"You can go a long way with a smile. You can go even further with a smile and a gun." - Al Capone

How can you tell this house is in the South?

The World Cup referees blew two important calls yesterday. One denied a goal that had clearly gone in and the other allowed a goal when one of the offensive players was clearly offside. Both bad calls (separate games) were replayed on the jumbo tron for the stadium crowd to see.
FIFA's response is not to give in to the demand for instant replay, but to forbid replays in the stadium.

The Supreme Court today issued its final decisions of this session and they were all 5-4. That seems to be the breakdown of almost all their decisions lately. Is it because this is an ideologically divided court, or because if the issue at hand was so obvious that it would come down at 9-0, it never would have made it to the Supremes in the first place?

I don't understand how the first part of this trick works, never mind the end.
2 Forks, 1 Cup

Can you find your community here?
National Speed Trap Exchange
(Note that listing have a date at the bottom, and many are old.)

Senator Byrd died yesterday. That should save the U.S. a million dollars just this month.
RIP, King of Pork.

Local numbers:
Overnight Low: 81
Tomorrow's temp: 110
Current humidity: 7% (It's up a little)

Picked up the curriculum today. Now the BIG question: will I recover my costs?

I have lived a sheltered life. I grew up in a solid, stable home with tight standards of behavior enforced fairly and consistently. We knew our parents loved each other and loved us. We lived modestly but never lacked for necessities. We knew Mom & Dad expected our best - best behavior and best effort. And in a naivete that characterizes most young children I assumed others had the same values and standards as I.

I eventually figured out it doesn't work that way. Some kids had messed up homes, and some just got messed up on their own, despite good home backgrounds. However my childhood naivete, while diminished, still hangs on to some extent. So I'm surprised at how easily and smoothly some people lie. They do it to get what they want or to cover their backsides when they've screwed something up. And they lie with a straight face, with total earnestness. How do they do that?