The Last Ephor

Stryde Hax has been tracking the PRC's efforts to send their gymnast's actual records down the memory hole. They're fast but he was faster. I applaud his efforts but nothing will come of it. Nobody is interested in cheating unless it involves taking medals from the US. The IOCC is not about to annoy their host nation by bothering with silly things like rules.

"Honey?" "Yes?" "You lover me and are concerned about my health, right?" "Of course." "Well, one of the best things we can do to ensure I have a longer, healthier life is to find a second wife. " "..." "I'm serious." "Right. I'm sure the author of that study was a man." "Nevertheless, it's better to be safe than sorry." "Nice try."

Barack Obama's 'lost' brother found in Kenya What if this were McCain's brother? [DelawareLiberal] How can this man expect to be President when his OWN BROTHER LIVES IN SQUALOR? This proves, unequivocally that Republicans love to see everyone, even their own family members destitute as long as they succeed. Even after meeting him he didn't lift a finger to help him. Didn't give one dollar of his vast millions to HIS OWN BROTHER. Republicans hate America, this proves it. [/DelawareLiberal]

Michael Ian Black: The Beach : "Then there are jellyfish. Jellyfish are God’s “No swimming” sign. People have no business swimming anyplace where stinging tentacles may come into play. In fact, I will go a step further and say that “stinging tentacles” and “summertime recreation” are mutually exclusive terms. Actually, tentacles as a whole are a category of noun that I did not want to interact with when vacationing. No vacation was ever improved by the presence of tentacles."

I've been reading The Club Of Queer Trades by G.K. Chesterton (so you don't have to). I confess I like it. I have an affinity for Victorian Era writers and characters. They are so foreign yet familiar. It's the language I think. Note the word queer in the title. They use the same words we do but they have different meanings. The book is a series of short mysteries. The protagonist is Basil Grant. He's the Sherlock Holmes figure with several friends filling in for Watson. The club is explained as follows: "The nature of this society, such as we afterwards discovered it to be, is soon and simply told. It is an eccentric and Bohemian Club, of which the absolute condition of membership lies in this, that the candidate must have invented the method by which he earns his living. It must be an entirely new trade. The exact definition of this requirement is given in the two principal rules. First, it must not be a mere application or variation of an existing tra...

Jeffrey Goldberg (August 20, 2008) - Joe Biden's Truthiness Problem "Joe Biden's Truthiness Problem" Excerpt: "Biden told me many interesting stories, several of which were true. Others, not so much."

Richard Cohen - Loose Lips Sink . . . - washingtonpost.com : "The only thing standing between Joe Biden and the presidency is his mouth. That, though, is no small matter. It is a Himalayan barrier, a Sahara of a handicap, a summer's day in Death Valley, a winter's night at the pole (either one) -- an endless list of metaphors intended to show you both the immensity of the problem and to illustrate it with the op-ed version of excess. This, alas, is Joe Biden."

Is it Safe Now to Admit Jimmy Carter Was Right? Short answer? No. Longer answer? Hell no. Fisking this dead horse follows: Misunderstood, mocked, and maligned, the 39th president (1977-81) will forever be associated with the Iranian hostage crisis and the botched rescue attempt; the human rights-inspired Olympic boycott and grain embargo; inflation; the infamous rabbit attack; and, above all, skyrocketing fuel prices. So far, so good. Americans, who hate to be told they must change, Bzzzzzt! Stop right there. This is petty and makes us sound like children. We're changing all the time. We don't like to be told what to do, period. That's an unfortunate side effect of liberty. You want people who like to be told what to do move to North Korea. roundly condemned Jimmy Carter’s memorable “Crisis of Confidence” speech of July 15, 1979. In it, Carter outlined a program for achieving energy independence: “On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confid...

1. When were you happiest? Hard to choose one day. Probably when I kid on Christmas. 2. What is your greatest fear? Failure 3. What is your earliest memory? I remember my Dad coming to get me after a nap. 4. Which living person do you most admire, and why? Family member who shall remain nameless. He has challenges that make mine look like a day at the carnival. He does it all with grace and good cheer. I've never, ever heard him complain. Not once. He's too busy enjoying life. 5. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Like I'm going to tell you. 6. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Cruelty, dishonesty 7. What was your most embarrassing moment? Can't think of anything too horrible. I'll certainly post it if I think of it. 8. Aside from a property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought? Probably a car 9. What is your most treasured possession? My grandmother's highschool yearbook 10. What makes you depressed? being broke 11. Wha...

College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age - August 19, 2008 - The New York Sun : "College Presidents Want Lower Drinking Age" In related news; 100% of students surveyed agree.

Islamic terror cell 'may have been plotting to attack Queen' - Telegraph : "Islamic terror cell 'may have been plotting to attack Queen'" I thought they broke up a few years ago after Freddy Mercury died. Weird. I guess their operational strength has really diminished if they're taking on 70's rock bands.

One thing about working "in technology" or "with computers" means that like any doctor in the family, people call me for free advice. My parents who are about as technically literate as a Masai tribesman. They are currently using a circa 2000 eMachines minitower machine. The thing is a dog. Runs like crap and is probably drowning in malware. They've finally decided to give up and get a new one. I suggested a laptop with a wireless card. My elder brother (who does not work "with computers" said that was a bad idea. According to him, printing is almost impossible with a laptop. Rather than argue the point, I said, "that's fine, whatever you want to do." I must be getting better at this because my parents went laptop shopping the next day and showed me the two models they were looking at. One was a Dell and one HP. Both lower range machines but considering they read email, look at pictures of the kids and print the occasional w...

The Curmudgeon points to this story: Police ID motorcyclist killed in Glasgow crash and sends regards to the family. The report indicates "speed was a factor". I have no doubt. I live very close to 896. In fact, when I'm trying to sleep on Sunday nights I hear them. There are a group of riders that wait until late on Sunday night and from 11:00 on they start at the Summit bridge and head north acclerating at maximum speed through the gears. I count the gears as they go. 1..2..3....4.....5...6. I seldom hear them slow down. Sometimes there's only one, sometimes as many as four. This has been going on for at least 4 years. Frankly, I'm surprised this isn't happening more often. I went so far as to call the State police to complain about the problem. It's really ##$#@$#@ing dangerous. Every time I heard them I would wait for the inevitable sickening crash or reading about some poor working stiff on his way home from a third shift job that was ki...

What if the US were redivided so the population and wealth were more evenly balance? According to one cartographer the result would be this: 38-States The attendant cost of redrawing and essentially rebooting the entire nation would be prohibitive to say the least. Beyond that you have the matter of mobility. This may work for a decade, perhaps three but then you'd have to revisit the entire exercise anew as people would move around again based on taxes, employment, laws, etc. Interesting exercise nonetheless.

British anti-Americanism "based on misconceptions" sayeth the Telegraph. Worldly, cosmopolitan Brits thing that polygamy is legal in the US, that we side with non-Muslims against Muslims most of the time and we deny emergency medical care to people who don't pay their bills. Andrea Mitchell as a water carrier for Obama? Can't possibly be! He's one of the good guys so what difference does it make? Hell, even WaPo's ombudsman acknowledges that the MSM is in the tank for him. "Not a good sign" indeed. L.A. Times columnist: "So there's a gusher of hypocrisy here: The state that is the biggest consumer of gasoline in the nation -- but produces less than 40% of what it uses -- is opposed to drilling for more oil off its shores. We're slackers not pulling our weight." "Exxon John" McCain takes less money from Big Oil than Obama. If Obama is true to his principles he will return their money so as not to sully his campa...