Ideas

Recently, we took advantage of an offer from Northwest Airlines to use up some old frequent flier miles by ordering some magazines (at no cost). We don't really need any more magazines, but we didn't figure we'd ever get enough miles on NWA to use for flying, so we picked some. We're getting Sports Illustrated (John took it from SI issue #1 until about 10-12 years ago), Time (we subscribed for years, then dropped it for Newsweek), Travel & Leisure (glad we didn't pay for this one - it's all ads), The Atlantic (new to us), and who knows what else.

We got our first issure of The Atlantic today, and this is one we are definitely going to read. John's read one article, and skimmed the rest of the magazine. I just got as far as the Letters to the Editor (always my favorite part of a publication - gee, what a surprise!). And I've already gotten the highlighter out and marked a letter. This one I'm going to share.

The American idea is the noun itself: ideas. A free democracy incubates, facilitates, promotes, and fights over ideas. For every idea, there is a counter-idea, a modified idea, a ridiculous idea. The stress and strain of competing ideas bears down on us, sometimes fueling violent confrontation, but mostly providing ammunition for action and an improved society. Keep them coming, change them, laugh at them, and cry over them. Debate them in the halls of Congress and the legislative byways of local government. Let them collide in a courtroom. Ideas are the cacophony of democracy. (Michael H. Miller, Los Angeles, Calif.) (from The Atlantic, January/February 2008).

This absolutely says it all!

Today's photo is of the moon from The Astronomy Picture of the Day last summer.