Baby News

From Kelly ...

Baby Rock had his/her first ultrasound this afternoon (June 19, 2006). Measuring in at a whopping 5cm (2 inches) from head to butt. The heart could be seen beating strongly at a normal fetal rate of 162 beats per minute. We won't be able to hear the heartbeat until next month. The male/female question will not be answered until August or September. S/he was motionless at first but then did jump up and down several times while the technician was trying to get pictures (typical of a kid, right?).

The due date from our first appointment was estimated at 1/9/07. Based on the ultrasound, I might be slightly ahead of that, maybe 1/3/07. Since it isn't an accurate science (Baby Rock will make his/her appearance whenever s/he darn well feels like it), the official date still stands at 1/9.

I think it's a boy. Tim thinks it's a girl. 2 weeks ago we each thought the opposite. I've consulted 3 chinese birth charts. One says it is a boy. Two say it is a girl. Since Tim is "older" as fathers go, there is a slightly higher chance (53% or 58% - can't remember now) that it will be a boy. The girl name stands at Sophie right now. The boy name is Kellen. Lots of time left to get your vote in.

I am doing very well. I need to start eating better (read that as "MORE VEGETABLES!"). The nausea lessens every day. I still am tired a lot but I do have moments during the day where I feel energetic. Maternity clothes don't fit yet. But Tim's shirt and a pair of sweat pants are more comfortable than any other clothes of mine at this point.

Tim is doing well. I think he would say there are only moments of hormonal instability during the course of a day. Abby says my belly is only a little bit bigger. And Ian is still hoping for a boy. Max and Molly have no idea what's coming.

Back from the Boonies

I left on Monday, June 19 for Baraboo to lend a hand to my good friend, Tim Heilman, to get his home and yard prepared for this year's invasion of larchers for LarchFest 2006. You see, I was the Larch Master by virtue of winning the backgammon tournament the previous year. Therefore it was my duty.

We spent Tuesday and most of Wednesday cutting grass, cutting branches, spreading mulch, cleaning the garage and the house (all of Tim’s summer chores are now done). On Wednesday night, Craig Freeman, Russ Rich, his wife Cindy and their daughter Jackie arrived and we drank beer and played cards until the wee hours.

After a misadventure by Craig and I (we tried to find the local KFC, wound up heading toward Wisconsin Dells and finally settled on take out at a local bar … after a couple of drinks), we tried playing some Texas Hold’em (Tim and I held our own playing this game Tuesday night at a local bar, the same one Craig and I visited).

Since we were not playing for money, betting was a bit irregular. We tried adding “stigma” to betting out of hand by awarding black chips to those who had to “buy” more. All of us having had a few to drink, “stigma” instead became the unofficial “word” of LarchFest 2006, along with “Stella” and “hot beef.” We laughed until tears flowed from our eyes.

I guess you had to be there.

More larchers arrived on Thursday, including my wife, Kelly and the two kiddies, Ian and Abby. But it wasn’t until Friday that LarchFest begin in earnest, when the bulk of the regular larchers arrived -- about 30 in total. The backgammon tournament was begun and a trip to Devils Lake was made so the kiddies could get some swimming and beach time. The rest of the evening was spent drinking, eating, reminiscing and joking around. But really, on everyone’s minds was the big event the next day.

Saturday was planned as the big Birthday party for the five guys who graduated in 1974 from high school in West Bend: Dave Shallow (a real “rocket scientist” who could not make it because of a launch scheduled in the Pacific), Craig Freeman, Tim Rock, Tim Heilman and Russ Rich.

This was the reason LarchFest was held at Tim Heilman’s home instead of our usual camp place. Many more family members and friends had been invited and it was thought Tim’s place was better because of its relative central location in Wisconsin and because it still provided plenty of room for campers.

We anticipated anywhere from 80 to 100 people showing up for the birthday celebration, so Heilman and Rock rose abnormally early on Saturday (just a little hung over) and began the final preparations for the big shindig.

Craig was there by noon. Lillian Rich, Kelly Rock and others provided additional assistance.

The tents were risen, the grill, tables and chairs were set up, food, utensils, condiments, beer were purchased … more beer was drunk.

The highlight Saturday was the band “Tracks Outta Town.” The guys were incredible. They even let my daughter, Abby, join in on tambourines ... and later, John, son of Gary and Sarah Heilman joined them and did a terrific job on drums, finishing with a fast riff that drew a round of applause.

During the day, the backgammon tournament continued and the kids played volleyball in the background. At night, with alcohol finally seeping into their brains, revelers got out onto the grassy area in front of the band and began to dance.

Finally, the four "old guys" were saluted with cheers, jeers and some fun gifts.

Afterward, Russ defeated his sister Sarah for the backgammon title and became Larch Master for 2007. Next year, up north!

Camptown

Leaving for a week of camping bliss. Enjoy the week, blogging world.

For My Kelly ...

Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her
by Christopher Brennan (1870-1932)

If questioning would make us wise
No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;
If all our tale were told in speech
No mouths would wander each to each.
Were spirits free from mortal mesh
And love not bound in hearts of flesh
No aching breasts would yearn to meet
And find their ecstasy complete.
For who is there that lives and knows
The secret powers by which he grows?
Were knowledge all, what were our need
To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?
Then seek not, sweet, the "If" and "Why"
I love you now until I die.
For I must love because I live
And life in me is what you give.


Happy first anniversary my love, Tim

Still Here

Still here. Blogging is taking a back seat to my wife's pregnancy. Ten weeks and counting and all systems go. We have a doctor appointment on Monday at which time we hope to receive continued good news. Then it's off to camping for the rest of the week, culminating in a 50th birthday bash for five guys who graduated together in 1974.

There will likely be conservatives and liberals in attendance. We didn't have to pretend to be nice, or act like lap dogs, to invite the conservatives, they were already our friends (heck, my wife numbers herself among conservatives ... but she's much smarter than most of them, she married me).

Anyway, scanned through a number of blogs and while there is plenty to blog about, don't feel like it. Enjoy the weekend.

Oh, I've thought of doing this for a while. Below is a list of my favorite blogs (in no particular order). These bloggers write with style.

The Xoff Files
Liberal voice with an attitude. Doesn't back down from the hacks and has skin the thickness of a rhinocerous (his words).

folkbum's rambles and rants
A more gentle liberal voice from the viewpoint of an educator (I'd want him as my kids' teacher). Not afraid to take on the forces of evil (McIlheran). And, his Friday Random Ten introduces me to music I've likely not heard.

Pundit Nation
A newer entry and old college buddy, Mike Mathias. We actually both ran for editorship of the UWM Post many years ago. Mike was victorious, but not by that much. Excellent writer and by all accounts, great husband and father. Good to be in contact with again.

Above the Borderline
These guys are crazy. Jim Nelson leads this pack of western Wisconsin bloggers who are not afraid to duke it out with the forces of evil, and with humor.

Wigderson's Library & Pub
James Wigderson. Shameless promoter (I mean that well) and active conservative and conservative writer. He has a Thursday column in the Waukesha Freeman that is a must read, even if you disagree. His humor is edgy ... and my mom likes him.

Shark and Shepherd
I don't agree often with Rick Esenberg, lawyer and teacher at Marquette. But he brings a decisiveness to his writing that, regardless of what side you're on, is refreshing. I simply like to read his posts, though I often gnash my teeth at the end of them. Nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree.

The Happy Circumstance
Grumps. The name he uses for his posts suggests someone elderly. His writing suggests something else ... vibrant and standing up for what's right (yuck, I didn't really use Syke's line). But grumps is always fun to read and gives good comment.

Max and Molly's Mom
What can I say, my wife is beautiful in every way and I am truly blessed.

Follow the Bouncing Ball

Patrick McIlheran started a tasty little debate about homosexuality when he commented on Jennifer Morales' decision (she is a Milwaukee school board member) to announce that she is a lesbian. He claimed to not really care and said "we didn't need to know that."

Jay Bullock, author of folkbum's rambles and rants, took McIlheran to task with a piece titled "Hey Gays, Go Back in the Closet and Let me Insult You." I thought it was funny ... and to the point.

Back came McIlheran and this time he backed up his play with a quote from a post by Rick Esenberg, Catholic lawyer ubiquitous. Below is the quote with an intro from McIlheran (which is pertinent to my response ... gee, this is fun):

Esenberg is responding to a response, that of blogger Jay Bullock, who didn’t
like my comments, saying it’s because I must not like gay people. Actually,
Jay, it depends on the gay person. Some are nice, some aren’t, and their gaiety
doesn’t seem to have much to do with it.

Esenberg points out — and I’m going to quote him at length, because he says it so well — that there are people who “may have gay friends and may accept gays and lesbians in all walks of life. They may support civil unions, or at least are willing to
honor and respect gay and lesbian relationships. ...”

“But somewhere, in ways that they may not be able to articulate, they do
not believe that homosexuality is ‘just as good as’ or ‘essentially the same as’
heterosexuality. Maybe its a deeply embedded preference for relationships that
continue the species (wouldn’t evolutionary biologists expect this?) or maybe
it’s an innate belief that heterosexual relationships are complementary; uniting
the two parts of the human family (the Roman Catholic view). In that sense,
homosexuality is to be accepted, but heterosexuality is the norm and, perhaps,
something to be hoped for.

“So many people I know would fully accept their children as gays or
lesbians, but are glad that they are not.“Are such people bigots? Are they in
need of reeducation?”

Apart from the flippant use of the word “gaiety” which nails Patrick McIlheran’s bigotry to the wall, Rick Esenberg’s comment is interesting. I suspect Esenberg is speaking more for his group of friends than the general populace. I can believe that his group of friends would have an innate belief that homosexuals are not as good as heterosexuals and that they are essentially not the same as heterosexuals. It’s pretty obvious from his previous writings and from the position of the Roman Catholic church of which he is a member.

Does it mean that he and his friends are bigots? No, I don’t think so. I have a younger brother who is gay and I do not claim to understand the why either. But, there is the difference. My group of friends and family don’t even bother with the questions that Esenberg posts. We don’t have the answers … it’s a biological, perhaps cosmic thing and we are not meant to understand.

And, I’m sure Esenberg is right about some parents being relieved their children are not homosexual? They’re probably relieved though, not because of any shame, but probably because they don’t have to worry about bigots like McIlheran diminishing their children and relegating them to being objects for flippant comments and to second-class citizenship.

New Background

George Bush is seen reading the story of Hansel and Gretel to a kindergarten class in Washington D.C. Behind Bush is the new, approved, background for all speeches, replacing the presidential seal.

Bushspeak

A sample of Bushspeak for the next five months before the November elections.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen [Zarqawi].

Tonight I want to [Zarqawi] speak to you about the recent gains [Zarqawi] we have made in[Zarqawi] Iraq. Our troops have a done a [Zarqawi] magnificent job putting down the [Zarqawi] insurgency, helping Iraqi citizens [Zarqawi] move towards a normal and safe [Zarqawi] understanding of how to live in a [Zarqawi] democracy.

That’s all and thank you [Zarqawi] for listening. Remember 9-11.

Conservative Darling

"Do I have to kill my mother so I can be a victim too?" -- Ann Coulter

Reminds me of the line from a nasty little ditty a friend conjured up years ago ...

"I want to be an orphan, Mommy, Daddy, won't you die."

Conceal Carry Variation

Another reason why conceal carry is a bad idea. In St. Louis, early Wednesday, a woman whose chihuahua puppy had died ...

"... went to the breeder’s home, pushed her way inside and began fighting with the breeder as she tried to make her way to the basement to get another puppy, police said.

The breeder wrestled the woman out of her house to the front porch, where the woman then hit the breeder over the head numerous times with the dead puppy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, citing police.

As the woman drove away, she waved the dead puppy out of the car’s sunroof and
yelled threats at the breeder, police said. She later called the breeder and threatened her and her family, according to court records."

If this can happen with dead chihuahuas, imagine what a gun would do.

For the entire story, click here.

Below is an example of the new semi-automatic chihuahua that is a favorite of neocons in SE Wisconsin.

Captain Clueless

"I was not pleased that Hamas has refused to announce its desire to destroy Israel." -- George W. Bush

D-Day Revisited

A couple of conservative bloggers have offered their revisionist history (via the cowardly Neil Boortz) regarding D-Day, suggesting that liberals would have been worried about offending the mussels with the invasion force.

And one oblivious blogger named Chris even suggested that because he could not find any references to the passing of the anniversary of D-Day on any liberal blogs that we don't care about the sacrifice.

What a pathetic attempt. Let alone the fact that his site was the only one to carry any pictures or commentary that I could find, I guess the bulk of the neocon bloggers are lame asses too.

I would like to suggest to wingnuts who tried to revise history, and to Chris, you are all wet. If I recall from my history, the Dems were in power, which would have made the conservatives the opposition party. Thus, the conservatives would have been in the position of whiner.

Having got that off my chest, the fact is the country was united in its goal to defeat the curses named Hitler and Hirohito. To compare the fiasco in Iraq, as some have, with that noble event is absurd and dishonest.

Last Word

One last word to Chris regarding defamation of character. You must have character to be defamed.

Quotes for a Wednesday

HH the Dalai Lama:
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Thomas H. Huxley:
Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever or whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.

Sogyal Rinpoche:
...when we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings.

Saint Francis de Sales:
You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.

Albert Einstein:
A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Lou Ann Walker:
Theories and goals of education don't matter a whit if you don't consider your students to be human beings.

Gloria Steinem:
The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.

Finley Peter Dunne:
Ye can lead a man up to the university, but you can't make him think.

Eric Hoffer:
In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Albert Einstein:
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.

Douglas Adams:
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Betty Friedan:
Men weren't really the enemy -- they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.

Walt Whitman:
In the faces of men and women I see God.

Albert Einstein:
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky:
Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.

Viktor Frankl:
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Charlie and the Wingnuts

While driving home with Larry from the vet, I turned on WTMJ and listened as Charlie Sykes, in his usual sarcastic lilt, intoned about nine beheaded corpses that had been found in Bagdhad just the other day. He wondered if the deaths of these nine would receive even 1/5,000 the coverage as the alleged killings at Haditha by Marines was receiving.

Out in the cheddarsphere, I imagined I heard all the little neocon bloggers braying in unison, "Uh huh, Uh huh. Uh, huh."

News flash to Charlie and his Wingnuts, the reason the allleged murders of Iraqis by Marines receives more attention is because ... duh, the deaths are alleged to have been caused by US! You and me. The Marines represent us. They're Americans.

The deaths of the other nine are not diminished by the fact their passing receives less coverage. But, we are, in the words of Ronald Reagan, that "shining city on a hill." We should be above this kind of behavior.

Just more stupid commentary by Charlie intended to incite his herd.

Larry the Gerbil

My son Ian's gerbil, Larry, was put to sleep this morning. Larry provided many moments of enjoyment to Ian. He was loved.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Jerry. Larry is survived by his cousins, Harry, Gary and Sompe (my daughter's gerbil).

Rest in peace, Larry.

Dodging the Truth

I usually find Patrick McIlheran too syrupy to read. I just feel really sticky when I’ve finished one of his pieces and am left trying to figure out what he was trying to say while having to clean up.

I just feel used by him. Just a gut feeling that maybe, just maybe, I’ve not been told everything. Often, it’s because of the sources he uses to lend authenticity to his arguments, like WorldNetDaily, and the Heritage Foundation. Nothing unbiased from those two.

The same occurred today while reading his blog piece about civil liberties. Somehow, anything the Bush Administration has done or is alleged to have done regarding the total disdain for our liberties, he claims, is wiped away by the weird case of a former nuclear weapons scientist accused of spying. The government is paying him a truckload of cash because it has been determined that his civil liberties were violated.

The key here that makes all the Bush no-nos go away is this nuclear scientist was accused during the Clinton years (at the tail end of his term).

Those naughty Clintons.

Anyway, Jay Bullock puts McIlheran in his place, once again, and reveals that Paddy-Mac is bending the truth ever so slightly. Did I say bending? I meant dodging.

Conservative Without a Conscience

Rush Limbaugh admits he was duped (doped?), but holds out hope that this guy is for real. Huh?

I’m betting that Limbaugh had this entire thing set up and had to backtrack only when the unexpected happened … the Pentagon and the Air Force said the caller never existed.

Read the account from Media Matters by clicking here.

Mistakes Happen ... A Lot

It's understandable. Mistakes happen. But, really, the frothing from the mouth reaction of many conservative bloggers regarding the shooting deaths of two family members by an "illegal immigrant" was typical.

But JSOnline Daywatch is now reporting that "Octaviano Juarez-Corro is a "legal permanent resident of the United States with a green card," according to Gail Montenegro, spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago. I wonder if we will hear any apologies from the righties who indicted an entire group of people because of the alleged actions of this slug.

Probably not, the chance at a cheap shot was too good to pass up. Point in fact, if the shooting had been done by anyone other than a Mexican, the response from the right side of the chedaarsphere would have been relatively muted.

Shame.

The New Adventures of Underdog

Coming to theatres near you … the continuing saga of Underdog. Some scenes from the movie …

Common conservative blogger: “Good golly, gee whiz, Shoeshine boy. If only Underdog were here. We sure need him to rid our public facilities of video cameras and unwanted citizens of the district. And why, oh why, didn't any liberal bloggers come to my party? I promised to only wound them."

Shoeshine boy: "You're right common conservative blogger. Oh no, by golly, those kinds of people aren’t welcome and, maybe, it was your deodorant.”

Sweet Polly Purebred struts to the side of Shoeshine boy.

Sweet Polly Purebred: “I know, Shoeshine boy and common conservative blogger, we sorely need him. It’s frustrating and, apparently, he’s nowhere to be found. We so desperately need new Autobahns, illegal questioning of applicants for jobs, and I need a high profile job to help my husband, Simon Barsinister, get elected big bad dog on the block.

A car careens and swerves in front of Sweet Polly Purebred and Shoeshine boy, and stops on top of common conservative blogger. Inside is Simon Barsinister, mad scientist, quirky parliamentarian and husband to Sweet Polly Purebred.

Simon Barsinister: “I know what to do, release the hounds, and look to the sky.”

Heroic music and then …

Underdog: “There’s no need to fear! Underdog is here!”

Cast

Underdog: State Sen. Tom Reynolds
Shoeshine boy: Peter DiGaudio
Common Conservative Blogger: Chris
Ace reporter Sweet Polly Purebred: Jessica McBride
Mad scientist Simon Barsinister: Paul Bucher

Creepy

I saw the video of a May 9 town hall meeting held by State Sen. Tom Reynolds (h/t Spivak and Bice) and the first word that came to mind was creepy.

I cannot place his voice. It’s from a movie. I cannot think of the actor’s name or the name of the movie. Anyone out there who can figure it out let me know (actually might be a cartoon character, which would be fitting).

In the meanwhile, I will be at Tom Terrific’s next town hall meeting armed … with my video camera.

A Thin Line

Thinly veiled racism indeed. This from Peter DiGaudio ...

The number of illegals in our county jails and state and federal prisons is
astounding. When the majority of the outstanding murder warrants in Milwaukee
are for illegal aliens who have fled the country and gone back to Mexico, the
false, misleading picture of the "hard-working immigrant who fled here for a
chance at a better life" disappears.

What does the number of thugs in prison have to even remotely do with the vast majority who truly came here to start a new life? The answer is … Nothing.

Unfortunately, their efforts for a new life are obscured by the prison minority DiGaudio refers to and by DiGaudio and the racists in our midst.

Is DiGaudio saying that the number of African-Americans in prison causes the picture of hard-working African-American citizens to disappear?

Is he saying that the picture of the hard-working Asian is a myth because some have committed crimes?

How about the hard-working Caucasian? Well, that’s just silly, right, Peter?

The Shining Nobility of Conservatives

h/t Media Matters

This from conservative commentator John Gibson during his “My Word” segment of the May 30 edition of Fox News' The Big Story:

"I'm against massacres of civilians. I think we all are."

How noble of you, John.

Gorilla Logic

Damn, I was going to comment about the recent post by Clint regarding mine about him (it sometimes gets confusing), and I deleted the original.

Anyway, the post mostly had to do with Clint trying to be funny regarding a statement Al Gore made recently and providing a list of -- what he called -- Dem lies.

I responded in my usual humorous way.

Clint grunted a reply, “Nyah, nyah. See, told you so.” Then he peeled a banana and picked some lice.

It’s so simple to refute these bozos. I wonder why I bother.

It's fun!

Santorum a No-Show

h/t Daily Kos

Scott Newcomer has nothing over Sen. Rick Santorum. At least Newcomer plans to live in the district that elected him.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sent a letter (routine request for Voter’s Guide information) to the address Santorum claims in Penn Hills, PA. The letter came back stamped “Not Deliverable As Addressed -- Unable To Forward."

The editorial about this in the Post-Gazette is really quite hilarious.

The God of Everything

From my Mom, again. Where does she find these things?

Did God Create Evil?
Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil? A university professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil." The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The other students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy and heat. What makes a body or matter have or transmit energy? Absolute zero (-460 IF) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down. The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

***

Considering that Einstein was Jewish, his open-mindedness is remarkable.

I have never denied the existence of God, I just don't believe (with respect) that God is the god of Rick Esenberg, of one billion plus Arabs, or of any of the other religious faiths. Happiness to them and their faith.

For myself, God is in my heart and that's all I need to know.

UPDATE! This link provides an excellent discussion on the urban legend that is this piece. However, my part is real.

We're So Sorry

With the Badger Blog Alliance shindig coming soon (yours truly will not be attending for multiple reasons), now is the time to check out "Above the Borderline." One of its members ran afoul of my buddy, Chris, of spottedhorse2 fame. Now he’s not invited to the picnic. He’s very sad … as are some of his friends. If you want to commiserate, check out the links below. Their apologies are touching … NOT! But they are hilarious. If you click over now you will be entertained by:

Hurry, Supplies are Limited

And who can forget this time-honored classic:

Countdown to Badger Blog Alliance Bash: Only 4 Days

Hey, I used to drink Old Mill when I was a kiddy, it was cheap.

Don’t Worry If You Swill Too Much Old Mill

Clean up while reading this gem.

Count Down To Badger Blog Alliance Bash ... Don't Forget The Soap!

Get the hankys out. Damn the MSM. They wouldn’t report this.

Tragic Lawn Dart Accident at BBA/KKK Picnic!

Big forearms? You'll like this.

I Like to Swear, I Used to be a Sailor


There's more, but time and space wait for no one and I have little of the former. Click here. These guys are funny.

Ironic Pity

Good grief, Patrick McIlheran is now quoting Peter DiGaudio. Of course, considering that McIlheran likes to travel WorldNetDaily and its crazy loons, I guess it makes sense.

This from DiGaudio the other day. I’m sure he didn’t see the irony in the first and last sentences. I’ll highlight them for him.

And the anti-gun Nazis shouldn't feel too smug, either. As I have maintained all along, none of this is about guns, easy access to guns, and too many guns. It's about out-of-control personal behavior.

***

Oh, did you ever notice that the majority of DiGaudio's posts have to do with African-Americans, or Hispanics? And, he really doesn't like Michael McGee Jr and Eugene Kane. I can understand McGee, but Kane? Kane writes opinions from his side of the aisle. But DiGaudio apparently has skin thinner than onion paper, because he rants on and on about Kane. I'll give McIlheran credit, he has the professional courtesy to deny agreeing with DiGaudio about Kane.

I read DiGaudio because he is a bellweather for the far right loonies. Always good to know what they're up to.

Memorial Day Revisited

Revisiting Memorial Day for a moment. I remembered my grandfather who fought in WWI. A loving man who taught me how to be proud and stand up for what you believe. And my father, still alive and living in Madison (of all places, he’s very conservative), who was a Marine in WWII … and of course my uncles who fought in Vietnam.

h/t to Tom Tomorrow for this article by Bob Herbert of The New York Times.

Consider the Living
The point of Memorial Day is to honor the service and the sacrifice of those who have given their lives in the nation’s wars. But I suggest that we take a little time today to consider the living.

Look around and ask yourself if you believe that stability or democracy in Iraq — or whatever goal you choose to assert as the reason for this war — is worth the life of your son or your daughter, or your husband or your wife, or the co-worker who rides to the office with you in the morning, or your friendly neighbor next door.

Before you gather up the hot dogs and head out to the barbecue this afternoon, look in a mirror and ask yourself honestly if Iraq is something you would be willing to die for.
There is no shortage of weaselly politicians and misguided commentators ready to tell us that we can’t leave Iraq — we just can’t. Chaos will ensue. Maybe even a civil war. But what they really mean is that we can’t leave as long as the war can continue to be fought by other people’s children, and as long as we can continue to put this George W. Bush-inspired madness on a credit card.

Start sending the children of the well-to-do to Baghdad, and start raising taxes to pay off the many hundreds of billions that the war is costing, and watch how quickly this tragic fiasco is brought to an end.

At an embarrassing press conference last week, President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain looked for all the world like a couple of hapless schoolboys who, while playing with fire, had set off a conflagration that is still raging out of control. Their recklessness has so far cost the lives of nearly 2,500 Americans and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, many of them children.

Among the regrets voiced by the president at the press conference was his absurd challenge to the insurgents in 2003 to “bring ‘em on.” But Mr. Bush gave no hint as to when the madness might end.

How many more healthy young people will we shovel into the fires of Iraq before finally deciding it’s time to stop? How many dead are enough?

What The Hell

This was sent by my sister ... A piece she found on the Internet, somewhere. I wish I was this clever.

HELL EXPLAINED BY A CHEMISTRY STUDENT
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct ... leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."


This student received the only "A."

Another Guest Appearance

Jessica McBride reprises her role in Tom Tomorrow's "Modern World" as a mindless automaton. Click on image to enlarge.

Brookfield Bigot

Read a Joel McNally column (“The Capital Times,” May 26, 2006) addressing the illegal immigration debate and the role of Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner. It really is a good read, in my opinion. Here is a link to the column. However, the paragraph from McNally below really sums up my feelings about our Brookfield bigot.

If Sensenbrenner really wanted to be honest about what he's up to, he would
simply add an amendment declaring white to be our national color.

Living Will

With a child on the way, it seems a good idea finally to put together a living will ... just in case conservatives with guns go on a shooting spree (lol). This form was sent to me by a friend. Looks like a good start. Click on image to enlarge.

Temporarily out of Ammunition

It's been an odd two weeks. I'm just as outraged as ever about the antics and the stupidity of most of the wingnut cheddarsphere. I read Clint's pieces and shake my head. Peter's leave me with a headache. Jessica's are too silly and petty to mention. I've caught James' cold (thanks).

Owen comes across as reasonable until you delve further. Dean is okay, though I'm stunned that he is in the plus 50 crowd, too (you look younger). RealDebate is no such thing. And of course there is no explanation, physical, metaphysical, or even hysterical for Chris.

And yet, none of their antics, their poor writing skills, or their complete inability to master even the simplest logic the past two weeks have had more than the tiniest impact on me because ... none are important.

My wife and I are having a baby!

I came home and she showed me the test results. I was floored. The fertility insitute and numerous hospital tests all confirmed that the liklihood of this occurring was closer to Peter DiGuadio constructing an original argument that made sense. For those who do not know Peter ... little chance at all.

We will continue to completion the home study process for adoption. Then we have one year to decide whether to continue or not. I hope that there will be no need to continue and sometime next January, a little boy, er, sorry honey ... a little girl will be born. Really, we don't care.

To those with children ... blessings. To those with none, but trying ... keep trying.

Post Turtle

Neither my mother or I take credit for this. I do not know where she found it, but ...

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to former Texas Governor, George W. Bush and his elevation to the White House.

The old Texan said, "Well, ya know, Bush is a post turtle.

"Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.

The old man saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain: "You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just want to help the dumb shit get down."

Weird Science

I just ran into something (not literally, for those who believe everything) that caused me to write this piece. Let me explain why. I was born May 25, 1956. So, in little more than one day, I will turn fifty. I am not happy about this. I don’t like the idea of turning fifty. It feels like I’m crossing a Rubicon in my life and the descent to serious aging will quicken. Consequently, my date with history has been on my mind of late.

Where was this going? I had surfed over to ESPN to check the baseball scoreboard. I do this religiously during the season. I have been a life-long baseball fan. One of the first books I owned was about the Baseball Hall of Fame. I even made up baseball dice games when I was a kid and kept stats (geek!).

Oddly, the results of the thousands of rolls of the two six-sided dice were similar in range to historical baseball norms. Different combinations of the dice elicited different results. Sometimes these resulted in re-shakes, which introduced more combinations. The average batting average was .280 to .300. and ERAs (earned run average) were in line with MLB.

Another strange thing was players like Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn, etc., performed frighteningly similar to their real life selves. A weird connection mainlined by my fingers into those dice.

As a kid and later as an adult, my favorite team, other than the Braves, later the Brewers, was the Pittsburgh Pirates. I don’t know why, I had this thing for Pittsburgh. So naturally, when I first got involved in the fantasy baseball craze, my Strat-o-Matic expansion club was named the Pittsburgh Pirates (Braves and Brewers already taken).

If interested, check out the Strat-o-Matic website. It’s an incredibly accurate baseball experience.

For the next 15 years, my Pirates won five division titles (24-team league with 6 divisions), was the wild card entry another 3-4 other times and made it to one World Series where Larry Walker (a fav of mine traded to my World Series opponent at the beginning of the season) single-handedly snuffed the hopes of the Pirate faithful by winning two games with walk-off homers. Walker and his team, the Chicago White Sox, won the series four games to two.

A few years ago, I entered another league. This league added general manager to the list with its introduction of a salary structure, free agency, etc. This team, the Cream City Pirates has won one division title, and a wild card appearance.

Anyway, if you've stayed with me so far, hang on, we're almost there.

So, while surfing ESPN I saw this: “… excerpt from Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders, where Neyer recalls the Braves' signing of an aging Babe Ruth.” I clicked and read. Near the end, Neyer says this about the fading former Bronx Bomber:

There would be one last hurrah. On May 25 in Pittsburgh, Ruth hit a two-run
homer in the first inning. In the third, he hit another. And in the seventh, he
hit one more home run (this time with nobody on base). The latter two homers
came against Guy Bush, who years later would say, "I never saw a ball hit so
hard before or since. He was fat and old, but he still had that great swing.
Even when he missed, you could hear the bat go swish. I can't remember anything
about the first home run he hit off me that day. I guess it was just another
homer. But I can't forget that last one. It's probably still going."

I looked at the date of the game and where it was played (and the last name of the pitcher who yielded the final two homers ... indicative of the fall of the modern-day Bush?) and I was surprised and kind of thrilled at the cosmic implication that this was the reason I'm a baseball fan.

Hey, if thousands of monkeys pecking away indiscriminately at typewriters can produce Shakespeare over a journey of an eon or two, then anything is possible.

You say tomato and I say ... well ... tomato too

An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel highlighted testing with adult stem cells that showed promise in combating urinary incontinence (I suppose one has to start somewhere).

Seth Zlotocha had a funny, but ultimately inaccurate piece, stating that F(at) James Sensenbrenner would be unhappy with this because his personal wealth comes from Kimberly-Clark, the makers of the product Depend.

James Wigderson pointed out at his site that Seth inaccurately portrayed the stem cells used. They were adult stems cells, Wigderson said, not stem cells obtained from the destruction of embryos.

James is right. I agree with James on everything except the misleading label he applies to Republicans who claim to be "pro-life." A more accurate label would be pro-adult stem cell Republicans.

Or, until Republicans (and conservatives, sorry, I forget you guys are two different entities) truly begin supporting life as in supporting getting our troops out of Iraq, as in defeating efforts to bring the death penalty to Wisconsin, as in defeating the so called defense of marriage initiative, then they should be known as the pro-expediency-anything-goes-because-we-ain't-got-no-stinking-morals-except-at election-time-when-we-need-to-get-out-the-vote Republicans.

Miracles

I'll post this anyway ... even though my wife surprised me with an e-mail from Vegas and so I included it in my reply to her. I have been blessed in life. Tonight I watched "Fiddler on the Roof." Miracle of Miracles is one of my favorite songs and the last stanza especially describes my feelings about Kelly.

But of all God's miracles large and small,
The most miraculous one of all
Is the one I thought could never be:
God has given you to me.

Here's hoping that everyone is happy or has moments of happiness in their lives.

And the Deer and Its Baby Play

Been taking it easy from blogging the last few days. Dropped my beautiful wife off at Mitchell Field this morning. She is attending a business conference in Vegas.

I wanted to recount an incident that occurred Thursday, or was it Wednesday. I don't know, events tend to blend into the background these days. Anyway, I had just begun cutting the lawn and had reached the back end of the lot when out from the adjacent wood with creek walked a solitary doe. That this occurred was rather odd. She didn't seem frightened at all by the noise from the riding lawnmower ... just strode to the middle of the yard, glanced over at me casually, and just stood there.

I continued to the far side, turned, shut off the engine and just watched. She looked around, sauntered a few paces ... then I noticed movement to my left, about 50 yards away near the house. It was a fawn. I'm not sure where the baby came from. It was probably resting in the bushes that line and separate the yards. We had found a fawn last spring and had been told by the local Humane Society that the mothers will often leave their fawn in secluded places, go off to feed, and then return for their babes.

Baby walked across the yard a little unsteadily toward its mom ... all legs. It reached its mom and immediately began suckling. It paid no attention to me. It had eyes only for its mom.

The two eventually strolled toward the creek together and entered the wood. Before, though, the mother took one long look at me. I've no idea what went through the mind of the mother doe. Is thought even remotely processed by deer in a similar fashion to humans?

But I think she was just saying I'll be on my way now and thanks for not frightening my child. Or, vote Democrat this fall. Who can say.

New Deportation Strategy on the Right

This from an article by Joe Conason, at Working for Change.

On the far-right Web site WorldNetDaily, a columnist who describes himself as a “Christian libertarian” recently explained why he knew that the president is wrong about mass deportations. “If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of six million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society,” he wrote, “it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.”

If memory serves me right, those Jewish citizens were not deported, unless sending them to a different astral plain counts. And conservatives say we have an anger problem.

Click here for the entire Conason article.

Also a post on this at the Talent Show. I followed the link from there to Crooks and Liars and finally to the article in question at WorldNetDaily. Mysteriously, the article has been altered and the German connection removed.

And to think that Pat McIlheran has quoted pieces from WorldNetDaily. Goes to show where his ethics lie.

They Just Can't Stop Lying

Clint at Milwaukee ID10T thinks that a video supposedly showing Tony Snow “smack down” octogenarian Helen Thomas is good TV. He fails to note, as usual for conservative listeners and, especially conservative bloggers, that Tony Snow was at his disingenuous best. Click here for the Media Matters follow up to this press conference.

I Can't Wait To Spend That $20

Quality of life tax cut for my frind Clint:

Another $70 billion tax cut was recently passed. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the average middle-income household will get a $20 tax cut. Oh boy!

Those making more than $1 million a year will get nearly $42,000.

Damn, you're right. Love that quality of life statement by conservative governance. But at least it's a plan, you'll say.

Some plan. Now if only we could win the lottery.

Who Are The Traitors to Liberty?

When conservatives tell you that you should be willing to sacrifice some freedoms "temporarily" for the sake of security in the war on terrorism, remember these:

“Those who would trade safety for freedom deserve neither.” -- Thomas Jefferson

“Those that would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security.” -- Ben Franklin

“Those who are ready to sacrifice freedom for security ultimately will lose both.” -- Abraham Lincoln

Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave ...

(Click on image to view)

What Do You Think?

Another from Mom (in honor of Mother's Day):


It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then, just to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true.

Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it, exactly, we are doing here?"

One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."

This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confess, "I've been thinking..."

"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"

"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.

She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot, with NPR blaring on the radio, and ran up to the big glass doors ... They didn't open. The library was closed.

To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a Poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker? I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's, this week it will be the speeches of George W. Bush." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.

Life just seemed ... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me. Today I made the final step: I registered to vote as a Republican.

Down on the Border

Rather than adding 6,000 National Guard members to the Border Patrol, let's just add F(at) James Sensenbrenner. His girth should be enough to cover the entire border several times over. Wouldn't have to feed him either. He could just eat the clumsy ones who fall into his pudgy grasp.

And if that is not enough, we can plant large speakers up and down the border and replay Jessica McBride radio shows.

Our Government Hears Your Concerns

(Again, from This Modern World)

The Brain and the Brainless

The cover for a new soap opera (from This Modern World).

What Conservatism Reaps ... Hatred

I read this a week or so ago in an old Time magazine. What a great idea. That conservative, homophobe bastard, Fred Phelps, deseves this kind of attention.

From The Army Times:

Bikers drown out funeral protesters
By Ryan Lenz, Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Wearing leather chaps and vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls from one soldier’s funeral to another in hopes their respectful cheers and revving engines will drown out the insults of protesters.

The motorcycle club members calling themselves Patriot Guard Riders are trying to shield mourners from cruel jeers by adherents of a tiny fundamentalist church who picket military funerals to reflect their belief that U.S. combat deaths are a sign God is punishing the United States for harboring homosexuals. Some protesters’ signs said, “Thank God for IEDs,” the improvised explosive devices, or homemade bombs, that kill many U.S. soldiers.

“The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares,” said Don Woodrick, the biker group’s Kentucky captain. “When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement.”
Across the nation, Patriot Guard Riders number more than 5,000. They show up at soldiers’ funerals to chant patriotic slogans and wave red, white and blue flags in hopes of overshadowing backers of a Kansas clergyman named the Rev. Fred Phelps.

Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church have caused such a fuss that at least 14 states are considering laws aimed at the funeral protests. During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing funerals of AIDS victims, and they have long been tracked as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project in Montgomery, Alabama.

The project’s deputy director, Heidi Beirich, said other groups have tried to counter Phelps’ message, but none have been as organized as the Patriot Guard.

“I’m not sure anybody has gone to this length to stand in solidarity,” she said. “It’s nice that these veterans and their supporters are trying to do something. I can’t imagine anything worse, your loved one is killed in Iraq and you’ve got to deal with Fred Phelps.”

At a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell, church protesters and sang vulgar songs condemning homosexuals and soldiers. The Patriot Guard was also there, cheering to support mourning families across the street as community members came in a freezing rain to chant “U-S-A, U-S-A” alongside the bikers.

“This is just the right thing to do. This is something America didn’t do in the ’70s,” said Kurt Mayer, the Patriot Guard’s national spokesman, referring to the era when protests against the Vietnam war were common. “Whether we agree with why we’re over there, these soldiers are dying to protect our freedoms.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps and an attorney for the Topeka, Kansas-based church, said neither state laws nor the Patriot Guard can silence their message that God killed the soldiers because they fought for a country that embraces homosexuals.

“The scriptures are crystal clear that when God sets out to punish a nation, it is with the sword. An IED is just a broken-up sword,” Phelps-Roper said. “Since that is his weapon of choice, our forum of choice has got to be a dead soldier’s funeral.”

The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps’ extended family. A small group of them appeared last month in West Virginia outside a memorial for the 12 men killed in the Sago Mine disaster. They held signs reading “Thank God for Dead Miners” and “Miners in Hell.”

Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.

The Indiana Senate has passed a bill intended to prohibit protests within 500 feet (150 meters) of funerals. The House is considering the measure.

The bills were written to protect families of soldiers such as Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, a soldier from Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division who was killed in January by a roadside bomb in Beiji, Iraq.

Westboro church members protested at Pfender’s funeral, screaming profanities at mourners as they passed. Family members were shielded from the insults by the rumble of Patriot Guard motorcycles.

“We were glad that the Patriot Guard Riders were there,” said Jackie Pfender, the soldier’s stepmother. “This group of protesters wanted to put something negative on Jonathan’s funeral. In actuality, it became a positive thing because of the support we had.”

Patriot Guard members only show up at funerals if invited by family. Richard Wilbur, a retired police detective, said his Indiana Patriot Guard group came to the Pfender funeral at the family’s request after protesters announced they planned to attend.

“No one deserves this,” Wilbur said. “If I were burying my loved one and they were out there yelling anything close to what they yell to the families of these soldiers, I know my temperament. I probably would not handle it very well.”

Hanky Time

Another boo hoo piece from a conservative blogger. Once again it's the liberals' fault for all their woes. I'll let him speak for himself.

Conservative Anger Highway Sign

Thursday Jokes

Not in the mood for jousting. These are from a friend. I think I'll make this a regular post. Anyone have a good joke, send it to me and I'll publish it.


One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie.

"Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."

So he tied her up and went golfing.

***

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into thehouse. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Honey,pack your bags. I won the damn lottery!"

The husband said, "Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountainstuff?"

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Just get the hell out."

***

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

***

A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license. First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters: 'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.' "Can you read this?" the optician asked.

"Read it?" the Polish guy replied, "I know the guy."

***

Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them,"I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent."

"Thank God," said an elderly nun at the back. "I'm so tired of chardonnay."

***

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD! You re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful ... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like whenI'm driving."

***

Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon theArmy dentist yanked seven of his teeth. On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

It's So Graphic

No blogging today (well, until now). The video driver went on the blink and I 've spent the greater part of the day trying to get the system to hold together long enough so I could change some settings, which allowed the system to function while I downloaded a new driver and repaired the problem.

Finally did only to discover that it's probably the card itself that isn't working. Oh well. I can work at minimum accelaeration for now. A new graphics card is not a priority.

This Land is Our Land

My friend, Elliot/Michael posted a comment to a post entitled, “Those Treasonous Dogs.” I began responding to him (I like his thinking and he is always reasonable), and then decided to make my response a separate post.

Which rights do Liberals still love, Tim? They long ago stopped being
defenders of the First Amendment (which is why I stopped being a liberal).
They never believed in the Second.I don't think Conservatives are all that
great, either. But I think Liberals lost the high ground a long time ago.

First thing to keep in mind, my friend … it was liberal thought that brought forth the constitution.Look it up. Imagine where we would be without those great liberal thinkers, Jefferson, Adams and Adams, Payne, etc.

I think you gave up being a liberal too soon, my friend. This liberal believes in the 2nd amendment, i.e. the right for the people to bear arms, though I have strong reservations about sub-machine guns and bazookas.

I’ve been a hunter, and enjoyed it when I was younger. I have experienced the thrill of the hunt. Truthfully, though, I think the only real hunters are those who use bows. I'm older now. I no longer crave mowing down defenseless creatures for food. There is always the alternative grocery store on every other block.

And as far as the 1st amendment, I think from my writings you'll see I am not a PC liberal. Have we gone too far? Absolutely. But our society tends to do that. It ebbs and it flows. Do you remember the roaring 20s? How about the 60s? My point is look out, the roaring, lost your minds 2010s are just around the corner.

Anyway, having said that, I am proud to be a flaming liberal. While taxes may be a wee high, I am not sorry to pay my fair share and help ensure government functions, roads are smooth and people in need are given a helping hand. In regards to a helping hand: Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is a favorite conservative phrase these days. Apply it to Halliburton and its greedy brethren and I’ll listen. A number of conservative bloggers have used this phrase to describe their own lives … how they had to work, blah blah blah. You know what? Boo hoo. Whining is not a liberal state of mind and certainly not mine. It is, however, what I think some conservatives are best at.

I don't believe in TABOR or any of its offspring. To amend the constitution is a whack job. Conservatives are saying they don't trust politicians. Fair enough, there are many to be disgusted with. The answer to that is to get people who truly care about the amity of the people to run for office. We the People! We're not so dumb.

I believe in marriage ... for all! And I don’t believe in wedge issues designed to create attendance on election day, at the expense of innocent citizens who will be affected by mean-spirited resolutions.

I believe in the right of a woman to choose without men interfering in their lives. We disagree sharply here, I know. But liberals have always been able to discuss things amongst themselves ... not so sure of narrow-minded conservatives, though I know a few who seem to have evolved. I know that both liberals and conservatives yearn for the day that abortion occurs so minimally that it doesn’t warrant pitched battles. Can’t we agree on exceptions for rape and incest and then educate our people to think of the consequences before conceiving? I’ve got to believe that some day we’ll succeed.

Believe! That’s what liberals do best. Rather than go backwards using faulty and aging memory cells to those glorious days of old, liberals believe in the present and the future. Liberals believe in people … all of them, regardless of faith, lack of faith, color, race, handicap. We are not a “white mans” club only, allowing only the token more brilliant or outspoken of others to have associate membership.

And one more thing. For all the denigration of the 60s, it was the 60s, the people, who hastened the end of that bastard Vietnam conflict. That there were excesses, no doubt. That the troops who were drafted to fight were treated poorly there and on their return, no doubt. But if the people had not risen and protested as was their RIGHT that conflict would probably have continued being the centerpiece of what it was: the playground of big power politics. It would not have been Nixon and his children, or any of the other supporters of that conflict and their children who would have suffered. It would have been my kids and yours.

Just like today.

Gobbledygook

Calling their arguments “gobbledygook,” a U.S. appeals panel handed the Bush administration their lunch regarding wiretapping of Internet phone calls.

“Your argument makes no sense,” U.S. Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards told the lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission, Jacob Lewis.


I’m sure we’ll be hearing the familiar refrain about activist judges from the same old suspects in the very near future. This will include a misleading sub-header to an anything but fair and balanced Fox News story.

But who cares. This administration is kaput. Even their so-called true conservatives (the John Birch remnants) are bailing. It would really be quite humorous if the stakes were not so high … like constitutional rights, presidential overreaching of power, abuse of power, etc.

You know they will not go down without a fight and while they fritter away the time, thousands more will die for their misguided whims.

Islam Bad, Us Better ... Ug

At 12:08 in the morning, Jessica McBride must have been just a wee bit tired. Or she just got back from a barfing session. You know, the kind that happens to her when she reads her own writing back to herself.

This time she has come up with a doozy. I knew she was a flaming racist and intolerant prig before, but …well, check out her post on the JournalSentinel editorial about the open house being held at the Islamic Center of Milwaukee. I thought she was shallow before, but this takes the cake.

Let’s see, she’s not going to go because she already knows everything she needs to know about Islam; in some parts of their society women are treated differently than here. Gasp. Yes, that’s true, Jessica. But it’s not the case universally and I doubt it’s the only place where women are considered second-class citizens. How about evangelical Christians and their “woman must submit to man” doctrine. Ya know, hubby knows best.

And a McBride piece wouldn’t be a McBride piece without a nyah nyah section. She says, “Would the JS editorial board ever encourage Muslims to go to a Christian church for a "special opportunity" to get to know us and our ideals?” What?!?

Leaving aside the childishness of that statement, I have a news flash, Jessie-pooh, not all Muslims hate us. And last time I looked, yes, we did attack them, unless those armored units in Baghdad are just an illusion. Many of them don’t like us over there, regardless if you think it was the right thing to do. I’m sure there were many Germans who thought the Fuhrer was right on to invade Poland.

Considering that a real clash of cultures is underway, for the JournalSentinel to suggest and recommend that the “majority” population get to know a little about the people we are supposedly freeing from tyranny doesn’t seem such a bad idea.

I for one will go. I would like to ask why women remain subjugated in parts of Islamic society and I will LISTEN to the answer rather than assume I know all the answers.

***

Oh, I’ve wanted to comment on Jessie's quote from Winston Churchill, which she uses as an excuse for her banality.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. -- Winston Churchill

I have one for Jessica …

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." -- Thomas Jefferson

Those Treasonous Dogs

Click on image to expand view.

Those damn treasonous liberal dogs, what with their misguided love for rights, the constitution and all things mocca. They'll be the death of our greedy lobbying initiatives and land-oil grab. Ooooh, I know ... bring up the defense of marriage farce and let's change the subject again, hee hee hee.

It's raining potatoes. Oh, not really. Jessica McBride is barfing again.

Can You Hum a Few Bars?

While I'm in full agreement that people who come to America should learn and sing our national anthem in English, Jacob Weisberg at Slate Magazine has a funny piece on the difficulty that even native born Americans have with our anthem's archaic and convoluted lyrics.

Here is a link to the piece.

Weisberg also shares info on some of the other unofficial and alternative national anthems floating around. My favorite is Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land."

There are a number of unofficial and alternative national anthems that would
present less of a challenge to Latino immigrants rallying around "Nuestro Himno" a cloying, Latin-pop interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (and no improvement, incidentally, on the patriotically minded Spanish translation "La Bandera De Las Estrellas," scored by Walter Damrosch and published in 1919). The perennial top candidates are the 1913 version of "America the Beautiful," which was written by a Wellesley English professor named Katharine Lee Bates; Irving Berlin's 1938 version of "God Bless America" which became patriotic theme music in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001; and Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," which was written in 1940 as a kind of hobo's answer to "God Bless America."

One thing: I have read of all the outrage over the flying of the Mexican flag (I'm guessing it was, there is no Hispanic flag that I know of). This really seems like racist drivel to me. Come on, I've seen the German, Italien, Polish and Greek flags, all being flown at Summerfest. I've seen them flown above restaurants, inside restaurants. I've seen them at churches, outside homes ... everywhere. Aren't these people Americans and how dare they fly the flag of another country?

This country is large enough (I 'm not referring to land mass) to accept these people and figure out an equitable solution to this issue without resorting to racist tactics (Right, Charlie?).

Ha Ha Ha Sensenbrenner for President

This was (ha ha ha) too funny. I can hardly stop laughing (ha ha ha). This guy recommends F. James Sensenbrenner for president (ha ha ha, too much).

Stop it. It hurts.

Actually, Clint and I have had a few conversations (see posts below). While Clint has difficulty staying on topic, his comments are reasonably well done. But Sensenbrenner for prez?

Whoop whoop!

Lost in Conservative Fogland

Just an impression ... have you ever noticed that the majority of anonymous comments and comments from sites that have no profiles (rendering them effectively anonymous) are conservative in nature?

Just asking.

Brokeback Razorbacks

A friend sent this to me this morning.

This was actually on TV. The commentators paused and didn't say a word. Arkansas Razorback players Clarke Moore, Brett Goode and Casey Dick need to stop hanging out together ... at least when in uniform.

No Weight Loss Yesterday

Holding at 229. The split pea soup that I made the other day has not contributed to any weight gain. I'm glad I quit smoking, though.

Barf Session

News Alert!

Jessica McBride said she would begin barfing if she read another glowing story in the JournalSentinel about a Sen. Russ Feingold listening session.


Leap forward in time ...

Jessica McBride barfing endlessly. Parents concerned about water safety. MMSD contacted and considering gag (we can only hope).

Charlie Sykes blames Gov. Jim Doyle for lack of action and announces new Deep Tunnel award to person(s) who solve the McBride vomitus issue.

Husband Paul announces new website claiming his wife's puking directly related to release of drug-addled criminals by Kate Falk, though she has nothing to do with their release and in fact was in the Bahamas when the release occurred.

Scott Walker drops out of race for governor, again. Says McBride's vomiting problems a sign from god.


Leaping a little more forward in time ...

JournalSentinel sued. Judge decides that glowing articles about Feingold listening sessions are indeed the cause ofJessica McBride vomitus. Pictures of damage caused by her puking sway his decision.



























Scott Walker drops his candidacy for Waukesha County Supervisor for two reasons: god and, unbeknownst to him, all posts were eliminated in last election.


Leaping to the conclusion of this terrible ordeal ...

Giant sock stuffed down Jessica McBride's throat. No outcome expected.

Scott Walker begins barfing.

Piddle Piddle Splash Splash

"There was no arrest. There was no new charge, no new case. Case closed. Story's over. I won. Operative words: 'not guilty.'" -- Rush Limbaugh

Yeah right, Rush. Then why are you required to pee into a cup for the next 18 months? You simply had more money and better lawyers.

A Tough Question

I love and respect Hispanics, Hispanic culture and the desire many have for a better life. In that regard, Hispanics are no different than the other ethnic groups that have come here in droves.

I don't know how to handle this issue. It does seem to me that some employers share blame. If illegal immigrants were not hired, there would be less who would sneak in across the border.

Can we really send those back that are here now? I don't see how. On the other hand, today's march and job workoff, and the Hispanic anthem that was written will not make current citizens any more agreeable to Hispanic concerns.

There are also groups who are fanning the flames of racism over this issue. Race should be left out of this.

Another Pound

Down to 229. Have lost four pounds since beginning this new diet and exercise regimen. Also, made some delicious split pea soup the other day. The kids won't touch it so it's all mine. All mine I say ... heh heh heh.

Well, the wife has said she'll try it, though I may not let her.

Feeling very evil this morning. After taking the kids to their doctor appointments (for the adoption process), I think I just may scan through some blogs and create some nasty commentary ... heh heh heh.

Day One Done

After a strenuous day moving building a new garden, moving dirt and mulch, and eating right, I have lost 2 1/2 pounds. Down to 230 1/2. I know the poundage will not be shed this quickly ... it was probably water ... but it's a good start.

Too Bad

I will not comment further about Rush (addict) Limbaugh's (denial) drug problems. I'll let him (hypocrite) speak.

“Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.” -- Rush Limbaugh

The Puppeteers

Up In Smoke

"The FDA says there's no -- zilch, zero, nada -- shred of medicinal value to the evil weed marijuana. This is going to be a setback to the long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking crowd."-- Rush Limbaugh


And I thought the debate was about glaucoma patients and those with cancer. So much anger, so little brains.

Opining About Apparently Nothing

Jessica McBride has a new favorite word. "Apparently" has apparently used up its usefulness. Her new word is "opine."

Opine I love thee, ooak not so much, though owalnut is stouter than obeech ever would.

Ouch. Just thought it was funny.

Weight Loss Statement

It has now been 17 months and change since I quit smoking. I had a pack a day habit for nearly 30 years. With the help of Zyban and having met a new person who was a non-smoker (later to become my wife) I finally kicked the habit.

In the absence of smoking, I did something I never thought I would do ... gained weight. I was formerly a long distance runner ... I once ran the mile in under 4:30. Heck, I weighed 127 pounds my senior year in high school and didn't break the 150 barrier until my twenties.

I now weigh 233 pounds. There was a time I would have rejoiced at that. Trust me, nobody pushes around anyone who weighs 233 pounds, unless of course they weigh more and are belligerent. In any case, the ache on my knees and feet has become intolerable. My body is simply not used to carrying this much weight.

James, at Wigderson Library and Pub, might not recognize me now. He probably remembers the relatively svelte guy he regularly harassed (kidding) at UWM. Of course the hair is gone now as well. Used to have it fairly long.

Anyway, that aside, the time has come to seriously take some action. I will be blogging regularly about losing this weight, in addiiton to my other rants. My goal is to get to 175 pounds. My mission statement is:

I am in the weight loss business. I intend to lose all the weight I gained
after I quit smoking and to lose an additional 15 pounds to reach my ultimate
goal of 175 pounds.

Wish me luck.

Life is Good

The mulch pile in the driveway is getting smaller. I must say that the yard and gardens around the house look good. I also just got done removing a bush from near the front door. It's twin will be removed as soon as I'm done here. Then my wife and I will work at planting some annuals and applying mulch.

It's good to get out and work in the yard. Muscles that I haven't stretched out over the winter were sore last night and will be more so tonight. But it's a good feeling nevertheless. And tomorrow the soreness will be less.

Anyway, anonymous comments are no longer allowed at this blog. The people who come here and comment, even if they use fake names, are okay. At least I can track back and find out something about them ... though I won't go so far as some conservative buffoons have and "call them out." That's just silly. I am considering setting up a list of disallowed commenters from bloggers who don't identify themselves. Maybe not ... maybe on a case by case basis.

I just have more respect from someone who makes comments out in the open, so to speak.

They're Just Plain Lazy

I love conservative thought. Whenever I put up a post they disagree with, they tell me to go do this, go do that, find information for them to refute what I posted.

Guys, it's not my job. Do the legwork yourself.

Besides, I got other things to do. Now, if you want to have a discussion and provide your own refutations, great, I'll go along. I might even agree with you if I think your point is made. But don't expect me to do the work for you.

Vote Your Wallet

This was too good by Greg Saunders over at "This Modern World."

Gas Prices










Oil Company Stock Prices












Big Oil's campaign contributions
















Greg Saunders says: You're paying at the pump. Get payback at the polls.

More of the Same

And now, from those fun-loving guys who brought you Iraq and thousands of senseless deaths and oodles of destruction, here's more of the same ... can you say "Texas Nuke 'em?"

Click on image to view.

We Believe in the Bill of Rights

This is what should have been posted by Ragnar.