Amputated Arm Attached Again After Alligator Attack

(Alliteration is Awesome.)

This story is amazing!

First, an 11 year old boy in Slidell, LA gets his arm torn off by an 11 foot long alligator. Then, a local deputy finds the gator, kills it and RETRIEVES THE ARM FROM IT'S STOMACH! I guess the boy's doctors would have thought it would be rude to discard the arm after what the deputy went through to get it back, so THEY REATTACHED IT! No word yet on whether or not he will regain use of the arm but everyone involved gets A's for effort.

Ready to Duck Hunt Yet?

Too bad. The season doesn't open for weeks.

You'll just have to try your hand at the online version until then.

Slate Ridicules Intelligent Design

Darwin's theory of evolution really doesn't bother me the way it seems to bother fundamentalist Christians. In fact it seems quite logical. It doesn't seem to bother the Catholic Church all that much either. What IS irritating is when some pompous antitheist tries to hijack the theory of evolution and use it as some sort of proof that God does not exist.

Christopher Hitchens tag teams with Richard Dawkins to come up with this gem in yesterday's edition of Slate.

"Vestigial eyes, for example, are clear evidence that these cave salamanders must have had ancestors who were different from them—had eyes, in this case. That is evolution. Why on earth would God create a salamander with vestiges of eyes? If he wanted to create blind salamanders, why not just create blind salamanders? Why give them dummy eyes that don't work and that look as though they were inherited from sighted ancestors?"

Well there you go. God's idea of what a blind salamander should look like does not agree with Richard Dawkins' idea of what a blind salamander should look like. Therefor, God does not exist.

Brilliant!

...or maybe God gave blind, cave dwelling salamanders vestigial eyes for the same unknown reason He gave antitheistic liberals vestigial brains.

(Oooh lookey, I can be a pompous jerk too!)

Wall Street Journal on Our Current Situation

If you are wondering how the Great Depression relates to our current financial downturn, read this article in the Wall Street Journal. In fact, read it even if you're not wondering about it. This line from the article sums it up for me.

"Leverage," as the laying-on of debt is known in the trade, is the Hamburger Helper of finance. It makes a little capital go a long way, often much farther than it safely should.

Well said. I haven't become a survivalist yet, but I am becoming more convinced every day that we are headed for some tough times.

New York Times on Holly Beach, LA

A friend sent me this story on Holly Beach, LA published in the New York Times.

"On the beach, signs warned swimmers of high levels of bacteria.
Swimmers paid no attention."

It may not be entirely flattering but I'd say it's accurate (particularly the last paragraph).

Baby Got Book

Kudos to Thomas Peters over at AmP for finding this one. A hilarious adaptation of Sir Mixalot's 1992 hit.



"...and if you're Catholic, there's even more."

Remote Controlled Beer Cooler

Whatever you choose to do with yours, I doubt it would be funnier than this.

War by Wire

I just saw this story on CNN. From a purely technological standpoint, this is amazing.

Are You, "That Guy"

There's always one guy at work who everyone else thinks is an idiot. If you can't think of who this person is, it may be you.

Luckily, there's a test that will tell you definitively whether or not you are an annoying jerk.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did take the test. Although I did admit to making "Office Space" references, I still scored high enough to be considered "Cool".

Home Schooling

I thought this article was worth sharing. It's about home schooling and some of the possible reasons secular society frowns upon it.

My Faith Healer Can Beat Up Your Faith Healer

I just saw this story on Nightline. Our faith tells us that miracles are possible. However, this guy looks more than a little shady to me.

Carpentry, Plumbing and Electrical Work, All in One Day

I had an interesting 4th & 5th of July. My washing machine decided to start leaking water all over the wash room. This one problem then snowballed into a whole range of repairs which had to be made, much like unraveling a cable knit sweater.

The washing machine control valve was leaking causing the water to overflow in the wash tub. The shut off valve was also leaking which meant that I couldn't turn off the water at the connection behind the washer. I had to shut off the water to the whole house. Once the water was off, I noticed that the electrical outlet that both the washer and dryer were plugged into was not a GFCI outlet. Since it was within 1 foot of both a water line AND the gas line to the dryer, I now had to change the electrical outlet as well. During the process of replacing the leaking shut off valve, the copper pipes INSIDE the wall began leaking (more like gushing water from behind the paneling). Now I've got to shut off the water to the house again and chop a large gaping hole in the wall with a reciprocating saw to see what's going on behind the paneling. The hot water line is now bent and separated from the T connection at the valve (GRRRRRRR). It bent and broke because it was not mounted to a 2x4 inside the wall which meant I also had to install a 2x4 brace behind the pipes. After a quick trip to the hardware store (compression fittings, solder, propane torch) I returned more prepared to injure myself than ever before. I won't bore you with the repair details. Suffice it to say I fixed it all and covered up the hole in the wall with a slightly less ugly piece of plywood (it's all hidden behind the washer & dryer anyway).





I know this is dull reading but I spent so much time working on this that I'm posting it anyway.

The Illusion of Freedom

America! Land of the free. Home of the brave. You are even free to leave the country. According to a newly enacted law however, your assets will be confiscated at the border. I guess the federal government is afraid the rich people might leave before our new executive leadership has a chance to tax us all into prosperity. After all, you can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

At least we know where the federal government stands on the issue of controlling the border. Illegal aliens can come and go as they please BUT AMERICAN CITIZENS' MONEY STAYS HERE!