Friday, October 31, 2008

That's our soldier

on the front page of the Gazette!

“Did any of your friends get hurt?”

The little girl’s question might have dredged up difficult memories for Sgt. Reuben Kraayveld.

But he handled it gently.

“Some people do get injured sometimes. That’s part of what happens.”

He's probably chafing at the exposure, but it's important for those of us back home to have a true picture of what's happening in Afghanistan.

Rtwt: "Soldier talks of mountains, war and faith."

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Sorry, I couldn't stomach the mass for Obama on tv last night.

Sorry, I couldn't stomach the mass for Obama on tv last night. As my favorite diva, Whitney Houston, likes to say - hell to the no.

Neither did Owen & Co., but we get into it in his open thread for those who did when some jerk calls us hypocrits for hatin' and includes a twisted reference, which I'm sure is derogatory somehow, to my beloved Corey Hart, and doesn't change the fact that now most American voters think Obama's scared he'll lose or he wouldn't have pulled out the big guns.

Names are called.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?


I just posted at the BBA about the stupidity of the Janesville City Council, "Janesville celebrates Lincoln's 200th birthday," wherein our wise municipal overseers cut funding to the only meaningful historical site in the county.

Before the blog ink is dry, two dissenters pipe up: "Two council members would give Tallman House back." Maybe you should - I'd like to see it under management that makes something of this beautiful living article of history.

If Lincoln had been clairvoyant, two things are sure: He'd have skipped the theater and he'd have kept going past Janesville.


'I see a lot, a lot, a lot of bad hair'

Isaac Mizrahi on Mizrahi, Mizrahi, Mizrahi, and style.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Been flippin' around today, lookin' at Barack's footprint, his

Been flippin' around today, lookin' at Barack's footprint, his not-racketeering, more Halloween hijinks, DNAism, and Lance makes me a poster while sharing my consternation.

Bonus: Signs of the Apocolypse: " 'Footloose' remake on the fast track."

Bonus bonus: The Buckley for Barack thing? Sounds a lot like when Ronald Reagan's son endorsed... endorsed... who'd he endorse?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Death and its crippling effects

If this year's election is about anything, it's about how nothing should stand in a person's way of accomplishing great things. A man of color and a woman are key aspects of their party's tickets.

And yet I keep reading derogatory articles and blog posts about dead people voting. Today's contribution is "Voter rolls stuffed with dead and absent registrants."

People, it is time for us to rise above discrimination in a way both sides of the aisle can get behind: Let dead people lead fulfilling lives. Let them vote.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Tell me something. If a high-profile paper like the *Chicago

Tell me something. If a high-profile paper like the Chicago Tribune endorses Obama for president, do you keep reading their coverage of McCain?

Okay, maybe there's a better question: Will Barack Obama be able to use the McCain-Liddy connection in his campaign, or would it just remind everyone about the lack of Bill Ayers criticism he's gotten from the media?

Another day in Iran

Is it too much to call for a complete embargo of Iran because they continue to persecute people, especially Westerners?

Esha Momeni was doing research and visiting family, but was seen as a threat to the regime for her driving.

For a "traffic violation" they sent her to Evin prison, after swinging by her place to collect her computer and research materials. In case, you know, she had a heretical view on driving laws that might come up at trial. Should she get one.

Wiki notes how they celebrated July 27 this year at Evin.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Vote Obama/Biden - they've got chemistry!

'Cause that's what hacks like Chuck Todd want you to believe McCain/Palin fatally lack. And they know it! Losers!

Friday, October 17, 2008

I've been toying with the idea of voting for Barack, or

I've been toying with the idea of voting for Barack, or skipping it altogether. Then there's Glenn's quandary about voting for the Libertarian, and commenter sonicfrog shows up with a more amusing notion:

I was going to write in Paris Hilton... with a pink pen. But now I have a better candidate. Joe The PLumber!

And yes, the pen will be brown.

Local Dems - conjuring signs, conjuring votes?

If they can do this, one wonders what else they can fabricate:

When Kim went to the local Democrat campaign headquarters to get her Obama sign, they told her that they had been giving out so many that they didn't have one to give her, but if she would leave her address they would bring one over when they could. When they found out that we live on Milton Avenue, a busy Janesville thoroughfare, they quickly ran in the back and brought out a sign.

So Kim has had only one contact with the Obama campaign and they lied to her. When they discovered that her location would be very useful to them, they were able to conjure a sign up ex nihilo.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

' "It's fair. It's fair. It's fair." JUST GIVE IT TO ME!'

HI-larity from Althouse:
I can only benefit from a full-on class war. And I want to know how much Obama's money I'm getting too. He's got a lot. And especially how much Pelosi money I'm getting. She's loaded. Kennedy's money too. And Reid, I really want his money. He owes me. I want some of that. Obama keeps saying "It's fair. It's fair. It's fair. It's fair. It's fair."

And we started by talking about Madonna.

Turns out Joe Sixpack - aka Joe the Plumber - lives in Ohio, is

Turns out Joe Sixpack - aka Joe the Plumber - lives in Ohio, is a plumber hoping to start his own small business, and he's the person presidential candidates found out they have to pay attention to.

Thanks, Joe. You put this campaign season back on track.

Nicely played, John: "McCain Gives 'Joe the Plumber' Prominent Billing in Debate."

*The View*, a daytime talk show featuring a panel of women

The View, a daytime talk show featuring a panel of women who discuss current events and topical issues, has found its newest cohost...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Somebody left the crop in the field too long


But it's public land, right?

It was big. It was sophisticated. It was highly organized.

It was the largest marijuana-growing operation the brass at the Rock County Sheriff’s Office had seen in their decades on the job.

And it apparently was the operation of a criminal organization rooted in Mexico but flowering in the upper Midwest.


Flowering in the upper Midwest. Get it?

Obama = Reparations

This seems to be a subtext for virulant supporters on the left. The man's got a new book out, by the way, with a little help from his friends. And consider the "any means necessary" response from an Obama supporter on Owen's voter fraud post.

That's why race will continue to be recycled as an issue, even though Obama is leading in the polls (and sweating it).

Think they'll own up to it?

And now, your moment of zen:

E pluribus Obama:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CNN 'no spin' maven spins for Obama

Wondering why this issue is being recycled, I bothered to read "So what if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab?"

CNN's main page phrases it without the inflamatory bs: "What if Obama were Muslim?" If they were honest - and if they didn't recognize the antagonistic tone - they wouldn't have changed it.

Author Campbell Brown of "Campbell Brown: Election Center" should be kicked to the curb a la Olbermann and Matthews. From her "Cutting through the Bull" segment:

You may find it hard to believe that this remains an issue in this campaign, but it does.

The candidates, both candidates, are still getting questions about Barack Obama's ethnicity and religion. If you are even semi-informed, then by now you already know that of course, Barack Obama is an American.

Of course, Barack Obama is a Christian. Yet just a few days ago, there was a woman at a rally for John McCain incorrectly calling Obama an Arab:

Woman at rally: I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab.

Sen. John McCain: No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about. He's not, thank you.

Now, I commend Sen. McCain for correcting that woman, for setting the record straight. But I do have one question -- so what if he was?

So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter?

When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical?


It's bad enough that as a journalist covering a presidential election she gets in the tank for Obama, and worse yet that she fails to do what McCain had the grace and sense to do, not dignify the notion with anything but the plain truth.

Did Brown tell you the plain truth? Did she remark on Obama's legacy, his biography, which wind far and wide and can be twisted to construe a xenophobic reaction? Brown starts by saying "of course Obama's American. Of course he's Christian." The 'of course' clearly substitutes for grounded facts.

What Brown bothers to say: There, there, silly flyover people. You've been reassured with demonstrable facts: Obama's American and Christian because I told you; even though I'm lamenting the rise of this specious information, it's so laughable that I won't bother with facts to back it up, I'll just laugh.

And then I'll wag my finger that you silly people even think that a culture/religion that sparks 99% of all violent terrorism worldwide and is well funded and well received in vast regions of the world could have an impact on the viability of a candidate.

Catholics don't vote like Catholics, and evangelicals don't vote like evangelicals, do they? Just because Muslim rulers and their constituencies are genocidically intolerant of other religions - Palestine, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sudan, et al, I'm looking away from you - doesn't mean an American muslim would behave any differently than a Joe Biden or a George Bush.

In consequence, Brown does nothing to derail any stigma, racism, or the notion we'll all be tarred with if Obama loses that the majority of American voters - millions of them! - are racist Muslim-haters. Except to take these unknown vermin to task for being intolerant of something only a few noisemakers have made an issue of.

Cutting through the bull? Not so much.

Congratulations, Brown. You've constructed a(nother) polarized broadcasting response to O'Reilly's 'No Spin Zone', as if the world needed it. I guess it's good to know which side of the fence you're on: the side that gets Obama elected. 'Cause then you can prove you're not a racist.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Wisconsin honey bear


Pal Steve shares a Wisconsin bee tale - Andy Hemkin of Hemkin Honey Co. put honey in the tummy of this bear.
Beekeepers. We're a special breed.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Everyday economics

On the more newsy side, I gave a primer on the Fed yesterday that might prove helpful or frightening, and I weighed in on Owen's post about the economics of gubment projects.

In case I haven't mentioned the Golden retard lately, Cody's


In case I haven't mentioned the Golden retard lately, Cody's motoring full speed. Which explains which side of the window he's on.

Don't guess I'll bathe him before heading out on the river again today.

Anyone know how to flip that photo? Thanks.

Friday, October 10, 2008

What teachers do on Friday afternoons


"That man's" been campaigning for two years now

Maureen Dowd cynically quips that "John McCain has long been torn between wanting to succeed and serving a higher cause."

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about Obama's flip flop on financing his bid for the White House, and the reported payoff: "Obama leads in spending, polls."

Though I'm torn between seeing McCain "long" in that light, and wondering if it matters in terms of character and integrity that you try to win the presidency after a quick sellout.



PS And what's with the whole "he's been campaigning for two years now" meme pushed by Dowd, Jon Stuart and others? Sorry, folks. He's only been on the national radar for over a year. Why do you have to cobble a grand past that wasn't?

Thursday, October 9, 2008

'The dance of living cells'



Is it Dali, or Picasso? Kandinsky, or Jackson Pollock?


None of them. It's three professors, 46 years, an Aequorea victoria's G.F.P., a little gene splicing, glowing pigs and bunnies, a brain with Alzheimer's and 10 million krona.


Anatomy of a modern relationship, in 30 seconds with bunnies

After continued tabloid-like speculation on news sites over the status of one of Hugh Hefner's ongoing relationships - got this at CNN - I finally bit.

Fans of the not-so-soft-core porn show, "The Girls Next Door," may be dissappointed - or elated - that one of the stars will probably be moving out of the mansion, and others may be showing up.

One is leaving because the 82-year-old Hefner won't marry her or have children with her.
Hefner said Madison learned the pair would never have children or get married six months ago, adding: "The fact that she was depressed after that, I didn't know at all. That was a revelation in the last days and weeks..."
Speaks volumes, but only outside Hefner's "modern" world. The man probably thinks it absolves him since he "didn't know at all."

And, after 40 years in the lifecycle of modern Western feminism, playmates work harder for the status that comes with a certain set of genes, hair dye, heavy makeup and surgical augmentation, all the while still wanting a husband and kids - even if they're with a man who won't be around in a few years, and they're raised alongside his other girlfriends in a house devoted to sexual libertinism.

People are clearly fascinated, but are they surprised?

*We promise to reprise the "30 seconds with bunnies" theme later.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Don't know how I got to this page - really! I was reading CNN!

Don't know how I got to this page - really! I was reading CNN! - and I don't follow Dancing With the Stars, but this guy is hilarious.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

1 degree of separation

Ties Paul Newman with Beloit, Wisconsin:

Newman's first wife, Jacqueline “Jackie” Witte, was from Beloit.

Witte and Newman wed in 1949, shortly after Newman graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. They had three children - Susan, Stephanie and Scott. Susan became an actress, producer and writer. Scott also became an actor before his death in 1978 at age 28 due to a drug overdose. Newman established a foundation in Scott's name to produce anti-drug films for children.
...
Witte was an actress who performed under the direction of Kirk Denmark in Beloit's Court Theatre group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. That group of actors included Kerwin Matthews, who later would be best known for movies such as “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.” Also in the group was Muriel (Nelson) Clifton.

Newman, and other actors, would perform in productions in Lake Geneva and at the Belfry Theater in Williams Bay in the early 1950s. Newman would return to Wisconsin to combine two of his loves - acting and auto racing. When making his film “Winning,” in 1969, in which he played an race-car driver, a portion of the film was shot at Road America in Elkhart Lake.

Friday, October 3, 2008

'At one point she literally winked at the nation'

Yeah, that Palin's a winker. Which seems to work for Peggy Noonan.

Me? I think the whole "talk straight to the American people" thing should have been said in a pregame statement or something. It was too blunt for me to let it go and focus solely on what was being said - it gave shadow to ambiguous statements.

There was a message about the message, and that can cause static when they're delivered together.

And I don't agree that Biden looked like he "walked in thinking that she was an idiot and that he only had to patiently wait for this fact to reveal itself." He came across a little flat, but fine.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

'Little noisy bells'

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Shhhhhh!!!! Don't warn them!

As our sainted Grandma J always said, "not worth carrying guts to a bear." Don't mess with tried-and-true aphorisms, m'kay?

Debate prep

Everything you should know before tonight's squaring-off:

"Biden Camp Preps for Debate: 'Gender Isn't the Issue'. " No, Joe, but you'll wish it were - you could probably use the underdog status. And Biden flack David Wade's WaPo comments about Palin are priceless.

"Life isn't fair." Especially not when moderated by someone who should recuse themselves.

"In VP debate, both sides have something to prove" tries to offer balance, if you can overlook the erroneous teleprompter remark.

"No slips, please. You're a step away from power." Get it? No slips? It's a girl thing.

And the Detroit Free Press has the stats: "The lowdown on tonight's VP debate."