Dog v. dog leg

If you are having a rough day, I highly recommend this video for a chuckle. (HT The Corner)

No history lessons

History Headline News looks at why history may not have any lessons for today's labor movement:

Perhaps the biggest difference between what's happening in Chicago and what happened in Atlantic City (in 1935) is in the workers themselves. In the mid thirties, the CIO could not hand out union cards fast enough. Workers were hungry for representation, voice, and a route out of economic misery. Armed with the new tool of the sit-down strike, the unions marched through major industry facing down goons, street battles, plant occupations, and court fights until they triumphed in nearly all of basic industry. Today's battles are clearly in the service sector, the hope is that similar upheavals might follow a breakthrough at the top of the labor hierarchy. Such a victory would, however, have to be a social movement of unimaginably gargantuan proportions that would have to overcome tremendous odds and work in close harmony with other social movements. The unions would have to enroll more than a million members a year in order to see a single percent up tick in union density. That would have to be achieved among workers who, however demonstrably unhappy they may be with the terms of their employment, seem only to have a modest interest in the vision put forth by the labor movement.

The rest of the article is interesting, if labor sympathetic.

Churchill

From The Federalist 05-30 Brief:

"What would happen if all these neutral nations...were with one spontaneous impulse to do their duty...and were to stand together...against aggression and wrong? At present their plight is lamentable; and it will become much worse. They bow humbly and in fear to...threats of violence. ... Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last. All of them hope that the storm will pass before their turn comes to be devoured. But I fear...the storm will not pass. It will rage and it will roar, ever more loudly, ever more widely. It will spread to the South; it will spread to the North. There is no chance of a speedy end except through united action." --Sir Winston Churchill

Sykes libel case

Sean pointed out at the Badger Blog Alliance this morning that, quite quietly, a libel case has been brought against WTMJ 620 AM talk show host by Charlie Sykes, and he asked to hear the opinions of the Wisconsin blogosphere. Or at least the conservative Wisconsin blogosphere, which Sykes has benefited greatly this year. The topic was taken up very ablely here, here, here, here, and here. So once again, the inability to post during the day leaves me sucking hind...nevermind. Rather than contribute to the chorus too much, I'm going to post the notes that I jotted down quickly this morning for posterity's sake, but recommend those 5 links above.

Notes
-Sykes made a quick, good faith effort to remove the offending post.
-Sykes was not personally responsible for any link that remained alive after the post was removed. Companies like Journal Communications have webmasters, IT people, or producers who are responsible for that.
-Standard for libel would seem to extend beyond that for newspapers, which frequently make factual errors, but which are allowed to print little noticed corrections, and TV news, which also makes errors but rarely issues a retraction or correction.
-It does seem that Charlie Sykes and 620 WTMJ were slow to react to the situation after removing the post, but legal advice likely had a lot to do with that. The slow reaction would also play no part in the libel charge.
-While I personally find it a very weak libel charge, it is a good reminder for all bloggers to review and confirm our leads, even if given to us from a reliable source.

Souter's property

I think everyone had a chuckle when Freestar Media proposed a hotel on Justice Souter's property after the Kelo decision. It sounds like the idea is actually picking up steam in New Hampshire, though.

Good marriage story

It seems like every marriage story out there these days is about divorce rates, fewer people marrying, funky vows that refuse to use the words "til death do us part", or wedding bands that are incomplete circles. So today I do my public service and pass along a positive marriage story:

An 82-year-old man who went clamming in the Long Island Sound says he made the ultimate catch: the wedding ring he lost two years ago.
....
After his wife, Mary, scrubbed it with jewelry cleaner, they were able to read the inscription: "MPS to SJP 9-10-67." Her husband's eyes began to tear, she said.

One story like this can cancel out a week's worth of the negative stories.

Wisconsin Weather

It has been a fairly tranquil summer so far here in Wisconsin, so I've largely ignored it until today. I just knew that I could rely on it being in the upper 80's to lower 90's with plenty of sun. But with the storm that blew across the state today, I was a little more in tune with it. So when I saw that the forecast low overnight was 78 degrees, I was a little surprised for two reasons. One, that is a very high low temperature for Wisconsin. Second, shortly before sunset, it was 72. So I scoffed at it, as I do so many weather forecasts. Then late tonight I decided to start a camp fire (I've been blogging fireside-we've been having a fireside chat of sorts) as an excuse to get rid of some of today's storm damage. It was windy, and in the couple of hours I've been outside, it seemed to get stickier. I chalked it up to being next to the fire until I checked the thermometer-the temperature had risen to 79 degrees. 79 degrees at 1 a.m. It is going to be hotter than Hades tomorrow.

Revolution or World War

Spurred on by this article on Japanese and Americans opinions on the possibility of another World War, I've spent a lot of time tonight thinking about global conflict. My thought process can be a sinewy path, but bear with me.

Not to long ago, in the comments to one of his posts, I told Owen at Boots & Sabers that I would not be surprised if the United States faced some sort of second Revolution late in my lifetime, or during the lifetime of my as of yet unborn kids or grandchildren. I'm not the type who lives in a bunker and arms myself to the teeth; I can just see our general discourse in society taking us down that path. I think that there is a greater likelihood that we will find ourselves in a painful, difficult global war during that same time period, though, and if so, I think that our general tendency to draw together when attack from the outside would eliminate the possibility or need for revolution.

My true concern is that we are in a pre-global conflict stage similar to the one the major powers found themselves in during the late 19th century and early 20th. A time where military powers began to head towards something of an equilibrium, when small skirmishes and new technologies where the general rule, and nobody was really able to put it all together to see where the world was headed. That's what I see now. The information age means that we can only maintain technological superiority as long as we are constantly developing awesome new weapons systems. It doesn't take long for everyone to figure out current weapons systems and develope their own, and it doesn't even take much money to buy the last generation of weapons systems anymore. As the Chinas of the world, or the North Koreas, or the Irans, think that they can challenge us to at least a draw, they will use those weapons systems. And the second they do, there will be a huge chain reaction of sides being taken. If we do head in that direction, Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific nations will be where the action is at, with Russia being a huge wild card for Europe.

I think I've discussed this before, and I'll say again, I sincerely hope that I'm very wrong on this. I like my nice, comfortable, peaceful life (and that's why I support the war on terror). I don't want it upended by total war. Just the same, as an amateur history buff (and I stress amateur), I don't really like the signs I'm seeing. We could be in for a bumpy 50 years.

Roberts as Souter

I'm seeing a lot of bloggers trying to calm the nervous Nellies who are afraid Roberts will be another Justice Souter. I hope they fail to calm the nervous Nellies down. Frankly, I wish Souter had been looked at a little harder by conservatives than he was. Having a cautious group of Senators and bloggers is only a good thing right now. I for one am not going to call my Senators to encourage them to confirm Roberts until he's gone through a little more of the process and I myself feel comfortable with him. And I'm not going to encourage anyone else to do so, either.

Update
Oops. Looks like I was beaten to the punch on this one.

Common sense during time of war

It is sad to hear that the man who ran away from police and ended up being shot and killed in London did not have a bomb on him (or, if you are the Tube that day, a good thing). Although I've yet to see anyone play the race card on London police, rest assured someone will. Which leads into my main point. The war on Terror, the war in Iraq, these are not total wars for the West. Because of this, many people mistakenly think that society is business as usual. It isn't. If you joke around about bombing something, you are probable going to face a rough arrest. If you are the subject of a terror investigation, and police try to stop you, you best stop. And if you run, you had best not run to the place where acts of terrorism have been occurring, because you are going to face worse things than a rough arrest.

Subjects of official investigations are not the only ones to blame. We have not been in total war since World War II, and society has forgotten that times of war require a different decorum than peace times. Every loud mouth politician or opponent of our current wars, people who plan their rhetoric around the sad deaths of soldiers, may end up through their very words costing more soldiers lives, or even the lives of hundreds or thousands of citizens on the homefront. I don't know if it is because we are that ignorant, or if because of political correctness the government refuses to give us reminders that things like "Loose Lips Sink Ships," or if we are just that arrogant. All I do know is that after 60 plus years of small wars, we seem to have forgotten that wartime is a very different thing from peace time.

Tire fire from space

An satellite image of the smoke from the fire at a tire recycling plant in Watertown, WI, has been released. It is impressive to see the amount of territory that smoke covered.

July 15, 1980

Unless you were in the Chippewa Valley on that date, it has little or no significance. But for those of us who can remember it, it is a date that is burned into the memory-even those of us who were mere 4 year olds at the time. That evening a storm blew through the Chippewa Valley that had straight line winds over 100 miles an hour, damaging homes & businesses to the tune of $115 million in damage done, and 10 continuous miles of a main powerline to the area was knocked down. For me, it lead to an absolute and complete terror for strong thunderstorms that would last another 12 years or so, even though my home did not see the worst of the storm. Portions of that day are crystal clear in my mind 25 years later, which is impressive because I usually can't remember what I had for lunch.

WEAU TV-13 was the only major television station in the area at that time. To a certain extent, the Chippewa Valley was a bit of a media oasis. 1 major TV station, one small station, and 2 newspapers. An afterthought to the nearby Twin Cities market, and not even on the radar of down state media markets. 25 years later, they have put together a special looking back on their coverage of the July 15, 1980 storm. It is a great little special to watch if you are from the area, if you enjoy weather disaster shows, or if you just enjoy looking back on the inhabitants of an area cursed with terrible clothing.

Economies of scale?

Hmmm. Can anybody tell me what is way out of scale on this sculpture? If it were a real mermaid (yes, I know, there is no such thing), it clearly would have only been able to float on its back, and thus been vulnerible to predators from below.

Storm blogging, Vol. 1, #1

Below are a few pics from today's storms which swept across Wisconsin. My apologies for the quality. I was taking most of my pics with a film camera, and used a crummy digital cam for some shots I could get up here quickly. As always, do not storm blog at home. Wait-do storm blog at home, don't storm blog on the road. As Mrs. Jib will tell you, I'm...er...it's just plain dumb to drive into a severe storm.

Storm blogging, Vol. 1, #2

I ended up seeing much more of the storm than I had anticipated. I had watched the storms on radar since about noon, as they had pummeled my old stomping grounds, the Chippewa Valley in Western Wisconsin, with strong winds and half dollar sized hail. When I went out to take a few pics, I figured I would get no closer to the storms than 5 or 10 miles. The storms had other ideas. I took this picture looking northwest. I understood what I was seeing, but I thought it was going to slide north of my location. Instead, those clouds were over me within 10 minutes. All in all, the storms were strong but not devestating here. Just some downed branches and power outages.

Storm blogging, Vol. 1, #3

It was interesting but not necessarily frightening views in the sky such as this that led to this storm catching up to me in a hurry. I would end up being less concerned about pictures and more concerned about looking for shelter.

Storm blogging, Vol. 1, #4

As everyone who experienced these storms knows, they were very fast moving. When I left my house, I didn't even think we were going to see these storms. My goal was to take a few pics from a safe distance. After 10 minutes of driving north, things were getting dark. After 10 minutes of taking pictures with my Canon EOS Rebel, it became apparent that I was going to be part of the storm. Within a minute of this picture (with a cheap digital Vivitar), it was as dark as it will be at around 8:30-9:00 tonight.

Storm blogging, Vol. 1, #5

This was among the first shots I took. This is from Highway 18 just west of Jefferson, WI. When I left my house about 8-10 minutes previous, this storm seemed quite a ways off yet. By the time I got to Jefferson, it was looking pretty close.

American diver hits face on board

Argh. This is an uncomfortable photo to look at. U.S. diver Chelsea Davis was making a dive at the World Swimming Championships when she hit her face on the diving board. It's one of those photos that cause instant empathy for the subject. Ouch.

Reading the french fries

In an early post, I describe my growing squishyness on John Roberts.  There is one thing in his judicial record that is keeping me from jumping off the boat, and that is the french fry case.  To the uninitiated, my support of his decision to uphold the arrest of a girl who ate a french fry on a train in Washington D.C. makes me look like an ogre, but if one understands the role of lawmakers, police, and judges, then it becomes hard to say he made the wrong decision.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the case, here’s a brief synopsis.  It is illegal to eat food on the Metro in Washington D.C.  When the girl ate her french fry, she was cuffed and put into jail.  Clearly, lawmakers passed a bad law.  And law enforcement officials fulfilled their duty under that bad law, although they showed a little bad judgement as well.  So this case ends up in front of Roberts’ court.  As a judge, it is not his responsibility to right the wrongs that may have been committed against this girl.  It is his job to apply the law, and that is what he did.  This is hopefully a telling sign of the kind of Justice Roberts would be.  He did what a judge is supposed to do-he applied the law.  He did not go looking for a reason to right a wrong.  While it is admirable for someone to try to right a wrong, it is not the job of the judiciary.  Justice is not something applied from the heart, but rather from the laws on the book.  Sometimes justice is not just, but in those instances the pressure belongs on lawmakers to improve the laws that they have passed, not on judges.

Concern about Roberts

I am cautiously optomistic about Roberts as a Supreme Court Justice. I have one concern, though. Roberts seems (sorry, no cites at this time) to have carefully crafted a life that would allow him to attain high levels of the Judiciary. It seems he is on the record in support of both conservative and liberal causes (and on Roe, both sides of the same cause). That could mean two things. One, that he is an eminently fair human being. Two, that he's a guy that has lived his life with his finger in the wind of public opinion. Part of the problem with Supreme Court right now is that it seems to take into consideration things like foreign law and public opinion. I'm hoping number one is the case. But I'm afraid number that two might be.

Actually, there is a number 3-that I'm way off base with this analysis. But I heartily doubt that could be the case. :-)

Update
Jessica McBride gives me more reason to get squishy on Roberts.

7/20 London bombing attempt

This is a bizarre story because of both the seeming failure of the bombing, the facts slowly trickling out of the UK, and a lot of assumptions being made in all media, even if cautious assumptions. Therefore, I'm taking Michael Ledeen's advice today in The Corner and keeping my judgements to myself until we have harder facts. No more on London 'til then.

Random thought on judicial activism, Constitutional amendments

Bear with me on this post. This falls into the random brain storm category, and I'm curious to see if there is any agreement/disagreement with this thought.

Judicial activism is changing the nature of our Constitutional amendments. There was a time when the people approved new amendments in order to protect rights or to confer upon the Federal Government unenumerated rights of governance previously reserved to the states. As the Federal Judiciary has found more and more meaning in the Constitution, meaning not clearly reflected in the text but divined from it, our proposed constitutional amendments have become more about reigning in the Judiciary than protecting rights or conferring powers from the states to the Feds. Take the idea of a Flag burning amendment-it is a reaction to the courts deciding that flag burning is constitutionally protected free speech. Take the marriage amendment. In this case, it is a reaction to the expectation that the courts will somehow find in the Constitution the right to same sex marriage.

May the link be a little tenuous right now? Perhaps, but I expect it will become much more common. And the reason is because the creation of law has slowly moved from Congress to the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional amendment is one of the few ways to check the power of the Court.

Great war reporting

Michael Yon has a post up at his online magazine regarding the explosives factory/dump found recently in Mosul. Glen Reynolds linked to the post and said, "...this is war reporting of a caliber not often seen these days." He wasn't kidding. It is an excellent dispatch from Iraq.

James Doohan, "Scotty", 1920-2005

I doe'n have the words, Cap'n. RIP, Scotty.

Netscape 8.0

Okay, I've had my fun jousting with you Firefox users in the past. I'm one of 7 Netscape brand loyal users out there, and I excitedly anticipated the release of Netscape 8.0. When it was released, I put it on both of my machines and I used it full time. Then I started having the occasional crash, so I started opening up my old Netscape browser for sites that I knew were problematic. Then I had problems with my Bloglines RSS reader, namely i couldn't get the links in the frame to the left to open up in the main frame. Since I always have Bloglines up when I'm working on the net, this was problematic. On one machine I was able to resolve it, and I continued to use Netscape 8.0 about 90% of the time. On the other machine, every time I shut down Netscape, I seemed to lose the setting which allowed Bloglines to work correctly. So on that machine, I began using my old Netscape almost exclusively. Since I'm a bit of freak about continuity between my two machines, I began to use the old Netscape exclusively on both machines. It's probably been a month since I even opened Netscape 8.0

8.0 needs work. There were a lot of bugs that Netscape should have worked out before they released it. In addition to the crashes and the frames problem on Bloglines, I found the RSS reader built into the browser less than user friendly, which is too bad because that was one of the main advantages I thought 8.0 had over the 7.X browsers.

I'm still not a Firefox convert, though, and probably never will be as long as I have a stable Netscape to use. When I open up my browser, I don't want to spend time customizing it. I want it to have a bevy of features that I like, and those I don't need I just won't use. Firefox is fine in it's bare bones version, but I just don't feel like adding the additional features I want. When I open up the browser, I go to town surfing. Fiddling and customizing is not and will not be part of the equation.

No taxation without respiration!

I love that line. I've obviously had my head in the sand, as that line has been in circulation as an anti-estate tax slogan for a little while now. As I dosed off to sleep last night, I heard Steve Forbes say it on the O'Reilly Factor. Great line.

Jeff Jarvis admonished by his readers

Earlier today Captain Ed had posted that Bernard Goldberg had been ambushed on Donny Deutsch's "The Big Idea". Goldberg is an entertaining read, so it perked my ears up a little, but not enough to waste my time watching Donny Deutsch. Then I read the update at Captain's Quarters, and from that post headed over to Jeff Jarvis's Buzz Machine. Jarvis was one of 4 panelists brought on to oppose Goldberg and his book, even though none of them had read it yet. Jarvis's readers have been beating him up for his performance on "The Big Idea". Even if you could care less about Deutsch and Goldberg, go to Jarvis's post and then read the comments. The commentors even take time to slam James Wolcott, who stopped into the comments and shoved his foot down his throat.

And sadly, I'm going to watch the rebroadcast on CNBC at 12:30.

Update
Ugh, now I remember why I don't watch Donnie Deutsch. I'm also reminded of why, although I was thrilled he mentioned one of my posts on MSNBC, Jeff Jarvis irritated me so on that particular day. You'd need a diamond tipped blade to cut through his smugness.

Iraq-al Qaeda link

Looking for links between al Qaeda and Iraq? Try reading Stephen F. Hayes.

Heaters in Summer

If you work in an office with good air conditioning, I guarantee you know someone who does this.

Food Supply worries

Reuters has a story on a Senate hearing today about the vulnerabilities of the food supply. This winter I gave Tommy Thompson a Loose Lips Sink Ships award for blabbing about this topic at a high profile event. In this case, Reuters is just as deserving. I swear we are begging for an attack on our food supply-Reuters goes so far as to say one way it could be done. It's just more proof that we've divorced responsibility from the freedom to say what we want in this country. As much as has been written on this topic this year, and the details that have been included in the stories, I wouldn't be surprised if the al Qaeda manual on this consists of published news articles.

No beauty in Canada

Toronto authorities forced the Canadian Miss Universe to remove her sash at a recent event. Why? Because it it is illegal to sexually stereotype in Toronto. So, next time you are fit to be tied over out of control regulation here in the U.S., take a short trip to Canada. Here's a synopsis of the law:

...a regulation against activities which degrade men and women through sexual stereotypes or exploit their bodies to attract attention.

I guess that's why the Toronto Blue Jays suck it up every year. If they actually made the playoffs, they'd be "exploiting their bodies to attract attention."

Google Moon

In honor of the 1st lunar landing, Google rolled out Google Moon today. Pick one of the landing sites and zoom all the way in for the amazing detail of the images.

On the other hand...

In an update to a post below on John Roberts, I stated that I felt he would end up being closer to his 1990 statement than his 2001 statement. Ann Coulter seems to disagree, and she's done her homework (From a Drudge Flash, will post Coulter column when available):

Coulter continues: It means nothing that Roberts wrote briefs arguing for the repeal of Roe v. Wade when he worked for Republican administrations. He was arguing on behalf of his client, the United States of America. Roberts has specifically disassociated himself from those cases, dropping a footnote to a 1994 law review article that said:

“In the interest of full disclosure, the author would like to point out that as Deputy Solicitor General for a portion of the 1992-93 Term, he was involved in many of the cases discussed below. In the interest of even fuller disclosure, he would also like to point out that his views as a commentator on those cases do not necessarily reflect his views as an advocate for his former client, the United States.”

This would have been the legal equivalent, after O.J.'s acquittal, of Johnnie Cochran saying, "hey, I never said the guy was innocent. I was just doing my job."

Maybe Roberts won't have the wiggle room on the right that I thought he would.

Great Roberts links

I can't bear to have that crude cell phone post at the top of the page until whenever I get to post later today, so instead I will direct you to the always tasteful Michelle Malkin, who has a great file of thoughts and links going on Roberts.

Cell phones in obnoxious places

Two recent media stories got me thinking about cell phone usage. The first was Jeff Wagner's show on 620 AM WTMJ last Saturday. He was talking about how obnoxious it would be if the FCC and the FAA would allow cell phone use on planes. The other was this Mike Adams article, Cell Phone Sociopaths. Together they brought to mind my biggest cell phone pet peeve-cell phones in public restrooms.

I can't speak for the ladies out there, as I make it a habit to avoid your restrooms, but in the men's room, it seems the use of cell phones is an epidemic. It is a habit that seems to be exacerbated by alcohol, but common even at the local mall. I'll be standing there at a urinal, and in will walk a guy and stand next to me. His cell phone will ring or worse yet, he'll dial it, and hold a conversation right there with all of the attendant bathroom noises. And 9 times out of 10, the guy is talking to a woman. Why!? Can someone please tell me why?! Do you think it will impress her to think of what you're doing at that moment? The handy thing about cell phones today is they have two handy features-caller ID and voice mail. Call them back when you're done! I do not like to have you peeing next to me with your phone cradled between ear and shoulder, one hand free and gesturing wildly, and the other trying to control the business at hand. Makes me a touch nervous. And what does the person on the other end of the line think? They must be able to hear toilets flushing and all of the other disgusting sounds which I will not catalog here. Damn, guys. The call can wait.

If I had ever done this to the lovely Mrs. Jib, she would never have agreed to become the lovely Mrs. Jib. If I did it today, irreconcilable differences would be the talking point around our dinner table.

(Apologies to Jeff Wagner and Mike Adams for my having lumped them into this horrifying post)

Roberts wonderfully muddy on Roe

Well, everyone is going to have a field day with Roberts on Roe. He already has contradictory statements on the topic which will allow him to take the "will not overturn" track and still not scare the living hell out of the President's conservative supporters who are adament about overturning Roe. To wit:

1990
"The court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion ... finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution," the brief said.

2001
"Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

Prediction: He passes.

HT NY Times

Update
I think a small clarification is in order on my part after reading Beldar's comment and Sean's post. Based off of the two quotes above, I personally have no idea where Roberts' will fall on Roe, and I wouldn't expect him to tell the Senate how he'd rule on a hypothetical case. And that's the beauty of those two quotes-it gives him wiggle room on Roe. Could the 2001 comment mean that he'd follow precedent in his role as an apellate judge but have no bearing on his decision as a Supreme Court justice? Perhaps. Could it also mean that he wouldn't touch Roe as a justice? Again, perhaps. Personally, I think that, as a Supreme Court Justice, he would probably be closer to the 1990 statement, which is why I welcome the seeming contradiction-with it he has the ability to assuage potential enemies on both sides of the aisle.

John Roberts

Wow. John Roberts is your first George W. Bush nominee for the Supreme Court. A lot of people's sources were very, very wrong today.

Northwestern women & flip flops at the White House

I'm getting search hits for this, so I may as well toss my two cents. The flip flop wearers showed bad etiquette, nothing more or less. They are atoning for this nicely by auctioning the the flip flops and donating the money to a child with cancer. Textbook case of making the best out of a bad situation.

Stand by our British Bretheren

We need to stand tall, side by side, with our British bretheren, upper lips stiffened. Why? Because Britain is facing the greatest threat in its long and glorious history-the invasion of unattractive, lily white, nude people.

America, shudder in private, but put on a brave face for your staunchest ally to see.

Takes all kinds

I find it interesting that I'm currently in an off the record pissing contest with someone over whether or not Chippewa Falls' FATFAR event is PG-13 or R rated. Who the hell cares? I said to leave the kids at home in my review of the tube float.

And she could wear the "I'm with stupid" shirt

Joe Wilson has hardly been discrete about his wife's super dooper, double ultra secret identity, so I was thinking about making about turning this into a t-shirt. Problem is, I'm pretty sure only about a dozen or so people would actually get it.

Thanks to Nathan's Community Lunch for the photo.

Spurlock watch

Let me start by saying that I loathe Morgan Spurlock. I watched Supersize Me with the lovely Mrs. Jib (at my resistance) and picked it apart in my head. I was hoping Spurlock would end up crawling back into the whole he crawled out of, but now that he has a weekly TV show, which I'm loathe to say I've watched, the Morgan Spurlock Watch is an indispensable website for those of us who see him for what he is-a propagandist.

Looking at 30

I’m sitting here with a little bit more than 5 months of my twenties left, and I’ve been thinking about aging. Here are a couple of my random thoughts.

-Graying hair is a pretty appealing prospect when you grow up expecting to be bald by 29. Having a full head of gray hair becomes a worthy goal.

-Skinny 16 year olds are not immune to weight gain later in life. 40 pounds in 14 years is not terrible for a former pencil neck geek, but it definitely takes a couple extra fractions of a second to get down to first base. My goal? Split the difference between then and now at about 20 pounds. Heh. At least I still have my sense of humor.

-As an aside to the above, be careful what you wish for. At 16, I wanted to weigh 195 pounds. 195 pounds of muscle, not 195 pounds of beer by-product.

-Even though there is more around the middle than I would like, 195 does not look all that bad on a 5’11” frame. A dressed 5’11” frame.

-I’m looking forward to that day when my body naturally wakes me up at dawn. Currently, my body wants to naturally wake me up somewhere around, well, never.

-I may be saying goodbye to my twenties, but I’m still in that “all important 18-35 age range.” Boo yeah!

-Twenty year olds look younger every day. At this rate, I’ll want to put diapers on them by the time I’m 40.

-Aches. Where the hell do these mystery aches come from? I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING YESTERDAY!

-You start to find yourself squeamish about hanging out with a bunch of 20 year olds. Not that there is anything wrong with it per se, you just feel like the old dude who doesn’t belong because he’s been there before. A decade ago.

-The idea of going out and having home run derbies all day long still seems appealing. Problem is, gathering up all of those baseballs doesn’t seem appealing at all anymore, so you just end up sitting down and watching a game instead (hence, 40 pounds).

-You begin to develop the patience for things that you didn’t have the patience for before, like fishing or golf.

-You begin to lose patience for things you used to have all the patience in the world for, like standing in line at a bar, or being crammed shoulder to shoulder in a crowd of drunk, underdressed college students.

-You begin to take a perverse pleasure in mowing the lawn (pretty much guys only).

-Yeah, my clothes don’t match today. I ain’t here to impress you anyway.

Begalla Unhinged

Add former Clinton aide Paul Begalla to your Democrats Unhinged list:

"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said.

"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."

Ummm, yeah. If you read the entire thing, it is clear Begalla is trying to change the perception that Democrats are weak on national defense, anti-American, and devoid of new ideas. Unfortunately, if you look like a duck, and more importantly, quack like a duck...

LBA

Hello, my name is Jib, and I am a lip-balmaholic.

Bad 'Cop'

Is this really news?

Victor Edward Willis, the original policeman in the 1970s music group the Village People, was arrested by real police who allegedly found a gun and drugs in his convertible.

Wouldn't this qualify more as "dog bites man"? Or is it news because that's the only thing he was arrested for?

More Cowbell!

If anyone out there loves More Cowbell as much as I (and based on my search results, I know you do), tonight is the best of Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live.

The Madison Paradox

Madison "progressives" currently find themselves with a paradox on their hands, and I don't think they even realize it. City progessives want two things which end up being diametrically opposed to one another.

The first item is the ban on tall buildings downtown. City progressives want to preserve the view of the state capitol building. Therefore, new developments which could bring big businesses, residential space, and retail downtown are stymied, because often their building needs exceed the height limit. Instead they build a facility out on the west side of town on the belt line, or they build east of Interstate 90/94/39 near Highway 51. What this accomplished is both spreading the city out over long distances, and also spreading the distance between people's homes and their jobs. This results in more traffic as people travel greater distances between work and home.

The second item is to supposedly remedy the first: Public transportation. In their very simplistic view of things, Madison progressives think that if they offer more public transportation, then they can deal with the greater traffic congestion on Madison roads. There is a huge flaw in this logic, though. Public transit is more successful the greater the population density of an area. In highly dense areas, you need less track and less energy to transport the same number of people as in less dense areas, and this is what makes public transportation economically feasible. People in highly dense areas are also more likely to use that public transportation, because it is more convenient for them to ride 10 blocks in an elevated train or a trolley than it is for them to drive. But in areas of lower density, it is more convenient for someone to drive 2 miles than it is for them to ride in public transit, because they may need to travel 7 blocks just to get to a stop. So in less dense areas, you get fewer customers for the public transit because it is less of a convenience.

So here's Madison's paradox. If city progressives continue in their refusal to allow the downtown to be developed upward, then they are going to see continued growth outward. If they allowed skyward growth downtown, then they would have a lot of residents, a lot of retail and entertainment, and a lot of business offices in a smaller area, and people are going to prefer to use public transit over using their cars. But as long as they refuse to allow this skyward growth, the city will continue to grow outward, and it will be less and less economically viable to maintain public transit, as it will be less convenient for riders (which means fewer riders) and it will be more expensive to transport each individual rider, because the distance they'll need to travel will be further.

Madisonians, you can have your beautiful view and clogged roads or you can obscure your view and have fewer cars on the road, but you are a big city now, and you can't have both.

(Cross posted at the BBA)

Fitting nickname

Owen Wilson apparently likes to refer to himself as the butterscotch stallion. Fitting nickname. Butterscotch makes me nauseous, and so does Wilson.

Dog bites alligator

In an interesting twist on the old man bites dog bit, the AP is reporting a story of a Golden Retriever surviving and encounter with a gator:

After it was all over, Cooper had lost a few teeth and had flesh and muscle torn from a front leg and chunks of skin missing from both haunches. The gator suffered bites to its snout.

I think it would be fair to say Cooper kicked the Gator's ass, as the gator now resides in the freezer of Cooper's owner, even if Cooper did not deliver to fatal blow himself.

Women used as political pawns

Here's why the left so ardently supports women in combat. It isn't an issue of equality, it's because they know they can use the death of women during war to turn opinions irrationally against it.

Kirsten Dunst working at Hertz

I'm pretty sure she is, anyway. I use a local Hertz when I need to rent a car for business travel, and the woman who received the car back from me was a dead ringer. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Kirsten Dunst is originally from Eastern Europe, given her accent. She must be anxious for Spiderman 3 to start filming.

Just thought I'd give all of you celebrity gossip lovers a little morsel.

.515

A few months back, I stated my goal of hitting .600 in beer league softball this year. I fell well short at .515. Going 0-3 in the last game of the season didn't help.

Soldier does what Jib could not

The Army Times has a story and video of a U.S. soldier taking a round in chest from an insurgent sniper (Tip o' the hat to Brainpost). The soldier not only lives thanks to his vest, he gets back into the fight. And he shows the ultimate in humanity:

After tracking down the now-wounded sniper with a team from B Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, Tschiderer secured the terrorist with a pair of handcuffs and gave medical aid to the terrorist who’d tried to kill him just minutes before.

I can't say that I would have been able to do the same if I were in his shoes.

I'm back

And better than ever. This week was an extremely busy and exhausting week for me, but it should be the tipping point for the rest of the summer. More free time, more rest, and more blogging. I'm pleased about this, too, because clerks at the local grocery stores have taken to asking, "paper, plastic, or under your eyes?"

The trend towards amateur photography

I am an amateur photographer. And I'd say that I'm a serious one at that, even if I'm not particularly talented. Once I get my (for the moment) dream camera, a Canon 6.3 megapixel digital SLR, I would love to happen upon an unfolding news story and get the pics of the event. But I'm getting concerned about the media not only relying on amateur photography for unfolding news events, but also soliciting it. Last week, after the London bombings, it became very apparent that digital cameras and digital phone cameras were phasing out the professional photographer a bit in favor of on the scene eye witnesses. That makes all the sense in the world, because unless a pro is tipped off or in the wrong place at the right time, they are no going to get the gripping photos that on scene witnesses will. But there could be a dark side to this.

I say this because I was reading the Janesville Gazette today, and they had the story of a fire here in my hometown. On the homepage, they had a picture of the aftermath, and beneath it this request:

Do you have photos of the fire?
Send your digital images to gazextra@gazetteextra.com, and we'll post them online.

Below that was a link to a gallery of the pics they had received. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but here is my concern. As people become aware that the media is willing to use their amateur pics, more and more people are going to rush to the scene of these events to try to get "the" picture. Emergency services personnel do not need that. In emergency situations, they have their hands full enough without having to worry about idiots trying to get money shots of the event. Unfortunately, I see a future where every fool with a camera rushes to a scene where they aren't needed, making the situation worse for everyone.

Rove-ian fun

Since the left is frothing at the mouth over Karl Rove, I've decided to have a little fun. Below you will find Rove's alter egos and top schemes. Enjoy.

Top Twelve Karl Rove schemes

12. The break up of Herman's Hermits
11. Children's pajamas that weren't flame retardent
10. Measles, mumps...and ruebella.
9. He planted Donna Rice on "Monkey Business" and Monica Lewinski in the Oval Office
8. All hurricanes since 1993. (All hurricanes from 1952 to 1992 were that damn Nixon's doing).
7. The unholy union of Cruise and Holmes.
6. David Hasselhof's death like grip on the imagination of the German people.
5. Whitesnake's pyrotechnics. And that human ball of rage, Tawny Kitaen.
4. The Corvair.
3. Can you say, "The Spanish Flu"?
2. Two words: Cop Rock!
1. Two more words: Monkey Pox!

Top Ten Karl Rove Alter Egos

10. Death, aka, the Grim Reaper.
9. Skeletor
8. Gargamel
7. That lion that bit Roy...or was it Sigfried?
6. Ted Nugent. Admit it, you've never seen them together in the same room.
5. Hannity
4. Colmes, too.
3. The devil on Bill Clinton's shoulder.
2. Howard Dean's speech writer. Yeeah!
1. The firefighter at your local Chippendale's.

Major League Soccer in Milwaukee

I was on the road in Wisconsin for much of today, and I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of WTMJ 620 AM, and this story about luring Major League soccer to Milwaukee received a lot of play. Major League soccer cannot succeed in Milwaukee, and there are a host of reasons why.

#1 Wisconsin is a regional state.
What does that mean, you ask. Well, Wisconsin is not a rural area dominated by one or two major urban area like many other states are. Wisconsin actually has 15 urban areas. Because of this large number of urban areas, Milwaukee does not have the statewide influence and draw that Chicago does in Illinois or the Twin Cities do in Minnesota. For any professional sport team to be successful, they must draw from a large portion of their home state. A professional soccer team in Milwaukee will not be able to do that. A Major League Soccer team in Milwaukee will need to rely on Milwaukee alone, as it will not draw people from even Jefferson or Dodge counties to downtown, let alone far flung counties such as La Crosse, Eau Claire, or Brown Counties. The Packers draw statewide. The Brewers are starting to. The Bucks do when they are winning. A soccer team will not be able to draw enough people from the Marathon counties of the state to fill a 20,000 seat stadium 15 or 16 times a year.

#2 Soccer is not a party sport
I'm going to dip into stereotype on this, but Wisconsinites like to party with their sports. Soccer is not a party sport. The reason you drink during a soccer game is because for 58 of the 60 minutes of the game, there is nothing else to do. That's part of the reason soccer hooligans are such a problem in Europe. Drinking from boredom is not a party, it is an anesthesia.

#3 A stadium in the city is a huge error
As proposed, the stadium would be in the city of Milwaukee, at the site of the Pabst facility. Soccer is not a city sport in this country. It is a suburban sport. Many suburbanites will go into the city, but just as many live in the suburbs because they hate the city. How are you going to draw those people all the way to downtown to watch the fifth most popular sport in this country?

#4 Participatory Popularity versus fanaticism
This is my final point, but likely my most divisive. For any professional sports team to survive, it needs a large, fanatical base. Its profit is then made off of the casual fan. This would be problematic for soccer in Wisconsin. Soccer is a very popular sport for kids to play in Wisconsin. I have a large number of relatives who a younger than me, so I am familiar with the participatory popularity of this sport. Here's the problem for soccer, though. The best athletes are fanatical about football, basketball, baseball, and hockey, and they play those sports. While Wisconsin soccer has the occasional top tier soccer athlete, most kids who play soccer in Wisconsin do so not because of an all abiding love for the sport, but because they can make a go of it in that sport. They would not be a star in the big four sports, but in soccer they can get a good amount of playing time. So, while soccer is a very popular participatory sport, there are comparatively few soccer fanatics. Therefore, there is no strong base. There is just a strong casual interest, and that is not enough to make a team profitable, especially a team that wants to build a stadium that is going to cost $300 to $500 million-as much as an MLB or NFL stadium.

Unrelated side note
The Brewers future financial success depends on them drawing the statewide fans, and I think they are making strong motions in that direction. Miller Park has made that possible in ways I didn't think possible. I know of people who previous to Miller Park would have made the trip to Wrigley rather than County Stadium, and today they are planning trips to Milwaukee to see a ball game instead. I know some people have soured on the Brewers because they feel Selig lied to them about the stadium. I cannot defend Selig the owner, but this new stadium is making a huge difference in finally making the Brewers Wisconsin's team and not just Southeastern Wisconsin's team.

You paid a dollar for this post, and I just gave you a bonus two cents.

Police support

If you are a supporter of Police and the thankless job they do, then you must read this post by Michelle Malkin. If you claim to hate the police, maybe you should go and look at the picture, because nobody defending public order deserves this.

Holding Bush's feet to the fire

I don't like the fact that I had to write that headline, but while Bush's war leadership has been fairly admirable, his conservatism has begun to look more like his Dad's than Ronald Reagan's. Bush made a promise to his voters that his judicial nominees would be constructionists. It is dubious to say that Alberto Gonzales will be a constructionist, and the rumors have him not only being nominated as a justice, but as Chief Justice. Bush voters must hold his feet to the fire on this promise. If he goes back on it, it will be his "read my lips". Fortunately for him, he will have gone back on his promise in the second term rather than the first term like his father. But in this instance, he will not only find himself a lame duck, he will find himself as ineffectual as a dead duck. His only political capital will be in giving Democrats whatever they want, because Congressional Republicans will be 'moving on' to their own agendas.

Established media about to jump the shark on blogs, podcasts

The established media (that means major, mid-major, and smaller) is about to jump the shark on blogs and podcasts. Take that as a statement of fact. The stats read that hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people are blogging, and that a significant number of people are reading these blogs. Old media executives are looking at these stats and licking their chops, even though only a few hundred blogs are doing major traffic, maybe a thousand after that are doing moderate traffic, and a thousand of us after that are doing regular, lower traffic. Unfortunately for them, I think in many areas the mainstreamed blogs and podcasts are going to fail. Too many in the established media do not understand what makes a blog a blog or a podcast a podcast. They think that merely having the content is enough. It isn't. Part of the attraction to blogs and podcasts are that they are alternative media. For established media to succede with blogs and podcasts, they need to be somewhat free wheeling and un-politically correct with their productions. Unfortunately, I see few being willing to upset their advertisers or readers with their blogs or podcasts. That is almost an immediate death knoll for these ventures. Secondly, I don't think most established media either understand the true nature of blogs and podcasts or are willing to follow their models. We'll be seeing a lot of boring, staid blogs and podcasts which may seem exciting at first, but which quickly lose the interest of their readers. My concern is what impact these "mainstream" blogs and podcasts will have on those of us with more traditional blogs. Most things become fads once the mainstream players come in and screw it up for the rest of us. Have the government fiddling around in the regulation of an endeavor makes it even more likely there will be a negative impact. I'll be intrigued to see what the blogosphere looks like in 2008 once the established media and government have gotten their fingers deep into it, and once more and more blogs try to evolve into established media themselves with advertisors to answer to. It is easy to say advertisers don't have very much impact on you until you have major advertisers yourself. Once you have a big, unhappy contract staring you in the face, things change a bit-you either adjust your view or give up that big chunk of money you've come to rely upon. Don't think for a minute that traditional blogs are immune to the forces facing the big, mainstream media. We're not, especially the bigger our individual blogs get and the more money that is involved with them.

Don't get me wrong, if you can make money as a traditional blogger, do so! But what I am saying is be prepared for some uncomfortable decisions between principle and money. And be prepared for the fact that established media will almost always chose money over principle, and that will reflect poorly on all of us.

Rove

It appears that Rove was a source for the Valerie Plame story. The Dems are going to pound this story for all it's worth (expect a lot of "jail" and "impeachment" talk), but even Rove critics David Corn and Lawrence O'Donnell admit this is probably not a jail worthy event for Rove. There is probably even more to come out on this, further muddying the water for going after Rove. While the Dems will try to exact revenge on Bush for the Clinton impeachment over this, the best they'll, get-the very best-is a Rove resignation, with Rove getting a chip in the big game and $25,000 on the ruber chicken circuit. And that's if they're lucky.

Pot for my men, acid for my horses

Heh. I'm going to let this stand on its own without comment:

Willie Nelson is so prolific that sometimes even he forgets he has another record coming out. At a recent show here with Bob Dylan, Nelson performed a long list of hits, but not a single song from his new long-awaited reggae album.

"I keep forgetting," Nelson said a few days later by telephone from the road, which he's called home for most of the last 30 years. "The set is so short."
.....
While the music on "Countryman" might raise the eyebrows of country purists, so will the cover. With green marijuana leaves on a red and yellow background, the cover art makes the CD look like an oversized pack of rolling papers.

Pot for my men, acid for my horses.

Global warming prediction

Okay, quick global warming prediction. We will see an above average number of hurricanes this year. Historically speaking, the number of hurricanes and their severity will not be a statistical outlier, just above average. Still, we will hear wailing and gnashing of teeth over it, and it will all be claimed to be a result of global warming. But no one will cite the lack of severity of this year's tornado season. I believe the United States has still not seen a tornado fatality this year, a record.

Brewers thoughts

*Mike Maddux is worth every single penny the Brewers pay him and then some. Greg Maddux may be the professorial pitcher, but Mike Maddux is the true teacher. The Brewers trade Dan Kolb? No worries, Kolb becomes a setup man in Atlanta and Maddux turns Derrick Turnbow into a harder throwing Kolb.

*Jeff Jenkins is going to be the key to the second half. Jenks is spanking the ball going into the All Star break. If he can continue this in the second half, he makes Carlos Lee an even more potent clean up hitter and Jenks will be the linch pin in a offensive juggernaut, along with Brady Clark, Ricky Weeks, Lyle Overbay, and Bill Hall.

*Prediction: Ben Sheets wins 12 games in the second half.

*Prediction: The Brewers finish the year at 80-82.

*If Jenkins does start to pick up the pace in the second half, it is going to be very interesting to see if Bob Melvin sticks with him or tries to trade him. Jenkins is a helluva a defensive outfielder. He is also a guy I consider to have a winner's attitude. That's tough to get rid of when you have a young club you are trying to infuse with a winning attitude.

*Overbay could end up being the bigger trade bait in the second half. The problem is, who is going to be looking for an Overbay type guy?

*Ned Yost is going to be a successful big league manager. I just hope it will be here and not somewhere else.

*Bill Hall will not be in the long term future of this club. He is a very solid utility big leaguer, an asset to any team. With the infield talent this team has growing at all levels, though, I don't think he'll ever have the offensive consistency necessary to beat down the competition.

*Prediction: J.J. Hardy will struggle through this entire year offensively. Hardy has hit a lot of balls very hard this year right at people, though. Next year, Hardy will be a .280 hitter with 15-20 homers.

*A note from today's game-the Braves' Sunday jersey's are hideous.

O'Connor as Chief Justice

Apparently, she would be if Arlen Spector had his way. Despite her retirement, she's apparently been approached about the idea of taking over for Rehnquist. All the more reason for Rehnquist to stick around for one more term.

God help us if and when Rehnquist does retire. In the current environment, Thomas seems almost a non-starter for Chief Justice (although my personal favorite), and who knows if Scalia would be a possibility, either. I can just see John Paul Stevens or Ruth Bader Ginsburg being a compromise choice for Chief Justice. The only good thing about either of those choices would is they would certainly be short termers.

If I were President Bush, and Rehnquist does retire, Janice Rogers Brown becomes a must nominee for the Supreme Court and Clarence Thomas the nominee for Chief Justice. They are both constructionists and highly qualified minorities. I'm extremely pessimistic about this fight, though, because Bush is much, much more like his father than he is like Ronald Reagan. I see expediency being chosen over principle.

Responsibility for London bombings

In near record time, apologists for the 7/7 attacks in London are already clinging to the simple nature of the bombs in order to try to divorce Al Qaeda from the these attacks by claiming it is the work of 'home grown terrorists'. Let us not forget that al Qaeda of Europe has claimed responsibility for this attack. Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda is the body of the octopus, but each one of these "of" groups is a tentacle, and chances are the body had some complicity in what the tentacle has done. Don't let terror apologists tell you otherwise. If not planning, they provided people. If not people, training. If not training, it was money, the very thing al Qaeda loves to throw in the face of the West as the very root of evil.

That Rehnquist is a card

I casually followed the rumors today of an impending Rehnquist retirement, the announcement of which never occured. I'm amused by all of the sources that were wrong. Now, if I had written on the topic, I wouldn't find it nearly as amusing as I do. But I do, and I hope the ailing Chief Justice had a good chuckle over it as well. I'd really enjoy it if he was intentionally having fun with us all.

Gutfeld guts Huffington

Wow. I ignored the Huffington Post today on my RSS reader because I was in no mood for the drivel. I should have paid at least a little attention, because Greg Gutfeld neatly filets Arianna Huffington for being flippant about the bombing in London.

Solidarity

The Union Jack will fly over this little parcel of the internet until midnight tonight. New posts can be found below.

May God bless Great Britain.

Misunderstanding the nature of the U.S. Constitution

Hillary Rosen has a post at HuffPo that I think illuminates how poorly people understand the Constitution these days. Here is the pertinent portion of her post:

The President, Karl Rove and their friends on the right claim they need an amendment to the United States Constitution to stop same sex marriage. They failed in the Senate last year but they will renew their push again sometime soon. Doesn't that mean that these people believe that the Constitution currently protects the equal rights of same sex couples? Why else would they have to pass a new amendment? If President Bush nominates a jurist who will "strictly interpret the constitution" and not make new law, it is clear that any Bush nominee will determine that such Constitutional protection for gay and lesbian families exists today.

No, it doesn't mean that they think Constitution currently protects the equal rights of same sex couples. What it means is that they recognize that the Constitution gives domain to the states on any issue not enumerated as a Federal power. Marriage is an institution that traditionally has been left up to the states to regulate. Any Federal legislation prohibiting gay marriage would probably be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional because marriage falls within state jurisdictions, not Federal ones. It does not mean that the Constitution currently says, yes, gays can marry, because the constitution does not address that issue in any way, shape, or form. By amending the Constitution, it moves a portion of marriage regulation from the states to the Feds. It is this faulty thinking, that the Feds have control over every law and regulation in this country via the Constitution, that leads to the Supreme Court legislating from the bench by finding that the constitution says things it really doesn't.

Presidential Secret Service Detail

The USA Today has a good article on the job the Secret Service does to protect Presidents & Vice Presidents. The last line of the article leaves one with a less than confident feeling, though:

Sometimes, he says, "what you end up doing is (saying) a very long prayer the night before the visit."

'He' in this case is Chuck Vance, a man who led advance security teams from 1965-1979. It is a little disconcerting that the leader of the free world's security is sometimes that insecure.

Terror in London

Reports are that 4 blasts have occured in London, one on a double decker bus, and others in the subway. Fatalaties are low right now, but that may or may not change. If there is any silver lining to this, it appears to be standard explosives without any bio-chem-radiological agents.

Update
National Review The Corner is an excellent place for eye witness accounts, analysis, and links to news right now.

Stealing Wi-Fi

A Tampa-St. Petersburg (wait, isn't the name St. Petersburg an unconstitutional violation of separation of Church & State?) man is being charged with stealing Wi-Fi by sitting outside another man's house and using his Wi-Fi signal (HT: Badger Blogger). If convicted, Benjamin Smith III would be facing a third-degree felony. I have a fundamental problem with this. If you set up the appropriate safety measures on your Wi-Fi, and somebody hacks into your system, then I can see the case for charging someone with stealing Wi-Fi access. If, however, the person with the Wi-Fi network does not protect their network, then they are essentially broadcasting their internet access to anyone in close proximity to their home. How can you charge someone with stealing a signal that is being broadcast with no protection in a small, local area? The owner of that Wi-Fi network is in essence giving away their access to the internet. If someone is misusing that access to steal information or access child pornography, then charge them appropriately for those offenses. If the signal is freely available and not being used illegally, then I don't see how someone can be charge with a felony theft. If you own the network, too bad. It's your own damn fault you didn't protect your network.

Pardon me...

...but I feel guilty about not posting today, so I had to squeeze one under the wire here. Last post! Eat that, Col. Ollie! Wait, the good Col. hasn't been around for some time now...

Rest in peace, Admiral Stockdale

Admiral James Stockdale, perhaps best known as Ross Perot's running mate, passed away today. Michelle Malkin looks at the Admiral's life.

The disturbing blog of Joseph Duncan III

As many know, Joseph Edward Duncan III stands accused of kidnapping and molesting two young children, and killing the 9 year old boy. It seems Duncan kept a blog, and if you have the stomach to peer inside the head of a pedophile and murderer, you can read it here. Here is a small sample:

My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die. As for the "Happy Joe" (Jet), well he was just a dream. The bogeyman was alive and happy long before Happy Joe.

It is a disturbing read. The worst part is if you use Blogger's next blog function, you'll see that disturbing blogs are not all that uncommon, but this one is particularly bad.

Brand strengthening

If you were a major manufacturer looking to strengthen your brands, is this how you'd do it?

Ford announced its new marketing campaign hours after GM said it was extending its "Employee Discount for Everyone" deals through Aug. 1.

The GM move was widely expected and set the stage for another intensification of Detroit's long-running price war.

They are just never going to learn in Detroit.

Live 8 happened already?

What? It occured over the weekend? Where was I? Not that I really cared to watch a bunch of self congratulatory rockers pat themselves on the back while boosting their record sales. Still, for something that was so important, it barely registered on my radar.

Random thought, likely controversial. And to be banned by SCOTUS

Part of the problem with the modern Supreme Court is that many justices have elevated themselves above the constitution, rather than working within the frameworkit provides. A similar case could be made that a number of our problems in modern society are the result of man putting himself above God, rather than working within God's framework. An interesting parallel, or just my tired mind? They are not intertwined, but the commonalities are curious to me. I'd like to hear thoughts mostly from readers who have dabbled a bit in studying constitutional law and/or Christian theory.

Military to forsake the 2 front war policy?

One of the U.S.'s long standing policies has been to have a military capable of waging war on two fronts simultaneuosly. This "two front" strategy is a lasting lesson of World War II, a time in which we found that as we swung into a war footing, we could only fight decisively on one front (Pacific Theater) while merely holding out own on the second (European Theater) until we had gained superiority in the first. The military is now reviewing the two front policy.

A lot has happened in the past 50 years. In 1950, the draft was an available to ensure the military had the man power to fulfill this force. Vietnam ended up making the draft political suicide, an action that we can only bring back successfully in the case of a dire national emergency. Meanwhile, military spending has been a favorite target for spending cuts among Johnny-come-lately deficit hawks who are really nothing more than anti-military types. This has left us with a military that today may not be capable of a two front war. But that doesn't mean we should give up on that policy. What it does mean is that we should work harder to bring the military in line with what we expect of it.

This line in the article is particularly disturbing:

Senior leaders are trying to develop strategies that will do a better job of addressing the requirements of antiterrorism and domestic defense, while acknowledging that future American wars will most likely be irregular - against urban guerrillas and insurgents - rather than conventional.

It is not a given that future U.S. wars will be irregular. The number one potential future threat to the U.S. will be the Chinese military. That threat will not be "irregular". The Chinese are desparately trying to catch up to us technologically, and they will always be superior to us in manpower. That is a very regular threat that will loom large in the next 20 years. And don't think the Chinese would threaten the U.S. alone. The Chinese have been cuddling up to Russia, and that could provide a second front threat to Eastern Europe if Russia continues along its current political trajectory. Additionally, saying that Iraq is indicative of our future wars is like saying the Boer Wars would be indicative of Great Britain's future wars. It wasn't. The Boer Wars were examples of the scuffles an extremely strong nation finds itself in while everyone else starts to catch up. Iraq and the War on Terror are similar for the U.S. While we are busy securing ourselves against deadly but not overwhelming threats to our nation, other actors on the international stage are slowly but surely working to catch up, and they aren't pouring their riches into those efforts merely to reach a status quo with us. The world we face 20 years from now is going to be vastly different from the world we are looking at today. And today ain't as bad as it seems.

While we worry about Iraq stretching us too thin, it is important to realize that we've barely even lifted a finger to fight in Iraq. Outside of military families, who has really had to sacrifice in their daily lives for this war? The answer is damn few people. That means this nation has a lot more available to give in a war effort if we found ourselves in the awful position of having to fight an additional threat.

An annonymous source in the article had this little nugget of wisdom to add to the discussion:

"Whether anybody believed we could actually fight two wars at once is open to debate," one senior military officer said. "But having it in the strategy raised enough uncertainty in the minds of our opponents that it served as a deterrent. Do we want to lose that? We don't want to give any adversary the confidence that they could take advantage of us while we're engaged in one major combat operation."

The deterence capacity of the two front policy is the ace in a hole. Look, we should be looking at improving and streamlining the military whenever possible. My fear is that we have a military that is trying to put the best face on a do more with less attitude that Congress and the American public are giving it. That might not be a terrible thing for a 1995, but we are heading into a new era where we can only begin to glimpse the threats we are going to face, similar to Great Britain in 1900. Asking our military to do more with less is not in the best interests of this nation's self defense. We will see the rise of wars between set piece militaries again, and it will be in most of our lifetimes. The best deterence for that is strength and perception of strength. Tossing aside the two front policy will do exactly the opposite.

Independence still sweet at 229

This is belated, but I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, and took a few moments to ponder what it has taken for us to get to this day.

Weekend project #2

The lovely Mrs. Jib was probably most pleased with with my cleaning of the garage, or the lawn work, or the staining I did this weekend, but this is my pride and joy. We have accent lights lining the top of our fence. These two lights have not worked since the day we moved in. In a pouring rain, I used my rudimentary electrical knowledge to rewire them. At first, only one turned on and I was a little peeved, but when I went outside tonight to admire my handywork along the sidewalk, I noticed the second had found it in its heart to work. I may be more proud of this than I am of graduating from college.

Weekend project #1

For one day, I set aside my complete and total fear of electricity and I lined a sidewalk with electric accent lights. It wasn't so scary-I was smart enough to not plug the lights in until I was finished.

Guess who?

A Jiblog first! A picture of Jib. I'd be the guy with the horrendous farmer's tan holding the bat.

Additional
I just realized that I spoke of myself in the third person. I guess I'm just another spolied, pampered beer league athlete.

Baseball, Politics, and Soros

I'm late to jump on the George Soros-Washington Nationals story, but here I go, and I'm going to make it short and sweet. Reps. John Sweeney, Tom Davis, et al, have an opportunity to show some conservative stripes here. They can tell Major League baseball that they'll boycott the Nationals if the Soros ownership group buys the team from MLB. That is a perfectly legitimate activity, and well within their rights. It could also stand to be an effective tactic, as Washington is a very fickle baseball market and any whiff of a boycott is sure to make the franchise just a little less valuable. By huffing and puffing, demanding that MLB deny the bid by the Soros group (of which Soros isn't even the head) and threatening to pull Baseball's anti-trust exemption, Davis and Sweeney look like asses. There have been ample reasons to pull Baseball's special status, but this ain't on of 'em.

It isn't hard to dislike Soros, I dislike him too. But this is petty and vindictive. The ass-sandwich Soros used his God given right of free speech to try to unseat George Bush, and he failed. These Reps. and their supporters can use their right to deny a Soros owned team their dollars, but what they are proposing is nearly unethical.

Satisfaction is...

A long weekend full of home projects, and not only completely finishing all of them, but helping a friend complete his, too.

Sorry for the radio silence this weekend, but the blogosphere looked pretty vacant, anyway.

Milwaukee Brewers logo

It was very tempting to head to the Brewers game tonight to vote with my chest for the old M-B glove logo (see background here). The Brewers had success under that logo, but that isn't why I miss it. I miss the glove logo because it was incredibly clever. I didn't catch the M-B arrangement until I was in my teens, and I've been a Brewer fan since I was 6 in 1982. The lovely Mrs. Jib did not see it until I filled her in on it, and she was in her early 20's. I have a throw back yellow & blue hat with that logo proudly displayed on it. And I was heart broken when the Brewers turned their back on it.

I want the M-B glove logo back. I like the barley sprig on the current logo, and I really like the spring training logo with the outline of Wisconsin in the background, but nothing tops that glove. I will make one concession to the detractors, though. The yellow and blue look is tough for some to swallow. Especially when it comes to those old baby blue pull over jerseys. So I think a nice compromise would be the Brewer pinstripes. The Brewers' pin striped jerseys were sharp and stately. Making this into a slightly modified third jersey would pull on my heartstrings, and those of a lot of other fans of the team. I think the addition can only be a positive for a team that may be seeing its newest Yount-Gantner turning double plays in the form of Hardy-Weeks.

We Were Soldiers

Were Were Soldiers is one of the best war movies ever made, period. I just finished watching it for the umpteenth time tonight, and my reaction was the same as it was the very first time-a number of emotions swirling about until the names of the dead are listed at the end of the movie, at which point it feels as though someone hit me in the chest with a cinder block.

Live 8 and your taxes

A number of conservative bloggers were charmed by Bob Geldof during a conference call on Live 8, and I don't totally blame them. Geldof has been masterful in setting up Live 8, as has been Bono, but a healthy dose of skepticism is always a good thing in the face of an onslaught of charm. Especially when the charm offensive may affect your tax dollars (via RushLimbaugh.com):

BONO: Live Aid, the original Live Aid, 20 years ago, was about charity. You know, we all put our hands in our pocket. This is not about charity. This is about justice. This is about people getting out on the streets, tuning in, being educated about what their tax dollars can achieve in the impoverished continent of Africa and elsewhere.

Most Americans believe the judicious use of their tax dollars on foreign aid is a worthwhile endeavor. We must all take great care as more and more people try and get deeper and deeper into our wallets, though. Bono can try to educate me all he wants about what my tax dollars can achieve in Africa, but I draw the line at Bono trying to determine how my tax dollars are spent, and that is really what Live 8 is about-creeping deeper and deeper into the American wallet.

I'm not saying that what Geldof and Bono are trying to do here is not worthwhile. It certainly is. What I am saying is that Geldof and Bono want your support in helping lift Africa, and that we should approach their opened hand with an open hand of our own. But we should have our other hand on our wallets, just in case.

SCOTUS vacancy

With Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, the speculation has commenced as to Bush's nominee for a replacement (the news media must be thanking their lucky stars they'll have something to talk about for the next 4 plus weeks). Alberto Gonzales's name is coming up a lot as a favorite for the Bush nomination. Personally, though Bush may make that nomination, I'm not too concerned about it. I don't think Gonzales has a snowball's chance of winning his nomination. He certainly will not receive strong support from many conservatives, and if Democrats make any attempt to obstruct him, he'll whither on the vine, and with him will die much of President Bush's political capital. If Bush were to be rebuffed by his own party over Gonzales, the lame duck label is going to set in quick.

Personally, I like the thinking that is going on over at Powerline:

If Bush nominates (Janice Rogers) Brown, the Dems will go stark raving mad--even more so, I think, than they would over the three favorites. If that's possible. But their craziness would strike many people as bizarre, especially given that the Senate just confirmed Brown to the Court of Appeals a couple of weeks ago. Further, many people would notice that the last time we had one of these bouts of hysteria was over Clarence Thomas, and some would notice a pattern. (The Democrats' attempted borking of Thomas was one of the low moments of modern political history, one that I believe nearly all thinking Democrats are ashamed of.)

Granted, the nomination of Brown would be a long shot, but there is some strategic sense to it. A Gonzales nomination could be too much of a mine field for President Bush. Anything remotely liberal, and you can start calling President Bush a lame duck.

Separation of church & state violates the separation of church & state

Heh. And it isn't even satire.

Spears opinion

I, unlike most, have trouble scorning Britney Spears too much. Yeah, her music stinks, I get that. And she is way too overexposed (media coverage and flesh). But when I look at Britney Spears, I see a pretty simple person who would have been just as happy married at 18 and on her third or fourth baby by now, and I just can't find it in myself to loathe that. It ain't my gig, but I don't hold it against anyone else. But she is becoming quite preggers now, and I really do wish she was a scoche less white trash. Sky News has an image gallery of the history of Britney's pregnancy to this point, and two things are clear. First, Britney really needs to consider buying some of those garments with underwire support. Second, it is time she consider putting the midriff away. Pregnant women are beautiful, but pregnant women who walk around scantily clad are sad views. Britney, put some damn clothes on already!

Freedom Tower redesign

I think I'm the only person who likes the Freedom Tower redesign. I like it because it is remeniscent of the old towers, yet at the same time it has very sleek lines to it. It is comforting, yet it has a beauty in its simplicity. Of course, I'm not a high falutin architecture critic, so what the hell do I know der hey?

When is a fountain a pool? When Wisconsin says so.

You just have to hate bureaucracy. The city of Chippewa Falls in West Central Wisconsin has a large, beautiful park by the name of Irvine Park. Last year, couple of local businesses 'pooled' their resources to build a fountain in Irvine Park in order to celebrate their 100th anniversaries. The fountain cost $100,000, and it was built specifically so people could walk through it, much as children run through sprinklers. The Department of Commerce green lighted it, and last year the lovely Mrs. Jib and I took an afternoon to enjoy it. But then the Department of Health got involved:

But when the Wisconsin Department of Health came knocking at the end of summer, trouble was in store.

The fountain, which is circular, features 12 streams of water that shoot toward the center of the fountain. The water was no deeper than the soles of a pair of tennis shoes and children and adults were able to walk and run through the fountain's sprays.

Doesn't sound like much of a swimming pool to me.

But the fountain was classified as an interactive pool by the department of health. And as a pool, there are a number of restrictions that the fountain didn't meet.

"It's quite disturbing," says Chippewa Falls mayor Dan Hedrington.

He even goes a little further.

"Some of the restrictions put on by the state are ludicrous," he added.

If the city were to allow children to run through the fountain it would be required to install a pay phone, install first aid kits, and put a heavy duty fencing around the area that would allow it to be locked and secure at the end of the day. There has even been talk that a life guard could be necessary.

To rip off John Stossel, gimme a break. Does the department of health have nothing better to do than hassle the city of this fountain. A life guard for a fountain that doesn't have standing water? Maybe the legislature should go back and remove some funding for the Department of Health from the budget. They obviously don't have enough to do now.

(Cross posted at the BBA)

Blogs to webzines

There was a lot of buzz yesterday around the blogosphere about bloggers re-identifying their sites as web magazines in order to fit within the FEC latest "campaign finance" regulation. I had the idea of doing a weekly print out and distributing for free or a nickel earlier this year when all of this first arose, but I don't like "fitting in" to things. I've changed my mind. Jiblog will remain a blog. And I'll say whatever I damn well choose, even if there are political ads in my sidebar. I'm currently averaging about 500 visitors a week. I'd love to see the FEC try to go after a schlub like me. They'd only end up with mud on their faces.

Video of a forming tornado

KARE out of the Twin Cities has a great video of a tornado forming on Wednesday in Minnesota.