Jessie Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, shortly before the start of the Second World War. His own national coach attributed Owens' success to his proximity to primates; he said that the black members of his team were not that far removed from monkeys who need to run fast and jump high to survive. What is remarkable about this isn't that he said it, but that it was the widely held view at the time. The racial ideas that Hitler used to justify genocide could be found in any contemporary American medical journal. There are articles on every single physical characteristic of "The Negro," from the clavicle to the brain to the heart.

1. Churches should become more involved in social activism and less obsessed with condemnation. How much stronger would their message of grace and mercy be if they worked harder to fight social problems instead of abortion, homosexuality, and pre-marital sex? How about fighting the root causes of poverty and inequality instead.

2. In order to stop someone from doing bad to you, be in a position of power over him. Although I haven't tried it, I have to assume that not taking showers, painting my face, and yelling a lot is not working.

3. Celine Dion is the new Bette Midler. (Lani's observation)

4. If you take horrible photographs, a digital camera will allow you...to take many more horrible photographs, many more than you used to take.

5. I was reading Nowhere Man by Aleksandar Hemon, but stopped about a 1/4 of the way in. I just wasn't interested enough to continue. Other books I have stopped reading before the end:

White Apples, The Wooden Sea - Jonathan Carrol

You Will Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiel Hammett


There are many reasons to panic.