No, Thursday's Out....

The most-audited class at Portland State is Geology of the National Parks, taught by Prof. Emeritus Scott Burns.  I read an article about it a year ago, but it’s offered only Spring term, so I couldn’t take it until now. Most-audited means that National Parks has more Senior Adult Learners (people over 65, who can take one class per term FREE) than any other class. There are also way more auditors than Geology students. Out of 50 or 60 people, only ten took the midterm (that’s real students plus a few auditors who take midterms even when they don’t have to.(Not me.))     When he is lecturing, Prof. Burns will look into the room and say, “It’s all basalt to you,” and then he will focus in on one of the real students and say, “But to YOU, it’s (this type of basalt, or that type).”   And he is a total enthusiast, throwing slides onto the screen and saying, “Beautiful! Just beautiful!” He plays rock music that talks about “rock,” which is to say, he tells Geology Dad...

You may recall Rep. Andrew Clark (R-Georgia), who described the January 6 assault on the Capitol as “a normal tourist visit.”    But over four days in DC last week,   Rick and I (and we do identify as normal tourists) could not find a single “Storm the Capitol” tour, not open admission, not timed entry, not reserved tickets, nothing. I’m going with those who called Clark’s comment a “bold faced” lie, that “gravely contradicts” the events of the day. ( Okay, just to quibble, I prefer “bald faced,” which is still the most popular term, but apparently “bold faced” and “bare faced” are catching up.) I mean, there are some photos of Clark barricading the door against rioters, which I hope he doesn't do for normal tourist groups.  The tourists we did see were admirable, friendly, charming – little families, big tour groups, solemn veterans, bellowing grade school teachers (“If you FEED the ducks they become LESS WILD, and that puts them in DANGER!”), frolicsome teens. ...