Abortion Discourse at Notre Dame

"...when we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe — that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground."

I found Obama's Notre Dame commencement speech to be very well written, and he did a great job of addressing the extremely hot topic of the day: abortion. Here are his unifying words on the issue:

So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies. Let's make adoption more available. Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women. Those are things we can do.

Read the entire text of Obama's speech here.

Ancient Egypt

My brother, dad, and I went to the King Tut exhibit in Dallas last weekend. The whole experince was rather frustrating because we waited in a very long line and it was very expensive. Once we got inside, the crowds were so thick I couldn't see anything. And worse, the museum workers were carting us along like cattle. One room had a short movie about the discovery of King Tut's tomb, and I wasn't allowed to watch it because I had to "keep moving". Pretty disappointing. But, as I was walking through the exhibit looking at contents of the tomb, something inside me felt like I was a kid again. I couldn't quite place it, but something was reminding me of a fear I had as a child.

Finally, I figured out what connection my brain was making. When I was very young, I saw a Sesame Street skit about Bert and Ernie visiting an ancient pyramid. In the skit, one of the mummies comes to life when Ernie is alone. Every time Bert comes back to the room, the mummy is only a mummy, but when he leaves, he comes to life and freaks Ernie out. I have memories of this skit being the scariest thing I had ever seen when I was three or four years old. I mean, for years--throughout my childhood--it haunted me. I had nightmares about it pretty frequently.

Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, guess what I found? The skit! Seems so silly now...Man, I don't know how kids today watch all of these slasher movies...this was enough for me!



Does anyone else remember this skit? Or other innocent Sesame Street sketches that freaked you out?