The Last Ephor

I gotta side with Jonah on this one . They're silent for a reason. I must say I'm very disappointed they feel they can't defend their position in a debate with anyone let alone someone from the same side of the aisle.

I wail and moan about needing to check the background of migrant workers and now it seems the FBI doesn't even check on people who are taking classes at Quantico . I give up. Seriously. Our top law enforcement agency doesn't do their job when it's important. I'll bet the Pinkerton's wouldn't have let this guy in.

I love this one! h/t: Sully

A resounding NO. Key excerpts: After all, income inequality in America is increasing, right? Wrong. According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study released this month, the bottom fifth of families with children, whose average income in 2005 was $16,800, enjoyed a larger percentage increase in income from 1991 to 2005 than all other groups except the top fifth. Even more impressive, the CBO found that households in the bottom fifth increased their incomes so much because they worked longer and earned more money in 2005 than in 1991 -- not because they received higher welfare payments . The bottom fifth increased its earnings by 80 percent , compared with around 50 percent for the highest-income group and around 20 percent for each of the other three groups. This increase in earnings and total income by low-income families is the biggest success in American social policy of recent decades. Truly a success story. Liberals will doubtless get the vapors and declare that the people ...

Guildenstern: All your life you live so close to truth it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye. And when something nudges it into outline, it's like being ambushed by a grotesque. Very true. Sometimes that truth is something you just don't remember because it's been out of you line of sight for so long. When I was a yute , we went to church in the next town over from our. (I never got a straight answer as to why we didn't go to the one closest to home). We'll call my church Our Lady of Perpetual Weirdness. It even looked like a 70's church. The sketch doesn't do it justice. It was built in the mid 1950's but wow is it ugly. The interior is indescribably bad. Poor layout with numerous chokepoints, high ceilings in the center but low over the rear pews (like a big cone) that guaranteed the head would go up and leave us freezing year round. Dark stone walls with thick mortar, stained glass that looked like it was made from broken be...

God-Shaped Hole Every point of view has another angle And every angle has its merit But all comes down to faith Thats the way i see it You can say that love is not divine and You can say that life is not eternal "all we have is know" But i don't believe it There's a God-shaped hole in all of us And the restless soul is searching There's a God-shaped hole in all of us And it's a void only he can fill Does the world seem gray with empty longing Wearing every shade of cynical And do you ever feel that There is something missing? That's my point of view...

743. O Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman. O Captain! My Captain! O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red! Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here, Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck You've fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor w...

I've often said that Hollywood hates it's customers. It's not hyperbole or exaggeration. They hate them but want their money. They're like the Carnies of old that referred to everyone as "marks" and "rubes". They placate us with tripe in hopes of wringing cash from us. Now they're wondering where the audience went . The broken monopoly of ABC, NBC and CBS haven't been able to keep up with the changing landscape. Viewers no longer see TV as a set time and place thing. Now it's viewed as a block of entertainment that ought not to be on anyone's schedule but our own. You can thank/blame Tivo and DVD's for that. Full disclosure, I'm a TiVo early adapter. I got it as a gift and have nearly wept with gratitude every day since. I may watch TV more frequently but I watch it for less time. Changing schedules doesn't usually affect me. I hardly know when my shows are on anyway. (Noted exceptions: LOST, The Shield, BS...

Michael Moore has a new movie about health care. Surprising exactly no one, it's rife with factual errors, spin and dishonesty. Even the NYT puts the boot in. They can't help parroting Casto's regime officials in support of Moore but this is about as damning as the NYT can manage to be for a fellow traveler. “Actually there are three systems,” Dr. Cordova said, because Cuba has two: one is for party officials and foreigners like those Mr. Moore brought to Havana. “It is as good as this one here, with all the resources, the best doctors, the best medicines, and nobody pays a cent,” he said. But for the 11 million ordinary Cubans, hospitals are often ill equipped and patients “have to bring their own food, soap, sheets — they have to bring everything.” And up to 20,000 Cuban doctors may be working in Venezuela, creating a shortage in Cuba. Like all authoritarian regimes, they look great on paper. The reality is always much uglier.

Heineken Minikeg: The Perfect Pour, DIY Style - Popular Mechanics Having sampled a number of Minikegs from D.A.B. , Heineken , and Warsteiner , I can attest to them going flat and being a really pour poor keg. They're essentially just really big cans with either a gravity feed or forced air pump. Not good. This new system appears far more promising. Now if only we could put something better in those minikegs like this , this or this . Sadly, I'm guessing the cost of production is going to keep this confined to larger (read: crappy) brewers. I hope I'm wrong

Feds eye Stevens' home remodeling project . Thank God they're going after this guy. He's been so brazen with his porkbarreling and the whiff of corruption around him has been ripe enough to smell from here. I'd rather have a 100% democrat run Congress if they were ethical. Term limits. One term for Senate, two for the House, one for the President. Some fear that would increase the power of lobbyists. Simple, ban any former members from being lobbyists and limit lobbyists to terms as well. (I'm not sure how that would work. Just a thought.) The other answer is transparency. No earmarks without a floor vote. No spending of any kind without a floor vote. All spending committees (intelligence aside) open to the public and recorded and available on the web.

We Are All in It Together, Clinton Says . To which I ask, "Whaddaya mean "we"? Coming from a woman who's lived off the largesse of others for decades this comes off a bit rich (if you'll pardon the pun). The Anchoress notes that Bill Clinton is trying to soak taxpayers for $1.16 million in expenses . The man has no shame. Odd that his predecessor asked for exactly nothing. He's making money hand over fist in speaking fees and he has he gall to ask for over a million dollars in expenses? How about an itemized bill, Bill? This couple also sold their friendships quite readily. Oxblog notes that such a purchase is quite lucrative . Selling diplomatic posts is not new and not confined to Democrats but the practice is unAmerican. I used to think the people who said that Hillary was perilous to the liberty of this nation were overwrought and histrionic. No longer. With quotes like this and others about taking things away from me for the "common goo...

"I was stopped by someone the other week who said it was not surprising there was so much terrorism in the world when we invaded their countries (meaning Afghanistan and Iraq). No wonder Muslims felt angry. I said to him: tell me exactly what they feel angry about. We remove two utterly brutal and dictatorial regimes; we replace them with a UN-supervised democratic process. And the only reason it is difficult still is because other Muslims are using terrorism to try to destroy the fledgling democracy and, in doing so, are killing fellow Muslims. Why aren't they angry about the people doing the killing? The odd thing about the conversation is I could tell it was the first time he'd heard this argument." Neocon Warmonger and Puppet of Big Oil (TM)Tony Blair

I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty. I know that my son did his best to serve our country. Through my own opposition to a profoundly misguided war, I thought I was doing the same. In fact, while he was giving his all, I was doing nothing. In this way, I failed him. In memory of all those who gave their lives in service of our great nation. Update: I didn't realize I hit "Save Now" instead of "Publish Post" which is why this is showing up now.