This is just wrong

Funny, but...wrong.

The Wreck Of the Edmund Obama

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the Senator they called ‘Chelsea’s Mommy’
That she, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of Wright rant twenty-six thousand words more
Ah how his mentor of yore made Obama’s words sound empty.
That young man and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.

The man was the pride of the Daily Kos side
Coming back from some mill with John Edwards
As the big politicos go, he was bigger than most
With a crew and a message well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of Rezko firms
So they left fully loaded for Cleveland
At 3 AM one night when the telephone rang
Could Ohio bitter enders leave them reelin’?

You know the tune. Sing along!

Read the whole thing.

Unrelated Quote of the Week

Some other fish such as Platties and Rosy Barbs will occasionally snack on BBA as well.

See, that's why we don't swim.

Parallel Univerese

I hear a lot of things in Columbus that remind me of home.

The latest one: Columbus is considering installing a street car line, to run between the college campus and the place where college kids drink a lot.

Big Country

Nice vid, Chris, but this is what's rockin' me today (that and the fact that I just learned how to do this blog-video-imbed thingy):



Cha!

Badgers and Footy

Cross posted from the WSB hat tip to Paul ;)

WSB Chris

Re: Union-made layoffs?

Maybe GM should make movies instead of trucks.

Guess the number game

I'm borrowing this from RDW today.

Four.

Badger Bites, In Haiku

Technically, Badger Bites is now a Wednesday feature. I'm jumping the gun a little, because my schedule looks tough tomorrow. Enjoy!!!

Tweaked inflation rates...
The Pelosi Premium...
This is gonna hurt!

Secret ballot vote?
Not so fast! Sign your name here.
The union says so.

Our Constitution
is a living document,
unlike The Bible

Old School Milwaukee?
Dave says, "Natatorium."
Don't order the fish.

He saw dead people.
Wigderson sees idiots.
They're everywhere, too.

Schlitz, Miller, Pabst, Blatz:
The four Titans of Brewtown.
The Rushmore of Beer!

Disneyland, Baghdad?
Quite a cultural surprise,
let's preview some rides.

MPS snow days
will cost three million dollars
unless they're made up.

Badger ex-pat, Sean
survived all the tornadoes.
He still needs a job.

It's official: there is now a website for everything.

PRESCOTT — Richard Sanders hadn’t given much thought to roadkill until a buddy came across a large bear on the roadside near Hudson.

The animal was bigger than any trophy bear the friends had bagged over the years, and they thought it deserved a better fate than rotting by the road.

“It is not their fault they were hit by a car or truck,” Sanders said. “They shouldn’t go unnoticed.”

Oh, cruel fate, what recognition is there for this animal?

Recognized big-game record books, such as those kept by the Pope & Young and Boone and Crockett clubs, won’t list roadkill animals because they weren’t taken by bullet or bow.

Deathism? Cause-of-deathism? Somebody get the ACLU on the phone and find out if there's any legislation on this.

Luckily, this particular bear was found by a couple of entrepreneurs:

To remedy that, Sanders created an alternative online: The Road Kill Record Book Club.

...The Road Kill Record Book Club Web site includes a gallery and registry for bears, cougars, elk and other animals killed by vehicles. It also offers memberships and merchandise.

You read right. The Road Kill Record Book.

Story says they've even got t-shirts, but if they do, I couldn't find them on the website.

UPDATE - Owen had this story about two hours before I did.

Packers give UW-Whitewater star a tryout

Green Bay - Almost every number running back Justin Beaver put up compares favorably with the likes of NFL first-round draft choices Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart and Rashard Mendenhall.

…The Green Bay Packers are going to give him a chance, however. They did not sign him to a free-agent contract, but they invited him to their rookie minicamp this weekend for a tryout.

As far as Beaver is concerned, all he needs is a chance.

"I definitely think this is a good situation," said the 191-pound Beaver, a Division III All-American who rushed for 2,455 yards last season. "They didn't draft a running back. I said this is just a chance to go there and give everything I got. If I don't get it done, I'll know I did everything I could."

Beaver carried the ball 31 times for 249 yards and a touchdown in the Division III championship game last year.

The Packers have also signed a bunch of rookie free agents. Here’s the list.

Senator Gimme

From The Hill:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has requested nearly $2.3 billion in federal earmarks for 2009, almost three times the largest amount received by a single senator this year.

The Democratic presidential candidate’s staggering request comes at a time when Congress remains engaged in a heated debate over spending federal dollars on parochial projects.

Now: that’s how much she’s asked for, not how much she’s getting. The story doesn’t give much data on asked to got ratios.

Also, we should note that earmarks aren't necessarily bad. Clinton’s office said a lot of it is for security purposes.

Still, you wonder whether that was real wise for Clinton: it won’t hurt her in the primary, but if she moves on to the general…that’s gonna take the “un” out of “undecided” more than once.

Some speculation:

Clinton’s huge earmark requests have some speculating that the former first lady is preparing for a soft landing should she lose the Democratic primary to Obama and refocus her energy on winning a third Senate term.

Steve Ellis, a vice president at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group critical of earmarks, said the amount is not unusual for a senator hailing from a big state who has long secured pet projects.

… “There’s a decent chance that she is going to remain the senator from New York, and she needs to do what she can to stay the senator from New York.”

Even if it hurts her shot at the Presidency.

According to the story, Obama has requested $740 million in earmarks over three years. They’re bashing Clinton for not releasing numbers on her past requests.

I found the closing paragraph odd:

Last year, Obama took in $91 million while McCain earned nothing because he did not request any projects, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

“Earned?”

Union-made layoffs?

Janesville Gazette:

General Motors officials estimate that 756 jobs will be lost when the automaker eliminates a production shift at its Janesville plant in July.

At least that’s the number the automaker is giving the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers to provide 60 days notice in advance of a mass layoff or plant closing.

The number may change.

That’s bad news for a lot of families, and the effects are going to trickle out into the local economy.

But it’s not much of a surprise: they make sport utility vehicles there. Sales are suffering, as one might expect, because of the economy and the price of gas:

Plant manager Gary Malkus said in a letter to employees that a weak economy and rising gas prices forced GM into the cuts.

Plus, this isn't helping:

JANESVILLE — The ongoing United Auto Workers strike against American Axle will continue to affect production at the Janesville General Motors plant.

...American Axle supplies GM plants with axles, drive shafts, stabilizer bars and other parts. More than 3,600 UAW members struck the company on Feb. 26 over a company plan to drastically cut wages and benefits.

GM’s plant in Janesville was first affected during the week of March 10, when both shifts worked half time. With the exception of some previously scheduled down time, local production has been about 50 percent of normal because of the American Axle strike.

Soft economy, rising gas prices...maybe this isn't the best time to prolong a strike?

Ooh, I know! The UAW is going to endorse Republicans this year, so we can expand domestic drilling and refining, thus increasing the oil supply and bringing gas prices down, so more of their people can have regular work! Right?

Somebody wanna remind me what season it is?

The 1-inch snowfall Monday morning didn't stay long, but it set a record.

The National Weather Service in Ashwaubenon said the flakes eclipsed the old record of 0.8 inch of snow for April 28. Stevens Point received 4.5 inches Monday. Clintonville received 2 inches and Almond, east of Wisconsin Rapids, got 3 inches.

That sounds like Still Winter, but I could’ve sworn we were weeks into Road Construction.

Quite an arm you’ve got there.

From a story in today’s Green Bay Press Gazette:

The girl then grabbed a waffle iron and threw it at the man, striking him in the back of the head.

Those waffle irons are pretty heavy. Not exactly aerodynamic, either. Maybe somebody wants to see if the Chicago Bears would be interested in giving her a tryout. Considering their QB situation, it couldn’t hurt.

Still Skeptical

A lot of young, college aged men have drowned over the years after drinking. A lot of their family members have begun to question whether a serial killer might be responsible. Personally, I've been very skeptical, and I remain so. Sykes brings us this story out of the Twin Cities that lends some credence to the theory, though.

Because of extensive investigation by Duarte and Gannon, Jan Jenkins now says she knows exactly what happened to her son on the night he disappeared, Oct. 31, 2002.

"Chris was abducted in a cargo van," she said. "He was driven around Minneapolis for hours and tortured. He was taken down to the Mississippi River and he was murdered. And after that, his body was positioned and taken to a different spot and then to a different point in the Mississippi River," she said.

The story seems to offer up some circumstantial evidence of a serial killer, yet the details remain pretty vague. I won't rule the possibility of a mass murdering group out there, but I will remain very dubious until hard evidence comes out. Sometimes, when people want a certain answer that will help quell their pain, they find a way to make the facts point to the answer they want. Things like smiley-faced graffiti are ubiquitous. The investigators need a little more than this.

And Then He Drank His Lemonade

Nobody could blame him if he went through the rest of his life bitter and angry, but:

NEW YORK — John Fernandez should not have been playing lacrosse in the Army-Navy alumni game at Madison Square Garden.


By all rights, the former U.S. Army first lieutenant should be dead. But luck intervened.

"It was just a matter of chance — pure luck," said Fernandez of Shoreham, Long Island, who was severely wounded in Iraq after a U.S. plane dropped a 500-pound bomb on his Humvee in a case of friendly fire on April 3, 2003. Shrapnel from the explosion shredded his legs.

"I crawled," Fernandez recalled. "I couldn't walk."

More than five years later, the soldier can do more than just walk. He can play lacrosse thanks to prosthetic limbs as he demonstrated during the Heroes Cup, which preceded the New York Titans professional game Saturday night.

Well, doesn't that just slap all my petty little complaints in the head and shove them into place?

Yes, indeed it does.

Army to Launch Sats After 50 Year Lull

The U.S. Army plans to build and launch into orbit a constellation of satellites for the first time in roughly 50 years. And it plans to build the cluster of eight miniature communications satellites within as little as nine months, defense officials told Military.com.

It's been 50 years since the Army launched new commo satellites?

What do the old ones look like?

I'm two days late on this, but...

...we still should say something about the last print issue of the Capital Times - Madison's "progressive" newspaper.

That issue went out on Saturday, April 26. As of today, the Cap Times is an online news service, and will be published once a week as an insert in the Wisconsin State Journal.

It's tempting to wonder whether this says anything about Progressivism in Wisconsin - if a paper as liberal as the Cap Times couldn't make it in Madison, can Progressivism really be as strong here as we think?

But I'll resist the temptation, since we can't really know that.

The Capital Times is honestly, unashamedly, RIGHT-up-front-where-we-can-see-them liberal, and - as much as reading their editorials makes me grind my teeth, I appreciate that. I'd honestly miss them, except that you can't miss something that isn't going away. They'll still be the beacon of uber-Leftism they always have been: they'll just be that electronically now, instead of on pressed dead trees.

Nevertheless, WisOpinion links to a number of eulogies from around the state (and beyond) today.

Goodbye, Capital Times. See you tomorrow.

More Badgers

Two more Wisconsin Badger football players have reportedly signed with NFL teams: punter Ken DeBauche with the Green Bay Packers, and receiver Luke Swan with the Kansas City Chiefs.

On a similar note, whaddayathink? Should I just go to football blogging all day, every day? Seems like that's all I've been doing lately.

In my inbox

A Department of Water representative stopped at a ranch and talked with an old rancher. He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for your water allocation." The old rancher said, "Okay, but don't go in that field over there."

The water representative said, "Mister, I have the authority of Federal Government with me. See this card? The card means I am allowed to go WHEREVER I WISH on any agricultural land. No questions asked or answered. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?"

The old rancher nodded politely and went about his chores. Later, the old rancher heard loud screams and saw the man running for the fence. Close behind was the rancher's bull, gaining on him with every step. The man was clearly terrified, so the old rancher immediately threw down his tools, ran to the fence, and shouted out....."Your card! Your card! Show him your card!"

Indiana's Voter ID Law Upheld 6-3

The Supreme Court of the USA upholds Indiana's Voter ID Law.

The SCOTUS writeup of the decision is here. Can we get it here now?

Re: Draft Plethora

Yeah, sorry about that. I was too busy Sunday to do any more.

Re: Draft plethora

Seriously, Lance, eight posts?

Draft wrap-up: Green Bay edition

The Packers' picks, in order: WR, QB, DB, TE, DE, OT, OT, QB, WR.

The tight end is from Texas. We've had good luck with those. Packers GM Ted Thompson made something like half a dozen trades – including trading our final 7th round pick for New Orleans' 6th rounder in next year's draft.

Stockpiling already!

I'm a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, which tells you my opinion about this draft.

If I had one complaint, it might be: I know Green Bay is looking for new offensive linemen to shore up the inside and to be ready to replace Tauscher and Clifton when that becomes an issue, but you can never have too many good defensive linemen, either – and a backup defensive lineman will actually get into the game. Backup offensive linemen keep the bench warm.

But that's not much of a complaint.

I like the two quarterbacks. As I've said before, that's the single most important position on the field. Never stop looking for the franchise quarterback until you know for sure you've found one.

This guy thinks the Packers did the right thing (emphasis added):

The Green Bay Packers might have gotten the steal of the draft by landing Brohm with the 26th pick of the second round, 56th overall…

Packers officials have tried to downplay the impact Brohm's selection would have on Aaron Rodgers, who is supposed to be the heir to retired Brett Favre. Rodgers, Green Bay's first-round pick in 2005, has shown impressive flashes in Favre's place…However, his inability to stay healthy has raised concerns over whether he has what it takes to be a consistently effective starter.

…"The way I look at the camp, as far as any position, you want to have as many good players as you can," McCarthy said. "So is that a veteran? Is that another draft pick? I think time will answer that. And we have two young guys here that have been working throughout the quarterback school along with Aaron Rodgers (Jerry Babb and Dalton Bell). So we have some options, and we'll just continue to try to make every position -- particularly the quarterback position -- as competitive as possible."

The Packers hammered home that theory when they took yet another quarterback -- LSU's Matt Flynn -- in the seventh round.

There's a lot more info and commentary on all the Packers' picks, including links to Youtube video of them playing, at the JSOnline Packers Blog. Just keep scrolling.

Draft wrap-up: Wisconsin Badgers Edition

Eight Wisconsin Badgers were thought to have some chance of making an NFL squad this year - half of those got picked in this weekend's NFL draft.

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Former UW cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles late in the fourth round of today's NFL draft, the 131st overall pick.

Three more Badgers were selected in the sixth round -- kicker Taylor Mehlhaff to New Orleans with the 12th pick in the round (178th overall), defensive tackle Nick Hayden to Carolina with the 15th pick (181st overall) and wide receiver Paul Hubbard to Cleveland with the 25th pick (191st overall). Mehlhaff was the first kicker to be selected in this year's draft.

Center Marcus Coleman, linebacker Andy Crooks, punter Ken DeBauche, and wide receiver Luke Swan weren't selected. Neither was Justin Beaver, a running back from UW-Whitewater who'd drawn some looks.

Good luck in free agency, guys.

Rep. Jason Fields, not taking responsibility for his actions after all

On March 19th, we learned that State Rep. Jason Fields was arrested for drunk driving. His response gained him praise from a lot of people, including me. He said:

“There is no excuse for driving impaired, I am thankful that no one was hurt. I accept full responsibility for my actions and I ask my constituents for forgiveness for my error.”

Then on March 29th, Fields appeared at a March 29th march in support of a drunk driver that attempted to run over a police officer, Koua Moua. He supported the crowds chants for the officers job, and told the crowd, in video that I captured, "I have your backs." Moua has retained the... Colorful attorney Allen Eisenberg in an attempt to sue the city for million$.

Tonight, Bruce did some digging and discovered that Jason "I accept full responsibility" Fields has not only gone back on his word to accept responsibility by pleading Not Guilty... and guess who his attorney is?

Bruce has the details, including CCAP documents that Mr. Fields probably doesn't want you to see.

State Rep. Jason Fields apparently not so “contrite” after all

There's the QB

The Packers take Louisville's Brian Brohm with their second 2nd round pick - the 56th overall.

Greg Bedard at the JSOnline Packers Blog isn't real high on Brohm, but he was listed in the top two or three quarterbacks in every draft report I saw.

Regardless, I think it's a good pick: light some fire under Rodgers (even if he doesn't need it), and leave no stone unturned in searching for that next QB.

UPDATE - Packers on the board again. Can't help but notice that Taylor Mehlhaff is still available.

UPDATE - Nope, it's a cornerback: Patrick Lee, from Auburn. Also a kick returner - that's two guys with returning experience we got in today's draft.

And thus ends my interest in the NFL Draft for today, unless one of the Badgers is chosen. Say, when's the last time UW went through two full rounds without having somebody drafted?

ANSWER - That didn't take long. The Badgers didn't have anyone chosen until the 3rd round in the 2006 NFL draft - that was Brian Calhoun, who went to the Lions at #74.

Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1996, when no Badgers were chosen at all. Twice - in 2000 and 2001 - the Badgers had two first-round selections, inlcuding back-to-back selections at #26 (Jamar Fletcher - Miami) and #27 (Michael Bennett - Minnesota) in 2001.

Packers on the board again...

...and they're gonna...um...

...if they're gonna take one of those quarterbacks, I bet they have to do it now.

A wide receiver - who? Jordy Nelson?

Played at Kansas St. Over six feet tall.

UPDATE - they're comparing him to Brandon Stokley. He was a quarterback in high school. Steve Mariucci just said that Ted Thompson has 23 of his draft picks from the last three years still playing for his team.

Well, from reading his bio on nfl.com, he's a real good athlete and was extremely productive at Kansas St. In Ted we trust, I guess.

Great picture. Looks like they dragged him out of bed to take it.

MORE - consensus All-American last year, set eleven receiving records at Kansas St. The Journal Sentinel has his college stats.

With the 30th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft...

...the Green Bay Packers select...

HEY! The logo just changed from the Packers' "G" to the Cardinals' little birdie head. What gives? Trade?

UPDATE - not the Cardinals, but the Jets. The Packers have traded down.

UPDATE - they got the Jets' 2nd round pick (36th overall) and a 4th round pick in exchange. The Jets took a tight end.

Can't wait to see what the Packers do in the 2nd round now with three picks.

Draft Day

The Packers' turn is coming up pretty soon. Lots of offensive linemen are already off the board - same with cornerbacks, running backs, and defensive linemen.

Two top -rated QBs are still there: Chad Henne (Michigan), and Brian Brohm (Louisville). No wide receivers or tight ends have gone yet, either.

UPDATE - San Fransisco just took a defensive tackle. Packers are on the board. I'd be happy with a quarterback, here - the question is which one.

With the 14th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft...

...the Chicago Bears select an offensive tackle, since their quarterback situation is already so secure.

Draft Day!

I'll be monitoring the NFL Draft today - the first round, at least - and reporting in with my highly-sought opinion on whatever the Packers do.

We did this last year (click here and page down a little) and in 2005 (same deal, page down about a third of the way), but kinda skipped it in 2006.

I'm wondering if we might hear from Kevin sometime today.

Anyway, while we're waiting for the second pick (since the Dolphins already picked Long with the first pick), here's a little speculation:

Jason Wilde projects possibly 6 Badgers to be drafted in the later rounds.

The Packers have three picks Saturday (29, 56, and 60), and 5 more on Sunday. Their first-round pick appears to be wide open:

The first-round picks the Packers are most often linked to in mock drafts are Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers, Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason, Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, USC offensive tackle Sam Baker, Purdue tight end Dustin Keller, Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo, Miami (Fla.) safety Kenny Phillips and USC tight end Fred Davis.

(Of course, last year, only two mock drafters, NFL.com's Pat Kirwan and CBS Sportsline.com's Pete Prisco, correctly predicted the Packers would draft Harrell.)

Then again, the Packers might not draft in Round 1 at all if a quarterback-desperate team calls Thompson about a trade. After all, Thompson has executed 14 trades during his eight drafts — five with Seattle and three with the Packers — and all 14 deals were to move backward. He has never traded up, although with a deeper roster after a 13-3 season and a berth in the NFC Championship Game, this could be the year Thompson targets a specific player and goes up and gets him.

I'm all for trading down.

Updates as events require.

Sheldons Wants Tails

Sheldons of Antigo manufacturer of Mepps spinners is always interested in purchasing squirrel tails. Apparently, the UK wants to eliminate their gray squirrels (non-native, imported from here) because they are killing off their red squirrels.

Hmmm, over here it seems where there are reds & grays the reds kill off the grays. Anyway I suggest you visit the site linked and ask them to kill as many grays as they can and send the tails to Sheldons. If we can't have cheap gas lets at least have cheap spinner baits.

Sheldon's and Mepps have absolutely nothing to do with this pleas.

KILO II

The House of Representatives, under a bill authored by Democrat-Socialist James Oberstar of Minnesota, is poised to seize control of all land in the United States of America. That's: All land.

I've heard and listened about Jimbo Oberstar for many years, via Jason Lewis, and Oberstar's recent press does not shine a good light in anyones eye. So it continues... And the co-sponsor on this bill, RUSS FEINGOLD.

HO-LY S***!

As The Objective Eye says:

"What it says, essentially, is that any land that has water on it at any given time, would belong to the government, not its rightful owner."

This is an activist moment, folks - get up and flood your elected officials' email inboxes, voicemail and phone lines with opposition to this noxious, gargantuan power-grab by the eco-wackos in government, HR2421.

CALL NOW!

See Also American Property Coalition

OTBL-Chris

McCain: If you want higher taxes, I'm not your guy.

What do Hugh Hewitt, Senator John McCain, and I have in common?

We were all on the phone together this morning!

I got to listen in on this morning's blogger conference call with John McCain. Having never done this before, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I came away pleased – at the risk of sounding all gushy and pushed-over (instead of hardbitten and cynical, like us citizen journalists are supposed to be), it was a real thrill for me to be included.

It was even more of a thrill when I found out that big-time bloggers like Hugh Hewitt and Jim Geraghty were also on the call.

That's right. Hugh Hewitt, Jim Geraghty, myself. Why, yes, the air is rather rarified up here. Thank you for asking. How is it down there?

Oh. Sorry to hear that.

Sean Hackbarth was on the call, too – he's got a good roundup of the questions and answers. I didn't get to ask mine, but then, neither did Amanda Carpenter or Ed Morrissey.

Amanda Carpenter. Ed Morrissey. Myself. Yep.

Anyway, the call started a little after 9 am. McCain listed off a number of places he's been visiting lately, and where he plans to go next. Then he moved to the economy, saying: you want your taxes raised? Then I'm not your guy.

He invoked Reagan, saying that the conservative principles Reagan brought with him in 1981 have been violated: spending is the problem, not lack of revenue.

He bashed earmarks and had so many numbers that I couldn't scribble them down fast enough – all I got was that earmarks are up 940% over the last 10 years (not sure whether that was number of earmarks or money spent on them), and that there have been over 12,000 individual earmarks in the last two years alone.

He took a swing at Obama, saying Obama wants to raise income taxes, capital gains taxes, and taxes on social security. He also mentioned Clinton in that breath, but Obama seemed to be his main target.

Then he plugged his gas tax holiday. Special interests, he said, have declared the end of Western Civilization as we know it, should his idea come to pass.

Then we got to the questions. Hewitt asked about Obama's linking of former Weatherman William Ayers with Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn: McCain said one is an unrepentant terrorist, the other spends his weekends delivering babies.

Michael Goldfarb from the Weekly Standard and NRO's Jim Geraghty both asked about the North Carolina GOP ad; somebody else whose name I missed asked about whether McCain can compete in California; somebody else asked about events in Basra; Jennifer Rubin from Commentary asked about Hamas, Obama, and Jimmy Carter.

I won't go into detail on all those, since Sean already has.

I'd been planning to ask McCain about his future Vice President: has he begun thinking about that, and if so could he give us some hint about his criteria? Obviously, I didn't ask him, but...one of his closing statements is probably nothing to take to the bank, but he did specifically mention that he was on his way to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was going to meet his "good friend" Mike Huckabee.

/barely warranted speculation

Ryan, Sensenbrenner get A grades

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) handed out report cards a little bit ago, grading members of Congress on their votes affecting taxes, spending, and government regulation.

In all, 427 House votes and 182 Senate votes were included in the tally. The average scores were pitiful: only 37% for the Senate, and 35% for the House of Representatives.

But two Wisconsin Congressmen got top grades. Those were Paul Ryan (85%) and Jim Sensenbrenner (91%). Tom Petri received a B at 70%.

There were no perfect scores.

The rest of Wisconsin's delegation all got Fs, with Sen. Russ Feingold garnering the highest percentage: 12%.

Hat tip to John Campbell at Townhall.

McCain conference call

I've been invited to take part in a blogger conference call with John McCain this morning. According to an email I (and lots of others, I assume) got this morning, he's going to talk about this week's "Time for Action" tour, and hopefully answer some questions.

I'll probably just listen in, but if I do get a chance at a question I'll take it and hope I don't sound stupid. I'm going on a field trip with my son's band class today, so you'll have to wait until later for my report.

That is all.

Jo's Announcement

As you may know, Steve Wieckert from Appleton has announced he will not run for re-election as the representative for Appleton's 57th Assembly District.

Jo Egelhoff of Fox Politics dot NET (note to WHBY the website is not a dot com but a dot net) is announcing her bid for the job. I want to encourage you all to visit Jo's announcement at Fox Politics and wish her the best! Jo will make a fantastic representative for the Appleton taxpayer.

I walk down on the UW campus a few times a week…

…and judging by the number of students walking around in flip-flops, I’m thinking medical students would be smart to specialize in orthopedics.

Badger Bites

Remember, next week this feature moves to Wednesday, and Aaron will be doing the first one in the new night. So don't miss next week's edition, and enjoy tonight's bites.

• Wiggy on PA, begat by Fraley on PA, and the fun little discussion in his comments.
• Head on over to Atomic Trousers, if only for the 'staches.
• Wigderson comes in with the rare double bite. Did you know Sheldon Wasserman is a liberal Democrat?
• It pays to remember how much of that gas price goes to not big oil but big government.
• Nick's line on ethanol subsidies is about as sharp and blunt as you are going to find. I'd add mandates to that, too.
  
• Sean brings us one reason why the Clinton-Obama brawl isn't all bad for the Dems.
• If you don't know what the Dalton Minimum is, then it might pay to find out.
• If I didn't know better, I'd say Dean has a crush.
• A plan to make Milwaukee some money, although I could see it being pretty unpopular.
• A plan for Wisconsin's budgetary and economic health. It probably makes too much sense for Madison, though.
  

Ed Garvey: Disenfranchise those voters!

Yah, sure Hillary. You have more votes than Barack if you take all the votes that don't count in Florida and Michigan. But they don't count; there were no contests in those two states; and now you are willing to cheat on the rules? Tut, tut. Off to the principal's office!

What, I wonder, would Mr. Garvey be saying if Obama had won in those states?

Link

Getcher popcorn ready

Favre on Letterman tonight

It took him 11 years, but Brett Favre is finally getting around to sitting back down with David Letterman.

The former Green Bay Packers quarterback will be on tonight's "Late Show with David Letterman'' at 10:35 p.m. on CBS, along with comedy writer and actress Tina Fey and musical guest Estelle.

Favre made his first appearance on the show Feb. 7, 1997, after the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI.

That’s good

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped by two tenths of a percent in March; 9 of 12 metro areas saw decreases, as did 53 of 72 counties.

But that’s bad:

Wisconsin bankruptcy filings jumped 29.5% in the first quarter of this year: they were 27% higher in 1Q 2008 than in 1Q 2007.

That’s good:

Quarterly Income Rises 36% at Apple

That’s bad:

New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years, prices drop by largest amount in 38 years

That's good:

Amazon’s Earnings Beat Expectations

...The Seattle-based Internet retailer reported that net income in the first quarter rose 30 percent, to $143 million, or 34 cents a share, from the year-ago quarter.

And so is that:

Ford Reports $100M Profit in First Quarter

But this is bad:

Call it the Lasik indicator. As the economic downturn forces consumers to cut back on discretionary spending, laser vision-correction surgeries have been falling — as they did during the last recession.

And this is just odd:

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said Wednesday that it would ration the amount of rice each customer can purchase at its Sam's Club warehouse stores because of recent “supply and demand trends.”

Evidence inconclusive. Trend lines not established. Recommend shaking Magic 8-Ball again.

If they ever really try this it will be the Left standing in the way.

The MJS is reporting that developers are interested in a wind farm off shore of Milwaukee.

While none of these groups are very close to actually moving forward you can be sure that if any of them do attempt to move forward and actually set up any of these wind farms, it will be the people who pray at the Global Warming Alter who try to stop it. Not us evil Global Climate change deniers.

That is the problem with the Green Cult Members they hate oil but they also hate all the other choices we have. As Charlie pointed out on his show most of Europe's power comes from Nuclear power, I believe he said 75% of Frances electricity is from Nuclear power. But we have not built a new Nuke plant in decades in the US due to the Green Cult's objections

Wind farms, some tree hugging member of the Sierra club or some other environmental terrorist group will object because of the "danger" to migratory birds(what about Darwinism survival of the fittest.) Or some East Side Elitists will complain that it wrecks their view from their Lake shore pent houses.

See that is my problem with these Green Cult members their only answer is we lower our standard of living and use less of everything they ignore there are many viable answer to our energy needs that would not only maintain our standard of living but help improve it.

Oil, open up Anwar and the Gulf coast and tap into the oil supplies that are right in our back yard. That must be coupled with building new/modern refineries to crack the oily goodness into many useful products.

Build more new/modern nuclear plants and couple that with a complete over haul of the power grid to get that "juice" where it needs to go.

Start putting up Wind mills where ever they can go. I would put one in my back yard tomorrow if the government would let me.

Clean Coal well the Green Cult cannot support that Coal is almost as evil as oil to them. Don't you know how they evil miners rape Mother Earth/Gaia

So do not believe the Green Cult we can "solve" any energy needs we have with cleaner power sources with out giving up one bit of our standard of living. We need to stand up to this wack job leftist religion we cannot let such such a small minority of environmental terrorists destroy our way of life. Which is their long term goal.

Global Climate change movement is bad science coupled with a hatred of Capitalism it is the biggest threat to our continued survival as a world power since the Soviet Union

Fight These people every chance you get we cannot give them one more inch.

WSB Chris

Unrelated Quote of the Week

However, according to market sources, BBA has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Reliance Money for the proposal. As per the terms, the BBA-ADAG venture may tie up with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and infotech solutions company, IT People, at a later stage for providing an online trading platform...

Man, I hope somebody here knows what that means.

Spoils of Victory

Word on the internet has it that Hillary Clinton is turning her Pennsylvania win into new campaign contributions:

…she implored her supporters to log onto her fund-raising Web site and “and show your support tonight because the future of this campaign is in your hands.” (Campaign officials said late Tuesday that they were having their best night ever in fund-raising online, bringing in $2.5 million in less than four hours.)

That may be true, but she still can’t touch Obama's fundraising reach:

Dead actor Roy Scheider donates to Barack Obama campaign

Sen. Barack Obama does come from the Chicago school of politics, where historically voter turnout has been unusually high for residents of certain graveyards. And he has been unusually successful raising money.

Now, he's raising money by raising the dead.

The Times' campaign finance expert Dan Morain has found Obama campaign records reporting a $50 donation by Roy Scheider...

According to the campaign records, Scheider made the donation March 10.

Trouble is, Scheider died exactly one month before that, on Feb. 10, at age 75. Just another example of Hollywood's undying affection for Democrats.

Turns out it was just an automatic monthly credit card donation, which is supposed to end this month.

Gotta love how the article ends:

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton's campaign has been waiting weeks for Marlon Brando to return its calls. Same for John McCain and Charlton Heston.

And in the comments: "Chief Brodie to Obama: 'You're gonna need a bigger vote.'"

When I said the Packers should leave no stone unturned…

…in their search for a quarterback, this isn’t what I meant:

Culpepper visiting Packers today

The Green Bay Packers are exploring the possibility of signing veteran quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

Sources said the 31-year-old Culpepper arrived in Green Bay on Tuesday evening and is visiting the Packers today.

Culpepper, an unrestricted free agent, played last season for the Oakland Raiders. In seven games (including six starts), he completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 1,331 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions.

Well that’s an unfortunate headline

Study shows bananas make baby boys

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Women can influence the gender of their child with what they eat before they conceive, according to new research that lends scientific support to age-old superstitions about pregnancy.

The discovery shows higher calorie intake prior to conception can significantly increase the chances of having a son while women on restricted diets are more likely to produce daughters.

If that were true, wouldn’t the ratio of men to women have grown gradually over the decades as calorie intakes have grown?

Tough break for the torch

CANBERRA, Australia — The Olympic flame arrived in Australia on Wednesday for the next leg of the torch relay and was immediately whisked away to a secret location to avoid anti-China protesters.

Bush and Cheney were "whisked away to a secret location" on 9/11, and they still haven’t heard the end of it.

Everybody panic!

Scientist: Forget Global Warming, Prepare for New Ice Age

Sunspot activity has not resumed up after hitting an 11-year low in March last year, raising fears that — far from warming — the globe is about to return to an Ice Age, says an Australian-American scientist.

Physicist Phil Chapman, the first native-born Australian to become an astronaut with NASA [he became an American citizen to join up, though he never went into space], said pictures from the U.S. Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) showed no spots on the sun.

He said the world cooled quickly between January last year and January this year, by about 0.7 degrees Centigrade.

"This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record, and it puts us back to where we were in 1930," Chapman wrote in The Australian Wednesday. "If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over."

Does anybody else feel like they're watching a super-slow-motion tennis match?

How did I not make this list?

Foreign Policy lists their picks for the world’s top 100 public intellectuals.

The criteria for making the list are pretty simple: alive, active, distinction, influence. I must not be active enough. Sorry, guys, but I’m about to become more active.

It’s an interesting list – at least, I think it is. I only recognize 23 of the names – 24 if the Charles Taylor they list is the same Charles Taylor who used to be President of Liberia, but I kinda doubt that.

I don’t always know why I recognize them, just that I do.

But look at some of them: you’ve got Pope Benedict XVI, Thomas Friedman, Garry Kasparov, Gen. David Petraeus, and Bjorn Lomborg; and then you’ve got Peter Singer, Noam Chomsky, Richard Dawkins, Al Gore, and Paul Krugman.

I think the word “eclectic” applies.

Visitors to the site can vote on their top 5, and then can write in another name that wasn't on the list. I did. No, I didn’t write myself in.

Hat tip Althouse

Happy Earth Day

No, seriously. Happy Earth Day. Stop giggling. I mean it.

We on the right tend to distrust “environmentalism” because environmentalism seems to embrace any and every Proclamation of Doom that requires us to radically change the way we live our lives. Either that, or Suffer the Consequences.

We dislike the way environmentalists seem to misuse science to promote their claims; the way they try to stomp out any dissent; the way their Proclamations of Doom seem to change every dozen years or so.

But we shouldn't let their slavish adherence to anything offered under the environmental mantle (or, in some cases, slavish affection for anything deemed vaguely anti-capitalist, anti-Western, or anti-American) stop us from doing the right thing.

And the right thing, I think, is: waste not, want not.

If I could pick a slogan for Earth Day, that would be it. That’s a good conservative way of thinking. Don’t poop where you eat. Keep the future in mind. Waste not, want not. That's what your grandmother taught you. Even though we dislike and distrust establishment environmentalism, we should be able to get behind that.

Besides, I figure on living a good, long time, and I want there to be whitetails to hunt when I’m old and feeble. My great-grandkids will haul it out of the woods for me, or I’ll soak my false teeth in their milk.

Happy Earth Day, and thanks, Earth.

Congressional Mommyism

Congress is trying to protect health insurance companies from…well, us.

This week, the House passed legislation that included a provision to require every HSA transaction be reviewed and verified as a legitimate medical expense. Democrats say this is to ensure that consumers are using their tax-free withdrawals for a knee replacement, rather than a new iPod.

Because, you know, insurance companies are so very gullible and vulnerable when it comes to people scamming them.

A key player here is Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, whose main purpose in politics is to give the U.S. a government-run health-care system. He is a known opponent of HSAs – once comparing them to "weapons of mass destruction" – because they introduce more individual choice into the health-care marketplace.

I would mock the voters in Rep. Stark’s district (San Fransisco – go figure), except that I live in Tammy Baldwin’s district, and would therefore be throwing stones from inside my own glass house.

Pushing for the provision was a company called Evolution Benefits, which has patented a system for the substantiation of health-care expenses... Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel helped make sure the provision was in the bill, which passed largely on partisan lines.

Congressional Democrats^TM: now with extra corporate graft!

Since HSAs were created in December 2003, 3.2 million HSA accounts have been opened, covering 4.5 million Americans. Nearly a third of new HSA users previously had no insurance and bought coverage on their own. Thirty-three percent are small businesses that had not previously offered coverage to their employees. Isn't this what good progressives claim to want?

Or isn’t it good enough, because it’s not taxpayer-funded?

Obama vs. Clinton in PA

Rick Esenberg’s got the goods on the Democrats' primary, or, at least, he's got a really good question:

Obama has had six weeks to go head to head with her. He has overwhelmed her with cash. She has continued to be a singularly unattractive candidate persisting in embarassing lies about her visit to Bosnia and childhood affinity for shooting. If Obama can't beat her under these circumstances, he is a candidate with significant weaknesses.

…don't Democrats have to be worried about a guy who can't put away such an empty suit?

To which I say: Rick! Dude! Shut up before they change their minds!

Is this even news?

Liberal Milwaukee politicians want to extend and expand an existing tax:

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and two local law enforcement officials want telephone users to help pay for police, firefighters and paramedics through their phone bills.

The fee was first added onto cell phone bills to pay for technology that lets emergency services find you if you’re calling from a cell phone. It’s supposed to expire November 30, but:

But before the fee expires, Barrett wants lawmakers to authorize municipal governments to retain the surcharge and expand it to cover all telephones, including land lines provided by both telephone and cable companies. Milwaukee would be able to boost its charge to a maximum of $1 a month in 2009 and $1.50 a month in future years.

Old taxes never die. They never really fade away, either: they just fade into the background until we’ve become used to them. They become the new baseline, and then some tax-and-spend politician will try to expand them even more, assuming that we’ve forgotten being promised that that would never happen. And too often, they're right.

Re: Well that’s interesting

That is interesting!

When I was resident in the UAE the low test gasoline was a smidgen under $1.00/Imperial gallon and high test a smidgen more than $1.00/imperial gallon and that included full service attendants. The price did not waver a single fil (roughtly, .271 cents) while I was there from 1992-1998.

This Wiki article (linked to in my previous oil blog) notes the UAE's estimated oil reserves are on par with Kuwait.

The only other major manufacturing industries in the UAE are concrete and aluminum and aluminum requires large amounts of electricity. In addition, they need energy for desalination and for their road lighting (however, a buddy pointed out the road lighting helped them out in not having to take electrical generation offline at night, he noted that shutting down base generation facilities is not a good thing). The triangle of highways connecting Al-Ain, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi are completely lit up and each leg of the drive is probably ninety miles each. Of course, remember air-conditioning, a place that can have a dew point in the upper '80s low '90s either has air-conditioning or a much more laid back lifestyle.

I am guessing they would rather export their oil for big bucks than consume the petroleum themselves. Remember too, Dubai's airline Emirates Air just place a huge order for jets from Airbus and Boeing, so as one radio commentator points out, if Dubai (airport code DXB) is placing orders for large quantities of huge airliners they are confident there will be fuel to run them for a good long while.

How will this affect life in the UAE? Well, I am guessing it will be sometime before battery technology will be able to drive a Nissan Patrol 80 mph through a round-a-bout forcing the Patrol onto two wheels, so I am guessing road safety will increase.

However, I am concerned about the operating safety of the plants. My guess is the design, construction, operation, and all but the guys who mop the floors will be Western ex-pats. My concern on this front is sooner or later someone is going to pull out their wasta and get a job in the plant they are not qualified for and cause serious harm. By Western, I mean mostly UK, US, and Canadian expertise, but the French are big on nuclear so they may get some contracts out of this too. My experience though is if the UAE really puts its mind to doing things right, it does things right.

A Badger Bites Note

Next week we will be moving Badger Bites to a once a week format on Wednesdays. We're doing this mainly because, well, we decided to do it this way. The weekly bites should be a little meatier with a week's worth of material to work from, plus no one will have to suffer through a Bites written after my Monday or Thursday night softball games.

Badger Bites: Brewers edition

It's Monday, and we're beating the Cards at home. So - Brewers blogging!!!

First, some gratuitous tee bee Brewers remarks:

What is with Prince's xxxxl uniforms? He's not fooling anyone. Call Jenny Craig now!

Ricky Weeks is starting a trend. First there was the tennis bracelet, now Ricky brings us the MLB choker.

I don't hate Yost and his pitch count yet. But it's early.

Now, from the (semi) pros:

Al delivers the news flash: "11% of the 2008 season is complete." Al doesn't leave us hanging - the news is good! "Well the good ol' Brew Crew is 11-7 and on pace for 99 wins! Not too shabby considering we've played more road games than home and played a fairly tough part of our schedule."

The Brewers have a blog?!? What can you say about someone who would post, "30-year old righty flamethrower Derrick Turnbow is back for the 2008 season."

TCW defends the defenders: "Last year Brewer pitchers were singled out as the root cause of the Brewers miserable defense, when in fact 70-80% of the Brewers inability to prevent opponent baserunners and opponent runs was the fault of the Brewers historically awful field defense." Somehow, I'm still focused on sucky pitching.

Speaking of pitchers, Chris opines about Ben Sheets' missed start: "The news gets even better guess which human gas can is going to start in his place." Go on, guess! Rhymes with tush.

Jeff Sackman offers some "Pre-Series Cardinals Thoughts." Looking for a silver lining, that one: "The Cardinals are 12-7, which has to qualify as one of the bigger surprises in the early going. I don't think it's going to last..."

Marty isn't as sanguine about Yost as I am.

And a link to Kathy, for best use of a baseball reference: "There is no crying in Politics (unless your last name is Clinton or Pelosi)."

Now I have to grab a Leinie's and get back to the game.

This may be the best idea ever

Former NYT bureau chief Chris Hedges has advice for real American liberals (my emphasis):

The failure of the American left is a failure of nerve. It has been neutralized and rendered ineffectual as a political force because of its refusal to hold fast on core issues, from universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care for all Americans, to the steadfast protection of workers' rights, to an immediate withdrawal from the failed occupation of Iraq to a fight against a militarized economy that is hollowing the country out from the inside.

Let the politicians compromise. This is their job. It is not ours. If the left wants to regain influence in the nation's political life, it must be willing to walk away from the Democratic Party, even if Barack Obama is the nominee, and back progressive, third-party candidates until the Democrats feel enough heat to adopt our agenda.

Paging Mr. Garvey. Paging Mr. Garvey.

Hat tip Eric at Classical Values

Is Rodgers a shoo-in, or isn't he?

Not long ago I posed the question: is it a done deal that Aaron Rodgers will be the Packers' starter this year?

According to this story, the answer is yes, but maybe it shouldn't be:

"I mean, their No. 1 need is quarterback," a personnel director for an NFC team said last week. "Absolutely. They need to get somebody in there that they can start developing if Rodgers is a durability risk. He has missed more time than Brett Favre, and he just started."

From the outside, that would be a reasonable assumption. Not only has Rodgers had to sit out 10 of 50 games with foot and hamstring injuries, there's also the matter of his experience and ability level. He has played 121 snaps in three years, obviously without a start.

Nevertheless, there's no panic in Green Bay. No, far from it.

From Thompson to coach Mike McCarthy, there's almost a smug air of confidence that Rodgers is destined to do great things.

That last bit sounds like misplaced editorializing. Still, if there’s any feeling that Rodgers is having to work to be the starter, I’m not finding it.

And that’s all I’m really asking for. Some sense that yes, he’s got to earn it, and then he’s got to keep it. A little competition ought to be good for him, oughtn’t it?

This Gery Woelfel piece makes it sound like I could get my wish:

Friday, I spoke with two prominent football agents and both said they were also told the Packers have more than a passing interest in drafting a QB with their first pick.

Even two respected draft prognosticators – Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly and Pat Kirwan of NFL.com --- have the Packers using the 30th pick overall on a quarterback: Brian Brohm of Louisville.

The quarterback is the most important guy on the field. A team should turn over every single rock and never rest until they find a good one.

Elsewhere in football, Brett Favre is returning to something, but it's not the field:

...the iconic quarterback has just finished filming two new commercials that will debut nationally in a few months.

Favre filmed ads for Wrangler 5-Star premium jeans, and for Remington, the hunting and shooting sports company.

He didn't even have to leave home - they shot the Wrangler commercials on his own property.

Any excuse to run another picture is a good one, if you ask me.

A little perspective

9-year-old Portage girl is diagnosed with third type of cancer

PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) -- A 9-year-old Portage girl who has had cancer for more than half her life just found out she has a third type of cancer.

Emily Miller was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2002, overcame it in 2005 and was in remission until April of last year when she was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma.

She was excited to finish chemotherapy this August.

But after recent routine labs, doctors told the family that Emily has acute myeloid leukemia. It's a cancer that starts inside bone marrow and develops quickly.

Her father Cory Miller says Emily told him she didn't want to die. She says she has about 10 fights left in her.

Emily will be in the hospital for the next five weeks, and then there is a possibility of a bone marrow transplant to give her body some healthy tissue.

Cory and Jen Miller have both been tested as possible bone marrow donors, along with Emily's seven-year-old brother.

One of my 8-year-old’s classmates was diagnosed with leukemia recently. If ever I need a little perspective on my version of a bad day, that does it for me right there.

Well that’s interesting

The major story on the front page of The Gulf News describes the decision by the United Arab Emirates to begin moving toward nuclear power to meet its energy needs by 2020.

Nukes? In the UAE? Don’t they light their cigars over there by setting barrels of oil on fire?

Read the whole thing.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention...

...Danica Patrick's first IRL win!

MOTEGI, Japan (AP) - Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history Sunday, taking the Indy Japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps.

Patrick finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval after leader Scott Dixon pitted with five laps left and Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan came in a lap later.

Coincidentally, 5.8594 seconds is the amount of time I spent trying to pronounce that name before giving up in jingoistic disgust.

And by the way, Danica, I'm still waiting to hear from you about that “Official IRL Driver of the Badger Blog Alliance” thing. Gimme a call.

From the “I know I’ve heard this somewhere before” department:

Author Jerry Pournelle:

I discovered to my horror just how much the Feds tax retirement including Social Security! Having collected taxes for my lifetime -- including to this day -- on self-employment to pay into the Social Security account, they hand me a miserable pittance compared to what I would have got had I simply put the money into a money market account; then they tax part of it away.

Somebody get him Paul Ryan’s phone number!

Hat tip Instapundit

Saturday's Music Or Today's Earworm

Earlier today I was working on some web development and as usual I was listening to a music feed. I did not like the first feed so I logged onto XM Radio online and tuned into channel 110. Just at about that time Saturday's earworm came on. This particular piece has been leaping into my head all day ever since.

The work was written in 1819 by Franz Schubert, but not published until 1829 one year after Schubert's death (at a way too early 32 years of age).

Anyway, since I am not a British disc jockey I quite writing and present to you today's version of Saturday's Music: Franz Schubert's The Trout:

Ethanol the "Fuel to Nowhere"

"Move over "Bridge to Nowhere, " there 's a new poster child of congressional waste and avarice -- ethanol, the "Fuel to Nowhere. " Ethanol leads only to higher food prices and greater greenhouse gas emissions."David A. Ridenour

That is the opening line to a wonderful anti Ethanol article in the WiSJ


Do what every you can to stop the Cult of Global Warming and the misguided true believers who preach in the Cults name.

WSB Chris

Like I need another way to waste time in front of the computer.

The wife and I tend to watch our TV on the internet these days - lots of our favorite shows are available online the day after they air on television.

Anyway, over at NBC's website they also have some episodes of classic shows from the 1970s, namely: Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and The A-Team.

Oh, yeah. And they've got the original A-Team pilot. The one where somebody other than Lt. Starbuck plays Faceman.

Here's the opening sequence from a later season:

No matter how many bullets they sprayed, or how many times the jeep rolled over, nobody ever got hurt.

Here's the trailer for Buck Rogers:

Made it look a lot better than it really was.

And who can forget this classic scene?

Not bad, but when it comes to dance moves, Buck Rogers has nothing on Batman:

This is the best I could find for the original Battlestar Galactica:

Lots of clips and stuff from the new version on Youtube. Not to mention a lot of crossover stuff: videos of Star Trek ships battling Star Wars ships, or Battlestar Galactica ships, or other such things. Just search Battlestar Galactica and scroll around a little. You can't miss them.

Like I need another way to waste time in front of the computer.

Teaching Fred a Lesson

In a blatant, sad, yet brilliant play for higher traffic, Fred Dooley has tagged me with the memoir meme that’s been going around.

But he didn’t just tag me once: he tagged me five times.

And why? Because that means I have to link back to him five times. And as he well knows, this is where the traffic starts.

One might think I’d laugh it off, do it once, and be done with it. One might think I’d be annoyed. One might think I’d shy away – not from the trouble of thinking of what to write, but from tagging five others five times.

Twenty-five total taggings, which could well put me in the top ten most hated people in the Blogosphere’o’Cheese.

One would be wrong. On all counts. I shy away…not.

So here we go.

1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.

Oh, I want.

• What the…where is your mother?

• Pickin’ ‘em up, puttin’ ‘em down.

• Much to learn, you still have.

• Then we're awake, but very puzzled.

• Sorry, autographs are five bucks each.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post, if possible, so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere.

Done!

4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.

Here’s where I become the most hated man in the Blogosphere’o’Cheese: I’ve gotta tag five people, five times.

I guess I could just do what Fred did and hit the same five people five times each. Or…I could hit one person twenty-five times.

Say, does Mrs. RDW blog?

If so, I reserve the right to amend this in the future. Until then:

• Starting off close to home, I’ll nail Grandpa Steve, Mr. Pterodactyl (he won't do it - he hates everything!), Grandpa John, Tee Bee, and Marcus.
  
  
• Staying close and spreading the pain to my fellow BBAers: Chris, Jib, Kathy, Peter, and…oh, let’s make Sean do it.
  
  
• We really should share with the other side of the Blogosphere’o’Cheese, so let’s call: Grumps, Folkbum, capper, Renee Crawford, and Ben Brothers.
  
  
• And from the “Su-u-ure you’ll get them to do it” file: Patrick McIlheran, Ed Garvey, Ann Althouse, James T. Harris, and…Charlie Sykes.
  
  
• And, finally, Fred’s co-bloggers at RDW. Let him fend off their complaints. Not my fault, guys! Plebian, Cathy Stepp, Still Unreal, Phelony, and Randy.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

They’re in the mail.

"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others." - Anonymous

I certainly hope you've all learned yours.

Is this your nickel?

It's not your typical eBay auction.

Next week, the State of Wisconsin will sell 37 items on eBay.

From expensive heirlooms to items only the owner could truly appreciate, Wisconsin's treasure chest is filled with unclaimed property from safety deposit boxes.

If you don't pay rent for five years, banks turn over the goods to the State of Wisconsin. After holding onto your property for three years, state officials then publishes names of owners in papers statewide.

After almost a decade of waiting, if no one steps forward, state officials auction everything off on eBay.

By law, whatever money is made online state officials must save in hopes that someday the rightful owner claims it.

You can find out if the state has anything of yours by clicking here and looking around.

Retiring #4

The number, that is. Not the guy, who is still retired, no matter how much sports punditry around the nation wants to speculate otherwise.

Favre's No. 4 to be retired on Sept. 8

As if a season opener, summer weather and a chance to squash the Minnesota Vikings weren't enough, the Green Bay Packers are adding to the Sept. 8 game the event everyone has been waiting for — retiring Brett Favre's No. 4.

The Packers on Thursday announced the decision to retire Favre's number during the 2008 home opener.

That is, they'll retire the number during the home opener. They didn't announce the decision during the home opener.

I really thought they'd wait until late in the season (if the Packers were doing poorly) or until next season (if they were doing well). Harlan must not have gotten my memo.

In other sports news:

Other NFL cities want titletown moniker

Other cities with sports teams want to claim a moniker the city of Green Bay has used for decades.

Titletown USA has long been part of Green Bay's fabric. It's part of the city's logo, it's used on the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce website and more than a dozen local businesses use the Titletown name.

ESPN has launched a contest to determine where Titletown is located. Next month, ESPN will narrow the nominations to 20 finalists, including Green Bay. Online fan voting will determine the location of Titletown.

Packers president Mark Murphy says he's confident Green Bay will remain Titletown USA.

If the UW could sue a little Iowa college over the “Motion W” logo, surely we can sue anybody who tries to use “Titletown.”

Or maybe we better just make sure and win the online voting. I understand they're not real hard to game.

Earthquake!

Oh, man, did you feel the earthquake this morning? It's all anybody could talk about today.

I missed it. Kinda wondered whether somebody didn't just make it up, and everybody else played along because they didn't want to be the only ones.

But then I found this: exclusive footage of the earthquake in Madison, Wisconsin.

That's a BBA exclusive, people. You saw it here first.

Being Evil kicks ass

Being a true believing Global Climate Change/Warming denier, I take great pleasure in doing acts that would drive the Green Nazis nuts.

Today I fired up the snow blower to run it dry before putting it away for the season(I know I am taking a big risk declaring winter in Wisconsin being done in April but that is me I like to gamble just call me Mr. Vegas) I did not think it had that much gas left in it, but I must have filled it up the last time I thought I would need it. The damn thing sat out by my shed running for almost an hour(I also got my revenge on my neighbor who likes to fire up his piece of crap muscle car and let it sit in the Driveway running for hours at a time)

The only thing that would have made it better was if it was a Ozone Action day.

Global Warming/Climate Change is a myth and we need to fight these people any chance we get.

I look at my letting my snow blower run for an hour just to burn up the gas as a tiny act of resistance to this Evil Left Wing Religion that is the Cult of Global Warming.

Fight this madness every chance you get.

Is it warm on this planet today or is it just the Sun's Solar Cycles?

WSB Chris

Cheney walked up to the podium, put on a fishing hat and sunglasses, stood silently for a second, and delivered his deadpan line:

"You wouldn't believe how many people want to go fishing with me these days."

Mary Katherine Ham went to the Radio/TV Correspondents Dinner. You’ve just gotta read the whole thing.

What the...

First I saw this:

Lawmakers Call for BCS Investigation

Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) will announce Thursday a house resolution asking the Justice Department to investigate the college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for possible restraint of trade violations.

And then I saw this:

Earmark Probe Snags Senate

The Senate bogged down Wednesday over competing efforts to investigate how a $10 million earmark for a road in Florida was slipped into a highway bill that had passed both chambers.

And then I abandoned hope.

Expert: America About to Be Overrun by Feral Cats

U.S. streets could soon be overrun with cats if communities fail to get a handle on growing feline populations, a veterinary medicine researcher says.

If only there were something we could do.

Hmmmmm.

One of the side-stories of the Democrats’ presidential nomination fight is: they’re sucking up resources so fast - money, volunteers' enthusiasm, money - there’ll be very little left for October.

Then I see a story like this:

Million-dollar Democratic primary fights are building in Senate races in Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey and Oregon...

And I wonder whether that’s more of the same.

Gas Tax Holidays & Economic Idiocy

I believe gas tax holidays are silly ideas. Much better to repeal a gas tax than to simply have a holiday. If it is such a good idea why not repeal the tax or permanently lower it?

Still, our great governor is on record responding to John McCain's promise of a gas tax holiday:

Meanwhile, Gov. Jim Doyle told reporters in Madison the plan was "just a big gift to the oil companies." The companies, he argued, would simply raise their prices to eat up the savings intended for drivers.

Source: JSOnline – McCain turns tables at economic summit (He asks the questions at executive gathering) by GREG J. BOROWSKI What demagoguery. Taxes are a cost of doing business and costs are passed onto consumers, Governor Doyle understands this, right? Gasoline being a commodity means there is tremendous pressure for suppliers to keep the cost at a minimum.

Is it ignorance or demagoguery?

Badger Bites: Quotables Edition

Dad29 brings us: "As soon as you understand that the Tax Code was largely written by special interests, you'll understand why "Taxes for Dummies" is 30% longer than "Einstein for Dummies."

Sean notes, "Leslie Carbone thought that by McCain’s logic on keeping the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts McCain’s plan to have a summer gas tax holiday would amount to a tax hike after Labor Day. Fiorina noted oil hit an all-time high. It’s the number one issue on Americans’ minds. She also noted, “the price of fuel is being passed on to the price of food.” McCain’s gas tax holiday is his way of responding to an issue affecting people right now."

Cindy, as she live-blogs McCain in Milwaukee at Bucyrus: "McCain is still here. Surprisingly, so is 80% of the crowd."

Wiggy opines: "Darryl Enriquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the advance copy of Mayor Larry Nelson's "state of the city" speech. At 16 pages, the resemblance to Fidel Castro is more apt than ever."

Whalla! brings us - well, nothing quotable, but the bonus is You fill in the quotes!!! Use the following guaranteed 100% hilarious cartoon from Whalla!

Owen celebrates, albeit prematurely: "WOOHOO!!! We’re only weeks away from covering the cost of government! "

Fred writes his "own six word memoir[:] I'm sorry, what shouldn't I touch?"

While that's a fun crowd so far, Kathy pens my favorite: "It is official. Tonight I was sworn in as an Alderman for the City of Kenosha. They cannot take it back now."

This is why I like Ann Althouse:

"Murtha says McCain too old to be president."

Oh, really?

Althouse says Murtha too old to have useful opinion.

Read the whole thing. Oh, wait, that was the whole thing.

Click over anyway.

Packers schedule released

Here, see for yourself.

As noted in this space before, the Packers will play the first Monday Night game of the season, 7 pm, September 8, at home against the Viqueens.

They’ll have two other MNF games, both away. No Thursday night NFL Network games this year.

A few links:

• Chris at the Wisconsin Sports Bar noticed that the two biggest home games of the year – Dallas and Chicago – are Gold package, meaning they’re on the Milwaukee season ticket holder’s list.
  
  
• Local season-ticket holders might be a touch upset about that, but one of the people interviewed for this story thinks the later home games – against Carolina, Houston, and Detroit – will be just as good, should the Packers make a playoff push.
  
  
• This guy ranked all 32 NFL schedules according to opponents’ defensive stats, and says the Pack’s schedule is 9th easiest.
  
  

  The Packers have one of the easiest pass schedules in the league, which is an advantage for Aaron Rodgers in his first season as the team's No. 1 quarterback…

  Just from eyeballing, I’m not sure I agree, but what the heck. I’ll grasp at that straw.
  
  
• This guy picks the best and worst games of each week of the season. The Packers make the “best” game three times: hosting Minnesota in Week 1, because it’ll be Rodgers’ first start; hosting Indy in Week 7; and then at the Viqueens in Week 10.

Just a question: is it a done deal that Rodgers will be the starter? Everybody's acting like it is.

On a slightly different note: the Wisconsin Badgers made this list of "the 12 most embarrassing games of the 2008 season" for scheduling Cal Poly on November 22 (emphasis added):

It's not that Cal Poly is bad; the Mustangs were 7-4 last season. It's just that as with the Florida-Citadel game, the timing of this one is weak: This will be the final game of the regular season for Wisconsin. Yeah, a I-AA game on the last big weekend of the season will fire up the fans. The fine establishments on State Street will be filled by the middle of the third quarter by fans who have left Camp-Randall Stadium.