The 'teachable moment' is not instructive

Gates discovered his Irish roots when he found he was descended from an Irish immigrant and a slave girl. He went to Trinity College in Dublin to have his DNA analyzed. There he found that he shared 10 of the 11 DNA matches with offspring of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the fourth century warlord who created one of the dominant strains of Irish genealogy because he had so many offspring. Gates discovered his Irish roots when he found he was descended from an Irish immigrant and a slave girl.

He went to Trinity College in Dublin to have his DNA analyzed. There he found that he shared 10 of the 11 DNA matches with offspring of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the fourth century warlord who created one of the dominant strains of Irish genealogy because he had so many offspring.  (snip)

When it came to the bedroom, it seems that Niall of the Nine Hostages was even more fearless and energetic than he was on the battlefield. (snip)

A team of geneticists at Trinity College led by professor Dan Bradley have discovered that as many as 3 million men worldwide may be descendents of the Irish warlord, who was the Irish "High King" at Tara, the ancient center of Ireland from A.D. 379 to A.D. 405.

whose name in Gaelic means "hardy warrior," is also descended from the same line as Gates, having very close links to Niall of the Nine Hostages.

has taught a racial profiling class at the Lowell Police Academy for five years.

His academy class, which he teaches with a black police officer, instructs about 60 police cadets per year who spend 12 hours in the classroom, said Lowell Police Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

"He's a very professional police officer and he's a good role model," Fleming said. "Former police commissioner Ronny Watson, who is a person of color, hand-picked Sgt. Crowley. ... I presume because he would be the most qualified and most professional. He's a very good instructor. He gets very high reviews by the students."

As Washington - as only Washington can - turns what would otherwise be a gathering over beers among men into a highly scrutinized summit, several beer companies are using the occasion to make the case for their own products and why their beers should be downed this evening.

"Yuengling is proud to be recognized as America's Oldest Brewery," a company spokesman told POLITICO. "Family owned and operated since 1829, we've been a part of conflict resolution for over 180 years!"



A rep for Sierra Nevada said: "We believe that we are the perfect fit for the matter at hand, and a great choice to represent and facilitate the resilience and understanding of the American people. Sierra Nevada [can] reinforce the idea that whether black or white, rich or poor, we are all first and foremost Americans. American citizens should support American beer.

Think global, drink local."

 "Citizens Against the Beer Summit at White House", a makeshift gathering spearheaded by Baltimore pastor Dr. Emmett Burns, will picket the White House today between 12 and 3 p.m. "The president's actions are sending the wrong message to our nation's youth who are becoming alcoholics at young ages," reads an announcement for the protest. "This pernicious habit is also the reason for the large number of teen motor vehicle accidents throughout the country."

As is so often the case, these latter two non governmental aspects are the most vividly positive "teachable moments" of all. 

That summit about race?  Well Crowley thought Gates "was an interesting guy" even though neither he or Obama offered him an apology.  He plans to get together with Gates in the future.