Cuz Tickled Pink. Thanks Hillary.

How Bout Them Cards!

Myra called me Friday morning and said she had an extra ticket to game 6. After a bit of fretting I canceled appointments & drove to St. Louis in time for the game. It wasn't the best played game I've ever seen, but it was the by far the most exciting,  I have the best sister & brother in law in the world.   Thanks Myra & Garry.  On the left Freeze muffs a routine pop fly which led to a Ranger run. The lads seemed to have forgiven him though.  Redemption is a wonderful thing.

(Post written by Cousin Jim)

Government for who?

"Were our government for the people, we would have the best education in the world, universal health insurance, a decent way of financing elections, and a massive commitment to sources of clean energy." William Sloan Coffin

I Don't Remember It, but Some Obviously Think They Can.

Thanks to Bob.

You Can't Make This Up-I Hope, at Least, The Gods Are Amused.

It is legal to posses & sell:

1, Alcohol

2. Tobacco

On the other hand,  doing the same with mushrooms, which have been used safely in religious rites all over the Americas for thousands of years, can get you Five to Twenty years.

"Many individuals who took a single dose of psilocybin -- the active ingredient in what the drug culture calls "magic mushrooms" -- showed alterations in personality characteristics, largely for the better, that persisted for more than a year, a prospective scientific study showed.

Participants who reported "mystical experiences" during the hallucinogen sessions tended to show increases in the personality dimension known as openness, according to Katherine A. MacLean, PhD, and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University.

They found no adverse effects from the drug exposure."

Magic Mushroom' Drug May Improve Personality Long Term By John Gever in MedPage Today.

Thanks To Dr. Mike.

Wexford & Kilkenny Are 2011 All Ireland Champs.

CAMOGIE:

Wexford 2-7 Galway1-8 in a thriller.

HURLING:

Kilkenny 2-17 defending champion Tipperary 1-16 - The Cats' fifth title in six years.

Getting Some Space.

http://www.newyorkerstore.com/2011/title-another-way-to-keep-an-empty-seat-beside-you-on-the-train-a-man-wears-a-shirt-that-says/invt/137403/
WARNING: THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH FOLK WHO CAN'T WAIT TO TELL YOU HOW WRONG YOU ARE.

Thanks to Judge C.

Thecla, a Lioness, and Women of Antioch Team Up to Stifle Misogynists.

"A sketch of an episode from the apocryphal 'Acts of Paul and Thecla'. Basically Thecla, a groupie of St Paul, is thrown into the arena in Antioch. [Because she wouldn't couple with Alexander.] A notoriously fierce lioness, rather than making a meal of the Christian virgin, behaves more like a kitten. The next day in the arena the lioness fights against the other beasties in defence of said Thecla, which is all rather miraculous. 
Thecla had a bit of a rough ride, really, earlier on her own mother tried to have her burned to death! And Paul refused to baptize her, the sod, because she was too good looking and might yet yield to temptation! Anyway, she lives to get her clothes back and praise the Lord another day, unlike most of the real life Christian martyrs. I'm not sure the lioness has quite such a happy ending, and according to conventional theology it wouldn't even have gone to heaven."

Thecla and the Lions by ~dashinvaine

Thanks for Livin Joe. We Ain't Dead Either.

Coptic Christian.

How Bout Them Hogs?

How Sweet.

"A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!"
 From Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

Sing Along & Learn a Language

Nina Has The Touch.

Thanks to Dr. Mike.

Congress Passes Social Security Reform.

Thanks to Judge D.

Rien N'est Change.

"But what then is capital punishment but the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal's deed, however calculated it may be, can be compared? For there to be equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. 
Such a monster is not encountered in private life". -Albert Camus

Thanks to Judge C.

It's good to read

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut can now be read by students in the Republic, Mo school thanks to the school board ruling making it available as independent reading.

Mark's Not in Arkansas Anymore

Our own Mark Howell helped fight off the recent Taliban attack.  He's shown here about the 2:30 point firing from a standing position (somewhat forward and toward the left), with his left side toward the camera and standing atop a blue container. Please be careful buddy.
See also Congratulations Mark Howell.

Not All Campbells Are Evil.

I’m as mad about Glencoe as the next guy and have periodically blasted the Campbells for their breach of hospitality.  In fairness, though the leader was a Campbell, only about 4 of the other soldiers who took part were Campbells.  Let's not paint them all as evil.  There have been good ones including Dr. Jenny, Craig, the 13th Duke Argyle, Kathryn Campbell Grover, and Rob Roy MacGregor's mother. The clan also had some great music.

A Hangman Without Conscience.

"Perry's willingness to execute a man who was almost certainly innocent comes uncomfortably close to regressing to the days of human sacrifice. Sacrificing an innocent man won't prevent other houses from accidentally catching fire and killing the innocent people inside, but it's clear that Perry will not hesitate to pander to voters who cling to hopes that periodic blood-letting will somehow save us all."

Rick Perry executes justice, Texas-style-Perry may have lost no sleep over Texas's 234 executions during his tenure, but the death penalty panders to crude bloodlust.  By Amanda Marcotte in The Guardian