At Bowdoin, as a residential community that is appropriately self-critical, we often lament the “Bowdoin bubble” and the perception of a dominant culture or political persuasion on campus. And yet, you haven’t really seen anything yet as you leave Bowdoin and many of you will find yourselves in self-selected and self-reinforcing communities of like-minded people. You all may be surprised to learn that Bowdoin is truly a place of diversity in the broadest sense as compared to the communities you may choose to live in. You will be well served if you remember your education at Bowdoin ”” the liberal arts education. And, please remember the art of the “perhaps.” James Freedman, the former president of Dartmouth, writes, “that is why a liberal education seeks to impress upon students that one of the most important words in the English language is ‘perhaps,’ and that we would all do better if we prefaced our most emphatic statements with the modest qualifier. Liberal education teaches the importance of tempering profound convictions with a measure of tolerance and a judicious sense of humility.” These are lessons well learned at Bowdoin and are lessons, that perhaps, you will remember as you leave the relative “safeness” of this learning and living community.

And I remind you of the most underrated component of leadership: a sense of humor. A reminder to us all that as we seek to lead through serious issues and problems, that we leave room in our sense of ourselves not to take ourselves too seriously; a sense of perspective and irony is essential. Dwight Eisenhower reminded us that ” a sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” And from T.S. Eliot: “Humor is also a way of saying something serious.”

Wonderful stuff–read it all.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead: We give thee thanks for all thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence; and give us such a lively sense of thy righteous will, that the work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

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I caught this on the morning run. There is just so much here: Two cultures, England and America, separated by a common language, the power of a devoted single mother, the challenge of overcoming huge obstacles, and many more highlights. Watch it all–KSH.

That is Abigail on the left, Nathaniel in the middle, and Selimah on the right.

Despite the light that Memorial Day will shine, briefly, on the U.S. death tolls in Iraq and Afghanistan, don’t expect an accurate accounting of the real human cost of our military actions abroad. The numbers you’ll see — mostly likely just under 5,000 fatalities — won’t tell the whole story.

As of June 2008 (the most recent reliable numbers available publicly), more than 1,350 civilian contractor personnel had died in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting our efforts. About 29,000 contractors had been injured, more than 8,300 seriously.

But don’t expect President Obama to remember or thank the contractor personnel who died supporting our troops or diplomatic missions. Instead, expect to see contractor personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be portrayed as expendable profiteers, adventure seekers or marginalized members of society who are not entitled to the same respect or value given to members of the military.

Read it all. When I read this I thought of a friend of mine who worked as an EMT who was always troubled by how often in certain crisis situations leaders would thank the firemen and women and the police but not the EMT’s. Since he noted that to me I have been surprised by how many times it occurs–KSH.

As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.

In the latest phase of the nation’s real estate disaster, the locus of trouble has shifted from subprime loans ”” those extended to home buyers with troubled credit ”” to the far more numerous prime loans issued to those with decent financial histories.

With many economists anticipating that the unemployment rate will rise into the double digits from its current 8.9 percent, foreclosures are expected to accelerate. That could exacerbate bank losses, adding pressure to the financial system and the broader economy.

“We’re about to have a big problem,” said Morris A. Davis, a real estate expert at the University of Wisconsin. “Foreclosures were bad last year? It’s going to get worse.”

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Iran has sent six warships to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to show its ability to confront any foreign threats, its naval commander said on Monday.

Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, quoted by the ISNA news agency, made the announcement five days after Iran said it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), putting Israel and U.S. bases in the area within reach.

Iran said on May 14 it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers from the world’s fifth-largest crude exporter against attacks by pirates but ISNA did not make clear whether they were among the six Sayyari talked about.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a Western proposal for it to “freeze” its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions and ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue.

The comments by the conservative president, who is seeking re-election in a June 12 presidential vote, are likely to further disappoint the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, which is seeking to engage Iran diplomatically.

The United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain said in April they would invite Iran to a meeting to try and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row.

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The epic history of sacrifice by America’s armed forces fittingly commands considerable attention on this Memorial Day. And that noble service persists. Our indispensable men and women in military uniform have not only sustained this nation, they have spread ”” and continue to spread ”” the blessings of liberty to distant lands.

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–Volunteers donated approximately 482,000 hours at national cemeteries during 2008.

–More than 7.7 million people visited VA national cemeteries in 2008.

–With laws passed in 1999 and 2003, Congress directed VA to establish 12 new national cemeteries. Nine of them have opened in these states: Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, California and Florida. The final three, Alabama National Cemetery, near Birmingham; Bakersfield National Cemetery, California; and Washington National Crossing National Cemetery, near Philadelphia, will open during 2009.

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I walk down the garden-paths,
And all the daffodils
Are blowing, and the bright blue squills.
I walk down the patterned garden-paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.
With my powdered hair and jeweled fan,
I too am a rare
Pattern. As I wander down
The garden-paths.
My dress is richly figured,
And the train
Makes a pink and silver stain
On the gravel, and the thrift
Of the borders.
Just a plate of current fashion,
Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes.
Not a softness anywhere about me,
Only whalebone and brocade.
And I sink on a seat in the shade
Of a lime tree. For my passion
Wars against the stiff brocade.
The daffodils and squills
Flutter in the breeze
As they please.
And I weep;
For the lime-tree is in blossom
And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom.
And the splashing of waterdrops
In the marble fountain
Comes down the garden-paths.
The dripping never stops.
Underneath my stiffened gown
Is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin,
A basin in the midst of hedges grown
So thick, she cannot see her lover hiding,
But she guesses he is near,
And the sliding of the water
Seems the stroking of a dear
Hand upon her.
What is Summer in a fine brocaded gown!
I should like to see it lying in a heap upon the ground.
All the pink and silver crumpled up on the ground.

I would be the pink and silver as I ran along the paths,
And he would stumble after,
Bewildered by my laughter.
I should see the sun flashing from his sword-hilt and the buckles on his shoes.
I would choose
To lead him in a maze along the patterned paths,
A bright and laughing maze for my heavy-booted lover.
Till he caught me in the shade,
And the buttons of his waistcoat bruised my body as he clasped me,
Aching, melting, unafraid.
With the shadows of the leaves and the sundrops,
And the plopping of the waterdrops,
All about us in the open afternoon–
I am very like to swoon
With the weight of this brocade,
For the sun sifts through the shade.

Underneath the fallen blossom
In my bosom,
Is a letter I have hid.
It was brought to me this morning by a rider from the Duke.
“Madam, we regret to inform you that Lord Hartwell
Died in action Thursday se’nnight.”
As I read it in the white, morning sunlight,
The letters squirmed like snakes.
“Any answer, Madam,” said my footman.
“No,” I told him.
“See that the messenger takes some refreshment.
No, no answer.”
And I walked into the garden,
Up and down the patterned paths,
In my stiff, correct brocade.
The blue and yellow flowers stood up proudly in the sun,
Each one.
I stood upright too,
Held rigid to the pattern
By the stiffness of my gown.
Up and down I walked,
Up and down.

In a month he would have been my husband.
In a month, here, underneath this lime,
We would have broke the pattern;
He for me, and I for him,
He as Colonel, I as Lady,
On this shady seat.
He had a whim
That sunlight carried blessing.
And I answered, “It shall be as you have said.”
Now he is dead.

In Summer and in Winter I shall walk
Up and down
The patterned garden-paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.
The squills and daffodils
Will give place to pillared roses, and to asters, and to snow.
I shall go
Up and down
In my gown.
Gorgeously arrayed,
Boned and stayed.
And the softness of my body will be guarded from embrace
By each button, hook, and lace.
For the man who should loose me is dead,
Fighting with the Duke in Flanders,
In a pattern called a war.
Christ! What are patterns for?

–Amy Lowell (1874 – 1925), Patterns

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up””for you the flag is flung””for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths””for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

–Walt Whitman (1819”“1892)

“”¦that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ”” that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain”¦”

–Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863

West Ashley World War II veteran Bob Kay remembers landing on Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion. Early on, the elements and the terrain were a foe worse than the Germans.

Kay’s landing craft dumped him on a sandbar 50 yards from shore, throwing him into frigid English Channel waters up to his chest. He and his unit had to walk to the beach carrying tons of gear, including flamethrowers and ammunition.

The only good news was that German resistance was relatively weak, allowing him to climb over a seawall and wade through 1,000 yards of flooded fields without getting hit. It took about 4 hours.

When he finally got to rest that night in a roadside ditch, he cut some German phone lines and watched as allied troops and re-supply gliders flew overhead.

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The 2nd Conference on College Men brought about 100 professors, student affairs professionals and counselors to the University of Pennsylvania this week. Frank Harris’ list of citations offers some insights into why they came: Research showing lower rates of enrollment, persistence and graduation among college men in comparison to college women; the underrepresentation of men in campus leadership positions, in study abroad, career services and civic engagement programs; and their overrepresentation among campus judicial offenders.

“When we think about acts of violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment on college campuses, overwhelmingly the perpetrators of those acts on our campuses are men. When we talk about how to convince our colleagues that we need to be engaged in these discussions, these are some of the ideas we need to share with them, particularly this last one,” said Harris, an assistant professor of postsecondary education at San Diego State University.

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There have been expressions of international outrage after North Korea said it had successfully carried out a underground nuclear test.

US President Barack Obama described the North Korean action as a “threat to international peace”.

South Korea and Japan called the test unacceptable and joined the US in demanding international action.

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North Korea carried out a powerful underground nuclear test Monday ”” much larger than one conducted in 2006 ”” in a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programs.

Pyongyang announced the test and Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9:54 a.m. local time in northeastern North Korea, estimating the blast’s yield at 10 to 20 kilotons ”” comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The regime also test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air missiles Monday from the same northeastern site where it launched a rocket last month, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. That liftoff, widely believed to be a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology, drew censure from the UN Security Council.

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In recent years scientists have become intensely interested in what could be called a super memory club ”” the fewer than one in 200 of us who, like Ms. Scott and Ms. Cummins, have lived past 90 without a trace of dementia. It is a group that, for the first time, is large enough to provide a glimpse into the lucid brain at the furthest reach of human life, and to help researchers tease apart what, exactly, is essential in preserving mental sharpness to the end.

“These are the most successful agers on earth, and they’re only just beginning to teach us what’s important, in their genes, in their routines, in their lives,” said Dr. Claudia Kawas, a neurologist at the University of California, Irvine. “We think, for example, that it’s very important to use your brain, to keep challenging your mind, but all mental activities may not be equal. We’re seeing some evidence that a social component may be crucial.”

Laguna Woods, a sprawling retirement community of 20,000 south of Los Angeles, is at the center of the world’s largest decades-long study of health and mental acuity in the elderly. Begun by University of Southern California researchers in 1981 and called the 90+ Study, it has included more than 14,000 people aged 65 and older, and more than 1,000 aged 90 or older.

Such studies can take years to bear fruit, and the results of this study are starting to alter the way scientists understand the aging brain.

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The decision, which would make it hard for Americans in London to open bank accounts and trade shares, is being discussed by executives at Britain’s banks and brokers who say it could become too expensive to service American clients. The proposals, which were unveiled as part of the president’s first budget, are designed to clamp-down on American tax evaders abroad. However bank bosses say they are being asked to take on the task of collecting American taxes at a cost and legal liability that are inexpedient.

Andy Thompson of Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS) said: “The cost and administration of the US tax regime is causing UK investment firms to consider disinvesting in US shares on behalf of their clients. This is not right and emphasises that the administration of a tax regime on a global scale without any flexibility damages the very economy it is trying to protect.”

One executive at a top UK bank who didn’t want to be named for fear of angering the IRS said: “It’s just about manageable under the current system – and that’s because we’re big. The danger to us is suddenly being hauled over the coals by the IRS for a client that hasn’t paid proper taxes. The audit costs will soar. We’ll have to pay it but I know plenty of smaller players won’t.”

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This is hysterical!

See what you think.

Check it out.

Eikenberry has a difficult role, trying to walk that fine line between military needs and an Afghan government widely seen as ineffective and corrupt. And in the middle of it all, he’s already been faced with a civilian casualty nightmare after U.S.. aircraft dropped as many as a dozen bombs, some weighing a ton, as they went after militants.

He visited the scene out in Farah Province with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and promised the U.S. would do more to avoid civilian casualties. But Eikenberry never got too specific — he talked about getting more intelligence to pinpoint exactly where the enemy is before dropping bombs, and making sure the Afghan forces are in the lead.

There is rising anger here about the civilian losses, from both the average Afghan citizen and senior Afghan officials, like Karzai. The Afghan leader wants an end to all bombing, and an end to night operations. American military officials say there are times when bombing might be necessary to protect U.S. and Afghan forces, and that the U.S. military “owns the night” having an edge with night vision goggles and other equipment that give them an edge over the Taliban. They say they will never end night ops.

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The conservative Colorado Springs pastor who broke away from the Episcopal Church to form a new Anglican congregation in May 2007 now is accused of stealing $291,000 from Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Parish.

The Rev. Don Armstrong was indicted on 20 counts of felony theft by an El Paso County grand jury Wednesday. He surrendered to authorities Thursday but was soon free on bond, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Armstrong’s spokesman did not return calls Friday.

Police and a special prosecutor conducted a two-year investigation into allegations of Armstrong’s financial wrongdoings at the church.

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I will take comments on this submitted by email only to at KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

The good news is that Congress has found it easy to form a coalition with what looks like a stable parliamentary majority. It will thus spare the country a repeat of the past five years, in which the party squandered its energies appeasing its allies in an unwieldy coalition. The election was also heartening because it revealed the limits of divisive politics. India’s second party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), remains rooted in the Hindutva (Hindu-ness) movement, which seems to believe that India’s 160m Muslims live there on sufferance. The BJP lost ground this time, showing yet again that Hindu nationalism is enough to underpin a party, but not a government.

Still, Congress must not now fall prey to complacency. The party is a big, shapeless tent, tethered to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has provided three of the country’s prime ministers. The courtiers have now turned their attention to the next in line, Rahul Gandhi, the son of Sonia Gandhi, the party’s leader. But, following the example of his mother, he is in no hurry to become prime minister. That is commendable. Manmohan Singh, the Oxford-educated economist who has been prime minister since 2004, has business to finish.

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