BBA State Fair takeover

Just a reminder to all of my Wisconsin readers-

The Badger Blog Alliance will be holding its now annual Wisconsin State Fair meet & greet at the Microbrew tent this Saturday on August 5. All are welcome, whether you are a blogger, a blog reader, or just someone curious to see what a real life blogger looks like and what kind of beer they drink (unfortunately, you have to leave the microbrew tent to get a Leinies). I will probably not be there this year, so if you'd like to join in the ongoing plans to overthrow me as BBA administrator in a bloody coup, this would be the event to attend.

On Mel Gibson, Judaism, Hollywood

I like Mel Gibson as an actor and director. He entertains me. It is impossible to defend his inexcusable actions and words, though, and it is clear that he has a lot of personal demons that he needs to exercise. That said, I am bemused to watch people line up to rhetorically stone him for his anti-Semitic rant. A number of the people lining up with their stone are also outspoken in their loathing of Israel. It would seem that it is perfectly okay to treat Israel in the same manner Gibson treated all Jews as long as you carefully couch what you say in more acceptable words. If you generalize to the point Gibson did and tar perfectly good liberal Jews along with those undesirable conservative and Israeli Jews, then it is a step too far.

Fidel Watch 2006

One of the biggest news items on Monday was Fidel Castro's poor health. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Fidel has had a nice, long life lived on the back of Cubans that he has brainwashed through Cuba's literacy and school programs. My only question is who becomes the media's fav dictator once Fidel is gone? Chavez? Raul Castro, that lovable drunk revolutionary? It'll be interesting to see.

Bumper sticker fun

Jay Nordlinger at NRO has been having fun with political bumper stickers in his Impromptus column. This one from last Friday caught my eye:

Dear Jay:

While driving home from work through Deerfield, Ill. (Chicago suburb), I saw this bumper sticker on the car of a teenage male: The Road to Hell Is Paved with Republicans. Rather harsh, wouldn'’t you say?

Quite amusing, actually. After all, the immobile pavement on the road never quite makes it to hell itself. But those driving down that road, in this case a Democrat, make it their final destination. I guess the joke is ultimately on the Dems.

Good news for nuke power

If this works and it is efficient, it would only advance efforts to increase our use of nuclear power.

As the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) prepares to issue advice to government on nuclear waste, a group of physicists claims to have discovered a technique that could make nuclear waste much easier to deal with. The new technique, reported in the August edition of Physics World, would render nuclear waste harmless on timescales of just a few tens of years, instead of thousands.
[...]
The technique involves embedding the nuclear waste in a metal and cooling it to ultra-low temperatures. This speeds up the rate of decay of the radioactive materials potentially cutting their half lives by a factor of 100 or more.

Of course, something like this can be physically possible but not practical due to cost or inefficiency. Here's to hoping that it works and is practical.

A rare win, and ugly play

Monday was a rare night for the old softball team. We looked like we had our s*** together. Oh, I tried to single handedly destroy that in the first. I booted a ball off the heel of my glove at short. That runner scored. Then I had a second ball hit to me. I fielded it cleanly, but I had the jitters from the first E, so I double clutched which meant I had to get the ball off in a hurry. At first I though our first baseman was going to be able to stretch and catch my throw, which was down the line. He missed it by that much. It did not miss the rib cage of the runner, though. I throw pretty hard, and the thud was disgusting to most who witnessed it. I've hit runners with throws before, so I felt bad for the guy but I wasn't totally distressed about it. Despite the fact that I think his teammates thought I killed him for a minute, he came out of it sore but okay. I was relieved that he didn't have to leave the game; when I was in high school I was trying to throw a runner out at third from center and he was right in line with my third baseman. My throw hit him in the back of the helmet. That made a sickening cracking sound and I knocked him out briefly. That was probably the most unnerving thing I've done on a ball diamond, and I've had may fair share of injuries and inflicted my fair share as well.

Article of the day

This says it all:

Terrorists and their supporters have lost the right to complain about civilian casualties, since all they have done this entire war is target civilians. Every single one of the more than 2,500 rockets launched into Israel is launched into populated towns filled with women and children. Just today, another suicide belt meant to kill civilians in Israel was detonated harmlessly by our forces in Nablus.

So, don't cry to me about civilian casualties. Cry to those using your babies and wives and mothers; cry to those who store weapons in mosques, ambulances, hospitals and private homes. Cry to those launching deadly rockets from the backyards of your kindergartens and schools. Cry to the heartless men who love death, and who, however many of their troops or civilians die, consider themselves victorious as long as they can keep on firing rockets at our women and children.
[...]
That terrorists have been unsuccessful in killing more of our women and children is due to our army, God and our prayers, not to any lack of motivation or intention on their part. If you hide behind your baby to shoot at my baby, you are responsible for getting children killed. You, and you alone.

Read the whole thing.

Don't try this at home

It's dumb to carry liquid nitrogen like this. Still, pretty cool.

The new warfare

By and large, I can agree with this New York Times piece on the changing nature of warfare. We are in a transitional stage of history right now, one that is in some ways similar to the 1900-1930's period. State militaries will eventually adapt to the new threat from network style militias. In many ways the networked militias are a bigger threat to freedoms and liberties than fascism and communism, though, and it could be difficult to balance fighting these networked threats without giving up freedom and liberty too easily. That, along with traditional state based threats, could be the challenge of the next 20 years.

Speaking of unhealthy foods

Burger Boat sounds more like a place I'd willing go to cut years off my life through unhealthy food than a ship builder deep in the hip pocket of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Mmmmm, burgers.

Ban TV shows on food

They are an obvious culprit in our burgeoning obesity. Here I am on a hot Sunday, having an ice cold beverage and watching an half hour show on pizzas. I'm not particularly hungry, but the show is leading me to want a huge, unhealthy, Chicago-style deep dish pizza. If not for this show, I'd probably be watching a movie and not desire food at all...except popcorn. Say, maybe we should ban movies, too.

(For the clueless, also known as the Chicago city council, I'm pointing out the absurdity of blaming companies and culture for our fat and not ourselves.)

Defend this

If you want to rake Israel over the coals for proportionality, if you wish to skewer Israel with civilian deaths in Lebanon, if you desire to paint Israel as the bully in this fight, then defend Hezbollah against this: Photos that Damn Hezbollah.

Note to the record industry: Sign Megan Wyler

The other day I wrote a short little post on my frustration over not being able to buy the Megan Wyler cover of Johnny Cash's Walk the Line that Levi's uses in their commercials. I am getting surprisingly strong Google search hits for "Walk the Line Megan Wyler" and its many variations. So, as much as I am loathe to do so, here is my FREE word of advice to the record industry. Sign her and get that single out in a hurry.

(See commercial here.)

Pothead math calculations

Really, if we are looking for the next generation of math whizzes, maybe we should look to pot smokers. I've never seen so much math buzzing around a comments section in my life.

On second thought, the Cheeto stains on the final calculations would probably ensure disaster on any project.

Syria and Iraq's WMD

I just thought I'd link to this Iraqi memo and post the text here for posterity's sake. If it irritates those of you who get upset that I still think about Iraq's pre-war weapon supplies, so be it.

Subject: we have information about the location of Mass Destruction Weapons

On Moharram 10th (Arabic calendar), prior to US/allied invasion to Iraq, fifty (50) Iraqi trucks entered Syria as convoys (or groups), I met some the drivers of those trucks, they got no idea about the content of their trucks.

The loads basically came from some where in Baghdad, Iraqi intelligence were escorting the loads. During their tripe, those truck drivers were stopped and asked frequently by the intelligence officers about whether or not they got any idea about the content of their loads, the divers replied “we have no idea," then the officers would say “thank you."

Upon their arrival to Deayr Ezoor city/ Syria, the drivers were ordered to get down, elements from Syrian intelligence got into the trucks, they took the trucks to big barracks for downloading.

After that; Iraqi drivers got their trucks back, they got $200 as a reward. The drivers told me that it was their second time to bring such secret shipment; the first shipment was Moharram 1st.

I have a friend in Syria working in Syrian company, the man has ½ of the company, and the other ½ belongs to a Syrian businessman.

This Iraqi person, a former counselor at Iraqi embassies, has strong connections with Iraqi embassy in Syria, he knows all Iraqi intelligence men there, and he has no idea that I am working with the Iraqi opposition in Syria.

I used to visit him daily during that period to listen to the important news. When the trucks arrived to Syria, I visited him, told him “Iraqi weapons got inside Syria," he replied “who told you." I said “I have my own resources," he replied “don’t tell any one about that because actually it is inside."

A passing thought

If I started an annual conference called BlogHim, do you think I could do it without Martha Burke hectoring me?

"Pander and Run"

This criticism of Democrats had to come from the left, and I'm glad that it did. Peter Beinart takes Democrats to task for their stunt with Nouri al-Maliki in the Washington Post and in doing displays why The New Republic is one of the few liberal magazines I still read. While I view TNR as wrong more often than they are right, their approach to issues of the day is still one I can respect...most of the time. Unfortunately for Beinart and TNR, this is only going to put the magazine further into the cross hairs of the rabid left, even though his article appears in the Post.

Brewers trade Carlos Lee

It's official. The Brewer's have traded Carlos Lee. My thoughts on this trade are up at the Wisconsin Sports Bar. I will add one Jiblog exclusive thought. I hope that included in this deal is a psychiatrist to be named later for Francisco Cordero. The guy self destructed in April worse than Derrick Turnbow has of late.

The Chicago big box minimum wage

Here we go with another unintended consequence. Chicago is targeting big box retailers with a minimum wage increase. Unlike some of my cohorts on the right, I do not believe the big boxes will start a mass exodus to the suburbs. There is just too much demand in the city of Chicago to leave the city limits. Here's what will happen, though. The cost of living will increase in the city of Chicago as the big box stores raise their prices to compensate for the higher wages. That pay increase that their employees get will be partially washed out by those higher prices, making the increase in their buying power negligible at best.

Robert Charles Brown, mass serial killer

If his admission is true, then Robert Charles Brown is a man whose name we are all going to know very soon. He's confessed to 48 murders.

Robert Charles Browne, 53, told authorities the slayings occurred from 1970 until his arrest in 1995. He was in court Thursday to plead guilty to one of those killings — the death of another girl in Colorado in 1987.

Authorities so far have been able to corroborate his detailed claims in six slayings — three in Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Arkansas, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said.

Browne started the dialog on the murders with a creepy letter that sounds like it was written for a movie.

"Seven sacred virgins, entombed side by side, those less worthy, are scattered wide," the letter says. "The score is you 1, the other team 48. If you were to drive to the end zone in a white Trans Am, the score could be 9 to 48. That would complete your home court sphere."

This is the type of guy that it is difficult to not justify the death penalty for.