When I finally stumbled upon Washington Journal a few years ago, I was happy to have something of substance to watch/listen to while I was getting ready for work.  While there are times that I have almost no interest in what’s being discussed, I still listen for the viewers who call in.  I often learn new things or something gets me curious enough to look deeper into an issue.  This morning was no different.

The great landmass of the Western Hemisphere was first documented in letters from Amerigo Vespucci, an employee of the Medici family.   It appears that Vespucci navigated the coastline of this New World from what we now call Central America to about the 25th parallel in what is now Brazil.

So here it is, Memorial Day, and the focus of my day is laundry.  I woke up early and decided to pre-reward myself with a little trip to the casino.

OK, I lost more than I should have but I did have a good time.  When I get there early enough, I can actually hear the music.  Most of the time,  that’s not necessarily a good thing.  Lately, though they’ve been dragging out some oldies.  I’ve heard "Ballad of the Green Berets" in the run-up to this holiday.  They even played the National Anthem – an odd arrangement.  The one that grabbed me was "One Tin Soldier."

More.....

Following the ABC whatever-it-was (I refuse to call it a debate) I started looking for flag pins.  I don’t Google so I used ask.com and did the same kind of search for each candidate, first name, last name.  What I came up with is hardly a diary but it seems a bit too long for a comment.  If it's not right, I'll take it down. (Help with tags is always appreciated!)

Please make the jump

Early this morning, as I was driving to the doctor's office for a blood pressure follow-up visit, my local NPR station aired a bit about the settlement that the local diocese has made with victims of sexual abuse.  I have not followed it as much as I perhaps should have but it does pique my interest so I actually listen for a change.

Make the jump - or not...

This isn't much of a diary.  I haven't read this or any other of Victor Davis Hansen's books although I've seen him on C-SPAN.  Since I'm not from Colorado, I don't know much about Gov. Lam(m?), either.  I did search and could not find this anywhere.  If it has been done, I will remove it.  Make the jump to see why I am writing this at all....

What an awesome experience!

I don’t do that many diaries and I usually don’t even read or comment in candidate diaries, but I made a little discovery yesterday and thought I’d just put it out there and see where it goes.

I apologize if the has been written.  If so, let me know and I’ll take it down – if I can figure out how to do that...

I do remember going to midnight Mass as a young person.  There was always a magical quality to going to Mass in the dark in the days before Vatican II.  A little dusting of snow was always welcome and added to the magic.

It’s getting colder in the Midwest.  Even if I couldn’t feel the chill or watch the leaves fall from the beautiful trees, I would know.  Sometimes when I cannot sleep, I wander down to the riverfront where our riverboat offers 24 hr. "fun" for insomniacs like me.  As I pull up to park my headlights shine across the park and through the picnic shelter.  In warmer weather the indistinct but obvious mounds of sleeping homeless people are illuminated briefly.  I quickly and self-consciously cut my lights.  I feel like I am intruding on the privacy that the night provides the souls who slumber there.  Despite the fact that, like so many others, I am literally one paycheck away from serious trouble myself, I feel guilty for having $20 to spend in fruitless pursuit of the jackpot that is statistically impossible.

   "Again, I would -- if you take a look at what Congress has mandated for this report, it says, have you met these? Have you met them in full? Well, the answer is, you're going to find in a lot of cases, of course they haven't met them. Now, the real question is, do you have progress in the right direction?

  The other thing I would suggest is that it would be a mistake to limit one's view of what goes on in Iraq to the benchmarks."  Tony Snow

(Emphasis mine)

Before we head into what could be an interesting week, I thought I’d post this bit of nostalgia.  I know that assessments of the Carter administration run the full gamut but there are some things that rise above the politics of it all.

I had originally intended this to be a bit of dark humor.  As I wrote it, though, I realized that this was not only possible but likely.  I don't write as well as many of those who contribute here, but I thought I'd drop this out there and see what happens.  With that in mind, read on...

This is NOT a course in government!  It is the rambling of a frustrated teacher and first-time blogger.  I don't know if I will be any good at this but maybe...