The Last Ephor

What is beer for? That's a pretty serious penalty. SP3 dreams... Murtha certainly isn't alone but he is proving the old adage of "when buying and selling is controlled by the legislator, the first thing bought and sold are legislators." I'll get you my pretty.... Photographic proof of water on Mars

Over in Turkey, they're rethinking Islam . Key quote: "This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation,". This is something for which people on the right side of the argument here have been clamoring. While I have little hope this will gain any traction outside Turkey I would love to be proven wrong. Proving that you cannot be on any side of the argument w/o having someone on your side that you really, really don't want. Here's a coveted endorsement. When asked for a response Mr. Obama was said, "Aw crap." "As chips are progressively able to perform more calculations for less money, and in a package that's continually shrinking, Kurzweil told the GDC audience to look for the price-to-performance ratio of computers to improve a billionfold in the next 25 years. The devices will eventually become small enough, Kurzweil said, that scientists can create fake blood cell-size computers to perform the same functions of natural blood cells....

So Monday I'm standing in the kitchen making myself a sandwich. Kids are at school, baby is napping. Wife and I are talking about something or other and I smell the unmistakable acrid odor of burning plastic. I wheel around and see nothing on the stove. Oven is off...where...? My wife sees my dinner plate sized eyes and asks what's wrong. I can answer b/c I have a mouthful of sandwich and I try to gulp down my food while searching for the source of said smell. Dishwasher! Something plastic must be on the element. It's on and I open it. No steam and nothing on the element. The door, however, is very very hot. I close the door and see smoke coming from the vent that is normally reserved for steam. Shit. That is not good. I close it and the panel is dark. No lights, no numbers, no nuttin'. I check the warranty which, of course, expired in December. Fantastic. One phone call to Whirlpool/Maytag/Big Monopoly Appliance Company/Ha Ha Screw You You're Out ...

I'd have no luck. So last night about 6:00 the lights flick off, then on, then off. Pitch black and the kids are not thrilled. Eldest is incensed that the light switches are not responding. He's putting my hand on the switch and when I can't make the lights come on he has a meltdown. The baby thinks all of this is very amusing. Samneric* have exactly opposite opinions. Sam is ecstatic that he gets to use the flashlight and Eric is afraid of the imminent arrival of monsters. We get him calmed down and manage to get everyone bathed and in their pj's. "I wish we were in heaven. The lights never go off in heaven." says Eric. We read a few books by flashlight and get Eldest and The Baby off to bed. Suddenly, the lights come back on. Eric says, "Can we turn the lights back off?" This from the child who was in tears an hour ago. *Bonus points for reader(s) who get the reference.

(With apologies to Mr. Ayers for the hyperbole) An event filled weekend. First of all, I did something that I rarely do. I went out for the evening. I'm something of a homebody largely because my job and my kids pretty much run me into the ground by the time the weekend rolls around. I do go out once in a while with friends or dinner with the wife but those are rather infrequent. On Saturday I was invited to a beer tasting. That's enough to get me motivated and out of the house for once. The twist here is that the host of said beer tasting was hosted by Don Viti (Yes I know I'm breaking my own rule but more on that in a moment). My trip to the Fever Swamp of Delaware Liberalism DV's house started with this guy bringing my trip to a halt. I saw the car in the woods and knew that whoever was in that car was in pretty bad shape. Good thing I don't believe in omens. I follow ever faithful Google Maps to find the house and turn into the driveway. I park ...

OK, actually weekly roundup because blogging has been light First up, Peggy Noonan asks if New York's Junior Senator can lose gracefully . I think we're seeing the answer is going to be "no". From the Department of Unforeseen Consequences, Biofuels cause global warming. Mark Steyn speaks to CPAC as only he can. Humor and insight in one package. If any GOP candidate spoke half as well as he did, he's be unbeatable. Everything I've ever needed to know I learned from LOST. I particularly agree with point #4. I think I'm legally bound to mention Berkley's support for the Marines .... If this doesn't amuse you , you must be Vulcan or something. This one is red meat for the Techies out there. Behold, when server cabling becomes art Remarkably, I've had 5 of these and the first four in the list are really awesome. Lambic is, admittedly, like sausage. Delicious but you really don't want to see it made. The uber-hopped IPA's by Dogfi...

Previously on This Is Very Strange , I had received a very desirable gift from person or persons unknown. After much ado, I've finally found out who sent it. I was correct that is was one of the four people who knew me enough to send it, my brother. He travels a lot for business so I hadn't spoken to him in ages. Seems he was trolling eBay for another unrelated item and sent it to me on a lark. For that I am eternally grateful. Moreover b/c I finally know who sent the damn thing.

Indeed. Frequently, nature is trying to kill you when it's stinging, biting or oozing mucus on you. Like this list of nature's way of saying "Don't touch".

Up: One of my cousins who works for the NYPD in ESU made Captain. Congratulations! Down: Got this email from a friend: "I was thrown a curve ball when my close Prague buddy Mike was diagnosed a month ago with a brain lesion ... he'll either undergo surgery this week and then have a 14-36 month life expectancy or he won't, in which case he'll only have six months." I knew Mike casually. He helped me out in a bind when I was in Prague as a favor to our mutual friend. Good guy, very laid back (Californian, go figure). The kind of guy who's easy to be around and he is IIRC in his late twenties. He's not a close friend but for some reason that was like a gut punch. I guess anything that brings mortality that close to home is amplified when you have young kids. Up: Imminent rate increase. It's meager but any increase is usually a good thing. Down: Was supposed to be effective January 1 and I haven't seen jack yet.

I'm an average guy with an average life. I have a few more kids than most but for the most part I'm just an anonymous lumpenprole toiling away in obscurity both professionally and on this blog. To say my life follows a certain routine is like saying " The Hindenburg caught fire." That is to say, technically accurate but wildly understates the truth. In any event, I just received a call from The Wife. To wit: "Did you order something?" "No, why?" "There's something here for you." "Uh, box, bag, envelope, singing telegram?" "It's a box" "Who's is from?" "It's from [Name redacted pending confession or further investigation]" "Who?" "(repeats name)" "No idea. Never heard of him." A quick google search later I find that the sender's return address is in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. A place I have never visited. "Open it." "W...

All but locked up. Romney needs every single vote from here on out to win. So, effectively it's over and it's McCain. The MSM will have their knives out for McCain now. They have been giving him a pass until now but now they're going to revert to type and smear, slander and deride any GOP nominee, even McCain. Next obvious question; who gets the VP nod. My initial thought was Rudy but he might show strong in NYC but he can't deliver NJ which is solidly blue no matter how fond of him they might be. Huckabee makes sense due to a surprising (to me anyway) showing across the south. Romney won't be able to deliver much beyond Utah. Not even Mass. would go for Mitt over any Democrat if he's only the VP and not heading the ticket. Obama is reportedly winning in a very tight race. Privately, I believe Hillary is furious. It is, after all, her turn. She thinks it is her birthright to be the first female president and that goal trumps the need for a first bl...

How sweet it is! Sorry shEagle fans! Mwa ha ha ha! p.s. Jeremy who?

I told you they were insane So I locked myself out of my voicemail today. I called the helpdesk for a reset but they were swamped and asked me if they could call me back. I agreed. I walked away from my desk for a minute and heard the phone ringing when I came back. I missed the call but naturally....they left a voicemail. Some days I feel like I'm being drawn by Scott Adams. Sean Hannity has lost his mind. I was in the car yesterday listening to him recant on virtually everything he's been saying for the last 8 years. Suddenly, drilling in ANWAR is a bad idea, Guantanamo Bay is a bad idea, we need to update Conservatism, John McCain is a good, honest guy, a wall on the border isn't the answer. On and on and on. He's either a naked partisan who's sucking down McCain flavored Kool Aid at record rates or he's literally lost his mind. Either way it's not good. The win/win of the Democrat ticket: Hillary wins the nomination there's no way she wi...

Beliefnet asked readers to post their favorite picture of Jesus. Herewith is my snarktacular review of same: Curious positioning of the cross while running for political office Jesus Confused about which religion I'm really the head of Jesus Very dramatic crucified in a storm animated gif Jesus Bleeding and in agony Jesus Mystical 70's poster Jesus 14th Century soap advertisement Jesus Dr. Doolittle Jesus Oversized child's art project Jesus I'm staring intently at the Earth and I got a satellite in my eye Jesus I can catch a Bing cherry in my mouth Jesus American Gladiator Jesus Woodcut of Sawyer from Lost if he was smiling Jesus What's he standing on anyway and why is he making the atmosphere red Jesus

Perhaps the title of the post is a misnomer. Intrepid infosec blogger Dancho gives a great analysis of the Global Islamic Media Front's boasting about their security toolset. See here and here for more. I confess to having missed this one entirely. I've not even heard of GIMF. However, as someone with a passing familiarity with encryption tools and network security, I can say that the key phrase in the article is this: "If you perceive the Technical Mujahid magazine as a threat to the national security of any country, old issues of Phrack magazine must be giving you the nightmares." I snarfed my Red Bull when I read that one. I used to be an avid reader of Phrack , 2600 and cDc's various white papers. In full nerd fashion, I went to HOPE twice and once even bamboozled my company into paying for it. At H2K one group emphatically decided I was an FBI agent and despite my protestations gave me a wide berth and breathlessly warned anyone I spoke to that ...

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear my latest whine about being tired. Wah. I know. So here's the latest; Friday came and went very very slowly. I was working on very tedious administrative duties at work (cleaning up user ID's on the security module. Just shoot me). I have to remember to put this off until I find myself unable to sleep again. It has to be an instant cure. I did, however, get the Unexpected Urgent Support Call from a user. In England. I'm getting ahead of myself. First; some background. I was working from home on Friday as is normal and my wife had to go to a parent/teacher conference for #3 to discuss whether or not he's ready for Kindergarten (long story short, he is). The meeting was about 15 minutes and it was a 10 minute drive each way to the school. For those of you who are native to Delaware that'd be 10 + 10 + 15 = 35 minutes. For those 35 minutes I'd have to watch both kids. It's easy to watc...

Two Thirty three AM. He was up again at 2:33 AM. For. The. Day. I feel like death warmed over. It's like being hungover without getting to enjoy the beer the night before. He was very upset and crying and wouldn't stay in he bed or even his room. I have a headache of truly epic proportions that nothing seems to quell. I'm crankier than Keith Olberman at a GOP convention and my eyes are burning like I've been in a swimming pool for hours. Best of all? A birthday party for tomorrow for my son and, God help me, 14 other 5 year olds. This is supposed to have passed by now as the medication should be out of his system. If this is not a side effect of the medication and simply the new norm, I have major, major problems. Other than slightly increased aggression he seems totally unaffected by the whole thing which is, frankly, unfair. I wish I had half his energy. If I could bottle it and sell it, I certainly wouldn't be blogging to you lot. I'd be sitt...

First up: George Soros' anti-Americanism in his own words: "I'm not looking for a worldwide recession. I'm looking for a significant shift of power and influence away from the US in particular and a shift in favour of the developing world, particularly China." Game, set, match. He wants to see China ascendant and America pushed aside. Yes, China the bastion of freedom, liberty and meek foreign policy. I will no longer suffer any fool who tells me Soros is not anti-American. Further, anything he funds with his zillions is rightly labeled anti-American. Second; Remember when Russia resumed it's air patrols off the coast of the US and some people blamed Bush ('natch). It was his reckless and aggressive foreign policy that started it all. Now we're seeing Russia making test bombing runs off the coast of Europe . Do we blame Sarkozy or Zapatero? Those warmongering French I suppose. Up next, " Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory ...

So, the lack of blogging lately can be attributed to one thing: lack of sleep. No, it's not the baby, it's my eldest. He started some new medication recently and when we discussed it with the doctor she never mentioned that insomnia was one of the possible side effects. (Shame on me for not reading the fine print on the side effects). After about a week, he stopped sleeping normally. He would go to bed at regular time (circa 8:00 PM) and then he'd be coming into our bedroom around 2:00 AM. Up. For. The. Day. I have to mention here that the his energy level is also atypical for kids his age. He's 7 but in addition to being autistic, he has ADHD. Yes. So imagine your 7 year old after 3 Red Bulls at 2:00 AM for 8 days in a row. I'm literally falling asleep any time I'm not actively doing something. My wife and I are at our wits end. We stopped the medication a few days ago but this insomnia has not abated. In fact, it may not. This may be the new n...