The season is over (the silver lining)

Note: I meant to post the following at The Wisconsin Sports Bar. Go there and read it with a virtual beer instead of here.
***
Well, at least the Gwynn family had a nice day today. Tony Gwynn Jr. got his first hit 24 years to the day that pops got his first big league hit.

Sorry, that's about all I got for silver linings.

The talent on this team has improved, despite what we are seeing on the field. The attitude of the team has also changed, as evidenced by their ability to fight and claw their way back in games, particularly at home. Those were two huge mountains they needed to get over to get back to winning ways.

Unfortunately, some other things that winning teams do, and that they don't, haven't changed. The defense is atrocious. We can attribute a little bit of that to young players, but the entire team has a problem with it. Even Jenks, who at one time in his career had been a very, very good defensive outfielder. Winning teams don't play defense like the Brewers do. Playoff teams certainly don't.

They are also still prone to making stupid baseball decisions. Just look at last night's game. Bill Hall got picked off by a mile, and Weeks got thrown out by a mile going from first to third on a ball that he never held up on to see if it would be caught first-not that it mattered, he'd have been dead as a duck either way. Stupid decisions on young teams can be overcome with experience, but the Brewers have to be careful to ensure that these guys get smarter out there. Stupidity on the diamond can infect teams. The most irritating thing about the poor decision making is that there is absolutely no excuse for it. Most of the these guys have been playing baseball since they were about 8 years old. If you haven't figured out how to play smart in that amount of time, you're just lazy.

Finally, the Brewers' habit of relying on Mike Maddux to work miracles for them is finally backfiring. Maddux is a hell of a coach and a minor miracle worker, but even a miracle worker can only do so much with the guys he has. I wouldn't give you a nickle for for all of the heads in the bullpen. Also, I haven't really wanted to say this because so many have pinned their hopes to the return of Sheets and Ohka, but let's remember that we have no idea what we're going to get out of Sheets for the remainder of the year. I don't expect ace stuff, that's for sure. Ohka may be the more significant return because he at least adds some consistency to the rotation. And that's provided his rotator cuff holds up.

I look forward to some exciting moments in this season yet, but I just can't see how the playoffs will be in the cards. Yost had best use this time to iron out some of the kinks in this team, because next year there will be tremendous pressure on them to compete for a post-season spot.

Milwaukee safest from natural disasters?

Another one of those city rankings has come out, and this one ranks how safe/dangerous the top 50 metro areas in the nation are. Milwaukee was tied for first amongst safe cities. I won't disagree with them about Milwaukee being pretty safe, unless you count sewage spills natural disaster. But number one? That's just plain odd. This is a city that was hit by a small tornado in March just 6 years ago. For those readers who aren't familiar with Wisconsin, we do get our share of tornados, but not in March! (And no, there is no such thing as a snownado). One would think that the tornado risk and maybe flood risk would drop it down in the top ten a little. I mean, look at Chicago. It is an hour and a half drive down the lakeshore, and it is 12th. An hour and a half makes a diference of 11 spots?

I just find the list slightly odd. There is the comparison above between Milwaukee and Chicago. Then there is Cleveland and Columbus. Coulmbus is a little further south of Cleveland than Chicago is from Milwaukee, but just a little. Cleveland is #3, and Columbus is waayyy down at #39. I hate to say it, but Lake Michigan and Lake Erie do not dappen thunderstorms that much. Why do a couple of ticks in change of latitude make that much difference?

What is Mumbai was once Bombay...

Mumbai is the official name of the city we once knew as Bombay. Given that, can anyone tell me why the AP is still calling it Bombay?

Stupidity of advocating for proportional use of force

The New York Times today discusses proportional use of force in the Israeli-Islamist conflict. I'm not going to comment on the Times' take on the debate. Instead, I'd like to look at idea of proportional response as a whole.

War is a brutal endeavor. There is no debate that is should be avoided in so much as it is possible. When war comes, though, proportionality is folly. War is not about only hurting the other guy as bad as they hurt you. It is about winning so they cannot hurt you again. In most cases, that means you have to put a bigger hurt on the other guy than they put on you, especially if your enemy is particularly fanatical about their cause. If you are going to worry about proportional force during war, you may as well lay down your guns and let your enemy shed your nation's blood and get it out of the way.

Another aspect that supporters of proportional force like to advocate is avoiding civilians. Again, avoiding hitting civilians is a good Western moral of warfare. Just the same, if you rule out or severely limit your military's ability to hit targets in civilian areas, then you guarantee that your enemies will take refuge in civilian areas. In fact, the recent Western fear of inflicting civilian deaths during war time may actually put more civilians at risk as the unsavory enemy uses them more and more as shields from Western military strength.

Discussion of proportional force is weasel talk from defeatists. Our enemies and the enemies of Israel do not care one bit about using proportional force. If we do, then at best we will accomplish a very bloody stalemate, and at worse we will ensure our eventual defeat.

Additional
Yeah, what he said.

Further Info
What they are saying, too.

Bush administration gives Israel a deadline?

If this is true, I'm disappointed because I thought the Bush administration would know better.

The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources.

When an enemy thinks that they'll be pounded indefinitely, it takes a psychological toll on them. Uncertainty can be hell. When they know that they only have to hold out until X date, though, it is easier for them to steel themselves mentally to wait out the worst or resist. This news makes Hezbollah a tougher enemy to crush because they now know that if they can hold out for a week, the pressure will probably lighten.

Is that a beetle? No, a yellow jacket nest

Ugh, stories like this make me not want to leave home.

To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama.
[...]
At one site in Barbour County, the nest was as large as a Volkswagen Beetle, said Andy McLean, an Orkin pesticide service manager in Dothan who helped remove it from an abandoned barn about a month ago.

As a child, I was stung on the tongue and my life long fear/hatred of bees began. For a time in my late teens and early twenties, I'd put up a brave face, mostly so as not to embarrass myself in front of the ladies. By now, the lovely Mrs. Jib has seen me embarrass myself in nearly every way possible, so I feel free to run away from bees with my arms flailing and a high pitch squeal coming out of my mouth. If I lived in Alabama, I'd only leave home in a bee keeper's suit.

Comfort food for Israeli soldiers

I love this idea:

If your interested this is a organization called Pizza IDF which brings pizza and other types of food to Israeli Defense Force troops(IDF) in the field.
[...]
I have actually done this before it was very easy and safe. So if you are looking for a small way to show an American ally some support. This might be one way. The money spent also helps the smaller pizza shops they try to use to get their pizza. I would imagine right now the small mom and pop shops over their are having some rough days especially the ones in the north.

I just wish there was a way I could buy beers for American soldiers.

Natural beauty and risk

I've long maintained that the most beautiful places to live are also some of the most dangerous as they are prone to natural disasters. Frankly, Indonesia must be unbeliveably beautiful, because it certainly is dangerous. AP: Death toll from Indonesian tsunami at 339 so far.

(Editor's note: Despite the nonsensical grammar originally used in this post, it was written while completely sober)

Losing gets old quickly

I've played on a lot of losing softball teams in my day, but over the last three years I've been pretty spoiled. During those three years, I played on one of the top teams in one of the top leagues in the city of Madison. After moving back to my hometown league, I felt pretty good about the talent we had assembled in the lowest league on our night. Unfortunately, it just isn't coming together very well. Last night was 17-12 loss, dropping us to 2-5. We had two weeks off because of the 4th of July and a bye, and we looked rustier than an old Ford. After being spoiled for a few years by winning, going back to losing is tough to take.

Stats. 2-4 with a single and double. Season: 19-28.

The Israeli War of 2006

I have just a brief thought on the Israeli-Hamas-Hezbollah conflict. I don't think anyone really knows what the end game is going to be here. Many pundits are writing and discussing it with some very well thought ideas. Still, if you read 12 different pieces, you get 12 very different takes on it. Still others are maintaining a certain silence on events. That's a pretty good indicator that there aren't a lot of strong facts on which to base opinion and analysis of where this is all going. History turns in very unpredictable ways in moments of uncertainty such as this. It could all wash over quickly, but we may be best served by preparing ourselves for the worst. Either way, I think we'll have good idea over the next 3 to 4 days where this war is headed.

Squirrel house

These little bastards are on the verge of provoking me into a righteous rage.

Chemical weapons in Iraq

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters has been diligently reading translated Iraqi documents, and he has reported on a mound of documents that provide strong circumstantial evidence as to Iraq's pre-war possession of chemical weapons. We are really at a point now where people's minds have clouded over on WMD, though, and it will take a document that clearly slices through the haze. One of the latest documents that he covers comes close.

Exercise: Demonstration of the effect of poisonous chemical agents on living things through the use of the agent CAS [or SAS, but more probably the former]

1 Time of the exercise: 0830
2 Date of the exercise: 4/15/2001
3 Purpose: To acquaint the members of the base with knowledge of the effect of poisonous chemical agents on living things through the use of the agent SAS
4 Participants: All base members
5 Supervision: Lieutenant Colonel `Abdu al-Razzaq Hamad Nayif
6 Positive points: The exercise was carried out successfully.
7 Negative points: None.

Chemical Officer
Lieutenant Colonel
`Abdu al-Razzaq Hamad Nayif

Ed probably says it best at the conclusion of the post:

It looks like Iraq had enough chemical weapons material left at Talib to do some serious training -- and one has to wonder why they would do so much training, unless they intended on deploying WMD during an attack.

I will say this much-it is possible that Iraq trained with chemical weapons out of fear that, say, Iran had a stockpile. It isn't very likely, though, and it doesn't change the fact that Iraq had to possess the very materials they were not allowed to possess in order to carry out these tests.

Provisional Man Law

The lovely Mrs. Jib and I were discussing Man Laws tonight. I told her that under the Man Law Code, I am allowed to make one provisional Man Law that is in effect until such time that they can be heard by the men of the squared table. My provisional man law is that if a wife falls asleep on the couch with an alcoholic beverage that is only partially consumed, the husband is allowed to consume said beverage so that it can achieve its intoxicating purpose and not die a stale death. She claims that I forfeited that right when I violated a Man Law by taking home two beers from someone else's house after I had put them into my host's refrigerator. I told her that under the tuck rule, I was allowed to bring home one beer for me and one for her because she was with me. I put this to you men out there-am I on shaky Man Law ground here, or am I justified?

Breakdancing baby

You just can't go wrong with a break dancing baby on a warm summer night.

An ounce of knowledge...

...can be a dangerous thing.

Take for instance this post by Raymond Learsy at HuffPo. He tries to take the Washington Post to task for their story that asserts that much of the run up in oil prices is due to political fears of future oil supplies, not current supply and demand.

But then, quite gratuitously, added: "Though oil prices set a record for the New York Mercantile Exchange, which started trading in 1983 they still didn't match the all time inflation-adjusted peak. A quarter-century ago, after the Iranian revolution and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, the price of crude oil climbed to over $90 when expressed in today's dollars".
[...]
What the Post didn't tell us, were the same parameters applied to gold, which after all is meant to be a bellwether for inflation and political risk, we would be paying circa $1700 per ounce today. Gold was selling at over $800 per ounce at the time and inflation base of the Post's calculation. Gold closed today not, I repeat not, at $1700/ounce but rather at $670/ounce! So, thank you Washington Post. We are all going out immediately to our neighborhood jewelry stores and maxing out our credit cards on gold rings, bracelets, necklaces, and tiepins.

Truly, truly an over-simplified and faulty comparison, Mr. Learsy. Economists adjust for inflation so they can compare prices over time. Note that I said "compare prices over time." Just because inflation occurs over time, it does not mean that commodity prices hold constant with inflation. The real dollar value of gold only means a few things. First, gold is much cheaper now than it was then. Second, people are less worried about current inflationary pressures and are investing less in gold because of that. Third, and inversely to the second point, other investments like the stock market are providing better investments because current inflation is stable, removing demand from gold. Fourth, there is no fear that large portions of the gold supply will be taken off the market anytime soon-the fear which is driving oil prices up. What it does not mean is that gold and oil prices are both directly pegged to inflation.

Inflation is a factor that can influence commodity prices by influencing supply and demand levels, but commodity prices are not directly tied to inflation. Commodity prices are driven largely by current supply and demand and future supply and demand possibilities. That means that my one dollar can conceivably buy more of a commodity today than it did 25 years ago in real dollar terms. Pegging oil prices and gold prices directly to inflation shows an utter lack of understanding of economics.

When I first read Mr. Learsy's post, I treaded lightly because he certainly has some fine credentials and I was concerned that I might be wrong. After reading and re-reading Learsy's piece, I'm quite convinced that his analysis is completely off the mark and very lacking in the basic functions of economics.

Stripper free marketeering

I was looking through my trackbacks when I noticed that Independent Sources had picked up on my post on ethanol and sugar price controls. Very interesting post. The best way I can sum it up is that the author believes in a variant of trade that I am going to coin "Stripper Free Marketism." And the post includes pictures. And I fully concur.

Gunfire from the Mexican side of the boarder

The new Mexican government would be best advised to start taking security on the long American border seriously.

South Texas sheriff's deputies on Thursday were investigating whether Mexican gunmen who fired on deputies and Border Patrol agents from across the Rio Grande had crossed into the United States.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said 200 to 300 shots were fired from automatic weapons Wednesday night, but no one was injured on the U.S. side, and police didn't fire back.
[...]
"There is no doubt about one thing, that we were shot at from the Mexican side," Trevino said, "a barrage that lasted over five minutes, maybe even seven."

We in this nation show remarkable patience with what goes on along our borders, but if activities like this become commonplace, we will lose patience with it. Once we lose patience with it, we (and when I say we, I mean we citizens not we Government) will hold the Mexican government (and our own) accountable for these actions. Foreign individuals firing across the border on our security officials is a very war-like activity, and if it becomes common, Americans will view it as such.
(HT CQ)

Geopolitical lesson

Okay. It is September 15, 2001. You are in the administration of the United States, and 4 days ago your nation was attacked and thousands of your private citizens were gruesomely murdered. You look at a world map, but particularly at the map below. What conclusions do you come to? I will tell you right now what conclusions the Bush adminsitration came to.

1. The most troublesome nations for the security of the United States, because of their outward expressions of aggression, are Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea (not pictured).
2. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Sudan are also problematic, but despite their roles in radical Islam, they are all influenceable through soft power.
3. Unless we decide to mobilize for complete and total war, we need to maintain stability in portions of the Middle East while we take care of business in others.
4. We have the international will to eliminate the threat in Afghanistan.
5. We have justification under U.N. resolutions violated by Iraq to eliminate that threat.
6. We also have the ability to stage the military for war with Iraq.
7. As of this date hypthetical date, military action with Iran is undesireable because we cannot effectively stage the military, even though Iran may be the heart of the threats to this nation.
8. If we make Afghanistan and Iraq our number one and number two priorities, though, we can place a pincher on Iran that will further our ability contain them, and, if necessary, wage war with them.
9. North Korea is a completely undesireable place to wage war because it can rain destruction upon Seoul before we can do a thing about it. They are also secondary to the events of 9/11-the threat from them is their ability to arm our Islamist enemies with terrifying weapons of destruction.

The above would be a reasonable analysis of the situation on September 15, 2001. Now, looking at those 9 points and the map below, can you begin to understand why we've done the things we've done over the past 5 years? It is true that the first two stages of the war on terror have not completely eliminated the threat of terror, but then again, they never could. They were designed to both disrupt our terrorist enemies and also to give us a base strength in the Middle East from which we could use soft or hard power to further set back Islamism in the next stages of this war. Unfortunately, too many are already looking to wrap up our war on terror, as they do not understand that we are truely only at the end of the beginning of this conflict.

Geography time

There is a lot going on in the Middle East right now, so it is time for Geography class. Please memorize the countries and capitals on this map. You will be quized on this. Failure to pass the quiz will result mocking and ridicule. (Click for enlarged version)

Radical Mexica Movement calls Paul Harvey a "top racist" Nazi

I've pissed and moaned on this page about 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee placing Paul Harvey in their lineup, but I'm going to have to rethink that criticism. The reason I'm going to rethink it is because the self proclaimed 'radical' Mexica Movement loathes him:

The Mexica Movement calls Harvey and McIntyre "the top racist Nazis in this campaign against our people" who, they say, "are promoting racist hate against our people and they are promoting an atmosphere of fear in our communities."

Saying McIntyre has "incited bomb threats" against the MeCHA-supported school in Los Angeles, and that Harvey – "the other monster" – is "proud of the racist genocide that Europeans committed against the Indigenous people of this continent," Mexica calls the almost universally loved elder statesman of talk radio "the KKK of the radio airwaves."

I loathe radical ethnocentrics, and groups like the MeCHA, La Raza (The Race), the Mexica Movement, and Voces de la Frontera (Voices of the Border) are dripping with ethnocentrism. I find myself in a position where I wish radio stations all across the country could find more time on their airwaves for Harvey.

Hunderd

I talk with people all over the country every day. I pride myself in scrubbing away any Wisconsin or Midwestern accent that I have during these conversations. There is one thing I just cannot get past, though, and that is saying "hunderd" when I mean to say hundred. When I am pointedly thinking about it, the correct pronunciation comes out of my mouth. The second I stop thinking about it, I'm right back to "hunderd." I think I say hunderd a hunderd times a day.

PSA: Jack Palance is still alive

I just thought I'd pass along the fact that Jack Palance is still alive. I offer this public service because I thought he died years ago.

This also gives me the chance to tell an odd side story. My wife and her siblings are movie, music, and TV nuts. I am not. She and I were playing some movie game one night against her brother and sister when I witnessed one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen. The answer to the question at hand was Jack Palance. My sister in law turned to my brother in law and this is the exchange I witnessed:

Sis in-law: He was on Hollywood Squares...
Bro in-law: Jack Palance!

Honestly, those two creep me out.

Walmart: No prosecutions for theft under $25

Walmart has a new shoplifting policy. They won't prosecute first offenders that shoplift less than $25 in merchandise.

Wal-Mart is moving away from what it called a zero-tolerance policy on prosecuting shoplifters and will now only prosecute anyone caught taking merchandise worth $25 or more, according to a published report.

The New York Times reports the change in policy, citing internal documents from Wal-Mart that say it will now only press charges against those between the ages of 18 and 64 who take at least $25 worth of goods. Formerly its policy was to press charges against anyone who took at least $3 in goods.

When I first read this, I thought "what the hell are they thinking?" Then I reached way back into the vaults of my memory to the days when I was in retail management. Do you know what I realized? Not very many people shoplift less than $25 in merchandise, anyway, and the ones that do are usually first timers making a stupid, one time mistake. Even those that steal CD's or DVD's usually take multiple products that add up to over $25. In fact, with one or two exceptions, I can't remember sitting in a loss prevention office with shoplifters that tried to steal less than $50 in merchandise.

The randomness of the Google search

I'm not really sure how it happened, but I somehow became the number two result for this Google search term. I suspect that I'm getting a handful of visitors everyday that leaves here very disappointed.

Fort Atkinson baseball on SI.com

How cool is this? The little ball field in the town I live in, the one with tree branches that are in play and which I drive by every single day, the one I've watched games at, drank cheap beers at, and taken photos at, is on SI.com. Hat tip York.

The return of 'Crib Notes'

Two years ago during the infancy of this blog, I used to post a collection of my daily thoughts which I called 'Crib Notes'. I gave up on Crib Notes because most of the material was full post worthy. I haven't had much time today to think through full posts, and I'm going to be tied up for most of the evening, so here is a special edition of Crib Notes.

*The arc of Demcratic thought on budget deficits has been interesting over the past 11 years. In 1995, they claimed that the Gingrich led Republicans were going to achieve a balance budget with smoke and mirrors, and that it would vanish by 2002 or 2003. Then, once accomplished, they claimed it as a Clinton/Democrat victory. Then when it did disappear right around the time they had predicted, they could not toss those old grenades without fragging themselves. They have effectively framed Republicans as just as big of tax and spenders as themselves since 2002, though.

*The above point was inspired by a Mickey Kaus column in the May 22, 1995 issue of The New Republic.

*I haven't commented on Israel/Hamas/Hezbollah/Palestine/Lebanon/Syria/Iran because I haven't ironed out my opinion yet. Instead, I'm content to watch events unfold and take things from there. I will say this, the Middle East has been a gas tanker waiting for a spark since at least 1979, probably longer. The sparks just keep falling closer to the gas every year.

*Am I the only one who was pleased to see that Cheney has gotten under Putin's skin? Can anyone say good cop-bad cop?

*I read this on Kevin Barrett and academic freedom, and while I don't completely disagree with it, I will say this much. There is only one way to send a message to UW that parents are more concerned with quality of education than vague, nebulous threats to academic freedom, and that is by sending your kids to the University of Minnesota.

*This one is gross, so be warned. With the news that Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro might not make it, how much of his sperm do you think has been harvested since his injury? One would think Barbaro would have some very valuable genetic material to his owners.

*Back to politics. I don't think liberals could win the war on terror. Here's my reasoning. For liberals, the world is a wonderful array of various shades of gray. To our Islamist enemies, it is quite black or white. To them, the war is about conquering or dying.

*Here's a thought on prisoner exchanges for kidnapped Israeli soldiers. If Hamas or Hezbollah kill 8 Israeli soldiers to kidnap 2, and then demand 1000 prisoners in exchange for the two, then Israel should treat it as a quid pro quo. Israel gets its two soldiers back, and Hamas/Hezbolah get 200 live prisoners back and 800 dead ones. But I doubt Hamas/Hezbollah would be too fond of a quid pro quo exchange.

*The politicking between groups that are pro-abstinence and groups that are pro-safe sex is tragically comic. Both work off of the faith that people can be trusted to make the right decision in a sexual situation (Say no or wearing a condom), and neither can accomplish their goals without the other. Yet they fight each other.

Military geography

Part of my collegiate education was spent in the History Department. I honed my geekiness there (thank goodness the lovely Mrs. Jib came along before the History did). As such, I developed an interest in all things military. That's why I'm looking forward to scouring this site on Military Geography. I haven't looked at it in depth yet, but if you share my pathology, check it out.

Correcting a wrong

Why don't I have Patrick McIheran blogrolled? He clearly has great taste and a refined sense of humor. I'm going to have to do one of my thrice yearly blogroll updates.

Quote of the Day

"The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly." ~Theodore Roosevelt

The nature of war

With the U.S. now assuring detainees of Geneva rights, I think this thought that I had randomly jotted down a couple of weeks ago in my Moleskine is timely:

War between people who love life and people who welcome death is invariably fought on the terms of those who welcome death.

We may be taking the high road here, but it won't change the fact that radical Islamic terrorists will dictate the brutality of the battles.

Elisberg's "50 questions"

I don't know who Robert J. Elisberg is, but he is obviously famous and important enough to be part of Arianna Huffington's blogger club. On Thursday, he posted "50 Questions to Ask Any Republican." I guess I don't really see the point, but it has been a while since I've partaken in a pointless task so I am going to answer his questions here without any prodding from any lefties. Without further adieu, here we go.

1. What are the Top Seven best things that the Bush Administration has done?
Jib: Responding aggressively to radical Islamic terrorism, removing Saddam Hussein, responding proactively to the Clinton recession, continuously fighting against higher taxes, nominating good jurists to Federal courts, working through complicated diplomacy in regards to North Korea instead of relying on force, getting private account reform to Social Security in front of the nation despite the lack of reform,

2. Is the Iraq War is going well?
Jib: It certainly hasn't gone as quickly and smoothly as the Gulf War, but the project has been much bigger. It is difficult to say it isn't going well when you consider that Iraq has settled on a constitution and has developed a representative form of government more quickly than we did in the infancy of this country.

3. After three years thus far, when do you think Iraq might be able to "stand up" so that America can "stand down"?
Jib: Between 1 year and 2 years from this date. A little less than the amount of time it took for us to "stand down" in Germany and Japan after WWII.

4. For his part in the event, how would you rate the job the President did protecting New Orleans from devastation?
Jib: The responsibility for protecting New Orleans from devastation cannot be place on one President, or just the Federal Government, or just the state of Louisiana, or just the City of New Orleans. This disaster was facilitated by people at all levels of governments and the local community over 50 years. Giving a grade to one President is to place complete responsibility into one individual, which patently unfair. In the big picture, all levels of government performed poorly. The President's performance was fair at best.

5. How do you think the rebuilding of New Orleans is going?
Jib: Couldn't say, I haven't been there. I have talked with people in both that area and on the coast of Texas, and they describe rebuilding efforts from the hurricanes as slow.

6. When Dick Cheney and the oil company and energy executives met in private to plan America's energy policy, how much of their goal was to benefit consumers?
Jib: Can I get a citation on when this grand summit of the evil Cheney and the evil Oil Barons met to develop this Communist 5 year plan you are describing? If I were to speculate, I'd say that any conversation on national energy policy considers the well being of the national economy but not customer service, so to answer your question, not much specifically.

7. Do you believe in the President's call for an Era of Personal Responsibility?
Jib: Yes

8. Since Republicans control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, how personally responsible are they for conditions in America today?
Jib: Partially, without a doubt, and their influence will continue to be felt 10, 25, and 50 years from now. Just like the actions of previous Democrat and Republican Presidents and Congresses have influence in the current conditions in America today.

9. Why do you think they haven't been able to find anyone who can verify that George Bush ever showed up for National Guard duty in Alabama?
Jib: Who the hell cared who George W. Bush was back then? That's your answer-nobody.

10. Would you want Donald Rumsfeld to plan your daughter's wedding?
Jib: Okay, bizarre question. No, no more so than I want government planning my retirement. But if he could bring some kickass fireworks to the reception, I'd appreciate that.

11. Are you aware that no government in the history of civilization, other than the Bush Administration, has lowered taxes during a war?
Jib: Great! Make that my 8th accomplishment of the administration

12. Are you married?
Jib: Yes

13. Do you personally feel threatened by gay marriage?
Jib: Nope. That doesn't mean that I think it is right.

14. Since getting elected, do you think the President has been more a uniter or a divider?
Jib: I think his best of intentions has been to be a uniter. Tough to unite with an opposition party that really has no motivation to unify with your party, though. The minority party doesn't regain the majority by unifying with the majority, and Democrats know it.

15. How do you explain the President's approval rating going from a high of 90% to the current mid-30%?
Jib: Two things. It has become quite common for second term presidencies to take a big popularity hit. Bush compounded this by pursuing some policies that really pissed off his core supporters. Most second terms (Truman excepted and Nixon excluded) end on a popularity high note, though. Bush can never top his post 9-11 high (and God help us if something happens that replicates it), but he'll rebound nicely by the end of his term.

16. Do you like the government collecting personal data on you without a warrant?
Jib: Not particularly. If I start chatting with al Qaeda in my sleep, though, I fully support them spying on my ass.

17. How much money do you have in your bank account, stocks and investments?
Jib: Less than you do, bucko.

18. What's your partner's favorite sex position?
Jib: It's called "The Taxpayer." I get to play the part of "Big Government."

19. If you have nothing to hide, why aren't you answering?
Jib: What? I did.

20. Should we build a wall along the Mexican border?
Jib: No. A good electric fence will do. We can use it to tie the California and Texas power grids together.

21. Why isn't anyone building a wall along the Canadian border?
Jib: When was the last time an illegal Quebec immigrant stole a social security number, and address, created a false identity, and worked here illegally, all while refusing to assimilate? Wait, check that last item. Besides, the environmentalist in me knows that it would impede the movement of the poor moose or caribou or something.

22. Does that terrorist gang arrested in Canada count as a threat?
Jib: Yes.

23. If you shot someone in the face while drinking, how fast would the police show up to arrest you?
Jib: Depends. I live in Wisconsin, so it may take a while. If I did it in Milwaukee, the answer to your question would be "never."

24. If Donald Rumsfeld had planned your daughter's wedding three years ago, would the guests still be there?
Jib: Huh? Are you trying to compare Iraq to a wedding, you fool? To answer your question, yes, if it were a hell of a party.

25. Even if no laws are broken, do you think it's okay to reveal the name of a covert agent?
Jib: Nope. Especially if you are married to her.

26. During your lifetime, approximately how often have you changed your mind?
Jib: Enough times.

27. Why shouldn't people dismiss you as a flip-flopper?
Jib: I don't change my mind on the toppings I like on my pizza because of the current popularity of pizza toppings. Likewise, I wouldn't change my mind on my support for a war just because of the latest poll, especially if my vote facilitated that war.

28. Where do you think the Weapons of Mass Destruction might be?
Jib: Most likely Syria, in the Bekka Valley. Although I'm sure Syria is doing its damnedest to make sure they are never tied to them.

29. Where do you think Osama bin Laden might be?
Jib: Either along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan or Iran. Most likely the former, though.

30. Is it fiscally responsible to cut taxes, increase spending and create a $9 trillion federal debt?
Jib: On the cutting taxes, yes. On the increased spending, no.

31. Are you glad liberals passed such programs as Social Security, Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, women's suffrage, federal deposit insurance, unemployment compensation, rural electrification, child labor laws, minimum wages and the 40-hour work week?
Jib: More or less, yes, although several of those programs have significant flaws. Whatever happened to those kinds of liberals, and why won't the liberals of today fix the flaws?

32. What are the Top Ten best things that conservatives have given to America?
Jib: Reagonomics. Star Wars. The fall of Communism. The end of the Carter presidency. The ideals of the Contract with America. Welfare reform (nope, that wasn't Clinton's). National pride during the 1980's. The end of stagflation. A marginally more reasonable taxation policy. A strong, confident, and extremely talented military. Keep in mind, we conservatives are not about giving Americans bigger, more faulty, and more bloated government programs, like those listed in question 31.

33. If you were on life support, would you want a doctor you'd never met making a diagnosis about you via remote television?
Jib: It depends. Does this doctor want to see me live or die?

34. Do you think man-made greenhouse gases have anything at all to do with depleting the ozone layer?
Jib: Umm, I though CFC's depleted the ozone, and CO2 was the greenhouse gas.

35. If Donald Rumsfeld had planned your daughter's wedding three years ago, and guests were still there, how many factions would they now be split into?
Jib: Two. The pro-chicken dancers and the anti-chicken dancers.

36. How good is it that the terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was killed?
Jib: Very good.

37. Are you aware that in 2002 the Pentagon knew where al-Zarqawi was and presented three separate plans to kill him, but the Administration refused to act each time?
Jib: Yes. Thank goodness Bill Clinton was never did anything like that with the architect of all of this terrorism, Osama bin Laden.

38. Is George W. Bush the kind of guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with?
Jib: Well, I'd have a beer. I'd insist on a soda for the President. It would be pretty cool if Cheney were on shotgun with us, too.

39. When he started talking about being a Born Again Christian, would you want to stay or leave?
Jib: I'm fine with it. I'm a Christian, but the stodgy Lutheran kind, not the Evangelical type. Still, tolerance, right? Isn't that what a good liberal is full of?

40. Is Ray Romano the kind of guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with?
Jib: Sure.

41. Would you want him to be President?
Jib: Depends. Is he a good conservative?

42. Does the Administration have an environmental policy that benefits the environment?
Jib: Yes. By defeating John Kerry, they reduced the level of hot air in the atmosphere by 50%.

43. Since George Bush campaigned for President strongly against nation building, in what ways are our actions in Iraq not nation building?
Jib: Funny how watching your nation attacked can change your perspective, isn't it? Or did your perspectives of the world not change?

44. What's the maximum amount of time you'd want to spend alone with Dick Cheney?
Jib: Depends on when my wife expects me home for "The Taxpayer."

45. After dismissing Saddam Hussein's old Iraqi army, was it a good idea to let them keep their rifles?
Jib: What difference was it going to make? Over half of them had already fled the military. And the Middle East isn't England-weapons are pretty easy to come by. Good idea? No. Big difference maker? No.

46. Would a policy that allows torture be something that makes you proud as an American?
Jib: If it prevented the deaths of thousands of my fellow countrymen, I think I could probably live with it.

47. Has the Mission been Accomplished?
Jib: The set piece military conflict with the nation of Iraq has, yes. The "Mission" of stamping out Islamic terror is no where near complete, though.

48. Do you feel comforted that Dick Cheney is a heartbeat away from being President?
Jib: Yes.

49. If Donald Rumsfeld had planned your daughter's wedding, and guests started fighting and were killed, would you expect to be allowed to view the caskets when they were returned home?
Jib: Yes, but I would be adamantly opposed to the press photographing them.

50. How glad do you think George Bush is that he's no longer active in the National Guard?
Jib: Probably pretty good. He is 60, you know.

Danica Patrick to NASCAR?

Maybe.

T.J. Patrick, who has managed his daughter's career since her childhood, was at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, holding exploratory talks with some Nextel Cup teams and sponsors about the possibility of Danica leaving the IRL for NASCAR as early as next year
If she does make the jump, it will be a true test of her talent. NASCAR is, whether open wheel fans like it or not, the best of the best of American racing.

(Disclaimer: This post is a blatant effort to drive traffic. If you came here from a search for Danica Patrick, here are some pictures)

The diplomatic chess game we don't see?

Are we playing a high level diplomatic chess game in Southeast Asia?  I ask because there has been ample (and short sighted, in my opinion) criticism of President Bush over the past week in regards to the administration’s approach to North Korea.  I think the administration has correctly identified that China is the key to North Korea, which is why we will not depart from the 6 party talks.  On top of that, look what has happened in the week since North Korea launched its 7 missiles.  Japan has increased its talk of military build up and of the possibility of using preventative, offensive strikes, a possibility that surely unnerves China and North Korea.  Taiwan began rumblings about doing its own missile test, which surely irritates and unnerves China as well.  Finally, and perhaps more coincidentally, India tested a medium range missile.  All of this may serve to show China how undesireable a wild and wooly SE Asia is in their own backyard, and may up the ante for them to dial up the pressure on North Korea in exchange for having us dial back Japan and Taiwan.

E.72

This is an alcoholic who doesn't screw around:

According to Neddermeyer, he showed up for work on April 21 and saw that there had been a spill of fuel alcohol. Hundreds of gallons of 190-proof alcohol were held in a 6-inch-deep holding pond that was about 30 feet by 24 feet.
[...]
"I am a recovering alcoholic, and I thought about the availability of this alcohol throughout the day," he wrote in a statement later provided to state officials. "Curious about the taste and its effects, I dipped into this lake of liquor and drank what I considered to be 2 to 3 ounces. The next thing I remember is waking up in Crawford County Memorial Hospital."

His blood alcohol content was .72! I once had a roommate that was so drunk that when he was puking, it just rolled out of his mouth and dribbled down his chin. We got him to a hospital 3 hours after he drank the vodka spiked beer that messed him up, and he was a little over .20. .72 is fraking pickled folks, and I mean pickled in the literal sense. They could have sold this guy as a cannibal bar snack at a BAC of .72.

USDA: Sugar ethanol not profitable in long run

Thank goodness for the USDA. They were around to tell us that it is cheaper to make ethanol from corn than from sugar.

Making ethanol from sugar could be profitable with the current high demand for the gasoline substitute, but it probably won't be for long, the Agriculture Department said Monday.
[...]
The report concluded that sugarcane and sugar beets were nearly 2 1/2 times as expensive to turn into ethanol as corn.

Now if you've been following the ethanol industry at all, the first question that will pop into your head is probably, "how does Brazil do it, then?" Good question. I'll let the last paragraph of the article explain it:

Some lawmakers from those states have been pushing sugar-to-ethanol, citing the model of Brazil, which produces ethanol made from sugar cane. But Collins noted that Brazil has cheaper sugar than the U.S.

Now, why is that sugar is more expensive here than Brazil? Ah yes, that's right, the lawmakers from "those states" that produce sugar have made sure that we prop up the price of sugar. Sugar producers could be very competitive with corn in the manufacture of ethanol if they just got the government out of the free market.

The tight ship Mexico

Imagine that. Not only does Mexico regulate immigration much more tightly than we do, it also runs its elections tighter than we do:

Mexico has developed an elaborate system of safeguards to prevent voter fraud. Absentee ballots, which are cast outside the view of election officials and represent the easiest way to commit fraud, are much harder to apply for than in the U.S. Voters must present a valid voter ID card with a photo and imbedded security codes. After they cast a ballot voters--just like those famously pictured in Iraq last year--also have a finger or thumb dipped in indelible purple ink to prevent them from voting again.

In the U.S. opponents of such anti-fraud measures as photo ID laws claim they will disenfranchise many voters and reduce voter turnout. But John Lott, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, notes that in the three presidential elections Mexico has conducted since the National Election Commission reformed the election laws "68% of eligible citizens have voted, compared to only 59% in the three elections prior to the rule changes." People are more likely to vote if they believe their ballot will be fairly counted.

Imagine that. There is less chance of voter fraud in Mexico City than Milwaukee. No wonder the UN wanted to monitor our elections.

The North Korean wildcard: Japan

I feel like I repeat this way more than I should, but I'm a big proponent diplomacy that is spoken softly in the shadow of a great big damn stick. As we continue on with North Korea, I think we may be seeing the most affective big stick imaginable shadowing over North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China. That stick would be Japan:

Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North's missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible U.N. Security Council vote on Tokyo's proposal for sanctions against the regime.

Japan was badly rattled by North Korea's missile tests last week and several government officials openly discussed whether the country ought to take steps to better defend itself, including setting up the legal framework to allow Tokyo to launch a pre-emptive strike against Northern missile sites.

The last thing either of the Koreas or China want is to see Japan start fiddling with it's 'defense only' military policy. This may be just the big stick that makes the soft speak more effective.

Endangered bees

Bees creep me out. On top of that, my neighborhood is bee central. Despite that, bees are apparently in jeopardy.

Insomnia...

...stinks. I lay in bed all night, and I get one hour of sleep. 6:30 rolls around, and I finally get tired.

Unintended consequences: Democrat edition

This is amusing. So Democrats want Tom Delay on the ballot this fall? They just may get their wish:

Former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay suggested Friday that he may not be ready for retirement just yet, a day after a federal judge ruled that his name must remain on the November ballot even though he resigned from Congress.

They won't have Tom Delay kicking them around anymore...er, then again, maybe they will.

Gotta love a liberal bookstore in a leftist town

Why, you ask? Because there are always good books in the bargain section. Today's find was Reagan, In His Own Hand, $2.99.

Grothman for Senate

Boots & Sabers is reporting that Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman is going to run against Herb Kohl for U.S. Senate. I know that there was some talk that letting Kohl run unopposed would free up Democrat money to go to the Governor's race, but personally, I think this will be little more than a waste of Republican monies and efforts at this stage. I'm sure Glenn is a great guy, but Kohl and the Democrats are really not going to need to devote very many resources at all to beating him this fall.

It's official: Toshiba sucks

I have a longstanding grudge against Toshiba. My first digital camera was a Toshiba. All in all, it was a fine camera, if you could over look the cheap ass construction. On mine, the dial fell off. For others, the battery doors snapped. I still liked the camera, though, and was even willing to pay to have it fixed. That's where the problem came in. Toshiba did not stand behind its products. My option with them was to send in my camera, and for some outrageous price, be sent a refurbished camera. If I remember correctly, the price of the refurbished camera, after the trade in, was more than the new camera had cost. Still, I really did like the camera itself. So I went looking for replacement parts. Once upon a time you could buy the dials, and the camera was only about a year and a half to two years old at that time. Notice that I said "once upon a time." Once Toshiba stopped making the camera, they stopped making the replacement parts. And everybody was having either the dial fall off or the battery door break, so nobody had stockpiles of the parts anymore.

Now I don't expect a company to stand by a product forever, or even after the warranty is up, and I don't expect them to make replacement parts forever. But when you churned out a piece of crap that literally everybody has a problem, you better make an effort to stand behind that product better than Toshiba did. That experience ensured for Toshiba that I would never, ever be one of their customers ever again. But I could never be sure if others felt the same way. Now I can.

It seems Toshiba just got a big fat 'F' from the Better Business Bureau. I now feel legally comfortable in telling all of you to stay the hell away from Toshiba products. While my camera took fine pictures, it was a poorly constructed piece of crap. This, along with the poor customer service, looks to be a recurring theme for Toshiba.

Luttwak: Silence, ridicule the best North Korea strategy

Edward Luttwak has what I think is the best analasys of the North Korean situation that I've seen yet. A number of pundits and analysts have said that the missile situation is North Korea's attempt to engage with us directly. Luttwak realizes that interaction with the world is dangerous for the Kim Jong Il regime unless the interaction is aggressive and bellicose. His final words:

Next time, let silence be the response, along with a bit of ridicule.

Read the whole thing. I think he's dead on.

Remembering 7/7

Boobs, hardly newsmen, part 2

In this post a couple of weeks ago, I noted that the New York Daily News would have taken a threat to their backyard more seriously than they took the threat to the Sears Tower. Just for the record, I am right:

The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned.

The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attack subways and other tunnels.

They apparently remember their editorial of a couple of weeks ago, because they make a point of contrasting this with the Miami 7. But a couple of points, mostly based off of this AP report on the attack plans. First, this plan was about as imminent as the Sears Tower plan. The conversation of the plot was being monitored in chat rooms. Second, AP report notes that the Financial District is above sea level and unlikely to flood from an attack. Third and a little tangential, at least no newspapers blew the ongoing investigation into the Miami 7. The Daily News just blew this ongoing investigation with this report.

Now, this isn't to say that the threat wasn't serious and the arrest isn't justified. I think it was a serious threat and the arrest very justafied. I just wanted to point out the hypocrisy of the Daily News, and also that I was 100% correct about them in my previous post.

Bush fans should be okay with McCain?

UCLA Professor of Policy Studies Mark Kleinman looks at John McCain over at the HuffPo:

The only real disagreement between George W. Bush and John McCain was over which of them was going to get to be President first. Now, after McCain's parade of "independence" - which was always more shadow-play than substance - they're coming together. That will be fine with Bush's fans. But how about McCain's?

Wasn't it his integrity they claimed to admire?

What? How did this goof come to the conclusion that anything McCain does would ever be fine with "Bush fans"? Most Bush supporters tend to have a long and deep animosity towards McCain. He does manager to eek out a decent point, which is that McCain is sacrificing his 'maverick' image a little in order to try to position himself better for the primaries, but he destroys the value of that point with his foolish statement about what Bush fans would be fine with. He makes himself look sufficiently out of touch with the workings of the Republican party as to make his points easily dismissable. But then again, he is is an academic. I guess being out of touch is to be expected. Plus, I guess "out of touch" plays well with the HuffPo target readership.

Calderon wins in Mexico

Felipe Calderon has won the recount in the Mexican Presidential election. I sympathize with Mexicans in that the choices presented to them were "status quo" and "make things worse under the guise of making them better." Calderon represented the "status quo," and Mexicans wisely, if narrowly, chose the lesser of two evils.

The great Democratic Underground WTC experiment

If you haven't seen it already, go here and look at this expirement by a nutty DU'er. He used chicken wire, a piece of concrete, a cup of kerosene, and a newspaper to try to simulate the stresses facing the World Trade Center after it was hit by the planes on 9-11. Most people with an ounce of common sense and just a little bit of scientific knowledge can see that this experiment is in no way representative of the stresses faced by the Twin Towers. It does not reflect the weight of the floors above the impact points, the enclosed nature of the fire, the quantity of flammables, the true structure of the the buildings and how they supported floors and the weight above, and everything is out of scale. Just to name a few things. But the best part, in my mind, came down in the comments. These two comments in particular:

#1
You should see the National Geographic documentary on the tower collapses. An MIT professor performs a similar experiment, involving a miniature model of the trusses which supported the floor system of the WTC. That experiments results in the truss failing very quickly.

I certainly don't believe 9/11 was exactly what we've been told, and I think the case for foreknowledge and even complicity is quite compelling, but this controlled demolition nonsense is just a distraction, in my opinion.

The NG docu can be downloaded here:
http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video_september11....

#2
That's show biz. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in anything you see on TV, trusted brand name or not. When did National Geographic get into the engineering business, anyway?

Commentor number one has shown that he or she still has at least one foot on the ground and some semblance of common sense remaining. Commentor two has shown how the echo chamber of some leftist sites has destroyed perspective and common sense. To number two, this two bit experiment at a leftist site that ignores a number of variables is more believable than an experiment by National Geographic that is controls for many more forces. Unbelievable. If you ever give up on primary information sources, dear reader, and start reading only blogs and message boards, I encourage your to give up reading this blog first and use that time to read primary and secondary sources. Your sanity will thank you.

Potential act of war?

Where was North Korea's ill fated TD-2 missile aimed? Perhaps Hawaii:

A North Korean missile launched on Wednesday was aimed at an area of the ocean close to Hawaii, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.

Experts estimated the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile to have a range of up to 6,000 km, putting Alaska within its reach. Wednesday's launch apparently failed shortly after take-off and the missile landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, a few hundred kilometres from the launch pad.

First North Korea has snubbed its nose at international protocols such as a notice to airmen and mariners. Still, while that made the launches aggressive, that did not make them an attack or an act of war. Had that missile held together and landed in U.S. waters off the coast of Hawaii, that would be damn close to an act of war on North Korea's part. But before we get overly aggressive on North Korea, it pays to remember one thing-North Korea may be the least desireable nation of the old Axis of Evil for us to interact with militarily. North Korea could drop a lot of artillery on Seoul with no warning, and there is little or nothing we could do about it. Even nuclear strikes on North Korean positions would conceivably be too late.

That is the big downside. Nobody wants to see artillery raining down on Seoul. If North Korea ever did that and attacked the South, though, their attack would likely be similar to the sting of a bee...suicidal. North Korea has a very large army, and they have a lot of equipment. But they do not have the means to keep that military supplied beyond a short engagement unless the Chinese blatantly supplied them. If Kim Jong Il ever completely falls of his rocker completely and triggers war on the Korean peninsula, do not be surprised if it is a brutal but short war.

Southeast Asia gone crazy

Ugh.

Taiwan plans to test-fire a missile capable of hitting China, alarming the island's main ally, the United States, a cable news network said on Thursday.

The Hsiung Feng III, developed by Taiwan's Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, has a range of 600 km (360 miles) and is accurate to within half a meter, the online edition of cable news network ETTV (http://www.ettoday.com) said, quoting unnamed military sources.

I'd like to say, "on the plus side, this gives China a little taste of what Japan and the U.S. are feeling in regards to North Korea," except this is a provocation Taiwan really doesn't need-unless of course they are looking forward to that Chinese invasion.

Seeing that we're discussing firing missiles, I'd like to announce I'm planning on firing a bottle rocket capable of hitting the Town of Koshkonong...if the wind is right.

The revival of the military dissent story

Remember the 6 Generals? The ones who came out a few months back as opposed to the Iraq War and plans, and who asked for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld? That military dissent storyline will be coming back this month with the release of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks. Expect the Post to support Ricks with some front page stories. Before we get to that point though, before the rhetoric begins to muddy the waters on the issue, make sure you read this column by Jed Babbin, and stow it away for when the words begin to fly. Babbin's column lays out the situation nicely, and his points will play nicely in the coming debate.

You make the call

Smart car...or penny racer?

#1











#2

Ostentatious jingoism (with flashing lights!)

Okay, one more thought before I become the first American victim of the bird flu. A small but very obnoxious part of me wants to buy this hat and wear it everywhere that I know it will annoy people. Hopefully the great bird plague gets me before I pull out the credit card.

Salmonella watch, 2006

Tonight the lovely Mrs. Jib and I dined on some baked chicken that she made from scratch. She is an excellent cook, but there was something seriously wrong with this chicken (not her cooking). We both braved our way through one hot but excessively slimy and bloody piece. I'm pretty sure we both faked our way throught he second piece (at least I did). After that, we agreed that the chicken just wasn't right and ditched the rest of it.

Logic says that any salmonella was cooked dead. Still, I've never had chicken that gross. If this blog goes dark for 72 hours or so, you can thank the chicken. If it goes dark permanently, you may want to get some Tamiflu, because it's here.

Okay, I've got to go now...my stomach is clucking.

The skeeter in the dirt stack

This is a pretty cool story out of Chetek, Wisconsin:

According to Davis, the well-diggers had to create an eight-foot-deep trench from the well to the house to install a new water line. It was in the dirt removed from this area that Zeltner and others began finding some interesting artifacts while playing Wednesday, June 21.

"I walked over and picked up an arrowhead, and then I picked up this petrified shell of a crab," says Davis, pointing to the relics gathered in the center of a table. "Matt started looking, and a little bit later I heard him say, 'Grandma, look at this rock.'"

Admitting he thought it was just a cloudy-white rock at first, Zeltner says he brought the rock in the house and washed it off. That's when the stone's secret bounty was revealed.

"I was amazed," Zeltner says of his reaction to his discovery. "After I saw the blood, I knew exactly what it was."

Inside the rock, which appears to be a piece of petrified sap, the form of a well-preserved mosquito is clearly visible. Also visible in the stone is a swirl of dark red, which appears to be blood.

"If you look at it under a microscope, you can actually see drops of blood near the stinger," says Zeltner's aunt, Deanna Humphrey. "[The preservation] had to have happened fast, because the blood is actually petrified with the mosquito."

Zeltner is 8 years old. That is a heck of a find for a kid.

Hunger credits

The rolling hunger strike has begun. This is serious, folks. God forbid that luminaries such as Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, and Danny Glover forego food for 24 consecutive hours. They might get hungry, and when you are a rich and famous star, it is a tragedy to be hungry.

Unless, of course, you make your living as a rawboned pixie, in which case hunger is striven for. Remember carbon credits? Watch for the bank accounts of stars like Calista Flockhart and Lara Flynn Boyle bulge as Sarandon et al come across some really good caviar at a Hollywood event during their 'shift' and they started calling up these sandwich deprived women, looking to buy some hunger credits.

"The stability of the country is at stake."

Those are the words of Manuel Lopez Obrador in reference to the pending recount of the Mexican Presidential election. Obrador is speaking in an unusual language, Socialist-Latin-Politicos, so I'll translate his words for you:

"Unless I get my way and you find the votes necessary to make me President, I will destabilize this country through an uprising of the poor."

That's just the responsible President we want presiding over the nation on our southern border. Even Al Gore was more responsible than Obrador.

The Lieberman fiasco

This is predictable, but internet liberals are going crazy over Joe Lieberman's decision to have a back up plan to run as an independent-Democrat if he loses the Connecticut primary. This alone gives me pause when it comes to the Democrats chances of taking any majorities this fall. Joe Lieberman has a solidly liberal record. As of this writing, he is still polling as the leader in the primary. This is a liberal Democrat who should be in no jeopardy of loosing his seat. Bush Derangement Syndrome is at such a fever pitch amongst internet liberals, though, that they are ready to cannibalize Lieberman. A party that is torn between a traditional base and a rabid (some might say foaming at the mouth) new base-to-be is going to find it awfully tough to please both its fractured components and uncommitted voters in general elections.

Thanks, ole chap...

...for the fireworks show to commemorate our independence. Hell of a gesture, you crazy cat, Kim Jong Il. Too bad that new rocket of yours doesn't work so well.

Recommended reading

1776 was a trying year for the Revolution. By the end of 1776, New York had been lost and Washington had retreated to defensive positions near Philadelphia. Belief in the revolution was flagging. At the end of 1776, Thomas Paine began writing a series of essays entitled The Crisis. The Crisis is today's recommended reading. The first installment of The Crisis, along with the Battle of Trenton, serve to prop up morale at the end of 1776. Even if you have not previously read The Crisis, you may be familiar with Paine's opening words from it:

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

July 4th births and deaths

July 4, 1826: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die, 50 years to the date that the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

July 4, 1831: Former President James Monroe dies.

July 4, 1872: Future President Calvin Coolidge is born.

Independence

Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred. to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

When was the last time a hunger strike accomplished anything?

I'm just asking.

Update
I've got very intelligent commentors. Thank goodness they both have their own blogs. Steve brings up the PR component of a hunger strike. Chris brings up a good point about follow through. The hunger strike meant something when people were willing to die in the hunger strike. Nobody, at least not in this country, is willing to die a miserable death of starvation for any cause today. So why should the rest of us care about an empty gesture? And here's an additional thought that I gleaned from the content of both of their comments-do we even have the attention span for a full out hunger strike today? Sure, the media might, but does the average American? I bet by day 14 most Americans would turn on the hunger strikers just because they got sick of hearing about it.

Vote against Capuano for the All Star game

The Wisconsin blogosphere is amping up a write in campaign to get the Brewer's Chris Capuano a spot on the National League roster. I say stop. Vote against Cappy. He is in the middle of a one year contract. He is going to have a great year and he is going to make plenty of money at the end of the season. I want him to become a rich man in Milwaukee, though, and at the most affordable sum possible. An All Star game selection is bargaining power at contract time. Vote Nomar! Cappy will get many other other chances...after the Brewers resign him.

Update
I think Benjamin has me on the technicalities of free agency in the comments. Go vote for Cappy.

What's Civil War Got To Do With It

I was reading this article at Reuters about Saddam's first wife and eldest daughter being on the Iraqi government's new most wanted list when I came upon this line:

The carnage, by far the worst since Zarqawi was killed on June 7, has raised the prospect of sectarian civil war.

The commentary was a little out of place in the context of the article's main point. I am now going to immitate every article on Iraq that is put out by the news services.

News Service. The Iraqi government today announced there are more working vehicles on Iraqi streets today than at any time in the last ten years.

The increase in the number of operable cars is likely due to the fact that more replacement parts are being imported into Iraq now than they were during the Saddam Hussein era.

The announcement comes on the heals of a car explosion near a hut in the middle of the Iraqi desert, the most recent glaring sign of a coming sectarian civil war.

Al-Delphi President Akmed al-Zawari says that the business environment in Iraq is much more favorable to import business now.

Iraqi civil war is becoming the media's Holy Grail.

Repeal Wisconsin fireworks laws

Tonight the lovely Mrs. Jib and I had a very nice dinner, and then we took our bottle of wine outside to enjoy a fire. We had planned to go to a local fireworks display, but why bother when everyone in your neighborhood has dropped a Benjamin or more on fireworks that are supposedly illegal?

When I was a kid, I hated Wisconsin's fireworks laws. It was always a treat when a relative had gone to South Dakota and picked illegal fireworks like Roman Candles or bottle rockets. Now fireworks like that are kids stuff, even though they are technically illegal. To be fair, I've always been very sympathetic to repealing existing fireworks laws in Wisconsin. At least until I bought a house. When I started to hear the hot pieces of aerial shells rain down on my roof, I became much less sympathetic. But as I sit in my backyard and watch arsenals of fireworks explode in the skies of my neighborhood, I realize that there is no desire on the part of the state or local authorities to enforce the laws on the books. Yes, it irritates me to think of the potential fire hazard these fireworks pose to my property, but if there is no desire or effort on the part of the state to enforce a law, please, just do away with it already.

"Meritocracy"

Vice President Cheney is at tonight's NASCAR race in Daytona, the Pepsi (Firecracker) 400. Chris Myers sat down with him and chatted during the race, and at one point Cheney called NASCAR a meritocracy. Now I love NASCAR racing, but I never thought I'd hear the word meritocracy used during one of the races. Too many syllables.

Tough crowd

I guess this guy isn't a big Sox fan.

Nasty storm

There is precisous little to write about today, and I'm bored as hell. I'll be continuing with the Flickr browsing so you don't have to. In this pic, a nasty storm is passing by.

More Flickr fun

A word of caution on this Fourth of July Weekend. If you over do the pork and beans this weekend, you may just find yourself in this situation.

Scary cat

This is the creepiest looking cat you are going to see all weekend.

Blogger coolness ID game

How do you determine which of your favorite bloggers are cool in real life with active social lives, and which ones are not so cool? The cool bloggers take holiday weekends off, unplug, and have fun.

I'll be here all weekend for your reading enjoyment.