From the "That Explains a Lot" Dept.

The Washington Post, May 28, 2007:

In another experiment published in March, University of Southern California neuroscientist Antonio R. Damasio and his colleagues showed that patients with damage to an area of the brain known as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex lack the ability to feel their way to moral answers.

When confronted with moral dilemmas, the brain-damaged patients coldly came up with "end-justifies-the-means" answers. Damasio said the point was not that they reached immoral conclusions, but that when confronted by a difficult issue -- such as whether to shoot down a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists before it hits a major city -- these patients appear to reach decisions without the anguish that afflicts those with normally functioning brains.

The Washington Post, June 18, 2004

At 10:39 on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Vice President Cheney, in a bunker beneath the White House, told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a videoconference that he had been informed earlier that morning that hijacked planes were approaching Washington.
...
Within minutes, Cheney would use his authority. Told -- erroneously, as it turned out -- that a presumably hijacked aircraft was 80 miles from Washington, Cheney decided "in about the time it takes a batter to swing" to authorize fighter jets scrambled from Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va., to engage it, the commission reported

Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circum spice

I went up to Michigan last weekend for a cousin's wedding. What a great time with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. None of us has changed a bit, of course.

And while the wedding was the main reason I went up there, while I was there I was able to take some time for some other pretty special events, like my first visit here:



And a fine and glorious park it is, too. Especially when there are 40,815 of us there to witness the beloved Tigers demolishing the so-called "World Champion" St. Louis Cardinals 14-4. Even more exciting was watching 21 year old Andrew Miller make his first major league start:



He pitched six scoreless innings before Leyland sat him down. Good speed, adequate control. Remember his name.

One thing I had forgotten about the third weekend in May in Michigan -- the lilacs are in bloom. You don't see too many lilac bushes in North Carolina, though I have one in my yard that bloomed in April, as it does every year. But they are EVERYWHERE in Michigan. I would get so excited driving down the road and seeing these huge bushes that were probably 30 years old, just covered with purple blooms. Just about everyone has one in the yard, including my niece. So just enjoy and imagine that breathtaking scent

Junque

The Cecilia concerts are complete and they all went well, especially the Sunday morning one at the UU Fellowship. It was as close to a perfect performance as I have ever experienced. The brass was flawless, the singers were all in tune, hitting the cutoffs and honoring the dynamics. And the conducting was superb. It was one of those times when you know you're in the middle of a once in a lifetime experience. Just transcendant, it was.

If only there were rest for the weary. But I have one more chore to get through before I can relax. The semi-annual Fellowship Yard Sale is this Saturday, and, as has been my wont for the last eight years or so, I'm in charge. I enjoy doing it (though I'd enjoy it more with a few more volunteers to help) because it's always fun to see what people donate. Every sale there are always a half dozen items that we play "Guess what this is" with. This year, I found a set of three badly tarnished silver pieces that defied identification. So I took them home and polished them up and looked for marks. They are Sheffield, silver plated, made in Italy and they look like this:



I was clueless. I even took them into work and asked around. Finally, after much research on the internets, I was able to ascertain that they are flatware caddies for your formal buffet. Which shows you how often I entertain formally. You put your forks in the two skinny ones and your knives rest in the larger one. They're pretty damned heavy and even though they are just silverplated, I think $30 for the set is fair. I've seen another set similar to them advertised for $35 on an antiques site.

So if you're looking for a silverplated flatware buffet caddy set at a good price, the doors open at 8 AM. Cash only, no early sales.