Been on an unexpected trip to Omaha. Wish I could say I was there for Warren Buffetts annual meeting, but no such luck. Omaha is a pretty nice town. Something of a surprise. But struggling, like any communities. Daughter has been having some medical issues. Hope all gets straightened out. I'm a bit tired, but hanging in there. Will try to get my site backto normal soon. It's not right that your kids get sick. That shouldn't happen.

I just finished teaching my first semester of psychology. I'm not sure if I taught them or they taught me. I think it was pretty much a draw. I hadn't had contact with 19 and 20 year old's for a while. By and large I found the experience rewarding. Things seem to be a lot the same. Their main interest remains in one another. Few are prepared to do much writing. This is probably a failure at the high school level, coupled with the increased use of computers. Dress is about the same. Tattoos and piercings have increased, but they don't seem to correlate with student performance. All in all, the students are a good lot. In my hometown, the dropout rate at the high school is 30%. Plenty of difficulties are going to result from this failure to motivate and employ creativity in our teaching. It would be interesting to hear from those kids and what is going on in their heads. As for as the one's making it, they will still be facing plenty of challenges, but hopefully, they will be better equipped to face the future. I am pleased with what I see, and fell confident our future will pass down into good hands. Cries that the younger generation just don't have it are wrong. They bare as much with it as any of us were. Maybe more so.

Being a curmudgeon by nature, an acquaintance recently suggested that I read Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking." I asked what the hell for?

TO BE IN PEACE AND NOT IN PIECES.

Everyone, from the top down, should be prosecuted for bringing torture back into the headlines in our recent past. That includes Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, right down to Private First Class whoever. It is despicable, undemocratic, and an affront to civilization. Injustice cannot be allowed to hide behind war or social position. The true test of a nation is to condemn its leaders and those of rank when they break the law. We are now faced with that test. I hope we can hold our heads high when its all over. God will not bless an America that condones such behavior.