A house divided against itself …

Church of England now offers communion two ways: tainted and untainted by female clergy’s touch. No dog in this fight, but it doesn’t suggest good things for the church over the long run.

England has malingerers too

Sans tinfoil

British DJ allergic to wifi waves, can’t work. He’ll take his disability pay, come over here and settle next to N. Mianus School, then sue us.

How to learn from Al Gore and preach hypocricy

All as demonstrated by that NYT’s Green, Thomas Friedman. Here’s his house: Gosh.

The Thos. Friedman Estate

It’s obvious that Friedman didn’t buy this house on his New York Times salary but the source of funds: successful wife, nice inheritence, whatever, isn’t important. What strikes me is that the energy bill endorsed by Friedman and Gore will prevent anyone from living in an energy hog like this. Unless they’re friends of Friedman and Gore.

UPDATE: Mystery of the funds revealed: he married it.

Friedman’s wife, Ann, is a graduate of Stanford University and the London School of Economics.^[2] Her father, Matthew Bucksbaum, was the chairman of the board of General Growth Properties, a real estate development group.^[3] As of 2007, Forbes estimated the Bucksbaum family’s assets at $4.1 billion, including about 18.6 million square meters of mall space, but the firm’s value later plummeted.^[4][5] The family’s trust declined in value from $3.6 billion to $25 million.^[6] On April 16 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after failing to reach a deal with its creditors. ^[7] The GGP collapse marked the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history.^[8]

Ann and Thomas Friedman live in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The July 2006 issue of Washingtonian reported that they own “a palatial 11,400-square-foot (1,060 m²) house, currently valued at $9.3 million, on a 7½-acre parcel just blocks from I-495 and Bethesda Country Club.” Friedman is paid $75,000 per speaking engagement.^[6]

Remember, children, only the Little People save energy!

Nephew overcomes bad influence of his uncles, succeeds in Hollywood

My nephew David Prior, one of the coolest kids I know (well, he was in diapers when I first met him 38 years ago) is having his first movie made. Couldn’t happen to a nicer or more deserving guy. Way to go, David!

He’ll be renting

It says here that Daniel Mudd, former CEO of Fannie Mae, is trying to sell his mansion in D.C. and “buy or rent in Greenwich” in order to start his next gig at Fortress Group August 11th. You’ll have to click on tho kink for a picture of the Mudd House but it’s a pretty typical brick job like you’ll see by the dozen on Round Hill Road. Assuming it’s in god shape, has a pool (if houses have pools in D.C.) and prices down south are comparable to house prices in Greenwich, I’d say he’ll be waiting a long time to get his asked-for price of $9.5 million. Not to fear; I’m sure he can get Chris Dodd to arrange a mortgage forbearance plan for him.

Interesting, by the way, that a descendant of the infamous Dr. Mudd, the physician who treated John Wilkes Booth, should return to the scene of the crime. No wonder it’s reported that he can’t get into any of the better clubs.

UPDATE: Took the time to look at all the photos. A very nice house, on an acre, with a pool. I still don’t think it would fetch $9.5 million in Greenwich – not quickly, anyway – but with all that money in Washington in the hands of Congressmen, lobbyists and of course the corrupt relatives of African dictators, maybe it’ll move fast.

The nut cases aren’t all lefties

"And you don't have to pay income tax either!"

Uncle Ugly, my source for all right wing craziness (he monitors it for his younger brother, a communist embedded in the New York Times) has let me in on the existence of one Orly Taitz who claims to be a lawyer, a dentist, a mommy and a proselytizer against Barak Obama because he was born on Mars or somewhere. A story about the lady is here. She also has a website with a paypal contribution box conveniently located right below her picture. I haven’t donated yet but if she keeps folks like Uncle Ugly too preoccupied to put fluoride in our water and burn American flags in their backyards, I might just do it.

Auction your house?

A failed Bridgeport condominium project (there’s a redundant term) is going on the auction block August 30th. This might work in Bridgeport, but would an auction work in Greenwich? The only one I’m aware of, Mr. Martin Cheslock’s attempt to unload 309 Taconic Raod, was a bust last year. Of course, with 31 acres, 26,000 sq. feet of house an and annual upkeep cost, according to Mrs. Cheslock, of $200,000 per year, this rarefied property might not be the best example of an auction’s efficacy. My guess is that bidders at a Greenwich auction will attend with expectations of such low prices that the seller will refuse to go through with the deal – no one is going to sell the property and still owe money on his mortgage, for instance. But if anything interesting crops up in this regard, I’ll let you know.

No country for old men running

The Greenwich Housing Authority has banned clotheslines at Quarry Knoll, fearing, in the words of its director, “liability issues – someone running around in the backyard in the dark could literally get clotheslined”. Now, Quarry Knoll is restricted to residents 62 or older, and no children are allowed, so I wonder who exactly is at risk here, who the Housing Authority thinks might be running around backyards at night? Burglars? Peeping Toms? Greenwich police chasing suicidal perps? It all smacks of bureaucratic pettifoggery, to me.