One of the leading voices for "amnesty" is a fellow named Podhoretz, who also happens to be a leading Neocon--you know, the Big Gummint "conservative" types who have led GWB to a 30% poll-ranking.
With that accomplishment under his belt, Podhoretz takes on those who would suggest that "amnesty" is a blunder, which would facilitate the election of The Hildebeeste:
As for dealing with the illegals already here, there's a sense in which this debate has been radicalized to such an extent that the Right won't be satisfied with a policy that does not explicitly advocate expulsion — all other policies being dubbed "amnesty" and therefore illegitimate — while the Left refuses to consider any policy other than special-treatment affirmative-action line-jumping legalization.
In other words, there is nothing our politicians can do, absolutely nothing, to satisfy the activists — because neither extreme will be reflected in any kind of law or policy that emerges even from a Washington energized to deal with them.
If a more sober reckoning of political reality does not intrude here, the Right will hurtle headlong toward schism, division, a third party and all sorts of other "pox on all your houses" actions. The cost of this is what I detail in the direst parts of my book Can She Be Stopped? — the easy transfer of power on Capitol Hill and the White House to the Democrats, and particularly to Hillary Clinton.
It's doubtful the policies she will follow as president on immigration will please anyone on the Right. It's certain that the policies she will follow on courts, on social issues, on foreign policy, on taxes, on regulation and on almost everything else you can think of will be deeply displeasing to people on the Right. And then, as a result of the pursuit of an impossible policy of purity on immigration, the country and the world will suffer the consequences. The potential for self-destruction is terrifying. The potential for grave national harm is worse. Please, you guys, pull back from the edge.
His interlocutor, a very bright fellow, "Vox"--takes him apart.
Mr. Podhoretz's first problem here is that granting anything except expulsion is an amnesty for an illegal alien. If a thief steals a car, it would be considered outrageous to let him keep it as long as he agreed to take care of it for two years, in fact, it would be considered outrageous to let him keep it even if he served a short jail sentence
Even more outrageous, however, is Podhoretz's attempt to shift the blame from those who created and exacerbated the situation to those who are angered by it and are motivated to bring it to an end. Pro-immigration Republicans have no one but themselves to blame if the Lizard Queen outmanuevers them and steals a very popular position from them, and they will be among those Republicans most responsible for her victory, not those who rightly refuse to support a majority party that has repeatedly refused to respect their political positions.
Vox nails it here:
They are mere tacticians, not strategists, which is why they consistently fail to see the big picture.
This comment is echoed in Wisconsin's morass (also referred to as the Legislature.) The "big picture" is tossed aside for highly partisan purposes, and the Public Interest (you can look it up--I know it's an old term) is sacrificed.
With VERY few exceptions, by the way, this "tactician" stuff began with Tommy Thompson.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Database Analysis from a Practitioner
Here's an outline of the reality involved in the NSA tele-records program.
Note I use the term "reality," which is distinct from the picture painted by the dopesmokers and fear-mongers.
It's also an interesting look at what the local Pick'N'Save may or may not know about you--and a good way to know if they really CARE about you.
HT: Grim
Note I use the term "reality," which is distinct from the picture painted by the dopesmokers and fear-mongers.
It's also an interesting look at what the local Pick'N'Save may or may not know about you--and a good way to know if they really CARE about you.
HT: Grim
Saturday, May 13, 2006
"Jesuitical" --Still Alive and Living at MU
The Triumvirate thought it smelled funny (as did a friend of mine, who is NOT part of this group)--and they went to work.
Sure enough, Fr. Wild, SJ, is just being a Jesuit:
Wild attempted to compare Daniel Maguire (ex-Jesuit all-around jackass) with Thomas Aquinas, which on its face virtually begs for an examination of Wild's office for traces of illegal substances. Oh, never mind. Here's the quote:
The bishop, disturbed by what he read and heard, began to believe that what this theologian was teaching his students was at odds with traditional Catholic doctrine. With that decided, his duty was clear. He would publicly condemn these teachings as false, an action that would lead, he presumed, to the university removing this professor from the faculty since he was not teaching authentic Catholic doctrine. And so the bishop did. But the university faculty, upon receiving the bishop’s decree of condemnation, refused to expel the theologian from their membership since they were not convinced by the bishop’s arguments and believed that decisions about faculty membership were theirs alone to make.
That sounds so much like what we hear from time to time these days, doesn’t it? But in fact these events took place in 1270; the bishop was the then archbishop of Paris, Étienne Tempier; the university was the University of Paris; and the theologian in question was Thomas of Aquino, better known as St. Thomas Aquinas.
Well, that's ONE view. Too bad it has little to do with the pertinent facts, as reported by a Catholic U. prof:
In my understanding the condemnations of Bishop Tempier in Paris took place in 1277 (St. Thomas died in 1274). Aquinas was not named in the condemnations but rather implicated in that some of the propositions sounded like positions he (along with other theologians influenced by Aristotelian philosophy) had defended (e.g., the immateriality of angels, the unity of the substantial form in the human person). Therefore he was not defended by a University which refused to remove him (he had taught at the University of Naples from 1272-1274) as the article implies. St Thomas was canonized in 1323 and the condemnations dropped altogether in 1325.
There's another point to be made:
It is highly misleading to compare the innovation of St. Thomas who harmonized Augustinian theology with a newly re-introduced Aristotelian philosophy to Dan McGuire who has repudiated very authoritative and solemnly defined Church doctrine (such as the evil of direct abortion—cf. Evangelium Vitae, no. 62).
But hey--what's a few dead babies in comparison to the Sacred Tenure question?
Sure enough, Fr. Wild, SJ, is just being a Jesuit:
Wild attempted to compare Daniel Maguire (ex-Jesuit all-around jackass) with Thomas Aquinas, which on its face virtually begs for an examination of Wild's office for traces of illegal substances. Oh, never mind. Here's the quote:
The bishop, disturbed by what he read and heard, began to believe that what this theologian was teaching his students was at odds with traditional Catholic doctrine. With that decided, his duty was clear. He would publicly condemn these teachings as false, an action that would lead, he presumed, to the university removing this professor from the faculty since he was not teaching authentic Catholic doctrine. And so the bishop did. But the university faculty, upon receiving the bishop’s decree of condemnation, refused to expel the theologian from their membership since they were not convinced by the bishop’s arguments and believed that decisions about faculty membership were theirs alone to make.
That sounds so much like what we hear from time to time these days, doesn’t it? But in fact these events took place in 1270; the bishop was the then archbishop of Paris, Étienne Tempier; the university was the University of Paris; and the theologian in question was Thomas of Aquino, better known as St. Thomas Aquinas.
Well, that's ONE view. Too bad it has little to do with the pertinent facts, as reported by a Catholic U. prof:
In my understanding the condemnations of Bishop Tempier in Paris took place in 1277 (St. Thomas died in 1274). Aquinas was not named in the condemnations but rather implicated in that some of the propositions sounded like positions he (along with other theologians influenced by Aristotelian philosophy) had defended (e.g., the immateriality of angels, the unity of the substantial form in the human person). Therefore he was not defended by a University which refused to remove him (he had taught at the University of Naples from 1272-1274) as the article implies. St Thomas was canonized in 1323 and the condemnations dropped altogether in 1325.
There's another point to be made:
It is highly misleading to compare the innovation of St. Thomas who harmonized Augustinian theology with a newly re-introduced Aristotelian philosophy to Dan McGuire who has repudiated very authoritative and solemnly defined Church doctrine (such as the evil of direct abortion—cf. Evangelium Vitae, no. 62).
But hey--what's a few dead babies in comparison to the Sacred Tenure question?
Friday, May 12, 2006
The Press, Romenesko, InVitro, and The Slant
In the last few days, the story about the 'maverick' teacher vs. the Big Bad Church has gone national.
Let's talk about the Press' manipulation of the story.
The woman in question announced her intentions in October 2004. The story goes national in May, 2006. But she was fired by the Big Bad EEEEEEEEvil Church in October 2004.
What happened in the meantime?
Pictures of cute little babies, THAT'S what happened in the meantime.
Now if you really want to manipulate public opinion, start with pictures of cute little babies (and they ARE cute, and they are little--about 6 months old, one would guess.)
But that's hardly enough for a National Story, is it? I mean, get serious. This woman lives in Appleton, WI--not exactly New York or LA.
So how did The Press get into this?
The name Romenesko gets a LOT of hits on Google. Try it sometime.
Let's talk about the Press' manipulation of the story.
The woman in question announced her intentions in October 2004. The story goes national in May, 2006. But she was fired by the Big Bad EEEEEEEEvil Church in October 2004.
What happened in the meantime?
Pictures of cute little babies, THAT'S what happened in the meantime.
Now if you really want to manipulate public opinion, start with pictures of cute little babies (and they ARE cute, and they are little--about 6 months old, one would guess.)
But that's hardly enough for a National Story, is it? I mean, get serious. This woman lives in Appleton, WI--not exactly New York or LA.
So how did The Press get into this?
The name Romenesko gets a LOT of hits on Google. Try it sometime.
Gay "Marriage"--A Federal Constitutional Amendment?
Some think that the US Constitution should be amended to prevent gay "marriage." That may be a good idea; I'll settle for a State Amendment victory in November for starters, however.
Those who think that it should be a Federal issue:
Archbishop Chaput of Denver, Cardinal Egan of New York, Cardinal George of Chicago, Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City, Bishop Gomez of San Antonio, Bishop Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minnesota, Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix, Cardinal O’Malley of Boston, Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, Bishop Yanta of Amarillo, Texas, Archbishop John Myers of Newark.
Then there is Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church, and an impressive list of Protestant leaders: Charles Colson, James Dobson, Timothy George, Ted Haggard, Jack Hayford, James Kennedy, Gerald Kieschnick, Richard Land, Paige Patterson, Eugene Rivers, Rick Warren.
Add to that Jewish leaders of considerable influence such as Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Rabbi David Novak, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.
In any case, their argument will be useful in the next few months here in Wisconsin:
Long concerned with rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, and absentee fathers, we have recently watched with extreme alarm the growing trend of some courts to make marriage something it is not: an elastic concept able to accommodate almost any individual preference. This does not so much modify or even weaken marriage as abolish it. The danger this betokens for family life and a general condition of social justice and ordered liberty is hard to overestimate.
Therefore we take the unprecedented stand of uniting to call for a constitutional amendment to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman. We are convinced that this is the only measure that will adequately protect marriage from those who would circumvent the legislative process and force a redefinition of marriage on our whole society. We encourage all citizens of good will across the country to step forward boldly and exercise their right to work through our constitutionally established democratic procedures to amend the Constitution to include a national definition of marriage. We hereby announce our support for S.J. Res.1, the Marriage Protection Amendment.
HT: First Things
Those who think that it should be a Federal issue:
Archbishop Chaput of Denver, Cardinal Egan of New York, Cardinal George of Chicago, Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City, Bishop Gomez of San Antonio, Bishop Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minnesota, Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix, Cardinal O’Malley of Boston, Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, Bishop Yanta of Amarillo, Texas, Archbishop John Myers of Newark.
Then there is Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church, and an impressive list of Protestant leaders: Charles Colson, James Dobson, Timothy George, Ted Haggard, Jack Hayford, James Kennedy, Gerald Kieschnick, Richard Land, Paige Patterson, Eugene Rivers, Rick Warren.
Add to that Jewish leaders of considerable influence such as Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Rabbi David Novak, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.
In any case, their argument will be useful in the next few months here in Wisconsin:
Long concerned with rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, and absentee fathers, we have recently watched with extreme alarm the growing trend of some courts to make marriage something it is not: an elastic concept able to accommodate almost any individual preference. This does not so much modify or even weaken marriage as abolish it. The danger this betokens for family life and a general condition of social justice and ordered liberty is hard to overestimate.
Therefore we take the unprecedented stand of uniting to call for a constitutional amendment to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman. We are convinced that this is the only measure that will adequately protect marriage from those who would circumvent the legislative process and force a redefinition of marriage on our whole society. We encourage all citizens of good will across the country to step forward boldly and exercise their right to work through our constitutionally established democratic procedures to amend the Constitution to include a national definition of marriage. We hereby announce our support for S.J. Res.1, the Marriage Protection Amendment.
HT: First Things
Dreher Dissents on Phone Database
You can read the entire post here, and feel free to disagree.
However, there's a portion which is pertinent--not necessarily to the Bush Administration (pace, Rod) but to the concept that "the end justifies the means..."
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! (A Man for All Seasons)
However, there's a portion which is pertinent--not necessarily to the Bush Administration (pace, Rod) but to the concept that "the end justifies the means..."
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake! (A Man for All Seasons)
Hayek's Globaloney
Another blogger, The American Mind, (whose comments section does not work well...) thinks that Hayek's thesis works:
From the first establishment of (trade) which served reciprocal but not common purposes, a process has been going on for millennia which, by making rules of conduct independent of the particular purposes of those concerned, made it possible to extend these rules to ever wider circles of undetermined persons and eventually might make possible a universal peaceful order of the world.
Uh huh.
One could ask Falun Gong how well that "universal peaceful order" has worked in Red China--or for that matter, Briggs & Stratton, General Motors, Chrysler, and the hundreds of other smaller businesses who have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in IP, tools, dies, (etc.) to the thieves.
Peaceful Order, eh?
Does Globaloney ring a bell? GBush I, call your office.
Briefly, Hayek's thesis will not work because the first thing...the First Thing...is an established, discernible, and enforced Moral Order. THAT does not occur because of "trade," nor is it taught by economics professors.
DeTocqueville: Despotism can do without faith, but freedom cannot. Faith (of any sort) is the First Thing missing in Red China's governing class.
From the first establishment of (trade) which served reciprocal but not common purposes, a process has been going on for millennia which, by making rules of conduct independent of the particular purposes of those concerned, made it possible to extend these rules to ever wider circles of undetermined persons and eventually might make possible a universal peaceful order of the world.
Uh huh.
One could ask Falun Gong how well that "universal peaceful order" has worked in Red China--or for that matter, Briggs & Stratton, General Motors, Chrysler, and the hundreds of other smaller businesses who have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in IP, tools, dies, (etc.) to the thieves.
Peaceful Order, eh?
Does Globaloney ring a bell? GBush I, call your office.
Briefly, Hayek's thesis will not work because the first thing...the First Thing...is an established, discernible, and enforced Moral Order. THAT does not occur because of "trade," nor is it taught by economics professors.
DeTocqueville: Despotism can do without faith, but freedom cannot. Faith (of any sort) is the First Thing missing in Red China's governing class.
You Don't HAVE No Steenkin' Privacy!
Jessica tells it the way it really is:
Of course, the media use data mining databases all the time. The databases used by the media are not available to just anyone off the street. You have to demonstrate you are a company or law enforcement. The databases cross publicly available databases and information. Who intrudes on the privacy of Americans more than our news media?
It's an amazingly powerful search tool. When I was a reporter, there were unlisted telephone numbers in it all the time. I have no idea where they get all this stuff, but it's amazingly precise. The database tells you who's lived at the same address as any given person in the last 10 years or so, along with cars they drive and telephone numbers. It does not provide social security numbers. I once found a man who had been put up for adoption 25 years ago and who had changed his name twice. Found him in 5 minutes. Once tracked down the sister of a post office shooter in New Orleans just by running the shooter's name.
Granted, that's different from what the NSA is doing: Getting phone records from the telephone companies. But there is a certain analogy - it's "investigative intelligence" one might say - and the media might stop being so shocked about lawful intrusion into the privacy concerns of average Americans when they use databases to intrude into people's privacy all the time, and for far less important reasons than national security.
Check it out. It's called Autotrack.
On occasion, I've wondered how the blazes the MSM finds out that 'Jack is Jill's brother' and interviews Jill about Jack's latest escapade. Now I know. It is NOT "journalistic digging."
Of course, the media use data mining databases all the time. The databases used by the media are not available to just anyone off the street. You have to demonstrate you are a company or law enforcement. The databases cross publicly available databases and information. Who intrudes on the privacy of Americans more than our news media?
It's an amazingly powerful search tool. When I was a reporter, there were unlisted telephone numbers in it all the time. I have no idea where they get all this stuff, but it's amazingly precise. The database tells you who's lived at the same address as any given person in the last 10 years or so, along with cars they drive and telephone numbers. It does not provide social security numbers. I once found a man who had been put up for adoption 25 years ago and who had changed his name twice. Found him in 5 minutes. Once tracked down the sister of a post office shooter in New Orleans just by running the shooter's name.
Granted, that's different from what the NSA is doing: Getting phone records from the telephone companies. But there is a certain analogy - it's "investigative intelligence" one might say - and the media might stop being so shocked about lawful intrusion into the privacy concerns of average Americans when they use databases to intrude into people's privacy all the time, and for far less important reasons than national security.
Check it out. It's called Autotrack.
On occasion, I've wondered how the blazes the MSM finds out that 'Jack is Jill's brother' and interviews Jill about Jack's latest escapade. Now I know. It is NOT "journalistic digging."
In Summary
On the Left...uh, Mr. Heinz
On the Right, Gen. Hayden
Captions by the Left
in original.
YOU pick which one should be in charge of CIA.
HT: BlameBush!
What's New WIth ECHELON?
So what with the NSA's apparent collection of data telling them that we called Sears, and that some marketing research firm called you...and that you actually DO speak with your relatives and friends (wow, hey...)
That reminded Levin that there IS such a thing as Echelon.
But to find out what the bad guys are up to, all electronic communications, including those of the good guys, must be captured and analyzed for key words by super computers. That is a fact that makes Frost [a Candian Intelligence officer] uncomfortable, even though he believes the world needs intelligence gathering capabilities like Echelon. "My concern is no accountability and nothing, no safety net in place for the innocent people who fall through the cracks," he tells Kroft.
As an example of those innocent people, Frost cites a woman whose name and telephone number went into the Echelon database as a possible terrorist because she told a friend on the phone that her son had "bombed" in a school play. "The computer spit that conversation out. The analystwas not too sure what the conversation was referring to, so, erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady," Frost recalls. (CBS News Report, March 1, 2000.)
Makes one wonder. How many Packer fans are in the Echelon database for hoping that Brett would "throw the bomb" over the phone?
And another thing: does this account for the travel difficulties encountered by a business friend of mine who can't get through an airport without visiting the Security types? There is NO APPARENT REASON for his trouble. None. He doesn't carry weapons; usually takes day-trips, paid by credit card (round trips,) lives in Milwaukee, and is native-born US citizen.
That reminded Levin that there IS such a thing as Echelon.
But to find out what the bad guys are up to, all electronic communications, including those of the good guys, must be captured and analyzed for key words by super computers. That is a fact that makes Frost [a Candian Intelligence officer] uncomfortable, even though he believes the world needs intelligence gathering capabilities like Echelon. "My concern is no accountability and nothing, no safety net in place for the innocent people who fall through the cracks," he tells Kroft.
As an example of those innocent people, Frost cites a woman whose name and telephone number went into the Echelon database as a possible terrorist because she told a friend on the phone that her son had "bombed" in a school play. "The computer spit that conversation out. The analystwas not too sure what the conversation was referring to, so, erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady," Frost recalls. (CBS News Report, March 1, 2000.)
Makes one wonder. How many Packer fans are in the Echelon database for hoping that Brett would "throw the bomb" over the phone?
And another thing: does this account for the travel difficulties encountered by a business friend of mine who can't get through an airport without visiting the Security types? There is NO APPARENT REASON for his trouble. None. He doesn't carry weapons; usually takes day-trips, paid by credit card (round trips,) lives in Milwaukee, and is native-born US citizen.
Bend Over--Here It Comes
Senate leaders reached a deal yesterday on reviving a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens and said they will try to pass it before Memorial Day. (WaPo article)
Captain's Quarters comment:
Given the politics surrounding this issue, clearly whatever comes out of committee will need to have elements of strong border security and normalization in order to pass in both chambers. Absent one of these elements, the legislation will fail, especially in the Senate which clearly shows a bipartisan sympathy for normalization.
...What we need to watch is the crucial composition of the conference committee and the amendments the Republicans can pass before the Senate version gets there.
Frist is reported to be sending 26 Senators to the Joint Committee to negotiate w/Sensenbrenner, et al. A quarter of the Senate!!
And some local pundits think Sensenbrenner is a bump on the log...
Captain's Quarters comment:
Given the politics surrounding this issue, clearly whatever comes out of committee will need to have elements of strong border security and normalization in order to pass in both chambers. Absent one of these elements, the legislation will fail, especially in the Senate which clearly shows a bipartisan sympathy for normalization.
...What we need to watch is the crucial composition of the conference committee and the amendments the Republicans can pass before the Senate version gets there.
Frist is reported to be sending 26 Senators to the Joint Committee to negotiate w/Sensenbrenner, et al. A quarter of the Senate!!
And some local pundits think Sensenbrenner is a bump on the log...
Rove and Thompson
Here's how the game works. It's been used in Wisconsin for years--now it's a Washington play:
Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, and GOP leaders are well aware of the problem and are planning a summer offensive to win back conservatives with a mix of policy fights and warnings of how a Democratic Congress would govern. The plan includes votes on tax cuts, a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, new abortion restrictions, and measures to restrain government spending. (WaPo article)
American Spectator blog comment:
This is how it works: they neglect the base until: 1- they kick and scream to high heaven (Harriet Miers), or 2- it's an election year. This year, they're offering tokens (sorry, but that's what the marriage amendment and minor abortion restrictions are) or things long overdue (tax cuts -- and only extensions at that).
Can you say "Automatic Gas Tax"?
These are mere bones to placate the masses while they really foul the situation. To wit, as President Bush travels the country promoting the prescription drug benefit, the biggest enlargement of entitlements since the Great Society, they talk about restraining government spending.
Can you say "Failure of TPA"?
So what does that mean? Finally vetoing one bill? Nice start, but let's get serious. The question remains: will conservatives, a naturally trusting crowd, fall in love again for the months running up to the election, or will they refuse to be fooled again?
Good question. And if Tommy Thompson thinks he's the answer--guess again.
Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, and GOP leaders are well aware of the problem and are planning a summer offensive to win back conservatives with a mix of policy fights and warnings of how a Democratic Congress would govern. The plan includes votes on tax cuts, a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, new abortion restrictions, and measures to restrain government spending. (WaPo article)
American Spectator blog comment:
This is how it works: they neglect the base until: 1- they kick and scream to high heaven (Harriet Miers), or 2- it's an election year. This year, they're offering tokens (sorry, but that's what the marriage amendment and minor abortion restrictions are) or things long overdue (tax cuts -- and only extensions at that).
Can you say "Automatic Gas Tax"?
These are mere bones to placate the masses while they really foul the situation. To wit, as President Bush travels the country promoting the prescription drug benefit, the biggest enlargement of entitlements since the Great Society, they talk about restraining government spending.
Can you say "Failure of TPA"?
So what does that mean? Finally vetoing one bill? Nice start, but let's get serious. The question remains: will conservatives, a naturally trusting crowd, fall in love again for the months running up to the election, or will they refuse to be fooled again?
Good question. And if Tommy Thompson thinks he's the answer--guess again.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
House Gives Tax Break to Wisconsin Residents
All that yappaflappa about the eeeeeeeeeeevil House tax bill--and hardly a peep about its most significant "tax break" for Wisconsin residents: the continuation of the exemption from the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Who likes the AMT? Other than Big Spenders, few. Opposed? The IRS's National Taxpayer Advocate has recommended that the AMT be repealed; so have the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation, the Tax Executives Institute, and Congress's own Joint Committee on Taxation.
The biggest problem:
The most important features of the regular income tax (the tax brackets, standard deduction, exemptions for dependents, and so on) have been automatically indexed for inflation annually since 1985. The AMT is not indexed. Congress has periodically raised the exemption amounts for the AMT, but not fast enough to keep pace with inflation. The exemption of $20,000 that applied in 1979, the first year the AMT went into effect, is more than $53,000 in today's dollars. [May, 2001 report.] The current exemption amounts, in place since 1993, are $45,000 for married couples filing jointly (half that for each spouse if they file separately), or $33,750 for single filers or heads of households. To adjust for inflation since 1993, the exemptions would have to be raised to approximately $54,000 for married couples filing jointly and $41,000 for single filers.
What happens if Congress does NOT act to delay/reduce the AMT?
Absent action by Congress and President Bush, one in four households will owe the alternative minimum tax by 2010.
Some 52 percent of them will be families making $100,000 or less a year, including 73 percent of households making $75,000 to $100,000 and 37 percent making $50,000 to $75,000.
Married couples -- especially couples with lots of children -- are most apt to be hit by the alternative minimum tax, which prohibits deductions for dependents along with write-offs for mortgage interest, state and local taxes, medical expenses and the like.
Let's be clear: Wisconsin's State/Local tax burden is horrible--and the AMT makes it far worse. And let us point out that $75K in income is not all that much for a two-earner family in Wisconsin.
Capgains? Dividend taxes? These, too, should be reduced. But the AMT should be eliminated. Make sure your Congresscritter knows it.
Who likes the AMT? Other than Big Spenders, few. Opposed? The IRS's National Taxpayer Advocate has recommended that the AMT be repealed; so have the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation, the Tax Executives Institute, and Congress's own Joint Committee on Taxation.
The biggest problem:
The most important features of the regular income tax (the tax brackets, standard deduction, exemptions for dependents, and so on) have been automatically indexed for inflation annually since 1985. The AMT is not indexed. Congress has periodically raised the exemption amounts for the AMT, but not fast enough to keep pace with inflation. The exemption of $20,000 that applied in 1979, the first year the AMT went into effect, is more than $53,000 in today's dollars. [May, 2001 report.] The current exemption amounts, in place since 1993, are $45,000 for married couples filing jointly (half that for each spouse if they file separately), or $33,750 for single filers or heads of households. To adjust for inflation since 1993, the exemptions would have to be raised to approximately $54,000 for married couples filing jointly and $41,000 for single filers.
What happens if Congress does NOT act to delay/reduce the AMT?
Absent action by Congress and President Bush, one in four households will owe the alternative minimum tax by 2010.
Some 52 percent of them will be families making $100,000 or less a year, including 73 percent of households making $75,000 to $100,000 and 37 percent making $50,000 to $75,000.
Married couples -- especially couples with lots of children -- are most apt to be hit by the alternative minimum tax, which prohibits deductions for dependents along with write-offs for mortgage interest, state and local taxes, medical expenses and the like.
Let's be clear: Wisconsin's State/Local tax burden is horrible--and the AMT makes it far worse. And let us point out that $75K in income is not all that much for a two-earner family in Wisconsin.
Capgains? Dividend taxes? These, too, should be reduced. But the AMT should be eliminated. Make sure your Congresscritter knows it.
Quo Vadis, Paul Bucher?
Xoff raises an interesting question:
Paul Bucher was smart enough not to answer their [ProLife Wisconsin's] survey. He probably recognizes that their positions are so far out of the mainstream that Pro-Life Wisconsin's endorsement would hurt, rather than help, in the general election.
If it is true that Bucher "did not answer their survey," that is troublesome, because in most cases, non-response means that the candidate does not agree with the organization's overall point of view.
Well, Xoff doesn't agree with PLW, either.
Paul? Paul?
Paul Bucher was smart enough not to answer their [ProLife Wisconsin's] survey. He probably recognizes that their positions are so far out of the mainstream that Pro-Life Wisconsin's endorsement would hurt, rather than help, in the general election.
If it is true that Bucher "did not answer their survey," that is troublesome, because in most cases, non-response means that the candidate does not agree with the organization's overall point of view.
Well, Xoff doesn't agree with PLW, either.
Paul? Paul?
Attaboy Barrett
The Mayor vetoed the electric bus, at least in part because no one could explain where $57MM in local contributions was coming from.
The Mayor is right, and gets One Attaboy.
Evidently he still hasn't found the key to Henry Maier's closet. You know, the closet which has the formula for stealing money from the REST of the State to finance Milwaukee dreams, or sewage outlets--whatever.
At last report, that key was used by Tommy Thompson to put up SeligStadium. Maybe Tommy hasn't put it back yet.
The Mayor is right, and gets One Attaboy.
Evidently he still hasn't found the key to Henry Maier's closet. You know, the closet which has the formula for stealing money from the REST of the State to finance Milwaukee dreams, or sewage outlets--whatever.
At last report, that key was used by Tommy Thompson to put up SeligStadium. Maybe Tommy hasn't put it back yet.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Kreeft on the Problem of Evil
Peter Kreeft is a professor at Boston College (don't hold that against him) who is a marvelously lucid philosopher.
Here's his response to the Question of Evil:
Finally, what about the philosophical problem? It is not logically contradictory to say an all-powerful and all-loving God tolerates so much evil when he could eradicate it? Why do bad things happen to good people? The question makes three questionable assumptions.
First, who's to say we are good people? The question should be not "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but "Why do good things happen to bad people?" If the fairy godmother tells Cinderella that she can wear her magic gown until midnight, the question should be not "Why not after midnight?" but "Why did I get to wear it at all?" The question is not why the glass of water is half empty but why it is half full, for all goodness is gift. The best people are the ones who are most reluctant to call themselves good people. Sinners think they are saints, but saints know they are sinners. The best man who ever lived once said, "No one is good but God alone."
Second, who's to say suffering is all bad? Life without it would produce spoiled brats and tyrants, not joyful saints. Rabbi Abraham Heschel says simply, "The man who has not suffered, what can he possibly know, anyway?" Suffering can work for the greater good of wisdom. It is not true that all things are good, but it is true that "all things work together for good to those who love God."
Third, who's to say we have to know all God's reasons? Who ever promised us all the answers? Animals can't understand much about us; why should we be able to understand everything about God? The obvious point of the Book of Job, the world's greatest exploration of the problem of evil, is that we just don't know what God is up to. What a hard lesson to learn: Lesson One, that we are ignorant, that we are infants! No wonder Socrates was declared by the Delphic Oracle to be the wisest man in the world. He interpreted that declaration to mean that he alone knew that he did not have wisdom, and that was true wisdom for man.
Like I told you--lucid and simple.
HT: Happy Catholic
Here's his response to the Question of Evil:
Finally, what about the philosophical problem? It is not logically contradictory to say an all-powerful and all-loving God tolerates so much evil when he could eradicate it? Why do bad things happen to good people? The question makes three questionable assumptions.
First, who's to say we are good people? The question should be not "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but "Why do good things happen to bad people?" If the fairy godmother tells Cinderella that she can wear her magic gown until midnight, the question should be not "Why not after midnight?" but "Why did I get to wear it at all?" The question is not why the glass of water is half empty but why it is half full, for all goodness is gift. The best people are the ones who are most reluctant to call themselves good people. Sinners think they are saints, but saints know they are sinners. The best man who ever lived once said, "No one is good but God alone."
Second, who's to say suffering is all bad? Life without it would produce spoiled brats and tyrants, not joyful saints. Rabbi Abraham Heschel says simply, "The man who has not suffered, what can he possibly know, anyway?" Suffering can work for the greater good of wisdom. It is not true that all things are good, but it is true that "all things work together for good to those who love God."
Third, who's to say we have to know all God's reasons? Who ever promised us all the answers? Animals can't understand much about us; why should we be able to understand everything about God? The obvious point of the Book of Job, the world's greatest exploration of the problem of evil, is that we just don't know what God is up to. What a hard lesson to learn: Lesson One, that we are ignorant, that we are infants! No wonder Socrates was declared by the Delphic Oracle to be the wisest man in the world. He interpreted that declaration to mean that he alone knew that he did not have wisdom, and that was true wisdom for man.
Like I told you--lucid and simple.
HT: Happy Catholic
Modern Hymnody, Correctly Understood
From "JB"
Day of wrath, O Day of mourning! / Earth to ashes now returning / "Gather,” by the millions, burning!
Cleansed at last by cataclysm / Butchered rhyme and battered rhythm, / Neopagan narcissism!
On that day, Lord, when thou comest, / And our dreadful hymnals thumbest,/ Smite the ugliest and dumbest.
Smite them, Lord, yet of thy pity / Take their songsters to thy city: / Even Haugen, Haas, and Schutte.
Spare them on the stern condition / That they feel a true contrition / For the Worship III edition.
Doom them not to loss and ruin / While the darker storm is brewing!/ They knew not what they were doing.
On that day when Palestrina / Dare not touch a celestina, / What will Sister Ballerina?
With thine eyes that pierce like lances / Still her heathen silly dances/ And her flirting with Saint Francis.
Purge us of the prim and prissy, / Ditties fit for Meg or Missy, / Not for Francis, but a sissy.
Cantors who thought nothing grander / Than a sheaf of propaganda / Writ like office memoranda.
Raise them to thy room to bide in / Where their hearts and ears may widen/ To the strains of Bach and Haydn.
Let their hearts within them falter, / Hearing, as they near thine altar,/ Seraphs sing the Scottish Psalter.
Seize those devils set to pen a / Hymnal neutered of its men–ah, / Fling ‘em all to black Gehenna!
Fling them one and all to mangle / Their pronominals, and wrangle / Lest a participle dangle!
Who held manhood in derision, / Preaching double circumcision, / Suffer now their own revision.
Though the songs of Hell are naughty, / None by Handel or Scarlatti,/ At the least they’ll have castrati.
Pitch, O Lord, the bald and raucous / Slogans of a leftist caucus / Down to Sheol, or Secaucus!
Save their singers, though: restore ‘em / To a silent sweet decorum, / Saecula per saeculorem [sic].
Various are the throngs of heaven: / Some were lump, and some were leaven,/ Some as lame as six or seven.
When the demons hear thy curses, / And this world’s dense fog disperses,/ Heal the hobbled–not their verses.
Hush me too, Lord, when I grumble: / In thy mercy make me humble,/
Lest On Turkey’s Wings I stumble.
Though Haugen sing “Hosea” evermore, / Save me, I pray–but keep me near the door.
Amen.
HT: Christus Vincit
Day of wrath, O Day of mourning! / Earth to ashes now returning / "Gather,” by the millions, burning!
Cleansed at last by cataclysm / Butchered rhyme and battered rhythm, / Neopagan narcissism!
On that day, Lord, when thou comest, / And our dreadful hymnals thumbest,/ Smite the ugliest and dumbest.
Smite them, Lord, yet of thy pity / Take their songsters to thy city: / Even Haugen, Haas, and Schutte.
Spare them on the stern condition / That they feel a true contrition / For the Worship III edition.
Doom them not to loss and ruin / While the darker storm is brewing!/ They knew not what they were doing.
On that day when Palestrina / Dare not touch a celestina, / What will Sister Ballerina?
With thine eyes that pierce like lances / Still her heathen silly dances/ And her flirting with Saint Francis.
Purge us of the prim and prissy, / Ditties fit for Meg or Missy, / Not for Francis, but a sissy.
Cantors who thought nothing grander / Than a sheaf of propaganda / Writ like office memoranda.
Raise them to thy room to bide in / Where their hearts and ears may widen/ To the strains of Bach and Haydn.
Let their hearts within them falter, / Hearing, as they near thine altar,/ Seraphs sing the Scottish Psalter.
Seize those devils set to pen a / Hymnal neutered of its men–ah, / Fling ‘em all to black Gehenna!
Fling them one and all to mangle / Their pronominals, and wrangle / Lest a participle dangle!
Who held manhood in derision, / Preaching double circumcision, / Suffer now their own revision.
Though the songs of Hell are naughty, / None by Handel or Scarlatti,/ At the least they’ll have castrati.
Pitch, O Lord, the bald and raucous / Slogans of a leftist caucus / Down to Sheol, or Secaucus!
Save their singers, though: restore ‘em / To a silent sweet decorum, / Saecula per saeculorem [sic].
Various are the throngs of heaven: / Some were lump, and some were leaven,/ Some as lame as six or seven.
When the demons hear thy curses, / And this world’s dense fog disperses,/ Heal the hobbled–not their verses.
Hush me too, Lord, when I grumble: / In thy mercy make me humble,/
Lest On Turkey’s Wings I stumble.
Though Haugen sing “Hosea” evermore, / Save me, I pray–but keep me near the door.
Amen.
HT: Christus Vincit
Ripley Lives!!
Believe it or not:
Following three accidents in New York City, some grieving parents are asking for legislation mandating that TV sets carry warning labels that they're heavy and can kill or injure you if you have the bad fortune to be underneath them when they topple over. ("Children killed by falling TVs", AP/Newsday, Apr. 30).
HT: Overlawyered
Following three accidents in New York City, some grieving parents are asking for legislation mandating that TV sets carry warning labels that they're heavy and can kill or injure you if you have the bad fortune to be underneath them when they topple over. ("Children killed by falling TVs", AP/Newsday, Apr. 30).
HT: Overlawyered
Appleton Xavier Does the Right Thing; MU Prof Covers Self in Shame
Way, way, WAAAYY out of his territory, 'The Charles' Benson of WTMJ/4 News was bleating from Appleton, WI last night.
What, you may ask, brought The Charles all the way up to Appleton? A flood on the Fox River? A revolution over the no smoking ordinance? Terri McCormick conceding to John Gard?
Nope. He went up there to talk about a teacher who got fired.
You may ask "Is THAT a News Event for a Milwaukee audience?" Well, not exactly--except the teacher was fired from a Catholic School (Xavier HS) for blatantly and openly violating her contract with the school--obtaining in vitro fertilization.
In other words, it's news because it's a Catholic matter. The Charles was quite sympathetic to the teacher, not to the Church (of which he is a member, by the way.)
It gets more interesting.
In Milwaukee, we are used to reading fairly well-researched and 'balanced' articles dealing with faith issues. Both M. Rohde and T. Heinen are reasonably dispassionate and usually can find responsible "experts" to speak to an issue.
Not in the Appleton Post-Crescent. Although the reporter does do a good job of presenting the facts of the matter, and of outlining the Catholic position on in vitro (it's immoral, period) the reporter is unable to find "a Catholic expert" who agrees with Xavier's action--firing the teacher for a contract violation.
Ms Squires DID manage to find a complete ass at Marquette:
But never in Marquette University theology professor Michael Fahey's experience has a teacher lost her job for going through in-vitro fertilization.
Based on what The P-C told him, Fahey, who is a priest, said that ACES and the diocese had more latitude than they may have realized with respect to Romenesko. It appears to him she allayed most of the church's objections.
ONE reason that we don't think too much of "professional" Catholic "moral" theologians, Father.
Ms. Squires went a bit further afield for her next "expert:"
However, another Catholic theologian, the Rev. James Keenan, doubts the church's teachings allow so much wiggle room. But nor do they require the church to act.
He wonders where ACES would draw the line.
"If somebody said they were practicing birth control, would they be fired?" he asked. "If they ever got a divorce, would they be fired? If they mention they hid some income on their income tax?"
Duh. If you TELL the school that you are flagrantly violating a "morals" clause in your contract, they HAVE TO FIRE YOU!!! Note to self: never hire this dude as an HR manager.
Thank God Xavier has an attorney, Gregory Gill, Sr., with his head screwed on straight:
"However, for purposes of the employment setting, I believe that if an employee were to publicly espouse that he is going to engage in contraception with his spouse that is in direct violation of church teaching, or if he publicly espoused that he was cheating on his taxes or that he or she intended to become divorced, and followed through, and made a public pronouncement to that effect, I believe that employee would be terminated."
All the way to Appleton for a non-story, Charles?
It would be VERY interesting to know who provided The Charles with this "news tip." The Agenda was certainly in play.
UPDATE: AP runs the story too, which was picked up in Dallas (!!!) Believe it or not, they found an even worse seditionist at Marquette:
Mark Johnson, who teaches moral theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, said the 1987 document was the first serious official church writing on the subject, and modifications could be possible.
"This is brand spanking new stuff in the life of a church that is 2,000 years old," Johnson said, noting that the Vatican now is considering allowing the use of condoms to help battle AIDS in Africa despite its longtime opposition to contraceptive devices.
As we noted a couple of days ago, the Vatican is NOT "considering" allowing rubbers, although fevered minds are working overtime to make it so...and what's dogmatic doesn't change, Mark. In vitro is un-natural--it's procreation via agency--and will NEVER be licit.
HT: Ipsissima Verba
What, you may ask, brought The Charles all the way up to Appleton? A flood on the Fox River? A revolution over the no smoking ordinance? Terri McCormick conceding to John Gard?
Nope. He went up there to talk about a teacher who got fired.
You may ask "Is THAT a News Event for a Milwaukee audience?" Well, not exactly--except the teacher was fired from a Catholic School (Xavier HS) for blatantly and openly violating her contract with the school--obtaining in vitro fertilization.
In other words, it's news because it's a Catholic matter. The Charles was quite sympathetic to the teacher, not to the Church (of which he is a member, by the way.)
It gets more interesting.
In Milwaukee, we are used to reading fairly well-researched and 'balanced' articles dealing with faith issues. Both M. Rohde and T. Heinen are reasonably dispassionate and usually can find responsible "experts" to speak to an issue.
Not in the Appleton Post-Crescent. Although the reporter does do a good job of presenting the facts of the matter, and of outlining the Catholic position on in vitro (it's immoral, period) the reporter is unable to find "a Catholic expert" who agrees with Xavier's action--firing the teacher for a contract violation.
Ms Squires DID manage to find a complete ass at Marquette:
But never in Marquette University theology professor Michael Fahey's experience has a teacher lost her job for going through in-vitro fertilization.
Based on what The P-C told him, Fahey, who is a priest, said that ACES and the diocese had more latitude than they may have realized with respect to Romenesko. It appears to him she allayed most of the church's objections.
"Most?" "Most?" There was only ONE, Father: it was in vitro.
For example, she chose a doctor whose clinic does not destroy embryos or perform "selective reduction." Also, the sperm came from her husband, rather than a third-party donor.Yah, hey. "The bank they robbed had a lot of extra money around, anyway. What's the big deal?"
"I would find it very unusual that you would get professional Catholic moral theologians to object to that," Fahey said.ONE reason that we don't think too much of "professional" Catholic "moral" theologians, Father.
Ms. Squires went a bit further afield for her next "expert:"
However, another Catholic theologian, the Rev. James Keenan, doubts the church's teachings allow so much wiggle room. But nor do they require the church to act.
Specifically, Ms Squires--why does Fr. Keenan 'doubt' the wiggle room? Care to enlighten us?
"The teaching doesn't seem, in my mind, to mean institutions should pursue or take punitive actions against someone who had this procedure," said Keenan, who teaches at Boston College.He wonders where ACES would draw the line.
"If somebody said they were practicing birth control, would they be fired?" he asked. "If they ever got a divorce, would they be fired? If they mention they hid some income on their income tax?"
Duh. If you TELL the school that you are flagrantly violating a "morals" clause in your contract, they HAVE TO FIRE YOU!!! Note to self: never hire this dude as an HR manager.
Thank God Xavier has an attorney, Gregory Gill, Sr., with his head screwed on straight:
"However, for purposes of the employment setting, I believe that if an employee were to publicly espouse that he is going to engage in contraception with his spouse that is in direct violation of church teaching, or if he publicly espoused that he was cheating on his taxes or that he or she intended to become divorced, and followed through, and made a public pronouncement to that effect, I believe that employee would be terminated."
All the way to Appleton for a non-story, Charles?
It would be VERY interesting to know who provided The Charles with this "news tip." The Agenda was certainly in play.
UPDATE: AP runs the story too, which was picked up in Dallas (!!!) Believe it or not, they found an even worse seditionist at Marquette:
Mark Johnson, who teaches moral theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, said the 1987 document was the first serious official church writing on the subject, and modifications could be possible.
"This is brand spanking new stuff in the life of a church that is 2,000 years old," Johnson said, noting that the Vatican now is considering allowing the use of condoms to help battle AIDS in Africa despite its longtime opposition to contraceptive devices.
As we noted a couple of days ago, the Vatican is NOT "considering" allowing rubbers, although fevered minds are working overtime to make it so...and what's dogmatic doesn't change, Mark. In vitro is un-natural--it's procreation via agency--and will NEVER be licit.
HT: Ipsissima Verba
Ahmenidijad's Letter Asks About Able Danger
From Ahmedinijad's letter to GWB:
Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren't those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial?
Good question. Ahmenidijad is full of it when he implies that the CIA/FBI are full of "infiltrators," or that our Gummint was somehow responsible for 9/11. That just proves he is, indeed, a moonbat.
However:
Why did Arlen Specter bury the Able Danger inquiry?
As you all recall, Able Danger was a black op which identified the 9/11 terrorists through electronic surveillance; it was run by military intel, not the CIA.
The Clinton gang was told about Able Danger's findings, but the 9/11 Commission's Jamie Gorelick (an intel and Justice attorney in the Clinton Administration) blocked the Commission from referring to the work of Able Danger, thus temporarily keeping the tail from being pinned on the donkey--Bill Clinton. (We should also mention that TW800's "accident" is still quite controversial; reasonable people suspect that TW800 was shot down by terrorists.)
For crying out loud--the Iranian nut-case asks the right questions.
Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren't those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial?
Good question. Ahmenidijad is full of it when he implies that the CIA/FBI are full of "infiltrators," or that our Gummint was somehow responsible for 9/11. That just proves he is, indeed, a moonbat.
However:
Why did Arlen Specter bury the Able Danger inquiry?
As you all recall, Able Danger was a black op which identified the 9/11 terrorists through electronic surveillance; it was run by military intel, not the CIA.
The Clinton gang was told about Able Danger's findings, but the 9/11 Commission's Jamie Gorelick (an intel and Justice attorney in the Clinton Administration) blocked the Commission from referring to the work of Able Danger, thus temporarily keeping the tail from being pinned on the donkey--Bill Clinton. (We should also mention that TW800's "accident" is still quite controversial; reasonable people suspect that TW800 was shot down by terrorists.)
For crying out loud--the Iranian nut-case asks the right questions.
Bush's New Use for FISA
Well, maybe it's not FISA, but who knows?
Evidently, Our President (Jorge) is feeding his best pal (Vinnie) information on the whereabouts of the Minutemen, who are voluntarily patrolling the Swiss Cheese known as "the border" with Mexico.
On testimony of the Executive Director of the Minutemen, that's not all--the Feds are also tapping their phones and paying close attention to their emails, and most likely relaying the gathered intel to Vince's boyzzzz in Mexico.
Were it not for the fact that the Mexican government is (arguably) as corrupt as the UN, this might not be a problem. However, the intel/info on the Minutemen can (will??) leak to the major drug cartels.
As you know, those folks are not very nice. They failed "works and plays well with others" in grade school.
S'pose Department of HomelandSecurity Stupidity will take the blame if a few Minutemen become toast in their own homes?
Evidently, Our President (Jorge) is feeding his best pal (Vinnie) information on the whereabouts of the Minutemen, who are voluntarily patrolling the Swiss Cheese known as "the border" with Mexico.
On testimony of the Executive Director of the Minutemen, that's not all--the Feds are also tapping their phones and paying close attention to their emails, and most likely relaying the gathered intel to Vince's boyzzzz in Mexico.
Were it not for the fact that the Mexican government is (arguably) as corrupt as the UN, this might not be a problem. However, the intel/info on the Minutemen can (will??) leak to the major drug cartels.
As you know, those folks are not very nice. They failed "works and plays well with others" in grade school.
S'pose Department of Homeland
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Waiting For Journalism
Let's try this again:
WERE the KENOSHA RAPISTS HERE LEGALLY?
Nobody in the drive-by media seems to care...
WERE the KENOSHA RAPISTS HERE LEGALLY?
Nobody in the drive-by media seems to care...
NYT: Handling Weapons Linked to Craving Hot Sauce
In another amazing display of non-sequitur thinking, we present the following:
Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study. The researchers took saliva samples from the students and measured testosterone levels.
They then seated the young men, one at a time, at a table in a bare room; on the table were pieces of paper and either the board game Mouse Trap or a large handgun.
Their instructions: take apart the game or the gun and write directions for assembly and disassembly.
Fifteen minutes later, the psychologists measured saliva testosterone again and found that the levels had spiked in men who had handled the gun but had stayed steady in those working with the board game.
The "taste sensitivity" phase of the experiment was in fact intended to measure aggressive impulses. After the writing assignment, the young men were asked to rate the taste of a drink, a cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it. They were then told to prepare a drink for the next person in the experiment, adding as much hot sauce as they liked.
"Those who had handled the gun put in about three times as much as the others — 13 grams on average, which is a lot," said Tim Kasser, one of the authors. He worked with Francis McAndrew, also of Knox, and Jennifer Klinesmith, a former student who had the idea for the study, due to appear in Psychological Science.
What have we learned? That a .45 before dinner means, what? habaneras on the tacos?
What goes with an M-60?
Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study. The researchers took saliva samples from the students and measured testosterone levels.
They then seated the young men, one at a time, at a table in a bare room; on the table were pieces of paper and either the board game Mouse Trap or a large handgun.
Their instructions: take apart the game or the gun and write directions for assembly and disassembly.
Fifteen minutes later, the psychologists measured saliva testosterone again and found that the levels had spiked in men who had handled the gun but had stayed steady in those working with the board game.
The "taste sensitivity" phase of the experiment was in fact intended to measure aggressive impulses. After the writing assignment, the young men were asked to rate the taste of a drink, a cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it. They were then told to prepare a drink for the next person in the experiment, adding as much hot sauce as they liked.
"Those who had handled the gun put in about three times as much as the others — 13 grams on average, which is a lot," said Tim Kasser, one of the authors. He worked with Francis McAndrew, also of Knox, and Jennifer Klinesmith, a former student who had the idea for the study, due to appear in Psychological Science.
What have we learned? That a .45 before dinner means, what? habaneras on the tacos?
What goes with an M-60?
Taxes in Milwaukee County
Scott Walker's proclamation:
County Executive Scott Walker held a news conference this morning at the entrance of the Shops at Grand Avenue to highlight his opposition to a sales tax increase proposed by some members of the Milwaukee County Board.
Xoff characterizes this as "not allowing the people to decide," which implies that the resolution(s) may be referendum proposals by the Milwaukee County Board.
Walker faces a difficult patch here. It is true that tax revenues are usually spent, for good or bad, and that there is no such thing as a "temporary" tax--viz., the telephone tax which was enacted (nationally) to pay off the Spanish-American War.
On the other hand, if Milwaukee County residents wish to increase their sales tax, meaning that large purchases will be made in Waukesha, or Ozaukee, or Racine counties--that's THEIR problem, eh?
Elsewhere, Fred Luber suggests that '[f]inding a way to charge out-of-county users of Milwaukee arts and cultural institutions should also be on the table.'
Ummnnhhh, Fred, when I see the MSO from the patron seats, I pay about $35-75.00 per ticket, just like everybody else not in box seats. You expect more? Then the MSO will think about leaving the County-run building on the river for a LOT of good reasons, beginning with the acoustics and including such things as better scheduled availability.
The MSO is no bunch of rummies. They, too, have a market, and that market has price-points.
By the way, Fred: out-of-county residents send a LOT of money to Milwaukee County, albeit through the State, which takes its vigorish.
By the way, Fred, where the Hell were you while Ament & Co. were stealing everything but the rebar from the Interstate in your County?
Oh, that's right: pushing for Super Steel-built tramway cars.
County Executive Scott Walker held a news conference this morning at the entrance of the Shops at Grand Avenue to highlight his opposition to a sales tax increase proposed by some members of the Milwaukee County Board.
Xoff characterizes this as "not allowing the people to decide," which implies that the resolution(s) may be referendum proposals by the Milwaukee County Board.
Walker faces a difficult patch here. It is true that tax revenues are usually spent, for good or bad, and that there is no such thing as a "temporary" tax--viz., the telephone tax which was enacted (nationally) to pay off the Spanish-American War.
On the other hand, if Milwaukee County residents wish to increase their sales tax, meaning that large purchases will be made in Waukesha, or Ozaukee, or Racine counties--that's THEIR problem, eh?
Elsewhere, Fred Luber suggests that '[f]inding a way to charge out-of-county users of Milwaukee arts and cultural institutions should also be on the table.'
Ummnnhhh, Fred, when I see the MSO from the patron seats, I pay about $35-75.00 per ticket, just like everybody else not in box seats. You expect more? Then the MSO will think about leaving the County-run building on the river for a LOT of good reasons, beginning with the acoustics and including such things as better scheduled availability.
The MSO is no bunch of rummies. They, too, have a market, and that market has price-points.
By the way, Fred: out-of-county residents send a LOT of money to Milwaukee County, albeit through the State, which takes its vigorish.
By the way, Fred, where the Hell were you while Ament & Co. were stealing everything but the rebar from the Interstate in your County?
Oh, that's right: pushing for Super Steel-built tramway cars.
Benedict XVI and Beauty
From von Balthasar:
"Beauty is the word that shall be our first. Beauty is the last thing which the thinking intellect dares to approach, since only it dances as an uncontained splendour around the double constellation of the true and the good and their inseparable relation to one another. Beauty is the ... one without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which ... has bid farewell to our new world, leaving it to its avarice and sadness."
In former times the liturgy, too, "refused to understand itself" apart from beauty: beauty was taken for granted. The fact that the holy liturgy has - in broad terms - been a casualty of the modern exaltation of ugliness is for Benedict XVI a matter of grave concern.
The Iron Triangle of "Truth-Beauty-Goodness" is well-understood by B-16. Perhaps that understanding will be the legacy of this Pope.
HT: The Cafeteria is Closed
"Beauty is the word that shall be our first. Beauty is the last thing which the thinking intellect dares to approach, since only it dances as an uncontained splendour around the double constellation of the true and the good and their inseparable relation to one another. Beauty is the ... one without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which ... has bid farewell to our new world, leaving it to its avarice and sadness."
In former times the liturgy, too, "refused to understand itself" apart from beauty: beauty was taken for granted. The fact that the holy liturgy has - in broad terms - been a casualty of the modern exaltation of ugliness is for Benedict XVI a matter of grave concern.
The Iron Triangle of "Truth-Beauty-Goodness" is well-understood by B-16. Perhaps that understanding will be the legacy of this Pope.
HT: The Cafeteria is Closed
Monday, May 08, 2006
Don't Like Gay "Marriage?" Don't Blog or Talk at Work
Yeah, the Canadian problem can happen here:
Will speech against gay marriage be allowed to continue unfettered? "Under the American regime of freedom of speech, the answer ought to be easy," according to Stern. But it is not entirely certain, he writes, "because sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace principles will likely migrate to suppress any expression of anti-same-sex-marriage views." Stern suggests how that might work.
In the corporate world, the expression of opposition to gay marriage will be suppressed not by gay ideologues but by corporate lawyers, who will draw the lines least likely to entangle the company in litigation. Stern likens this to "a paroxysm of prophylaxis--banning 'Jesus saves' because someone might take offense."
Or consider a recent case at William Paterson University, a state school in New Jersey. A senior faculty member sent out a mass email inviting people to attend movies with a gay theme. A student employee, a 63-year-old Muslim named Jihad Daniel, replied to the professor in a private email asking not to receive messages "about 'Connie and Sally' and 'Adam and Steve.'" He went on, "These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the Creator of the heavens and the earth is never mentioned."
The result: Daniel received a letter of reprimand for using the "derogatory and demeaning" word "perversions" in violation of state discrimination and harassment regulations.
This from Anthony Picarello, president and general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Becket Fund is widely recognized as one of the best religious liberty law firms and the only one that defends the religious liberty of all faith groups...
HT: The Cafeteria is Closed
Will speech against gay marriage be allowed to continue unfettered? "Under the American regime of freedom of speech, the answer ought to be easy," according to Stern. But it is not entirely certain, he writes, "because sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace principles will likely migrate to suppress any expression of anti-same-sex-marriage views." Stern suggests how that might work.
In the corporate world, the expression of opposition to gay marriage will be suppressed not by gay ideologues but by corporate lawyers, who will draw the lines least likely to entangle the company in litigation. Stern likens this to "a paroxysm of prophylaxis--banning 'Jesus saves' because someone might take offense."
Or consider a recent case at William Paterson University, a state school in New Jersey. A senior faculty member sent out a mass email inviting people to attend movies with a gay theme. A student employee, a 63-year-old Muslim named Jihad Daniel, replied to the professor in a private email asking not to receive messages "about 'Connie and Sally' and 'Adam and Steve.'" He went on, "These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the Creator of the heavens and the earth is never mentioned."
The result: Daniel received a letter of reprimand for using the "derogatory and demeaning" word "perversions" in violation of state discrimination and harassment regulations.
This from Anthony Picarello, president and general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Becket Fund is widely recognized as one of the best religious liberty law firms and the only one that defends the religious liberty of all faith groups...
HT: The Cafeteria is Closed
Rubbers? Nope, per the Vatican
Not surprising to SOME of us:
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said the Catholic Church would not change its position on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, reported the Catholic News Agency this morning.
In an interview with Columbia’s Radio Cadena Nacional, Cardinal Trujillo said the Vatican “maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms” and said Pope Benedict XVI has not called for any studies on altering the prohibition against condom use.
“As a dicastery we do not have any instruction or any indication to the contrary, to carry out a study about something new with regards to condoms,” he said.
Retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini, known for his liberal opinions on social issues, commented last month that condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS was “the lesser evil.”
...
A vocal supporter of the Church’s teaching on contraception, Cardinal Trujillo said the recent statements by retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini “are nothing more than his own personal opinions which do not reflect [Church] teaching.” He said Cardinal Martini “should explain how the condom prevents AIDS if it is true he said it is a lesser evil.”
Cardinal Trujillo said the Church believes the only way to truly combat AIDS is through fidelity and chastity, which are the only morally acceptable means. Contraception damages the integrity of the full gift of self, which is intrinsic to the sexual act.
Which story stands in stark contrast to some scrivening over the weekend (Reuters? AP?) which damn near canonized rubbers in Africa on some pretext.
We should add that Cdl. Trujillo's comments on Cdl. Martini's rebellious jabber are quite direct, for the Vatican.
HT: Lady in the Pew
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said the Catholic Church would not change its position on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, reported the Catholic News Agency this morning.
In an interview with Columbia’s Radio Cadena Nacional, Cardinal Trujillo said the Vatican “maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms” and said Pope Benedict XVI has not called for any studies on altering the prohibition against condom use.
“As a dicastery we do not have any instruction or any indication to the contrary, to carry out a study about something new with regards to condoms,” he said.
Retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini, known for his liberal opinions on social issues, commented last month that condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS was “the lesser evil.”
...
A vocal supporter of the Church’s teaching on contraception, Cardinal Trujillo said the recent statements by retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini “are nothing more than his own personal opinions which do not reflect [Church] teaching.” He said Cardinal Martini “should explain how the condom prevents AIDS if it is true he said it is a lesser evil.”
Cardinal Trujillo said the Church believes the only way to truly combat AIDS is through fidelity and chastity, which are the only morally acceptable means. Contraception damages the integrity of the full gift of self, which is intrinsic to the sexual act.
Which story stands in stark contrast to some scrivening over the weekend (Reuters? AP?) which damn near canonized rubbers in Africa on some pretext.
We should add that Cdl. Trujillo's comments on Cdl. Martini's rebellious jabber are quite direct, for the Vatican.
HT: Lady in the Pew
Solemnity at St Peter's
The Swiss Guard is celebrating 500 years (!!) of service to the Pope, and at the Mass the other day, none other than Mozart's "Coronation Mass" for the event, with the Cleveland Orchestra, chorus, and soloists.
Such is the understanding of music for the liturgy of Benedict XVI.
It seems irrelevant that Rembert Weakland, OSB, condemned use of that Mass.
Irrelevant, indeed...
HT: Amy Welborn
Such is the understanding of music for the liturgy of Benedict XVI.
It seems irrelevant that Rembert Weakland, OSB, condemned use of that Mass.
Irrelevant, indeed...
HT: Amy Welborn
Stolen Without Shame
This is cute.
A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House," for instance, is feminine: "la casa." "Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz." A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The women's group concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and,
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The men's group, however, decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and,
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
HT: Clint
A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House," for instance, is feminine: "la casa." "Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz." A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The women's group concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and,
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The men's group, however, decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and,
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
HT: Clint
Wisconsin the "Main Event" for Homosex Marriage?
Really!
We are honored as the "main event" in the campaign to allow homosexual marriage:
Wisconsin...is emerging as the main event in the nation's ballot battles over same-sex unions. Gay rights supporters have never defeated such a referendum and are convinced Wisconsin is their best shot at ending that cross-country losing streak. Their success - in the ultimate swing state - would give the contest national significance.
"So far, the same-sex marriage proponents are O-for-everything. If they can win one, that's actually big news for them," said Marquette political scientist Christopher Wolfe, who sits on the board of the Wisconsin Coalition for Traditional Marriage, which backs the gay marriage ban.
Kind of a whole new meaning event--you know, Hon., Wisconsin!!
Predictably, our very own Senator from AlQuaeda and other Revolutionary Regions (think Lucifer) pipes up:
Senate Democrat Russ Feingold vowed to help defeat the Wisconsin referendum, declaring that marriage "is not always and should not always be between a man and a woman."
The JSOnline editors forgot to use the Key Word: Maverick.
As a political matter, Feingold's stand could enhance his image among liberal voters as a fearless progressive, on top of sharp stands against the Iraq war and the Patriot Act and domestic surveillance. But it also could marginalize him among more tradition-minded voters and fuel questions even among Democrats about his national electability.
"It goes against a lot of what people were brought up to believe, let's face it," Feingold said in an interview last week. He said he declared his views because he was going to have to vote on the Wisconsin referendum.
"I thought it was best just to say what I really have concluded, that this is really the ultimate civil rights issue, not just a state's rights issue, and that I support gay marriage. If two people care enough about each other that they want to get married, they ought to be able to," he said.
...gay rights groups and allies have organized early and avidly through a group called Fair Wisconsin.
Which was recently promoted by Fr. Carl Last and his close personal friend, Fr. Diedrichs, the pastor of All Saints' Church in what is another embarassement to Abp. Dolan, we presume.
We are honored as the "main event" in the campaign to allow homosexual marriage:
Wisconsin...is emerging as the main event in the nation's ballot battles over same-sex unions. Gay rights supporters have never defeated such a referendum and are convinced Wisconsin is their best shot at ending that cross-country losing streak. Their success - in the ultimate swing state - would give the contest national significance.
"So far, the same-sex marriage proponents are O-for-everything. If they can win one, that's actually big news for them," said Marquette political scientist Christopher Wolfe, who sits on the board of the Wisconsin Coalition for Traditional Marriage, which backs the gay marriage ban.
Kind of a whole new meaning event--you know, Hon., Wisconsin!!
Predictably, our very own Senator from AlQuaeda and other Revolutionary Regions (think Lucifer) pipes up:
Senate Democrat Russ Feingold vowed to help defeat the Wisconsin referendum, declaring that marriage "is not always and should not always be between a man and a woman."
The JSOnline editors forgot to use the Key Word: Maverick.
As a political matter, Feingold's stand could enhance his image among liberal voters as a fearless progressive, on top of sharp stands against the Iraq war and the Patriot Act and domestic surveillance. But it also could marginalize him among more tradition-minded voters and fuel questions even among Democrats about his national electability.
"It goes against a lot of what people were brought up to believe, let's face it," Feingold said in an interview last week. He said he declared his views because he was going to have to vote on the Wisconsin referendum.
"I thought it was best just to say what I really have concluded, that this is really the ultimate civil rights issue, not just a state's rights issue, and that I support gay marriage. If two people care enough about each other that they want to get married, they ought to be able to," he said.
...gay rights groups and allies have organized early and avidly through a group called Fair Wisconsin.
Which was recently promoted by Fr. Carl Last and his close personal friend, Fr. Diedrichs, the pastor of All Saints' Church in what is another embarassement to Abp. Dolan, we presume.
About Kenosha Child Rapists...
The 14-year-old girl was found and returned to Mom.
Drunk and raped.
Suspects are ID'd, 2 Hispanics. Somehow or other, the reporter for Channels 12 and 6 forgot to ask the cop shop one important question:
ARE THE ACCUSED KIDNAP/RAPE SUSPECTS HERE LEGALLY???
Drunk and raped.
Suspects are ID'd, 2 Hispanics. Somehow or other, the reporter for Channels 12 and 6 forgot to ask the cop shop one important question:
ARE THE ACCUSED KIDNAP/RAPE SUSPECTS HERE LEGALLY???
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
TABOR--In Real
With all due respect to those few, proud Conservatives who have been talking up TABOR for the last eight years, now somewhat disappointed with the results of their labors in our fabled Legislature, let's look at this proposal again.
1) TABOR should control spending, not revenues. Spending drives revenues, not the vice-versa. We know that our wunderkind Leggies (and Governors) CAN spend whatever they take in; it's important to stop them from spending.
2) TABOR should be based on a percentage of COLA in Wisconsin; we can look at .75. Reason? The vast majority of State spending is spending on personnel. We can protect them (to some extent) and still NOT increase State revenues.
3) TABOR should only control State expenditures. This is based on a very significant principle--that of subsidiarity. Locals and schools have elections, too; it's up to the localities to determine what is "right" in tax/expense for their own community.
The opportunity will arise again next year, after the Doyle Auto-Destruct program works its way through the ballot boxes.
Rep. Lassee should begin planning now with Sen. Kanavas and candidate Green for a final push to victory early in 2007.
1) TABOR should control spending, not revenues. Spending drives revenues, not the vice-versa. We know that our wunderkind Leggies (and Governors) CAN spend whatever they take in; it's important to stop them from spending.
2) TABOR should be based on a percentage of COLA in Wisconsin; we can look at .75. Reason? The vast majority of State spending is spending on personnel. We can protect them (to some extent) and still NOT increase State revenues.
3) TABOR should only control State expenditures. This is based on a very significant principle--that of subsidiarity. Locals and schools have elections, too; it's up to the localities to determine what is "right" in tax/expense for their own community.
The opportunity will arise again next year, after the Doyle Auto-Destruct program works its way through the ballot boxes.
Rep. Lassee should begin planning now with Sen. Kanavas and candidate Green for a final push to victory early in 2007.
Big Brother Arrives in NYC
From Overlawyered:
the New York City government has begun "legally requiring laboratories that do medical testing to report to the Health Department the results of blood-sugar tests for city residents with diabetes -- along with the names, ages, and contact information on those patients. City officials are not only analyzing these data to assess patterns and changes in diabetes prevalence in the city, but are planning 'interventions.' ... If you wish to keep your medical data confidential, you cannot." Coercive public-health techniques originally seen as needed to combat communicable and infectious disease will now be deployed in hopes of correcting less-than-healthy individual behavior. Where's HIPAA, the manically overbroad federal patient-privacy law, now that it might actually do some good?
Somehow I recall that this stuff is supposed to be Federally protected private info--except (perhaps) NYC health Nazis have found exception under 'communicable/infectious'...
the New York City government has begun "legally requiring laboratories that do medical testing to report to the Health Department the results of blood-sugar tests for city residents with diabetes -- along with the names, ages, and contact information on those patients. City officials are not only analyzing these data to assess patterns and changes in diabetes prevalence in the city, but are planning 'interventions.' ... If you wish to keep your medical data confidential, you cannot." Coercive public-health techniques originally seen as needed to combat communicable and infectious disease will now be deployed in hopes of correcting less-than-healthy individual behavior. Where's HIPAA, the manically overbroad federal patient-privacy law, now that it might actually do some good?
Somehow I recall that this stuff is supposed to be Federally protected private info--except (perhaps) NYC health Nazis have found exception under 'communicable/infectious'...
Lies and Murder
There's an old saying to the effect that lying and murder are usually found together.
Yup.
From JunkYardBlog:
PP [Planned Parenthood] is circulating the story of a girl who walked into a Crisis Pregnancy Center (a clinic to help women through a difficult pregnancy) instead of the Planned Parenthood Clinic (a chop-shop for unborn babies) in the same parking lot. According to pro-abortion blog I’mNotSorry.net, the CPC then harassed the woman and called the police, claiming that a minor was being forced into an abortion against her will, and then harassed her at school and urged her classmates to harass her not to go through with it.
Which sounded a little funny and vague to John at Generations for Life, who wondered how pro-life activists can just show up at a school and start lobbying and harassing people these days. It didn’t make sense to him, so he fact-checked them something wicked. He narrowed it down to the only place in Indiana where a CPC shares a parking lot with a Planned Parenthood clinic, and…
Didn’t happen. No police report. No lawsuit. Na. Da.
As the Raving Atheist notes in the comments, PP is raising money off of this debunked story and may run afoul of Federal mail-fraud laws. They certainly will if they continue to rely on this story knowing it is substantially false and that no police response ever occurred. And then there is the possibility of a libel suit from the CPC; the story certainly contained enough detail for Generations for Life to identify them.
Murder and lies.
Yup.
From JunkYardBlog:
PP [Planned Parenthood] is circulating the story of a girl who walked into a Crisis Pregnancy Center (a clinic to help women through a difficult pregnancy) instead of the Planned Parenthood Clinic (a chop-shop for unborn babies) in the same parking lot. According to pro-abortion blog I’mNotSorry.net, the CPC then harassed the woman and called the police, claiming that a minor was being forced into an abortion against her will, and then harassed her at school and urged her classmates to harass her not to go through with it.
Which sounded a little funny and vague to John at Generations for Life, who wondered how pro-life activists can just show up at a school and start lobbying and harassing people these days. It didn’t make sense to him, so he fact-checked them something wicked. He narrowed it down to the only place in Indiana where a CPC shares a parking lot with a Planned Parenthood clinic, and…
Didn’t happen. No police report. No lawsuit. Na. Da.
As the Raving Atheist notes in the comments, PP is raising money off of this debunked story and may run afoul of Federal mail-fraud laws. They certainly will if they continue to rely on this story knowing it is substantially false and that no police response ever occurred. And then there is the possibility of a libel suit from the CPC; the story certainly contained enough detail for Generations for Life to identify them.
Murder and lies.
Bush Self-Destructed
If GWB doesn't like his approval numbers, he can look at the folks he double-crossed:
Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre.
Just 33 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, the lowest of his presidency. That compares with 36 percent approval in early April. Forty-five percent of self-described conservatives now disapprove of the president.
The souring of the nation's mood has accelerated the past three months, with the percentage of people describing the nation on the wrong track rising 12 points to a new high of 73 percent. Six of 10 conservatives say America is headed in the wrong direction.
Conservative voters blame the White House and Congress for runaway government spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. Those concerns come on top of public worries about Iraq, the economy and gasoline prices.
I dunno about that Federal Homosexual Marriage amendment. It's the taxes.
Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre.
Just 33 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, the lowest of his presidency. That compares with 36 percent approval in early April. Forty-five percent of self-described conservatives now disapprove of the president.
The souring of the nation's mood has accelerated the past three months, with the percentage of people describing the nation on the wrong track rising 12 points to a new high of 73 percent. Six of 10 conservatives say America is headed in the wrong direction.
Conservative voters blame the White House and Congress for runaway government spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. Those concerns come on top of public worries about Iraq, the economy and gasoline prices.
I dunno about that Federal Homosexual Marriage amendment. It's the taxes.
Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) Spending Problem
The version you'll get from the EgoManiac Wannabe is that "taxes are too low."
Of course, spending could just be, ah, too high. And our Senator Feinie, adjusting his tinfoil hat, marches in to the Senate chamber to spend a LOT of money.
Here's what Feinie voted for:
On Tuesday, senators added another $1.7 billion for the Katrina cleanup — on top of the already-allotted $28.8 billion requested by the president.
Other pet projects in the Senate bill include $4 billion in aid to farmers to compensate for rising energy costs and drought and natural disaster relief, $800 million in highway funding, $1 billion in state grants and $1.1 billion for the Gulf Coast's seafood industry.
On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., put forward and the Senate passed an amendment adding $289 million to compensate first responders for complications that arise from taking an experimental flu vaccine. Another $7 million was added for water monitoring in Hawaii, which recently was hit by a torrential rainstorm. And $6 million was approved to aid Hawaiian sugar interests.
All this was added to a measure that contained $65.7 billion for war operations and $28.8 billion for hurricane relief, including grants to states to build and repair housing and $3.9 billion for levees and flood control projects in Louisiana. That last sum was offset in the bill by money that had been intended for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Note that "farmers" scored another $4BILLION to offset "energy costs." Will that make the price of bread go down?
Well--at least in Wisconsin, farmers will be able to afford the 10% guaranteed profit margin at the PDQ store, eh?
Of course, spending could just be, ah, too high. And our Senator Feinie, adjusting his tinfoil hat, marches in to the Senate chamber to spend a LOT of money.
Here's what Feinie voted for:
On Tuesday, senators added another $1.7 billion for the Katrina cleanup — on top of the already-allotted $28.8 billion requested by the president.
Other pet projects in the Senate bill include $4 billion in aid to farmers to compensate for rising energy costs and drought and natural disaster relief, $800 million in highway funding, $1 billion in state grants and $1.1 billion for the Gulf Coast's seafood industry.
On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., put forward and the Senate passed an amendment adding $289 million to compensate first responders for complications that arise from taking an experimental flu vaccine. Another $7 million was added for water monitoring in Hawaii, which recently was hit by a torrential rainstorm. And $6 million was approved to aid Hawaiian sugar interests.
All this was added to a measure that contained $65.7 billion for war operations and $28.8 billion for hurricane relief, including grants to states to build and repair housing and $3.9 billion for levees and flood control projects in Louisiana. That last sum was offset in the bill by money that had been intended for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Note that "farmers" scored another $4BILLION to offset "energy costs." Will that make the price of bread go down?
Well--at least in Wisconsin, farmers will be able to afford the 10% guaranteed profit margin at the PDQ store, eh?
Party In Government--In DC, Too
As we all know, Patrick Kennedy, son of the Swimmer, drove into an obstruction the other night.
He says he was taking scrip meds which "confused" him.
The American Spectator blog has another take:
The scandal in this is not that Kennedy was driving impaired. Apparently that is a God-given right and recreational activity for the Kennedy clan. The angle in this story is that Capitol Hill offiicials once again waved off police to make the problem go away in a manner similar to the McKinney affair. Any other citizen would be in cuffs, heading for testing and an early morning in the drunk tank. Kennedy got a ride home.
Yah. The P I G bunch.
Where's our cake?
He says he was taking scrip meds which "confused" him.
The American Spectator blog has another take:
The scandal in this is not that Kennedy was driving impaired. Apparently that is a God-given right and recreational activity for the Kennedy clan. The angle in this story is that Capitol Hill offiicials once again waved off police to make the problem go away in a manner similar to the McKinney affair. Any other citizen would be in cuffs, heading for testing and an early morning in the drunk tank. Kennedy got a ride home.
Yah. The P I G bunch.
Where's our cake?
More Spit, More PIGs
PIG members who force Wisconsin consumers to overpay at the pump:
BRESKE DECKER ELLIS ERPENBACH FITZGERALD HANSEN HARSDORF JAUCH KAPANKE LASSA LEIBHAM MILLER OLSEN PLALE RISSER ROBSON STEPP TAYLOR
WIRCH
Mike Ellis doesn't care: he's riding his wife's horses out at the stables. Fitzgerald and Olsen are confused most of the time.
Curious that "Little Guy" advocates such as Robson, Risser, and Taylor seem to think that screwing little guys is perfectly acceptable in SOME cases.
BRESKE DECKER ELLIS ERPENBACH FITZGERALD HANSEN HARSDORF JAUCH KAPANKE LASSA LEIBHAM MILLER OLSEN PLALE RISSER ROBSON STEPP TAYLOR
WIRCH
Mike Ellis doesn't care: he's riding his wife's horses out at the stables. Fitzgerald and Olsen are confused most of the time.
Curious that "Little Guy" advocates such as Robson, Risser, and Taylor seem to think that screwing little guys is perfectly acceptable in SOME cases.
See These Folks? Spit. Spit Hard. Modified!
Voting to maintain their PIG powers last night:
But seven Republicans joined 13 Democrats in opposing that constitutional amendment. Those seven were Ron Brown of Eau Claire, Robert Cowles of Green Bay, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, Dan Kapanke of La Crosse, Luther Olsen of Berlin, and Carol Roessler of Oshkosh.
Modify your spittage around Sen. Fitzgerald, who actually voted FOR the TPA (the tougher one) before voting against this one.
But seven Republicans joined 13 Democrats in opposing that constitutional amendment. Those seven were Ron Brown of Eau Claire, Robert Cowles of Green Bay, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, Dan Kapanke of La Crosse, Luther Olsen of Berlin, and Carol Roessler of Oshkosh.
Modify your spittage around Sen. Fitzgerald, who actually voted FOR the TPA (the tougher one) before voting against this one.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
SCRUB That Hard-Drive Before Recycling!
Computerworld reminds us of The Importance of Security:
Anybody with five bucks and a little patience may be able to score sensitive corporate or customer data on eBay.
If your organization has engaged in the common practice of disk drive recycling -- selling unneeded disk drives directly or through a service -- company data might wind up for sale on eBay Inc.'s auction site, even if the drives have been wiped first.
Idaho Power Co. discovered that possibility last week as it scrambled to track down company disk drives that had been sold on eBay without having been scrubbed first
Surprise!
Anybody with five bucks and a little patience may be able to score sensitive corporate or customer data on eBay.
If your organization has engaged in the common practice of disk drive recycling -- selling unneeded disk drives directly or through a service -- company data might wind up for sale on eBay Inc.'s auction site, even if the drives have been wiped first.
Idaho Power Co. discovered that possibility last week as it scrambled to track down company disk drives that had been sold on eBay without having been scrubbed first
Surprise!
Mayors and "Gun Control"
Seattle's mayor was in Noo Yawk City with Milk-Carton Barrett, and already knows what he needs to "control gun violence" in Seattle:
- Statewide assault weapons ban
- Mandatory gun locks (including locks on weapons STORED IN HOMES)
- Improved sharing of gun-trace information
- End to gun show "loophole."
Yeah, I know. Looks sort of like the last several hundred vapid and meaningless requests.
S'pose Tom Barrett will haul out the same stuff?
I could bet a nice meal on it, and collect.
Two-Fisted Diplomacy
Red China wants to run the Catholic Church, at least within its borders. So the PRC-Catholic Church (not to be confused with the ROMAN Catholic Church) consecrated a couple of new Bishops.
This is a no-no. Under Canon Law, the Pope must personally approve all Bishop-candidates. Needless to say, Hu's boyzz did what they wanted, anyway.
The Vatican response?
The Holy Father learned of this news with profound displeasure, since an action so important for the life of the Church as an episcopal ordination was accomplished in both cases without regard for what communion with the Pope requires.
This amounts to a grave injury to Church unity, to which -- as was understood -- severe canonical sanctions are attached (cf. Canon 1382).
According to communications received, bishops and priests have been targets of strong duress and threats -- on the part of officials outside the Church -- to take part in episcopal ordinations which, since they lack a papal mandate, are not only illegitimate but contrary to conscience. Some bishops countered these pressures with a refusal, while others could only submit to them with great interior suffering. Incidents of this kind tear wounds not only in the Catholic community but within the conscience of the individual.
THAT was the response from Stato, which could be termed, ah, direct. In addition, the Church has excommunicated both the newly-consecrated Bishops AND the Bishops who consecrated them.
George?? Condi?? Remember that "human rights" part of the MFN/PNTR treaty?
HT: CWN
This is a no-no. Under Canon Law, the Pope must personally approve all Bishop-candidates. Needless to say, Hu's boyzz did what they wanted, anyway.
The Vatican response?
The Holy Father learned of this news with profound displeasure, since an action so important for the life of the Church as an episcopal ordination was accomplished in both cases without regard for what communion with the Pope requires.
This amounts to a grave injury to Church unity, to which -- as was understood -- severe canonical sanctions are attached (cf. Canon 1382).
According to communications received, bishops and priests have been targets of strong duress and threats -- on the part of officials outside the Church -- to take part in episcopal ordinations which, since they lack a papal mandate, are not only illegitimate but contrary to conscience. Some bishops countered these pressures with a refusal, while others could only submit to them with great interior suffering. Incidents of this kind tear wounds not only in the Catholic community but within the conscience of the individual.
THAT was the response from Stato, which could be termed, ah, direct. In addition, the Church has excommunicated both the newly-consecrated Bishops AND the Bishops who consecrated them.
George?? Condi?? Remember that "human rights" part of the MFN/PNTR treaty?
HT: CWN
Big Government Republican (Hint: He's GWB)
McIlheran discovered an interesting post by Jonah Goldberg of NRO:
"Bush is certainly to the right of Nixon on many issues," writes Goldberg. "But at the philosophical level, he shares the Nixonians' supreme confidence in the power of the state. Bush rejects limited government and many of the philosophical assumptions that underlie that position. He favors instead strong government."
Well, this "strong Gummint" is certainly a component of Folkbum's unhappiness with the Patriot Act.
But there's no question that the "No Child...," the McPain-Feinie Repression of Free Speech Act, the enormous, growing deficit (~6% of GDP, the worst in the 1st world) and the consistent refusal to veto any Party-In-Government spending are signs.
Not to mention his lineage--old "Globaloney George" himself.
"Bush is certainly to the right of Nixon on many issues," writes Goldberg. "But at the philosophical level, he shares the Nixonians' supreme confidence in the power of the state. Bush rejects limited government and many of the philosophical assumptions that underlie that position. He favors instead strong government."
Well, this "strong Gummint" is certainly a component of Folkbum's unhappiness with the Patriot Act.
But there's no question that the "No Child...," the McPain-Feinie Repression of Free Speech Act, the enormous, growing deficit (~6% of GDP, the worst in the 1st world) and the consistent refusal to veto any Party-In-Government spending are signs.
Not to mention his lineage--old "Globaloney George" himself.
Urban Land Institute: Drop Dead, Homeowner
The MJS runs a story today about a couple whose home assessment jumped quite a bit in the past few years. They live in the Brewers' Hill area.
Waaaayyyy down at the bottom of the story is an absolutely chilling quote:
William Hudnut, a former mayor of Indianapolis who is now a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute, said inner cities throughout the nation are seeing a similar phenomenon.
"Homes that you used to be able to buy for $5,000 or $10,000 are now going for 20 times as much," Hudnut said. "It's a bad thing for the person being forced out, but we need to revive urban neighborhoods."
Remember the line "We had to destroy the city in order to save it."?
Waaaayyyy down at the bottom of the story is an absolutely chilling quote:
William Hudnut, a former mayor of Indianapolis who is now a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute, said inner cities throughout the nation are seeing a similar phenomenon.
"Homes that you used to be able to buy for $5,000 or $10,000 are now going for 20 times as much," Hudnut said. "It's a bad thing for the person being forced out, but we need to revive urban neighborhoods."
Remember the line "We had to destroy the city in order to save it."?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Al Lassee--Daft or Dangerous?
Al Lassee, who evidently thinks that he is an Emperor, doesn't worry about stuff like "open meetings" laws.
You recall that Al Lassee ALSO believes in Taxation Without Representation--the now-dead automatic gas tax increase...
In any case, a committee approved the bill last week by circulating written ballots to the office of the committee chairman, Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), rather than by a vote in a public meeting. The balloting came five months after a Dane County judge ruled the practice violates the state's open meetings law.
It took considerable maneuvering by Senate President Alan Lasee (R-De Pere) to get the measure to a vote.
The first committee he sent it to indicated it would not pass the measure, so he sent it to a second committee. When that committee declined to act, Lasee directed the bill to the Energy, Utilities and Information Technology Committee.
That committee has no oversight of legal and insurance matters, but does have a sympathetic chairman in Cowles.
...In December, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess ruled that legislative leaders violated the open meetings law in 2003 by deciding to fire the Legislature's top two computer workers by ballot. Last week, he ordered the state to pay about $40,000 in legal fees for the fired workers.
Until his ruling, Senate committees routinely voted by ballot. Since then, committees have voted by ballots just twice.
Both times, the votes came from Cowles' committee.
For perhaps the first time in recorded history, I think Ed Garvey is right:
"They ought to be following their own rules and applying them to themselves," [Garvey] said. "Either you believe in open government or you don't."
In effect, the legislation would force insurance companies to pay cleanup costs for the Fox River, regardless of the terms of the insurance policy. This will take the paper companies off the hook. Gee. I guess that there are no casualty-insurers located in Lassee's district!
As observed elsewhere in blogdom, an ethics bill (1188) ... completely ignores a group of people who collect a state paycheck and benefits and do nothing but campaign for the five months prior to the election: state legislators. The tail is pinned on the donkey here.
Scratch "donkey" above. Make it Jackass.
HT: The American Mind
You recall that Al Lassee ALSO believes in Taxation Without Representation--the now-dead automatic gas tax increase...
In any case, a committee approved the bill last week by circulating written ballots to the office of the committee chairman, Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), rather than by a vote in a public meeting. The balloting came five months after a Dane County judge ruled the practice violates the state's open meetings law.
It took considerable maneuvering by Senate President Alan Lasee (R-De Pere) to get the measure to a vote.
The first committee he sent it to indicated it would not pass the measure, so he sent it to a second committee. When that committee declined to act, Lasee directed the bill to the Energy, Utilities and Information Technology Committee.
That committee has no oversight of legal and insurance matters, but does have a sympathetic chairman in Cowles.
...In December, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess ruled that legislative leaders violated the open meetings law in 2003 by deciding to fire the Legislature's top two computer workers by ballot. Last week, he ordered the state to pay about $40,000 in legal fees for the fired workers.
Until his ruling, Senate committees routinely voted by ballot. Since then, committees have voted by ballots just twice.
Both times, the votes came from Cowles' committee.
For perhaps the first time in recorded history, I think Ed Garvey is right:
"They ought to be following their own rules and applying them to themselves," [Garvey] said. "Either you believe in open government or you don't."
In effect, the legislation would force insurance companies to pay cleanup costs for the Fox River, regardless of the terms of the insurance policy. This will take the paper companies off the hook. Gee. I guess that there are no casualty-insurers located in Lassee's district!
As observed elsewhere in blogdom, an ethics bill (1188) ... completely ignores a group of people who collect a state paycheck and benefits and do nothing but campaign for the five months prior to the election: state legislators. The tail is pinned on the donkey here.
Scratch "donkey" above. Make it Jackass.
HT: The American Mind
Heroin, Kids and Afghan Reality
In the last few months we've heard a lot about high-school kids using heroin, and about heroin addicts getting "hot shots" of very pure horse, hospitalizing them.
The stuff is cheap these days, according to reports.
That's because there's a "bumper crop" of poppies in Afghanistan, and the country is still lawless. (According to this report, it's far worse than reported, and going downhill quickly.) The warlords in Afghanistan earn their AK-47 budgets by selling heroin.
The blog linked above is very interesting; it takes time to read the entries, but he's not afraid to call the Wall Street Journal's take on Afghan security "bullshit."
And Mr. Yon seems to know.
The stuff is cheap these days, according to reports.
That's because there's a "bumper crop" of poppies in Afghanistan, and the country is still lawless. (According to this report, it's far worse than reported, and going downhill quickly.) The warlords in Afghanistan earn their AK-47 budgets by selling heroin.
The blog linked above is very interesting; it takes time to read the entries, but he's not afraid to call the Wall Street Journal's take on Afghan security "bullshit."
And Mr. Yon seems to know.
Pun? or Question
The Warrior tells the tale of a Massachusetts school district which introduced a "gay marriage" between two princes, and lived happily ever after, we suppose. (This was pre-AIDS.)
At any rate, the Warrior has a distinctly ambiguous question:
Or is this the politically correct world were even fairy-tales must serve a political agenda?
Umnnhh, (playing straight-man) Prof: it IS a fairy tale.
At any rate, the Warrior has a distinctly ambiguous question:
Or is this the politically correct world were even fairy-tales must serve a political agenda?
Umnnhh, (playing straight-man) Prof: it IS a fairy tale.
AB 1020 Passes Assembly
Last night, AB 1020 (the Castle Doctrine bill) passsed the Assembly and is now "in the hopper" in the State Senate.
The Senate's calendar does not show a date for hearings at this time.
The Senate's calendar does not show a date for hearings at this time.
Surprise!! We Shoot Back!
In quiet Wauwatosa, there's a business district running west from 60th street.
Well--it USED to be quiet, before Junior McGee (race-pimp) forgot his manners in the presence of the police.
Then it seems that a couple of small retail businesses have been robbed. Well, almost.
The second small businessman was armed.
Heh.
An 18-year-old robbery suspect was in critical condition after being shot during a holdup about noon Tuesday at Aqua-Terra Aquariums, 6410 W. North Ave.
Police arrested a 17-year-old robbery suspect inside the store and took in for questioning the 53-year-old man who fired the shot.
...Police were called to Aqua-Terra Aquariums shortly after noon, responding to separate reports of a shooting called in from the aquarium shop and from a home in the 6300 block of W. North Ave., where the shooting victim had fled.
Officers surrounded the store, where the 17-year-old was apprehended, and the 18-year-old was taken out of the house on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
The police confiscated a "number of weapons" from the shop. With Wisconsin's constitution and WI Supreme Court decisions regarding "self-defense," they are likely to be returned quickly, and retained in the shop--just in case somebody is stupid enough to try again.
Well--it USED to be quiet, before Junior McGee (race-pimp) forgot his manners in the presence of the police.
Then it seems that a couple of small retail businesses have been robbed. Well, almost.
The second small businessman was armed.
Heh.
An 18-year-old robbery suspect was in critical condition after being shot during a holdup about noon Tuesday at Aqua-Terra Aquariums, 6410 W. North Ave.
Police arrested a 17-year-old robbery suspect inside the store and took in for questioning the 53-year-old man who fired the shot.
...Police were called to Aqua-Terra Aquariums shortly after noon, responding to separate reports of a shooting called in from the aquarium shop and from a home in the 6300 block of W. North Ave., where the shooting victim had fled.
Officers surrounded the store, where the 17-year-old was apprehended, and the 18-year-old was taken out of the house on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
The police confiscated a "number of weapons" from the shop. With Wisconsin's constitution and WI Supreme Court decisions regarding "self-defense," they are likely to be returned quickly, and retained in the shop--just in case somebody is stupid enough to try again.
The US Senate and Porky Pig
As you might have expected, Sheets Byrd (D-KKK) is unhappy with the idea of pulling the pork from the "Emergency Appropriation" bill now in the Senate.
He was joined by his newfound pal, ex-cheerleader and Perma-Wig wearer, Trent Lott (R-Piggsville,) who wants to give $200MM to Northrup.
To add to the irony, Sheets is now opposing a line-item veto bill which he supported during the ignominious reign of X42.
HT: Captain's Quarters
He was joined by his newfound pal, ex-cheerleader and Perma-Wig wearer, Trent Lott (R-Piggsville,) who wants to give $200MM to Northrup.
To add to the irony, Sheets is now opposing a line-item veto bill which he supported during the ignominious reign of X42.
HT: Captain's Quarters
Twenty-Six Million Down the Chute
So here's the deal:
In the beginning, UW writes its own payroll system--it's not uncommon, been done a million times.
Things change. Payroll gets a bit more complex. UW decides they're better off putting up a new payroll system, and the Lawson package looks pretty good.
That was about the last thing that made sense.
Twenty-six MILLION dollars later, seven YEARS into the project, the Lawson system is still not running.
Do the Regents still have full confidence in the UW-System management team?
Hello!!! Hello!!! Regents!!! Where ARE you???
In the beginning, UW writes its own payroll system--it's not uncommon, been done a million times.
Things change. Payroll gets a bit more complex. UW decides they're better off putting up a new payroll system, and the Lawson package looks pretty good.
That was about the last thing that made sense.
Twenty-six MILLION dollars later, seven YEARS into the project, the Lawson system is still not running.
Do the Regents still have full confidence in the UW-System management team?
Hello!!! Hello!!! Regents!!! Where ARE you???
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
The REAL News Is from Jessica: ILLEGAL Alien Robbed the Bank
Again.
Yah, hey--Jessica told you all about it--the bank-job failure in Waukesha is an illegal. The 6:00 Channel 4 news didn't mention that, even though they had Paul Bucher on camera for a while.
The gun retailer tells us that the weapon was purchased before the 9/11 event, which DID have an impact on handgun-sale paperwork.
However, it's likely that the illegal did have one thing for ID: a valid Wisconsin Driver's License.
Think of it. If La Voces Frontera had their way earlier this year, Wisconsin DL's would still be available to all sorts of folks who may even try to shoot cops.
Thank God for Jim Sensenbrenner, eh?
Yah, hey--Jessica told you all about it--the bank-job failure in Waukesha is an illegal. The 6:00 Channel 4 news didn't mention that, even though they had Paul Bucher on camera for a while.
The gun retailer tells us that the weapon was purchased before the 9/11 event, which DID have an impact on handgun-sale paperwork.
However, it's likely that the illegal did have one thing for ID: a valid Wisconsin Driver's License.
Think of it. If La Voces Frontera had their way earlier this year, Wisconsin DL's would still be available to all sorts of folks who may even try to shoot cops.
Thank God for Jim Sensenbrenner, eh?
Another Blogroll Addition
While my curmudgeonliness and occasionally pointed sarcasm are bothersome to certain faint-hearted, sensitive souls, I am distinctly a "nice guy" in comparison to the Caveman, who blogs on Catholic and political issues.
So he's going on the blogroll. You should check in there, every once in a while--as long as you aren't faint of heart, sensitive, or one of his targets.
So he's going on the blogroll. You should check in there, every once in a while--as long as you aren't faint of heart, sensitive, or one of his targets.
Belling and the Facts
In his discussion of the Sudan/Darfur problem, Belling has bought into the highly-sanitized version of the slaughter: that it is "genocide."
Wrong--but hey, it's what George Clooney calls it, too, right?
The Sudanese Government, backed by the money of Red China, is targeting Christians in the northern part of the country, and animists in the southern portion of the country.
The Sudanese Government is Muslim.
This is religious, not ethnic--except that some ethnics are Christian, some are animist--and the ones with the guns and money are Muslim.
Now and then a Google search can be helpful, Mark. There's history here--it's been going on for at LEAST 4 years.
Wrong--but hey, it's what George Clooney calls it, too, right?
The Sudanese Government, backed by the money of Red China, is targeting Christians in the northern part of the country, and animists in the southern portion of the country.
The Sudanese Government is Muslim.
This is religious, not ethnic--except that some ethnics are Christian, some are animist--and the ones with the guns and money are Muslim.
Now and then a Google search can be helpful, Mark. There's history here--it's been going on for at LEAST 4 years.
General Franco and REAL History
Your children are likely to read the highly-sanitized (and quite inaccurate) "history" of the Spanish Civil War, which looks like this:
"The Spanish Civil War was the "trial run" for WW2. It was a clash of the political right on one side (Fascists with Hitler and Mussolini as the senior international figures and General Franco as the leader of Spain) and the political left supported by Communists, Socialists, liberal democrats and people who were worried by the rise of the far right with Hitler's Nazis as the main concern. The Germans used the War as a test bed for their new equipment and tactics. Franco "won" the war merely because he did not lose. Spain did not take an active role in WW2 although many feel that Spain supported the Nazis."
It gets a couple of things right--the war WAS in Spain, and preceded WWII.
A better picture, however, is found here.
The Generalissimo was not without fault (especially his letting down of the Carlists), but was by and large a great figure in Western history. El Caudillo saved Spain and the Church in Spain from utter ruin. The Spanish Civil war would have happened with or without his involvement. The difference is, that without his leadership Spain would have most likely emerged as a thoroughly Bolshevik puppet regime, thereby finishing off the Spanish Church, which had already suffered the martyrdom of 12 bishops, 283 nuns 2,365 monks and 4,184 priests, and would have placed Europe in a far more precarious post-WWII situation.
HT: College Catholic
"The Spanish Civil War was the "trial run" for WW2. It was a clash of the political right on one side (Fascists with Hitler and Mussolini as the senior international figures and General Franco as the leader of Spain) and the political left supported by Communists, Socialists, liberal democrats and people who were worried by the rise of the far right with Hitler's Nazis as the main concern. The Germans used the War as a test bed for their new equipment and tactics. Franco "won" the war merely because he did not lose. Spain did not take an active role in WW2 although many feel that Spain supported the Nazis."
It gets a couple of things right--the war WAS in Spain, and preceded WWII.
A better picture, however, is found here.
The Generalissimo was not without fault (especially his letting down of the Carlists), but was by and large a great figure in Western history. El Caudillo saved Spain and the Church in Spain from utter ruin. The Spanish Civil war would have happened with or without his involvement. The difference is, that without his leadership Spain would have most likely emerged as a thoroughly Bolshevik puppet regime, thereby finishing off the Spanish Church, which had already suffered the martyrdom of 12 bishops, 283 nuns 2,365 monks and 4,184 priests, and would have placed Europe in a far more precarious post-WWII situation.
HT: College Catholic
One Jihadist Bites the Dust
You may recall the well-fed college prof in Florida who was tried for (and found guilty of) fundraising for Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
He denied it up and down, and his pals at CAIR, a propaganda group, swore to every one of his lies.
Well, he got a surprising sentence: the maximum (plus deportation, later.)
A federal judge yesterday lambasted a former Florida college professor, Sami Al-Arian, as a liar and "master manipulator," before sentencing him to nearly five years in prison for providing support to a Middle Eastern terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Under a plea deal finalized last month, Al-Arian, 48, agreed to admit guilt and accept a possible sentence of 46 to 57 months and eventual deportation from America. Prosecutors agreed to join defense attorneys in recommending a sentence at the low end of the range, but the judge, James Moody Jr., ignored those suggestions and imposed the maximum sentence allowed by the plea bargain.
But here's the payoff line:
Recall that al-Arian operated with impunity from his academic perch on American soil for years while American intelligence monitored his every move -- until the passage of the PATRIOT Act enabled his prosecution based on the intelligence work.
Jay Bullock's new hero was certainly not talking about THIS "Patriot Act," was he?
Another interesting note: the Federal judge is a Clinton appointee...
HT: Powerline
He denied it up and down, and his pals at CAIR, a propaganda group, swore to every one of his lies.
Well, he got a surprising sentence: the maximum (plus deportation, later.)
A federal judge yesterday lambasted a former Florida college professor, Sami Al-Arian, as a liar and "master manipulator," before sentencing him to nearly five years in prison for providing support to a Middle Eastern terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Under a plea deal finalized last month, Al-Arian, 48, agreed to admit guilt and accept a possible sentence of 46 to 57 months and eventual deportation from America. Prosecutors agreed to join defense attorneys in recommending a sentence at the low end of the range, but the judge, James Moody Jr., ignored those suggestions and imposed the maximum sentence allowed by the plea bargain.
But here's the payoff line:
Recall that al-Arian operated with impunity from his academic perch on American soil for years while American intelligence monitored his every move -- until the passage of the PATRIOT Act enabled his prosecution based on the intelligence work.
Jay Bullock's new hero was certainly not talking about THIS "Patriot Act," was he?
Another interesting note: the Federal judge is a Clinton appointee...
HT: Powerline
Blogroll Adder
The site has fascinating little bits of info about the BonzoTrialLawyers crowd, and serves up fair warning about what's coming down the pike.
It's easy to read, although a bit technical now and then; there are also some nice, intelligent discussions on the issues.
Worth reading.
Overlawyered.
It's easy to read, although a bit technical now and then; there are also some nice, intelligent discussions on the issues.
Worth reading.
Overlawyered.
Actual JOURNALISM!!
Lisa Sink asked a few questions, and deserves credit.
She was assigned the Doyle Campaign Stop in Brookfield, when BagManJim exhaled a great deal of hot air, ranting about the "Oil Companies' Profits."
So she asked a few questions:
Doyle said he did not know at what dollar amount or percentage increase oil profits should be capped, leaving that to Congress to sort out.
"Let them make decent profits," Doyle said.
Jimbo was obviously not prepared for an intelligent discussion.
Doyle did not stake a position on how excess oil profits should be returned to citizens.
THAT would require preparation, as well.
Doyle offered no support for lowering Wisconsin's gas tax of 32.9 cents a gallon, one of the highest in the nation.
How the Hell could he buy off WEAC?
He said he supports eliminating the state's 9% minimum gas markup law among oil terminals, wholesalers and retailers.
Safe position. The Republicans are bought-and-paid-for on this issue, and they control the Legislature.
Thanks, Lisa. You got him good. Don't plan on any free meals on the Governor's Mansion lawn.
She was assigned the Doyle Campaign Stop in Brookfield, when BagManJim exhaled a great deal of hot air, ranting about the "Oil Companies' Profits."
So she asked a few questions:
Doyle said he did not know at what dollar amount or percentage increase oil profits should be capped, leaving that to Congress to sort out.
"Let them make decent profits," Doyle said.
Jimbo was obviously not prepared for an intelligent discussion.
Doyle did not stake a position on how excess oil profits should be returned to citizens.
THAT would require preparation, as well.
Doyle offered no support for lowering Wisconsin's gas tax of 32.9 cents a gallon, one of the highest in the nation.
How the Hell could he buy off WEAC?
He said he supports eliminating the state's 9% minimum gas markup law among oil terminals, wholesalers and retailers.
Safe position. The Republicans are bought-and-paid-for on this issue, and they control the Legislature.
Thanks, Lisa. You got him good. Don't plan on any free meals on the Governor's Mansion lawn.
THIS Jackass Is Running for President!
Missed this item when it came out (April 29th...)
I know that money corrupts....I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government." Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ)
McCain joined Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) in the largest single abridgement of Free Speech, of course, and now he tells us he would do it again.
He also doesn't care much for the Second Amendment--
I know that money corrupts....I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government." Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ)
McCain joined Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) in the largest single abridgement of Free Speech, of course, and now he tells us he would do it again.
He also doesn't care much for the Second Amendment--
Monday, May 01, 2006
AB 1020: The "Castle Doctine"
OK. Haul out the keyboard (or pen, if you prefer) and write your Legis-critter--ask them to vote for AB 1020.
Here's a summary:
Under this bill, if a person used defensive force that was intended or likely to
cause death or great bodily harm, the court must presume that the person reasonably
believed that the force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm if: 1) the
individual against whom the force was used was in the process of unlawfully and
forcibly entering (or had already unlawfully and forcefully entered) the residence of
the person who used the force; 2) the person was present in that residence; and 3) the
person knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry was
occurring (or had occurred).
WITHOUT the bill?
In general, a person who uses force in self−defense or in the defense of another
person may not be convicted of a crime stemming from that use of force. This law
applies only when: 1) the amount of force used is reasonable; and 2) the person uses
that force to prevent or stop what he or she reasonably believes is an unlawful
interference with himself or herself or another person (such as the crime of battery).
Current law specifies that a person may use force that is intended or likely to cause
the death of or great bodily harm to another individual only if the person reasonably
believes that using such force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or great
bodily harm to himself or herself or another person
Which calls for a lot of "if/and/but" thinking in the middle of the night, when split-second decisions are called for.
The good guys:
Introduced by Representatives OWENS, ALBERS, BIES,
GUNDERSON, HAHN, JESKEWITZ, F. LASEE, LOEFFELHOLZ, MURSAU, MUSSER, NASS,
PETROWSKI and VOS, cosponsored by Senators ROESSLER, STEPP and REYNOLDS
Here's a summary:
Under this bill, if a person used defensive force that was intended or likely to
cause death or great bodily harm, the court must presume that the person reasonably
believed that the force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm if: 1) the
individual against whom the force was used was in the process of unlawfully and
forcibly entering (or had already unlawfully and forcefully entered) the residence of
the person who used the force; 2) the person was present in that residence; and 3) the
person knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry was
occurring (or had occurred).
WITHOUT the bill?
In general, a person who uses force in self−defense or in the defense of another
person may not be convicted of a crime stemming from that use of force. This law
applies only when: 1) the amount of force used is reasonable; and 2) the person uses
that force to prevent or stop what he or she reasonably believes is an unlawful
interference with himself or herself or another person (such as the crime of battery).
Current law specifies that a person may use force that is intended or likely to cause
the death of or great bodily harm to another individual only if the person reasonably
believes that using such force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or great
bodily harm to himself or herself or another person
Which calls for a lot of "if/and/but" thinking in the middle of the night, when split-second decisions are called for.
The good guys:
Introduced by Representatives OWENS, ALBERS, BIES,
GUNDERSON, HAHN, JESKEWITZ, F. LASEE, LOEFFELHOLZ, MURSAU, MUSSER, NASS,
PETROWSKI and VOS, cosponsored by Senators ROESSLER, STEPP and REYNOLDS
Does Mgr. Marini Know What He Is Talking About?
Maybe not.
Marini is (infamously) the Papal liturgist for a good part of the reign of JPII and currently under Benedict XVI. Many people (yours truly included) are of the opinion that the Mgr. will soon have another assignment, perhaps in Manchuria, or Iran.
In any case, here's an article which calls Marini out. Worth reading.
Excerpts:
All of these observations, however, do not really strike at the heart of the matter opined by His Excellency Msgr. Marini. The good Msgr. makes several bold claims regarding the reformed liturgy. He is quoted as saying:
"The reform was a return to the authentic tradition of the church, which is the liturgy of the Fathers. This meant taking away all the duplications that found their way into the liturgy, the encrustations that were superimposed over the centuries. This was a work of cleaning, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."
Msgr. Marini emphasized the patristic nature of the reform just a few lines earlier in the same article, but here he says explicitly that, according to his mind, the liturgy carries weight and is authentic principally because it relies on the authentic tradition of the church, which we know through the writings and compositions of the Fathers.
Unfortunately, Msgr. Marini failed to mention that this is a complete fabrication..
And 11 examples of Marini's silliness follow.
Heh.
HT: Shouts in the Piazza
Marini is (infamously) the Papal liturgist for a good part of the reign of JPII and currently under Benedict XVI. Many people (yours truly included) are of the opinion that the Mgr. will soon have another assignment, perhaps in Manchuria, or Iran.
In any case, here's an article which calls Marini out. Worth reading.
Excerpts:
All of these observations, however, do not really strike at the heart of the matter opined by His Excellency Msgr. Marini. The good Msgr. makes several bold claims regarding the reformed liturgy. He is quoted as saying:
"The reform was a return to the authentic tradition of the church, which is the liturgy of the Fathers. This meant taking away all the duplications that found their way into the liturgy, the encrustations that were superimposed over the centuries. This was a work of cleaning, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."
Msgr. Marini emphasized the patristic nature of the reform just a few lines earlier in the same article, but here he says explicitly that, according to his mind, the liturgy carries weight and is authentic principally because it relies on the authentic tradition of the church, which we know through the writings and compositions of the Fathers.
Unfortunately, Msgr. Marini failed to mention that this is a complete fabrication..
And 11 examples of Marini's silliness follow.
Heh.
HT: Shouts in the Piazza
Listening to Charlie
Da Godfoddah of Da Blogs ALSO happens to have a morning talk show, and today's had a segment devoted to the International ANSWER Grand March.
One of the most passionate callers, against "amnesty" and most of the other shenanigans of this bunch of marchers, is an American-citizen Mexican immigrant.
Not surprising, exactly--but revealing.
One of the most passionate callers, against "amnesty" and most of the other shenanigans of this bunch of marchers, is an American-citizen Mexican immigrant.
Not surprising, exactly--but revealing.
Smoking and Driving in Arkansas--You're At Risk
Especially if you have a child under the age of 7 in the car:
Two years ago (see Apr. 30, 2004) the California Assembly narrowly defeated a bill that would have banned smoking in cars when kids were present, but now Arkansas has enacted such a bill, applying to cars in which younger (age 7 and below) children are present (Virginia Vickery, "Some in Siloam Springs worry about statewide smoking ban", Benton County Daily Record, Apr. 30). The bill provides for "primary enforcement" of the ban, meaning that police officers can pull over a car in which they observe the offense, rather than just write it up after pulling a car over for other reasons. (Jake Bleed and Michael R. Wickline, "Lighting up with young kids in vehicle banned under bill", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Apr. 8).
Kinda makes you hope that Judy Robson can't read, eh?
HT: Overlawyered
Two years ago (see Apr. 30, 2004) the California Assembly narrowly defeated a bill that would have banned smoking in cars when kids were present, but now Arkansas has enacted such a bill, applying to cars in which younger (age 7 and below) children are present (Virginia Vickery, "Some in Siloam Springs worry about statewide smoking ban", Benton County Daily Record, Apr. 30). The bill provides for "primary enforcement" of the ban, meaning that police officers can pull over a car in which they observe the offense, rather than just write it up after pulling a car over for other reasons. (Jake Bleed and Michael R. Wickline, "Lighting up with young kids in vehicle banned under bill", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Apr. 8).
Kinda makes you hope that Judy Robson can't read, eh?
HT: Overlawyered
Whattaker Chambers' Warning
Thanks to the eminently literate Wigderson, we find the following passage in a Whittaker Chambers review of Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand):
Here occurs a little rub whose effects are just as observable in a free-enterprise system, which is in practice materialist (whatever else it claims or supposes itself to be), as they would be under an atheist socialism, if one were ever to deliver that material abundance that all promise. The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure, with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit.
In other words, it ain't "too much TV" or "not enough of the 3 R's", folks.
Here occurs a little rub whose effects are just as observable in a free-enterprise system, which is in practice materialist (whatever else it claims or supposes itself to be), as they would be under an atheist socialism, if one were ever to deliver that material abundance that all promise. The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure, with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit.
In other words, it ain't "too much TV" or "not enough of the 3 R's", folks.
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