We need more Elizabeth Warrens!** With an important update

Brilliant, unflappable, tough-as-nails and apolitical, Elizabeth Warren chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is charged with submitting monthly reports to Congress on the use of the Treasury Secretary�s authority under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the impact of the government�s asset purchases on financial markets, the effect of transactions� disclosure on market transparency, and the effectiveness of the program on mitigating foreclosures and maximizing taxpayer benefits.
(Click on the headline to go to the COP website.)





Read more �

Iroquois Lacrosse Players Lose Passport Dispute With the British - NYTimes.com

This is the kind of story that strains credulity and sadly illustrates what happens when insensitive bureaucrats get in the way of common sense and just doing what's right. (Click the headline to go there)

The fault lies on both sides of the Atlantic. The Brits are just being plain stupid, but the Americans? Hey, we RAPED the American Indian, shoved them onto 'reservations' that, face it, are nothing more than patches of wilderness nobody really wants, and then we do our best to forget they're even there.
We will never be able to clean the Indian blood from our hands, but in little, piddly situations like this, we have got to step up -- Geez, these guys invented lacrosse! Can you imagine a worldwide basketball tournament without a USA team?

His Holiness** -- plus an update (unfortunately)

Pope Benedict XVI has his own web site -- click on the title.

What exactly is 'holiness'? I couldn't define it, but I know it when I see it. My cousin, Father Leo Beger, OSB, was a holy man; so were Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. Holiness was palpable in their presence, and one could even feel it riding on television waves.

The new guy doesn't seem to have it, at least not yet. Maybe it's the German accent. It's really hard for someone of my generation to hear those gutterals and sibilants and not think of Panzer tanks and Stuka dive bombers... but I'm trying.

Maybe it's his persona. With J23 and JPdeuce, one got the feeling that they were dressed by a couple of priests, that they weren't quite comfortable in the trappings of Catholic power. Benedict, on the other hand, looked a little too perfect -- tailored, coifed, just a tad too worldly.

I could change my mind fast if he allowed women priests!
N.B. 7/15/10: We nailed this guy right away!  Originally published 4/21/08

And now THIS!  (Breaking news, like breaks your heart)

Fish or cut bait!

The next time you feel the urge to rage against the Democratic machine -- and God knows there's enough to rage against --just keep in mind that Jesus Christ is NOT standing in the wings ready to take over -- it's these guys!

Today in 1804 -- Alexander Hamilton succumbs to wound suffered in duel with Vice President Aaron Burr

What a life this guy had -- makes Clinton and JFK look like monks! Here are a few excerpts from the Free Dictionary's mini biography -- well worth reading in its entirety. (Click the headline)

 The next time you look at a ten-dollar bill, give it a wink!

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In spring 1779, Hamilton asked his friend John Laurens to find him a wife in South Carolina: 

"She must be young�handsome (I lay most stress upon a good shape) Sensible (a little learning will do) �well bred... chaste and tender (I am an enthusiast in my notions of fidelity and fondness); of some good nature�a great deal of generosity (she must neither love money nor scolding, for I dislike equally a termagant and an economist)�In politics, I am indifferent what side she may be of�I think I have arguments that will safely convert her to mine�As to religion a moderate stock will satisfy me�She must believe in God and hate a saint. But as to fortune, the larger stock of that the better."

Hamilton found his own bride on December 14, 1780 when he married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and thus joined one of the richest and most political families in the state of New York. The marriage took place at Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.

Hamilton grew extremely close to Eliza's sister, Angelica Church, who was married to John Barker Church, a Member of Parliament in Great Britain.^[28] Some historians argue that the two may have had an affair, although, due to extensive editing of much Hamilton-Church correspondence by Hamilton's later descendants, it is impossible to know for sure.^[29]

In 1791, Hamilton became sexually involved in an affair with Maria Reynolds that badly damaged his reputation. Reynolds' husband, James, blackmailed Hamilton for money, threatening to inform Hamilton's wife Elizabeth. When James Reynolds was arrested for counterfeiting, he contacted several prominent members of the Democratic-Republican Party, most notably James Monroe and Aaron Burr, touting that he could expose a top level official for corruption. When they visited Hamilton with their suspicions (expecting that James Reynolds could implicate Hamilton in an abuse of his position in Washington's Cabinet), Hamilton insisted he was innocent of any misconduct in public office and admitted to the affair with Maria Reynolds. When rumors began spreading, Hamilton published a confession of his affair, shocking his family and supporters by not merely confessing but also by narrating the affair in detail, thus injuring Hamilton's reputation for the rest of his life.
At first Hamilton accused Monroe of making his affair public, and challenged him to a duel. Aaron Burr stepped in and persuaded Hamilton that Monroe was innocent of the accusation. His well-known vitriolic temper led Hamilton to challenge several others to duels in his career.
Hamilton resigned as Secretary of the Treasury while this affair was still being investigated; he submitted his resignation on December 1, 1794, effective on January 31, 1795.^[63]

Free Buffett beach show draws crowd on oil coast

Is there anybody who doesn't like Jimmy Buffett? He makes more sense in this interview than 5 hours of CNN! Click on the headline to read the Washington Post article.

Bob Sheppard, Legendary Yankees Ballpark Announcer, Dies at 99

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Sun, July 11, 2010 -- 11:24 AM ET
-----

Bob Sheppard, Legendary Yankees Ballpark Announcer, Dies at 99

Bob Sheppard, whose elegant intonation as the public-address
announcer at Yankee Stadium for more than half a century
personified the image of Yankee grandeur, died Sunday at his
home in Baldwin, N.Y, according to The Associated Press. He
was 99.

From the last days of DiMaggio through the primes of Mantle,
Berra, Jackson and Jeter, Sheppard's precise, resonant, even
Olympian elocution -- he was sometimes called the Voice of
God -- greeted Yankee fans with the words "Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Yankee Stadium."

In an era of blaring stadium music, of public-address
announcers styling themselves as entertainers and
cheerleaders, Sheppard, a man with a passion for poetry and
Shakespeare, shunned hyperbole.