I’m taking a few days off.

See you sometime on Monday.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day.

Peace.

We’re going to take a break here at AGS for a few days.

This means that I’ll get to see my family, ride the bike and catch up on my reading to celebrate American’s birthday.

Tish has been pretty busy with Uplift at Harding and Alan’s been working a lot so it’s been a typical summer for us - we’ve all been moving very fast in different directions.

As the joke goes, I knew it was time to go home the other day when I saw my picture on a carton of milk.

And as much as I like my AGS students, I suspect that their parents want them more than I do right now. After the break, we’ll have another three weeks together.

I gave my students a short assignment to read over the break, so I’ll give you one too.

Complete the following sentence with five words or less: “For me, the thing I appreciate the most about being an American is ___________________”.

(That’s you, not ME).

Here’s your weekly reading assignment.

You can grade yourselves when finished:

• Glimpses of Christian History: (June 22, 1633) Galileo Renounced His Views Before the Inquisition
• Firedoglake: Government Accountability Office Contradicts McCain, Concludes The Surge Has Failed
• Internetmonk.com: Thank You George Carlin
• NPR: Bicycle Friendly: Commuting with a Congressman (h/t: je)
• The Rev. Chuck Currie: James Dobson’s Confused Theology
• Arkansas Blog: Peddling Beer From the White House

I’ve got classes and meetings for most of the day.

I haven’t said too much about Arkansas Governor’s School this year but that’s where I’m working right now and things are going well.

The 400 students who attend AGS are some of Arkansas’ best and brightest high school students. It’s an honor to be teaching them.

This week, I’ve been covering some basic philosophy from Plato and Descartes. That sets up most of the real work we do here in teaching students to climb out of the cave, question the assumptions they’ve made up to this point in their lives and to start thinking for themselves.

That’s not as nearly as hard as it sounds. Most days, I think it’s much easier for seventeen-year olds than it is for people my age.

Yep.  It’s the middle of the week already.

Governor’s School is going well.  I’ll try to write more about that later but it’s basically the best summer job I’ve ever had.

On the other hand, my other summer jobs have included selling fireworks, hanging drywall and working in restaurants.

Like most of us, President Bush is learning that hindsight is 20-20.

President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a “guy really anxious for war” in Iraq. He said that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy for tackling Iran.

In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. “I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.”

Phrases such as “bring them on” or “dead or alive”, he said, “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace”. He said that he found it very painful “to put youngsters in harm’s way”. He added: “I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain.”

Yep. And I’m not sorry I hit that baseball through my parent’s upstairs window when when I was twelve — I’m only sorry for jumping up and down as I was circling the bases and then apologizing for being such a good hitter.

Maybe this is the kind of thing the president is talking about:

“‘Kick ass!’ [Bush] said, echoing Colin Powell’s tough talk. ‘If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.

“There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!’”

I’ll go out on a limb and say that when scholars and academics get around to writing the history of George W. Bush’s eight years in the White House, the words “man of peace” will not be used very often.

The current reality is that if the Bush administration was a movie, most rational people would have walked out on it a long time ago.

Welcome to the middle of your week.

Since I’m all about small accomplishments, I’m proud to report that I’ve been in my dorm room at Hendrix for almost a full day and I haven’t locked myself out yet.

Let’s plug this thing in and see if it works.

It’s the end of the week but it’s not the end of blogosphere.

• Arkansas Blog: End of an Error
• The Daily Galaxy: Is There a Solution to the “Continent of Plastic” that Pollutes the Pacific? h/t: jf
  
• Muckraked: Bush: We’ll Be in Iraq for 40 Years, Hamas Election Was “Good Thing”
• Informed Comment: The First Web 2.0 President?
• Books, Beaches & Blather: The Freak Show
• Strange Maps: Heaven Is An Amusement Park That Never Closes h/t: gkb

And a special shout-out to GKB for landing a photo on page 1A of the Abilene Reporter-News.

I knew him when…

Unless you want a baseball bat upside your head.

A robbery suspect made off with a little cash and a lot of bruises after holding up a New Castle County liquor store Tuesday night.

Police said a suspect entered the Four Seasons Liquor Store on Plaza Drive in Newark just before 11 p.m.

The suspect walked up to the counter to purchase a $2 bottle of malt liquor. As the clerk, 32-year-old Dennis Ramos of Newark, rang up the transaction, the suspect jumped over the counter and began to remove cash from the register.

“He shoved me and that is when I knew my life was in danger,” said Ramos. “I hit him, tried to punch him and realized I wasn’t getting anywhere so I reached for my bat.”

Surveillance cameras were rolling as the clerk grabbed a baseball bat and took aim at the suspect.

During the altercation, the suspect dropped an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the scene.

“He just walked into the wrong store, at the wrong time with the wrong person behind the register,” said Ramos.

No kidding.

Trust ME, a $2 bottle of malt, a baseball bat and an undisclosed amount of cash equals a full evening of fun in Newark, Delaware.

If Ramos can some play defense, he could end up signing with the Phillies. He seems to have the right attitude.

Uhhh… better later than never.

Whatever’s on you mind.

I’m thinking about a bike ride and then taking the lawn mower for a spin around the yard. After I trim the yard, I’m going to see about getting a haircut.

All three would be good for ME.

Wake up. Larry.