The Last Ephor

Hilarious. Watch until after the bridge. I think I might be showing my age w/ this one....

Get Rich Slowly! An informative roundup of what the "get wealthy" books will tell you.

I have to give them credit for creativity. (h/t American Digest )

Liberals always point to Europe (not Switzerland mind you) as a model for gun control. "Look at the UK" they say. When I point out their dramatically rising crime rates they dismiss my concerns as ludicrous. Americans have long been concerned about the slippery slope of gun control. It's the preliminary steps to an outright ban. The misguided propenents of gun control say that's absurd and it's just a matter of keeping guns from criminals. Well, we all know how effective the drug laws have been. I mean, when was the last time a criminal had illegal drugs? England had a gun culture that was alive and vibrant until about 1950. Around that time the courts decided that self-defense was not an adequate reason to have a firearm. The "Queen's Peace" superceded that concern and besides, the Bobbies would be there to protect you. Fast forward about 40 years and some nutter goes on a rampage and kills a bunch of school kids. The result? An outrig

Poop? Meet fan. Fan, this is poop. That about sums up my week. In addition to Eldest not sleeping later than 5:00 AM, I've now learned that my wife's grandfather and his girlfriend will not be staying just one day. They'll be staying FIVE DAYS . And when did they tell us you ask? They didn't. We found out from other family members. I'm ready to scream. I've had my fill of company. I'm done. Really. Top it off, these two are the worst houseguests. They've been known to poke around closets and basements when the residents are out. Not. Cool. They are also the most passively agressively demanding people. "Oh, you don't have to make dinner, that's ok. Just throw some rotten meat on the floor and I'll pick it up." Or worse they ask where a nearby restaurant is so we'll tell them not worry about it, we'll cook. They insist we don't cook. We get take-out. Do our guests even offer to pay? No. T

I'm grumpy today. Why? Oh, I don't know. 4-5 hours of sleep a night for a fortnight might do it. One of the common problems autistic children have is sleep disorders. "Co-morbidity" it's called. I don't like the term because it sounds so, well, morbid. Eldest was awake and ready to play at the ungodly hour of 5:15 yesterday and 4:20 this morning. I had wisely gone to bed at 11:30 so as to minimize the harmful effects of sleep. I'm starting to think I'm some sort of sleep deprivation experiment. At this point, I'm ready to give up state secrets for a bit of shuteye. Yes, yes, much of this is my fault but I can't be expected to take responsibility now can I? That's just absurd. When you dream about scoring some Modafinil, you know your life has drastically changed from the halcyon days (not, not that halcion). I have that feeling I used to get after an exam in college. When you're strung out on caffene and too litt

Cardinal Keeler has boycotted Loyola's latest graduation because the speaker recognizes that while he is personally opposed to abortion, it is the law of the land and he discharged his duties accordingly. Who was the speaker? Rudolph Guilani. According to the article , The Archdiocese sent a letter notifying of the boycott along with a shot across the bow as a warning they may lose their designation as a Catholic college. This distresses me greatly. One of the reasons I went to Loyola was because they were a Catholic school. This was, of course, not the first reason. Or even the second. Reason #1: they let me in. Reason #2: The women were stunning. Seriously. [/begin crochety old man voice] Why back in my day, we were known as "J. Crew U." [/end crochety old man voice] A badge we wore with pride and one that (sadly) disappeared shortly after I left and preppie was out. It was replaced by the "just fell out of bed" look which has probably chang

French in disarray as they admit EU treaty vote is lost . There may be hope yet. The French actually voted against the EU b/c they fear it will force them to trim their welfare state. Lazy inveterate Frenchmen, afraid of having to work for a living and actually compete with other national industries was enough to have them vote "Non!". France has long term problems I've spoken about here and others have covered in greater depth and with greater skill. I think the EU in it's proposed form was/is fundamentally undemocratic and very bad for both Europe and America. They're better off making something akin to a NAFTA style open market, perhaps moreso.

USNews.com: Washington Whispers (5/30/05) : "Rice Wants It--But in Draft Form Political associates of Secretary of State Condi Rice are stirring the 2008 presidential pot on her behalf. While she takes the high road, they're pushing her name out there. 'She definitely wants to be president,' said one. But, the friend added, Rice isn't planning on quitting to run. 'She wants to be drafted,' he said." DRAFT AWAY!

French in disarray as they admit EU treaty vote is lost . The correct headline should read "French POLITICIANS in disarray". Oddly the French voted against the EU which surprised me. I assumed they didn't want to cede too much power to Brussels and were worried about diminishing French soverignty and so on. No, turns out they're afraid they may have to compete for business, work full time and come back from vacation when grandmere fries to death from heat. Stupid frogs.

Charter students tops in test scores . File under: least surprising news of the week. More please.

Teens admit beating priest . The only thing they did wrong was kick him when he was down. Had they stopped when they knocked him down, they ought to have been given medals. I wonder if he ever would have resigned but for this beating. The article mentions previous incidents. I wonder how many victims he had before he was confident enough to approach teenagers in public. I suspect the list is long. He ought to be stripped of his collar and excommunicated. Half of me wants him to remain in the priesthood and sent to a leper colony or something. If I thought he'd keep a single one of his vows, that'd be my preference.

Superdickery.com . Hilarious. Read on.

This can only be part of an insanity plea. I would have paid good money to see his lawyers face when Phil arrived in court looking like this

Florida girl found buried alive in landfill This is one of those times I love being wrong. I was certain she was dead. She's alive, not for lack of effort by the evil bastard who tried to kill her but rather by the grace of God. I cannot imagine the anguish her parents are going through. Pray for them.

Child Population Dwindles in San Francisco : "San Francisco's large gay population — estimated at 20 percent by the city Public Health Department — is thought to be one factor, though gays and lesbians in the city are increasingly raising families. Another reason San Francisco's children are disappearing: Family housing in the city is especially scarce and expensive. A two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot starter home is considered a bargain at $760,000." Really? You think those two teeny tiny little obstacles might impede someone with a family from living in SF? I suppose there are countless couples earning a million dollars a year who want to stuff their 2.3 kids into a 1,000 sq ft box to pay confiscatory tax rates and deal with all the other sundried bullshit that goes along with living in SF. (I was going to rant here but it's best I don't for reasons I'll explain in a minute.)

News : "The pipeline that will change the world" ...if terrorists don't blow it up.

Andrew's current take on the war: "We are fighting a global war with the manpower for a minor spat. Technology can only do so much. And when you further consider that, in order to win, we need to deal with Syria and Iran at the very least, you can see the scale of our problem. Solution? At this point, I can't see any except a major dose of luck." I have to believe he and I are not simply not getting the same information. I'm at a loss as to how exactly he could come to such a conclusion if he were. Does he not read Cherenkoff's good news from Iraq? Do the blinders block that out? Or this? What of the Arab Spring? Does he think this is all going to collapse in on itself? How can you see this as anything other than the dying gasps of dead-enders. The local Iraqis my be opposed to the Americans but they damn sure don't like the foreign terrorists either. They put their differences aside to fight the common enemy, but that changed when they s

A No-Bash Bash For Gays and Evangelicals . More please. This is the way we're going to get to some sort of civil discourse. Small steps. One at a time. It's hard to demonize and entire group of people when someone you know, and like, is in that group. This is not rocket science. It just takes some time (and courage) to reach across the gap. No matter what that gap may be.

Praying with anger . I seldom wish harm or evil on anyone but in this case, I'm willing to make an exception. Die you bastard. But not before ratting out everyone you know.

The Devil’s Dictionary (2.0) . Ambrose would be pleased. (h/t Chizumatic

USS Clueless was (and still is) one of my favorite sites of all time. Stephen's departure from regular blogging left a huge hole in my daily reading. He is more of an essayist than a blogger but the link above shows why he's still ranked as a "higher being" on TTLB Ecosystem . Read it all. Every post. You won't be disappointed.

He'll Move to Europe . I'll help him pack. Good riddance. (Sorry Europe, I'm miffed with a few of you but you don't deserve this.)

Map Reveals Wind Power Potential Color me skeptical. The adverse impact on avian wildlife would be huge. Secondly, conveying power to market is a huge problem as well. How many hops would be required for these sites? How can you be sure the wind will be constant and even?

What Have the Brits Ever Done For Us ? Too funny. Some of it is inscrutable for me as they include pictures of people that I don't know. Overall though, this is like and Irish JibJab. Worth a look.

Strange Coincidences in Madrid . This one makes my hair stand on end. I always cast a skeptical eye on conspiracy stories, but these dots appear to connect in a most disconcerting fashion. Will this story bear fruit? Does Spain have a Captain Ed of it's own?

Update: Free Thoughts has more pictures from Cuban freedom rally. Look at the tatoo on the man in the first photo. Simply stunning.