David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Something to tide you over...

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: "The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 11,000 maps online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. Collection categories include antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall, childrens and manuscript maps. The collection can be used to study history, genealogy and family history."

My iBlogger

Berkeley Blog: My iBlogger: "Life interferes with blogging and vice versa. To integrate the two better, I bought a little paper notebook that I take everywhere so I can write down potential blog ideas. I think this used to be called a journal, or a notebook, but I call it my iBlogger."

That's hilarious, right?

Standard Hinde Confidence

A bird story. "So yes, I'm feeling slightly ill right now with thoughts of how many things I could have done wrong already, and how many things can go wrong in the near future, but I'm going to try this anyway, because, of course, there's always the slight possiblity that this will acutally be pulled off succesfully."

Go read the story and this will make sense:

The bird flew away on its own today.

A city on a hill

Ken Livingstone is the mayor of London. These are the last few paragraphs of his statement after today's bombing. Read the whole thing here

"Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.

I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.

In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.

They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."


I have no idea if London is on a hill. But what Mr. Livingstone is talking about is the witness that a free society bears to the world. Not a new idea. But it's one that seems to have escaped the sanctimonious, paranoid, ill-suited, mistaken crowd now running things in D.C.