dress this

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: That Bush Oval Office Jacket Thing? Not So Much:

Remember all that mock outrage from Bush chief of staff Andrew Card about how Bush refused to enter the oval office without a jacket on, just like Reagan, because they just had so much gosh darn respect for the place? Yeah, not so much. Here's what Card said:

I found that Ronald Reagan and both President Bushes treated the Oval Office with tremendous respect. They treated the Office of the Presidency with tremendous respect. And some of that respect was reflected in how they expected people to behave, how they expected them to dress when they walked into the symbol of freedom for the world, the Oval Office. And yes, I'm disappointed to see the casual, laissez faire, short sleeves, no shirt and tie, no jacket, kind of locker room experience that seems to be taking place in this White House and the Oval Office...

"There should be a dress code of respect," Card tells INSIDE EDITION. "I wish that he would wear a suit coat and tie."

And here's Bush in the oval office sans jacket just two days after he was inaugurated:



And here's Reagan in the oval office, not only without a jacket but without a tie as well, wearing a lovely red casual shirt and - gasp! - blue jeans:

MDRF special event days posted

and EVERY weekend is a special one.
1) Children's (traditional)
2) Magic (2nd year) w/ Senior (moment) Monday
3) Rapiers & Roses (new)
4) Irish (2nd year)
5) Pirate (traditional)
6) Oktoberfest (traditional)
7) Shakespeare (back!)
8) Scottish (moved)
9) Chivalry (2nd year) w/ Joust tournament (traditional)

on #8
good: kilts in much cooler weather
bad: if it rains, there'll be some very muddy cabers out there...

The King is NOT married to Catherine Parr yet (so we're not killing him off or nothin').

points to ponder from Dispatches

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Bishop Williamson: Cake or Death?:

Given the Church's long history of forcing people to recant their heresies, there is at least a bit of irony in the fact that they are now doing it to their own clergy. Put him on the rack, I say! Make him regret that he is not an Anglican, where he would be faced with the harrowing choice of cake or death.

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Is More Debt Really the Solution?:

I am baffled by how many mortgages have been allowed to go into foreclosure rather than being renegotiated at a lower rate and perhaps a longer term. Why would a lender not prefer a healthy mortgage getting repaid at, say, 4% a year rather than one that would default at 8 or 9% a year? Why would a lender need to be forced to do this?