I continue to be amazed at the entreprenurial spirit of some young folks. This NY Times article reports on a new business that brokers attractive young women to accompany young men to social gatherings for the purpose of making the young men appear more attractive to other women at the gathering. Amazing.
Hat tip to Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen for the link to the article, and Tyler’s point that women judging a man by the quality of his girlfriend or wife is known in economic circles as a “sufficient statistic.”

What is the world coming to if a Texan cannot even look for a vacation spot in Malibu these days without the risk of bumping into this particular agent? Hat tip to Craig Depken for the link.

Former Republican senator from Wyoming Alan Simpson attended Tuesday’s debate between Vice-Presidential candidates Dick Cheney and John Edwards. During an interview after the refreshingly contentious debate, Mr. Simpson waxed nostalgic about the bygone days in which such contentiousness was the norm in such political exchanges, such as the time that Republican Sen. Wayne Morse of Oregon in 1957 called his “distinguished colleague” Republican Sen. Homer Capehart of Indiana “a tub of rancid ignorance.”

Talk about a tough night!

On Saturday, one of my assignments for the day is to accompany one of my daughters to the appointment with a photographer in which her high school senior pictures will be taken.
I am not going to show her these high school senior pictures before we go.

From the always insightful Stu’s Views:

On the heels of the United States Olympic Basketball team’s loss to Puerto Rico in the first round of the Olympic Basketball Tournament, Sportspickle.com reports the following:
“U.S. Grants Puerto Rico Statehood in Hopes of Winning Basketball Gold”
Hat tip to Will Veber for the link.

Check out the Stairway Suite, in which University of New South Wales Orchestra plays Led Zeppelin’s “classic” rock tune “Stairway to Heaven” as if it had been composed by composers Franz Schubert, Gustav Holst, Glen Miller, Gustav Mahler, Georges Bizet, and Ludwig von Beethoven. My favorites: Ludwig Von, with Glen Miller coming in a close second.
Hat tip to Newmark’s Door for the link to this hilarious site.