Spent a pleasant hour and a half with the Badger today.
Got to play with his new toy, which works very well, indeed; and managed to hit paper with my old toys, too.
Nothing like the smell of cordite, even in the afternoon!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Blind Squirrel Meets Nut: Liturgy Makes a Difference
Terry Berres found this...
It's good liturgy that keeps people coming back.--Rev. Alan Jurkus, September 12, 2007
(It's up to you to determine the proper placement of "blind squirrel" and "nut" as applied to the above quote...)
Anyhoo,
It's a startling development not because declining Mass attendance is news. What's startling is liturgists discussing it...the decline apparently has reached the point where even parish liturgists had to consider the possibility that their jobs were connected in some way to parishioners in the pews
There's a parish which had a vibrant, faithful, "say the black, do the red" Mass on Sundays; it attracted a large crowd (400 or so every week) from all across the Archdiocese.
Recently, the maxim "say the black, do the red" has been abrogated by a new pastor. Attendance is now crashing, and the financial situation got nasty LONG before the nukes hit Wall Street.
Not only is it in the newspaper; it's also true!
It's good liturgy that keeps people coming back.--Rev. Alan Jurkus, September 12, 2007
(It's up to you to determine the proper placement of "blind squirrel" and "nut" as applied to the above quote...)
Anyhoo,
It's a startling development not because declining Mass attendance is news. What's startling is liturgists discussing it...the decline apparently has reached the point where even parish liturgists had to consider the possibility that their jobs were connected in some way to parishioners in the pews
There's a parish which had a vibrant, faithful, "say the black, do the red" Mass on Sundays; it attracted a large crowd (400 or so every week) from all across the Archdiocese.
Recently, the maxim "say the black, do the red" has been abrogated by a new pastor. Attendance is now crashing, and the financial situation got nasty LONG before the nukes hit Wall Street.
Not only is it in the newspaper; it's also true!
Timberlake Is Here from the State to Help You!
Uh huh.
BadgerChoice, a program under development at the state Department of Health Services, would connect small business owners and their employees with other small businesses to buy private health insurance as one large group in order to qualify for lower premiums.
The program would affect businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Whether businesses that size would be required to participate or whether individuals would be required to buy the health benefits has not yet been decided. However, Karen Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said it is her preference that the program be mandatory of small businesses with 50 or fewer workers.
Mandatory.
You WILL spend $1200/month/family or $500/month/single coverage for each of your employees if you do business in Wisconsin.
Und you vill Like It!! Seig!
BadgerChoice, a program under development at the state Department of Health Services, would connect small business owners and their employees with other small businesses to buy private health insurance as one large group in order to qualify for lower premiums.
The program would affect businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Whether businesses that size would be required to participate or whether individuals would be required to buy the health benefits has not yet been decided. However, Karen Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said it is her preference that the program be mandatory of small businesses with 50 or fewer workers.
Mandatory.
You WILL spend $1200/month/family or $500/month/single coverage for each of your employees if you do business in Wisconsin.
Und you vill Like It!! Seig!
Love Poem to You LeftoWackies
From a friend:
No Hard Feelings...
The election day is over,
The talking is done.
My party lost, your party won.
So let us be friends,
Let arguments pass.
I'll hug my elephant,
You kiss your ass
No Hard Feelings...
The election day is over,
The talking is done.
My party lost, your party won.
So let us be friends,
Let arguments pass.
I'll hug my elephant,
You kiss your ass
Please!! Hand Me the Phone Book!
This could be a very, very, very long 4 years.
Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.).The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law)…
HT: The Other McCain
Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.).The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law)…
HT: The Other McCain
Strangling the Big Three
Some points you have seen before--but worth re-iterating.
What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.
...Washington imposed a minimum wage higher than the average wage in war-devastated Germany and Japan. The Feds ordered that U.S. plants be made the healthiest and safest worksites in the world, creating OSHA to see to it. It enacted civil rights laws to ensure the labor force reflected our diversity. Environmental laws came next, to ensure U.S. factories became the most pollution-free on earth. It then clamped fuel efficiency standards on the entire U.S. car fleet. Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers’ wages in Social Security payroll taxes State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.
The United Auto Workers struck repeatedly to win the highest wages and most generous benefits on earth--vacations, holidays, work breaks, health care, pensions--for workers and their families, and retirees.
Now there is nothing wrong with making U.S. plants the cleanest and safest on earth or having U.S. autoworkers the highest-paid wage earners. That is the dream, what we all wanted for America. And under the 14th Amendment, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to obey the same U.S. laws and pay at the same tax rates.
Outside the United States, however, there was and is no equality of standards or taxes.
So what?
...when America was thrust into the Global Economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.
With the exceptions forced onto the foreign manufacturers by Ron Reagan, of course....but those were hardly enough due to the reality:
Japan, China and South Korea do not believe in free trade as we understand it. To us, they are our “trading partners.” To them, the relationship is not like that of Evans & Novak or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is not even like the Redskins and Cowboys. For the Cowboys only want to defeat the Redskins. They do not want to put their franchise out of business and end the competition—as the Japanese did to our TV industry by dumping Sonys here until they killed it.
While we think the Global Economy is about what is best for the consumer, they think about what is best for the nation.
It's called "mercantilism."
In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.
Things change:
We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.
And, by the way, Harnischfeger's corporate HQ is no longer in the USA. Bucyrus (Erie) is building plants offshore like there's no tomorrow to shift production capacity (partly for shipping reasons, granted). Maytag is closing its appliance factories around the US. Not just shifting production--but closing them.
Do you blame them?
What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.
...Washington imposed a minimum wage higher than the average wage in war-devastated Germany and Japan. The Feds ordered that U.S. plants be made the healthiest and safest worksites in the world, creating OSHA to see to it. It enacted civil rights laws to ensure the labor force reflected our diversity. Environmental laws came next, to ensure U.S. factories became the most pollution-free on earth. It then clamped fuel efficiency standards on the entire U.S. car fleet. Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers’ wages in Social Security payroll taxes State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.
The United Auto Workers struck repeatedly to win the highest wages and most generous benefits on earth--vacations, holidays, work breaks, health care, pensions--for workers and their families, and retirees.
Now there is nothing wrong with making U.S. plants the cleanest and safest on earth or having U.S. autoworkers the highest-paid wage earners. That is the dream, what we all wanted for America. And under the 14th Amendment, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to obey the same U.S. laws and pay at the same tax rates.
Outside the United States, however, there was and is no equality of standards or taxes.
So what?
...when America was thrust into the Global Economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.
With the exceptions forced onto the foreign manufacturers by Ron Reagan, of course....but those were hardly enough due to the reality:
Japan, China and South Korea do not believe in free trade as we understand it. To us, they are our “trading partners.” To them, the relationship is not like that of Evans & Novak or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is not even like the Redskins and Cowboys. For the Cowboys only want to defeat the Redskins. They do not want to put their franchise out of business and end the competition—as the Japanese did to our TV industry by dumping Sonys here until they killed it.
While we think the Global Economy is about what is best for the consumer, they think about what is best for the nation.
It's called "mercantilism."
In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.
Things change:
We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.
And, by the way, Harnischfeger's corporate HQ is no longer in the USA. Bucyrus (Erie) is building plants offshore like there's no tomorrow to shift production capacity (partly for shipping reasons, granted). Maytag is closing its appliance factories around the US. Not just shifting production--but closing them.
Do you blame them?
An Idea for Doyle!
Well, yah, because Jim Doylie (and his leggie pals) don't bother with such things as "reserves," or "prudence" when writing up their Dream Spending plans, the State is potentially a walking bankruptcy.
But there's hope!!
The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.
Fortunately, there's a lot left over for Doylie.
The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years
..so $500Bn or so would be pocket change!
But there's hope!!
The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.
Fortunately, there's a lot left over for Doylie.
The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years
..so $500Bn or so would be pocket change!
Cerberus' Offset to Chrysler Losses
This story continues to grow.
"I could sell a hundred ARs an hour, if I had them."
That was the word from the man behind the counter at my local gun shop yesterday afternoon when I stopped in. As if to put an exclaimation point on his claim, two men added their names to an ever-growing waiting list to purchase AR-15 carbines within minutes of my entering the store.
Two months ago, the first two racks of rifles to great you as you entered Fuquay Gun & Gold would be bristling with AR15 carbines, AK-pattern rifles, and a smattering of SKS carbines. Today, those same worn racks are almost bare except for misfits from the Island of Misfit Martial Toys—a pair of Saiga Ak-pattern shotguns, a .22 caliber AR-clone, and a nearly $900 VZ-58 with the ugliest stock I've ever seen
Although Cerberus is likely to lose its collective ass on Chrysler, they are doing just dandy with DPMS and Bushmaster--two domestic AR manufacturers...
Of course, that could change, too.
HT: Confederate Yankee
"I could sell a hundred ARs an hour, if I had them."
That was the word from the man behind the counter at my local gun shop yesterday afternoon when I stopped in. As if to put an exclaimation point on his claim, two men added their names to an ever-growing waiting list to purchase AR-15 carbines within minutes of my entering the store.
Two months ago, the first two racks of rifles to great you as you entered Fuquay Gun & Gold would be bristling with AR15 carbines, AK-pattern rifles, and a smattering of SKS carbines. Today, those same worn racks are almost bare except for misfits from the Island of Misfit Martial Toys—a pair of Saiga Ak-pattern shotguns, a .22 caliber AR-clone, and a nearly $900 VZ-58 with the ugliest stock I've ever seen
Although Cerberus is likely to lose its collective ass on Chrysler, they are doing just dandy with DPMS and Bushmaster--two domestic AR manufacturers...
Of course, that could change, too.
HT: Confederate Yankee
Holder's Lie on Guns
We already mentioned Eric Holder (soon to be US AG) and his virulent antipathy to guns.
Kopel adds a bit of info at Volokh:
He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"--a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."
As usual, the biggest lies are disguised as statistics...
Kopel adds a bit of info at Volokh:
He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"--a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."
As usual, the biggest lies are disguised as statistics...
High Tech Tax Methods? Or Just Spying-by-Gummint?
Coming soon to a road near you...
Two hundred Triangle drivers will be recruited this fall to road-test a satellite-technology system that might be used one day to collect highway taxes on every mile we drive … The $16.5 million Road User Charge Study will enlist drivers in six states to determine whether the technology works, and whether Americans would accept a new mileage tax. Volunteers will be asked how they feel about technology that collects information about their driving.
Of course, before implementing the "road-use tax," legislatures will zero out the gasoline tax, no?
Frankly, while the tax-effort deserves resistance, the "I know where you drive every day" part is even more ......ahhhhh.......intriguing. Nothing like having some DOT twerp knowing exactly where you traveled every day of your life...
HT: Moonbattery
Two hundred Triangle drivers will be recruited this fall to road-test a satellite-technology system that might be used one day to collect highway taxes on every mile we drive … The $16.5 million Road User Charge Study will enlist drivers in six states to determine whether the technology works, and whether Americans would accept a new mileage tax. Volunteers will be asked how they feel about technology that collects information about their driving.
Of course, before implementing the "road-use tax," legislatures will zero out the gasoline tax, no?
Frankly, while the tax-effort deserves resistance, the "I know where you drive every day" part is even more ......ahhhhh.......intriguing. Nothing like having some DOT twerp knowing exactly where you traveled every day of your life...
HT: Moonbattery
The "D" Word, and the UAW
Deflation: A persistent decrease in the level of (consumer) prices or a persistent increase in the purchasing power of money because of a reduction in available currency and credit
Need an example?
Back in 2005, during the boom, the company sold a used hydraulic dirt excavator for $309,000. That same excavator changed hands Tuesday for just $50,000
That would be in San Diego, CA.
This will have an impact on Deere, CNH, JLG, Gehl, and Cat, folks.
By the way--there are a lot of UAW workers in the above-named companies. Expect to hear "bailout" from them in the next 12 months.
HT: Calculated Risk
Need an example?
Back in 2005, during the boom, the company sold a used hydraulic dirt excavator for $309,000. That same excavator changed hands Tuesday for just $50,000
That would be in San Diego, CA.
This will have an impact on Deere, CNH, JLG, Gehl, and Cat, folks.
By the way--there are a lot of UAW workers in the above-named companies. Expect to hear "bailout" from them in the next 12 months.
HT: Calculated Risk
Do We Get the $25Bn Back?
OK. So Paulson gave Citigroup $25Bn.
Next chapter:
Executives at Citigroup ... began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the company outright ...Citigroup's board of directors is scheduled to have a formal meeting Friday to discuss the options ...
In addition to pondering a move to sell the entire company to another bank, executives have started exploring the possibility of selling off parts of the firm, including the Smith Barney retail brokerage, the global credit-card division and the transaction-services unit, which is one of Citigroup's most lucrative and fast-growing businesses, the people said.
What happens to the $25Bn?
Another landmark institution gets swallowed by the porcelain god...
HT: Calculated Risk
Next chapter:
Executives at Citigroup ... began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the company outright ...Citigroup's board of directors is scheduled to have a formal meeting Friday to discuss the options ...
In addition to pondering a move to sell the entire company to another bank, executives have started exploring the possibility of selling off parts of the firm, including the Smith Barney retail brokerage, the global credit-card division and the transaction-services unit, which is one of Citigroup's most lucrative and fast-growing businesses, the people said.
What happens to the $25Bn?
Another landmark institution gets swallowed by the porcelain god...
HT: Calculated Risk
Elmbrook District "Blew the Budget"
What the hell is this?
To make up for a $4.5 million mechanical systems budget overage, officials might strip as much as $1.8 million in features and design flourishes from proposed renovation plans for Brookfield East and Central high schools
Oh, really? Why?
Heating and cooling systems at both schools have been doing most of that taking, said John Foster of construction manager C.G. Schmidt.
“There’s no doubt that we blew the budget when we budgeted at referendum time,” Foster said. “We had no plans (with which) to base our numbers off of at pre-referendum.”
So are you telling us that the Board of Education went to referendum with a Stupid Wild-Ass Guess?
Perhaps Board members should be asked a few hard questions, eh?
To make up for a $4.5 million mechanical systems budget overage, officials might strip as much as $1.8 million in features and design flourishes from proposed renovation plans for Brookfield East and Central high schools
Oh, really? Why?
Heating and cooling systems at both schools have been doing most of that taking, said John Foster of construction manager C.G. Schmidt.
“There’s no doubt that we blew the budget when we budgeted at referendum time,” Foster said. “We had no plans (with which) to base our numbers off of at pre-referendum.”
So are you telling us that the Board of Education went to referendum with a Stupid Wild-Ass Guess?
Perhaps Board members should be asked a few hard questions, eh?
Doyle Points to Man Behind the Tree
Doylie is admitting to the truth, but only $400 million at a time.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that state government faces a budget deficit of nearly $5.4 billion through mid-2011, $400 million more than he estimated only days ago
First thing to do: raise taxes!
Doyle said he will ask lawmakers early next year to approve a new tax on hospital revenue, which would bring in $200 million more a year in federal Medicaid aid. Hospitals support the assessment, saying it would give them the first rate increase in years.
Doyle repeated his support for a tax on oil companies, which the state Department of Transportation says could raise $393 million by mid-2011. Doyle wants to bar oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers, but critics argue there is no way to do that
...and there isn't. One thinks of the Commerce Clause immediately...
Doylie's arrow-catcher is next, reading from Jim's personally-written script:
"This is the worst deficit in the state's history," state Administration Secretary Mike Morgan said in a report.
The report documents falling tax collections expected through mid-2011 and state agency budget requests for $62.3 billion over that period - requests that cannot be met.
"For the first time in decades, revenue collections are expected to fall in two consecutive fiscal years," Morgan said
Umnnnhhhh....what was the name of that economics-consulting firm you paid to tell you all about the future when you wrote your budget in the first place, Doylie? Did you ask for a refund?
...state government will collect $509 million less in taxes through the budget year that ends June 30.
If you're lucky. That includes turnip-blood, and you're not even going to get that in a lot of cases. Don't forget: food and utility-rates have escalated sharply in the last year, thanks to your sellout to ADM and the Corn-A-Hole boyzzzz.
It may be better to look at simply closing State offices for two weeks around Christmas and then running 3-day weeks for next year.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that state government faces a budget deficit of nearly $5.4 billion through mid-2011, $400 million more than he estimated only days ago
First thing to do: raise taxes!
Doyle said he will ask lawmakers early next year to approve a new tax on hospital revenue, which would bring in $200 million more a year in federal Medicaid aid. Hospitals support the assessment, saying it would give them the first rate increase in years.
Doyle repeated his support for a tax on oil companies, which the state Department of Transportation says could raise $393 million by mid-2011. Doyle wants to bar oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers, but critics argue there is no way to do that
...and there isn't. One thinks of the Commerce Clause immediately...
Doylie's arrow-catcher is next, reading from Jim's personally-written script:
"This is the worst deficit in the state's history," state Administration Secretary Mike Morgan said in a report.
The report documents falling tax collections expected through mid-2011 and state agency budget requests for $62.3 billion over that period - requests that cannot be met.
"For the first time in decades, revenue collections are expected to fall in two consecutive fiscal years," Morgan said
Umnnnhhhh....what was the name of that economics-consulting firm you paid to tell you all about the future when you wrote your budget in the first place, Doylie? Did you ask for a refund?
...state government will collect $509 million less in taxes through the budget year that ends June 30.
If you're lucky. That includes turnip-blood, and you're not even going to get that in a lot of cases. Don't forget: food and utility-rates have escalated sharply in the last year, thanks to your sellout to ADM and the Corn-A-Hole boyzzzz.
It may be better to look at simply closing State offices for two weeks around Christmas and then running 3-day weeks for next year.
Weakland Teamed With Sklba in Coverups, Passes the Buck
Doh.
The ex-Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland OSB, tells the camera that yes, indeed, the current auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Richard Sklba, was a 'close adviser' and was 'in the know' about the game of hop/skip/jump-transferring ephebophile priests.
No kidding. And water runs downhill.
More interesting is his attempt to deflect some blame to the Vatican.
Weakland testified that he held a local church trial - a formal internal proceeding that he said had not been done elsewhere - to get rid of two abusive priests in the 1990s. The priests appealed to the Vatican their removal from the ministry.
In 1998, Weakland testified, he went to the Vatican and met with officials in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a top church office then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.
"I pleaded that even though (one abusive priest) was retired and in ill health, that he be reduced to the lay state to bring some kind of closure . . . ," Weakland testified. "And instead it dragged on and he died about six months later."
Laicizing a priest is a highly technical matter, and pursuing laicization as a remedy to criminal misbehavior is the approximate equivalent of the Al Capone pirouette: using the tax code because direct criminal prosecution was not available to the Feds.
But, of course, criminal prosecution WAS available; Weakland and Sklba chose not to go that route. Rita MacDonald is dead-on:
Rita McDonald, a Marquette University emeritus professor of psychology who was long involved in archdiocesan affairs, was critical of Weakland for spreading the blame to others.
"He accepted some responsibility for what happened, but he never called the police," McDonald said. "There was always that caveat: 'You have to understand how things were back then.'
That's not a caveat, Ms. MacDonald. That's a whine.
Weakland even has the temerity to blame Mike McCann:
Weakland also blamed the criminal justice system for abusive priests, decrying a probation sentence ordered by one judge and the decision by a district attorney not to prosecute a case if an abuser was removed from his county.
"It was the priest's individual lawyer who was working with the D.A., and it was that lawyer who then reported to me what that conversation was all about and what was expected of me," Weakland testified
I'll agree that McCann was approximately useless. That's something that McCann has to answer for--but he won't.
Weakland also seems to have forgotten his bullying and threatening (and wholesale firings) of people who stood up to his and Sklba's protection-racket. I wonder why...
You can view the video here. Have a puke-bucket nearby.
The ex-Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland OSB, tells the camera that yes, indeed, the current auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Richard Sklba, was a 'close adviser' and was 'in the know' about the game of hop/skip/jump-transferring ephebophile priests.
No kidding. And water runs downhill.
More interesting is his attempt to deflect some blame to the Vatican.
Weakland testified that he held a local church trial - a formal internal proceeding that he said had not been done elsewhere - to get rid of two abusive priests in the 1990s. The priests appealed to the Vatican their removal from the ministry.
In 1998, Weakland testified, he went to the Vatican and met with officials in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a top church office then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.
"I pleaded that even though (one abusive priest) was retired and in ill health, that he be reduced to the lay state to bring some kind of closure . . . ," Weakland testified. "And instead it dragged on and he died about six months later."
Laicizing a priest is a highly technical matter, and pursuing laicization as a remedy to criminal misbehavior is the approximate equivalent of the Al Capone pirouette: using the tax code because direct criminal prosecution was not available to the Feds.
But, of course, criminal prosecution WAS available; Weakland and Sklba chose not to go that route. Rita MacDonald is dead-on:
Rita McDonald, a Marquette University emeritus professor of psychology who was long involved in archdiocesan affairs, was critical of Weakland for spreading the blame to others.
"He accepted some responsibility for what happened, but he never called the police," McDonald said. "There was always that caveat: 'You have to understand how things were back then.'
That's not a caveat, Ms. MacDonald. That's a whine.
Weakland even has the temerity to blame Mike McCann:
Weakland also blamed the criminal justice system for abusive priests, decrying a probation sentence ordered by one judge and the decision by a district attorney not to prosecute a case if an abuser was removed from his county.
"It was the priest's individual lawyer who was working with the D.A., and it was that lawyer who then reported to me what that conversation was all about and what was expected of me," Weakland testified
I'll agree that McCann was approximately useless. That's something that McCann has to answer for--but he won't.
Weakland also seems to have forgotten his bullying and threatening (and wholesale firings) of people who stood up to his and Sklba's protection-racket. I wonder why...
You can view the video here. Have a puke-bucket nearby.
Paul Ryan: Wrong Turn on 'Roadmap'
Ryan must have had a few too many after his re-election.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday he would favor assisting the ailing American automakers immediately, using the $25 billion Congress set aside previously for development of more fuel-efficient vehicles
...Ryan said he would use the already-allocated energy efficiency money now, and deal with the issue of if or how to replace it later.
Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, oppose that plan, deeming it environmentally shortsighted. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has endorsed drawing from the Wall Street bailout account, while Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has only said any assistance should come in the form of a loan.
Ryan better get new batteries in his GPS. He's going in the wrong direction. I expect that from Feinie and Herbivore, not from Mr. Roadmap.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday he would favor assisting the ailing American automakers immediately, using the $25 billion Congress set aside previously for development of more fuel-efficient vehicles
...Ryan said he would use the already-allocated energy efficiency money now, and deal with the issue of if or how to replace it later.
Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, oppose that plan, deeming it environmentally shortsighted. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has endorsed drawing from the Wall Street bailout account, while Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has only said any assistance should come in the form of a loan.
Ryan better get new batteries in his GPS. He's going in the wrong direction. I expect that from Feinie and Herbivore, not from Mr. Roadmap.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Be Very Afraid!! WEnergies Is Killing You!!!
The usual spin-laden and almost meaningless emissions from the Environmental Energy Project:
The state of Wisconsin is home to two of the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.
The report lists and ranks U.S. power plants by the amount of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury emitted by the plants. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s 1,200-megawatt plant in Pleasant Prairie ranked 40th in total mercury emissions in 2007 with 535.5 pounds, while Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp.'s 500-megawatt Columbia generating station in Portage ranked 48th with 487 pounds of mercury emitted in 2007. Compared with 2006 emissions, the Pleasant Prairie plant's emissions fell by 27 percent, while the Portage plant's emissions rose by 5.25 percent.
Umnnnhhh....
A meaningful "report" would list the plants not by total emissions, but by emissions/MW. It's not hard to see that WE's plant emits far less/MW than does Alliant's.
Secondly, while the presser says "most-polluting," it ignores any OTHER sort of pollution besides mercury. So are we to take it that no other emissions are important, or that there ARE no other emissions besides mercury?
This, of course, is all "for the chil'ruhn"....
Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 6 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk of neurological damage, the nonprofit group said.
Note well that the Project's presser does not get into details about the actual levels of mercury 'carried by 6% of women' (what about MEN, hey?), nor whether CDC's 'risk' assessment is empirically demonstrated.
But hey! This is a Doyle-Ite engineering job.
Electricity is just too damn dangerous to be sold to the peasants.
The state of Wisconsin is home to two of the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.
The report lists and ranks U.S. power plants by the amount of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury emitted by the plants. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s 1,200-megawatt plant in Pleasant Prairie ranked 40th in total mercury emissions in 2007 with 535.5 pounds, while Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp.'s 500-megawatt Columbia generating station in Portage ranked 48th with 487 pounds of mercury emitted in 2007. Compared with 2006 emissions, the Pleasant Prairie plant's emissions fell by 27 percent, while the Portage plant's emissions rose by 5.25 percent.
Umnnnhhh....
A meaningful "report" would list the plants not by total emissions, but by emissions/MW. It's not hard to see that WE's plant emits far less/MW than does Alliant's.
Secondly, while the presser says "most-polluting," it ignores any OTHER sort of pollution besides mercury. So are we to take it that no other emissions are important, or that there ARE no other emissions besides mercury?
This, of course, is all "for the chil'ruhn"....
Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 6 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk of neurological damage, the nonprofit group said.
Note well that the Project's presser does not get into details about the actual levels of mercury 'carried by 6% of women' (what about MEN, hey?), nor whether CDC's 'risk' assessment is empirically demonstrated.
But hey! This is a Doyle-Ite engineering job.
Electricity is just too damn dangerous to be sold to the peasants.
Medicare for Union Retirees? Watch the Bouncing Ball!
P-Mac's column poses the interesting question.
McArdle writes, “Insofar as health care is the fundamental problem here, the problem is with retiree health care, not health care for current workers. In other words, with people who are already mostly covered by America's universal healthcare system, Medicare. Why have the Big Three provided extremely expensive health benefits for retirees for decades, when there was a really very generous government program available? Because that's what the union wanted, and it had enough muscle to get it.”
There's far more to this than just a tussle between the UAW and the Big 2.00000011.
Think for a moment: if UAW retirees can be forced to join Medicare, what about WEAC retirees of MPS? Or Milwaukee County retirees?
The yawning black-hole silence about switching UAW folks to Medicare (except here, surprisingly enough) is mostly because of the implications for other union agreements which specify lifetime super-bennies.
After all, the Big 2.000000009 are not the ONLY entities in danger of bankruptcy.
McArdle writes, “Insofar as health care is the fundamental problem here, the problem is with retiree health care, not health care for current workers. In other words, with people who are already mostly covered by America's universal healthcare system, Medicare. Why have the Big Three provided extremely expensive health benefits for retirees for decades, when there was a really very generous government program available? Because that's what the union wanted, and it had enough muscle to get it.”
There's far more to this than just a tussle between the UAW and the Big 2.00000011.
Think for a moment: if UAW retirees can be forced to join Medicare, what about WEAC retirees of MPS? Or Milwaukee County retirees?
The yawning black-hole silence about switching UAW folks to Medicare (except here, surprisingly enough) is mostly because of the implications for other union agreements which specify lifetime super-bennies.
After all, the Big 2.000000009 are not the ONLY entities in danger of bankruptcy.
AlGore Officially Unhinged
Not that there was ever much doubt about Al.
But here's his latest proof-texting for eliminating human breathing (the principal cause of CO2), found on the GoreBlog:
A new study suggests the Mayan civilization might have collapsed due to environmental disasters:
"'These models suggest that as ecosystems were destroyed by mismanagement or were transformed by global climatic shifts, the depletion of agricultural and wild foods eventually contributed to the failure of the Maya sociopolitical system,' writes environmental archaeologist Kitty Emery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the current Human Ecology journal."
As we move towards solving the climate crisis, we need to remember the consequences to civilizations that refused to take environmental concerns seriously.
Frankly, my history coursework never mentioned Mayan SUV's...
HT: Gateway
But here's his latest proof-texting for eliminating human breathing (the principal cause of CO2), found on the GoreBlog:
A new study suggests the Mayan civilization might have collapsed due to environmental disasters:
"'These models suggest that as ecosystems were destroyed by mismanagement or were transformed by global climatic shifts, the depletion of agricultural and wild foods eventually contributed to the failure of the Maya sociopolitical system,' writes environmental archaeologist Kitty Emery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the current Human Ecology journal."
As we move towards solving the climate crisis, we need to remember the consequences to civilizations that refused to take environmental concerns seriously.
Frankly, my history coursework never mentioned Mayan SUV's...
HT: Gateway
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