Bartholomew (from Bartholomew’s notes on religion) sends us a link to the Katherine Harris web site which helpfully details Katherine’s efforts to certify Florida’s electoral results following the 2000 presidential election:

In the aftermath of the 2000 election controversy, Congresswoman Harris’ leadership provided a driving impetus for election reform. In 2001, she testified before the U.S. House Administration Committee and proposed legislation that became the blueprint for Florida’s nationally acclaimed Election Reform Act. In 2002, as the momentum for election reform subsided in states across America, she successfully proposed and achieved passage of historic civil rights legislation in Florida that forcefully addresses the exclusion of persons with disabilities from full and equal participation in the electoral process.

There’s arguably a lot of material there, but our attention was drawn to this part of her biography:

She studied abroad at the University of Madrid and at L’Abri outside Geneva, Switzerland.

Now, we’ve heard of the University of Madrid, but not of a school called “L’Abri.” Given that the name means shelter in French it seemed like a rather odd name for an institution of higher learning. Which likely explains why it isn’t:

The L’Abri communities are study centers in Europe, Asia and America where individuals have the opportunity to seek answers to honest questions about God and the significance of human life. L’Abri believes that Christianity speaks to all aspects of life.

Ah, we understand now:

Fourth, the reality of the fall is taken seriously. Until Christ returns we and the world we live in will be affected by the disfigurement of sin. Although the place of the mind is emphasized, L’Abri is not a place for “intellectuals only”.

Well if there’s one person you need in any discussion of disfigurement, it’s Katherine. (Disclaimer: You’ll never get those 2MB of bandwidth back.) But people who go there are students, right?

Each branch is staffed by one or more L’Abri families and single people, called “workers”, who look after those who come and stay – “students”.

Oh, you’re that kind of “school.” Katherine did manage to pick up some useful skills there:

The other half of the day is spent in sharing the community work load. This involves your doing some practical work each day, which consists of helping with the cooking, cleaning, gardening, maintenance, etc.. We have numerous chalets to keep up, many meals to serve, and lots of grounds to care for. Your work is a help to us in running a place of this size and it will hopefully bring a healthy balance to your lives. Thursday is a day off for students who are given a packed lunch, allowing them to go off and sight see, ski, hike, etc.

What if I don’t like to do maintenance work?

If either of these two aspects of being here are problematic you should carefully and prayerfully consider whether a time here with us is the right thing for you.

Aye captain! We wouldn’t mind being able to meet a lot of single women while we’re there. You mean that can be arranged? Not only that, but these guys will be our competition? And we can kiss the dog from Frasier? Yet we always have to get back to work, don’t we? Let us pray!

Must be hard to get in we bet:

There are no prerequisites for attending L’Abri.

Well, nothing more than 45 Swiss francs per night in any case. That works out to US$37/night. Isn’t that pretty much what Harvard charges these days?

Bonus: In related news, someone had a go at Katherine. (It’s not what you think.) (Via Political Physics.)

In unrelated news, our favorite insult comic dog (Triumph) stopped by Spin Alley after the third presidential debate. Wanna see Ralph Reed get called a bitch? The answer is not sadly, no! (Also via Political Physics.) [We’ll mirror the Triumph clip tomorrow, if anyone cares.]

Tomorrow came early: 6-minute, 14MB clip of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog taking on spin alley. (Thanks to Rooftop Report.)