Aloha, Eh?

It's time once again for (our small part of) the Mahaffie clan to wander off into the world to seek a new climate and a different view of things.

Translation: We're going on vacation.

We'll be back when this great green globe has spun a full week's span around the life-giving bright sun.

Translation: We booked a week in a hotel.

Until that day, dear friends, I bid you a fond, if temporary, farewell and adieu.

Translation: I'm turning off the web now and staying disconnected until we get back.

A Lost Opportunity?

There was a bit of a stink this past week in the Indian River School District here in southern Delaware. I take a mostly cynical view of it, but a story in Time this week suggests that there could have been a very positive learning experience, if we had only looked for it ahead of time.

The requirements of the settlement of the Prayer in Schools lawsuit against the District had teachers and administrators reviewing an updated Religion Policy and a set of real-world examples designed to help them avoid unconstitutional proselytizing. Somewhere along the line, it was suggested that the School District had commanded a cancellation of the pre-Break parties set for this week; parties that traditionally have a Spring/Easter theme.

This caused something of an uproar, even after the District issued a statement saying it had not commanded any cancellations. It doesn't even really make sense, given the status of "easter" as as much a secular holiday as a religious holiday. I don't think it diminishes the special and deeply felt meaning of this holiday for true Christians to see other folks mucking about with the bunny rabbits and the eggs that symbolize new-birth and spring. So there isn't really a lawsuit-based reason to cancel such parties.

My inner cynic suggests that someone angry over the settlement of the lawsuit planted the party-pooping story to generate parental anger and protest. It wouldn't surprise me to see someone try that as a way to gather support for making the public schools more parochial.

But that 's just the voice of the little Elmer Gantry perched on my right shoulder. On my left shoulder is an angel holding up a print-out of the Time story about the many religious traditions that celebrate this time of year and the curious convergence of those holidays this year.

...on this particular Friday, March 21, it seems almost no believer of any sort will be left without his or her own holiday. In what is statistically, at least, a once-in-a-millennium combination, the following will all occur on the 21st:
Good Friday
Purim, a Jewish festival celebrating the biblical book of Esther
Narouz, the Persian New Year, which is observed with Islamic elaboration in Iran and all the "stan" countries, as well as by Zoroastrians and Baha'is.
Eid Milad an Nabi, the Birth of the Prophet, which is celebrated by some but not all Sunni Muslims and, though officially beginning on Thursday, is often marked on Friday.
Small Holi, Hindu, an Indian festival of bonfires, to be followed on Saturday by Holi, a kind of Mardi Gras.
Magha Puja, a celebration of the Buddha's first group of followers, marked primarily in Thailand.

Yesterday would heave been a perfect opportunity for comparative religion parties in the schools using the many holidays, traditions, foods, dances, music and art to explore a wide variety of cultures.

"Half the world's population is going to be celebrating something," says Raymond Clothey, Professor Emeritus of Religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh. "My goodness," says Delton Krueger, owner of www.interfaithcalendar.org, who follows "14 major religions and six others." He counts 20 holidays altogether (including some religious double-dips, like Maundy Thursday and Good Friday) between the 20th (which is also quite crowded) and the 21st. He marvels: "There is no other time in 2008 when there is this kind of concentration."

The article points out that, in fact, it's only nine times in 800 years that "Good Friday, Purim, Narouz and the Eid would occur in the same week" and only one time that they would ever happen within a two-day period.

I guess we missed a chance to teach. Maybe next time?

99,999 ... and ... 100,000

I reached 99,999 miles on my 2005 Prius this morning at about 7:20 and just south of the St. Jones River on my way into Dover. I pulled over to take the traditional odometer-graph.

I have to say that I am most impressed with RSmitty, who predicted that I'd hit 99,999 on this very date in the Fun for Math Heads contest on Delaware Liberal back in November. There's no mention there of a prize, but we should all now do that polite little clapping noise your hear in golf broadcasts.

RSmitty used the data about miles per day that I've been tossing into these mileage posts to calculate his remarkable estimate. So here's the updated data: it took me 130 days to drive the 11,111 miles between 88,888 and 99,999. That's 85.5 miles per day, on average. It had been 145 days between 77,777 and 88,888.

I was so pleased with reaching this milestone that I immediately set out to reach 100,000 miles. By carefully driving another mile over the next few minutes, I was able to bring up a sixth digit on my odometer.

So. What should the next milestone be? An additional 11,111 miles from 99,999 would be 111,110 and my particular mania would insist on 111,111. On the other hand, I think 101,010 would look really cool given the way my odometer forms numbers. Based on what it looked like at 91,088, I think it would say "10 10 10."

I Like it When Jon Stewart is Serious

For example, this evening as he wrapped his review of Barack Obama's speech in Philadelphia:

"And so, at 11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race as though they were adults."

The Wall Street Journal posted the text of the speech as prepared for delivery. It's worth a read, given that none of the news shows are likely to play the whole thing.

A Sign of Trouble?

This is probably way too over-simplified an analysis, but I can't help thinking that this image, from the News Journal's story on risky borrowing, is symptomatic of what our basic mistake was.

If we can't get the grammar right, what makes us think we can handle complex financial affairs?

More Delaware Boundary Monuments

I took advantage of my long drive home from Annapolis last week to visit a few more boundary monuments in western Sussex County. Inspired by finally making it out to see The Middle Point last month, I planned my drive in part by taking a look at the locations of Delaware boundary monuments using the Delaware DataMIL (zoom-in a bit on the border and select "Boundary Monuments" in the layer list).

I drove through Federalsburg and entered Delaware on Route 20 at Reliance, where one finds (what's left of) Boundary Monument 12. There's just a broken stub left and, according to the recovery information maintained by the Delaware Geological Survey, it has been moved 134 meters north of its original location (a road now covers the original spot).

From there, I worked my way north a bit to find the Oak Grove Crownstone (seen at right). This is one of the larger boundary markers placed every five miles by Mason and Dixon in the 1760s; the smaller ones they placed every mile. The crownstones have the coats of arms of the Penn family on the side that is now Delaware (but was Pennsylvania at the time) and the Calvert family on the Maryland side. This one is known technically as Boundary Monument 15.

Some years back, an Eagle Scout trimmed the brush from around the Oak Grove stone and erected a small fence. A historical marker has been added as well.

I plan to try to visit as many of these as I can. There are 179 of them, but not all are very accessible. Some are buried and some are deep into private (and protected) property. I can use the DataMIL, though, to find those that are close to public rights of way. I'll try to visit, and photograph, those.

A Walk Around the Capitol

I had a few hours to wander around Capitol Hill on Wednesday; after a breakfast meeting and before boarding a bus back to Annapolis. A colleague and I played "tourists in ties" as we walked around the Capitol, past the Supreme Court and Library of Congress, and down the Mall a short way.

We walked around the new National Museum of the American Indian. It's a very cool-looking building, with a front designed to look like the sort of southwestern cliff areas where the Anasazi might have lived. Out front, there is a created wetland that mimics the look and feel of the Chesapeake region.

Looking at the American Indian Museum from the new outdoor garden at the US Botanic Garden, you almost lose the sense that you are in a city. It looks like a pretty cool place. I was curious, but we were too early for most of the public buildings to be open. A colleague from Arizona, who visits DC fairly often, has been inside and says it is very nice. I'll try to get back some time when I have more time.

We walked up the Mall to the old Smithsonian Castle, which was open that early. It features a very nice garden, between the Castle and the entrances to the African American Museum and an art gallery. We took a turn through the sculpture garden and walked briefly through the Botanic Garden, but found too many groups of small, scattering students.

We finished with a visit to the several statues that sit down the hill from the Capitol Building, facing the Mall. There's an equestrian statue of General US Grant, staring west towards the Washington Monument. There is a wide, shallow pool, steps and a terrace. There are lions on either side of the general, lying regally. There is also a group of bronze Civil-War soldiers in the midst of battle. One has fallen, another leads the charge.

The Mall and the Capitol are a wonderful center for our nation. There s a great deal of history just sitting there; it can be easy to take it for granted. I grew up in the suburbs outside of Washington DC and we used to wander around down there fairly often. As a small child, we went with our folks. In school, there were field trips. As a teen, there was the bus and later the Metro keeping us within easy reach of the Mall and the museums.

I feel like I know the place, and always have, but it is constantly changing and being updated. It's important to re-visit from time to time.

Testing: 1, 2, 3...

I'm typing this, rather gingerly, on our new One Laptop per Child laptop. It has a tiny little keyboard and a hinky sort of mousepad that will take some getting used to.

One Laptop per Child is a project to deploy inexpensive, durable laptops to kids around the world. I bought this as part of a promotion that allowed me to buy one of these for some child somewhere and also one for my family.

I'll admit that I wanted one around to satisfy my curiosity and test one out. I hope this will make a good travel laptop.

Where the Hell Have I Been?

It looks like March 2008 won't be one of my more prolific blogging months, at least not on this site.

I spent Sunday through Wednesday of this week at the mid-year conference of the National States Geographic Information Council -- NSGIC -- in Annapolis. But that doesn't explain my absence since Wednesday of last week. I guess I just got caught up in real life for a while there.

The NSGIC meeting as a whirlwind of busy, as it is usually the case. We hold the mid-year each year at about this time at Annapolis, so I have an easy trip and can linger a bit on Sunday morning before heading over for the first meeting of the day. And, since I'm so close, I can be back home, if needed, in just a few hours.

As I've noted in the past, the NSGIC crowd are nuts. They (we, I guess), start early and go late when we get together to discuss state and federal coordination of GIS and geospatial data. We did take an evening to dine at Paul's, on the South River, a bit west of Annapolis. We crossed this sunset-lit bridge to get there and watched it darken as we ate.

I decided to take notes during the sessions of this conference directly in the Blogger editor and so was able to post summaries of each session as it ended. It was an efficient approach, but it meant that I had to stay through each. Some were fascinating. Some were not. A few were fairly boring. I tried to keep a record, though.

On Wednesday, we joined another industry group for a breakfast on Capital Hill to discuss common policy issues. After, we had a few minutes to wander downtown. I'll have some photos in a few days. I also took advantage of a somewhat bright afternoon's drive home to get a few more shots of Delaware's border and the stones placed by Mason and Dixon.

Minor Observation #527

I think I have finally figured out why some of the top pop hits of today grate so fearfully on my nerves. I'm a kind Dad and sometimes let my daughters listen to Hits One on the Sirius radio. Some of the tunes played are quite good. Some make me want to leap screaming from my moving Prius.

It's not just the overtly sexual lyrics which would have given me pause even when I was a horny 18-year-old. It's not just the unimaginative melodies and over-processed, faked-up singing. It's not even the deliberate "stoopid-ness" of the personae adopted by the performers.

No, what really makes me cringe is the fact that, of late, producers have been sampling heavily from the most over-played pop of the 1980s to build the music-montages over which their singers rap, croon or mumble. They've appropriated songs that were big hits at a time when pop music was at its most fake, unimaginative and tedious. And the songs they are (re)using were horribly over-played in the 1980s.

There was some good music produced in the 1980s. But it wasn't what made it as "pop hits." I still listen to some music from the 1980s. But I was sick of these hit songs 20 years ago. Adding new lyrics and beats hasn't helped.

Minor Observation #524

Here's a thing I noticed today about what having a teen-aged daughter has done to me: I watch all drivers very carefully now. My eldest is 16 and about half-way through the first stage of Delaware graduated driver's license. That means she can only drive with her mother or I in the passenger seat. We watch the road; we watch her speed; we gasp and cringe and clutch at the dashboard. The usual parenting stuff.

This morning, I dropped my car off for its regular check-up, fluid fill-up and once-over by folks who know what the heck is supposed to happen in there. I took advantage of the dealership's offer of a ride to the office and rode into town with a gent who I know drives for a living and who has driven me quite safely numerous times before.

And yet, I found myself in the passenger seat acting just as I do when riding with my daughter. I craned my neck around to check oncoming traffic; I watched ahead for brake-lights; and I snuck glances at the speedometer.

You know, the usual parenting stuff.

Is This Who We Have Become?

I heard a story the other day that troubles me. Actually, it is more the reaction the story provoked that I find troubling. It says something about our tendency towards a "mobocracy."

The story was told to a group of civic leaders. It was about an issue before an elected body here in Delaware. The teller had been advocating an unpopular position to that elected body in a room filled with a raucous crowd in opposition. He reported that there was one person there who he knew agreed with him, but that person was afraid to speak up because of the vocal crowd.

He finished the story and the group all laughed. Open discourse on a public issue was stifled by fear of a mob and we found that funny.

It reminded me of some of the stories that have come out of the Indian River School District religion lawsuit. Families wanting to speak on an issue to the school board that is supposed to represent them were afraid of an angry mob.

It also brings to mind the very strong reaction that many folks had a few days back to what appears now to have been a doubtful report of anti-Islam/anti-Obama statements by an elementary school teacher. When folks thought that report was accurate, there were calls for direct, and rather stern, action against a school teacher. Subsequent reports that call the original into question got much less attention.

Are we a mob, ruled by our passions? That is not who we are meant to be. Yet recent events suggest that we may be on our way to becoming that mob.

I hope not. At the very least, I don't think it is funny.

Be Nice... Or Go to Hell

There's an interesting commentary on the web site of the Guardian newspaper today about maintaining some sense of proportion and decency in on-line forums.

In "How do you deal with the trolls and idiots on comment boards?", Andrew Brown starts by quoting Keith Richards (Johnny Depp's pirate Dad for you youngsters) and goes on to suggest that the model that is starting to develop around the web calls for a bit of slack, some trust, but also a firm hand when needed:

All of this requires unending effort. It is like gardening, a constant watch against pests and the bindweed of organised stupidity.

Words of wisdom that the News Journal may want to heed in managing their on-line comments. They say they don't moderate discussion forums about their articles, but that message is most often seen in noting deleted rudeness. They should probably bite the bullet and make that a full-time job for someone.

I get a few nasty comments here from time to time. Most I can ignore. A few have to be removed. It's part of the deal.

Wondering about that "go to hell" above? Mr. Brown points to the Christian site Ship of Fools, which maintains a section of its forums called Hell -- "the refuge of the irascible, the contentious and the just plain pissed off."

So if you don't like it here... you know....

Say it Sadly: "Yoi!"

Myron Cope has died. The gravel-voiced sportswriter and broadcaster was a tradition in Pittsburgh, where he was remembered by an editorial writer at the Tribune-Review:

Myron was made in Pittsburgh. Unabashedly a hometown fan, he parroted no one's ideas or sports cliches and copied no one's broadcasting style. He was, for good and occasionally for bad, true only to himself.

I'm a Redskins fan, but I appreciated Myron Cope, and I'm sorry to see him go. (Via: My Blog is Your Blog Too)

Glad That's Over?

The News Journal has a story up this evening reporting partial settlement of the Indian River School District prayer lawsuit. This has been going on for a while now.

The district was sued some time ago for making non-Christians feel explicitly unwelcome. The school board got fairly defensive about the whole thing. In fact, according to this evening's article, the part of the suit that spoke to the Board's own public prayer was left unresolved.

Otherwise, there is a financial settlement (to be paid by the District's insurance) and "an extensive list of new policies and procedures that the school board must adopt." I'll be very interested to read that list.

Ironically, the Indian River District made, if not the news, the Letters to the Editor page in the last few days for a similar complaint. That one is too young, and a bit in doubt. But the echoes are chilling.

UPDATE: The News Journal now has a more detailed story on this settlement.

We Need to Think About Changing Our Sex Offender Laws

The headline from the News Journal web site tells part of the story: Ailing sex offender chokes to death at Dover clinic.

A 22-year-old Huntington's disease victim who was denied a bed in a state health care facility because he was a registered sex offender choked to death today at a Dover mental health clinic.

We, as a culture, have a tendency to over-react and write sweeping laws in response to problems. Our sex offender laws may be causing problems we could avoid.

Down Memory Lane

Good heavens! I'm not that old. No, this photograph, from 1928, has sparked memories for me from the early 1970s (Okay, I'm a bit old).

The old-photo blog Shorpy (a personal favorite) has a few photos up today from the 1920's in Glen Echo amusement Park, just north of Washington DC and near Bethesda, Maryland, where I grew up. There is this one, of the roller coaster entrance, and one of the bumper cars, in 1924.

Later in life, Glen Echo was a National Park site where, as youngster, I volunteered along with many of my siblings.

Glen Echo started in the late 1800s as a National Chautauqua Assembly site.

The Chautauqua was an educational movement that sought to unify the Protestant churches by bringing people together for classes, discussions, entertainment, and physical activity. (From History, Town of Glen Echo)

It became a straight amusement park in 1899 and continued as one until the late 1960s when it closed after declining attendance and problems with vandalism. The park came under the control of the federal government in 1971 and the National Park Service started working towards recreating the Chautauqua ethos by establishing an artists' colony.

When I worked there, there were potters and painters, a children's theater, and performances of all sorts. I think I first saw the Muppets at Glen Echo Park; a group of puppeteers performed under the pavilion that once sheltered the "cuddle-up." There was a green frog; I think it must have been pre-Sesame Street Jim Henson and company. I also recall a lovely summer-evening performance by a symphony orchestra. I think they played Appalachian Spring.

A collection of slant-wall yurts was erected and used for studio space. My mother took pottery lessons. There was a shop that sold arts created at the park. My sister Margaret managed that for part of our time there. At one point it was in one of the yurts. There was a refurbished traditional carousel, several Mahaffies helped run that from time to time.

My job, at least the one I remember best, was sitting at a beat-up surplus metal government-issue desk near the entrance to the park and serving as a public information source. That's where my vocation as an information-pusher began. I was all of maybe 12 years old, pointing people towards the pottery studio, the theater, the carousel, or the bathrooms.

I first met my eventual brother-in-law Lou Church at that desk; he sauntered up one afternoon asking where we kept the white elephants. I knew then that he was a wise-ass and would fit well into my family.

At some point, I transferred my volunteerism to the children's theater that occupied an old arcade building in the Park. Somehow I went from information desk in the sunlight to running a follow-spot from the back of a darkened Adventure Theatre. That started my avocation for theater, performance, and eventually broadcasting.

But that is a distant memory for another blog posting. For now, it was fun to see a bit more of Glen Echo's past.

Sussex County Delaware Land Use Issues Smack-Down! (on public radio)

Friday morning will see a one-hour (I think) forum on Sussex County Land Use issues on the Salisbury, Maryland, public radio station WSDL (90.7 FM). The Public Radio Delmarva news staff plans to discuss the pending proposals for housing and commercial developments at the corner of Gills Neck Road and Kings Highway, just outside of Lewes, with two gents who are "fer it" and two who are "agin it."

This proposal has stirred up local concern like no other has lately. Opponents are organized and angry and have peppered the local paper with letters to the editor on the subject. Two of the leaders of that movement will be on the WSDL panel. Dave Ennis, a former State Representative who has a house just outside of Lewes, and John Mateyko, an architect and Lewes resident with strong (and usually informed) feelings about development issues, will face off against two who support development interests. Those gents will be Dave Kenton, a local real estate broker who has written several recent editorials extolling the benefits to be gained from letting developers work more freely, and Rich Collins, who recently read a book by Alan Greenspan and lately likes to whip that out at public meetings.

Rich Collins is Executive Director of the Positive Growth Alliance, a local pro-growth advocacy group that he has made his full-time job over the years. I've had occasion to doubt Mr. Collins' accuracy before.

This should be interesting.

Here's a Fun Headline...

Abu Dhabi trounces Delaware in license-plate auction

Saeed Abdel Ghaffar Khouri bought Abu Dhabi license plate number 1 for 52.2 million dirhams ($14 million) at a charity auction this week. That beats the $675,000 paid recently for Delaware's Number 6.

"We wanted to be No. 1," Khouri's brother Hamdan Khouri told reporters after the sale. "Who doesn't like to be the best in the world?"

Indeed. (Right you are, Ken)

I like the implication that Delaware is a natural competitor for Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emerites.

Update (2/21/08): The car-focused AutoBlog has taken notice of the recent series of high-price/low-number license tag sales. They have a post up today about Delaware's sale of number 6. They also point to a sale, for $870,000, of the "F1" plate in Great Britain, and have a post about the car-chic in the UAE. In all three cases, the car-conscious readers at AutoBog are mostly critical of this form of investment.

First Golf Game of 2008!

It was cold but sunny and clear today and I got to play 18 holes at The Rookery with Andy and Rich. Rich and one of his daughters were down from Connecticut for the week-end to visit Andy and family; their visits often include golf and they are kind enough to invite me along.

I did worry about the cold, but a warm shirt, partnered with a sweater and a fleece vest, kept me warm enough. The sun helped and the lack of a strong wind made it all work.

The Rookery had other players, but they were few and we generally felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The course was in tolerable shape for February. There were a very few rough patches and some of the greens were hard and fast in the cold. The lack of leaves meant we could look more deeply into the woods than usual; they held a few surprises.

My game was worse than usual. I was not surprised to be rusty after a few months off. It always nice to have an excuse. My short game was roughest, I think. I was having trouble judging just how much force to use and as a result found my self watching my ball lofted well over a few greens that I should have landed gently on.

I carded a 126 with generous Mulligans.

I was trying out a new driver today. It was a Christmas gift from Andy; a broad, flat fat clubhead that felt somewhat like winging an overstuffed sandwich on a stick. I had some success with it, mostly after Rich wisely suggested moving the ball up in my stance.

I think that's why golf is always better with friends and is best with people you've long played with -- they see things you miss, but know your game well enough to know which of the things they see are most important.