The Last Ephor

The American Thinker has an excellent piece about Intelligent Design and what it means. Think of the infantesimal chance that life would spontaneously originate. Read the whole thing.

Dappled Things has an explanation of the difference between celebacy and continence as it relates to the clergy. While he's technically probably correct (I have no idea) it seems to be splitting hairs. Whether it's chastity, celebacy or contenence the rules are simple: No sex outside of marriage. It's clear that rule was broken. IMNHO, he should be sent to work with the poor in Calcutta and I have no idea what her punishment should be. I was going to say excommunication and that may be correct. (NB: excommunication does not mean you are permenantly kicked out of the faith. Rather, it means you cannot come back until you repent and mend your ways.) It may seem unfair to excommunicate her but not him. Quite the opposite. Excommunicating him would let him off the hook too easily. He seems to be suffering from the sins of pride and lust (hold on...I have a mote in my eye...). Both of those need to be dealt with harshly. One thing that bugs me to no end is when ...

The Boys of Iwo Jima is a stirring tribute to brave boys (yes boys) who fought one of the most brutal campaigns in American history. If they taught history like this in high schools around the country, I think people would have a very different understanding of what our fighting men endured to keep us free and appreciate it more. History is personal stories. It is force fed to us as a string of dates and places. Names with no context or character. I had no idea that Hamilton and Burr hated each other so much until very recently. Founding Brothers and the biographies of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson et al. have made statues come to life. 1776 tops the NY Times best seller list for a reason. People care. History is full of men larger than life. Some men who were average but achieved great things (Audie Murphy). A smart charter school would revamp the entire idea of a history course to make it real. I've harped on the "back to basics" education for a while and ...

Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital . Please no more crap about how anti-war people support the troops. The charade is over. Thank you.

Simply amazing. Look at this chart and see the price gas adjusted for inflation for the last 26 years. Keep this handy for those who assure you oil is at a record high.

Nickie Goomba has the goods on what a real media looks like. I'm not a big Seuss fan but these are gems. Some obvious minor subsitutions would make them perfect for tomorrow's paper.

Why aren't these being sent over to Iraq by the boatload? I read over and over that IED's and even some VBIEDs and SVBIEDs are using cell phones as triggers. Wouldn't this help? I'd love to see someone start sending these things over to at least see if they work.

Update: Theater apologizes for booting family . Loews has wisely apologized. The only upside to this story is the number of people reading about autism. Some excerpts: Keith Lipsey, a Washingtonville police officer and martial arts teacher who works with autistic children, said he was incensed by Anthony's story. He said he's trying to arrange a special night out at the Destina Theaters in New Windsor for Anthony, his family, friends. "We should see who can laugh the loudest," Lipsey said. "I'll have bunch of cops around them, I'll bring the whole autistic society in. We'll make it a laughing matter in a positive sense." Bravo sir, Bravo. She said she didn't go into this wanting anything but an apology. "I thought this was just a simple thing, but obviously it's touched a nerve for a lot of people," Pratti said. Yes. People like me.

This drives me into a near homicial rage. I know people can be ignorant of autistic people, especially children. But did the man not see the wheelchair? Isn't that the first clue that you may want to rethink your decision? Secondly, laughing too loud? What? Are you serious? The man is a complete ignoramus. One sure sign of full employment in Wallkill is the fact that anyone that stupid is in management. No mention of reprimand or dismissal for the idiot manager. I'd like him to be sentenced to 12 hours or volunteer work with autistic children. Maybe then he'd have a teensy little clue.

Yet another example of brutal US Oppressor/Occupier troops crushing poor Iraqis 'neath their heels.

Unbelieveable . I think the citizens of New London should start a ballot petition to seize the homes of every public official who endorsed the theft of their homes. Every. Last. One.

All I could think of while reading it was, "Make it stop." I haven't seen a beating that brutal in a LONG time.

Enough already. I surrender. Throw in the towel, raise the white flag. I've had enough of summer. This weekend was brutal. The air was hot and thick. A clingly invisible liquid you had to wade through just to get to the car. The lawn has gone dormant and now looks like a layer of hay. It's also too long and needs to be cut but there's no way I'm going out there for 2+ hours to mow it. Maybe I can get the neighbor's kid out there. The kids (and I) are going stir crazy. There have been so many days north of 90 degrees it feels like forever. Worst of all, Colin has been off from school last week (and this one) and he's been out of sorts and had a cold. Yes, a cold. When it was 100F outside, the kid had a cold. Being cooped up in the house I guess. I'm a bit congested myself that ever annoying congestion that has one side of my head completely stuffed up and the other side completely clear. The first nice day I'll be outside all day. My...

In Praise of Female Sexuality this is both odd and interesting. I'm no fan of CommonDreams b/c by and large they're a bunch of nutballs. The article is from SMH which may account for the reduction in wackiness. It talks about reproductive pressures that are ignored and suppressed until much later in life usually due to consumerist pressures. I think that may be partly true but also not. The larger problem is the infantilization of young adults that started in the 60's or so and continues unabated. Young adults cannot drink, cannot rent a car, get a loan (other than a credit card) and so on. They are not expected to shoulder any real responsiblilty until years after they leave college. I am no exception. I was very much a teenager when I entered College. In many ways, I still was one when I left. I didn't really "grow up" until I moved to Charlotte. Even moreso when I got married and had kids. That ages you very quickly. I was terrifie...

Light that travels faster than light Whoa. I never thought I'd see this one. I know it's not a differential in a vacuum but FASTER in a solid medium? At room temperature? Will we ultimately be able to "bend" C?

Is this really news? Today's other unexpected events include: Sun rising in the east, Sky blue and water is wet.