Tony Snow, 1955-2008

I am saddened by the death of Tony Snow. Snow has done much to further the discourse on the right over the years via his columns, his radio show, and his time on television. While I might not have always agreed 100% with him, I always did respect him. As Press Secretary, he brought a small piece of assertiveness to an administration that did not display very much of its own. My condolences to Snow's family.

Miller Park at Night

Miller Park
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

I've been dying to take this shot of Miller Park for a long time. I had it all thought out in my head...I was going to use a long shutter speed and a smaller aperture so I could get the stadium just right while having a nice, blurred crowd shot. So there was only one problem when I went to shoot it-my tripod was in my trunk, and my car was way over in the general lot. So I had to adjust and do this basically hand held. I like it, but I didn't get as much of a blur on the sidewalk as I had hoped, and the lights on the right really messed with the composition of the entire.

Dumb

I stood underneath a pavilion tonight as a severe thunderstorm blew through. I must admit, that ranks in the top 10 of dumbest things I've ever done. As I held a teammate's aluminum bat with sand and rain blasting my face, I wondered what the hell I was doing.

Bored, Uninspired

By Gawd, I have been a horrible blogger this year, and mostly mediocre last year. I have to admit, 'the process' has left me bored and completely uninspired. Four years ago, I was gung ho for a flawed but respectable candidate. Since then, I've watched the Republican party do everything possible to shear itself from conservatism, and the president utterly fail to lead on domestic issues. I will get back into the swing of things, but 'the process' has left me with no desire to do so. I will do so in spite of everything that is going right now, not because of it. And I can tell you this, I will pull the lever for John McCain, but only because Obama leaves a deep level of distrust deep in my gullet every time I listen to him.

Poor Reporting Skills in Madison

The Capital Times has a story on the odd behavior exhibited by Charles Peterson prior to his murder of Joel Marino. The story is an interesting if shallow look at the killer, but one little piece of the story made me cringe:

Madison police apparently have a database of people who have exhibited strange behavior, the database maintained mainly for the safety of police officers if they need to make contact with the people on the list, but also as an unofficial record of people who might be dangerous.

What a horrible paragraph that is destined to creep people out about big brother. Let's take it apart piece by piece. First, they never should have used "apparently." They are journalists, and they should have asked a question or two that eliminated the need to use apparently, which is vague and uncertain for a story of this type, and thus allows the reader to create false impressions. An opinion piece can use apparently, a news story should only very rarely use it.

Second, if they are talking about what I think they are talking about, it is an in house contact management database that all departments keep, not some mysterious database that tracks your behavior. It really would be little different in action than the contact management databases that the Capital Times reporters and advertising sales reps use to keep track of their own contacts. This contact database allows the department to have an institutional memory of previous contact that they have had with individuals so officers can better prepare for future contacts. The notes in there might run from a mundane complaint to criminal activity.

That one paragraph is an example to me of how unprofessional the Madison media has been at times during these murder cases. They have every right to hold the Madison Police Department's feet to the fire, but for God's sake, report responsibly. Already in the comments to that story people have picked up on the mysterious strange behavior database and think that it is something that it really isn't.

I Forgot My Own Blogiversary

Damn. That's what happens when you get to be one of the 'old' bloggers-you get forgetful. Jiblog began on June 15th, 2004 with a post titled "Opening Salvo," which I could re-print here today and it would still be timely. If it weren't for Wigderson's anniversary, who knows when I would have remembered it.

Happy blogiversary, James. I'm glad I could hop into the fray and blaze the trail for you. You've done okay for yourself, rookie.

The Ten Mysterious Communications from Men

Yahoo tries to decipher men and women for each other on regular basis, and those features never cease to amuse me. Their latest piece, "Man Talk" Translation, is no different. So I've decided to semi-fisk it. Ladies, I'm going to add some context and alternate meanings to their ten pearls of wisdom. Keep in mind, I'm not some cornball dating coach, I'm a married man who is just offering you the real dirt.

1. He starts talking about how crazy all his single friends lives are, and then he tells you that he doesn't miss it at all. What most women will think if they hear this, is that he misses those days. This is not true. He says this because he is looking for confirmation that you feel exactly the same way. He also wants to communicate that he's ready to take the relationship to the next level.

Dude is tired of the dating scene and he is comfortable being out of it with you. Don't assume the ring is just around the corner. He's a guy, so he's pretty literal.

2. Since you recently took him to your family's house for dinner, he can't stop talking about how much fun he had with your brother. What he means here is that he really likes your family, and wouldn't mind being a part of your family.

As it turns out, they like the same beer and sports. They probably drank beer and watched sports. And grunted to each other during timeouts. It doesn't mean he likes your mother, although he might. But he might not.

3. He teases you about things like how clumsy you are or about how you put smiley faces in every one of your emails. What he's really telling you when he does this is that he really likes you a lot. Remember that men are just giant boys... we tease the ones we love and ignore the ones we don't.

He gets this one right, but remember, it has to be good nature teasing. Needling and riding you isn't teasing, and that guy is probably just an asshole.

4. A man tells you he needs his space. So what does this mean to you? It means that you need to ignore him and not call him. Men love the chase. By not calling him, he'll start calling you and wondering what happened.

Methinks the author is throwing his bros a bone here. If he says he needs his space, give it to him, but realize that completely ignoring him may mean that you'll never hear from him again. If so, he ain't that into you, so let him go...but you are free to bash him to all of your friends.

5. A man says that he really wants you to meet his parents. What does this mean in man talk? He's telling you that you are his girlfriend, and that he is ready to take it to the next level by getting you involved with his family. This brings us right to the next bit of man talk.

If you haven't figured out you're his girlfriend by this point, you probably need some remedial classes on "guy signals," and this list is doctorate level stuff for you.

6. When a man calls you and says, "I want you to meet my friends on Friday night," this is as big as meeting his parents. He's introducing you to his pack. It means that he thinks you are attractive and sexy, and he wants to show you off to his friends.

If his "pack" howls at the moon and hunts domesticated animals, be very wary. Seriously though, you'd better hope it means that he's into you. If he's just doing it because he thinks you're sexy and attractive, he may be showing off his trophy, not his gal.

7. After sleeping over at his house several times, he tells you that the next time you sleep over you should bring some things to make you feel more comfortable and a change of clothing. In man talk, that is basically telling you that he's wondering what it would be like to live with you. He also wants your things around.

He certainly could be saying that. He could also be saying that he likes the fringe benefits of you staying over, and he wants to make it easier to enjoy those fringe benefits more often.

8. You have plans with him on a Sunday, and you find out that he passed up floor seats to his favorite basketball team to keep those plans with you. What does that tell you in man talk? It tells you that he's hooked... and that you are his girlfriend.

Ladies, this has even more meaning than the author lets on. It means he is completely whipped and you own him. Try not to take advantage of the poor soul. I love and adore the lovely Mrs. Jib, but c'mon, we're talking floor seats here. This would be like you passing on a 90% off sale on [your favorite product] at [your favorite store].

9. He is watching one of your favorite shows on a night you're not together, and he calls you afterwards to talk about it. In man talk, what does this mean? By doing this, he's telling you that he pays attention to you, and he's interested in learning more about you and sharing more things with you. Men generally do not choose to watch "Project Runway" on their own. If we're watching your TV shows, we really like you.

Stop! The author gets this one completely wrong. He'd have it right if your guy watches the show with you. But if he watches Sex in the City on his own and calls you up to chat about it, he might be your gay best friend, not your boyfriend.

10. He tells you, "I've cleaned today." What this means in man talk is, "I spent the day doing something I dislike more than anything." You need to realize that when a man says this to you, he really likes you. To most men, cleaning the house is just about the worst way he can spend a day.

Partially incorrect. In man talk, he's saying, "I spent the entire day...well, in between beers and ball games...cleaning to impress you. Don't count on me doing this forever, because I didn't even do that great a job, which I'm hoping you'll notice."

I hope this helps, ladies. The dating coach is really good at theory, but he missed some real world things. I'm glad I could fill in some of the holes for you.

How Exploration Can Affect Oil Prices Now

I stumbled across this article at National Review today, and it is very informative. I suggest that you read it and learn a little more about the oil futures markets. This portion of the article is particularly significant.

With that in mind, anything Congress did today that indicated a change in philosophy concerning U.S. oil production would send shockwaves throughout commodities exchanges across the globe.

Just how much of an impact could such a change in policy have? Well, one of the factors involved in prices being determined on futures exchanges is the current disincentive for oil producers to sell their product today rather than months from now, a condition called “contango.”

As of Friday, the New York Mercantile Exchange price for July delivery was $134.86. By comparison, the November contract closed at $136.04, giving producers $1.16 more to hold their product an additional four months.

Commodities experts for years have claimed this contango acts to restrain the immediately available supply as oil companies opt to sell their product more expensively in the future rather than at today’s prices.

The point being an announcement today of vastly increased exploration will remove the financial incentive for oil companies to hold supply for later higher prices. This is actually the piece of the puzzle that has been missing in my mind. Demand has not risen so significantly this year as to justify the run up in price, so there is a supply component involved here. With Saudi Arabia and Iran even saying that there is enough oil out there for oil to be under $100 a barrel, opening up domestic exploration would go a long way to break the speculation bubble and remove any incentives to sell oil "more expensively in the future."

On Those Plug In Cars

I tried to make this point the other day.

But at 25 percent market penetration, we are now talking about a serious strain on the grid, which means more coal, nuclear, or hydro plants — all of which are as popular with California pols as drilling in ANWR. Says Jim Owens of the Edison Electric Institute: “If you continue the scenario (of plug-ins reaching significant market numbers), then you’ll need more capacity. And California isn’t building any new capacity.”

In other words, even if one of the most promising alternatives pans out, we’re facing the same challenges we face now with our “old” technology and supplies: Planning ahead (six years to construct $2.5 billion coal plants, or ten years for $5 billion nuke plants) to develop the resources needed to fuel tomorrow’s energy demand.

Look, it doesn't matter what path we take, we need to expand energy production. Doing so via the electric grid makes sense, but only if we are going to start unshackling ourselves from the bondage imposed by environmental groups. It is time to get over our nuclear phobia and start building more plants. In the mean time, solar and wind technologies can continue to be developed in order that one day they might actually be price competitive.

Sometimes the Dead are the Best Choice

Take Romania:

Romanian villagers have voted to re-elect a dead man as their mayor, to prevent his living rival winning.

Neculai Ivascu - who led Voinesti for almost two decades - died from a liver disease on Sunday, too late to cancel the contest.

The village's loyal residents still gave him 23 more votes than his rival, Gheorghe Dobrescu of the ruling National Liberal Party.

C'mon, like there hasn't been a race where you'd have rather voted for a dead man.

The News You Can Expect: Elian Joins Young Communists

I could have written this in 2000.  Really, anyone could have.  In news that was a matter of when, not if, Elian Gonzalez is used for propaganda.

Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy whose two-nation custody battle sparked debate about parental rights versus political freedom and ended with a raid by gun-toting U.S. agents, has joined his homeland's Young Communist Union.

Gonzalez, 14, was among 18,000 people who joined the communist youth group two days ago, said the state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde. The teenager is quoted as pledging fealty to ex-President Fidel Castro and his brother and successor, Raul Castro.

``Fidel and Raul can count on us,'' Gonzalez said, according to the newspaper. ``We won't let them down.''

Gonzalez may very well have joined of his own volition, but even if not, he was destined to be trotted out as a good little communist.  He is a trophy for the Cuban communist regime, and they are going to show him off every so often as long as the Castros run the island.

The Toyota Gamble

Even if you are a long time member of the UAW, I think you have to give Toyota credit for having a prescient view of the market. They make calculated decisions, and more often than not, they come out smelling like a rose. That doesn't mean that they don't make mistakes-their expansion of Tundra production in the U.S. is beginning to look like a big one. More often than not, their choices work out to their advantage, though, so the fact that they are following GM into the plug-in realm is very significant:

Toyota, rightly or wrongly, is widely considered the greenest automaker, and the company hopes to solidify its hold on the title and move beyond oil through a sweeping plan to produce cleaner, more efficient cars -- beginning with a plug-in hybrid it will produce by 2010.

It's no secret Toyota's been working on a plug-in hybrid to compete against the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt, but Wednesday's announcement sets a firm deadline and makes it clear Toyota has no plans of ceding the green mantle to General Motors. It also underscores how quickly the race to build a viable mass-market electric car is heating up.

Here's the catch. Electricity is not all that different from oil or any other energy source. Supply and demand set the price. So let's consider the electricity production market. Wind and solar are a long, long way off from being significant contributors to our electricity supply because they are just not cost effective. Coal and hydro power are cost effective, but they are stymied at every corner by environmentalists. That leaves one source of abundant, cost effective electricity to meet the explosive demand that popular plug ins would create: Nuclear. Unless the U.S. is willing to start fast tracking new nuclear plants, political pressure from the environmental groups be damned, plug ins will run into the same cost of operation problems that internal combustion engine vehicles already face, only the costs will spread to household and business expenses.

Fort Atkinson Flooding 2008

Fort Atkinson Flood 2008, Vol 2 011
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

Storms this week in southern Wisconsin have lead to historic flooding across the region. It is no different here, but fortunately the lay of the land is such that damage is confined to low laying areas. While horrible for those who live and own businesses in those area, it has confined the Rock River to a certain extent. I've taken some photos in an unobtrusive way as possible, and this one is perhaps my favorite. I suspect that by the time the river crests, this view will show a statue where one little boy is helping the other out of the river itself.

Rest in Peace, Tim Russert

I was a busy guy yesterday, but even with all I had going on, I still had to stop for a moment when I heard the news of Tim Russert's death. Russert was one of those few people in the political realm that was very likable, even when you completely disagreed with him or the way he as conducting an interview. From this recliner, Russert came off as a good guy who knew his stuff. Meet the Press will never quite be the same.

My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and particularly with his family. I know first hand how hard it is to suddenly lose a loved one around Father's Day, and I wish them much comfort during this difficult time

And Then, Finally, They Confiscated Our Sporks

Shocking.  It seems people will kill one another even if they can't get guns:

Britain is redoubling its efforts to stop young people carrying knives, after a volley of fatal teenage stabbings and headlines warning that the country is in the grip of a knife-crime epidemic.

Police have embarked on a stop-and-search operation to retrieve weapons, the government has warned of tougher sentencing for teenage culprits, and a "youth summit" has come up with a $6 million ad campaign to warn of the perils of carrying a knife.

So what does a good, caring, Western nation do?  Well, it starts by confiscating knives from the young.  But it might not stop there.

Another medical expert, Dr. Mike Beckett, argues that it is time to remove sharp knives from kitchens altogether. He says there is no need for the pointed tips that make knives fatal. "What people want in a kitchen knife is the edge," he told the BBC. "The point on the end of the knife actually serves little culinary purpose, but it is the point that kills people."

Next thing you know, you won't be able to own a plastic spork in the UK because of the potentially dangerous tines.  I say why ban objects?  Let's ban fingers instead.

Another McCain Campaign Slogan Idea

I saw this over at Ol' Broad's, and another campaign slogan for John McCain came to mind: Shoot yourself in the foot, not the head. John McCain 2008.

Wisconsin Storms and the Winds of Doom

Round four of storms is here. As I understand it, a good chunk of town is without power. I do not have such a problem in my part of town, but my cable is out. Thankfully, Tivo and the internet aren't out. I'd whine more about my cable being out, but I'm afraid of jinxing myself.

Tornado Look-Alikes

Most of us never see a tornado in our lives, so when storms move in, it isn't unusual for people to mistake non-tornado phenomena like scud (low, fast move clouds) for tornadoes. The National Weather Service has some great pictures of this that are extreme in nature. The photos look like they could possibly be tornadoes in the formation stage. In reality, they are scud that got pulled into a storm updraft. If you are a weather geek like me, check them out.

Storm Report

After things settled down, I decided to head out to get a few items to make life easier/more enjoyable tonight. I was aware that there were reports that a tornado had touched down on Janesville Avenue here in Fort, so I drove down to take a look. If one did touch down, it didn't do any damage. Interestingly, if one did indeed touch down, it is the third tornado Janesville Avenue has seen in the last six years or so.

There really wasn't much of any damage to be seen around town, although there was some minor flooding. I stopped at a grocery store where I talked with a cashier who worked through the storms. She and many others watched the "tornado" from the store, and they saw much the same thing that I did...a low, rotating cloud mass with strong winds at the surface. Base on what I saw, I'm not prepared to call it a tornado, but it is possible, and I'm quite sure a lot of people in town will have stories of the day they saw the Fort tornado.

Summer fun

Most of southern Wisconsin has been under the gun for severe storms this afternoon, and the system finally made its way here. When the tornado sirens sounded, we were quite ready and got move down there quickly. It wasn't too bad, and after it began to look like the storm had cleared us on the radar, I went upstairs to check. I looked out my deck doors and saw some very, very low clouds over us that were swirling. Then, out of no where, the wind was blowing very hard. Needless to say, I wasted that perfectly good pair of clean underwear. I also haven't moved as quickly as I did en route to the basement since I was 19 or so. Good news is that law enforcement never saw anything touch down, although they did see two separate menacing cloud structures move through town.

So to my fellow southern Wisconsin bloggers and readers still under the gun, take care all. These storms don't seem to be creating widespread damage, but they still aren't fun.

Update
Down we go again. The cat is really pissed off at life. We're not pleased with mother nature.

Update 2
All clear. I think I'll have a stiff drink or three.

I don't care who you are, this is funny

Guantanamo Military Judge Sentences September 11 Mastermind To Full Body Wax

Irrational Oil Market

Things are just getting crazy in the oil futures market.  Why do I say this?  Well, because we've gotten to the point that a prediction of higher prices can actually drive prices.

Oil is trading above $134 per barrel on an analyst prediction that prices could hit $150 by July 4.

Prices jumped $6.43 Friday shortly after Ole Slorer of Morgan Stanley released a report saying he expected a "short-term spike in oil prices," on the back of rising demand in Asia, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Slorer's logic could be dead on, but the fact remains that his prediction is still just that, a prediction.  The market is shorn of actual market conditions, and is now just drifting on the breeze of speculation. 

Race, Gender, and Presidential Politics

Barack Obama has finally sealed up the Democrat nomination for president against Hillary Clinton and much has been written about the first black nominee for president.  There has also been plenty written about the cracks in the "glass ceiling."  I have remained silent on the topic because I don't feel like begrudging minorities or women any feeling of accomplishment that these two candidacies might have provided.  That said, I think I can safely say that I've grown up in a generation where racism and sexism, while not dead, have eroded and withered at steady clip.  Because of that, for me this is all anti-climatic.  I don't really care what gender or race the candidates are, and I'm looking forward to the day those two issues aren't even thought of twice.  So celebrate if you will, but let's get back to the issues, and soon.

"It's designed to cover a small part of your rear end."

Great advice for the next time you plan on slathering your abs with Preparation H.

Space Station Toilet Breaks

That's a real crapper.

The main toilet aboard the International Space Station has broken down, forcing the three crew members to use the loo on the Soyuz escape craft that's permanently attached to the ISS, according to various media reports.

However, the Soyuz head will offer only temporary relief, as its holding tank will quickly fill up.

With all the thought put into redundancies on the space station, nobody thought about the possibility of toilet failure?

The Bush Error

The Wall Street Journal has a piece up today by Douglass Feith entitled "How Bush Sold the War." It is a good piece, but this is the most important part:

But the most damaging effect of this communications strategy was that it changed the definition of success. Before the war, administration officials said that success would mean an Iraq that no longer threatened important U.S. interests – that did not support terrorism, aspire to WMD, threaten its neighbors, or conduct mass murder. But from the fall of 2003 on, the president defined success as stable democracy in Iraq.

This was a public affairs decision that has had enormous strategic consequences for American support for the war. The new formula fails to connect the Iraq war directly to U.S. interests. It causes many Americans to question why we should be investing so much blood and treasure for Iraqis. And many Americans doubt that the new aim is realistic – that stable democracy can be achieved in Iraq in the foreseeable future.

In fairness to the administration, they were taking a beating on WMD, and at that time the shift made sense, but only because they seemingly could not assertively defend themselves as well as their supporters did. They gave up that battle, and in doing so, they did sever the connection to American interests. However history views this war, it will look back on the rhetorical change as the point where the Bush administration began to hamstring itself on the home front.

Happy Memorial Day

Jones Park Baseball 5.25.08 003
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

By all means, take some time today to enjoy the fun and the trappings that come with Memorial Day. Just be sure to remember who and what the true focus of today is, and block out a little time in memorial of them.

On Indy 4: It Was a Major Disappointment.

The lovely Mrs. Jib has been looking forward to seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for months. This last week, the prospect of seeing it tonight has had a very buoyant effect on her mood as the excitement built. Tonight finally arrived, and we headed down to the local drive in early so we would be sure to get "our spot." Getting our spot was about the only fulfilling part of our evening because, unfortunately, the movie was not good.

We both came into this movie from very different perspectives. For her, this was the culmination of a lot of waiting. For me, I was heading into the movie with muted expectations because of what I had read about the storyline. Despite the different perspectives, as Indiana Jones fans we were both prepared to cut this movie quite a bit of slack. It still was a disappointment.

I don't want to say too much about the plot of the movie and spoil it for those of you still waiting to see it. I do want to touch on a couple of things, though. When I read that this movie had a component about the red scare and a component about aliens, I became concerned, and not for the reasons you'd expect. Those two components indicated to me that this fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series was not about the Indiana Jones legacy, and it certainly wasn't about the fans. It was about George Lucas and Steven Spielberg making a movie for themselves. As I watched it tonight, I feel validated in that preconception because these movie felt like it was a Lucas-Spielberg ego stroke.

The action was good, but it engendered absolutely no excitement, and at times the action actually drags on. The story...well, the story was not very good. It could have been, but it wasn't. The fact that the plot ultimately revolves around aliens is a distraction that completely destroys the 'feel' of an Indiana Jones movie. Overall, the movie was very flat, and if it weren't drawing off of the good will of the previous Indiana Jones movies, it would deserve to be a box office bomb.

If you are a fan of the Indiana Jones movies and you are excitedly awaiting your chance to see it, by all means buy a ticket. Just temper your expectations ahead of time. If you aren't in that boat, I'd suggest waiting until you can rent it.

Emergency Condoms to Burma

Apparently the swingers' scene is really hopping in Burma right now:

The United Nations will send nearly a quarter of a million condoms into cyclone-hit Myanmar to help needy survivors with no access to contraceptives, a UN official says.

So far, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said it had sent 72 800 condoms to survivors struggling to maintain their family planning after the storm hit in early May.

Well, consider that a lesson learned here.  It is common for mini-baby booms to occur after disasters.  I always thought the boomlets were the result of a deep seated instinct in humans to procreate in the face of tragedy.  Turns out they are just the result of rubber shortages.  My bad.  (HT: Sykes)

 

Oh, and nevermind that whole hierarchy of needs...every good Euro-minded liberal knows that no need comes above sex.  Thank goodness the UN is addressing the greatest needs of the Burmese---sheaths for their swords.

Fire Destroys Fort Atkinson Apartments

If this is the complex that I think it is, the lovely Mrs. Jib almost rented a place here 9 years ago after graduating from college.

A passerby saw flames shooting out of a second story apartment of a 32-unit complex in Fort Atkinson before entering the burning structure, banging on doors and alerting residents who all safely escaped the blaze before it destroyed their homes.

All have been displaced and lost their homes and belongings at 1521 Commonwealth Drive where Fort Atkinson Fire Capt. Mark Schoenleber said the building is considered a total loss today. The American Red Cross is assisting residents with temporary shelter.

By the sounds of it, a passerby and police did an excellent job of ensuring that there was no loss of life.  I wish I could provide further coverage of this story, seeing that I live less than a mile away, but I'm getting codgerly and was asleep by 11 last night.  I never even heard the fire trucks or the helicopter that I'm told hovered and monitored the site early this morning.

Thought of the Day

Schadenfreude will be the word of the moment for the right if Hillary Clinton goes into the Democratic Convention claiming the popular vote with Obama holding the delegate lead.  The EPA might have to regulate all of the resultant smug that will descend upon Denver.

Roadside economics

One could also call this anecdotal economics, but I've noticed that the number of automobiles, boats, snowmobiles, four wheelers, trailers, etc., that are being sold on the sides of highways has grown significantly this year. That tells me a couple of things. One, people are trying to clear themselves of these assets in order to pay debts or because they are looking to buy new toys. If it is the former, and I suspect that it is, the used market for these items is going to tumble, which is going to draw more potential consumers away from manufacturers. Because of this, the anecdotal economist says that there are plenty more ripples to be felt from this economic slow down yet.

Of course, if it is the latter, I'm just plain wrong.

Oil's Speculation Problem

This is a a pretty good article.  I recommend reading the whole thing, but here's the gist of it.

A boom in speculation and trading by investment banks and hedge funds has put our energy markets on steroids. Contract volume in the futures markets has risen by a third in just the last year. Oil closed at a record high of $125.96 a barrel  on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. That's double the price two years ago, a difference clearly caused by market manipulation.

 

This isn't complicated finance. The way traders push up prices is surprisingly simple. They buy in European futures markets, which don't have the limits that U.S. markets do. That drives up U.S. prices where they may already have positions. It's a move to think about next time one of these exchange chiefs talks about all of the benefits of "market globalization."

 

None of it would matter except that these markets are supposed to be driven by supply and demand. China and other rapidly growing countries may be using more, or will use more resources, but the reality is that demand and supply haven't changed enough to warrant the price of oil doubling in less than three years.

 

Here's what has changed: the proliferation of energy trading desks on Wall Street and at hedge funds. There are more than 9,000 hedge funds with $1.5 trillion under management, according to the Federal Reserve. Hedge funds, which almost exclusively use short-term strategies, do nearly 55% of derivatives trading, the kind used in energy futures, according to a study last year by Greenwich Associates.

That's a recipe for a bubble.  The problem is, the bubble won't burst until/unless the money finds a better place to go.

Do they really need to be this exact?

Yes, this will be a nitpick.  The story:

Heavy rains and another potentially powerful storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta on Wednesday. The U.N. warned that inadequate relief efforts could lead to a second wave of deaths among the estimated 2 million survivors.

The International Red Cross said in a new estimate that the death toll already may be between 68,833 and 127,990.

If you are going to be quoting a range of death numbers like that, do you really have to be exact at the upper and lower limits?  Considering the real number could be any one of 59,157 possibilities, would even numbers have just sufficed?  Or are these exact numbers in a guesstimate designed to personalize this for people in some way?

Watch for the Tale of Two Interpretations

First, the story:

President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he quit playing golf in 2003 out of respect for the families of Americans killed in the war in Iraq.

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf," Bush said in an interview with Yahoo and Politico.com.

"I feel I owe it to the families to be as -- to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal," he said.

I'm in line with interpretation number one, which is that the guy was empathetic and understood how it could be perceived by the families.

Interpretation two will be the one that grabs hold until his post presidency numbers rebound a bit. It is also the one that will rage around the left. That interpretation will be that this president was so shallow as to think that giving up golf was enough. Of course, that isn't what he said, but putting words into the mouth of this communicationally challenged President has become a cottage industry, so why should that change now?

Suspension of new supplies to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Pointless.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday followed the Senate in rejecting the Bush administration's policy of adding oil to the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve while fuel prices are high.

The House passed legislation that would suspend crude deliveries to the U.S. emergency oil stockpile while the price of oil was above $75 a barrel, a move the White House has opposed. Oil traded at a record near $126 a barrel on Tuesday.

Much of the oil placed into the reserve come in lieu of royalty payments from the oil companies, so it isn't an out of pocket expense for the United States. Additionally, the suspension will have absolutely no affect on the price of oil. I can't say I'm outraged by the suspension, but I am sick of congress make pointless gestures because it is politically easy to do. There are much better ways they can address our energy issues, but they require standing up to irrational environmentalists, something they are loathe to even think about.

Stud

A man's man. What more can I say?

An Omaha man struggling to breathe used a steak knife to perform an at-home tracheotomy. Steve Wilder said he thought he was going to die when he awoke one night last week and couldn't breath.

Wilder said he didn't call 911 because he didn't think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old says, he got a steak knife from the kitchen and made a small hole in his throat, allowing air to gush in.

Wow.

9/11, The TV Archive

I've written about the archiving of web sites a couple of times now. Here's an interesting twist on the concept. The Internet Archive allows you to watch the TV coverage on September 11, 2001, as it happened. Television and radio is generally well archived by the stations, but the public does not have access to it. Things like this open our history to more and more people, and I look forward to seeing this kind of archiving expanded upon.

Another reason to be thankful to live in the U.S.

22,000 dead and counting from a cyclone in Myanmar.  New Orleans was a disaster, but it really could have been much, much worse.

The difference between "resistant" and "proof"...

...is lost on way too many people. Here is a prime example in this McClatchey story:

The deaths of two U.S. soldiers in western Baghdad last week have sparked concerns that Iraqi insurgents have developed a new weapon capable of striking what the U.S. military considers its most explosive-resistant vehicle.

The soldiers were riding in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protective vehicle, known as an MRAP, when an explosion sent a blast of super-heated metal through the MRAP's armor and into the vehicle, killing them both.

Their deaths brought to eight the number of American troops killed while riding in an MRAP, which was developed and deployed to Iraq last year after years of acrimony over light armor on the Army's workhorse vehicle, the Humvee.

The MRAP is designed to be resistant to explosives, not "bomb proof". You might be able to make a bomb proof vehicle, but it won't be going anywhere fast, and that would create all new security problems. While the military should investigate a recent spate of explosion deaths in the MRAP in order to be ahead of the game with insurgents, the eight deaths is hardly evidence that the vehicles are not doing their job. In fact, buried in the tenth and final paragraph of the story, the reporters acknowledge that of the 8 deaths, one was due to a roll over and two due to drowning.

Oil: Supply & Demand or Bubble

The Christian Science Monitor takes a look at the new economics behind oil, namely whether supply and demand are the primary driving factors behind prices or if the weak dollar and speculation are creating high prices. Personally, I've long been a believer that oil is experiencing a bubble, but every prediction I've made has been wrong. I'm now of the opinion that the reason I have been wrong has been twofold. First, the dollar's decline has been more significant than I first anticipated. Second, and perhaps most importantly, the conventional wisdom has developed that oil and other commodities are safe investment havens in very uncertain economic times. I don't think I agree with that conventional wisdom, but until the general investment community becomes comfortable with the U.S. and global economies, this bubble will continue to grow. Eventually, it will burst, and it will burst big, but we aren't close to that point yet.

A refresher on recessions/depressions

James Ledbetter has a piece at Slate on whether the current economic downturn will be more like 1991 or the 1930's. The analysis of the current situation is less valuable than the primer on modern recessions and depression. I highly recommend keeping his piece in the back of your head while wading through all of the negative economic news that seems to overwhelm us sometimes.

Happy 5th

Today is the fifth anniversary of the lovely Mrs. Jib becoming legally obligated to put up with me. We will be doing much celebrating out in the non-bloggy world. It has been a silent week here, but that should end on Sunday when I start writing again for those of you who aren't legally obligated to put up with me.

Meet the Narwhal

If you read that headline and thought, "what the hell is a narwhal," you're not the only one. Apparently, it is a horned whale that is more vulnerable to warming water in the Arctic than polar bears.

The polar bear has become an icon of global warming vulnerability, but a new study found an Arctic mammal that may be even more at risk to climate change: the narwhal.

The narwhal, a whale with a long spiral tusk that inspired the myth of the unicorn, edged out the polar bear for the ranking of most potentially vulnerable in a climate change risk analysis of Arctic marine mammals.

The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Ecological Applications. Polar bears are considered marine mammals because they are dependent on the water and are included as a species in the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The narwhal is an ugly little beast. Don't expect environmentalists to throw the polar bear overboard in favor of it.

Note to professional media types

For the love of God, please start getting this right because it makes you sound stupid. Follow closely now.

You do not write a blog. You write a post. At a blog. Just like you do not write a magazine or a newspaper. You write an article for a magazine or a newspaper.

I know that the occasional use of blog as a verb confuses you all, but this is no longer a new phenomenon. Get it right, please.

Only in Wisconsin

A cow, drunk driving...I don't think this could happen anywhere else but here.

Helen McCollum says she was just trying to help a guy staggering down the highway after he had hit a cow in the middle of the road.

Instead, she was arrested on a drunken driving charge after hitting the same cow, which did not survive.

"I was helping this guy and I was busted," McCollum  called The Capital Times to say today. "This is why people don't stop and help others anymore."

The Dane County Sheriff's Office reported that Michael Geisler, 43, Edgerton, hit the cow standing in the middle of Wisconsin 73 shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. The accident happened near County B. Geisler was slightly injured, the sheriff's office said, but refused to be taken to the hospital. He was not charged with any traffic violations.

Do you get the feeling that even the cow was drunk? 

Et tu, forests?

Arrrggghhh! Even the forests are warming the globe!

An outbreak of mountain pine beetles in British Columbia is doing more than destroying millions of trees: By 2020, the beetles will have done so much damage that the forest is expected to release more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, according to new research.

The study, led by Werner Kurz of the Canadian Forest Service, estimates that over 21 years trees killed by the beetle outbreak could release 990 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - roughly equivalent to five years of emissions from Canada's transportation sector.

The outbreak has affected about 33 million acres, or about 51,562 square miles, of lodgepole pines. Bark beetles also have killed huge swaths of pines in the western United States, including about 2,300 square miles of trees in Colorado.

"When trees are killed, they no longer are able to take carbon from the atmosphere. Then when dead trees start to decompose, that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," Kurz said.

That could exacerbate global warming that contributed to the outbreaks in the first place. Warmer temperatures have allowed beetles to survive farther north and at higher elevations.

With all this unstoppable CO2 leading to warming, we should save a bundle on our winter fuel oil, natural gas, and wood heating, shouldn't we?

The Only Penis Post of the First Decade of the 21st Century

I don't anticipate doing this again for another decade, so if you want to read peener news, you'll have to go elsewhere until 2018. So, without further fanfare, here we go.

-Used right, they might prevent prostate cancer. Only the good die young, I guess.

-They can't effect the gender of a baby as much as the momma's diet. So much for that X and Y chromosome thing.

-The damn things are just plain disappearing again. I wonder which of my insurance policies would cover that.

Why are we so stunned?

By this:

Harry Morse, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said Miller was killed by the 5-year-old bear during the making of a promotional video for Randy Miller's Predators in Action center. The bear's fate has not been decided.

The bear, named Rocky, recently appeared in the Will Ferrell sports comedy "Semi-Pro." Center owner Randy Miller, the victim's cousin, was a stunt double for Ferrell in a wrestling match with the bear.

A trained bear is still a bear. A cute bear is still a bear. A professional might be able to control a lot of a predator's conduct, but the one thing that none of them will ever be able to control for is the fact that they are still working with a predator. As such, it may attack with no provocation.

Deep Thoughts, By Tim Robbins

From the Patriot Post:

"[J]ust when we were close to a national news media providing a general consensus on what the truth is, along comes the Internets [sic] that allows its users a choice on the kind of news it watches and the YouTube. My God, we've got to stop them." —actor Tim Robbins

I doubt he was joking when he said it.

Designer breeds, human-style

Sometimes silly thoughts flood my mind when I'm driving, and this morning was a prime example.  Designer breeds of dogs, like the shitspoo (wait, is that one popular?), are all the rage these days.  If we broke humans out into breeds by nationality/ethnicity, we Americans would be all the rage, too.  I, for one, would be a Norwippewa.  Who doesn't love a Norwippewa?  The lovely Mrs. Jib would be a Germrish.  I've known a number of good Germpoles in my life and think they get a bad rap.  Oddly, you don't meet many Fraglish people, though.

 

Anybody out there part of a hot human designer breed? 

Denver! Denver! Denver

As of this writing, Hillary Clinton is winning the Pennsylvania primary, and by a significant enough margin for her campaign to likely continue its hobble towards Denver. The public is going to be so sick of the Democratic nominee by the time he or she wins, John McCain is going to seem like a breath of fresh air.

"No, it was us. Really. Seriously, dude."

Odd.

Al-Qaeda's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has blamed Iran for spreading the theory that Israel was behind the 11 September 2001 attacks.

In an audio tape posted on the internet, Zawahiri insisted al-Qaeda had carried out the attacks on the US.

He accused Iran, and its Hezbollah allies, of trying to discredit Osama Bin Laden's network.

Correspondents say the comments underline al-Qaeda's increasing public hostility towards Iran.

There you have it. First, earthquakes in the Midwest. Then, Al Qaeda exonerates Israel. Next? Plague and pestilence.

Did you feel the Great Midwestern Quake of '08?

I did here in southern Wisconsin.  I had woken up at 4 a.m. and was struggling to get back to sleep when a stand in my bedroom start to shake, along with all of the knick knacks that were on it.  I could feel it a little bit in the bed, too.  I think this is the first I've not slept through one of these gentle Midwestern tremors.

Playing with Fire

History is one of this country's worst subjects, so it really shouldn't surprise me that our elected leaders are this historically vapid.

Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest foes of the war to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up more of the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country.

"I think the American people are growing weary not only of the war, but they are looking at why Baghdad can't pay more of these costs. And the answer is they can," said Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Nelson, a Democrat, is drafting legislation with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants.

Their bill also would require that Baghdad pay for the fuel used by American troops and take over U.S. payments to predominantly Sunni fighters in the Awakening movement. Plans are to propose the legislation as part of a war bill to cover spending through September.

I find it funny. If pressed, every one of these congressional leaders would fall over themselves to praise the Marshall Plan and the Democratic administration that ushered it in. Yet they themselves are so weak and politically self serving that they are willing to pursue similar feeble but expedient policies that once set a post-Great War Europe on the path to a second world war. Are they really interested in stabilizing Iraq once and for all, or do they want an Iraq III if it means political gains today? While Iraq should play a growing role in its own future, lawmakers walk a dangerous line with this gambit if they demand too much.

The time has come to fight back against California

Again, California tries to make choices for businesses and consumers via legislation:

California shoppers could end up paying recycling fees if they decide to haul their groceries home in plastic bags.

Two bills scheduled to be considered tomorrow by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee would authorize fees of 15 cents or 25 cents a bag.

The idea is to discourage supermarkets and large drug stores from using plastic bags.

I can only think of one way to get around this fee and still teach California about unintended legislative consequences: Non-biodegradable, Styrofoam shopping bags. Made at environmentally unfriendly plants in China. I begin outsourcing on Monday.

Believe it or not, sometimes a $13,500 tab is good for business

I'm pretty sure that my opinion on the $13,500 tab run up at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Orlando is going to run against the opinion of every single blogger out there, but hear me out before you blast me. First, the story.

When the U.S. Postal Service rang up a $13,500 tab at an Orlando steakhouse, it spared no expense during a five-hour meal that government investigators are calling "abusive" in its extravagance.

The order -- charged to government credit cards -- included more than $3,000 for drinks, more than $500 for shrimp cocktails and almost $900 for mini crab cakes, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigate arm of Congress.

And then there's the steak.

"The better question is probably what they didn't order," GAO investigator Gregory Kutz said Wednesday. He counted 81 entrees -- including just about every kind of steak -- from the 2006 feast at Ruth's Chris Steak House on Sand Lake Road.

At first blush, that is downright offensive. It sparked a question in my mind, though: Was this pure extravagance or was there a purpose to this dinner? So I read the rest of the story and found this:

McKiernan said the dinner was intended to help woo corporate clients of the U.S. Postal Service, which competes with carriers such as UPS and FedEx for business. "It was just the opinion of the GAO that the cost was excessive," he said.

These included liquid expenses such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnnie Walker Gold Label, according to the GAO report. "Ruth's Chris is a very fine restaurant, and at a fine restaurant, you find fine products," McKiernan said.

Business is still very much about personal relationships, whether the businesses are small, medium, or large. In my life in business, dealing with customers much smaller than the ones that the USPS was wooing, I've seen bills nearly this large. And if you think that was expensive, you should see the money some companies outlay on parties for their customers and prospective customers, usually people just like you and me, at trade shows. The fact is events like this go a long way in developing and securing personal bonds that can be the tipping point that brings in millions and millions of new business, and sometimes prevents other millions of dollars going to the competition. In a vacuum, a $13,500 dollar bill is grotesque. When you consider what the return on investment could possibly be from a dinner like that, it can be a bargain. Would you spend $13,500 if the pay off was potentially $1 million, $20 million, $50 million or more in new business? You bet your butt you would.

Random thought

Sputum is a gross word for a gross thing. Talk about your perfect marriage.

My out of whack priorities

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography, Adrees Latif, discusses the death in the streets of Myanmar that he witnessed through the lens of his Canon 5D. His story is brief but sad and riveting. But what part of the article did I find myself reading most intently? His camera settings and why he chose them. As a person, that's wrong. As a semi-pro photographer, I found myself surprised at his choice of ISO 800.

California, where childhood fun goes to die

Remember those fun, metallic helium balloons you used to pine for as a kid? Well, the next generation of California kids may never get to enjoy them.

California would become the first state to ban helium-filled metallic balloons under a bill unanimously advanced Tuesday by a legislative committee.

Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, said the party balloons frequently break free and float into power lines, where they can cause electric wires to arc.

He said they cause millions of dollars in losses for utility companies and businesses that lose electricity. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the main utility in Northern California, says the balloons caused more than 200 power outages last year in its coverage area.

California, you really need to consider bumping your legislature back to part time status. They have way too much time on their hands.

Plasma bulb the next big thing?

The incandescent light bulb has been banished by congress, so now the jostling begins for the next big light bulb technology. Some are in love with the CFL while many others (myself included) hate it for everyday use. LEDs are making some headway but have a ways to go. So might the plasma bulb win out in the end?

At 140 lumens/watt, these pill-sized plasma light bulbs by Luxim are a pretty awesome contender for "light of the future". They are almost 10 times more efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs, twice as efficient as current high-end LEDs, and they also beat CFLs, most of which are around 50-80 lumens/watt.

I know too little about this technology to make any pronouncements, but I hate CFL's so much (except for certain uses) that I'm willing to hear out any new technology that bury those miserable fluorescent bulbs.

Stone's Bush to begin soon

I'm predicting a flop at the box office for Oliver Stone's Bush.

President George W. Bush is a foul-mouthed, reformed drunk obsessed with baseball, Saddam Hussein and a conflicted relationship with his dad. Or at least that's how he's portrayed in the script for Oliver Stone's upcoming feature "W."

One of the script writers claims to have read 17 books on the topic of George W. Bush. I have a sneaking suspicion that by "books" he meant "posts at Huffpo."

Go Green, Kill the Newspaper

Heh. I was just watching the 10 O'clock news on NBC 15 out of Madison, and in a short piece on going green, they recommended ditching your newspaper subscription and reading the paper online instead. I'm sure that just thrilled the folks at the Wisconsin State Journal.

Nominee for Quote of the Year

This is funny:

"I still haven't decided how to split the cow," he told the newspaper. "She should just say what she wants -- the part with the horns or the part with the tail."

Here's the context.

Regretting the Asterisk Even More

This brief interview makes me think of the asterisk and hate it even more than I already do.

My biggest problem with global warming apocalyptics

Here is my biggest problem with the global warming crowd. Let's pretend for a moment that they are right. What does man (and all warm blooded life, for that matter) have a more difficult time adjusting to-warmth or cold? With additional warmth, man can still grow crops and wild mammals can still find food. With increased cold, crops become difficult to grow in sufficient quantities and large winter starve-offs of mammals are common. So while we would have to figure out how to adapt, would warming really be the end of the world?

And this leads into my biggest pet peeve about the 20th/21st century environmental movement. The natural state of nature is change. This entire planet is in a continual state of flux. Still, for some reason our environmentalist consciouses want to freeze nature in it's appearance as of sometime in 1970. That is about the most anti-environment mindset I can think of.

The Consequences of Legislative Actions

Hillary Clinton on the Tonight Show:

I was in Indianapolis the other day, and I was shaking hands after I spoke. And there was this young boy, about 11 years old. And he was trying to tell me something, ya know, and the crowd was yelling. So I leaned over and he said, "You know, my mom makes minimum wage, and even though it went up, her hours were cut so were not making any more money. Can you help her?" You know, when somebody says something like that to you, it really does energize me and, yeah, I can, I'm going to really try to help you.

Point number one: This is a typical bullshit political story. I don't care who tells it, be it Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, etc., etc. This is always a made up story. And Hillary should hope that it is a made up story, because if it isn't, then it proves what any number of conservatives have been saying from the get go, and that is that wages are something that a politician can't just decide to increase. When business are faced with forced increases in their labor costs, they have to find ways to absorb those increases. One way is to employ fewer people. Another is to offer fewer hours to those they employ already. I know that Hillary was pandering to economic divisions with this bogus story, but she did more to prove what her opposition says about minimum wage than her opponents could ever hope to.

Hillary as Rocky Balboa

Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton compared herself to Rocky.

Of course, this lead a lot of bloggers to note that Rocky got his ass kicked by his black opponent.

I, for one, don't think that's what she meant. I think Hillary was fantasizing about the sixth Rocky installment. You know the one...remember, Rocky's a widower? Yeah, I think that's the Rocky Hillary wishes she was.

I miss all the fun

During the day, the Beltline in Madison is literally at my back. If I look over my shoulder, I can see the traffic moving in both directions. Still, I was somehow oblivious to this.

Happy Birthday Mom

Just wanted to day that.

Muslims Outnumber Roman Catholics

I find this an odd comparison, but then again, I'm one of those upstart, troublesome Protestants:

Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday.

Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 percent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent.

"For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us," Formenti told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview, saying the data referred to 2006.

Why is the Vatican comparing the whole of Islam to Roman Catholicism? Islam is not without its theological divisions. Sunni, Shi'a, and Sufi are all Islamic 'denominations', if you will. Is the Roman Catholic church still that steeped in its belief that it is the only Christian Church that it is willing to make this nonsensical comparison?

The Flood of 2008

'08 Rock River Flood 002
Originally uploaded by Jibby7

I took a drive out Blackhawk Island Road in Fort Atkinson today. Flooding like this is typical about once a year. This year is going to be much worse, though, as the National Weather Service is projecting the river to crest about a foot and a half higher than this. The road itself usually floods but most years you can still pass through. I tried today but stopped after a few hundred feet because two to three inches of water was flowing over the road at very high rate of speed. If we get the amount of rain over the next 36 hours that forecasters are projecting, this is going to be a flood people are going to remember for a long time.

Well Spoken Words on Fitna

From the folks at Power Line:

So, let's see: Fitna says that a propensity to violence is inherent in Islam, a deeply controversial proposition. The film can't be shown anywhere because people are afraid of...something. So instead, the film is posted online, where millions of people view it. But after 24 hours or so, the film is taken down because threats of violence are made by...someone. I dunno, it's really puzzling. The one thing that everyone agrees on is that it's ridiculous to think that Muslims can be violent. So the headchopping threats must be coming from...someone else.

And yet some will still go out of their way to excuse...someone else...because some other Muslims aren't violent. The fact is a not insignificant minority of Muslims are fanatically violent, enough so to present a threat to life and liberty across the globe. Ignoring this fact accomplishes nothing but paying that problem forward.

I will add one thing, even though I really shouldn't have to do so but I know somebody will comment to the contrary if I do not. I do not believe that all or even a majority of Muslims are violent threats. I, like many others, have come to know Muslim men and women over the years. I've liked and respected them, but I harbor no doubt that there is small but very significant number of Muslims willing and enthusiastic about pursuing violent ends. In and of itself, that would be manageable. The problem lies in the sizable number of Muslims who are not violent but theologically empathetic to the violent members of their religion. It is that empathetic support network that amplifies the impact of the violent fanatics.

The Cutting Edge Stories of the New York Times

This is not a new story but it the Times runs with it anyway:

Jose Fernandez said he decided some time ago that on his salary as a restaurant worker, he was better off without his 1996 Toyota 4Runner. He hoped to make a nice bit of cash from its sale. Before he could do that, though, someone beat him to extracting value: A thief sneaked under the sport utility vehicle with a battery-powered saw, slicing from the Toyota’s underbelly what may be one of the most expensive small parts of the auto world: the catalytic converter, an essential emissions-control device made with small amounts of metals more precious than gold. Who knew?

I've been hearing about this for at least a year and a half. Who knows, maybe this was just news to those at the Times. I'm sure they don't hob knob with the common folk who make their livings in some association with the automobile.

Protecting Preemies from Noise

I've been to a NICU once, and during that visit there were just four of us adults in the room with a handful of preemies. We made sure we kept the volume on our conversation low, but as wide open as the room was, I wondered what it was like when many people were there. The babies need their rest during that stage and the rooms seemed potentially conducive to noise. Given that, I'm think this system is a great tool for NICUs.

Warning lights hover over the snoozing patients in Riley Hospital for Children's neonatal intensive care unit, ready to flash whenever sound levels creep beyond normal conversation. As decibels rise, the colors on the new monitoring system change from green to yellow to red, hushing chatty parents or doctors so the babies get the rest they need to develop.
[...]
Smith, 43, had no training as a sound engineer and no plans to become an entrepreneur when his son Sean was born five weeks premature in 2000. But he noticed Sean flinch in response to bright light in the NICU of St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, and he wound up designing a system to soften the unit's lighting.

Then the nurses asked him what he could do about sound.

"That's really when I realized that there was no good way out there to measure sound, other than your standard, hand-held meter," he said.
[...]
The former car mechanic filled hours of spare time in the evenings and on weekends researching sound standards and building a system.

Smith, who tinkered in radio and TV electronics in high school, hired an acoustical engineer to help. They created a ceiling-mounted system of microphones that picked up sound and funneled data back to a large control panel.

"There was a lot of wiring, a lot of labor, a lot of programming," he said.

St. Vincent paid around $100,000 for the system, which it installed about five years ago. Smith had no interest in shopping his invention to other hospitals because the work took so much time.

Other hospitals came a knocking though, and now this system is Smith's business. I wish him and his his system all the success in the world.

For Once He Was Lost, But Now He Is Found...In a Strip Joint

Bad pastor.

Police say a pastor who was reported missing from his home in western New York has been found at an Ohio strip club.
[...]
Detective Matt Sturgeon said Rhodenizer was disoriented when confronted by police and said he felt "emotionally guilty."

Why the qualifier on his guilt? I'll bet a communion wafer (and I think I can go to hell for that) he didn't feel an ounce of guilt, except for being caught.

Huge, Sucking Hole of Death Possible in France?

Many would say it already is a huge sucking death hole, but this guy sees a bigger threat:

Walter F. Wagner and his colleague Luis Sancho have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop work on the Large Hadron Collider, a gigantic atom smasher on the Franco-Swiss border that's set to start operations in May.

Physicists hope its incredible energies will form briefly-lived new particles that could shed light on the origins of the universe, among other marvels.

The plaintiffs' concerns? That the LHC could accidentally create strange new particles that would instantly transform any matter they touched, engulfing the Earth, or, even worse, make a rapidly expanding black hole that could consume the entire planet.

I support him and his lawsuit, if only because I've long suspected that the French would be the death of all of us. (HT: Still at Real)

Hillary claims an 'oops'

By now most of us have seen the two videos.  In one, Hillary Clinton claims to have dodged sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia 12 years ago when leaving an airport.  In the other, we see Hillary being greated by children at said airport with a younger Chelsea watching.  Now her campaign says 'oops, that's not what she meant.'

 

The absurdity of the idea that the Secret Service would allow a First Lady to enter an area as hot as Mrs. Clinton described notwithstanding, what lead her to decide to embellish a story like that?  She's lived in the video age her entire life.  Did she not think that some news organization out there would still have video of her trip to Bosnia?  Did she not think that people on that trip would remember what really happened.

 

If you are running for office, you just aren't allowed to tell fishing stories.  You get caught in your embellishments.  This shows bad judgement and a certain lack of political sense on her part.  She had the chance to starve Obama of momentum while she sets up a convention floor battle.  Instead, this story hands the momentum right back to him.  There will probably still be a convention battle, but she needs every once of credibility she can get going into it.  Stupid moves like this don't accomplish that.

The Final Indignity

An elephant is a better photographer than I am.

I'm guessing it wasn't a good flight

I'm pretty sure this was a pants filler for all passengers:

The gun carried by a US Airways pilot accidentally went off on a flight from Denver to Charlotte on Saturday, causing the plane to be pulled from service, the airline said on Monday.

No one was injured by the shot, and the aircraft landed safely in Charlotte. Flight 1536 had 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants aboard, US Airways said.

The pilot was a Federal Flight Deck Officer, permissioned by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to carry a firearm.

I support allowing pilots to carry arms, but they've got to take great care to make sure they are carrying securely.

I bet the passengers were well behaved for the rest of the flight.

The 4,000

I have an idea for a political cartoon. Unfortunately, I can't draw, so I'll have to explain my cartoon for you all. In it there are a group of reporters and anti-war protesters wearing pointy paper hats and holding noise makers, yelling in unison 5!...4!...3!...2!...1!...4000!

Some have been waiting with anticipation over the past week for the 4000th U.S. soldier to die and now they've finally gotten it. I find the countdown and anticipation abhorrent, especially since the story is predominantly about not how heroic yet tragic each of those 4,000 were, but rather how bad the war is, largely because of what party was in charge when it started.

On Hollywood

The lovely Mrs. Jib and I are currently watching Bridget Jones's Diary. This was a role that Hollywood raved about, in part because of the weight that Rene Zellweger put on for the role. Unfortunately for Hollywood (and Zellweger), we both agree that she was actually at her most attractive when she was at that weight. Hollywood acted as though she had really packed on the pounds, but frankly, Zellweger was anything but fat in that role. She had her natural curves and shape. Of course, in Hollywood that's just not acceptable. That's very unfortunate.

Snow Friday

I remember the Good Fridays of my youth quite well. The day stood out because it seemed like almost every Good Friday from when I was 7 to about 18 had sunny weather.

What the hell happened to those days?

Granted, Easter is quite early this year. Still, where did this snowstorm come from? It is the end of March. The Wisconsin spring high school baseball season starts in two weeks. That means that even in the Northwoods, the snow is usually gone by the end of this month. Global warming my ass. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: This was the worst winter that I can remember.

And I do have one little gripe for Dane County. I know the interstate has embarrassed you guys twice this winter, so I can't blame you if you gave it a little extra love and attention today. Did you put all of your damn plows on it, though? U.S. Highway 12 is a major artery through your county, too, but when I drove home from work on it this afternoon it looked like a plow hadn't touched it all day. The snow depths in your county weren't all that bad-maybe 4 or 5 inches-but a major U.S. highway was treacherous. I think you can manage your snow clearing a little better than that.

The 'Everybody Does It' Defense

It's funny. When there is a Republican sex scandal, the tone of MSM stories generally get prudish. When there is a Democrat sex scandal, the tone shifts to either 'it's just sex' or 'everybody does it'. The latter is this story's approach.

Philly to build 2nd tallest building in the world...

...that would be, at best, fourth largest upon its completion. So really, with the Chicago Spire and New York's Freedom Tower likely beating them to 1500 feet and above, why bother bragging about 2nd?

And they both reached for the gun!

There is nothing funny about this headline, but I can't help but think of the film version of Chicago when reading it:

Tosa man Tasered after lunging for gun.

A Word of Caution to My Blogging Friends and Opponents

While you are all completely justified in flogging the police department in question here, I do recommend carefully and thoroughly reading any totally anonymous blogger before extending your credibility to defend him or her. I suspect most bloggers are linking to the story in knee jerk fashion (again, the police department is due criticism in this case) without stopping to determine if the blogger in question could cause them embarrassment now or down the road.

What, they can't play tennis?

The Ukranian military should make this into a recruitment poster. What I'm left to wonder is if that is the "hot but not good enough for the women's tennis tour" division of the Ukranian military.

SNL Classic: Reagan Mastermind

This is one of my favorite SNL clips ever.

'Tis Good to be Home Again

Las Vegas always is, at the very least, an interesting experience. Coming home after a trip to Las Vegas is always better, especially when the home you are returning to seems to be breaking winter's icy death grip. I feel like I was blindsided by a Mack truck, which makes being home even better. My left foot is the equivalent of a blown tire that I decided to drive on for four days. My knees and ankles are shocks that have gone bad, and my calves just plain hurt like hell. I'm now parked in my recliner, and I don't think I'll be leaving it until Monday.

Checking In

I am so far out of the loop it isn't even amusing. My RSS feed reader is at 2507 unread items, and that doesn't include all of the sources that have capped out at 200 items. Despite that, the Elliot Spitzer story has penetrated my isolation from the news. Given that, I want to relay an anecdote uttered by my former co-blogger Col. Ollie. When asked about the story, he said, "Never has a politician had a more appropriate last name."

I don't care who you are, that was funny.

Programing Note

I was just working my way out of a light time here but I'm afraid I'm going to be entering another. A surprise business trip has come up and I'm going to away from the blog for the next week. I'll be checking in and even posting when the opportunity arises, but it is going to be very, very light.

The fun of blogging

Something happened today that made me realize that I've had a pretty blessed blogging career so far. On Tuesday, I wrote a post at the Wisconsin Sports Bar entitled "Favrepocalypse." This morning, a couple of commentors over there said that the post was quoted on Fox News in the run up to Favre's presser today. I was tickled. Because of blogging, over the past 4 years I've been quoted on MSNBC and Fox News, on a major Wisconsin radio station, on a New York Times blog, and I've had the chance to be on the radio personally. That's not too bad a ride. Thank you to all of you who've read Jiblog, the Badger Blog Alliance, and the Wisconsin Sports Bar.

The One-Way Manned Mission to Mars

This is intriguing but potentially self defeating.

However, one former NASA engineer believes a human mission to Mars is quite doable, and such an event would unify the world as never before. But Jim McLane’s proposal includes a couple of major caveats: the trip to Mars should be one-way, and have a crew of only one person.

In McLane's opinion, such a mission would be more easily accomplished because of the reduced amount of supplies needed and the elimination of the biggest challenge-returning to Earth. He also believes that there would be plenty of pioneering, tough individuals who would be able and willing to enjoin such a mission. I agree with him on that, but there is always the risk of that individual cracking after months or years without any direct human contact. Man has lost people on space missions, but we have never lost a human to space. I can see the worst case scenario being so traumatic that it actually sets manned missions to Mars back by decades.

U.S. State, 160, Commits Suicide

(Jiblog News Network)-In a stunning turn of events, the U.S. state of Wisconsin was found dead today of an apparent suicide.

The state was found hanging from a tree near Lake Superior by the state of Minnesota.

"I was just looking wistfully out across the Mississippi River like I do everyday," said the melancholy Land of 10,000 Lakes. "The scene was different, though. Wisconsin wasn't there. I looked up and there it was, swinging from that tree."

Federal officials were immediately called to the scene. Resuscitation was attempted but the state, weakened from years of being bled dry by high taxes, never regained consciousness.

This afternoon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that a suicide note had been found near the U.P. of Michigan. While the text of the note has not yet been released, confidential sources say that it showed a state extremely distraught and depressed over the retirement announcement by Green Bay Packer Brett Favre.

Officials are very concerned about the U.P. of Michigan, as it has been taking Wisconsin's death particularly hard. Late this afternoon, the U.P. was seen wailing and muttering, "No dere, no way, not Favre, not Wisconsin." A suicide watch may be placed on the Upper Peninsula as its lifelong partner, Lower Michigan, is broke and on life support, further deepening the U.P.'s grief.

Funeral arrangements are pending, but relatives are asking that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Illinois so it can finally have a football team.

It was a frosty Tuesday morning in March

Thanks for the memories, Brett.

Hugo Chavez making noise

I see this as little more than saber-rattling:

South America was on the brink of war yesterday as Venezuela and Ecuador amassed troops on the Colombian border in response to the killing of a Marxist rebel leader.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to join the rebels in a war to overthrow hard-line Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key ally of the United States, deploying tanks, fighter jets and thousands of troops along the Colombian border.

It is worth watching, but I doubt that Chavez will pull the trigger-at least not this time. I can see any number of reasons that might be behind his troop movements, though. First, it allows him to see what a response to possible military action would be and how far he can push the envelope. That can be very useful information should he ever decide to start a shooting war. Second, it allows him to further his carefully crafted populist image as a leader who will stand up to the United States and all of its allies. Third, sometimes a bluff is enough to increase power and influence in a region if it works. Whatever the reason(s), I suspect that this is just the beginning of Chavez lead confrontations in Latin America.

Pilot averts crash landing

I've experienced unpleasant landings before, most notably hard landings in Orlando and Milwaukee because of high winds, but thankfully I've never experienced anything like this. If I'd have been on that plane, I'd have really been white knuckling it on the second approach. Hopefully the passengers thanked the pilot for his skill in saving the plane during the first approach.

How forgetfulness can bestow pleasant surprises

I, like most Wisconsinites, have an abundance of built up ice but no salt. Anticipating a worse winter than usual, I'd doubled up my salt supply in December and I still managed to blow through almost all of it. So yesterday I went digging through my shed. I knew that somewhere in there was a nearly full bag of sand that would at least make my icy sidewalks safe. After moving my lawn furniture and digging to the bottom of a round tub that would be better served cooling a quarter barrel, I found my bag of sand. Much to my surprise, though, was a bag of pure gold right next to it. 2 winters ago, I did not use all of my salt. In fact, I ended up with a full, unopened bag left over. I had stored it away for future use and then forgotten about it. Finding that bag of salt was probably more exciting to me than any gift could have been at that moment. When you are 16 years old, it is unimaginable that finding a bag of salt will be terribly exciting when you're 32, but it was.

Long Live PETA

I give PETA plenty of hell here, all of it well deserved. Despite the fact that their own animal shelter is positively lethal for stray & abandoned pets, I'm okay with PETA sticking around as a whack job protest organization, but only on one condition. They must continue to hold protests like this (pic sfw, others in slide show may not be). As long as they do, I'll put up with their idiocy in exchange for their entertainment value.