Blogging For Cash?

Last year I came across some upstart, potty-mouthed trader blog which I highlighted in - What Happens Next?.

Apparently, the dude has taken his newfound fame and run with it. He's obviously *upgraded* his website:



And taken a page, quite literally, from Drudge!

So there's the stock market scuttlebutt on the left....and a linkfest of inanity, sophomoric humor, and crudity blanketing the rest.

This is precisely the sort of idea I brainstormed for myself, if I was ever going to try to make money from my blog and whatnot. After all, it's far easier to aggregate the work of others than to author.

This guy will probably do alright because what he's providing, a web *filter*, is what most harried and weary wage slaves demand. It's both daunting and inefficient to scour the bottomless pit of internet content on one's own. So why not outsource the tedium?

Though, I don't see any advertising on the site at the moment...

I don't know...maybe posting *hot chicks* and lewd language aren't so alluring to marketers???

[BTW, this is by no means the first attempt at out-Drudging Matt Drudge. I distinctly remember a homophobically-named site called *The Fudge Report* - which appears to have gone nowhere.]

Another Education Book

I just started this book - and let me just tell you, so far, it's really, really good.

Check it out on Amazon; order it for yourselves.

I'll be buried in it for the rest of this weekend so a full report is forthcoming.

Ackoff is a famous Wharton professor type. And Greenberg is the founder of that revolutionary unschool - Sudbury Valley.

UPDATE - I have withdrawn this book recommentation.

In A Burka-Less Society...

Temptation abounds!

See also - Marginalizing Swivel-Heads.

Grade 4 Math - Done!

We're still chugging here on the homeschooling front. Tonight Prince C-Nut finished the last of the Grade 4 Kumon Math books: Multiplication, Geometry, Decimals & Fractions, and Division.

Here's where the final book took us:



Click image to enlarge.

In Homeschooling Update - Grade 3 Division, I forecasted that we should be through Grade 6 math before Prince C-Nut was legally eligible for kindergarten (Sept 2010)...

But at this pace, we'll be done sixth grade mathematics by January. Perhaps it's time to slow down and branch out a bit, no?

I don't know how we are going to prevent this kid, or his sister, from giving me one heck of a *teaching ego*!

BTW, he keeps asking me *who is cap-is-nut?*. The nosy little dude keeps peering at my open browsers.

I haven't answered him, at all, on this one. As a rule I do not like to discuss my blog with live people. But I won't be able to hide it much longer from my literate and tech-savvy son.

Soon he won't just be a blog post subject; before you know it he'll be schooling Taylor on the folly of drug legalization and he'll be ribbing West Coast Tom over his love-life in the comment section!

Pig Flu Hysteria, Still Raging

Friday Night Funny

This week from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner:



"You can say now with confidence that the financial system is stable, the economy is stabilized....You can see the first signs of growth here and around the world."

Sure, Tim!

Growth in bankruptcies. Growth in government debt. Growth in *money supply*. Growth in unemployment. Growth in foreclosures. Growth in public anger!

These guys are all such pieces of worthless garbage.

Still Making Us Laugh

I found this scene pretty funny:



I've noticed that Larry David bases a LOT of his humor in restaurant scenes:

That time he thanked only the man of the treating couple - because *she didn't work*.

That time he *corrected* the black man's tip.

George Costanza pulling out his tip from the jar because his gesture wasn't witnessed.

And, this season, Larry trying to *coordinate* tips with Jason Alexander on a split check.

I had one other good example of Larry and *tipping* or *the check* but can't recall it right now. Obviously, Larry personally spends a lot of time eating out.

Larry David is one twisted loser - but he is darned funny at times. This, the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm has been good thus far.

Though, did y'all see how hideous the Seinfeld cast is now? Outside of Elaine anyway who looks exactly the same.

Book Rec - The Peasant Prince

It's a shame how many people routinely travel over this bridge on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway:



...that have no idea who this *Kosciuszko* guy is that it was named for.

It turns out that he was a truly remarkable man. Among many other things, he was the guy who fortified West Point in the Revolutionary War; it was his plans that traitor Benedict Arnold tried to sell to the British.

But far more importantly, Kosciuszko was a powerful crusader for global liberty. He not only deprecated feudalism and despotism, he risked his life to fight against them.

Wikipedia does an okay job summarizing his achievements....but even better:

I just got around to reading his story in this great book - The Peasant Prince - that my brother gave me for Christmas last year.



Publishers Weekly writes:

Prize-winning journalist Storozynski pulls military strategist and engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746–1817) back from the brink of obscurity by including almost every documented detail to create the first comprehensive look at a man who once famously symbolized rebellion. His were the plans sold to the British by Benedict Arnold. And Kosciuszko's years of devotion to the American cause framed his efforts to transform Poland into a self-governing republic freed from the oversight of Russia's interests. He antagonized Catherine the Great and, later, Napoleon. Kosciuszko rallied the first Jewish military force since biblical times to fight for Polish independence, and consistently supported equality and education for peasants, Jews, Muslim Tatars and American slaves—which earned him the devotion of the masses and lectures by the upper classes. Readers of military and American history should take note: the minute details will enthrall devotees. Casual readers will benefit from Storozynski's expert crafting of a readable and fact-filled story that pulls readers into the immediacy of the revolutionary era's partisan and financial troubles.

I was going to write a long synopsis of this biography but decided against it. Read the book for yourselves. Amazon.com's readers have rated it five stars - what else do you need to know?

One trivial tidbit:

Kosciuscko never collected the money Congress paid him for his heroic efforts in the Revolutionary War. He left the money to, upon his death, be used to buy freedom and education for his friend Thomas Jefferson's slaves.

But when he did die, TJ wussed out; he claimed due to his *old age* that he wasn't able to execute the will. Sure, Tom. Tell me again why Jefferson should be revered so much?

And a couple of excerpts:

Kosciuszko turned down something he had always lacked - a comfortable living with a hefty salary as a lieutenant general, and status as a member of the aristocracy. He joked that he would rather work as a gardener of the sprawling Czartoryski Palace. He also declined a gift from a rich widow who wanted to present him with a plantation where the serfs raked in substantial farm revenues. His refusal to accept the offers only enhanced his reputation.

Even when Kosciouszko was in charge of West Point, or leading the entire Polish Army against Catherine the Great, he wore *peasant* rags and subsisted on soldier gruel. His story, if nothing else, is one of profound humility. Of course many throughout the ages have championed the poor but I doubt a scarce few walked the walk on par with Kosciouszko.

Domestic life with the Zeltners allowed Kosciuszko to remain out of the spotlight. Everyone knew that he refused to sit for paintings, but the officers of the Polish legions wanted a likeness of the Pole for posterity's sake. Zeltner came up with a sneaky plan.

The general loved music so Zeltner bought a theater box so he could attend concerts anonymously. But Kosciouszko didn't know that his Swiss friend also purchased the adjoining box, so that a sculptor named Eggenschwiler could sit next to him to surreptitiously observe and sketch the occupant in the neighboring booth.

The sculptor was commissioned to create a statue of Kosciouszko and chiseled three marble busts of the commander in a toga. Kosciouszko was a connoisseur of the arts, and when learning that a promising sculptor was working nearby, he asked Zeltner to take him to the studio. They walked in as Eggenschwiler was chipping away, and the general was shocked when he recognized his own likeness in stone. He exploded in anger and whacked two of the busts with his cane, sending the sculptures to the floor where they shattered. When he lifted his walking stick in the air and was about to bring it down on the third, the artist shielded his work and pleaded that it be spared.

See also my lengthy review of A Question of Honor.

Dogs And Morons - Always In Proximity

As Taylor would say, we truly do live in an absurdist society.

Here's local article of *news* from Boston's South Shore:

The town selectmen have ordered Gabriella to be euthanized after it bit two customers, a decision that stunned the owners and broke the hearts of the people who made the decision. Now, the owners are trying to find a no-kill shelter that would take the dog.

In the days since the decision, police have disclosed several other complaints against the shop owners, Bob and Megan Ulman, about their dogs. Twice, the Ullmans have faced misdemeanor charges in Hingham District court because of the dogs, and area merchants and selectmen say the owners have often failed to keep a close eye on the two English Mastiffs that weigh in at about 140 pounds apiece.

"They never should have had her in the shop in the first place," said Catherine McLaughlin, an 18-year-old server at Brewed Awakenings. "They set they’re[sic] dog up to get killed. They put her in that position, but she shouldn’t die for their mistake," she said.

Selectmen Chairman Laura Burns said the Ullmans’ actions after the first biting gave officials little choice.

"They had already defied the authority of the police on multiple occasions, multiple times--we couldn’t trust them to follow what we wanted them to do," Burns said in an interview. "They put us in an impossible position and I did what was best for public safety and residents even though I’m saddened by it," she said.

One of the victims was Stacey Wakefield, wife of Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, who was bitten in June 2008. She described her bite as a 1 1/2 inch wound on her thigh that broke the flesh. A year later, the dog bit a second customer, Krista Brewer, who told the selectmen that Gabriella’s teeth caused a puncture wound in her stomach.

Police Chief Taylor Mills showed close-up photographs of her bruised and swollen abdomen taken after the attack.

Mills said the dog was seen at the South Street gallery after the first bite, and the Ullmans were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The charges were reduced to a civil infraction and the Ullmans paid a $25 fine and agreed to keep the dogs out of the shop.

The Ullmans face another criminal charge in Hingham District Court for disorderly conduct because of the second bite a year later. After the second bite, Lt. Mike Perraino said, complaints about the dogs increased.

Police log entries show six calls about the dogs in a two-month period this summer. Some calls were complaints the dogs were running loose in the square. Another reported the dogs in the store. Another reported dogs barking, and yet another reported large dog out front barking.

"After the second bite people seemed to not want the dogs there anymore," Perraino said. "We got more calls and complaints."

Merchants and others in town said while some customers loved the dogs and came to the gallery to visit them, as the Ullmans have said, others feared the Mastiffs. What irked some was the dogs often lounged on the sidewalk in front of the gallery unleashed—a violation of the town’s leash law.

Since the selectmen's decision, the Ullmans have said they will appeal the decision and hope to find a compromise. One idea they suggested to selectmen was to find a no-kill shelter that would take the dog, said Town Administrator Kevin Paicos. He said selectmen might be in favor of that, but a judge would have to make the decision.

The Ullmans have said the bites are not drastic enough to take the life of Gabriella. "It was our, fault not the dogs. We didn’t lock the door, but there was a sign in the window that said closed and they went in anyway," Bob Ullman said. "I still maintain there was a 50-50 responsibility," he said after the hearing.

Around Hingham, residents interviewed this week were more likely to blame the dog owners, not the dogs.

Hingham resident Russell Reeves said he has been in the shop and has not seen the dogs be aggressive.

He said the decision to euthanize is too harsh, especially when all parties admit it’s not the dog’s fault, but the owners.

"You can’t euthanize the owners," Reeves said. "There has to be another option. There has to be someone up in Maine or somewhere to take them.

Selectmen John Riley said Gabriella may be sweet and lovable most of the time, she has shown a pattern that she can be dangerous when left unattended.

Riley said once he went into the shop to buy a postcard as a gift for his daughter. He said both dogs growled low as he walked through the store. He said he paid for the postcard and has not been to the shop since.

"We could go around in circles with this, but there is a pattern of biting and a pattern by the owners of not complying with the town’s demands," Riley said. "Our job is to protect the public."

Before anyone declare the MOST absurd aspect, consider the full slate of nominees:

The town selectmen have ordered Gabriella to be euthanized after it bit two customers, a decision that....broke the hearts of the people who made the decision. [BROKE their what?]

"They set they’re[sic] dog..." [Boston Globe editorial illiteracy!]

...paid a $25 fine... [Ooooh that'll teach'em!]

One of the victims was Stacey Wakefield, wife of Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield... [The dog was anti-Red Sox? In my book, that's a mitigating circumstance!]

Or, how about the fact that one of the death-sentencing selectmen was *growled* at by the dog? Shouldn't he have rightfully excused himself from the proceedings on account of prejudicial experience?

But the winner has to be the owners themselves. How Moronic are they to put huge, unleashed, nasty animals outfront to welcome their customers?

I've walked by this store a few times and do remember the dogs. I always keep my kids far away from all non-poodle dogs. And stories like the above only justify my precaution.

I've written a bunch on dog people - click here.

Honest-To-God Moron Parents

I can't believe the juice boxes I walked by tonight at the supermarket:



Organic and honest?

If there's any justice in this world, the kids whose parents pack Honest Kids Juice Pouches in their lunches....they will get brutally picked on by their dishonorable classmates.

My wife informs me that she has seen these juice boxes at a couple of our friends' houses. What could possibly compel a person to buy these?

Do they think that by drinking them, it'll magically make their kids honest or decent? Or *save the planet*?

In that case, we can safely presume they have the brats watching Baby Einstein videos as well. See - Money Back For Moron Kids.

I regret that in my haste, I forgot to assess the price differential. Will look next time.

Only Good For The Goose

While Big Government has been out there, doing its best to scare the nation about a *swine flu pandemic*, there was a glaring lack of example-setting in the Oval Office.

I read it just last week that President B. Hussein O. had yet to get his daughters vaccinated against the pig flu.

But today I came across this:



So the President answered his critics - for the time being anyway.

Two questions remain:

*Why won't Obama get the shot?*

And,

*When will he and the rest of Congress send their children to DC government schools?*

Web Homeschooling

My kids, the 4.93 year old Prince C-Nut in particular, are all over my computer these days.

Here's just what we were playing with this evening:



As one might deduce, you drag the geometric figures down, rotate them, and try to squeeze them into the polygon at the bottom. Since this stuff is online and free....those popular tangible Tangrams needn't be bought.

Obviously, exercises such as these serve as good introductory geometry.



My son LOVES Egypt for some reason. We googled *egypt quiz for kids* and easily found exactly that.



And since the Prince has mastered the States....we're onto state capitals. He's picking them up fast and will probably know them all by the weekend. Do y'all know/remember the capital of Alabama?

Two points about the vast store of free educational resources online:

1) There's so much out there, I can't imagine how MUCH MORE will be there 3, 5, 10 years hence!

2) Some of the stuff is so good....it's going to make much of today's professional *educational world* obsolete - if it hasn't already.

For one final example, I just googled *teach me to read* and found a great website - Starfall.com. It starts with letters, and then phonics, and then full-out reading:



One clicks on a word....and the computer pronounces it!

Who needs an adult to teach them now?!?!?!

We could probably take a toddler, lock him in a cell with a computer limited to the best educational sites, slide mush under the door every morning for 15 years,....

AND he'd probably walk out a nuclear physicist!

[More ideally, he'd develop into a high order polymath.]

Although he might be somewhat anti-social, and ornery.

IMO, kids should be on the computer at age 2.5, or 3.5 years at the latest.

Gladwell On Dain Bramage

My boy, Malcolm Gladwell, just penned a piece for the New Yorker:

Offensive Play - How different are dogfighting and football?:

One evening in August, Kyle Turley was at a bar in Nashville with his wife and some friends. It was one of the countless little places in the city that play live music. He’d ordered a beer, but was just sipping it, because he was driving home. He had eaten an hour and a half earlier. Suddenly, he felt a sensation of heat. He was light-headed, and began to sweat. He had been having episodes like that with increasing frequency during the past year—headaches, nausea. One month, he had vertigo every day, bouts in which he felt as if he were stuck to a wall. But this was worse. He asked his wife if he could sit on her stool for a moment. The warmup band was still playing, and he remembers saying, "I’m just going to take a nap right here until the next band comes on." Then he was lying on the floor, and someone was standing over him. "The guy was freaking out," Turley recalled. "He was saying, ‘Damn, man, I couldn’t find a pulse,’ and my wife said, ‘No, no. You were breathing.’ I’m, like, ‘What? What?’"

They picked him up. "We went out in the parking lot, and I just lost it," Turley went on. "I started puking everywhere. I couldn’t stop. I got in the car, still puking. My wife, she was really scared, because I had never passed out like that before, and I started becoming really paranoid. I went into a panic. We get to the emergency room. I started to lose control. My limbs were shaking, and I couldn’t speak. I was conscious, but I couldn’t speak the words I wanted to say."
.
.
.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'd wager it's worthwhile.

Everyone with a clue knows those ex-NFLers' bodies are destroyed.

I've highlighted Gladwell in prior posts:

Book Rec - The Tipping Point

Outliers - A Must Read

Picture Notes For The Musically Illiterate

I thought this was pretty cool - especially since, in the course of getting my kids started down this path, I'm trying to educate myself on the basics:

Money Back For Moron Kids

Disney Offers Baby Einstein Refunds

A chastened Disney is offering refunds to consumers who own a copy of the company’s "Baby Einstein" video, bowing to pressure from a parents group that says the video is more likely to turn children into Baby Alfred E. Neumans.

Disney’s move allows anyone who bought a Baby Einstein video between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009 to get their money back. Alternatively, consumers can trade their DVD in for a Baby Einstein book or CD, or redeem it for a 25 percent discount on future Baby Einstein purchases. The offer is good through March 4, 2010.

For years the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), a group fighting to "reclaim childhood from corporate marketers," has said the videos don’t live up to Disney’s promises.

In 2006, the CCFC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that Disney’s claims about the videos’ supposed educational benefits amounted to false and deceptive advertising. The complaint pointed out that the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends no TV at all for children under two, regardless of content. The CCFC thus reasoned that the videos may in fact damage, rather than promote, children’s intellectual development.

Susan Linn, a CCFC director and psychologist, said Disney’s latest move is an "acknowledgment that baby videos are not educational." The group’s website calls the turn of events "another CCFC victory" and reemphasized the lack of "credible evidence that any screen media is educational for children under two."

This is great news!

Now nobody can say that my 4.94 year old son's math precocity (will finish 4th Grade level this week) came from those videos he watched as an infant.

It's a shame though that we can't get back all that tuition money from our alma maters.

What about their false and misleading claims to *educating* us?

I'll Take My Chances With The Flu

Morons Still Investing In Shacks

Ever see a house hit the market and declare that it will never EVER sell, at any price?

Well I do so all of the time. But you know what, they've all eventually sold in this continually bailed-out *market*.

The above shack, not far from where I live, was put up for sale this past year.

It's a whopping 864 square feet; and it sold for $240,000 after probably starting somewhere in the 300s

But get this, as you can see above, it's basically ON A ROAD. And not just any road, it's right at an traffic lit intersection of a MAJOR ROAD as you can see by the painted turning lane. Coming into the intersection, from one side, the speed limit I believe is 45 or 50 mph.

Now there is a real shortage of cheap rentals in these parts, but still.

Maureen Dowd - More Perverted Than Thou

So the article is about the sapphic daughter, Mary Cheney, of the former Vice President - and the content is otherwise quite beside the point.

The perversion comes from the title and its uncouth reference to the aforementioned.

Did you know what a daisy chain was?

I certainly didn't - and I've had HBO for a dozen years now. Furthermore, I've been known to, in the dutiful course of my blog research, once in while swim in the shallow end of the World Wide Web. Still, I'd most certainly have remembered this term had I come across it!

So there you go, just the fact that Ms. Maureen Dowd knows the term is incriminating enough.

And that she'd use the filthy allusion as the title of her column in the New York Times, and that they'd publish it....that's beyond the pale.

Movie Skip - Righteous Kill

Despite two jurassic stars headlining the action....this movie underwhelmed.

From the get-go, it was obvious there was going to be a twist at the end of the film. The twist wasn't obvious itself, but part of a good surprising ending has to be the surprise of the surprise, no?

And, not for anything, at a still young 69 years of age, Al Pacino has morphed into one hideous creature. To borrow from Seinfeld, his face looks like an old catcher's mitt! Too much sun?

Two out of four stars, at best.

All The Schools Need Is A Little More Money

So I hear that Chicago schools are awash in violence these days. Link:

Owens' son Marques transferred to Calumet Charter School this year to escape violence at a neighborhood school, but he was badly beaten Tuesday. His nose was broken after one kid sucker punched him and more piled on.

10 Calumet students were arrested and charged with aggravated battery.

Traci Wallace said she transferred her kids to Calumet Charter School because she wanted something better.

Recent numbers show about one out of every five Chicago students change schools during a given year. Some of them because the family moved, others because they were granted what CPS calls a "Safety Transfer."

One in five transfer, every single year?

"You have to weigh that decision very carefully," said Chicago Public Schools spokesperson, Monique Bond. "You really want to make sure you don't disrupt a student's education process."

Ms. Bond actually said *education[sic] process* with a straight face!

I know, I know, I know. It's not funny.

Abilify - For Depressed Psychotics

I was blown away by the litany of disclaimers I heard on a commercial last night for Abilify:



Precisely 50% of that 81 second ad was CYA legal disclaimers!

From a Consumer Reports video:

It's not an anti-depressant, it's an anti-psychotic...

...spent more than $150 million advertising to the public in 2008. The investment paid off. Sales rose 33% to roughly $2.4 billion.

Doctors are the ones who expertly diagnose and prescribe for illness, right?

Why then is so much color TV advertising warranted? Is that where the doctors get their ongoing medical education?

If I were president dictator....I'd ban Big Pharma ads from television tomorrow. Just think, it would lower medical costs AND at the same time decimate those contemptible major networks. Ha! Banning Viagra and Cialis commercials alone would disengorge the revenues of the NFL and the PGA and their network carriers.

And this Abilify can cost up to $450 per month???!!!

That's over $5,000 per year. Remember that this is taken only IN CONJUNCTION with an anti-depressant - which explains why the whiners I've seen on web forums are saying they pay $600-$700 on pills each month.

This has to be one of the reasons my annual family health insurance premium is pushing $14,000.



BTW, this drug, Abilify, also has a ridiculous name; it sounds like some ebonic neologism one would hear in a rap video.

Sticking It In Our...

Local mom told me today:

That her son was sick last week. She thought he had strep throat. Took him in to the doctors who ruled that out. They wanted to give him a flu test, but not for the pig flu, for the regular flu.

So mom held her four year-old on her lap while they jammed a swab up his nose. Blood went everywhere and the kid started screaming - but that's neither here nor there.

Miffed, the mother asked her friend, a pediatric nurse herself, what happened. The nurse said obviously the swabber was incompetent - pushing it up too far. Also, they shouldn't be doing that test in the first place because the result is not actionable. She asserted that doctors are ordering up unnecessary regular flu tests simply because they can these days; because they reap $175 from the insurance companies for each swab!

Now, this story sounds a little fishy to me. There has to be some basis for performing a regular flu test - even if it's just so bought-and-paid-for government agents, aka *doctors*, can prescribe some ineffective, expensive drugs! But I'll let my pedantic doctor readers elaborate on that technical issue.

The central point is that in the fog of pandemic bubblemania, with Big Government writing checks left and right, the door hangs wide open for scamsters - just as it was trafficked with subprime lending, Wall Street bailout monies, welfare,....and now *green* energy.

The government steals from you....and then these clowns rob the government.

Don't let the smiles, office jokes, ties, and white lab coats distract you from the reality of this larceny.

Pig Flu Breakout!

So apparently, the pig flu has made an appearance at a local government middle school.

AND, I discovered that a woman in my area, that her young son was diagnosed late last night.

After much contemplation, I decided to breathlessly notify my wife's most hypochondriac friends!

Was that wrong?

The way I figure it, they'll be thanking me....while I get to secretly mock them.

Let's just call my shenanigans *positive sum fear-mongering*.

See also:

Pig Flu Quack-ccine

Regular Flu Shot - Fail!

On Extra-Curricular Work

In the past year or so, my kids have started some organized activities: soccer, karate, and ballet. These are new endeavors for them, and, since they are pretty young, just following directions can at times be daunting - never mind mastering the new drills and exercises.

What I've found is that if just once during the week I go through the stretches, dance moves, and kicks with them at home that it goes a long ways towards not only their progress, but it also towards their enjoyment. In short, one just can't show up once a week at a class and think they are ever going to achieve much - no matter the arena or how much it costs! Outsourcing has its limits; and to invoke a homeschooling shibboleth, all education is self-education.

Though a life-long DIYer myself, I also recently re-learned this lesson with my Bible study. Recall that last year I read the good book cover-to-cover. One benefit of doing so has been that now Sunday Mass has taken on new, enhanced meaning. For thirtysomething years phrases like *A letter from Paul to the Corinthians* flew through my one ear and out the other. But, after reading the Bible with application, now I have a clue who Paul is, where Corinth was, and why he was writing all those letters! And this is but one example of many I could offer.

I realized that by simply attending mass each week, that I had been guilty of outsourcing as well - and probably the worst kind imaginable! Sure, the Catholic church is partially guilty on this front as they don't really encourage much on the individual front, but I was a complete Moron for thinking that I could just show up once a week, put in no extra-curricular work and somehow turn into a spiritual blackbelt.

Eat Or Be Eaten

That's a six-foot perch that some crazy Irish dude caught in Uganda.

AND, as if braving the wilds of Africa wasn't Moronic enough, on landing the fish, a crocodile almost ate him! Read the story.

I just don't get why thrill-seeking has to be so life-threatening.

Only Visual Levity...

Because I know most of you lazy wage-slaves can't stand it when I force y'all to think!















Note the race of the baby! See the comments of - Second Career Roadkill!















Thanks to my MIL for this one!