The Last Ephor

Ok ok, so it's been a zillion years. Happy Birthday America! Here are some quotes for the 4th. enjoy Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! --Benjamin Franklin, 1759 They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety. --Benjamin Franklin A politician will do anything to keep his job even become a patriot. --William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) US newspaper publisher, Recalled on his death 14 Aug 1951 A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. --Edward Abbey (1927-1989) US author If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. --Thomas Paine These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks...

Wow. I've made the Big Blog. Yes, Instapundit has a link to Yours Truly. The downside: It's not for anything I have written or anything of the sort. It's just for being. See, Glenn "the hyperposter" Reynolds is the reason I started this (woefully lacking) blog. I had planned on being a blogger focusing on local issues but they are scarce and so is my time of late. To those of you who bothered to come here via Instapundit, welcome.

With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, I thought I should post something appropriate. To wit: Here are lyrics to an old traditional Irish song that I think encapsulates the spirit of the Irish people. It has always struck a chord in me (pun intended) in that it harkens back to a time when people would fight tyranny tooth and nail and happily die in the process. THE MINSTREL BOY (Thomas Moore (1779-1852)) Air "the Moreen" Ancient Irish Air The minstrel boy to the war is gone, In the ranks of death you'll find him; His father's sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him; "Land of Song!" cried the warrior bard, "Tho' all the world betrays thee, One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, One faithful harp shall praise thee!" The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's steel Could not bring that proud soul under; The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again, For he tore its chords asunder; ...

Will someone please explain to me why a state with no helmet law (for motorcycles) has a seatbelt law? Further, whyinthehell are they going for this .08 DWI crap. Assinine. The head of MADD confessed that their stated goal is to make anything over .02 BAC a crime. Knowing full well they won't get there directly, it's more death of liberty by incrementalism. I bet the margin of error is greater than .02 on the breathalyzers. Comforting.

More great news. Got this from our internal watchdog types: [i]We have been advised of a new identity fraud scam. A bogus letter, which appears to be from Chase, explains that completion of an attached IRS Form W-9095 (which is also bogus) will exempt certain individuals from federal withholding taxes on bank interest and other financial dealings. Information requested includes SSN, date of birth, mother's maiden name, bank relationships, account numbers, and PIN's. Neither JPMorgan Chase nor the Internal Revenue Service have not sent this correspondence and form to anyone. If you are aware of any customers who receive these documents, advise them not to complete them, and notify Jim at [redacted] or Walter at [redacted] of the Fraud Prevention and Investigation Department, citing the above warning number. Please distribute this information throughout your organization. [/i] and so I've included you, dear reader, on this also.

Ok, so I'm back. The newest member of the family has decided to let his parents sleep for a few hours straight per night. Not too bad. It's amazing what a difference 4 straight hours of sleep can do for you. Still tired but spirits high. Having a productive day today. I've finished 4 different mappings that were peer-reviewed and approved for migration! I know this sounds like nothing but it's a big deal b/c it's taken me forever to get to this point for various and sundried reasons. (I won't bore you with the details) Interesting item from yesterday's Best of the Web (www.opinionjournal.com) One of These Things Does Not Belong Here's interesting crop of headlines from budget stories yesterday: *** QUOTE *** "CBO Changes Budget Forecast Back to Black"-- Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,47243,00.html "Congressional Analysts See Surplus"-- ABC News http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20020306_...

Argh! Just lost my post. More to come when I have something interesting to say. I guess that's why this blog is so empty!

JPMC in the news today. Wall Street observers are predicting that Mark Shapiro is on his way out the door (this according to the NYPost) as he is responsible for our risk management. I wonder if this is the first in a long line of people who get booted. I'll wager Jack Welsh is getting his chainsaw sharpened and cleaned so he can cut a swath through this place come spring.

This post was supposed to go on yesterday but Blogger choked and it never made it. Consider rationalization. I find that people tend to rationalize their way into and out of whatever they really want. Myself included. I often have to fight the tendancy to do so. However, sometimes I genuinely delude myself that I'm making the right decision and only realize it later. It all reminds me of The Big Chill... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael: I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex. Sam: Ah, come on. Nothing's more important than sex. Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization? Well said.

Third half day in a row! Huzzah. The bad news is, I am still running on fumes. Colin was up and crying at 12:30. Back to sleep by 1:00. Then I was up at 3 and again at 6 with little fitful sleep in between. My poor wife is at her wits end. She's even less rested than I am. Yesterday I tried to get her to take a nap but no avail. Perhaps today she won't be so reticent.

Half day again today. I'll tell you a guy could get used to this! I find myself very tired lately. Not just tired, exhausted. To the point where I want to drop by the end of the week. I chalk a large portion of that up to being the father of two young ones. Fair enough, but I just don't feel like I'm getting any rest. I think my wife might be right. She thinks I have a sleep disorder. I'm incredibly jealous of her ability to fall asleep 5 seconds after her head hits the pillow. I usually take ages to doze off. My erratic schedule isn't helping. I have to have more self-discipline and more routine. Hard to believe I'm actually looking for [b]more[/b] routine in my life but it's true.

Half day today. Hoping to get my newborn to the doctor and then get some ashes.

A few observations of fatherhood. This isn't as shocking as I thought it would be like cold water in the face when you're sleeping. It's more like that creeping realization you have when you get to the essay section of an exam and you realize that maybe you weren't as thorough on the reading as you should have been. Not that it carries so much negative weight mind you, it's just a daunting task. I'm like that guy in the Jetta commercial a few months back. "The idea that I am responsible for the care and well being for another person is utterly ridiculous. I'm now the one saying 'Don't eat that cookie, it fell on the floor'. Meanwhile I'm thinking, '5 minute rule, that cookie's still good'." (don't know how to punctuate that one...)

Ok, it's been a while but give me a break, my wife and I have a new baby boy. Yes, Connor Ryan Duffy was born on Wednesday Feb. 6th at 11:51 am. He was 7.14 lbs at birth. His glucose level was a little low and as such he had some trouble stabilizing his temperature so they sent him off to the NICU (actually called "Special Care"). He did very well there and was discharged on Friday afternoon. Mom and Baby are doing fine

I've heard alot about our entering the "post PC" era. That is, collectively we've about had enough with Political Correctness and it's going to be out of fashion in short order. I surmise this is correct and was inevitable. More on this later...really need to do my self-eval.

Sometimes it feels like there are many things at hand but are at the same time very elusive. I have an old friend I know who lives less than a half an hour from me (roughly) but I have no idea how to contact him. None. Might as well be a million miles away.

I haven't been posting to this blog nearly as much as I had initially planned. I'm considering canceling this if I don't figure out what exactly I'm trying to do here. I got a call from Loyola begging...uh...asking me for money. I spoke to a very nice freshman girl who was an IB major (as I was). I explained to her that I would be unable to give any money to them until they got rid of a particular board member who has been involved with some (in my view) questionable ethical business deals. I feel as if my Alma Mater looks the other way on this one in favor of someone with deep pockets. Not a good thing for a Jesuit institution. She said she had no idea about any of this and seem genuinely interested. I also gave her some tips on which professors to take and whom to avoid. [b]That[/b] seemed to be something that she was most interested in. She also asked me if I go back to Loyola much. I told her there were "too many ghosts" so I don't really ...

I have been wondering of late, which is the "freest" state. That is, which of the 50 has the least government. Not sure how to even find out. Perhaps Cato.

I also heard a rumor that Stephen King is not going to be writing anymore after he publishes his current work in progress. His website says otherwise. I hope the latter is correct.

I was given my employee self review on Wednesday and it's due today. I haven't started. So of course, I'm here posting messages in the ether.