Testing 1,2,3

Guess this still works. Preparing to make my return. For those of you who have checked in from time to time, your patience will be rewarded soon. Best regards, DC

Interesting business model

Recklessly run the country toward socialist oblivion causing conservatives to drink more, chain smoke while plotting our vast right wing conspiracy, and buy guns to bury in the backyard, all to fund the mounting federal debt. Problem is if we got that nervous.....well. Read about it here.

Do it right now

Visit my colleague at the Digital Hairshirt. Abandoning commentary for the summer months Stephanie Richer has taken to posting photos from her amazing collection. Go. Now. Be amazed. And tell her the Dirty Copper sent you.

One of his Brides

When referring to women religious we Catholics often refer to them as Brides of Christ. Our tradition teaches that these dedicated women forgo marriage and submit themselves totally to Jesus. This clip, which I found at the most excellent Orbis Catholicus Secondus, is of Miss Mary Anne Marks speaking at her Harvard commencement. What is amazing is that this brilliant, articulate woman delivers her speech in Latin in a manner that led me to imagine myself standing in ancient Rome listening to a cultured woman give an address. Even more amazing is that despite having the capability to successfully pursue any professional path, she is entering the convent. Even though you may only understand a word or two take a minute to enjoy her speech and appreciate how she chose God above everything else.

Maybe it wasn't John Wilkes Boothe after all

I am simply in love with the latest Geico commercials.  It is nice when advertisers don't assume that we are all stupid.


They said after Abe's death she was never the same again. Maybe it all started a few days earlier than anyone realized.

Looks like we will have to buy a few more sets of Rosetta Stone

TRENTON — Police in New Jersey must explain the state's implied consent law to motorists in a language that they understand, the state Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
In a 4-3 decision, the court overturned a conviction for refusing to take an alcohol breath test because the man, who spoke only Spanish, did not understand the consequences.
The court found that a Plainfield police officer failed to inform German Marquez, who is from El Salvador, in Spanish that he would automatically lose his driver's license for seven months if he refused the test.

Funny, they had no problem reading the phone book to find a lawyer to represent them.  You can read the rest of the story about another fine job by the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of New Jersey here.

And I thought that it was idiots that carried the day

The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.  Go figure.  The rest here.

Bigotry and cowardice at the University of Illinois

Anyone who thinks that the Obama administration's attempts at changing the social fabric of this nation is an exercise in tolerance needs to think again.  


URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church's teaching that homosexual sex is immoral.  The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, has taught at the university for nine years. He says his firing violates his academic freedom.  


So much for the first amendment.  Now for the interesting twist.


The student had a friend register the complaint and has remained anonymous.  Very simple, just denounce your enemy to the secret police.  Any of this sound a bit familiar?  The rest here.

It's OK.....we left the window cracked

In order to satisfy my family's insatiable need for bulk paper goods I was off for another trip to the local wholesale store the other day when I spied the scene portrayed here.  Initially I was kind of annoyed that they parked Pops out in the parking lot while they went about their business.  Then I realized that my Dad would have opted for the wait in the car approach and in his endless pursuit of thrift would have insisted that we shut off the vehicle to "save gas" while he baked in a lawn chair on the hot asphalt.

Clear the deck for action

As I baked in the ninety degree sun last week while staining the deck I quietly cursed myself for my poor planning and inability to remember the consequences of not completing chores in a more timely manner.  Not the most plesant of experiences.  Now that the thermometer is supposed to peak at around 102 today I take some solace in the fact that some other poor dumb bastard will be suffering just a bit more than I was last week.  Then again, he won't be spending the next two days of vacation writing his research paper. 

By the way.  Cabot stain.....not too shabby.

Chair Sleep

For any of you out there that work a second job or who have worked the night shift you know the value of a quick nap. While my wife would swear that I could sleep on a picket fence my frequent location for a convenient nap is any chair in proximity to a television. The following excerpt was sent to me by my large and gentle Irish friend who sharing in my frustration of being awakened to go to bed has stumbled upon some answers to this dilemma.

Why is it that women universally hate to see a man sleep in a chair?

I first noticed this phenomenon on summer vacation with my grandparents. Gramp worked third shift in a bearing factory so he was coming home just about the time we were waking up. After having breakfast together, (and checking his lunch box to see what might have been left over there - usually a choice piece of fruit or candy bar) he would go settle in his comfortable chair in the living room.

He had an hour or so before going to his second job trimming hedges and mowing greens at a nearby golf course. I learned quickly that he now just wanted to be left alone, so I did. Within minutes he would be sound asleep but this peaceful repose did not last for every time he dropped off, regular as clockwork, my grandmother would come in, wake him up, and tell him that if he was so tired, he should go to bed and get some "real sleep."

Every morning, he would answer that by the time he got undressed and cleaned up for bed, it would be time to get up again. He always added that he was already getting some "real sleep" until she woke him up. Some mornings she would just whisk off at that point, other times it would escalate into a row, but every morning she would come back and duplicate the process as soon as he dropped off again.

The rest is here.

Late in life vocation

As I approach the end of my career in law enforcement I find myself pondering what career I might be suited for.  I think I found the answer.

What a pair

I know I read this, but I still cannot believe it. A guy apparently steals a Paramedic truck, drives it into someone else causing their death, and then sues the police for chasing him.  Talk about a big set of balls.

Newfoundland Monthly?

Sometimes you just have to relax and let it all hang out.

Just a well crafted joke

Silly, ironic, and just enough truth to make it believable.  Thanks to Crazy Gail for this chuckle.

Linda Brunette, 23, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws and while they went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries she waited in the car. Later after returning home, her husband noticed her sitting in her car in the driveway with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed,with both hands behind the back of her head. He became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she had been shot in the back of the head and had been holding her brains in for over an hour.

The husband called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered.

Linda is blonde, a Democrat and an Obama supporter, but that could all be a coincidence.

Will the sadness ever end?

Ran across this one buried on the bottom of the page at the Drudgereport. Sad, and a good reminder as you read the news account of the would be Times Square Bomber.  Interestingly, the story was carried on a British New site.  Another good job by the American Main Stream Media.

New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains. The rest here.

Another song in the soundtrack of my life

Basic Instinct?

I really like NASCAR.  I get really excited when Dale Earnhart Jr. wins and angry and frustrated when Jeff Gordon wins another race.  Despite my passion for this sport I have never had the urge to torch a liquor store.  Can someone explain this to me?

Just plain stupid

As the Obama Administration bungles the environmental catastophe in the Gulf the plot, as well as the water, thickens.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (who will undoubtedly be the first Asian President someday) took matters in to his own hands and ordered barges into the troubles waters to start cleaning up the oil.  What follows is the Obama Administrations answer to pressing issues....the US Coast Guard turned the barges away.

The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

No, I am not making this up.

Uniform Division Nuns

The many ways in which a woman can manifest her beauty are boundless.But the most amazing type of beauty is rarely related to appearance.  Not too many days ago I was dropping my daughter off at school (perhaps in college she will see what the inside of a school bus looks like) when I saw our young parochial vicar on the front steps of the church after morning Mass.  Since he is due for transfer in the next week and I knew I might not have the chance to say my goodbyes I crossed the street to do just that.  He was talking to three young nuns.  Yes nuns, habits and all.  Surely a rare sight around these parts.  Some of you will say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I was struck by the way these three young women presented themselves.  Young, vibrant, happy, and completely in love with their vocation.  I chatted with them a bit and found they are huge fans of Father Z, enjoyed a laugh as they explained they weren't LPNs (lapel pin Nuns), thanked them for their vocation and went on my way.  Kudos to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George and to all traditional Sisters who sport the habit and live an amazingly rich life.  No plainclothes under cover Sisters here.