2010 Predictions

10. Sometime in the first half of the year, the stock market will outrun the current irrational exuberance and sharply tumble back below 10,000.

9. At the end of the year, unemployment will remain above 9%.

8. At least one nation will default or nearly default on its debt.

7. A promising Green Bay Packer season will be derailed by injuries.

6. Democrats will avoid provoking controversy via legislation just enough to lose fewer seats than anticipated in the off-year election.

5. The newspaper industry will continue to disintegrate as at least two more papers halt their print editions.

4. Al Gore will pontificate about global warming during an unseasonable cold snap/blizzard (this should be a gimme).

3. Tiger Woods will return from hiatus before the majors begin.

2. There will be a significant terrorist attack on American interests.

1. President Obama's approval rating will end the year marginally higher than they begin the year. Marginally.

Go Bears

It is quite possible you will never see me write that anywhere ever again.

Blogging...

...I think I may just jump into this new fangled communications device in 2010.

Murder in Jefferson, Wisconsin

This weekend, an off duty police officer from Oconomowoc, and what appears to be her boyfriend, lost their lives to a gunman in the little town of Jefferson, Wisconsin. To their families, I cannot convey the depths of my sympathy. Their loss is tragic, and all the more so given the Christmas season.

At the same time, I hope that Jefferson Mayor Gary Myers retracts his statement on local TV broadcasts that Jefferson has not seen something on this scale since Dillinger. I don't enjoy the fact that I have to remind him that his is the city of Diane Borchardt. While Borchardt was only responsible for the death of one person, hers was such a sordid tale that it has been the inspiration of movies both factional and fictional. For him to erase that history with his statement is a disgrace to the family and friends of Ruben Borchardt.

Nagging Discomfort About the Afghanistan Plan

This is really eating at me. In Iraq, we attempted a "surge" and it worked quite well. As Afghanistan has deteriorated, President Obama has seemingly come to the conclusion that another similar "surge" (albeit with many fewer troops) is just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, Afghanistan isn't very similar to Iraq. Iraq was downright civilized in comparison to Afghanistan. While I think history has shown that massive (and 80,000 troops doesn't count as massive) buildups in Afghanistan do not work, I'm also quite skeptical that aping the Iraq strategy in smaller scale is going to accomplish anything but unecessary American deaths. I find this president quite lacking in military curiosity when it comes to this decision.

An NFL Thought

Wouldn't it greatly diminish the Patriots' perfect season of two years ago if the Saints and the Colts went 16-0 this year with the Vikings right behind at 15-1? (Don't worry, Packer fans...Viking 15-1 records have a good track record for ignominity.)

Half Assed...

...is no way to fight a war, Mr. President.

Fish or cut bait, sir.

On The Topic of Love, Lust, and Betrayal

I'm disappointed to see this story back in the news. I'll give the benefit of the doubt that it belonged splashed across the Milwaukee media this summer because there was something to the journalistic ethics angle. Now, however, it really doesn't. Now it is just salacious society gossip. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves, including Daniel Bice. None of the parties central to this 'story' are acquitting themselves well.

Palin, From A Distance

By my own choice, I've kept a healthy distance from politics for the second half of this year. At times that gnaws at me because I get an idea for a post, but I'm uncomfortable writing it because I haven't followed the topic as closely as I should have. At other times, though, it is nice to have the long view of things. Sarah Palin is one of those topics that it is nice to have the long view on. I know she has some ardent supporters on the right. To those of you, feel free to continue your ardent support. On the other hand, I think a much larger portion of her followers are caught up in the politics of this all. To you, I say reconsider before you make a mistake. She is not Presidential, not now. And she won't be by 2012. If things continue to trend the way they are in this country, she might be the only person Obama will be capable of defeating in 2012. So step back in the privacy of your own home and ask yourself, "Am I really comfortable possibly catapaulting this person to the 2012 Republican nomination, or am I looking for something else in that person?"

Speaking of Bouncers...

...are there any other parents out there whose kids would bounce themselves past the point of exhaustion, and then bounce some more because they just couldn't stop?! My boy will actually lean his head down on the toys around the ring because he's so tired, but keep on bouncing.

Wherein My Contradictory Nature Kicks in on Parenting Advice

Through the mangled weave of links that is the web, tonight I ended up at a site called Let's Panic! Basically, it's a web page about surviving and thriving in pregnancy and parenthood. I'll admit, I didn't read a single article there, just the quick teasers on the main page. Just the same, some of the things the authors wrote on the main page were provocative enough for me to write about, but not enough to actually give a rat's ass what their opinion was. So here are my gut responses to incomplete information.

Your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, sugar daddy, one-night stand, and/or gynecologist all have one thing in common: they want to be more involved in your pregnancy than you can possibly imagine.

I don't even know what that means. I wanted to see my baby in the ultrasound. I wanted to feel him kick. I wanted to take some of the daily burden off of my wife. Typical daddy to be things, I believe. I wanted to be involved in the pregnancy because I love my wife and my child. However, I have no idea how I could have wanted to be more involved in the pregnancy than my wife could have possibly imagined.

It's very important to never raise one's voice above 50 decibels, or, in case you don't have a decibel meter, the level of a half-heard murmur brushing past your ear as you cross a darkened threshold, or the sound of dozens of hooded acolytes whispering the lord's prayer backwards in a room lit only by candles stuck into the skulls of goats.

Seriously, you've got to be kidding me. Even when I'm sweet talking my boy, he doesn't pay attention to me until I hit 75 decibels, and even then it has to be in my deep voice. And that loud, deep voice doesn't scare him; he thinks it is funny. The context of loud can disturb him, but not loud in and of itself. I sing Rammstein in my deepest, darkest, loudest, scariest voice and the kid loves it. It is only when that loud, deep voice occurs in certain contexts that it bothers him. So what I'm saying is, occasionally be loud around your kid unless you want him or her to fear everyone that ever raises a voice in his or her direction.

Here at Let's Panic About Babies!, we believe that passive-aggressive acting out toward your child is the new spanking.

My boy is still waaaayyyy to young for it, but there is a place for spanking. There isn't a place for passive aggression, even though when you are tired and worn out, it might happen. You are the adult, act like it. So passive aggression is not the new spanking. It is probably worse.

That's my only critique of the site (and soon to be book) that I have for now. I could do more, but my boy has exhausted himself in his bouncer, and I have to amuse him with loud sounds before I feed him and put him to bed.

Predicting Failure for News Corp.

If you own stock, I advise that you sell. Why? Because apparently nobody has bothered to explain the internet to Rupert Murdoch:

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has suggested the company's online newspaper pages will be invisible to Google users when it launches its new paid content strategy.

Umm, Mr. Murdoch, if I were an agency for one of your advertisers, I wouldn't give you a red cent for placement on any of your paid sites. And good luck getting subscribers if something, oh, say, GOOGLE, isn't driving people to those sites to get the information they want.

Another Thought

I feel fortunate in that I realize how important I am as a father in my child's development. Too many males out there do not and never end up as much more than a baby daddy, much to their child (children's) disadvantage.

A Thought

I once felt very influential as a blogger.

Now, I feel more influential as a father.

Over Heard...

...outside the UW locker room after UW's 20-10 loss to Iowa:

"Umm, Mr. Tolzien, it seems your carriage in the parking lot has turned into a pumpkin."

Dear Nobel Peace Prize Comittee,

If that is all it takes to win the Peace Prize, I'll get to work on accomplishing nothing and I'll have my nomination to you for next year. I look forward to accepting your 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jib

Post Favre Loss Packer Thoughts

*Dom Capers' strategy for this game was obviously to make Brett Favre beat them. He did. They need to find a happy median for the game at Lambeau.

*Many will see this game as a repudiation of Ted Thompson's strategy to not tie up money on the offensive line. I disagree. I think the Mike Sherman Packers proved that you don't need to spend your money on the line. This is a repudiation of Thompson's ability to evaluate offensive line talent.

*Favre fans will see this as justification of their belief that Packers should have kept Favre. It isn't. With his current lack of mobility, that game would have been very ugly with #4 under center for the Packers.

*At the same time, if the Packers don't want to squander what they have in Aaron Rodgers, they sure as hell better find a way to keep him upright.

*I said it then and I'll say it again: Ryan Grant owes Brett Favre for his big contract. He just doesn't earn yards on his own.

*The Vikings could be tough down the stretch, but I think the true test for the them will be after the game at Lambeau. Anyone who tells you that Favre didn't come back to stick it to the Packers is lying to you and themselves. He may very well fold down the stretch, screwing yet another team.

*This team has some problems that cannot be fixed in season. The o-line is atrocious and too many blown coverages are occurring in the secondary. 9-7 may be a victory for this squad.

Shut Up

You've got to be kidding me.

Some Chicago officials say anti-American resentment likely played a role in Chicago's Olympic bid dying in the first round Friday.

President Obama could not undo in one year the resentment against America that President Bush and others built up for years, they said.

This whole blame Bush thing was cute once upon a time, but really, it is just an excuse now. Go ahead and blame Bush, Chicago. You are only insulating yourselves from some uncomfortable truths.

I Apparently Could Have Been a Genius

I doubt this:

Spanking can get kids to behave in a hurry, but new research suggests it can do more harm than good to their noggins. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more a child was spanked the lower his or her IQ compared with others.

Apparently, kids have their brains in their asses.

I, for one, will tell you that the spankings I got helped me form the discipline to actually use the smarts my mom and dad passed on to me. Even if this study is valid, give me a kid with a lower IQ and discipline and I'll show you a success. A high IQ with no discipline is no gift and no guarantee of success.

Winter Light Bulbs

While I applaud the good intentions of this, I still have a problem with it that really sticks in my craw:

The L Prize has garnered significant attention in the lighting industry because 60-watt incandescent lamps represent 50 percent of all the lighting in the United States, with 425 million sold each year. The Energy Department says that if all those lamps were LED equivalents, enough power would be saved to light 17.4 million American households and cut carbon emissions by 5.6 million metric tons annually.

The Energy Department fails to consider one very big thing, and that is winter. I will grant them the fact that in summer, current incandescents waste energy. But living here in Wisconsin, any time nighttime temps drop below sixty degrees, seasons known as spring, fall, and winter, that energy is not lost. Heat from incandescents is viewed as a waste of energy, but I will tell you unequivocally that the "wasted" heat from those bulbs keeps my furnace from kicking in as often during the colder two thirds of the year. The radiant heat that they give off also keeps me from turning my thermostat up to a higher temperature. If someone smarter than me can prove to me that the energy used to create the electricity for those bulbs is greater than the increased natural gas I'd use in a CFL world, I'll change my position. Until then, I will continue to warn that the "energy savings" that the government proclaims for new bulbs is a fallacy.