David Ernst Chats with the World

[](http://www.newsobserver.com/cgi-bin/nao/obits/show_details.cgi?id=115948)
Last night I called a [contra dance in Indianapolis](http://indycontra.org). A few days earlier, a friend of mine from Indy emailed me pointing out that legendary contra dance choreographer, caller, and dancer [Gene Hubert had died](http://www.newsobserver.com/cgi-bin/nao/obits/show_details.cgi?id=115948). I had heard that he had been diagnosed with [pancreatic cancer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancreatic_Cancer) and was very ill, but I had not heard about his death on March 6. He was 51 years of age. This is obviously a terribly sad event for Gene’s family, but I don’t know any of them. What I do know is that Gene’s dances are some of the most frequently called in modern contradancing (at least in the Midwest), and that this stems immediately from the fact that they are so smooth and so fun.

Glenn Augenstein called an entire program of dances by Gene at the [contra dance in Louisville](http://www.louisvillecontradancers.org) on Monday night, and I decided to follow his lead and the suggestion of my friend and do the same last night. It’s caused a good deal reflection for me about everything from what makes Gene’s dances so good to how the great people in the American contra dance community have contributed to the joy of others. Gene was a member of a very small group of contra dancers about whom I am prone to use the word “legendary”. The fact that he is gone at age 51 is a tragedy. At the same time, his dances are likely to be part of my life for as long as I continue to live.

Thank you, Gene. On behalf of all of us.

I burned myself. It’s a small burn, nothing serious, it’s not even going to blister, I bet. But, I hate burns. As I often say, I’d rather accidentally cut myself in the kitchen ten times than burn myself once.

What’s interesting about this burn, though (and this has happened to me at least once before) is that the burned part of my thumb never came into contact with a hot liquid or solid object. It was steam! I took the, uh, center thingy out of my rice cooker (funny, I never realized I don’t have a word for that), and while moving it across the kitchen I bumped the lid with my pot holder, allowing steam to escape right onto my thumb. It was one of those where I wasn’t sure I had burned myself. But now, a couple hours later, there’s no question. Dang. I hate burning myself.

*On Food and Cooking* taught me that liquid water cannot be hotter than 212 degrees F, but that this limitation does not apply to steam. Sometime in my teens the “conductivity” issue was pointed out to me: you can safely reach your hand into a 500 degree oven, as long as you don’t touch any solid object. But the air in there is the same temp as the solid! Why doesn’t the air burn your hand? Because it doesn’t transfer the heat as efficiently, that’s the way I understand it. Well, my thumb tells me that the steam does transfer the heat efficiently enough. Dang….

Back on January 25 I wrote a post I called
[The question is: why no warrant?](http://davidernst.net/blog/2006/01/25/the-question-is-why-no-warrant/), referring to the NSA’s “domestic spying” program. Now I sit reading a [Reason Magazine](http://reason.com)
interview with NSA whistleblower Russell Tice. Wow. I can’t believe this didn’t bigger coverage. I can’t believe it didn’t get more prominent placement inside this magazine! But, whatever the case, I’m feeling a bit smug after reading Mr. Tice’s closing words of the Interview:

>There’s no reason the two thousand warrants could not have been done through the FISA court. The
>question is: Why wasn’t it done?

I mean, that’s just about as close to exactly what I said as you can get! Of course, all signs I see point to [Feingold’s censure resolution being defeated without much of a hearing](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14142031.htm). I sure don’t know much about presidential censure, but the self-described Republican who voted for Bush but later blew this whistle on the program used what seems to me to be much stronger language:

>Well, some time ago, we impeached a president for cheating on his wife, which as far as I’m concerned
>should’ve been between his family, his wife, and if he believes in one his God upstairs. When it comes to
>high crimes and misdemeanors, knowingly and willingly doing *this* and then being arrogant about it and
>saying we’re going to continue doing it—I would certainly think falls into that category of high crimes.

He also apparently has stories that he wants to tell congress about but won’t tell to the press because it’s too sensitive. I really recommend reading the Interview.

And, you silly Democratic congress people… focus on the missing warrants, not on the eavesdropping. Warrants!!!! I mean, you should say the word “warrant” twice for every time you say the word “spy” or “rights”. “The executive branch absolutely has the right to do this kind of thing, as long as they **get a warrant**.” Warrant Warrant Warrant!!! You can’t say it too much!!! Don’t let the White House control the discussion with talk like this (from Scott McClellan [quoted
here](http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11277)):

“[The censure motion] has more to do
with 2008 politics than anything else. I think it does raise the question
of how do you fight and win the war on terrorism, and if Democrats want
to argue that we shouldn’t be listening to al-Qaeda communications, that’s their right.”

I’ll say it again, just about like Russell Tice said it: **The question is: why no warrants?**

Quick Review: This documentary, about (but *not* by) Michael Moore being scheduled to speak at an unusually conservative college campus in Utah, left me swimming in thoughts about the state of our nation.

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Quick reviews:

Tuesday: If we just introduce and accept the concept of *evitability*,
then there’s no conflict between Determinism and Free Will.

Thursday: Religions are a lot like domesticated animals, except that
they propagate via memes instead of genes… and that purpose that
they serve is a lot less clear.

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It’s been about two weeks since my most recent post. Where have I
been? Well, although it doesn’t explain everything, part of the
distraction from posting was a trip to New York City. Sue had a
conference at the Waldorf Astoria, and she asked if I might like to
meet her, stay for a few days with Meg (my very dear friend from
high school) and her family, and to have some fun in The City (as the
locals call it). Well, yeah! So, I was there from Friday evening
through Tuesday morning, March 3-7.

Partially inspired by [my friend Beth’s world famous
blog](http://iceblog.puddingbowl.org/), I figured I should do more
telling of stories of trips on my own blog. So, welcome the new
“photo tours” category, and here’s a bit about our trip to NYC!

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