Hume Help Me

I tawt it was a puddy tat. So I shot it an toll Brit Hume allll about it.

Rambling on a Thursday

The wife and I got up early to go to the adoption agency where we listened to a nice lady talk about the ups and downs of international adoption, and where the best places to go were...plus much else. It was an interesting session. We are looking at Guatemala or Vietnam...possibly Ethiopia. My son wants a little brother and my daughter a little sister. We've been told that since we have shown no preference, that it's likely to be a boy.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. That's a long way down the road...we've just begun the process.

By the time we had finished it was sleeting. Kelly dropped me off and I promised to get the drive shoveled (none of that new fangled snow removal machines fer me). Aaaargh! With the wet sleet on top, the 3-4 inches felt like 8-12. Fortunately, I had all day. Got some laundry done and took the dogs out for a pee.

Had some in-between time and surfed over to Boots and Sabers. Heard that Owen (one of two contributors) was beginning a column at the West Bend News (gawd, I used to deliver that rag...John Torinus was the editor then...very nice man). That brought back memories of high school and running cross country for West Bend West. Gonna see some old high school buddies this weekend to hammer out the final details for LarchFest, our once a year camping get-together. Five of us from the class of 1974...turning 50, so having a band and inviting others.

I'd invite Owen and Jed. Liked their site. I don't agree with some of the politics, but not enough not to share a beer. Both are Texas A&M Aggies....roommates for four years (or 'Ol Ladies). Sounds like the old college friendship I had with Helmar, Dirk, Claudia, Holger, Christof (German students) and Jose (from Puerto Rico)...we called ourselves Los Pendejos...go look up the translation if you must. Good friends all. It's been 20 years since I last saw any of them...a bright memory in a life full of good ones.

Regarding born-again Christians. I guess they don't bother me much either if they get the hint and buzz off when I ask...always nicely. I like the bumper sticker Owen referred to (Born OK The First Time). I'm not a believer, but it seems to me that those claiming born again status, those I've met, come across with this weird superiority thing. I don't feel threatened by it, but it's as though...well, think of it this way...it's as though they committed some serious crime and got pardoned. Now they go around letting everyone know that they're okay now.

I know this is a biblical thing...but it's still weird. Like I said, they don't bother me...it's when they pour over into right-wing, fundamentalist, it's theocracy time, that I get bothered. And anti-abortion and anti- gay marriage...get out of my business and mind your own. If you don't want an abortion, don't have one and if you don't want to marry a member of the same sex, then don't. It's simple.

Oh oh. Getting on a roll that I really did not want. I'll stop now and spend time with my beautiful wife and her odd dogs. Tra la la.

The Idiocy of Limbaugh

I guess we're all entitled to faux pas. Of course, I admit when I'm wrong (Ragnar Mentaire)...Rush Limbaugh never does and is usually defended with...he's just an entertainer. How about this foot in mouth gem from Media Matters for America (not Jessica McBucher's site)...

During the February 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh invented a racial component to explain Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett's departure from the Ohio Democratic Senate primary race. While reporting on Hackett's decision to withdraw from the Democratic primary race against Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for the seat currently held by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), Limbaugh asserted: "And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here, too," adding that "the newspaper that I'm reading all this from is The New York Times, and they, of course, don't mention that." In fact, Brown is Caucasian -- a point on which Limbaugh was corrected later in the program.

Shooter Slips on a Silencer

I happen to like Maureen Dowd. Her book, "Bushworld" is, I think, a must read for those who can read. The following is the best, and funniest of the coverage of Mr. Cheney's accidental pelleting of a fellow Republican.


By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON

Who did this old guy think he was, coming between Dick Cheney and his helpless prey?

The luckless 78-year-old Texas lawyer, Harry Whittington, is in intensive care after a heart attack, with up to 200 pellets riddling his face and body one stuck in his heart from Dick Cheney's designer Perazzi Brescia shotgun. And still his friend, the vice president, is Swift-BB-ing him.

Private citizens have been enlisted to blame the victim. Maybe poor Mr. Whittington put himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he was, after all, behind Vice, not in front of him. And the hunter pulling the trigger is supposed to make sure he has a clear shot. Wouldn't it be, well, classy for Shooter to express just a bit of contrition and humility?

Instead, the usual sliming has begun, with the Cheney camp trying to protect the vice president by casting a veteran hunter as Elmer Dud.

Scott McClellan told the White House press corps that Katharine Armstrong, a lobbyist with government ties who owns the Texas ranch (and whose mother, Anne, was on the Halliburton board that hired Mr. Cheney as C.E.O.), "pointed out that the protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying the others that he was there."

As the story of the weekend's bizarre hunting accident is wrenched out of the White House, the picture isn't pretty: With American soldiers dying in Iraq, Five-Deferment Dick "I Had Other Priorities in the 60's Than Military Service" Cheney gets his macho kicks gunning down little birds and the occasional old man while W. rides his bike, blissfully oblivious to any collateral damage. Shouldn't these guys work on weekends until we figure out how to fix Iraq, New Orleans, Medicare and gas prices?

This version of "The Most Dangerous Game" neatly follows the four-step Bush-Cheney cycle:

Step 1: Set out to pick off what you think is an easy target, like quail this time or pen-raised and netted pheasant in the past, or a certain sanction-caged Iraqi dictator.

Step 2: In the corrupt company of lobbyist-contractor friends, botch things up. Ignore the peril at hand as with, oh, Osama at Tora Bora, or Katrina, or the Iraq occupation and with steely resolve, indulge your raging incompetence. (Oops.)

Step 3: Stonewall. Resist giving Congress information about 9/11 or Katrina; don't tell the public how you're tapping phones at home, setting up gulags abroad and making war and energy policy in secret. Why give the taxpayers, who are ponying up for these weekend hunting trips, the extraordinary news that Vice shot his hunting companion in the face and chest? Scott McClellan knew before yesterday's White House briefing at noon that Mr. Whittington was worse, but did not tell the reporters. He left that to Corpus Christi doctors, who spun the heart attack as "an inflammatory response to a metallic foreign BB."

Step 4: Admit no mistakes. Express sympathy. Blame the victim without leaving fingerprints by outsourcing the smear to the private sector.

Trent Lott joked in a meeting yesterday that Mr. Cheney was now the "shooter in chief," while other wags noted that Quayle was always a problem for Bushes.

Presidential staff members and lawmakers speculated yesterday about whether Shooter would resign and make room for Condi if Mr. Whittington did not survive. His death would trigger a more thorough police investigation and probably a grand jury.

"Are you crazy?" one Republican senator told a reporter. "He'd never quit." (Aaron Burr presided over the Senate after he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.)

The shooter in chief can't quit because he is the administration. Who'd even tell him to quit? If necessary, he'd probably make W. take the fall.

Despite efforts by Mr. McClellan to joke and urge reporters to get back to "the pressing priorities of the American people," the hunting debacle once more showed Mr. Cheney running the imperial show.

He didn't talk to the sheriff for 14 hours, or even call the president to notify him after the 5:50 p.m. accident. Vice left that to Andy Card, who called Mr. Bush at 7:30 p.m. to say there had been a hunting accident, without mentioning that Vice was the gunman. Soon after that, Karl Rove called Mr. Bush back with that little detail.

A reporter, surprised, pressed Mr. McClellan: "The vice president did not call the president to tell him he was the shooter?"

Usually when there's a White House cover-up, the president's in on it.

How About Some Peer Pressure

Had a cute little conversation with Chris, author of spottedhorse2, the other day. Chris was upset that I had replied to one of his comments at The Xoff Files. Chris was trying to be smart with Xoff and wrote, "if only the stupid unwashed would let us the be in charge," implying this was what the author of the post was telling conservatives (the author of the piece Xoff copied to the post is conservative, by the way).

I took Chris' implication and ran with it, suggesting that he take a shower and return to grade school. The implication being that his comment was silly and did not even address Xoff's or the author's point.

Chris took it upon himself to e-mail me and...let's just say he was extremely rude and vulgar. The problem with it all (I certainly don't have a problem bandying words with him...it's so easy to get under his skin), is that he frightened my wife. She asked whether it was a good idea to keep communicating with this person. Would he do more?

I said no, he would not...not to worry. And then I decided to cut off communications with him. It's not worth having my wife frightened.

However, I want everyone to know that this kind of behavior should not be tolerated. I know we all get hot sometimes...but the language and threatening tone used by Chris were absolutely uncalled for.

I hear conservatives all the time talking about how Ann Coulter and that ilk are not real conservatives and how they hate them as much as the left. How about a little closer to home?

The same goes for ranting on the left. Let's at least keep the language civil. By the way, Jessica, where are you when your side goes off the deep end?

Glenn Beck...Conservatism's Poster Child

Compassionate conservatism at its finest. Kinda like a Wisblogger you know I've spoken of before. Oh yeah, Jessica...the left is just soooo nasty.

Is there a day that God ever says, "What was I thinking?" Here's what I mean: Do you think God ever says, "I could've used that skin making somebody of value, you know? I could have used that skin in such a -- just a better way." You know? And its not -- the reason why I bring this up is: Is there a bigger waste of skin than Jimmy Carter? Ya know, I don't mean to, you know, I don't mean to look the maker in the eyes and say, "Eh, kind of a waste," but I'm asking, do you think he ever thinks, "I don't know, man, I could've used that skin someplace else." You know? Who's the bigger waste of skin, can you name a bigger -- you know, and you could immediately go to people like Kim Jong Il. OK, there's a big waste of skin, but not really, because his skin's being utilized by evil. At least evil is using that skin. Who's using the skin of Jimmy Carter? What purpose does the skin of Jimmy Carter -- it's like an empty suit walking down the street. --Glenn Beck

Is it Real?

It Depends on Your Definition of...

This was funny. Passed on from Dave Berkman at Shepherd Express.

The defense (with a bow to Bill Clinton) of congressional members caught up in the corruption scandals: “I did not have political relations with that lobbyist.” (Political commentator Mark Shields, on “The Lehrer News Hour”)

How About 100% School Choice

I have a better idea regarding school choice. Why don't we just close all the MPS schools in Millaukee and place the children (and their voucher money) in the private and charter schools and bus the rest to the suburban schools. These are all better schools, according to conservatives, and they should be able to do a better job educating all of the children.

Or might there be another reason that these schools would not want their chance at educating all of Milwaukee's children? Who's standing in the doorways now.

Thanks For Visiting...Sign at the Door

James, my buddy at Wigderson Library & Pub, has commented on the previous post regarding the cartoons, Flemming Rose and Daniel Pipes. He must have linked over to the article by John Sugg, because in his comment to me, James challenges me to prove that Pipes advocates elimination of Palestinians or that he is racist.

Now normally, I'd tell James one of two things: One) I don't have the time for this, do it yourself, or Two) John Sugg made those claims, not me, go challenge him (though I do happen to agree with Sugg).

But, in the interest of having some fun and I have just a little time before I need to shower and get ready to go to a play with my wife, here are some items for James' perusal.

One other thing...I am under no illusion that James will agree with any of this stuff. He has sources, I have mine...so tra la la.

One of James own favorite writers, Christopher Hitchins, was not very complimentary of Pipes in this piece published in Slate. Hitchens says this about Pipes:

On more than one occasion, Pipes has called for the extension of Israel's already ruthless policy of collective punishment, arguing that leveling Palestinian villages is justifiable if attacks are launched from among their inhabitants. It seems to me from observing his style that he came to this conclusion with rather more relish than regret.

Hitchinson concludes with:

The objection to Pipes is not, in any case, strictly a political one. It is an objection to a person who confuses scholarship with propaganda and who pursues petty vendettas with scant regard for objectivity.

Okay, I'll admit no where does it say he wants to eliminate Palestinians, but there is some groundwork laid for feeling unkind things for Palestinians. Here's more:

Pipes is best known for his strident and often racist denunciations of Arabs and Islam. In an effort to divide Americans -- one that if you inserted "blacks" for "Muslims" and "whites" for "Jews," would be vigorously damned as KKK-speech -- he told the American Jewish Congress a year ago that he worries "the presence and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews." I contacted Pipes, and he not only confirmed his quote but, incredibly, added: "It is accurate in itself but you must note that this was spoken to a Jewish audience. I make the same point respectively to audiences of women, gays, civil libertarians, Hindus, Evangelical Christians, atheists, and scholars of Islam, among others, all of whom face 'true dangers' as the number of Muslims increases..." --John Sugg, Creative Loafing, 10/2/02

Then there was this:

Based in Philadelphia and headed by anti-Arab propagandist Daniel Pipes, Campus Watch unleashed an Internet firestorm in late September, when it posted "dossiers" on eight scholars who have had the audacity to criticize US foreign policy and the Israeli occupation. As a gesture of solidarity, more than 100 academics subsequently contacted the Middle East Forum asking to be added to the list… Pipes is notorious in the academy for calling Muslims "barbarians" and "potential killers" in a 2001 National Review article and accusing them of scheming to "replace the [US] Constitution with the Koran," in a similar piece in Insight on the News. Along these lines, a 1990 National Review article insisted that "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene....All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most." In addition to running the Middle East Forum, serving on a Defense Department antiterrorism task force and writing columns for the Jerusalem and New York Post, Pipes is also a regular contributor to the website of Gamla, an organization founded by former Israeli military officers and settlers that endorses the ethnic cleansing of every Palestinian as "the only possible solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict… --Kristine McNeil, The Nation, 11/11/02

How about this:

Israel needs to take more active steps...Bury suicide bombers in potter's fields rather than deliver their bodies to relatives (who turn their funerals into frenzied demonstrations)…Permit no transportation of people or goods beyond basic necessities. Shut off utilities to the PA...Raze the PA's illegal offices in Jerusalem, its security infrastructure and villages from which attacks are launched. --The National Post, 7/18/01

Oh, and this:

As Danish politicians, we are offended by the way integration problems in Denmark were portrayed by Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard and we wish to set the record straight (Muslim Extremism: Denmark's had Enough, Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard, Aug. 27). The authors claim that 40% of Danish welfare expenses are consumed by Muslim immigrants…Muslim immigrants do not receive 40% of those allocations even though they represent a substantial part of the clients. The main reason being: It is hard to compete on a job market not interested in employing immigrants. The further assumption that more than half of all rapists in Denmark are Muslims is without any basis in fact, as criminal registers do not record religion. NOTE: In the article referenced above, Daniel Pipes smears the Muslim community in Denmark with several accusations eerily similar to those leveled against the Jewish community in Europe by anti-Semitic propagandists prior to World War II. These include: 1) being parasites on the society, 2) being disproportionately engaged in criminal behavior, 3) having "unacceptable" customs, 4) seeking to take over the country, and 5) sexual aggression against women in the dominant culture. --Elisabeth Arnold and Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, National Post, 9/6/02

This:

"The Palestinians are a miserable people...and they deserve to be." --Daniel Pipes, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001


I have more...but it dawned on me that James is getting the better of this deal. It's obvious that he is a Pipes apologist. Nothing I provide here will change his mind. One has to wonder if James is a member of Campus Watch, a website crusade that claims to expose subversive teachers in America. Gadzooks...shades of McCarthy. The other thing about CampusWatch that is so egregious...it solicits students to spy on their teachers.

So anyway, James, do your own work. But, thanks for visiting.

Cartoons a Little Fishy

You know, something seemed a little fishy about the Danish cartoon extravaganza. This guy just out of the blue decides to enlist the aid of cartoonists to print inflamatory cartoons to prove a point that the West has freedom of speech, and the Islam world does not.

Well, John Suggs exposes a little more of the story. The guy who is responsible for this whole sordid affair is Flemming Rose, a close confederate of Daniel Pipes. Pipes is an extreme racist who wants the elimination of Palestinaians, according to John Sugg, and was nominated by Bush to the...get this...Institute of Peace. Anyway, the story by Sugg is good...read along.

The lengths that the Bushies will go to ensure they stay in power in extraordinary...and pathetic...impeach the bastard.

But Was It Wise?

Garry Trudeau said this regarding the issue of the Danish cartoons.

Why has the U.S. news media (broadcast and print), almost universally refused to publish the cartoons?

I assume because they believe, correctly, it is unnecessarily inflammatory. It's legal to run them, but is it wise? The Danish editor who started all this actually recruited cartoonists to draw offensive cartoons (some of those he invited declined). And why did he do it? To demonstrate that in a Western liberal society he could. Well, we already knew that. Some victory for freedom of expression. An editor who deliberately sets out to provoke or hurt people because he's worried about "self-censorship" is not an editor I'd care to work for.


With freedom of the press, speech, expression, etc. comes an awesome responsibility we would all do well to remember.

WTMJ Adds Another Mouth

Say it ain't so. Jessica McBride, the darling of the shameless promotion department has accepted a gig at 620 WTMJ on a part-time basis...apparently. I wonder if the screeners...wait, there probably won't be any.

"Hi I'm Jessica McBride, and I'll only be taking questions from my husband, Paul, bloggers that I like from the right side of the cheddarsphere, conservative legislators that I like and...that's it."

Apparently, she is the reason all along that Mark Riordan was asked to depart (in this case, the use of the word "apparently" really means I don't know if this is true...but it's fun to speculate).

Say No to Saying No

I don't like to step into the abortion debate because, truthfully, it's not a debate any person will win. There have been attempts at some sort of discourse between foes, none have been successful as far as I know. I'm pro-choice, but would like abortions kept to a minimum and the best way to do that is through eductation. Please don't comment...I will not involve myself in debate on this and will remove any comments offered. If that comes across to you as censorship, so be it. It's my site and I can do what I want.

However, the reason I mention that is because of the following issue, which is on the fringe of the abortion debate. If interested, all are invited to comment on this. Sanctions against Neil Noesen, a pharmacist who refused to dispense bith control pills because he said he would be commiting a sin if he did, were upheld by Barron County Circuit Judge James Babler. Click here to read the article in the Capital Times.

Hurray for some common sense. Look, everyone is entitled to their opinion, their right to believe or not, etc....no one is entitled to accept employment at a position that requires dispensation of services, and then say that because of your religious belief, you cannot follow your job duties. It's like you were a fireman and refused to take part in dousing the flames at a building owned by homosexuals because your faith believes that homosexuality is a sin.

It's no different with Noesen's chosen profession. The sanctions that they placed on him were fair, though I still believe it would just be best for him (and any other poor soul that might enounter him over the counter) to find other work. Perhaps he could become a missionary. I hear they need some some prayers in Washington, D.C. at RNC headquarters.

Fiction Isn't Real...Duh!

...if you're at the point when the most prominent black person you can put on your side of an issue is a fictional character in a white man's shitty webcomic, your authority on cultural unity escaped this planet's gravity quite some time ago.

Read this post from August J. Pollak about the latest disaster from Chris Muir, the guy the righties say is better than Doonesbury. He may be better at creating strawman arguments, but that's it.

Teddy Said It

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in renderling loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

Theodore Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star - May 7, 1918

Intolerance...Just on the Left?

A rather uncouth and vulgar blogger with whom I recently had a conversation, bleated on his site a couple of days ago about the lack of tolerance by the left. He included a comment about his fascination with the anal orifice. How tolerant, I thought sarcastically...and weird.

It got me to thinking, though. Intolerance on the left...what a strange thing to say. Left or right, it seems to me that intolerance is the same for both. For example, I'm guessing that both liberals and conservatives are intolerant of bigots.

Could it be said that both the left and right are intolerant of homophobes? Obviously my former communication buddy is not a homophobe. He even said he's for gay marriage. There's one.

Hmmm...I'll bet neither side is very tolerant of racists. I know that the left for years has smeared the right with that term. Some of the time it was deserving. And face it, conservatives were on the wrong side of civil rights for quite a while. But to say that there have not been conservatives who believed passionately in equality for all would be a lie.

I'm intolerant of whiners. There's been a lot of that coming from the conservative camp lately. But to be fair, the left has its share. A tie.

How about liars? I know both sides can't stand liars...especially lying politicians. It's hard to trust politicians anymore...plenty of examples on both sides of the fence.

'Nuff said for now.

My Dad's First Post

My Dad (an ex-Marine, WWII) asked that I post this (below in italics). The sentiment is a good one. The troops should be supported…they should always have been supported.

However, the policies of the current administration that have put our troops in harms way are contemptible. Shame on the Bush administration for lying to us about the reasons for this conflict. Shame on the Bush administration for attempting to make an issue of Americans who simply are voicing their opinion about the course of this lost conflict. Shame on the Bush administration for ducking and hiding when these kids come back in coffins.

AND shame on those who don’t support these kids.

There’s blame enough on both sides.

I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for everyone to hurry and stow their carry-ons and grab a seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long, uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage far too big for the overhead and never paying much attention to holding up the growing line behind them, I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was not starting out very well. I was anxious to get home to see my loved ones so I was focused on my issues and just felt like standing up and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act together. I knew I couldn't say a word so I just thumbed thru the "Sky Mall" magazine from the seat pocket in front of me. You know it's really getting rough when you resort to the over priced, useless sky mall crap to break the monotony.

With everyone finally seated, we just sat there with the cabin door open and no one in any hurry to get us going although we were well past the scheduled take off time. No wonder the airline industry is in trouble I told myself. Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to inform us all that we were being delayed. The entire plane let out a collective groan. She resumed speaking to say "We are holding the aircraft for some very special people who are on their way to the plane and the delay shouldn't be more than 5 minutes.

The word came after waiting six times as long as we were promised that I was finally going to be on my way home. Why the hoopla over "these" folks? I was expecting some celebrity or sport figure to be the reason for the hold up .. Just get their butts in a seat and let's hit the gas I thought. The attendant came back on the speaker to announce in a loud and excited voice that we were being joined by several U.S. Marines returning home from Iraq !!!

Just as they walked on board, the entire plane erupted into applause. The men were a bit taken by surprise by the 340 people cheering for them as they searched for their seats. They were having their hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was within an arm's distance of them as they passed down the aisle. One elderly woman kissed the hand of one of the Marines as he passed by her. The applause, whistles and cheering didn't stop for a long time.

When we were finally airborne, I was not the only civilian checking his conscience as to the delays in "me" getting home, finding my easy chair, a cold beverage and the remote in my hand. These men had done for all of us and I had been complaining silently about "me" and "my" issues I took for granted the everyday freedoms I enjoy and the conveniences of the American way of life. I took for granted that others had paid the price for my ability to moan and complain about a few minutes delay to "me" while those Heroes were going home to their loved ones.

I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order and minutes before we landed, I suggested to the attendant that she announce over the speaker a request for everyone to remain in their seats until our heroes were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms. I felt proud of them. I felt it an honor and a privilege to be among the first to welcome them home and say "Thank You for a job well done."

I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the lesson learned. I can't say it enough, THANK YOU to those Veterans and active servicemen and women who may read this and a prayer for those who cannot because they are no longer with us.

Brewers Contend in 2006?

The Milwaukee Brewers contending in 2006? No way. Well, Tristan Cockcroft at ESPN thinks so if everything falls in place. Personally, I like what the new owner has done and I like Ned Yost. I believe he one of the best young managers in the game. If Ben Sheets, Carlos Lee, Geoff Jenkins and the youngsters (Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Hall, etc.) play to their expected levels, who knows?

by Tristan Cockcroft

Things are finally looking up in Milwaukee. The Brewers, who entered 2005 tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the longest streak of losing-record seasons (12), managed to improve to .500 and third place in the National League Central. It's progress, and perhaps the most encouraging development of all is that the Brewers' new owner, Mark Attanasio, boosted the payroll last season and seemed to bring new life to the franchise...click here to read the entire article.

The Innocent Have Nothing to Hide