why he went, Trappe replied: "Didn't you have this dream, grabbing on to a bunch of toy balloons and floating off? I think it's something that's shared across cultures and across borders — just this wonderful fantasy of grabbing on to toy balloons and floating into open space."

However, the channel crossing wasn't a matter of just grabbing a few balloons. Trappe says on his website that he made a scouting trip in March and gained clearance from French and British aviation authorities and from customs and immigration offices on both sides.

His equipment list didn't stop at balloons and a chair, but included an aircraft transponder, oxygen system, aircraft radios, emergency locator beacon, in-flight satellite tracking and a radio tracker.

"He had all the correct authorization and I believe he even gave something to the owner of the land where he came down by way of damages," said a spokesman for French police.

Last month, Trappe claimed the record for the longest free-floating balloon flight after spending 14 hours blowing in the wind over North Carolina and traveling 109 miles. On another flight, his website says he ascended to 17,930 feet, just below controlled airspace.

"There are risks and we work to methodically reduce the risk so we can have a safe and fun flight," said Trappe, who is certified for balloon flight by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. "Because really it's only about dreams and enjoying an adventure, and that's only enjoyable when it is safe."

His crossing was much less eventful than the first balloon crossing of the English Channel in 1785.

The pioneering French balloonist Jean-Pierre Francois Blanchard and John Jeffries, an American doctor who paid for the flight, set off in a hydrogen balloon which started leaking in flight. The pair dumped all their ballast and most of their clothes into the water and just managed to stay airborne and land in Calais.

Credits: NPR

Vice President Hillary Clinton?

Reading tea leaves is not science. And what I'm about to discuss is an epic tea-leaf read. But it could make for an interesting strategy for 2012. Suspend a little disbelief and read on.

Here's the background. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hasn't spoken much on domestic policy since she took the foreign affairs gig. For someone so vocal during the campaign, it's been clear she's purposely sticking to her charter and staying out of domestic affairs.

Yesterday, according to Ben Smith at Politico.com, Hillary spoke to the Brookings Institution on national security strategy. That's exactly what you'd expect from SecState.

But then she took an interesting foray into domestic affairs by saying, "The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues..."

The comment itself is what got Politico's attention, but her rare move into domestic policy is what caught mine. Although Mrs. Clinton prefaced her statement by saying it was her personal opinion, that made it even more interesting.

Why would she say such a thing when she's been so disciplined about her messaging? Especially with China and Korea heating up, the Middle East still simmering, and all sorts of other threats and risks across the world - why would she move to the topic of wealth disparity?

Well, here's one idea. What if she's getting ready to go back on the domestic stage? How could it possibly make sense for her or for President Obama?

Here's how: Obama/Clinton 2012.

Think about it. For many true believers, it was the dream team to end all dream teams in 2008, but instead Barack chose Biden. There were many reasons, including Biden's clear foreign policy experience. But another was Obama really couldn't take a chance on being upstaged by Hillary before he'd proven he could be President. And then, of course, there was the Bill Factor.

But all that's changed now. Obama's been President and he's 99.9% likely to be the Democratic candidate in 2012.

Joe Biden hasn't distinguished himself - he hasn't hurt himself much, but he also hasn't been a standout either. As much respect and affection as I have for Joe, he doesn't add anything to a 2012 ticket - and you know 2012 is going to be the battle to end all battles.

Plus, Mr. Biden's recently had some pretty serious challenges with the failing health of his son.

Finally, Biden's not likely to be a serious candidate for the top office in 2016. He just doesn't have the brand power and so he’s unlikely to be the heir apparent.

Here, then, are three solid reasons why Joe probably shouldn't be on the 2012 ticket: 1) he doesn't add anything in an election where every advantage is needed, 2) he's got family health issues that are probably sapping his attention and energy, and 3) he's not going to be able to carry the torch in 2016.

But if Biden shouldn't be in the veep slot for 2012, who should be?

What about Hillary?

First, who (after Obama) has more star power in the Democratic party than Hillary? Not Nancy Pelosi. Not Harry Reid. Hillary.

Next, who can bring more juice, excitement, and support to a party that's kind of lost some of its juice and excitement? Not Pelosi. Not Reid. Not some governor from the sticks. Hillary.

What if Sarah Palin is nominated on the GOP side? She'd automatically grab a lot of the women's vote. Who can counter that, has comparable star power, and also show a tangible difference between "momma grizzly" and world-wide policy experience? Hillary.

And, finally, what if Obama's numbers go low enough that another Democrat tries to unseat him in the primaries? Is there any Democrat who stands even a tiny chance? Yep. Only one. Hillary.

Here we have some very compelling reasons for Hillary on the ticket. 1) she has star power, 2) she can bring excitement and loyalty back to the party, 3) she adds the women's vote element, 4) she has wide foreign policy experience, and 5) she could otherwise be a possible competitor.

Finally, which Democrat has the best chance to win in 2016, at least based on today's information? Hillary.

If Biden were out and Hillary were in, an Obama/Hillary ticket would make for a very interesting campaign season. Plus, there'd be Bill. Every election's tons more fun with Bill involved.

Like I said at the beginning of this piece, I'm only reading tea leaves.

Credits: David Gewirtz, AC360, CNN

What are the top 10 beaches in the US?

The Hamptons is atop this year's Top 10 Beaches list, with Coopers Beach on Long Island, N.Y., taking the No. 1 slot and Main Beach in East Hampton, N.Y., coming in fifth place.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Best Beaches list, put together by Stephen Leatherman, Director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research in Miami. He's also referred to as Dr. Beach.

The list was released today.

"The Hamptons are world-class beaches and are probably better known to Europeans than most Americans," Leatherman told LiveScience. "This is the first time that a NY beach has been the national winner." (Both Coopers and Main beaches did make the list last year, coming in at third and sixth, respectively.)

Leatherman nailed down his choices last week, and with the precarious Gulf oil spill creeping closer to shore, he had to knock the Florida Panhandle beaches off the list just in case the gunk made its way to these beaches along the northernmost stretch of the state just above the Gulf of Mexico.

Even so, Florida did get some love, with Siesta Beach in Sarasota and Cape Florida State Park in the Keys getting placement.

Here are the Top 10 Beaches for 2010:

1. Coopers Beach (Southampton, N.Y.)
2. Siesta Beach (Sarasota, Fla.)
3. Coronado Beach (San Diego, Calif.)
4. Cape Hatteras (Outer Banks, N.C.)
5. Main Beach (East Hampton, N.Y.)
6. Kahanamoku Beach (Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii)
7. Coast Guard Beach (Cape Cod, Mass.)
8. Beachwalker Park (Kiawah Island, S.C.)
9. Hamoa Beach (Maui, Hawaii)
10. Cape Florida State Park (Key Biscayne, Fla.)

Located on the east end of Long Island, Coopers Beach is the main stretch of sand in the Village of Southampton, which along with East Hampton make up the famous resorts called the Hamptons – where the rich and famous reside and frequent during the season. The turrets of clothing designer Calvin Klein's mansion are among the views visible from Coopers Beach.

Though officially only 500 feet (152 meters) long, Coopers' sandy shores extend for 7 miles (11 kilometers). And in addition to being far beyond the reach of the Gulf oil slick, the beach was also spared any damage from the storms this past winter that pummeled the U.S. Northeast coast.

In other words, the perfect spot to spend Memorial Day. "I will be traveling to Southampton on Sunday and will certainly be at Coopers Beach on Memorial Day with some friends," Leatherman said. "I will be incognito."

As with Coopers, all 10 beaches were chosen from Leatherman's survey of 650 public beaches along the U.S. coast of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific. He uses 50 criteria for ranking beach quality, including sand softness, frequency of rip currents, size of waves, presence of shorebirds, water color, the presence of oil and tarballs, whether it's overcrowded, public safety, maintenance of grounds and other factors.

Credits: Christian Science Monitor

First the oil spill and now this! What's next for BP?

“BP wants Twitter to shut down a fake BP account that is mocking the oil company. In response, Twitter wants BP to shut down the oil leak that’s ruining the ocean.”

- Jimmy Fallon, Late Night

A British scientist says he is the first man in the world to become infected with a computer virus.

Dr Mark Gasson from the University of Reading had a chip inserted in his hand which was then infected with a virus.

The device, which enables him to pass through security doors and activate his mobile phone, is a sophisticated version of ID chips used to tag pets.

In trials, Dr Gasson showed that the chip was able to pass on the computer virus to external control systems.

If other implanted chips had then connected to the system they too would have been corrupted, he said.

Medical alert

Dr Gasson admits that the test is a proof of principle but he thinks it has important implications for a future where medical devices such as pacemakers and cochlear implants become more sophisticated, and risk being contaminated by other human implants.

"With the benefits of this type of technology come risks. We may improve ourselves in some way but much like the improvements with other technologies, mobile phones for example, they become vulnerable to risks, such as security problems and computer viruses."

He also added: "Many people with medical implants also consider them to be integrated into their concept of their body, and so in this context it is appropriate to talk in terms of people themselves being infected by computer viruses."

However, Dr Gasson predicts that wider use will be made of implanted technology.

"This type of technology has been commercialised in the United States as a type of medical alert bracelet, so that if you're found unconscious you can be scanned and your medical history brought up."

Professor Rafael Capurro of the Steinbeis-Transfer-Institute of Information Ethics in Germany told BBC News that the research was "interesting".

"If someone can get online access to your implant, it could be serious," he said.

Cosmetic surgery

Professor Capurro contributed to a 2005 ethical study for the European Commission that looked at the development of digital implants and possible abuse of them.

"From an ethical point of view, the surveillance of implants can be both positive and negative," he said.

"Surveillance can be part of medical care, but if someone wants to do harm to you, it could be a problem."

In addition, he said, that there should be caution if implants with surveillance capabilities started to be used outside of a medical setting.

However, Dr Gasson believes that there will be a demand for these non-essential applications, much as people pay for cosmetic surgery.

"If we can find a way of enhancing someone's memory or their IQ then there's a real possibility that people will choose to have this kind of invasive procedure."

Dr Gasson works at the University of Reading's School of Systems Engineering and will present the results of his research at the International Symposium for Technology and Society in Australia next month. Professor Capurro will also talk at the event.

Credits: Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News

Lost's 2.5 Hour Finale Had 45 Minutes of Commercials

This is getting ridiculous: Hollywood Insider reports that final 2.5 hour episode of Lost had 45 minutes of commercials (the running time on Hulu confirms it):

ABC packed roughly 107 spots — or more than 45 minutes of commercial and promotional time — into the two-and-a-half-hour Lost series finale, according to our (very unscientific but pretty reliable) count. Just when the finale would unveil a major plot point, a break would occur featuring anywhere from five to 11 ads and/or sneak peeks for fall shows on ABC. Granted, some of the spots were extremely clever (Target used images of the island’s smoke monster to peddle fire detectors) but numerous, nonetheless.

If you're wondering what the fuss was all about, you can watch Lost: Season 1 through Lost: Season 5 on Netflix streaming.