The Quick-Hitting Eudemon
The lust to find life in space continues: For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for “life in the universe.” Another link, which is better than the first. This ongoing, incredibly-expensive, infatuation with Martians is a mania. When you look at its incredible level of failure and our continuing efforts, there’s no other way to describe it.
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I applaud these efforts, but I suspect the defense lawyers will scream “entrapment”: Officers with Suffolk County’s computer crimes unit created an online profile of a 14-year-old girl that included photographs of [Lauren Nelson, the reigning Miss America] as a teenager. . . Nelson, 20, posed as a young teen online and went into chat rooms, where she said men would begin sending her instant messages asking her how old she was and where she lived. . . Nelson then arranged to meet the men at a home in Long Island, where police and camera crews were waiting.”
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This is very interesting: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Tuesday that it will contract with local hospitals and other organizations to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics in the next two to three years. I’m not a Wal-Mart fan, but it does a great job of providing quality goods for a reduced price (and that’s what retail is all about). Health care expenses are out of control, and we’re told there’s nothing that can be done. If anyone can find a way to drive down those expenses, it’s Wal-Mart.
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Deranged, potential holy man, or loser? A German man has admitted living in the woods near Berlin for 28 years after his girlfriend threw him out of their flat. . . “I don’t want any contact with people, I get a bit of money collecting bottles people leave in the woods and that is all I need.”
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A controversial Central Florida senator wants to pass a law that would punish teens who show off their underwear. The article references “students,” so I’m guessing this law will apply to the public schools. Just one more thing to fight over (it’s endemic to the public school system).
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The Chinese continue to out-America Americans in certain areas. Here, they show an ability to out-do traditional American teenage angst about backward parents: The generation gap in China has become so dramatic that parents who fail to catch up with the rest of the society could be abandoned by their children. This was the case with a middle school student who disapproved of her mother’s outfits so much that she hired a “mom” to attend her school’s parents meeting.
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Rush next in Sharpton’s cross-hairs? Rush Limbaugh plays “Barack The Magic Negro.” The guy who posted the clip doesn’t understand why Rush is still on the air, in light of Imus’ dismissal. The answer is simple: CBS doesn’t employ Rush.
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April 25th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Well, as long as you’ve strayed into racial areas, I’m going to post this funny joke I received by email yesterday:
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A man settled into his airplane seat. A beautiful woman took the seat next to him. Eager to strike up conversation, he blurted out, “Business trip or vacation?”
She turned, smiled and said, “Business. The Annual Sexual Education Convention in Chicago.”
Eyes wide but struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, “What’s your business role at this convention?”
Lecturer,” she responded. “I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.”
Really,” he said. “What myths are those?”
“Well,” she explained. “One popular myth is that African American men are the most well-endowed, when in fact, it’s the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait.
“Another popular myth is that French men are the best lovers, when actually it is the men of Jewish descent. We have, however, found that the best potential lover in all categories is the Southern Redneck.”
Suddenly, the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed. “I’m sorry” she said. “I shouldn’t really be discussing this with you. I don’t even know your name.”
“Tonto,” the man said. “Tonto Goldstein. But my friends call me Bubba.”
April 25th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Re: entrapment. In Burlington, IA, the police have been running stings on a regular basis…at least they make the local news frequently with the arrests they have made. I wondered about entrapment, but that is never mentioned in the news accounts. I am not aware of any being thrown out.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I’m not a criminal lawyer, but it’s my understanding that entrapment occurs when the police induce a person to commit a crime he wouldn’t otherwise commit. My tongue-in-cheek comment in my post was basically saying, “Miss America is awfully good-looking, and she was probably very pretty as a teenager. The pictures probably heightened the perverts’s interest past their normal twisted levels.” But the sting website also identified the girl as 14. I should think that is enough to avoid a successful entrapment defense. Fourteen is 14. These perverts need to be locked away. (The article mentioned, incidentally, that many of the guys who called the sting line said “You’re too young” when Miss America identified herself as 14.)
April 30th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Rush’s song title is taken from an L.A. times article by an African American writer who called O’ Bama a “magic Negro.”
Incidentally, my dad- who teaches at a Catholic H.S. has a black student who is always making black jokes; this one was good (debinking “Black Jesus):
“If Jesus had been black he wouldn’t have fed all those people fish; it would have been chicken!”