Boys Town revised

Don't worry, son, the Pope says I can use a condom

Priest arrested for hiring hit on teen who accused him of sexual molestation.

At the time, Fiala was administrator of Sacred Heart of Mary in Rocksprings, Texas, which is in Edwards County. The alleged abuse occurred in two counties — Edwards and Howard — and included the youth’s rape at gunpoint, the attorney said.

Fiala allegedly threatened to kill the youth if he told anyone — threats he repeated in daily text messages, Rhodes said, and Fiala also threatened to kill himself, telling the teen they would “go to heaven together.”

I’ll be the first to admit to a lack of knowledge of Catholic doctrine, but surely this priest has this part about who gets into Heaven wrong.

It’s Tuesday before Thanksgiving – do you know where your Congressman is?

 

Congressman Jim Himes relaxes after driving to Miami Beach

Jim Himes is silent on TSA body gropes. Is it possible that the TSA is laying off our representatives so as to keep them in the dark about what’s happening to their constituents? That’s why I emailed the fellow last week, but perhaps his Internet’s down.

 

Another Cheshire-like delay by cops

NYC cops wait outside for an hour while berserk son slaughters mother with samurai sword. I wonder how many of these fatal delays are due to poor training. When deer hunting, you learn to fire when you see a deer – hesitating is the hallmark of a novice hunter and until you overcome that you will lose your quarry (as I did, for several years). Losing a deer is no tragedy, especially for the deer. Hanging around outside while murder and torture is going on is obviously a different matter.

I’ve always kind of suspected this

The Big Bang was neither first, nor the last. On and on it goes.

Will airlines go the way of Greyhound?

The last time I took a bus I was a twenty-year-old hitch-hiker, when a Virginia state trooper escorted me from the Interstate to the nearest Greyhound terminal. After checking my wallet, he asked the clerk how far my lonely $20 bill would take me, “one way”, from his jurisdiction. Turned out to be Nashville, Tennessee, and off I went. landing flat broke in that fair city – whoopee.

Now it seems that travelers view airport security to be akin to the unpleasantness of bus travel. Free from the strong-armed encouragement of a state trooper, I’ve never taken a bus again, just as I won’t fly these days when I can drive. I suppose trans-continental carriers can count on continued passenger traffic, but if people start driving 600 miles instead of flying, revenue is going to plummet, don’t you think?

Leave the driving to us? No thanks.

SAC Capital gets subpoenaed

The noose tightens. No one I know who has worked for Steve Cohen has kind words for the man himself, but they also don’t claim he ever acted  unethically. It seems to me, without any knowledge of the Fed’s case, that Cohen has become an obsession with them and they are using some of the many, many people he has abused over the years to get to him. Again – I know nothing about the current investigation, but judging from the past year’s enforcement action, it seems to me to be primarily focused on ensnaring Mr. Cohen. Perhaps he deserves it; perhaps he’s just the biggest whale in the sea.

Back to real estate in thirty minutes, I promise, but here’s one parting shot at ethanol

Is this the end of the idiocy?

Maybe it’s the new mood in Congress.  Maybe the stars are aligned.  Whatever the cause, opposition to ethanol subsidies is cropping up in some unusual places — and just in time, as ethanol tax credits are set to expire in a few weeks.

Back in 2000, then-Vice President Al Gore touted ethanol subsidies as good for farmers and the environment.  This was no surprise, as the Clinton-Gore Administration worked to expand ethanol mandates under the Clean Air Act.  However much ethanol programs helped corn farmers, they were never much good for the environment, something Gore now admits.  Reuters reports:

“It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol,” said Gore, speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank.

“First generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small.

“It’s hard once such a programme is put in place to deal with the lobbies that keep it going.”

….

As Jonathan Zasloff notes, the ethanol issue also presents Republicans with an opportunity to show how less government intervention can be better for the environment.

Ethanol is a lose-lose proposition any way you slice it: it costs a big chunk of money, it’s horrible for the environment, and it does nothing but enrich special interests.  It’s particularly bad on the climate, because the amount of emissions requiring to produce a liter of ethanol is actually more than just using gasoline.  Kudos to Senators Coburn and DeMint for pushing this.

If Republicans fail to take action on ethanol, it will demonstrate the shallowness of their commitment to limiting government largesse and give credence to arguments that Republicans are only for less government when it’s good for special interests.

You should know that Obama and his EPA are pressing for an increase in ethanol content from 10% to 15%, which will ruin car engines manufactured before 1990 and all current lawnmowers, boat motors, chain saws and other small engines. Obummer and his “science-based” EPA are gearing up for the 2012 Iowa primary.

Where do Congressmen and staff go when they’re fired?

1,000 rats up for adoption.

Geeze, I guess I’ll have to stop doing this

Google street view captures naked man climbing into his car trunk. I’m guessing he was embarking on a road trip and was just trying to replicate what he was missing at his local airport.

Al Gore admits: I was just pandering to Iowa corn growers when I advocated ethanol

Now he tells us.

“One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president.”