Frank Lasee still gets it:
...According to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, we have already lost nearly $5 billion in net worth from businesses and high net worth individuals moving out of state.
Wisconsin has NOT always been a high taxing state. In fact, in 1961 (45 years ago) Wisconsin’s taxes ranked 18th highest in the nation. And for many decades prior, our taxing rates were in the middle of the pack.
The donkeys-with-tails here are the locals and the school districts (specifically, the City, School District, and County of Milwaukee--recall that the Milwaukee Dems ran the show in the early 1960's):
Following record increases in the sales and income tax in order to provide property tax relief -- the Badger state’s low taxing trend ended abruptly in 1964 when we became the highest taxed state in the nation. Wisconsin has ranked among the top ten taxing states nearly every year since. In fact, we have been among the top five most taxed states 25 out of the last 40 years.
That would be about 40 years' worth of built-up and built-in "spend, spend, spend." And yes, Folkbum, Tommy Thompson accounted for almost half of that. He was wrong, too...
The problem is that unlike most states which choose to spend more on one government program and less on another (more on higher education and less on prisons or more on Medicare and less on roads) in Wisconsin we spend more on nearly everything government related. If a state does it, then Wisconsin does it, and it is likely we spend more on it than most other states.
Instead of prioritizing our spending, we spend more on nearly every government service offered. And we offer more government services than most other states.
For instance, we are one of the top three states for rails and trails. I like them. But, do we have to lead the nation?
Well, the trails replace all those nasty factories! Makes us 'green,' if bankrupt...
Lasee cites a national (CNN) poll:
When asked about the role of government, 54% of respondents said that our government is “doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses.”
Here, the number should be higher.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Erpenbach: Another Moonbat
Well, there's evidence which tends to affirm.
Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, is drafting a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban discrimination and open the way for state-sanctioned civil unions.
...his proposal would honor the ban on gay marriages, but rectify potential problems in the second sentence of the referendum, which he said stripped legal rights from straight and same-sex unmarried couples. Those protections include the right to receive domestic partner benefits and have legally binding contracts, including wills.
That's not really true, Jon, but we know you have a constituency...
HERE'S the part that is enjoyable:
Erpenbach said he does not understand how the state can expect same-sex couples to continue paying taxes and being lawful citizens when they are denied protections and benefits afforded to married couples.
Let's re-write that THIS way (and see who screeches):
Erpenbach said he does not understand how the State can expect law-abiding gun-owners to continue paying taxes and being lawful citizens when they are denied the benefit of self-protection afforded to a few privileged license-holders.
November 19th
What? You don't KNOW?
It's National Ammo Day!!
Preceded (of course) by National Ammo Week.
A few hundred more rounds in storage is always a good idea.
It's National Ammo Day!!
Preceded (of course) by National Ammo Week.
A few hundred more rounds in storage is always a good idea.
Chickens, Eggs, Land, Jobs--All the Same to Rocky
If you're looking for an "emblematic statement" which kinda sums up the problem, look here:
Marcoux added that the city engaged in real estate development "for its own sake" under previous mayors, but Barrett has changed those priorities. Marcoux cited several industrial expansion projects that will create jobs through land deals, involving such companies such as Manpower Inc., Direct Supply Inc. and DRS Technologies Inc. "Real estate creates jobs," he said.
"Real estate creates jobs,"
...Rocky Marcoux, City of Milwaukee DCD Commissioner.
OK, here's the context of the statement. It doesn't make it all that much better, but we're fair:
The city has never had a comprehensive plan in its history, Marcoux said. But such a plan is under way and will be ready by 2010, he said.
Marcoux added that the city engaged in real estate development "for its own sake" under previous mayors, but Barrett has changed those priorities. Marcoux cited several industrial expansion projects that will create jobs through land deals, involving such companies such as Manpower Inc., Direct Supply Inc. and DRS Technologies Inc. "Real estate creates jobs," he said.
Rocky, baby--take your common-sense pill.
Neither you nor Tom Barrett are "creating jobs through land deals." You're merely attempting to pull the jobs into the City of Milwaukee (or keep them there in the first place.) "Land deals" did not "create jobs" at Manpower, nor Direct Supply, nor DRS.
Demand for the product or service is usually followed by increased profitable sales, then some combination of payroll growth and capital investment to meet the growth in demand at a profit.
Oh, well.
There will be more on this story.
Twit Chirps: Elton John's Ideal World
Here's a guy whose mind has stripped its gears:
"From my point of view, I would ban religion completely."
--Elton John
"From my point of view, I would ban religion completely."
--Elton John
Saturday, November 11, 2006
G K Chesterton on Liberalism
The guy is simply terrific:
....liberalism has been described (by G.K. Chesterton) as ‘the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal.’”
Stolen from the header of "The Fighting Faith," a blog just discovered.
....liberalism has been described (by G.K. Chesterton) as ‘the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal.’”
Stolen from the header of "The Fighting Faith," a blog just discovered.
"We Aren't Perfect!!"
If you've been a parent, you've heard that from the Little Darlings (or you will...)
Here's John Paul II on the topic:
"...since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity." --Novo Millennio Inuente [Apostolic Letter] , 31
Of course, he also spoke to parents, drat it all...
Here's John Paul II on the topic:
"...since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity." --Novo Millennio Inuente [Apostolic Letter] , 31
Of course, he also spoke to parents, drat it all...
Bp. Sklba in the National Limelight
When CNS quotes you, a lot of people know what you've said.
Thus it's helpful if what you've said demonstrates you understand the munus of teaching.
Sklba typically uses the plastic Playskool wrench from his depleted theological tool-kit to loosen some of the hex nuts at the junctural points of Catholic doctrine, then never quite gets around to snugging them up again in the space of his essay.
...The questions Sklba raises point to perfectly kosher theological problems. But they have perfectly kosher doctrinal answers, and these are not forthcoming. Reading his remarks from the viewpoint of the Catholic faithful, do you feel you've been given something, or do you feel you've had something taken away?
In Milwaukee, unfortunately, that's not a rhetorical question--it gets a sad, affirmative nod.
Thus it's helpful if what you've said demonstrates you understand the munus of teaching.
Sklba typically uses the plastic Playskool wrench from his depleted theological tool-kit to loosen some of the hex nuts at the junctural points of Catholic doctrine, then never quite gets around to snugging them up again in the space of his essay.
...The questions Sklba raises point to perfectly kosher theological problems. But they have perfectly kosher doctrinal answers, and these are not forthcoming. Reading his remarks from the viewpoint of the Catholic faithful, do you feel you've been given something, or do you feel you've had something taken away?
In Milwaukee, unfortunately, that's not a rhetorical question--it gets a sad, affirmative nod.
George Weigel, Benedict XVI, and Latin
George Weigel appeared in Milwaukee at a benefit dinner, entertaining and engaging his audience with not only his prepared remarks but with a delightful Q&A session. By all reports, he is a very down-to-earth and enjoyable individual with whom to pass the time. He's also a theologian, a very smart dude, and he has written extensively about affairs Catholique.
During his remarks, he outlined the agenda of Benedict XVI--it's not a minor-league plattter. B-16 wants to re-awaken the West to the fact that there is a truth, and that it is knowable, and that it does not contradict reason. When that's out of the way, he wants the West to understand that the Cult of Consumption, fueled by the Disease of Relativism, is utterly self-destructive.
These are not issues which are likely to be cleaned up within the American attention span of 60 minutes-less-commericals, but somebody's got to try, and if anyone has the intellectual firepower and fortitude necessary to man the ramparts, it's Benedict.
In 'domestic affairs,' B-16 wants to Reform the Reform of the Liturgy, which was launched in 1967. The "Vatican II Reforms" have lurched ever since, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes straight down, but rarely Heavenward. That's been B-16's opinion since at least the mid-1980's when I began reading his works (both papers and books) on the topic.
It was at this point in his remarks that Weigel disappointed, for he stated that 'a better translation will be sufficient' in the reform project.
Obviously, Weigel could not (nor did he) answer the question which immediately popped up: so WHY is Benedict about to release a document which (hearsay has it) will allow celebration of the Old Rite (all-Latin) Mass worldwide with few-holds-barred? Or why all the Masses at St. Peter's are now said primarily in Latin? Or why (as Cdl. Jos. Ratzinger) this man celebrated John Paul II's funeral Mass with a noticeable emphasis on Latin prayers and song? If "a new translation" is really the ticket, why arm-wrestle the Bishops of France over Latin? Heaven knows the Pope doesn't need to pick fights unless they are worthwhile!
The short answer is that Weigel's assessment is deficient and B-16 knows that. As we noted earlier, a Jewish lady pointed out that:
For the power of liturgy to lift us out of our narrow practical and material pursuits is not dependent on our understanding of every actual word we are saying, any more than our emotional submission to classical music's soaring magic is dependent on our ability to read the score that produced it. The power of liturgy to stir and inspire us isn't even dependent on our commitment to the beliefs and doctrines from which the liturgy sprang.
Reading the rest of her remarks at the link is very enlightening--but there's another point which Weigel and other pragmatists miss and that is the concept of 'good fences.' Weigel understands at least one of those 'fences,' given his widely-circulated column on dreadful hymnody...but not all of the 'fences.'
Surrounding the Mass, the font and summit of worship, are sacred time, sacred space, sacred language, and sacred music. Where one of these 'fences' are missing, the nasties are allowed to attack. And attack they have done--with ferocity.
Thus, an offhand dismissal of Latin should be questioned carefully. Certainly, "a good translation" could become 'sacred language;' the English of the KJV Bible (albeit deficient in some regards) is more sacral than the banality we endure. And "a good translation" would demonstrate the night/day differences between the original Latin of the New Mass' orations and the English renditions--which are actually renderings (as in rent-asunder.) But Latin already IS a 'sacred language.' As the Jewish lady also pointed out, it is a source of 'community.'
For Catholics and Jews, that 'community' is not merely those who surround us during Mass or synagogue-services--it is also trans-national and trans-temporal. For what more 'community' can one ask than that afforded by the hundreds of millions of our spiritual ancestors? Or of the hundreds of millions of our neighbors-in-Faith around the world?
Further, we read the following:
"...His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, at that time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, affirms that ‘to the ordinary churchgoer, the two most obvious effects of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council seem to be the disappearance of Latin and the turning of the altars towards the people. Those who read the relevant texts will be astonished to learn that neither is in fact found in the decrees of the Council. The use of the vernacular is certainly permitted, especially for the Liturgy of the Word, but the preceding general rule of the Council text says, “Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36.1). There is nothing in the Council text about turning altars towards the people; that point is raised only in post-conciliar instructions.’” (From the Introduction to the book Turning Towards the Lord. The Introduction was written by then-Cdl. Jos. Ratzinger.)
No, George, we will not so easily dismiss Latin. Nor should you.
During his remarks, he outlined the agenda of Benedict XVI--it's not a minor-league plattter. B-16 wants to re-awaken the West to the fact that there is a truth, and that it is knowable, and that it does not contradict reason. When that's out of the way, he wants the West to understand that the Cult of Consumption, fueled by the Disease of Relativism, is utterly self-destructive.
These are not issues which are likely to be cleaned up within the American attention span of 60 minutes-less-commericals, but somebody's got to try, and if anyone has the intellectual firepower and fortitude necessary to man the ramparts, it's Benedict.
In 'domestic affairs,' B-16 wants to Reform the Reform of the Liturgy, which was launched in 1967. The "Vatican II Reforms" have lurched ever since, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes straight down, but rarely Heavenward. That's been B-16's opinion since at least the mid-1980's when I began reading his works (both papers and books) on the topic.
It was at this point in his remarks that Weigel disappointed, for he stated that 'a better translation will be sufficient' in the reform project.
Obviously, Weigel could not (nor did he) answer the question which immediately popped up: so WHY is Benedict about to release a document which (hearsay has it) will allow celebration of the Old Rite (all-Latin) Mass worldwide with few-holds-barred? Or why all the Masses at St. Peter's are now said primarily in Latin? Or why (as Cdl. Jos. Ratzinger) this man celebrated John Paul II's funeral Mass with a noticeable emphasis on Latin prayers and song? If "a new translation" is really the ticket, why arm-wrestle the Bishops of France over Latin? Heaven knows the Pope doesn't need to pick fights unless they are worthwhile!
The short answer is that Weigel's assessment is deficient and B-16 knows that. As we noted earlier, a Jewish lady pointed out that:
For the power of liturgy to lift us out of our narrow practical and material pursuits is not dependent on our understanding of every actual word we are saying, any more than our emotional submission to classical music's soaring magic is dependent on our ability to read the score that produced it. The power of liturgy to stir and inspire us isn't even dependent on our commitment to the beliefs and doctrines from which the liturgy sprang.
Reading the rest of her remarks at the link is very enlightening--but there's another point which Weigel and other pragmatists miss and that is the concept of 'good fences.' Weigel understands at least one of those 'fences,' given his widely-circulated column on dreadful hymnody...but not all of the 'fences.'
Surrounding the Mass, the font and summit of worship, are sacred time, sacred space, sacred language, and sacred music. Where one of these 'fences' are missing, the nasties are allowed to attack. And attack they have done--with ferocity.
Thus, an offhand dismissal of Latin should be questioned carefully. Certainly, "a good translation" could become 'sacred language;' the English of the KJV Bible (albeit deficient in some regards) is more sacral than the banality we endure. And "a good translation" would demonstrate the night/day differences between the original Latin of the New Mass' orations and the English renditions--which are actually renderings (as in rent-asunder.) But Latin already IS a 'sacred language.' As the Jewish lady also pointed out, it is a source of 'community.'
For Catholics and Jews, that 'community' is not merely those who surround us during Mass or synagogue-services--it is also trans-national and trans-temporal. For what more 'community' can one ask than that afforded by the hundreds of millions of our spiritual ancestors? Or of the hundreds of millions of our neighbors-in-Faith around the world?
Further, we read the following:
"...His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, at that time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, affirms that ‘to the ordinary churchgoer, the two most obvious effects of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council seem to be the disappearance of Latin and the turning of the altars towards the people. Those who read the relevant texts will be astonished to learn that neither is in fact found in the decrees of the Council. The use of the vernacular is certainly permitted, especially for the Liturgy of the Word, but the preceding general rule of the Council text says, “Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36.1). There is nothing in the Council text about turning altars towards the people; that point is raised only in post-conciliar instructions.’” (From the Introduction to the book Turning Towards the Lord. The Introduction was written by then-Cdl. Jos. Ratzinger.)
No, George, we will not so easily dismiss Latin. Nor should you.
Jack Palance--Not Just Another Pretty Face
HT to Grim on this one:
There was more to the man than that, however: he was a heavyweight fighter, under the name Jack Brazzo, with twelve knockouts and fifteen wins in his career. And, yes, he was a veteran:
With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's boxing career ended and his military career began. Palance's rugged face, which took many beatings in the boxing ring, was disfigured when he bailed out of his burning B-24 Liberator while on a training flight over southern Arizona, where he was a student pilot. Plastic surgeons repaired as much of the damage that they could, but he was left with a distinctive, somewhat gaunt, look. After much reconstructive surgery, he was discharged in 1944.
Palance died recently, RIP...
There was more to the man than that, however: he was a heavyweight fighter, under the name Jack Brazzo, with twelve knockouts and fifteen wins in his career. And, yes, he was a veteran:
With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's boxing career ended and his military career began. Palance's rugged face, which took many beatings in the boxing ring, was disfigured when he bailed out of his burning B-24 Liberator while on a training flight over southern Arizona, where he was a student pilot. Plastic surgeons repaired as much of the damage that they could, but he was left with a distinctive, somewhat gaunt, look. After much reconstructive surgery, he was discharged in 1944.
Palance died recently, RIP...
Alternative Minimum Tax and Wisconsin Voters
If you don't already know about the Alternative Minimum Tax, you will, and likely soon.
It won't be a pleasant experience. The AMT was designed to tax those whose incomes were large, but who played all the games (legally) to avoid Federal income taxes. At the time it was passed, incomes were lower, and there has been little (if any) inflation-adjustment.
By 2010, "the AMT will become the de facto tax system for filers in the $200,000 to $500,000 income range, 94 percent of whom will face the tax," says a report by the Tax Policy Center. About half of tax filers making $75,000 to $100,000 will have to pay the tax, including 89 percent of married couples in that bracket who have at least two children.
The Republican majority in Congress simply did not address this issue--instead, they passed tax-reduction. As it turns out, the Democrats (!!!), led by Rangel, WILL address this issue in January.
Oh, well. The Pubbies lost for a reason, eh?
Anyway, Charlie pointed out a Wisconsin CNN exit-poll which may tell us why the AMT is on the front burner. Under "Vote By Income," note that 35% of Wisconsin voters earned over $75K (the trip-wire for AMT in a lot of cases) and that Doyle took almost half of the voters in the $75-150K earnings range.
If the Wisconsin numbers are an indication of the national numbers, that means that the Dems are seeing a very noticeable group of supporters who WILL be affected by the AMT in the near future.
It won't be a pleasant experience. The AMT was designed to tax those whose incomes were large, but who played all the games (legally) to avoid Federal income taxes. At the time it was passed, incomes were lower, and there has been little (if any) inflation-adjustment.
By 2010, "the AMT will become the de facto tax system for filers in the $200,000 to $500,000 income range, 94 percent of whom will face the tax," says a report by the Tax Policy Center. About half of tax filers making $75,000 to $100,000 will have to pay the tax, including 89 percent of married couples in that bracket who have at least two children.
The Republican majority in Congress simply did not address this issue--instead, they passed tax-reduction. As it turns out, the Democrats (!!!), led by Rangel, WILL address this issue in January.
Oh, well. The Pubbies lost for a reason, eh?
Anyway, Charlie pointed out a Wisconsin CNN exit-poll which may tell us why the AMT is on the front burner. Under "Vote By Income," note that 35% of Wisconsin voters earned over $75K (the trip-wire for AMT in a lot of cases) and that Doyle took almost half of the voters in the $75-150K earnings range.
If the Wisconsin numbers are an indication of the national numbers, that means that the Dems are seeing a very noticeable group of supporters who WILL be affected by the AMT in the near future.
The Dims: DC Gets a Vote?
Apparently, Ms. Pelosi is now tinkering with the Constitution:
One of the issues the Democrats have been pushing for years - a vote in the House of Representatives for the District of Columbia - looks like it will come to pass under their leadership in Congress.
The Norton-Davis bill links the D.C. vote to an additional congressional seat in Utah, raising the total number of House members from 435 to 437. Pelosi did not favor legislation that included redistricting in Utah, a move that some lawmakers feared would jeopardize that state's only Democrat representative. Pelosi later signed on to the bill after Utah made the congressional seat a statewide position.
One hopes that Our President will exercise his veto pen for the Very First Time.
HT: Betsy
One of the issues the Democrats have been pushing for years - a vote in the House of Representatives for the District of Columbia - looks like it will come to pass under their leadership in Congress.
The Norton-Davis bill links the D.C. vote to an additional congressional seat in Utah, raising the total number of House members from 435 to 437. Pelosi did not favor legislation that included redistricting in Utah, a move that some lawmakers feared would jeopardize that state's only Democrat representative. Pelosi later signed on to the bill after Utah made the congressional seat a statewide position.
One hopes that Our President will exercise his veto pen for the Very First Time.
HT: Betsy
Levin on Flake, the WSJ, and the Weekly Standard
A two-sentence slap-a-thon:
Jeff Flake is good on many issues, but he is an open-borders advocate. And despite the best efforts of the Weekly Standard/Wall Street Journal wing of the party, which carries few votes, this is and remains a fundamental issue in conservative ranks outside of Washington and New York.
I love this guy Levin.
And although it goes un-mentioned, the WSJ wing's economic policies (free-trade) also got a solid slap in Virginia, as Senator-elect Webb campaigned on America-First economics--not Globaloney.
Jeff Flake is good on many issues, but he is an open-borders advocate. And despite the best efforts of the Weekly Standard/Wall Street Journal wing of the party, which carries few votes, this is and remains a fundamental issue in conservative ranks outside of Washington and New York.
I love this guy Levin.
And although it goes un-mentioned, the WSJ wing's economic policies (free-trade) also got a solid slap in Virginia, as Senator-elect Webb campaigned on America-First economics--not Globaloney.
Journalism at the Milwaukee J-S: Kevin Barrett's Class
So the Milwaukee JS sent a reporter to check on John Wiley's newest UW sensation:
Barrett began Thursday's lecture by reviewing the work of several Muslim writers who believe the Sept. 11 attacks were the work of terrorists. One argues that the attacks reveal broader clashes within Islam; another believes they indicate a blossoming clash between the Muslim world and the West. The writings were among works that had been assigned to Barrett's students to read.
Barrett then moved on to an essay by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, who argues that the Sept. 11 attackers were part of a broad network of terrorism sponsored by the United States and other Western intelligence agencies. Ahmed argues that the U.S. has used terrorism to destabilize other countries and gain control over their resources.
In his lecture, Barrett sprinkled in the phrase 'according to this analysis' periodically at the end of his sentences. But he stated much of Ahmed's argument as fact and offered up his own views or observations to bolster the claims.
On the conventional idea that terrorists were motivated by their belief in Islam, Barrett said: "That's simply not true. That story gets blown out of the water."
On Ahmed's writings, he said at one point: "This is all standard narrative. What he's said so far, no one disputes."
Right. No one. Not one single solitary person.
Ahmed ends his essay by arguing that the U.S. is attempting "to exacerbate the deterioration of security by penetrating, manipulating, and arming the terrorist insurgency, thus legitimizing permanent Anglo-American military involvement in Iraq purportedly to promote security."
It was while discussing this argument that Barrett made his comment about American tax dollars being used to fund the killing of American soldiers, [specifically:]
"Your tax dollars are paying for the killing of American soldiers in Iraq. The CIA is paying for resistance in Iraq."
Well, Hell's Bells!!
Perhaps Ms. Pelosi & Co. will delete the CIA funding for this!
Barrett began Thursday's lecture by reviewing the work of several Muslim writers who believe the Sept. 11 attacks were the work of terrorists. One argues that the attacks reveal broader clashes within Islam; another believes they indicate a blossoming clash between the Muslim world and the West. The writings were among works that had been assigned to Barrett's students to read.
Barrett then moved on to an essay by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, who argues that the Sept. 11 attackers were part of a broad network of terrorism sponsored by the United States and other Western intelligence agencies. Ahmed argues that the U.S. has used terrorism to destabilize other countries and gain control over their resources.
In his lecture, Barrett sprinkled in the phrase 'according to this analysis' periodically at the end of his sentences. But he stated much of Ahmed's argument as fact and offered up his own views or observations to bolster the claims.
On the conventional idea that terrorists were motivated by their belief in Islam, Barrett said: "That's simply not true. That story gets blown out of the water."
On Ahmed's writings, he said at one point: "This is all standard narrative. What he's said so far, no one disputes."
Right. No one. Not one single solitary person.
Ahmed ends his essay by arguing that the U.S. is attempting "to exacerbate the deterioration of security by penetrating, manipulating, and arming the terrorist insurgency, thus legitimizing permanent Anglo-American military involvement in Iraq purportedly to promote security."
It was while discussing this argument that Barrett made his comment about American tax dollars being used to fund the killing of American soldiers, [specifically:]
"Your tax dollars are paying for the killing of American soldiers in Iraq. The CIA is paying for resistance in Iraq."
Well, Hell's Bells!!
Perhaps Ms. Pelosi & Co. will delete the CIA funding for this!
"Sucking Sound" Sucks Perot
Irony, thy name is Ross Perot:
On Friday, the outsourcing company [Perot Systems] founded by Perot, where he serves as chairman emeritus, disclosed that it's opening a new service center in Mexico.
Perot Systems said the center will be based in Guadalajara, and will provide a range of outsourced tech services to companies in the U.S., including desktop support, infrastructure management, and engineering services. The facility will take up several floors of the Guadalajara World Trade Business Center and contain about 270 desks from which Mexican workers will provide computer support to American businesses. Perot says it's already begun recruiting workers for the center. "We are reaching out to the best infrastructure services professionals in Mexico," the company said in a statement.
Perot desperately needs to maintain its profitability.
On Friday, the outsourcing company [Perot Systems] founded by Perot, where he serves as chairman emeritus, disclosed that it's opening a new service center in Mexico.
Perot Systems said the center will be based in Guadalajara, and will provide a range of outsourced tech services to companies in the U.S., including desktop support, infrastructure management, and engineering services. The facility will take up several floors of the Guadalajara World Trade Business Center and contain about 270 desks from which Mexican workers will provide computer support to American businesses. Perot says it's already begun recruiting workers for the center. "We are reaching out to the best infrastructure services professionals in Mexico," the company said in a statement.
Perot desperately needs to maintain its profitability.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Hastert to Resign the House?
This blogger is VERY well-informed:
...a rumor has been bubbling up that should be recorded…even if it’s knocked down later as more information comes due. The rumor, substantiated by a number of people I’ve talked to who know the Denny Hastert people personally is this: Denny Hastert has determined to resign before his term as Speaker expires-for one reason only. When you step down as Speaker your pension is calculated on your level of pay and Speaker’s pay is a lot more than that of an ordinary member of Congress. Somebody who’s a lot fresher than I am at this hour of the night can check Denny’s salary but I think it’s in the neighborhood of, say, $200,000 plus.
And he'll do that "for the good of the Country," or whatever, right?
...a rumor has been bubbling up that should be recorded…even if it’s knocked down later as more information comes due. The rumor, substantiated by a number of people I’ve talked to who know the Denny Hastert people personally is this: Denny Hastert has determined to resign before his term as Speaker expires-for one reason only. When you step down as Speaker your pension is calculated on your level of pay and Speaker’s pay is a lot more than that of an ordinary member of Congress. Somebody who’s a lot fresher than I am at this hour of the night can check Denny’s salary but I think it’s in the neighborhood of, say, $200,000 plus.
And he'll do that "for the good of the Country," or whatever, right?
The Wrapup on Brit and K-Fed
From the MORE curmudgeonly Catholic Caveman:
The Queen of the Trailer Park is expected to continue her tenure of being the motivational inspiration of 13-year old girls everywhere to:
1. Be a huge disappointment to their families
2. Get pregnant
3. Marry an asshole
4. Try to out-skank Christine Aguilera
5. French kiss an even skankier Madonna
6. Do steps 4 and 5 on national TV
7. Be the first kid on her block to get an STD
Who says little girls can't dream?
We could talk about "safe driving," ....but why?
The Queen of the Trailer Park is expected to continue her tenure of being the motivational inspiration of 13-year old girls everywhere to:
1. Be a huge disappointment to their families
2. Get pregnant
3. Marry an asshole
4. Try to out-skank Christine Aguilera
5. French kiss an even skankier Madonna
6. Do steps 4 and 5 on national TV
7. Be the first kid on her block to get an STD
Who says little girls can't dream?
We could talk about "safe driving," ....but why?
Source That Quote!!
Terry Berres reads a lot of interesting stuff. Then he blogs the info, and I steal the best parts and put them here!!
"Some people see things as they are and ask 'why?', I dream things that never were and ask 'why not?'"
Great line, eh? Bobby Kennedy stole it from GBShaw--and Shaw (no surprise here) gave the line to The Serpent in Back to Methuselah.
The Serpent. Hmmmm.
"Some people see things as they are and ask 'why?', I dream things that never were and ask 'why not?'"
Great line, eh? Bobby Kennedy stole it from GBShaw--and Shaw (no surprise here) gave the line to The Serpent in Back to Methuselah.
The Serpent. Hmmmm.
Thanks, Charlie!
Despite our disagreements over a few issues, the Eminento of CheddarBlogs, Charlie Sykes, has retained me on his abbreviated blogroll.
For at least a week.
We'll do our best to keep up the entertainment.
For at least a week.
We'll do our best to keep up the entertainment.
Homosex "Marriage" Voting
From Fair Wisconsin's own site, the list of counties and the percentage voting "No."
Astute observers who know where UW-System schools are located will notice the pattern:
Dane - 67%
La Crosse - 50%
Iowa - 49%
Portage - 48%
Eau Claire - 48%
Menominee - 47%
Green - 46%
Milwaukee - 45%
Rock - 44%
Sauk - 43%
Winnebago -42%
Bayfield - 42%
Dunn - 41%
Oneida - 41%
Kenosha - 41%
Door - 41%
Umnnnhh...Door County doesn't have a UW campus--but---
Astute observers who know where UW-System schools are located will notice the pattern:
Dane - 67%
La Crosse - 50%
Iowa - 49%
Portage - 48%
Eau Claire - 48%
Menominee - 47%
Green - 46%
Milwaukee - 45%
Rock - 44%
Sauk - 43%
Winnebago -42%
Bayfield - 42%
Dunn - 41%
Oneida - 41%
Kenosha - 41%
Door - 41%
Umnnnhh...Door County doesn't have a UW campus--but---
Retraction on Michael Fox
An alert Anonymous detected that my post indicating that Michael Fox was involved with The DaVinci Code movie is inaccurate.
Anony is correct. Fox was not involved with that movie.
Anony also advised us that 'Fox...seems to be a good father,' and that perhaps Dad29 should emulate him.
Wrong.
Dad29 does not believe in killing babies for "research." That's a Mengele position. No "good father" agrees with either Mengele, Fox, or Darth Doyle on that issue, period.
Anony is correct. Fox was not involved with that movie.
Anony also advised us that 'Fox...seems to be a good father,' and that perhaps Dad29 should emulate him.
Wrong.
Dad29 does not believe in killing babies for "research." That's a Mengele position. No "good father" agrees with either Mengele, Fox, or Darth Doyle on that issue, period.
It's Over, But........
Seems that Acorn has drawn the attention of the US Attorney General's office for its voter "registration" drives nationally.
Awwwwww.....
Evidently both Burns and Allen (heh...) were, ah, burned due to this. Doesn't seem that Wisconsin had the same level of problems that we experienced in '04, but the local US Attorney is notoriously tight-lipped about what's on his plate.
Stay tuned.
HT: John Lott
Awwwwww.....
Evidently both Burns and Allen (heh...) were, ah, burned due to this. Doesn't seem that Wisconsin had the same level of problems that we experienced in '04, but the local US Attorney is notoriously tight-lipped about what's on his plate.
Stay tuned.
HT: John Lott
It's Over, But........
Seems that Acorn has drawn the attention of the US Attorney General's office for its voter "registration" drives nationally.
Awwwwww.....
Evidently both Burns and Allen (heh...) were, ah, burned due to this. Doesn't seem that Wisconsin had the same level of problems that we experienced in '04, but the local US Attorney is notoriously tight-lipped about what's on his plate.
Stay tuned.
HT: John Lott
Awwwwww.....
Evidently both Burns and Allen (heh...) were, ah, burned due to this. Doesn't seem that Wisconsin had the same level of problems that we experienced in '04, but the local US Attorney is notoriously tight-lipped about what's on his plate.
Stay tuned.
HT: John Lott
Levin Hits the Target
Mark Levin on The Election:
My view: For six years the White House has either refused to or is incapable of leading the conservative movement. It has benefited from the conservative movement. It has turned to conservatives when it needed support on certain issues (like judges) and in four elections (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). But this time, for a variety of reasons, conservatives didn't respond as needed.
Even many among the conservative elite and pundit class, while arguing for adherence to conservative principles, condescendingly sneered at segments of the conservative base when efforts were made to pass a federal marriage amendment. I believe they called it a distraction. Yet time and again, when voters are asked to pass judgment on this issue, they vote for traditional marriage in large numbers. You cannot continue to ignore social conservatives, which make-up about one-third of the Republican base, and expect to win elections.
Luminaries at the Weekly Standard were demeaning opponents of open-borders as racist. I believe the word they used was “xenophobic.” Yet this issue cuts across numerous conservative constituencies. It involves law-and-order, national security, assimilation, and fiscal responsibility.
Dead-on, Mark.
My view: For six years the White House has either refused to or is incapable of leading the conservative movement. It has benefited from the conservative movement. It has turned to conservatives when it needed support on certain issues (like judges) and in four elections (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). But this time, for a variety of reasons, conservatives didn't respond as needed.
Even many among the conservative elite and pundit class, while arguing for adherence to conservative principles, condescendingly sneered at segments of the conservative base when efforts were made to pass a federal marriage amendment. I believe they called it a distraction. Yet time and again, when voters are asked to pass judgment on this issue, they vote for traditional marriage in large numbers. You cannot continue to ignore social conservatives, which make-up about one-third of the Republican base, and expect to win elections.
Luminaries at the Weekly Standard were demeaning opponents of open-borders as racist. I believe the word they used was “xenophobic.” Yet this issue cuts across numerous conservative constituencies. It involves law-and-order, national security, assimilation, and fiscal responsibility.
Dead-on, Mark.
Grow Up, Kate
Kate, you're finished. Just can't admit it...
In an election where Democrats did very well in Wisconsin, Kate Falk, who dreamed of becoming Wisconsin's first Female Governor, has been shot down.
Decisively.
Finally.
Firmly.
And Kate, following the example of her Shakespearean ('Midsummer's Night', anyone?)namesake, will NOT admit it.
"Given it's so extremely close, I just think the prudent course of action is to make sure the official canvass shows (the) same kind of numbers,"
OK, Kate.
Or should be just be blatantly sexist and make some remarks about "taking it like a man..."??
In an election where Democrats did very well in Wisconsin, Kate Falk, who dreamed of becoming Wisconsin's first Female Governor, has been shot down.
Decisively.
Finally.
Firmly.
And Kate, following the example of her Shakespearean ('Midsummer's Night', anyone?)namesake, will NOT admit it.
"Given it's so extremely close, I just think the prudent course of action is to make sure the official canvass shows (the) same kind of numbers,"
OK, Kate.
Or should be just be blatantly sexist and make some remarks about "taking it like a man..."??
Sensenbrenner, SpiceBoys, Correct
On Wednesday morning Charlie Sykes interviewed Jim Sensenbrenner, who is an astute politician as well as an excellent representative of his District. This occurred while I was taking my sick new computer to the computer-hospital (drat you, SBC.)
And Sensenbrenner said, out loud, that 'putting the Gay Marriage and Death Penalty referendums on the November ballot contributed to the defeat of a number of Republican candidates.'
Almost drove off the road, computer and all...
The SpiceBoys got the same quote.
Get the proposed same-sex marriage constitutional amendment on the November ballot to drive up the Republican vote while driving Democrats out of office.
"The timing ended up backfiring," said U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Menomonee Falls Republican. "I think the opposite worked out this time."
So happens a couple of Little Birdies from the Legislature told me that they REALLY wanted the Gay Marriage and DP questions on a Spring or early-Fall ballot--separated from the general election. Both those Little Birdies are conservative stalwarts.
In what can only be called a Delicious Irony, the Pubbie Pol responsible for forcing these items onto the November ballot was none other than:
John Gard.
The very same John Gard who fought to keep Taxation Without Representation gas-taxes. The very same John Gard who had his ass handed to him by a political novice (and a not-too-bright one, at that.)
Other VERY interesting material from the SpiceBoys:
Before the election, [Republican] data concluded that Green needed 940,000 votes to unseat Doyle. In the end, Green topped that goal by 36,000 votes, yet he will soon be out of work.
"Usually, if you exceed your vote goal," said Republican Party executive director Rick Wiley, "you win."
So much for conventional wisdom.
The turnout was most impressive on college campuses.
Wiley said he witnessed this firsthand at UW-Milwaukee on election day. Some 30 UWM students waited in line to register to vote while he was there, he said, and more than 1,000 ended up signing up to cast ballots Tuesday.
According to the left-leaning Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, 16,837 people voted this week in the 10 wards in and around the UW-Madison campus, compared with 10,140 in the same wards in 2002 - a whopping 66% increase.
Here's something that I can personally confirm, at least anecdotally:
By putting the same-sex marriage and death penalty measures on the same ballot, Sensenbrenner said, Republican leaders in the Legislature ended up drawing the wrong type of voter to the polls - Democrats, especially conservative ones. Those people voted for the ballot proposals but against Republican candidates.
His proof: About 275,000 people cast ballots for the ban on same-sex marriages but not for Green.
I was a poll-watcher in a north-central Waukesha County district. My job was to keep track of "our" voters--the reliable Republican/conservatives--so that if they had NOT voted, the Party could call 'em up and get them out to vote.
In this district, there were 1300 eligible voters. By 6:15PM, the District had well over 800 electors cast votes, a rate of 64%. But only 50% of the people on our 'list' had showed up to vote.
In other words, the "turnout" which defeated Gay Marriage was NOT just the "turnout" which elects Republicans. They elect Democrats, too.
I'm sure that Mark Green will meet John Gard in a coffeeshop in the next few weeks--after all, neither of them has a lot to do--
It should be a very strained conversation.
And Sensenbrenner said, out loud, that 'putting the Gay Marriage and Death Penalty referendums on the November ballot contributed to the defeat of a number of Republican candidates.'
Almost drove off the road, computer and all...
The SpiceBoys got the same quote.
Get the proposed same-sex marriage constitutional amendment on the November ballot to drive up the Republican vote while driving Democrats out of office.
"The timing ended up backfiring," said U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Menomonee Falls Republican. "I think the opposite worked out this time."
So happens a couple of Little Birdies from the Legislature told me that they REALLY wanted the Gay Marriage and DP questions on a Spring or early-Fall ballot--separated from the general election. Both those Little Birdies are conservative stalwarts.
In what can only be called a Delicious Irony, the Pubbie Pol responsible for forcing these items onto the November ballot was none other than:
John Gard.
The very same John Gard who fought to keep Taxation Without Representation gas-taxes. The very same John Gard who had his ass handed to him by a political novice (and a not-too-bright one, at that.)
Other VERY interesting material from the SpiceBoys:
Before the election, [Republican] data concluded that Green needed 940,000 votes to unseat Doyle. In the end, Green topped that goal by 36,000 votes, yet he will soon be out of work.
"Usually, if you exceed your vote goal," said Republican Party executive director Rick Wiley, "you win."
So much for conventional wisdom.
The turnout was most impressive on college campuses.
Wiley said he witnessed this firsthand at UW-Milwaukee on election day. Some 30 UWM students waited in line to register to vote while he was there, he said, and more than 1,000 ended up signing up to cast ballots Tuesday.
According to the left-leaning Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, 16,837 people voted this week in the 10 wards in and around the UW-Madison campus, compared with 10,140 in the same wards in 2002 - a whopping 66% increase.
Here's something that I can personally confirm, at least anecdotally:
By putting the same-sex marriage and death penalty measures on the same ballot, Sensenbrenner said, Republican leaders in the Legislature ended up drawing the wrong type of voter to the polls - Democrats, especially conservative ones. Those people voted for the ballot proposals but against Republican candidates.
His proof: About 275,000 people cast ballots for the ban on same-sex marriages but not for Green.
I was a poll-watcher in a north-central Waukesha County district. My job was to keep track of "our" voters--the reliable Republican/conservatives--so that if they had NOT voted, the Party could call 'em up and get them out to vote.
In this district, there were 1300 eligible voters. By 6:15PM, the District had well over 800 electors cast votes, a rate of 64%. But only 50% of the people on our 'list' had showed up to vote.
In other words, the "turnout" which defeated Gay Marriage was NOT just the "turnout" which elects Republicans. They elect Democrats, too.
I'm sure that Mark Green will meet John Gard in a coffeeshop in the next few weeks--after all, neither of them has a lot to do--
It should be a very strained conversation.
Economic Globaloney Bounced, Too
GlobaloneyII's 'planting Democracy' (below) was not a successful re-election device. Neither is his benign neglect of American industrial jobs:
Almost no embattled Republican could be found taking the Bush line that NAFTA, or CAFTA with Central America, or MFN for China, or globalization was good for America and a reason he or she should be re-elected. But in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, attacks on free trade were central elements of Democratic strategy.
By the way--Webb campaigned against 'economic Globaloney' too...
What is ahead is not difficult to predict.
The Doha Round of global trade negotiations is dead. Even if Bush cuts a deal with Europe, it could not pass the new Congress. In mid-2007, when Bush asks for renewal of his fast-track authority – presidential power to negotiate trade deals, while cutting Congress out of any role save a yes-or-no vote – it will be amended drastically or batted down handily.
But if the free-trade era is over, what will succeed it?
...A rising spirit of nationalism is evident everywhere in this election, not simply in the economic realm. Americans are weary of sacrificing their soldier-sons for Iraqi democracy. They are weary of shelling out foreign aid to regimes that endlessly hector America at the United Nations. They are tired of sacrificing the interests of American workers on the altar of an abstraction called the Global Economy. They are fed up with allies long on advice and short on assistance.
PJB declares that 'American nationalism' is returning, signaled by this election. While PJB overstates the case, (as did Spectral Specter by stating that the Pubbie Party was 'too close' to Christians,) the Economic Globaloney types should pay attention.
After all, if one wants to create the Good Life for Chinese oligarchs, perhaps one should run for offices in PRC.
Almost no embattled Republican could be found taking the Bush line that NAFTA, or CAFTA with Central America, or MFN for China, or globalization was good for America and a reason he or she should be re-elected. But in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, attacks on free trade were central elements of Democratic strategy.
By the way--Webb campaigned against 'economic Globaloney' too...
What is ahead is not difficult to predict.
The Doha Round of global trade negotiations is dead. Even if Bush cuts a deal with Europe, it could not pass the new Congress. In mid-2007, when Bush asks for renewal of his fast-track authority – presidential power to negotiate trade deals, while cutting Congress out of any role save a yes-or-no vote – it will be amended drastically or batted down handily.
But if the free-trade era is over, what will succeed it?
...A rising spirit of nationalism is evident everywhere in this election, not simply in the economic realm. Americans are weary of sacrificing their soldier-sons for Iraqi democracy. They are weary of shelling out foreign aid to regimes that endlessly hector America at the United Nations. They are tired of sacrificing the interests of American workers on the altar of an abstraction called the Global Economy. They are fed up with allies long on advice and short on assistance.
PJB declares that 'American nationalism' is returning, signaled by this election. While PJB overstates the case, (as did Spectral Specter by stating that the Pubbie Party was 'too close' to Christians,) the Economic Globaloney types should pay attention.
After all, if one wants to create the Good Life for Chinese oligarchs, perhaps one should run for offices in PRC.
Mis-Over-Estimated--YOU Could Be the Next Sacrifice
We've often heard from the pundit class how it is we have "mis-underestimated" GWBush. And on occasion, that has been the case. But he is "mis-OVER-estimated" at least as often.
Take Rumsfeld. Please.
Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt resignation from the Pentagon the day after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress has infuriated some GOP officials on and off Capitol Hill.
Members and staff still reeling from Tuesday's rout are furious about the administration's decision to dump the controversial defense secretary one day after their historic loss, they said in a series of interviews about the election results.
..."The White House said keeping the majority was a priority, but they failed to do the one thing that could have made a difference," one House GOP leadership aide said Thursday. "For them to toss Rumsfeld one day after the election was a slap in the face to everyone who worked hard to protect the majority."
Yah, well, carrying someone else's water is a burden, as Limbaugh has observed. When GWB was given 15 minutes to state the case for re-electing Republicans, the poor fellow recited his Wilson-esque yappaflappa about "planting the seeds of Democracy" and how the 'US would prevail', and how 'it's theWhite Man's Burden (oops, sorry) Americans' burden to sacrifice to Plant Democracy', and how 'Planting Democracy in Iraq was the first step in the Glorious March of Progress for the Entire World' (except North Korea,) and how....
Finally, someone shut him up.
Now Globaloney II (aka GWB) decides to make nice to Speaker-Ette Nancy by sacrificing Rummy?
Who the Hell ELSE is Globaloney going to sacrifice to Plant Democracy and assure Glorious Global Progress?
Take Rumsfeld. Please.
Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt resignation from the Pentagon the day after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress has infuriated some GOP officials on and off Capitol Hill.
Members and staff still reeling from Tuesday's rout are furious about the administration's decision to dump the controversial defense secretary one day after their historic loss, they said in a series of interviews about the election results.
..."The White House said keeping the majority was a priority, but they failed to do the one thing that could have made a difference," one House GOP leadership aide said Thursday. "For them to toss Rumsfeld one day after the election was a slap in the face to everyone who worked hard to protect the majority."
Yah, well, carrying someone else's water is a burden, as Limbaugh has observed. When GWB was given 15 minutes to state the case for re-electing Republicans, the poor fellow recited his Wilson-esque yappaflappa about "planting the seeds of Democracy" and how the 'US would prevail', and how 'it's the
Finally, someone shut him up.
Now Globaloney II (aka GWB) decides to make nice to Speaker-Ette Nancy by sacrificing Rummy?
Who the Hell ELSE is Globaloney going to sacrifice to Plant Democracy and assure Glorious Global Progress?
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Absent, Yes. SBC vs. Microsoft--Not Pretty
Spent a few days without a computer--the motherboard on my 5+ year old box went byebye.
Learned a few things which may be important to some of you in the future.
When the motherboard went, my MilwaukeePC branch manager suggested that a new box was in order. This one runs on the Intel 64-bit DualCore processor--and while that's a good thing for power and speed, this processor does NOT like the SBC/Yahoo DSL package of goods.
First off, SBC/Yahoo's browser is not compatible with IE7. So you go back to IE6? Well, only if you want another problem--SBC/Yahoo's "one-touch" diagnostic tool.
After 2 different days of BSOD, we figured it out.
The SBC/Yahoo DSL software is re-sold by other telephone-company DSL providers. Seems to me that the vendor name is MotiveSmart, or some such.
Caution!!
Learned a few things which may be important to some of you in the future.
When the motherboard went, my MilwaukeePC branch manager suggested that a new box was in order. This one runs on the Intel 64-bit DualCore processor--and while that's a good thing for power and speed, this processor does NOT like the SBC/Yahoo DSL package of goods.
First off, SBC/Yahoo's browser is not compatible with IE7. So you go back to IE6? Well, only if you want another problem--SBC/Yahoo's "one-touch" diagnostic tool.
After 2 different days of BSOD, we figured it out.
The SBC/Yahoo DSL software is re-sold by other telephone-company DSL providers. Seems to me that the vendor name is MotiveSmart, or some such.
Caution!!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
The Farmer Near the Dells
...OK, I stole that felicitous moniker from P-Mac...
But last night, watching him pitch haybales and naivete (he has both in plenitude), it occurred to me to wonder exactly what he'll be pitching when Screechin'Shirley creates homosex "marriage" from existing statutes.
S'pose he'll realize that he's been, ah, fleeced? Milked?
S'pose he'll be cheesed-off?
But last night, watching him pitch haybales and naivete (he has both in plenitude), it occurred to me to wonder exactly what he'll be pitching when Screechin'Shirley creates homosex "marriage" from existing statutes.
S'pose he'll realize that he's been, ah, fleeced? Milked?
S'pose he'll be cheesed-off?
U of Cal's Los Alamos: Druggies, Leakers
This is just a followup on a story that broke a few weeks ago...
The recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory was very serious, with sensitive materials being taken out of the facility — possibly including information on how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons, officials tell CBS News. Officials say there is no evidence the information taken from Los Alamos was sold or transferred to anybody else....
As CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson was the first to report, secret documents apparently taken from the lab were found during a drug raid at a Los Alamos-area home last month. The FBI was called in to investigate.
The woman believed to have taken the information — Jessica Quintana, 22, who owned the trailer — worked in three classified vault rooms across Los Alamos:
Safeguards and Security (relating to strategic nuclear material control and accountability)
X-Division (top secret)
Physics P-Division.
She also had top secret "Q-clearance" with access to all the U.S. underground nuclear test data.
Quintana has not been arrested or charged. Her attorney says she took the material home to work and then forgot about it.
Hey, man, like, wow! I shoulda reMEMbered that stuff? Wow!
U of California: One Toke Over the Line...
The recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory was very serious, with sensitive materials being taken out of the facility — possibly including information on how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons, officials tell CBS News. Officials say there is no evidence the information taken from Los Alamos was sold or transferred to anybody else....
As CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson was the first to report, secret documents apparently taken from the lab were found during a drug raid at a Los Alamos-area home last month. The FBI was called in to investigate.
The woman believed to have taken the information — Jessica Quintana, 22, who owned the trailer — worked in three classified vault rooms across Los Alamos:
Safeguards and Security (relating to strategic nuclear material control and accountability)
X-Division (top secret)
Physics P-Division.
She also had top secret "Q-clearance" with access to all the U.S. underground nuclear test data.
Quintana has not been arrested or charged. Her attorney says she took the material home to work and then forgot about it.
Hey, man, like, wow! I shoulda reMEMbered that stuff? Wow!
U of California: One Toke Over the Line...
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Wiggy on Fox
No--Wiggy's not going national-news....yet.
But he does comment on the upcoming visit of a certain Hollywood-type:
The "Michael J Fox typical Hollywood liberal with a pet disease" tour is making a campaign stop in Milwaukee on Monday. Fox will explain how cloning human embryos and then killing them will immediately cure Parkinson's disease, diabetes, baldness, male impotence, female incontinence, political corruption, and will stop the war in Iraq.
Remember in 2004 when were on the A list of states? We got Bruce Springsteen! Now the Democrats are sending us actors with a recurring bit part on a TV series.
You don't do him justice, Wig. He also was responsible for a vitriolically anti-Catholic movie called...umnnnhhh...I remember this.....YEAH!
The DaVinci Code.
Anti-Catholic, anti-life. Just a coincidence.
But he does comment on the upcoming visit of a certain Hollywood-type:
The "Michael J Fox typical Hollywood liberal with a pet disease" tour is making a campaign stop in Milwaukee on Monday. Fox will explain how cloning human embryos and then killing them will immediately cure Parkinson's disease, diabetes, baldness, male impotence, female incontinence, political corruption, and will stop the war in Iraq.
Remember in 2004 when were on the A list of states? We got Bruce Springsteen! Now the Democrats are sending us actors with a recurring bit part on a TV series.
You don't do him justice, Wig. He also was responsible for a vitriolically anti-Catholic movie called...umnnnhhh...I remember this.....YEAH!
The DaVinci Code.
Anti-Catholic, anti-life. Just a coincidence.
Iraq: GWB's Elbe
Meantime, things are going badly for GWB on the issue of Iraq, at least if you believe the NeoCons who are quoted in Vanity Fair.
[Bush] did not make decisions, in part because the machinery of government that he nominally ran was actually running him. The National Security Council was not serving [Bush] properly. He regarded [then National-Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice] as part of the family."--Richard Perle
"Ask yourself who the most powerful people in the White House are. They are women who are in love with the president: Laura [Bush], Condi, Harriet Miers, and Karen Hughes."--Mike Ledeen
"[Bush] doesn't in fact seem to be a man of principle who's steadfastly pursuing what he thinks is the right course. He talks about it, but the policy doesn't track with the rhetoric, and that's what creates the incoherence that causes us problems around the world and at home.--Frank Gaffney
"The most dispiriting and awful moment of the whole administration was the day that Bush gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to [former C.I.A. director] George Tenet, General Tommy Franks, and [Coalition Provisional Authority chief] Jerry [Paul] Bremer—three of the most incompetent people who've ever served in such key spots.--Ken Adelman
"Huge mistakes were made, and I want to be very clear on this: They were not made by neoconservatives, who had almost no voice in what happened, and certainly almost no voice in what happened after the downfall of the regime in Baghdad. I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. --Richard Perle
"I wouldn't be surprised if what we end up drifting toward is some sort of withdrawal on some sort of timetable and leaving the place in a pretty ghastly mess.… I do think it's going to end up encouraging various strands of Islamism, both Shia and Sunni, and probably will bring de-stabilization of some regimes of a more traditional kind, which already have their problems.… --Eliot Cohen
Doesn't comport with Rush-thought, does it?
Are these guys simply 'sour grapes,' having been roasted and toasted for their (alleged) influence in starting this thing with the Pollyanna dreams they had? Or are they trying to pin the target on GWB in a "false-flag" operation?
Or is this a group of sober, reflective observations from mature and capable public servants?
[Bush] did not make decisions, in part because the machinery of government that he nominally ran was actually running him. The National Security Council was not serving [Bush] properly. He regarded [then National-Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice] as part of the family."--Richard Perle
"Ask yourself who the most powerful people in the White House are. They are women who are in love with the president: Laura [Bush], Condi, Harriet Miers, and Karen Hughes."--Mike Ledeen
"[Bush] doesn't in fact seem to be a man of principle who's steadfastly pursuing what he thinks is the right course. He talks about it, but the policy doesn't track with the rhetoric, and that's what creates the incoherence that causes us problems around the world and at home.--Frank Gaffney
"The most dispiriting and awful moment of the whole administration was the day that Bush gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to [former C.I.A. director] George Tenet, General Tommy Franks, and [Coalition Provisional Authority chief] Jerry [Paul] Bremer—three of the most incompetent people who've ever served in such key spots.--Ken Adelman
"Huge mistakes were made, and I want to be very clear on this: They were not made by neoconservatives, who had almost no voice in what happened, and certainly almost no voice in what happened after the downfall of the regime in Baghdad. I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. --Richard Perle
"I wouldn't be surprised if what we end up drifting toward is some sort of withdrawal on some sort of timetable and leaving the place in a pretty ghastly mess.… I do think it's going to end up encouraging various strands of Islamism, both Shia and Sunni, and probably will bring de-stabilization of some regimes of a more traditional kind, which already have their problems.… --Eliot Cohen
Doesn't comport with Rush-thought, does it?
Are these guys simply 'sour grapes,' having been roasted and toasted for their (alleged) influence in starting this thing with the Pollyanna dreams they had? Or are they trying to pin the target on GWB in a "false-flag" operation?
Or is this a group of sober, reflective observations from mature and capable public servants?
Folkbum's Short History of the Democrat Party
It was nice of Jay to post all this research on the Democrat Party. Saves us the trouble...
Among others, the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, and other terrorist organizations attempted to prevent the 15th Amendment from being enforced by violence and intimidation.
Yes, Jay, we remember Senator Robert Byrd's origins as a politician.
...resulted in a climate in which violence could be used to depress black voter turnout and fraud could be used to undo the effect of lawfully cast votes.
And we all thought "vote fraud" was invented by Richard Daley. Turns out he was merely a student of his Party's history.
Once whites regained control of the state legislatures using these tactics, a process known as "Redemption," they used gerrymandering of election districts to further reduce black voting strength and minimize the number of black elected officials.
Not Jesse Unruh, but Dixiecrats. Hmmmm.
Prior to passage of the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965...
...which was passed by REPUBLICANS, by the way...
(One more thing, Jay. Southern Democrat regimes ALSO established "gun-control" laws to prevent blacks from defending themselves, their families, and their property from KKK types. I'm sure you want to know that.)
Now, let's move to Jay's topic, thanking him once again for his history lesson.
Jay wants to confuse the "literacy tests" used and abused by Democrat pols in the South with the necessity of being an informed voter. Those tests had little to do with 'informed' and everything to do with electing Democrat politicians.
One hopes that Jay understands the difference.
Now comes Plato:
Whether it is a matter of art, music or politics, it is only the ‘best men’ who are capable of true judgement. The true judge must not allow himself to be influenced by the gallery nor intimidated by the clamour of the multitude. Nothing must compel him to hand down a verdict that belies his own convictions. It is his duty to teach the multitude and not to learn from them.
The commentator on this passage adds the following:
(It should be noted at this point that one common criticism of Plato is based on a gross textual misreading of The Republic. This criticism claims that Plato’s perfectly just city is undemocratic because it is an aristocracy of the hereditary caste of Philosopher Rulers. But this is fallacious since The Republic clearly asserts that all citizens who satisfy the educational requirements, including women and members of the producer class, will be able to become Rulers, and hence the Philosopher Rulers do not constitute a hereditary caste. Plato’s perfectly just society ‘is not a caste society’.)
Plato's ideal voter, then, is one who votes for the 'common good,' not subject to 'clamor,' and consistent with his 'convictions.' In other words, as Kenitz points out, a disqualification for voting (to Plato) would be 'issue illiteracy,' or in less elegant terms, "stupidity."
As to Aristotle:
The citizen in common parlance is the person who has a share in ruling and being ruled; in the best system of government [namely, a polity, on which see under “Defining Systems of Government”] a citizen is both able and willing to rule and be ruled in accordance with a life lived with excellence as its aim.
The good citizen must have ability and knowledge concerning both ruling free men and also being ruled. A good citizen must possess moderation and prudence ( sophrosyne ) and justice ( dikaiosyne ) with respect to ruling.
A good (albeit not perfect) way to describe our system of governance is 'polity.'
Polity is, to put it simply, a mixture of oligarchy and democracy. The kinds of polities that tend towards democracy are customarily referred to by the name of polity, while those that tend towards oligarchy are called aristocracies.
When the multitude governs according to the common advantage, then this system of government is called by the term also used to designate systems of government in general, namely, polity.
The following arrangements are usually considered consistent with democracy:
Election to all offices from among all the citizens.
(There are others mentioned, but this is closest to the polity we use.)
Additionally:
The same person not repeating the same magistracy, or only rarely, except for military offices.
Having the terms of magistracies be short, wherever possible.
Choosing jurors from all citizens to adjudicate all matters, or most matters, especially the most important ones.
The assembly having authority over all matters or the most important matters, while magistrates have authority over none, or as few as possible.
Providing pay for all service in government, or for all functions that exercise authority.
Making no distinctions according to a citizen’s birth, poverty, or occupation no public offices held for life.
As to "educational qualification for voting,":
Education appropriate for a democratic system of government is not to be guided by what brings enjoyment to the partisans of democracy but rather by what makes it possible to run a system of government democratically.
More on "informed voters":
Education, debate, and social groups dedicated to inquiry and discussion are enemies of tyranny, since they encourage intelligent thought and trust [among citizens].
"Intelligent thought," eh? S'pose that's what Kenitz was writing about, Jay?
Among others, the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, and other terrorist organizations attempted to prevent the 15th Amendment from being enforced by violence and intimidation.
Yes, Jay, we remember Senator Robert Byrd's origins as a politician.
...resulted in a climate in which violence could be used to depress black voter turnout and fraud could be used to undo the effect of lawfully cast votes.
And we all thought "vote fraud" was invented by Richard Daley. Turns out he was merely a student of his Party's history.
Once whites regained control of the state legislatures using these tactics, a process known as "Redemption," they used gerrymandering of election districts to further reduce black voting strength and minimize the number of black elected officials.
Not Jesse Unruh, but Dixiecrats. Hmmmm.
Prior to passage of the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965...
...which was passed by REPUBLICANS, by the way...
(One more thing, Jay. Southern Democrat regimes ALSO established "gun-control" laws to prevent blacks from defending themselves, their families, and their property from KKK types. I'm sure you want to know that.)
Now, let's move to Jay's topic, thanking him once again for his history lesson.
Jay wants to confuse the "literacy tests" used and abused by Democrat pols in the South with the necessity of being an informed voter. Those tests had little to do with 'informed' and everything to do with electing Democrat politicians.
One hopes that Jay understands the difference.
Now comes Plato:
Whether it is a matter of art, music or politics, it is only the ‘best men’ who are capable of true judgement. The true judge must not allow himself to be influenced by the gallery nor intimidated by the clamour of the multitude. Nothing must compel him to hand down a verdict that belies his own convictions. It is his duty to teach the multitude and not to learn from them.
The commentator on this passage adds the following:
(It should be noted at this point that one common criticism of Plato is based on a gross textual misreading of The Republic. This criticism claims that Plato’s perfectly just city is undemocratic because it is an aristocracy of the hereditary caste of Philosopher Rulers. But this is fallacious since The Republic clearly asserts that all citizens who satisfy the educational requirements, including women and members of the producer class, will be able to become Rulers, and hence the Philosopher Rulers do not constitute a hereditary caste. Plato’s perfectly just society ‘is not a caste society’.)
Plato's ideal voter, then, is one who votes for the 'common good,' not subject to 'clamor,' and consistent with his 'convictions.' In other words, as Kenitz points out, a disqualification for voting (to Plato) would be 'issue illiteracy,' or in less elegant terms, "stupidity."
As to Aristotle:
The citizen in common parlance is the person who has a share in ruling and being ruled; in the best system of government [namely, a polity, on which see under “Defining Systems of Government”] a citizen is both able and willing to rule and be ruled in accordance with a life lived with excellence as its aim.
The good citizen must have ability and knowledge concerning both ruling free men and also being ruled. A good citizen must possess moderation and prudence ( sophrosyne ) and justice ( dikaiosyne ) with respect to ruling.
A good (albeit not perfect) way to describe our system of governance is 'polity.'
Polity is, to put it simply, a mixture of oligarchy and democracy. The kinds of polities that tend towards democracy are customarily referred to by the name of polity, while those that tend towards oligarchy are called aristocracies.
When the multitude governs according to the common advantage, then this system of government is called by the term also used to designate systems of government in general, namely, polity.
The following arrangements are usually considered consistent with democracy:
Election to all offices from among all the citizens.
(There are others mentioned, but this is closest to the polity we use.)
Additionally:
The same person not repeating the same magistracy, or only rarely, except for military offices.
Having the terms of magistracies be short, wherever possible.
Choosing jurors from all citizens to adjudicate all matters, or most matters, especially the most important ones.
The assembly having authority over all matters or the most important matters, while magistrates have authority over none, or as few as possible.
Providing pay for all service in government, or for all functions that exercise authority.
Making no distinctions according to a citizen’s birth, poverty, or occupation no public offices held for life.
As to "educational qualification for voting,":
Education appropriate for a democratic system of government is not to be guided by what brings enjoyment to the partisans of democracy but rather by what makes it possible to run a system of government democratically.
More on "informed voters":
Education, debate, and social groups dedicated to inquiry and discussion are enemies of tyranny, since they encourage intelligent thought and trust [among citizens].
"Intelligent thought," eh? S'pose that's what Kenitz was writing about, Jay?
Jay Weber Dipwad Driver Update
Jay Weber of WISN Radio theorizes that Dipwad Drivers generally have "Hug-a-Tree" or "Kerry for President" stickers on their bumpers. In other words, he finds that Lefties are incapable of driving well.
I modestly suggest that Jay has not thoroughly researched Dipwad Drivers.
There are two other categories of Dipwad Drivers--and they are equally dangerous.
The first (and most prominent) additional category: Women Drivers Near Shopping Centers.
It is clear from scientific observation that Shopping Centers emit secret radio-wave transmissions which completely take over a woman's motor- and hand-eye-coordination functions when they are driving within 6 blocks of a Shopping Center. There is no other explanation for their driving behaviors when proximate to Bayshore, Whole Earth Foods, Mayfair, or Bluemound Road.
If you doubt me, then station yourself near Mayfair some day (at a safe distance) and observe the goings-on on both Hy. 100 and on North Ave. Or, if you like really dangerous living, station yourself anyplace on Bluemound Road west of 150th Street (that's 6 blocks east of Brookfield Square), out to about 215th (6 blocks west of Menard's.)
Report back if you survive. It may be useful to purchase a box of Depends before taking on these observation duties.
The second additional Dipwad Driver category is Old Ladies Who Cannot See the Road Anymore.
You've seen them--when you're behind them, you cannot tell if their car is being driven by remote-control, largely because they are so short-waisted that they cannot be seen in their cars. They are generally driving between 10-20 mph under the limit and tend to "lurch" into an adjacent lane for no apparent reason, without signaling their intent. They also slow down (!!!) on occasion, again for no apparent reason.
God help you if you encounter a superannuated Lefty female near a Shopping Center.
I modestly suggest that Jay has not thoroughly researched Dipwad Drivers.
There are two other categories of Dipwad Drivers--and they are equally dangerous.
The first (and most prominent) additional category: Women Drivers Near Shopping Centers.
It is clear from scientific observation that Shopping Centers emit secret radio-wave transmissions which completely take over a woman's motor- and hand-eye-coordination functions when they are driving within 6 blocks of a Shopping Center. There is no other explanation for their driving behaviors when proximate to Bayshore, Whole Earth Foods, Mayfair, or Bluemound Road.
If you doubt me, then station yourself near Mayfair some day (at a safe distance) and observe the goings-on on both Hy. 100 and on North Ave. Or, if you like really dangerous living, station yourself anyplace on Bluemound Road west of 150th Street (that's 6 blocks east of Brookfield Square), out to about 215th (6 blocks west of Menard's.)
Report back if you survive. It may be useful to purchase a box of Depends before taking on these observation duties.
The second additional Dipwad Driver category is Old Ladies Who Cannot See the Road Anymore.
You've seen them--when you're behind them, you cannot tell if their car is being driven by remote-control, largely because they are so short-waisted that they cannot be seen in their cars. They are generally driving between 10-20 mph under the limit and tend to "lurch" into an adjacent lane for no apparent reason, without signaling their intent. They also slow down (!!!) on occasion, again for no apparent reason.
God help you if you encounter a superannuated Lefty female near a Shopping Center.
Bloomberg and Urban--the Mouth and the Cipher
Seems that Kate Bloomberg and her house-pet Frank Urban think Tom Reynolds is "an embarrassment" to the Republican Party.
After Kate Bloomberg became the Queen of Brookfield, she organized the resistance to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District, which was Henry Maier's personal tool for punishing the suburbs. That was a good thing, although it didn't get very far--MMSD still exists, still takes and spends money without accountability to taxpayers, and by the way, still hasn't delivered on its promises about eliminating sewage-dumps into Lake Michigan.
We'll revisit a part of the above shortly.
Having been stifled by the Milwaukee Machine and its allies in Madistan, Bloomberg turned to her real area of expertise--interior decorating. She decided that gas stations were loca non grata in Brookfield and eliminated as many of them as possible. She adored the Oak Brook (IL) streetscapes, and rammed through an ordinance requiring businesses to spend $Gazillions to purchase signage which fit her concept of beauty. She really went ooooooh! when seeing the Mitchell Street "bump-outs" and replicated them on a road in Brookfield, (ignoring the utterly dismal results for traffic when it snows--which it does in these latitutes.) She attempted to enact a ban of leaf-burning and was slapped silly by actual Brookfield natives who have mature trees in their yards--as opposed to "hope-sticks" which decorate her current yard. Her planning Gestapo required all sorts of stupid-landscaping-tricks for shopping centers, creating even more snow-removal problems. (You'd think that she would understand about snow--she being from the Upper Peninsula, and all.)
Finally, she rammed through an Arts Center for Brookfield, which became a tragi-comedy. After an anonymous donor had offered to donate a very valuable collection of art, she managed to: 1) build an arts center in a swamp; 2) offend the anonymous donor, whose collection will NOT be in the center; 3) violate the terms of a State grant in building the center; and 4) under-size the main performance hall.
In the meantime, her house-husband (Hank Urban--remember him?) occupied space at the State Capitol.
Bloomberg's imperious, loud-mouthed Statism was rejected when her hand-picked successor was defeated by a Brookfield police officer, and she finally exited, stage Left.
Yes, the Republican Party has "embarrassments." And when you look it up in the dictionary, you'll see Kate and Hank's pictures.
Oh, yes, the "take-and-spend-without-accountability" issue--
Just like MMSD, Wisconsin's Legislators (aided by Lee "The Walrus" Dreyfus) managed to take and spend money without accountability--they invented the Perpetual-Increasing-Gas-Tax. After 20+ years of this taxpayer abuse, Tom Reynolds decided that it had to stop.
And Reynolds got it through. Where Kate failed in her effort to stop Taxation Without Representation in the MMSD, Reynolds succeeded.
Kate's pals in the road-building business (can you spell Payne & Dolan?) don't like Tom Reynolds, so they found Kate-the-Queen and Hank-the-Cipher to endorse another Statist, Jim Sullivan.
It's called the Party of Government, folks, and its parade-leaders are on display.
After Kate Bloomberg became the Queen of Brookfield, she organized the resistance to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District, which was Henry Maier's personal tool for punishing the suburbs. That was a good thing, although it didn't get very far--MMSD still exists, still takes and spends money without accountability to taxpayers, and by the way, still hasn't delivered on its promises about eliminating sewage-dumps into Lake Michigan.
We'll revisit a part of the above shortly.
Having been stifled by the Milwaukee Machine and its allies in Madistan, Bloomberg turned to her real area of expertise--interior decorating. She decided that gas stations were loca non grata in Brookfield and eliminated as many of them as possible. She adored the Oak Brook (IL) streetscapes, and rammed through an ordinance requiring businesses to spend $Gazillions to purchase signage which fit her concept of beauty. She really went ooooooh! when seeing the Mitchell Street "bump-outs" and replicated them on a road in Brookfield, (ignoring the utterly dismal results for traffic when it snows--which it does in these latitutes.) She attempted to enact a ban of leaf-burning and was slapped silly by actual Brookfield natives who have mature trees in their yards--as opposed to "hope-sticks" which decorate her current yard. Her planning Gestapo required all sorts of stupid-landscaping-tricks for shopping centers, creating even more snow-removal problems. (You'd think that she would understand about snow--she being from the Upper Peninsula, and all.)
Finally, she rammed through an Arts Center for Brookfield, which became a tragi-comedy. After an anonymous donor had offered to donate a very valuable collection of art, she managed to: 1) build an arts center in a swamp; 2) offend the anonymous donor, whose collection will NOT be in the center; 3) violate the terms of a State grant in building the center; and 4) under-size the main performance hall.
In the meantime, her house-husband (Hank Urban--remember him?) occupied space at the State Capitol.
Bloomberg's imperious, loud-mouthed Statism was rejected when her hand-picked successor was defeated by a Brookfield police officer, and she finally exited, stage Left.
Yes, the Republican Party has "embarrassments." And when you look it up in the dictionary, you'll see Kate and Hank's pictures.
Oh, yes, the "take-and-spend-without-accountability" issue--
Just like MMSD, Wisconsin's Legislators (aided by Lee "The Walrus" Dreyfus) managed to take and spend money without accountability--they invented the Perpetual-Increasing-Gas-Tax. After 20+ years of this taxpayer abuse, Tom Reynolds decided that it had to stop.
And Reynolds got it through. Where Kate failed in her effort to stop Taxation Without Representation in the MMSD, Reynolds succeeded.
Kate's pals in the road-building business (can you spell Payne & Dolan?) don't like Tom Reynolds, so they found Kate-the-Queen and Hank-the-Cipher to endorse another Statist, Jim Sullivan.
It's called the Party of Government, folks, and its parade-leaders are on display.
Go-Fast Truck
Have a Need for Speed? One solution, from Iowahawk:
As a longtime reader of iowahawk, I felt that you might appreciate a recent project that we recently put together and tested. When you’re from Alabama, rockets and pickup trucks just go together like cole slaw and barbeque, firearms and cornmash, sisters and wives. I’ve attached a few pics of a rocket truck we’ve developed, mainly for our own amusement.
Basically, we designed, built, and tested a hybrid rocket motor that fits into the bed of a pickup truck. The hybrid rocket motor features nitrous oxide as the oxidizer. For the fuel we use roofing tar. The motor makes about 2750 lbf thrust at static conditions, and burns for about 10 seconds. During this short period of time, the motor generates around 14,000 thrust hp. (power = thrust*exit velocity = 2750 lbf * 4000 ft/sec). Note, this is thrust hp, not shaft hp to the wheels.
The truck is a standard 2004 chevy ss. The only real modifications we made were to beef up the underframe which supports the truck bed. There are four ½” grade 5 bolts that pass through the rocket box frame and into the underframe. We operate the motor using a modified XBOX game controller (ergonomics, ya’ know).
We demonstrated this unit recently at the x-prize cup in Las Cruces. After several successful demos, the “negras modelos” flowed abundantly. Within the next few weeks, we’ll move past the static testing, and take the truck out to the drag strip to see how it’ll do down the road. I’ll keep you posted.
The cultural information on Alabama will be of interest to John Kerry.
Pix available on the linked post.
As a longtime reader of iowahawk, I felt that you might appreciate a recent project that we recently put together and tested. When you’re from Alabama, rockets and pickup trucks just go together like cole slaw and barbeque, firearms and cornmash, sisters and wives. I’ve attached a few pics of a rocket truck we’ve developed, mainly for our own amusement.
Basically, we designed, built, and tested a hybrid rocket motor that fits into the bed of a pickup truck. The hybrid rocket motor features nitrous oxide as the oxidizer. For the fuel we use roofing tar. The motor makes about 2750 lbf thrust at static conditions, and burns for about 10 seconds. During this short period of time, the motor generates around 14,000 thrust hp. (power = thrust*exit velocity = 2750 lbf * 4000 ft/sec). Note, this is thrust hp, not shaft hp to the wheels.
The truck is a standard 2004 chevy ss. The only real modifications we made were to beef up the underframe which supports the truck bed. There are four ½” grade 5 bolts that pass through the rocket box frame and into the underframe. We operate the motor using a modified XBOX game controller (ergonomics, ya’ know).
We demonstrated this unit recently at the x-prize cup in Las Cruces. After several successful demos, the “negras modelos” flowed abundantly. Within the next few weeks, we’ll move past the static testing, and take the truck out to the drag strip to see how it’ll do down the road. I’ll keep you posted.
The cultural information on Alabama will be of interest to John Kerry.
Pix available on the linked post.
So Is Kenitz Funny?
Ol' Folkie is in high dudgeon about a JS guest-column. He takes the occasion of his Dudgeon-Ness to slap up his favorite targets--P-Mac and Jessica, and "re-phrases the question" to avoid the obvious.
Hmmmm.
Here's the first bullet-item in the Kenitz column:
If you believe that it's everyone's responsibility to vote, you're stupid. Don't vote
"Right" to vote is not the same as "responsibility" to vote. So what's the argument, Jay?
Moving on:
If you're disillusioned with the entire democratic process because you don't like President Bush, voted against him twice yet he still got elected, you're stupid. Don't vote.
Personally, I might have used "pissed-off" in place of "disillusioned." But that's only because Democrat Party/Wisconsin's vote-fraud activities make me "pissed-off."
If you want to re-elect Gov. Jim Doyle because you saw a TV ad that says Rep. Mark Green gives kickbacks to Big Oil, you're stupid. Don't vote.
If you want to vote for Green because you saw a TV ad that says Doyle gives kickbacks to everyone else, well, I think you're right but that doesn't necessarily make you smart. Don't vote.
The pattern emerges--except for obtuse readers. (Those who would "re-phrase" the argument.)
If you think Milwaukee Republicans got carried away about Democratic voter fraud in recent years while supporting voter ID requirements that make sure votes are being cast by actual people, join the Democratic Party, change your name to John Doe and vote 1,700 times.
Lemmesee, heah, Gomer--that's 1,700 packs of cigarettes, or about $6K tax-free. Hell, YES, do the deal!
If you think "Barack Obama bin Laden" is the country's greatest threat since "Albert Hitler," congratulations on graduating from the U.S. public education system. But don't vote.
The Senior Senator from Massachusetts (AKA "the Swimmer") is on tape with that particular mangling of Obama's name. But in taking a swipe at the 'public education system,' Kenitz pegged Folkie's "Dudgeon-o-Meter."
If you view freedom not as something that you automatically should be entitled to just by existing but should be regularly and proactively exercised, you're smart. Vote.
If you feel that your financial well-being is the responsibility of the government, the upper class, the middle class, your kids or anyone who's not you, you're stupid. Don't vote.
I'm trying hard to find something exceptionable about the above comments...
If you get emotionally upset because a columnist called you stupid, don't vote. You're easily excitable and shouldn't have any say over who gets access to The Button.
Maybe THAT'S what started Folkie's engines?
Not really. As it turns out, Folkie was insulted because Kenitz 'called Democrat voters stupid.'
...the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel decides that the best use of its op-ed space is allowing a peurile conservative columnist to call voters--liberal voters, mostly--stupid, repeatedly.
Well, my reading of the column is different than Jay's. It appears to me that Kenitz simply doesn't want 'stupid people' to vote--whether they are Dimowit OR Pubbie.
Folkie, however, encourages the 'stupid vote.'
Somehow, that's not a surprise.
Hmmmm.
Here's the first bullet-item in the Kenitz column:
If you believe that it's everyone's responsibility to vote, you're stupid. Don't vote
"Right" to vote is not the same as "responsibility" to vote. So what's the argument, Jay?
Moving on:
If you're disillusioned with the entire democratic process because you don't like President Bush, voted against him twice yet he still got elected, you're stupid. Don't vote.
Personally, I might have used "pissed-off" in place of "disillusioned." But that's only because Democrat Party/Wisconsin's vote-fraud activities make me "pissed-off."
If you want to re-elect Gov. Jim Doyle because you saw a TV ad that says Rep. Mark Green gives kickbacks to Big Oil, you're stupid. Don't vote.
If you want to vote for Green because you saw a TV ad that says Doyle gives kickbacks to everyone else, well, I think you're right but that doesn't necessarily make you smart. Don't vote.
The pattern emerges--except for obtuse readers. (Those who would "re-phrase" the argument.)
If you think Milwaukee Republicans got carried away about Democratic voter fraud in recent years while supporting voter ID requirements that make sure votes are being cast by actual people, join the Democratic Party, change your name to John Doe and vote 1,700 times.
Lemmesee, heah, Gomer--that's 1,700 packs of cigarettes, or about $6K tax-free. Hell, YES, do the deal!
If you think "Barack Obama bin Laden" is the country's greatest threat since "Albert Hitler," congratulations on graduating from the U.S. public education system. But don't vote.
The Senior Senator from Massachusetts (AKA "the Swimmer") is on tape with that particular mangling of Obama's name. But in taking a swipe at the 'public education system,' Kenitz pegged Folkie's "Dudgeon-o-Meter."
If you view freedom not as something that you automatically should be entitled to just by existing but should be regularly and proactively exercised, you're smart. Vote.
If you feel that your financial well-being is the responsibility of the government, the upper class, the middle class, your kids or anyone who's not you, you're stupid. Don't vote.
I'm trying hard to find something exceptionable about the above comments...
If you get emotionally upset because a columnist called you stupid, don't vote. You're easily excitable and shouldn't have any say over who gets access to The Button.
Maybe THAT'S what started Folkie's engines?
Not really. As it turns out, Folkie was insulted because Kenitz 'called Democrat voters stupid.'
...the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel decides that the best use of its op-ed space is allowing a peurile conservative columnist to call voters--liberal voters, mostly--stupid, repeatedly.
Well, my reading of the column is different than Jay's. It appears to me that Kenitz simply doesn't want 'stupid people' to vote--whether they are Dimowit OR Pubbie.
Folkie, however, encourages the 'stupid vote.'
Somehow, that's not a surprise.
Chittister the Comic
So the dissent-specialist grants an interview to the Milwaukee JS. You can read it if you wish, but this little bit is interesting:
I am theologically concerned, for instance, by the revision of the liturgical texts, where they simply are deleting women again, making us totally invisible, taking us out of the language of the church and the language of the liturgy. . . . When you take women out of pronouns, don't talk to me about ordination. We have a far more serious problem than ordination. That's absolutely unacceptable.
Wish she'd take the damn hint.
I am theologically concerned, for instance, by the revision of the liturgical texts, where they simply are deleting women again, making us totally invisible, taking us out of the language of the church and the language of the liturgy. . . . When you take women out of pronouns, don't talk to me about ordination. We have a far more serious problem than ordination. That's absolutely unacceptable.
Wish she'd take the damn hint.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Katie Couric--Slapped Down
Attested to by Digital Hairshirt, an LA-area attorney and blogger:
Told to me today by a bailiff (female) at the courthouse whose husband is a Marine:
According to her, Katie Couric was interviewing a Marine Corps sniper. She asked him, "What do you feel when you fire your weapon to kill a living human being."
He answered, succinctly, "Recoil."
Good thing. Clearing, reloading, and re-setting takes time.
Told to me today by a bailiff (female) at the courthouse whose husband is a Marine:
According to her, Katie Couric was interviewing a Marine Corps sniper. She asked him, "What do you feel when you fire your weapon to kill a living human being."
He answered, succinctly, "Recoil."
Good thing. Clearing, reloading, and re-setting takes time.
Fisking Fr. Rolheiser
Since Terry did all the work, read his blog-entry--but here's a taste:
Quoting Fr. Rolheiser:
Finally, we tend to leave no room for our priests to be weak. I am not speaking here of weak in the moral sense, but weak in the way Jesus was weak and in the way that any truly sensitive person is: vulnerable, not always together, emotionally over-wrought, chronically over-extended, and prone to cry very needy tears at times.
Terry's comment:
His ideal pastor is a natural for the title role in a parish production of Camille.
Nothing like a subtle appeal for more vocations from the light-loafered crowd.
Quoting Fr. Rolheiser:
Finally, we tend to leave no room for our priests to be weak. I am not speaking here of weak in the moral sense, but weak in the way Jesus was weak and in the way that any truly sensitive person is: vulnerable, not always together, emotionally over-wrought, chronically over-extended, and prone to cry very needy tears at times.
Terry's comment:
His ideal pastor is a natural for the title role in a parish production of Camille.
Nothing like a subtle appeal for more vocations from the light-loafered crowd.
Hold Your Nose and Vote
Not to worry--I already sent a missive to Jim Sensenbrenner about this.
Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.
And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Mr. Bowen’s supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip.
“Given that his office has performed important work and that much remains to be done,” Mr. Warner added, “I intend to join Senator Collins in consulting with our colleagues to extend his charter.”
If we're going to drop a couple or 50 billion dollars, I'd sure as Hell like to know that it wasn't pissed away.
HT: Dreher
Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.
And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Mr. Bowen’s supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip.
“Given that his office has performed important work and that much remains to be done,” Mr. Warner added, “I intend to join Senator Collins in consulting with our colleagues to extend his charter.”
If we're going to drop a couple or 50 billion dollars, I'd sure as Hell like to know that it wasn't pissed away.
HT: Dreher
The Hymnody of "Now"
Thomas Howard (Chance or the Dance?) questions the 'current' inanity:
I hear from my young friends that there is a song abroad now, apparently widely sung, in which God is hailed as being “awesome.” Which of course He is.
...St. Joseph the Hymnographer (ninth century), Venantius Fortunatus (sixth century), Bernard of Cluny (twelfth century), and Peter Abelard (twelfth century), for example, all wrote hymns for their contemporaries. So did Martin Luther, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and William Cowper—all Protestants whose hymns are finally trickling into Catholic use. But the language of these hymns was never drawn from slang; and the sentiments adduced tended to draw us all away from the precincts of chit-chat into the courts where the seraphim sing.
Put it another way: There is something at work in worthy hymnody, if we consult the first 19 centuries, that arises neither from my current feelings about God nor from my daily chat.
This is a most difficult point to urge in our own time, when the breathless notion of “Now!” rules everyone's sensibilities. If the touchstone of praise is to be how my generation feels, where does this locate us all in those courts? Is there nothing to be gained by my setting on one side my own language, priorities, agenda, fancies, and impulses, and approaching the courts of the Most High seeking all the assistance I can get from the venerable throng of the faithful who have offered worship to Him for eons? Have I nothing to learn? Is there nothing which might be ganz andere (wholly other) from my imagination, fed as it has been by very loud, ebullient, and contemporary music and texts?
We might, for a start, join the second-century Christians in singing, “Father, we thank thee who hast planted / Thy holy word within our hearts.”
Wherein Mr. Howard suggests that one might glance at the shoulders one stands upon--it's a perspective on reality which discourages the deification of the created.
HT: Blosser, (of course)
I hear from my young friends that there is a song abroad now, apparently widely sung, in which God is hailed as being “awesome.” Which of course He is.
...St. Joseph the Hymnographer (ninth century), Venantius Fortunatus (sixth century), Bernard of Cluny (twelfth century), and Peter Abelard (twelfth century), for example, all wrote hymns for their contemporaries. So did Martin Luther, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and William Cowper—all Protestants whose hymns are finally trickling into Catholic use. But the language of these hymns was never drawn from slang; and the sentiments adduced tended to draw us all away from the precincts of chit-chat into the courts where the seraphim sing.
Put it another way: There is something at work in worthy hymnody, if we consult the first 19 centuries, that arises neither from my current feelings about God nor from my daily chat.
This is a most difficult point to urge in our own time, when the breathless notion of “Now!” rules everyone's sensibilities. If the touchstone of praise is to be how my generation feels, where does this locate us all in those courts? Is there nothing to be gained by my setting on one side my own language, priorities, agenda, fancies, and impulses, and approaching the courts of the Most High seeking all the assistance I can get from the venerable throng of the faithful who have offered worship to Him for eons? Have I nothing to learn? Is there nothing which might be ganz andere (wholly other) from my imagination, fed as it has been by very loud, ebullient, and contemporary music and texts?
We might, for a start, join the second-century Christians in singing, “Father, we thank thee who hast planted / Thy holy word within our hearts.”
Wherein Mr. Howard suggests that one might glance at the shoulders one stands upon--it's a perspective on reality which discourages the deification of the created.
HT: Blosser, (of course)
Chavez' Re-Election Numbers
In another Poll of Interest:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's lead over his main rival ahead of the Dec. 3 presidential election narrowed in October to 4 percentage points in polling by Caracas-based public opinion research company AKSA Partners.
Chavez, who had the support of 52 percent of those polled compared with 48 percent for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, has seen his lead dwindle from 13 points in September, AKSA President Alfredo Keller said. AKSA's poll, which assumed just two candidates, is the only one of five released in the past two weeks that shows Rosales gaining on Chavez.
Look for Rosales to "disappear" should the numbers become an embarrassment to Hugo.
HT: RedState
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's lead over his main rival ahead of the Dec. 3 presidential election narrowed in October to 4 percentage points in polling by Caracas-based public opinion research company AKSA Partners.
Chavez, who had the support of 52 percent of those polled compared with 48 percent for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, has seen his lead dwindle from 13 points in September, AKSA President Alfredo Keller said. AKSA's poll, which assumed just two candidates, is the only one of five released in the past two weeks that shows Rosales gaining on Chavez.
Look for Rosales to "disappear" should the numbers become an embarrassment to Hugo.
HT: RedState
Is It Too Early to Thank John Kerry?
Some interesting radio-guy chatter over the last 24 hours...
Seems that Kerry's remarks about "stupid=soldier" have lit a friggin' bonfire under voters' ...ah...bums.
And the previously-less-eager Pubbie base is now virtually standing in line at the polling places, without hundreds of GOTV phone calls.
How the Hell does Karl Rove do it?
Seems that Kerry's remarks about "stupid=soldier" have lit a friggin' bonfire under voters' ...ah...bums.
And the previously-less-eager Pubbie base is now virtually standing in line at the polling places, without hundreds of GOTV phone calls.
How the Hell does Karl Rove do it?
Hussein's A-Bombs--Only a Year Away
How about those WMD's?
Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
...Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq had abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.
Context: this is a NYSlimes story which is meant to flog the Administration for posting "dangerous" documents. Too bad they forgot their mantra that Saddam did not have WMD's.
HT: ClayCramer
Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
...Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq had abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.
Context: this is a NYSlimes story which is meant to flog the Administration for posting "dangerous" documents. Too bad they forgot their mantra that Saddam did not have WMD's.
HT: ClayCramer
Elmbrook Schools: It'll Be at Least $100 Million
The Elmbrook school district has been trying to Do Something about its high school buildings for a few years, but has failed to get traction with taxpayers. That's because the numbers are simply huge.
So Elmbrook changed tactics and hired someone whose job is to show the Fourth Estate (and other local officials) how awful the existing buildings really are.
Timing could have been better--there's an election coming up, and the ink-stained wretches have been busy there. But hey...
Elmbrook managed to corral a few local officials and show them a damp basement or two:
Elected officials representing the four communities in Elmbrook School District's boundaries - Brookfield, Elm Grove, New Berlin and the Town of Brookfield - were invited to attend a focus group to learn about and offer feedback on the building plans.
Asked whether the projected cost and tax impact were in an acceptable range, Speaker said the costs were necessary to maintain local property values and educational achievement.
The building project is estimated to cost $98 million to $100 million, or about an extra $285 each year for 20 years in school taxes for owners of a $300,000 home.
Speaker swallowed the bait. "Property Values" will drop like a rock if we don't spend $100 milion. Given that "Property Values" have increased about 27% in the last 6 years (Census Bureau, Midwestern average) one wonders.
But not for too long. After all, if "Property Values" drop, the City of Brookfield's mill-rate will have to rise, or the City's spending habits will have to be curbed. Duuuhhh.
Of course, it's possible that "Property Values" have to do with a low crime rate and lot-sizes larger than 120' x 60', and so forth.
Waukesha County Board Supervisor Keith Harenda, who represents the city and Town of Brookfield, also generally endorsed the plans and said the high schools' curb appeal was unsatisfactory compared with the new elementary schools.
If schools are not improved, the current buildings will cause property values to go down, Harenda said. "I'm seriously concerned about the high schools, and it has to be addressed."
Each of those new grade schools cost $10 million, and included a greenhouse.
"Curb appeal"? Puhleeezzze. Only 30% of the City of Brookfield's taxpayers have children in the Elmbrook schools. Another 30% send their children to private or parochial schools. Obviously, it's "curb appeal."
Elm Grove Village Trustee George Haas said he was surprised that the cost to remodel and expand the two existing high schools was not much cheaper than building two new high schools. Razing the two existing schools and building two new ones was estimated last fall to cost $118 million.
School District officials listed the cost of new construction at $155 a square foot - more than the $95 a square foot to do major remodeling (moving walls) and $75 a square foot for minor remodeling (changing only mechanical systems).
$100 million to remodel, $118 (++) million to go brand-new. Just a co-incidence, of course.
Look, folks. The Elmbrook schools claim that their students do very well on standardized tests. That's with these dowdy, leaky, un-appealing buildings which are endangering Property Values.
How did THAT happen?
So Elmbrook changed tactics and hired someone whose job is to show the Fourth Estate (and other local officials) how awful the existing buildings really are.
Timing could have been better--there's an election coming up, and the ink-stained wretches have been busy there. But hey...
Elmbrook managed to corral a few local officials and show them a damp basement or two:
Elected officials representing the four communities in Elmbrook School District's boundaries - Brookfield, Elm Grove, New Berlin and the Town of Brookfield - were invited to attend a focus group to learn about and offer feedback on the building plans.
Asked whether the projected cost and tax impact were in an acceptable range, Speaker said the costs were necessary to maintain local property values and educational achievement.
The building project is estimated to cost $98 million to $100 million, or about an extra $285 each year for 20 years in school taxes for owners of a $300,000 home.
Speaker swallowed the bait. "Property Values" will drop like a rock if we don't spend $100 milion. Given that "Property Values" have increased about 27% in the last 6 years (Census Bureau, Midwestern average) one wonders.
But not for too long. After all, if "Property Values" drop, the City of Brookfield's mill-rate will have to rise, or the City's spending habits will have to be curbed. Duuuhhh.
Of course, it's possible that "Property Values" have to do with a low crime rate and lot-sizes larger than 120' x 60', and so forth.
Waukesha County Board Supervisor Keith Harenda, who represents the city and Town of Brookfield, also generally endorsed the plans and said the high schools' curb appeal was unsatisfactory compared with the new elementary schools.
If schools are not improved, the current buildings will cause property values to go down, Harenda said. "I'm seriously concerned about the high schools, and it has to be addressed."
Each of those new grade schools cost $10 million, and included a greenhouse.
"Curb appeal"? Puhleeezzze. Only 30% of the City of Brookfield's taxpayers have children in the Elmbrook schools. Another 30% send their children to private or parochial schools. Obviously, it's "curb appeal."
Elm Grove Village Trustee George Haas said he was surprised that the cost to remodel and expand the two existing high schools was not much cheaper than building two new high schools. Razing the two existing schools and building two new ones was estimated last fall to cost $118 million.
School District officials listed the cost of new construction at $155 a square foot - more than the $95 a square foot to do major remodeling (moving walls) and $75 a square foot for minor remodeling (changing only mechanical systems).
$100 million to remodel, $118 (++) million to go brand-new. Just a co-incidence, of course.
Look, folks. The Elmbrook schools claim that their students do very well on standardized tests. That's with these dowdy, leaky, un-appealing buildings which are endangering Property Values.
How did THAT happen?
My Name? Daniel Ortega. And I'm Back!!
Daniel Ortega, the Commie who once ran Nicaragua, may be returning to power there with his Sandinista pals. If that happens, GWBush may have to adjust a few things:
A Georgia congressman has joined a chorus of congressional leaders asking Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff to prepare some way to halt the transfer of funds from the United States into Nicaragua, should Daniel Ortega win the presidential election in Nicaragua Sunday.
"We would, therefore, have reason to be concerned that terrorist groups would benefit from funds generated in this country and sent home by Nicaraguans living here in the form of remittances," he said.
He said that funding has been estimated to have totaled $2.5 billion over the last five years.
Ortega keeps a lot of bad company.
Kingston noted that during Ortega's earlier regime, Nicaragua had a practice of issuing Nicaraguan passports to international terrorists to facilitate their movement across borders. Five of those turned up in the hands of one suspect arrested in 1993 following the first attack on the World Trade Center, he said.
The Sandinista party also is backed "by the world's most virulently anti-American regimes – including, notably, those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and Fidel Castro in Cuba." Ortega's also been close to North Korea.
So Fidel dies, and this jackass returns. Nothing new under the sun.
A Georgia congressman has joined a chorus of congressional leaders asking Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff to prepare some way to halt the transfer of funds from the United States into Nicaragua, should Daniel Ortega win the presidential election in Nicaragua Sunday.
"We would, therefore, have reason to be concerned that terrorist groups would benefit from funds generated in this country and sent home by Nicaraguans living here in the form of remittances," he said.
He said that funding has been estimated to have totaled $2.5 billion over the last five years.
Ortega keeps a lot of bad company.
Kingston noted that during Ortega's earlier regime, Nicaragua had a practice of issuing Nicaraguan passports to international terrorists to facilitate their movement across borders. Five of those turned up in the hands of one suspect arrested in 1993 following the first attack on the World Trade Center, he said.
The Sandinista party also is backed "by the world's most virulently anti-American regimes – including, notably, those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and Fidel Castro in Cuba." Ortega's also been close to North Korea.
So Fidel dies, and this jackass returns. Nothing new under the sun.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Time-Warner Victory in Milwaukee
Well, at least it's a temporary victory.
Earlier, we blogged about the upcoming battle between ATT/SBC and Time-Warner over multi-functional TV/Internet/telephone services. Time-Warner has the Milwaukee franchise (and several others, including Brookfield). This franchise includes a handsome payment to the local Government, which means that a competitor is going to encounter a LOT of resistance from the tax-taker ruling class.
Sure enough, it's playing out:
Milwaukee aldermen moved Wednesday to restrict the large boxes AT&T Corp. plans to erect for its Internet television service.
Those boxes, more than 5 feet tall, will link the copper telephone wires that now serve each home to the fiber-optic cable that will carry the new service. Aldermen have voiced concern that curbside boxes will block the view of drivers and pedestrians.
The council's Steering & Rules Committee voted, 4-1, to recommend utilities seek approval from the alderman in the district in which a box will be placed. If the alderman refuses, the utility could appeal to a council committee.
The full council will consider the issue Nov. 14. Still unresolved is the larger question of whether the new television service can or should be regulated as cable television service is.
Perhaps these boxes are a "safety hazard," and perhaps they are not.
As to the "regulated" question--if ATT were to offer the City a bunch of money, you can bet that the "safety" question would suddenly be resolved...
Earlier, we blogged about the upcoming battle between ATT/SBC and Time-Warner over multi-functional TV/Internet/telephone services. Time-Warner has the Milwaukee franchise (and several others, including Brookfield). This franchise includes a handsome payment to the local Government, which means that a competitor is going to encounter a LOT of resistance from the tax-taker ruling class.
Sure enough, it's playing out:
Milwaukee aldermen moved Wednesday to restrict the large boxes AT&T Corp. plans to erect for its Internet television service.
Those boxes, more than 5 feet tall, will link the copper telephone wires that now serve each home to the fiber-optic cable that will carry the new service. Aldermen have voiced concern that curbside boxes will block the view of drivers and pedestrians.
The council's Steering & Rules Committee voted, 4-1, to recommend utilities seek approval from the alderman in the district in which a box will be placed. If the alderman refuses, the utility could appeal to a council committee.
The full council will consider the issue Nov. 14. Still unresolved is the larger question of whether the new television service can or should be regulated as cable television service is.
Perhaps these boxes are a "safety hazard," and perhaps they are not.
As to the "regulated" question--if ATT were to offer the City a bunch of money, you can bet that the "safety" question would suddenly be resolved...
The Ethanol Monster That Ate the Gas Pumps
As usual, Random10 comes up with a good one:
The infrastructure for transporting oil or fuel is through the use of metal pipelines, tanker truck or railway tanker. But there's just one slight problem. High concentrations of ethanol are corrosive to the metal pipelines. When you stop to think about it, that's actually a major problem.
That's not all:
An Illinois-based branch of Underwriters Laboratories, an organization that tests the safety of thousands of products, pulled its certification off many of the parts inside E-85 pumps last month.
You wonder how those Old South types survived after drinking corn likker.
The infrastructure for transporting oil or fuel is through the use of metal pipelines, tanker truck or railway tanker. But there's just one slight problem. High concentrations of ethanol are corrosive to the metal pipelines. When you stop to think about it, that's actually a major problem.
That's not all:
An Illinois-based branch of Underwriters Laboratories, an organization that tests the safety of thousands of products, pulled its certification off many of the parts inside E-85 pumps last month.
You wonder how those Old South types survived after drinking corn likker.
NOT News: Marquette U's Dissenting Again
Sometimes you wonder why a certain local philanthropist keeps giving these people big bucks...
Rana H. Altenburg is Marquette's Vice President for Public Affairs, which means she handles both lobbying and public relations for the University.
She is apparently an opponent of the Marriage Protection Amendment, since she sent out, in the following e-mail, an essay by a liberal faculty member urging a "no" vote on the Amendment.
The Catholic Bishops of Wisconsin have urged support for the Amendment.But the position of the Church doesn't carry much weight among liberal Marquette administrators.
The essay was Fr. Massingale's--already fisked in lots of blogs.
HT: The Warrior
Rana H. Altenburg is Marquette's Vice President for Public Affairs, which means she handles both lobbying and public relations for the University.
She is apparently an opponent of the Marriage Protection Amendment, since she sent out, in the following e-mail, an essay by a liberal faculty member urging a "no" vote on the Amendment.
The Catholic Bishops of Wisconsin have urged support for the Amendment.But the position of the Church doesn't carry much weight among liberal Marquette administrators.
The essay was Fr. Massingale's--already fisked in lots of blogs.
HT: The Warrior
Guns?? In Schools?? NEVER!!
Since the JSOnline News site is down (and has been for 20+ minutes) I'll rely on Jessica's excerpting.
Some members [of the Milwaukee School Board] have expressed concern about having people in schools carrying weapons, even if they are police officers, and more recently, members have complained about paying police to station squad cars outside some schools in the afternoon.
This in discussing the possibility of hiring additional cops strictly to patrol in Milwaukee Public Schools.
My question: what are the thoughts of the Madison HS teacher whose c*&^% was grabbed?
Some members [of the Milwaukee School Board] have expressed concern about having people in schools carrying weapons, even if they are police officers, and more recently, members have complained about paying police to station squad cars outside some schools in the afternoon.
This in discussing the possibility of hiring additional cops strictly to patrol in Milwaukee Public Schools.
My question: what are the thoughts of the Madison HS teacher whose c*&^% was grabbed?
Must Be Federal Budget-Writing Time
Never hard to tell when it's budget-writing time. The End Of The World pops up frequently.
More than 300 Great Lakes experts are gathered in Milwaukee this week for what is essentially a two-year checkup on the health of the world's largest freshwater ecosystem.
The diagnosis: not good.
You'll also see stories about how NASA can save the Earth, how NOAA can save the Earth, ...
The list is endless.
More than 300 Great Lakes experts are gathered in Milwaukee this week for what is essentially a two-year checkup on the health of the world's largest freshwater ecosystem.
The diagnosis: not good.
You'll also see stories about how NASA can save the Earth, how NOAA can save the Earth, ...
The list is endless.
Paintball Dave's Next Chapter
Although Paintball Dave has an outdoor facility, there are always possibilities for improvement:
It looks like a typical battle scene — tanks charging, overhead artillery fire, missiles exploding; so why, suddenly, are soldiers coming out of the tanks smiling and laughing as if they are having the time of their lives?
Well, it's not exactly Iraq or Afghanistan. It's Leicestershire, England, and the battlefield is Southfields Farm, the new Mecca for war games.
Southfields is the birthplace of tankball — paintball taken to a whole new level. People come from all around the world to race around in tanks, launch paint-filled missiles and, in turn, avoid a tank round of green or red splattering ammunition.
...he offers punters seven tanks, several missile launchers and a variety of Armored Personnel Carriers, all specially modified to use paint as ammunition.
All the equipment is ex-military and some of it was even used during the Gulf War and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
All those Patton wannabees out there...and noplace to go until now.
It looks like a typical battle scene — tanks charging, overhead artillery fire, missiles exploding; so why, suddenly, are soldiers coming out of the tanks smiling and laughing as if they are having the time of their lives?
Well, it's not exactly Iraq or Afghanistan. It's Leicestershire, England, and the battlefield is Southfields Farm, the new Mecca for war games.
Southfields is the birthplace of tankball — paintball taken to a whole new level. People come from all around the world to race around in tanks, launch paint-filled missiles and, in turn, avoid a tank round of green or red splattering ammunition.
...he offers punters seven tanks, several missile launchers and a variety of Armored Personnel Carriers, all specially modified to use paint as ammunition.
All the equipment is ex-military and some of it was even used during the Gulf War and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
All those Patton wannabees out there...and noplace to go until now.
Jiblog's Squirrel Has Cousins
Still my opinion that the best treat for a squirrel is 40 grains of high-speed lead:
Barb Dougherty, a 30-year Postal Service employee, said she was attacked and bitten Monday by a squirrel while delivering mail in Oil City, about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh
"I saw it there on the porch, put the mail in the box and turned to walk away and it jumped on me."
The animal ran up her leg and onto her back, she said
An ambulance took Dougherty to a hospital, where she was treated for cuts and scratches.
Barb Dougherty, a 30-year Postal Service employee, said she was attacked and bitten Monday by a squirrel while delivering mail in Oil City, about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh
"I saw it there on the porch, put the mail in the box and turned to walk away and it jumped on me."
The animal ran up her leg and onto her back, she said
An ambulance took Dougherty to a hospital, where she was treated for cuts and scratches.
JB VanHollen's "To-Do" List
Suggestion # 3 (yah, #1 and #2 are already taken...)
This Kansas fellow has a good thing going:
The attorney general in Kansas has won his courtroom battle over the medical records for dozens of abortions in his state, and says the documents appear to have concealed cases of child rape, illegal late-term abortion, rape by force or fear, incest, child sexual abuse and other crimes.
...For example, when there are abortions performed on children as young as 10, by law and by definition there has been a sexual assault on a child. In Kansas a person under 16 legally cannot consent to sex, and abortions cannot be performed past 22 weeks. However, those cases simply weren't being reported, he said, even though state law requires officials who are in a position to know the circumstances to report such crimes
Talk about child abuse on a grand scale...
This Kansas fellow has a good thing going:
The attorney general in Kansas has won his courtroom battle over the medical records for dozens of abortions in his state, and says the documents appear to have concealed cases of child rape, illegal late-term abortion, rape by force or fear, incest, child sexual abuse and other crimes.
...For example, when there are abortions performed on children as young as 10, by law and by definition there has been a sexual assault on a child. In Kansas a person under 16 legally cannot consent to sex, and abortions cannot be performed past 22 weeks. However, those cases simply weren't being reported, he said, even though state law requires officials who are in a position to know the circumstances to report such crimes
Talk about child abuse on a grand scale...
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Assaulting the Rule of Law: Shirley Abrahamson
Screechin'Shirley is doing her level best to simply eliminate respect for the rule of law in the State of Wisconsin.
Having determined that the State Election Board's action re: the Green funds-transfer was indefensible (that is, that DarthDoyle's boyzzz decided wrongly), Screech and her faithful lapdog Ms. Brady, plus Louis Butler (the legal cipher) and Pat Crooks (a victim of blackmail), delayed a decision.
They could only find FOR Green--meaning that DarthDoyle would lose what remains of his face--so they colluded to not find at all.
How does the right-thinking citizen now assess SCOWI? How does one assess their legitimacy as a Court--aside from the obvious comparison to a bench with a majority of baboons? And how does one assess the validity of their decisions?
What signal does this send to businessmen? Professionals? Taxpayers?
And what does one do, given the signs of the times?
Having determined that the State Election Board's action re: the Green funds-transfer was indefensible (that is, that DarthDoyle's boyzzz decided wrongly), Screech and her faithful lapdog Ms. Brady, plus Louis Butler (the legal cipher) and Pat Crooks (a victim of blackmail), delayed a decision.
They could only find FOR Green--meaning that DarthDoyle would lose what remains of his face--so they colluded to not find at all.
How does the right-thinking citizen now assess SCOWI? How does one assess their legitimacy as a Court--aside from the obvious comparison to a bench with a majority of baboons? And how does one assess the validity of their decisions?
What signal does this send to businessmen? Professionals? Taxpayers?
And what does one do, given the signs of the times?
Deal Hudson a "Catholic" Vote Instructor?
Ankle-Biters, partially written by a McCain PR operative, suggests that informed Catholics read Deal Hudson's yappaflappa on "How to Vote."
Frankly, Deal Hudson's not ready for prime time as a guru-du-vote.
But thanks, anyway.
Frankly, Deal Hudson's not ready for prime time as a guru-du-vote.
But thanks, anyway.
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