Month: May 2005

Issue XXVII

We’ve passed the half year mark. Twenty-seven issues of the Weekly Features Post and still rambling.

This WFP benefits from the three-day weekend. We’re often rushed to put together the WFP, especially during the frenzied month of May, but this time we were able to write it on Memorial Day. It doesn’t mean it’s better than the other WFPs, just that Eric Scheske didn’t lose any more hair trying to get it on the site.

Eric and his family attended the Memorial Day parade. It’s a pitiful little display: one band, a handful of old soldiers, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, an old car. The crowd along the street is sparse.

Eric’s family attends every year. The little kids get a kick out of it, but we mostly attend the parade out of respect: for those who served and for those who organize it. It takes about 45 minutes out of our day. That’s not asking much.

Of course, the local newspaper said it would start at 10:00, but it didn’t really start until 10:30, so the whole thing took over an hour. Frustrating waste of time, that extra half hour, but we lived. . .

Site traffic is doing well, but it could always do better. Through last weekend, our daily visitor count during May averaged approximately 180, which is up from about 145 in April. That’s good, but anything you can do to spread the TDE word is appreciated.

If someone asks what TDE is about, you can lift the answer from the first question on our FAQs page. We added the first question Sunday evening. Eric was drinking Chardonnay on … Read the rest

That’s like twenty minutes worth of work at a casino!

Weary of poor grades and low graduation rates, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation families are being fined if their kids skip school or arrive long after the bell rings.

The tribal council is fining parents $100 a day the first time a child is significantly late or absent. That fine goes up to a maximum of $300 a day for repeat offenders.

Link. … Read the rest

Great rant against higher education at Lew Rockwell this morning. Link. Excerpt:

Here’s the most diabolical part of the deal: Taxpayers lavishly subsidize higher education even while students go into debt slavery for their own reprogramming! Maybe those eggheads aren’t as stupid as they act, as they have built a giant, lucrative make-work program for themselves.

As with any other aspect of life, government interference in the market exacerbates the problem. When students walk into the financial aid office and say they are dropping out because of the cost of college, the “financial aid officer” often sings a one-note tune.

“You can apply for student loans!”, is the reflexive solution offered to potential dropouts. The basic concept of running a leaner, more efficient (and more affordable) campus is completely foreign to these addicts to state funding.

Here’s some advice to students: NEVER ask anyone associated with a college financial aid office if taking a loan is a good idea. Find advisors with at least an ounce of objectivity if you are considering a debt obligation that could take decades to pay off.

. . . and some jacuzzis:

British telecoms operator BT Group Plc has wired up a church in Wales to allow the congregation to hook onto local high-speed Internet connections when they want a break from the sermon. . .

“The church has to move with the times and I wanted to make St John’s a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles,” Kimber said in a statement issued by BT. “I have no problem with people quietly sending an email or surfing the Internet in church, as long as they respect the church.”

Link.

Did someone say we’ve lost a sense of awe and reverence in our worship? … Read the rest

A 46-year-old man allegedly set his own home on fire in order to get two visitors to leave, police said.

Link.

Richard Weaver warned that Americans were losing the little arts like conversation and hospitality. Guess he was right. … Read the rest

Regular readers of this blog know we’re not friends of marijuana, but jokers like this make us re-think our position:

Michigan State Rep. Dudley Spade has announced that he’ll soon be introducing legislation to outlaw candy made with hemp or designed to taste like marijuana.

The candy is legal, since it contains none of marijuana’s active ingredient, THC. Pot suckers have become big sellers in specialty candy shops, particularly with middle and high school aged kids.

Link.

If kids are smoking pot for the taste of it, maybe we oughtta come up with pot-flavored, THC-free cigarettes and amend the laws to allow kids to smoke ’em. … Read the rest