Cancer break through

Doctors have apparently found a drug that treats some kinds of cancers known as MDS. It is a small break through in the grand scheme of things, but a break through none the less.

Danica Patrick

A couple of posts below, I mused as to whether Danica Patrick could be IRL's savior. As a 23 year old rookie, it is way to early to bestow that on her. She looks promising, though, as the rookie qualified 4th for the Indy 500. It should be noted that Danica is from Beloit, Wisconsin. Wisconsin has been filling out the Nascar ranks with drivers for a while. It's good to see a Wisconsin driver making good in open wheel racing as well. Good luck, Danica.

Update
Danica fans, I have more commentary here, here and here.

Back

In case you didn't notice, and judging by the traffic, you haven't, I was gone for the weekend. After visiting the land of Leinie's and cheese for the weekend, I'm back in the saddle and reading to blog. Thanks for your patience.

IRL's savior a woman?

I know next to nothing about open wheel racing. I gave up on it as a kid and turned to stock cars. So I offer this caveat-I know nothing about Danica Patrick. The 23 year old right now has the fastest lap at Indianapolis, though, and if she is the real deal, I think IRL may have itself a marketing juggernaut in the near future.

How political correctness coarsens society

I am going to give a very small example from my own experience. Yesterday I had to run to the local big box retailer during lunch. As I walked up to the store, I noticed a woman in a big box retailer-provided wheel chair struggle to get the thing to roll across the parking lot. I walked in her direction to help, but along the way I changed my mind. Why did I change my mind when I was perfectly willing to help this person out? Because I didn't particularly feel like getting chewed out. I have no idea if this disabled woman would have chewed me out, but I've been chewed out before. I also was concerned about the wheel chair. It was rickety, and I didn't want something to happen that would end up finding me as the defendent in a lawsuit.

Am I a bad person for walking by? In that instance, I probably was. I certainly felt like a bad person. No one needs to hit me in the head with a bat to teach me being helpful can cause you endless headaches sometimes. The instinct of self preservation led me in this example to not dare tempt the PC god's though, and because of that, I contributed my little piece to a coarser society.

German Holocaust Memorial to become vandal central?

Well, this didn't take long. The new German Holocaust Memorial has already been vandalized, and it just opened up. Germany could probably go a long way towards identifying a lot of its crazy Neo-Nazis just by keeping an eye on who's desecrating that memorial.

Newt & Hillary, or Politics makes strange bedfellows

I'll be the first to admit that I've been a little out of the loop this past week, but this really caught me off guard. Newt and Hillary getting politically cozy. If Newt is doing this for political reasons, I hope he knows he's going to get burned by playing with a Clinton.

Is the cold medicine/crystal meth scare a myth?

I offer this up as a post for thought. I really don't have the time to research and stake out a definitive position to that effect right now. I'm listening to Jeff Wagner discuss this topic on the radio right, and combining that with a little logic, it seems that the cold medicine-crystal meth link is very small compared to the hype it is receiving. Two reasons. One, buying the cold medicine and reprocessing does not seem cost effective, given that it takes something like 1000 pills to create an ounce of crystal meth. Second, it also seems that the major source of ephedrine comes from smuggled supplies via Mexico. Is this cold medicine scare just that, a scare?

Update
In regards to the financial viability of producing crystal meth from cold medicine, it is very viable. If 1000 cold medicine pills is the magic number for 1 ounce of meth, it would take 14 packages of the Sudafed PE Maximum Strength, 72 count, at a cost of approximately $202. An ounce of crystal meth goes for about $7000. Also, in a city the size of Janesville (60,000), a person could easily get 14 packages of this medicine without raising any suspicions-with or without restrictions. A prospective meth cooker could buy two packages at Walmart, Shopko, Kmart, Target, Walgreens #1, Walgreens #2, and any one grocery store and have enough for an ounce of meth.

I am still disturbed by the lack of hard facts that I'm (not) coming up with to tie cold medicine to the manufacture of crystal meth, but the financial part of the equation seems to work.

The problem with the Dennis Miller Show

The Dennis Miller Show on CNBC has been cancelled, and there is plenty of talk around the blogosphere as to what was wrong with the show. Here's what was wrong with the show-it was on CNBC. I liked the show, but after it first came on, I found myself watching it less and less. CNBC is an afterthought of a cable station. Once I missed a few episodes, it didn't take much for me to forget Miller was even on. In fact, whenever CNBC makes a little news, the first thing that always pops into my mind is, "CNBC is still up and running?" Miller had no lead in over there, and his show had to be a destination point for people. Unfortunately, that'll kill you're ratings.

PETA kills

Michelle Malkin today points us to a website that exposes PETA's little secret-the number of dogs it kills each year. I somehow doubt that this charge of hypocrisy is going to dent PETA very much. In today's culture of moral relativism, euthanasia is considered an 'ethical treatment' for animals, and increasingly, humans. After all, we are told over and over that an unwanted life is a terrible thing, at least for those who don't want those lives in their lives. For the creatures and children who possess those lives, eh, tough cookies for them.

Random observation

After a couple of peaks at the Huffington watchamacallit, I noticed that they throw the four letter words around pretty freely. I'm the last guy to be offended by course language, but this trend of right of center blogs using cleaner language than left of center blogs is interesting to me. I mean, if you really think your views are right, wouldn't you want to convince people of that through eloquent useage of the English language? An f-bomb in an otherwise thoughtful post usually drops its credibility in my book. There is a time and a place for using those words. In most lefty blogs though, it seems more like a juvenile attempt at being cool and is usually a sign of the selfishness of the writer.

Ed Garvey, Chi-com

I ask that you all bear with me on this post. I jotted some things down this afternoon on this Ed Garvey article, and I want to share those thoughts even though I won't be succiciently linking.

Today, Ed Garvey had this piece in the Capital Times. Here are the excerpts to which I objected:

Students are mobilizing. They are sick of higher tuition, fewer courses and lower state support. They are demanding a tuition freeze, as well they should. And the absurd lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key policies of the past 20 years are now open to question as legislators and the governor find the education budget is bare because Corrections has such a huge appetite. Yes, we are beginning to hear about alternatives to incarceration, sensible parole policies and even a call to review so-called truth in sentencing.

Students deserve this? I’m all for some subsidization of in state tuition, but WI students already have a pretty sweet deal comparatively. And our cupboard is bare? What are we, the sixth biggest per capita spender, and the highest ranked high school we have is number 213?

The Center for Democratic Action held a conference last Saturday where participants made it clear they are no longer willing to be fed pap by local TV and radio stations. They will challenge holders of FCC licenses if stations do not present a diversity of views. Through underground magazines, blogs, newsletters, Free Speech TV, WORT and community TV, alternative sources of news are springing up everywhere. More and more people visit progressive Web sites and listen to Amy Goodman. Something is stirring.

Diversity of views=more of his, none of ours.

The realities of our budget problems are becoming too obvious for people to swallow the simplistic formulas of the two right-wingers seeking the Republican nomination for governor. They are out of step with the people as they compete for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce dollars and endorsements from the likes of Milwaukee radio host Charlie Sykes. The public knows we cannot expand services to a growing population without raising taxes or eliminating loopholes. We aren't stupid. You can't keep building and filling prisons and increase support for education and health care.

A growing population means a growing tax base. That isn’t why we are facing budget problems. Our budget problems are the result of our representatives spending money like drunken sailors.

Even the plight of the poor is coming into focus. The bumper sticker solutions of Tommy Thompson's time, from bride-fare to W-2, cannot withstand the light. W-2 had no chance of reducing poverty. It was a diversion. And a costly one designed to make chest-thumping politicians look good.

Let’s see a third option then, Eddie, because the old welfare system only encouraged poverty.

In Wisconsin, 400,000 people do not have health insurance. Our wages are stuck in place. That is unacceptable to the good people of this state and they are being heard at the People's Legislature sessions.

Does he intentionally make his organization sound like the Chi-coms and the Politburo?

What did Jib do Tuesday night?

Well, I can say I'd have been better off blogging. I played my first softball game of the year. And it was my fault we lost. I went 0-3 with a sac fly, and in the field I had several nifty plays at third, but on the niftiest in the bottom of the 6th, I botched the throw which lead to the game tying and winnning runs to score. I guess tomorrow when my little leaguers toss a ball halfway down the right field line, I can't really yell at them.

Teachers

Heh. I should watch Dennis Miller more than I do. To wit, I give you Kathy Seip v. Lawrence O'Donnell. They feuded over teachers, with O'Donnell pretty much whoring himself out for teachers. I'm willing to give the good teachers all the love they deserve. I know some good ones, and their jobs aren't easy. At the same time, I don't see how anyone can sell themselves out to the teachers as O'Donnell apparently does. I went to a university that pumps out a lot of teachers. The very good ones I know, I met at that school. One has to face up to reality, though. For every one good teacher I met, there were three who failed at every other program they enrolled in. Teaching was the only thing they couldn't fail out of school at. My problem with teachers comes from the fact that my experience tells me the bad ones out number the good ones. Then when you figure into that number of teachers who become ungrounded by unquestioning involvement in their unions, the number of good, independent teachers becomes frighteningly small.

120 shots, no one dead

Los Angeles has been pretty quiet of late-we've had very few police excess stories. Until now. An amateur videotaped police in Compton firing between 90 and 120 shots into a vehicle they had been in a high speed chase with. The implication is that police exercised excessive force, and you know what, 120 shots leave them very vulnerable to that charge. But one has to ask one question-were these officers extremely responsible, extremely incompetent, or extremely lucky? Any time 120 shots are fired in a short time and in a concentrated area, you have to expect high casualities and fatalities. In this case, a deputy and the suspect were wounded, and no one died. I'm not prepared to exonerate these officers yet, because 120 shots fired is a lot, but it seems that they concentrated their fire on the vehicle, otherwise there would have been many more vicitims in this urban area. It would seem that they were over reacted but responsible with their actions, and I have sympathy with that-police officers want to go home at the end of the day as much as you and I, only they face more danger than most of us. If they were not responsible, then one has to assume that they are keystone cops who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn in target practice or extremely lucky. And no one is that lucky to fill a tight area with 120 shots and not end up with more casualities.

Overture Center web page disappoints

Mrs. Jib and I occasionally get all artsy and attend things like plays, operas, and the like. In the last week, I've read several positive reviews of "Dirty Blonde," which is playing at the Overture Center in Madison. I was hoping that I could surprise Mrs. Jib with tickets to it, but I had to try to find a date that would work for us. So I go to the Overture Center's web site. What a disappointment. Madison has this beautiful center of arts on State Street, but it has a third rate web site that isn't all that user friendly. The first thing I did was click on Event Calendar-->Monthly Calendar. Handy, if you are planning for a date in October or later. I also did not see any way to purchase tickets online. As of this moment, I'm not sure if I'll be getting those tickets to Dirty Blonde, and it is all because the Overture Center doesn't do much to cater to those of us who are web-centric.

Intellectual t-ball

I'm loathe to promote this, but The Huffington Post debuts today. After reading the early posts, it seems that bloggers on the right side of the political spectrum should have a field day with this. Each post is like a baseball placed on tee for right leaning bloggers to smack out of the park. The problem is who wants to debase themselves by addressing this stuff? When a blogger goes after, say, Harry Reid, there is some feeling of accomplishment. Going after Mr. and Mrs. Julia Louis-Dreyfus feels like you are smacking around a paraplegic 8 year old with downs syndrome, though.

And that leads me to another question. David Frum, what the hell were you thinking? You look like the fox in the henhouse, but unlike the fox, the hens in this henhouse are going to try to peck your eyeballs out. Even if you succeed, all the other hens are going to cackle about how they got the better of you.

Dog angry over lost meal

After 'saving' an abandoned baby in Kenya, a local stray dog met with media today, expressing outrage over the meal that was stolen from her and her puppies.

"I go out every single day looking to feed my litter in this God forsaken country, and when I find a fresh feast for my family, people swoop and and take it from me. What's a bitch to do?"

News services from around the world have hailed the stray as a hero for lugging the 7 lb child through barbed wire and over a busy road to safety. The stray told media that someone owes her.

"Great, I'm famous now. Everyone wants to scratch my head. Petting doesn't fill the belly, folks. I damn well better get some snausages for this. That was my baby that was taken from me. I expect some compensation, here. I've had mange for a while. Some meds would be nice, too."

The stray, who still has not released her name to the public, also told a sad story of love lost.

"I met the father of my puppies in a back ally where we were both searching through a dumpster. He smelled my butt, I smelled his, and I just knew we would be together forever. After he knocked me up, he goes and runs off with a poodle. Now I'm stuck taking care of these little brats all by myself. It's all because the Bush administration in the United States isn't spending enough on doggy condoms in Africa."

Rob Reiner immediately issued a statement condemning the Bush administration for not promoting safe doggy style sex and urging the Bush Administration to give up it's efforts to promote abstinance in dogs through spaying and neutering. Reiner is recovering in a Cailfornia hospital after a first rate butt whooping from Bob Barker.

(This was satire. I shouldn't even have to tell you that.)

Happy Mother's Day!

Stately Jib Manor is awash in the scent of lilacs right now. I offer up a lilac to all mothers out there, and bouquet of them to my own mom. Happy Mother's Day, ladies. I hope you are all enjoying the day.

Blog rebelliousness

Maybe it's just me, but I got into blogging because I have a bit of a rebellious streak. My parents were spared this rebelliousness during my teenage years, mostly because my Dad struck the fear of God into me, all the while still earning my respect. My rebelliousness merged nicely with my love for writing and my disgust with the mainstream media, though, and hence, Jiblog was born. I'll be the first to admit that I'd love to make a little extra cash with Jiblog, but as you can see, there are no ads here yet, and there won't be until I think Jiblog is at the point where the ads won't be more of a distraction than a reader service. I'll also say that I wouldn't mind, like Lance Burri, writing a regular column one day. Even given that, though, I still have a serious rebellious streak, and that has me re-thinking the future of the blogosphere.

Not too long ago, I thought I had the future of the blogosphere all figured out. There was a critical mass developing, and I was positive that MSM web sites were going to start incorporating bloggers, and I was positive that big blogs were going to start taking on corporate identities and start losing their original voices. I don't think that I'm wrong about that. In fact, the buzz this week seems to be of hidden internet booms via the blogosphere and collaberative efforts like Pajama Media. I even emailed Pajama Media to see what their venture was all about. I was uncomfortable with it, but I also began to wonder "what's in it for me?" Then I clicked over to Moxie's web site, and a few things began to click into place.

I've pretty much always been of the opinion that in a few years we won't even recognize blogs as we know them today. But my ultimate view of the future of blogs has changed. I do believe that many, many bloggers will sell out. I also believe they will fail. Just read back through the last year's archives of the biggest blogs out there. Many have become down right arrogant. A year ago, they pumped out some interesting content and they linked to some genuinely interesting posts of smaller bloggers. Today, many of them regurgitate more and more from fewer and fewer sources. They've begun to taste fame and rake in (small) fortunes, and with that, they've begun to forget what made them popular in the first place. Many of the big blogs are becoming more and more like the MSM they've earned their traffic criticizing. Pajama Media is a perfect example. Here we have a business venture created by some of the biggest, most well known names out their. They want to place ads on your site and my site, and they want to syndicate our material. But after reading their agreements and thinking on this, I've become more and more convinced that this venture benefits them much, much more than it benefits mid and small sized blogs that participate. Much more. I'm all for those taking the biggest risks receiving the biggest rewards. In the example of Pajama Media, though, I think almost all of the reward goes to the big guys, with the little guys just playing the part of the "long tail" from which the big guys can profit. I'm also increasingly concerned that these ventures will start to sterilize the voice of the blogosphere. After all, if it is all about the money, then you naturally start to shut your mouth when opening it risks the money.

Part of the blogosphere's charm in the last two years has been that people said whatever they damn well pleased. If they were wrong, people told them. More often than not, they weren't wrong though, and the freedom they had allowed them to go after those who mislead the public because they weren't beholden to the almighty dollar. That irreverance is starting to fade, and with it, so too will the influence of blogs fade. People who have searched out blogs for that irreverance and that freedom will turn their backs on it. They'll turn their backs on it because it is not longer what they are looking for. And these larger collaberative efforts will fail because they'll have more expenses to cover, but people will be more and more disenchanted with what they have to say.

If you can make a buck with your site, I say bully for you, do it and capitalize on it. Whoring out your site and your content to a few big bloggers won't get you there, though. In fact, it may even alienate your old audience. I'm going to keep on keeping on, and I may never be succesful at it, but at least once I've failed, and only three people a day come to read my insight, I'll be able to say that I never gave up my voice, and I never sold my voice and my influence to someone else.

The "mainstreaming" of blogs seems to make sense on the surface. In the long run, it will destroy a lot of blogs. By 2008, don't expect to recognize the blogosphere. Little guys will still be around, but people will have a tougher time finding them. As for the big guys, they'll make a big splash and then their group ventures, built on profit models, will begin to fail. A great shake out is about to begin in the blogosphere; prepare yourself for it.