After one sunny day, it's gray and rainy again today.  But the meteorologists are promising 80ºF (27ºC) by Sunday.  So maybe spring is really on the way.

My Tuesday-Friday morning routine starts with an hour of sanity as I watch "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," which I've recorded (I orginally typed 'taped,' but that would be showing my age) from the night before.  On "The Daily Show," Al Madrigal has done a brilliant three-part series on the gun control laws that Australia passed after a 1996 gun massacre there.  Although Australia had the same wild-West mentality as the U.S., although the rhetoric of the debate sounded similar to that we hear in the U.S., although some pro-gun control legislator did indeed lose their office, Australia passed the sweeping legislation in three months.  Since then, gun-related violence has decreased dramatically, the number of suicides by firearms has decreased by 80% (what goes virtually unsaid in our debate is that 60% of gun-related deaths in the U.S. are suicides, while "only" 40% are murders), and there have been no mass shootings.  The Aussies haven't lost their liberties; hunters and target shooters may still own registered guns, though not semi-automatic ones.  Meanwhile in America, despite the handwringing, tears, and memorials, nothing has been--or will be--done.  The House is, of course, hopeless, but even the Senate couldn't muster 60 votes.  Max Baucus, one of the four Democrats to vote against the severely weakened background check, was supposed to have done so because he feared for repraisals in the next election.  But now he's announced he's not  running for a seventh term, so he doesn't even have that excuse.  Like almost everyone else who retires from Congress, I predict he'll get a lobbying job on K Street or join or start a "think tank."  How many of these foundations are there?  And who funds them?  They proliferate like rabbits, publish predictable papers, and are an endless source of talking heads for the 24-hour a day news cycle.  And they pay themselves lavish salaries for this sinecure.

Meanwhile, if I turn on the network news, there's nothing but coverage of the opening of the George W. Bush Libarry.  One room, which a newspaper called the "most frustrating exhibit in the museum," is called "Decision Point."  It is, of course, interactive.  You can read a question like "Should we have invaded Iraq?" and then press 'yes' or 'no.'  If you choose 'no,' a video of Bush appears to tell you that you are wrong and that it was necessary to get rid of Saddam.  Now that's true interactivity.

Last night there was a nice break in the routine as the English department (and spouses/plus ones) had a dinner for this year's three retirees.  Among them, they have a combined total of over 100 years at Washburn.  One, Jim, came to Washburn in 1963!  He may have set a record for 50 years of teaching and service.  In all the time we served together, we never had a disagreement.  And Jim was beloved by fifty years of students.  I gave the retirement tribute for Virginia, who has taught at Washburn for 39 years.  In addition to being my friend and colleague, Virginia and I worked for over a decade on four books and a monograph that began with editing the letters of perhaps the 20th century's preeminent American psychoanalyst, Dr. Karl Menninger.  Unfortunately, my stomach had decided not to cooperate, and I thought it was safer to give the tribute sitting down.  I tried to go for humorous anecdotes with just a touch of the heartfelt at the end.  One of the remarkable things about the English department is that despite our numerous eccentricities, we have almost always all gotten along very well, and the evening was convivial and lively.  The general good humor has always helped us when we interviewed candidates.  Despite the pathetic salaries and the Topeka location, we've always managed to have an excellent choice of candidates.  As one who interviewed while I was chair said with some amazement, "You people actually seem to like each other."