No offense to anyone, but I can't imagine Alex had anything in mind but bringing each of us a smile when he made that post. Anything but a rant, in my humble opinion. Quite a 175th birthday for SLC. A best seller -- 100 years after passing on -- is not a bad effort, to say the least. Bravos, Kudos, and Accolades to the folks at Berkeley. Well done. Btw, nice piece on NPR today with Barb and Michael adding lots of good info and color. (Still online at _www.npr.org_ (http://www.npr.org) .) Those who've been to Elmira will see it in their mind's eye, for sure -- minus John Bird's cigars, which lie beyond the scope of radio, unfortunately. Sure wish I could have been there for the last gathering. My copy of the Autobiography, a gift from my daughter, is about to have the shrink wrap removed, as I look forward to diving in. Hope that the Becky Thatcher House grant will make the cut for December. "Vote early, Vote often." Henry, I admire your enthusiasm and tenacity. I voted every day, just as if it were a vitamin to be taken with breakfast. :-) 73774...104141. Roger Durrett Charlotte, NC In a message dated 11/30/2010 9:24:36 P.M. Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: PLEASE do not turn this excellant forum into a political blog - - go to Yahoo if you need to rant. ________________________________ From: "Effgen, Alex Brink" <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Tue, November 30, 2010 1:33:45 PM Subject: Cigars and whiskey on the ready... In case no one has mentioned it: Happy 175, Mr. Clemens. Without you we cou= ld be criticizing a review on any one of the following:=20 DECISION POINTS, by George W. Bush UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand DECODED, by Jay-Z LIFE, by Keith Richards with James Fox And please: if anyone knows of a listserv dedicated to the life and work of= George W. Bush please keep it to yourself. ;) Alex Effgen