Deep Throat revealed

ABC news is reporting the identity of the Woodward and Berstein source "Deep Throat" has been revealed as... Mark Felt.

After more than 30 years of silence, the most famous anonymous source in American history, Deep Throat, has identified himself to a reporter at Vanity Fair.

W. Mark Felt, 91, an assistant director at the FBI in the 1970s, has told reporter John D. O'Connor that he is "the man known as Deep Throat."

The revelation was not nearly as fun as I hoped it would be. I was hoping for Al Haig, but I believed "Deep Throat" was really a composite of different sources.

I haven't seen a quote yet from G Gordon Liddy whether he's still willing to kill for the ex-president. And, of course, Woodward and Bernstein could still come out and say, nope, wrong guy.

Look for lots of nostalgia articles to come out, parallels between Bush and Nixon, the War on Terror and the Vietnam War, etc.

Funny how the latter half of the 1970s is never looked back on as kindly by journalists. Who was President again? Oh yeah, this guy.

Update: Apparently I'm not the only one disappointed. Deep Throat really needed to be someone more exciting to have kept his identity hidden this long.

time to take out the trash

Paris Hilton is engaged to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis. I'm guessing that part of the pre-nup negotiations will be the division of proceeds from the honeymoon video, coming to a XXX bookstore near you.

State Democrats unserious about taxes

Lance Burri has an analysis of the Wisconsin Democrats' proposal to lower property taxes. It's merely a tax shift, not relief, and taxes would fall heavier on the Democrats' favorite targets: businesses.

As Burri correctly points out, the Democrats aren't even serious about their plan. But it'll sound nice when they talk to constituents tomorrow when walking along parade routes.

Drive safe, but I have a question

Likely the last post before the three day weekend (but you never know). You'll be happy to know as you load the family into the car that Wisconsin ranked 8th among the 48 states and Washington DC in driver awareness of the rules of the road. (Hat tip: Lakeshore Laments) One stat should scare the heck out of you as you buckle up:

The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 drivers, would fail a state driver's test if they had to take one today.

What I want to know is, if we're such smart drivers in Wisconsin, why do so many idiots drive slow in the left hand lane? And you can't blame Illinois for this. Illinois may have ranked 40th on the test but they're number one in passing me on the freeway.

So this Memorial Day weekend be proud of our veterans and thankful for what they did to preserve our freedom. Fly your American flag proudly. Drive safe.

And stay outta the left lane.

No Frist among equals

The LA Times editors weigh in on the future US Senate career of Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. They suggest if he has any ambition to be President he should leave the Senate like Bob Dole did in 1996, but for different reasons:

Dole quit in part because his evident mastery of its rules left the impression that he cared more about recondite parliamentary tactics than he did about the presidency. Frist, who many speculate plans a bid in 2008, has the opposite problem. The longer he tries to run the Senate, the more he looks like a bungler whose only principle is personal advancement.

Of course, Frist may look like a bungler because he is a bungler. I won’t ascribe to the Senator that his only principle is personal advancement. I wish it were, as it may have made him tougher in dealing with the seven members of his own party who brokered the deal with the Democrats to theoretically kill the filibuster of the President’s judicial nominees. The deal may have also ended the possibility of two or four of the nominees of getting confirmed, and has certainly done long term damage to any White House aspirations of Senator Frist.

The Bolton nomination fiasco only adds to the image of impotence in the Senate Republican leadership and should cause “the Coalition of the Chillin’ ” a slight thaw.

(I’m not ready to join the “Not One Dime” coalition either, so just put me in the “Pessimists Impatiently Hoping to be Proven Wrong”. Unfortunately, we’ll have lame t-shirts.)

If Senator Frist does still harbor White House ambitions after the events of this last week, he needs to move quickly to push the other judicial nominees through and the Bolton nomination through. Failure to hold his party together to support the President’s nominees is inexcusable.

Meanwhile, spell check or an editor killed an obvious one-liner in the LA Times. How could they have missed writing the last line, “…he would do well to remember that the Hippocratic oath should apply to the Senate as well: Frist do no harm.”

The other side of the MSM

The Green Bay News Chronicle will publish their last newspaper Friday June 3rd. This strikes close to home as I have family that work for the newspaper. Gannett purchased the paper last year, but declining circulation and revenue have forced the newspaper to finally close. Gannett also owns the Green Bay Press-Gazette which will be the monopoly newspaper for the area.

It is interesting to note the origins of the Green Bay News- Chronicle:

Started as The Daily News on Nov. 13, 1972, the newspaper was created as a strike tactic by a group of employees of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1976, Frank Wood, majority owner of Brown County Publishing Co., took over leadership of the paper and changed its name to the News-Chronicle. Over the course of the next several years, Wood bought majority ownership of the paper and folded it into Brown County Publishing Co. as a subsidiary.

One could say that, in many ways, the newspaper started in the same spirit of the conservative college newspapers of the late 1980s and 1990s, AM talk radio, and the weblogs of today. It started as an alternative to the dominant media and gave a different view. In Green Bay, that alternative point of view will now have to be read without ink and paper, and the people that made the Green Bay News-Chronicle.

Just a quick hit post

The Associated Press is reporting Broadcasting and Cable magazine says Sopranos creator David Chase has not ruled out a seventh season. Season six is still in the writing stage. I'd have more details, but getting behind Broadcasting and Cable magazine's subscription firewall may involve having someone whacked.

Carnival of Comedy #5

IMAO has the fifth weekly Carnival of Comedy up at their site. We're promised the comedy is getting better and better.

The less Big Gig

Summerfest President and CEO Don Smiley is hoping for a smaller festival. I'm beginning to believe he might be a person that can make that happen.

"I really believe that if we had fewer people, and they had a quality experience, versus focusing on quantity, it's better for everyone. There's less traffic. There's more spots to park. There's not as long of lines at the restrooms, and to get a beer and a sandwich, and so on and so forth. So this emphasis that has been put on a million people -- we're going to de-emphasize that," Smiley said.

Milwaukee's Summerfest event was expertly planned and run by Bo Black for years. This is the first year where Smiley has been involved from the beginning of the planning process. If he's already downplaying the attendance numbers we may be seeing the start of a long, slow decline of an event everyone in Milwaukee could be proud of.

No word yet when he'll start asking the city for a subsidy.

it's Miller Time

A major Budweiser distributor in St Louis is facing labor trouble, and the good people of St Louis may have to drink real beer as a result.

Workers for Lohr Distributing Company walked off the job Sunday night after working without a contract since February. Since Lohr distributes Budweiser, Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products in the city, deliveries to retailers, taverns and even Busch Stadium have been disrupted -- and just as the Memorial Day weekend approaches.

A Teamsters spokesman asks for support for the strike by calling for a boycott of Anheuser-Busch products.

I'm always confused on this point. If I never drink their products anyway, do I get credit for joining the boycott? No word yet if rice growers will put pressure on the Teamsters to end the strike.

Does PETA know about this?

I can see it now: a bunch of pasty-skinned Vegans on a rampage in Western Iraq after hearing about a bomb being strapped to a dog by terrorists.

In one of the insurgency's most bizarre attacks to date, someone tied a crude homemade bomb to a dog, which exploded near an Iraqi army patrol south of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, police said. None of the soldiers was harmed in the blast.

"I love the smell of tofu and brussel sprouts in the morning. It smells like victory."

Ladies, don't listen to Redbook

Some years ago I stopped going to a barber (you know, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal) and started going to a "hair stylist" (Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan). I got my hair cut again today and while waiting for my turn in the chair, I saw Redbook advertised on their cover that they knew what men "secretly want" for Father's Day. Since I don't know what I want for Father's Day, I quickly opened the magazine to the page that held the secret.

Redbook suggested women should send their husbands flowers.

Ladies, unless those flowers come with an 18Hp gas-powered wood chipper to stuff the flowers in, don't listen to Redbook.

Wouldn't it be better to keep them in prison?

Mark Belling has been discussing on his AM 1130 radio show and in his newspaper column the unwillingness of judges to hand down tough sentences to convicted sexual predators. Instead of keeping them locked away from society, some judges feel it is their responsibility to integrate the unreformable child molesters and rapists back into society at large as quickly as possible.

Which is why WISN-TV's report on electronic bracelets for sexual predators, tracked by GPS, is so disturbing. Apparently the system has been used on a small scale since 2003. Calling it "the future of law enforcement" the report concedes there is nothing the bracelet can do to stop a sexual predator from striking again, it can only give a warning when the sexual predator is too close to a school or a playground.

There is no mention in the report of what happens to the sexual predator when the GPS system indicates there has been a violation of the rules. That's because that decision is left in the hands of people like Washington County DA Todd Martens, and Judge Patrick Faragher.

At least with the GPS we may be able to find the next victim's body faster. That'll be small comfort to the parents.

A hateful idiot for our times

Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, in the foreward for the latest Amensty International Annual Report, manages to insult the memory of the countless victims of Soviet Communism and demonstrate a complete lack of any historical perspective. She calls the prison at the U.S. Navy's base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where approximately 540 men are held on suspicion of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida, "the gulag of our times."

The question has got to be asked, is her hatred of the United States so complete it has completely overwhelmed her ability to reason? Is she a danger to herself?

Lenin, Stalin and their successors killed millions in the Gulag Archipelago because they were not going to fit in the new Soviet order. Is that what she really thinks is happening in a place that holds less than 600 men, where abuse of prisoners is condemned and punished by the US government? Where even the slightest mishandling of the Koran by guards and interrogators is expressly forbidden?

Such is the lack of a grounding in reality, Khan mentions only the free part of Cuba and manages to ignore the Gulag next door that endures under Fidel Castro. Despite devoting six paragraphs to the sins of the United States nowhere in the 18 paragraphs of her foreward does she mention North Korea, Iran, Libya, Vietnam, Syria or Saudi Arabia. She mentions China only in relation to their oil interests in the Sudan.

In 1813 words couldn't Khan have found some way to express her gratitude to United States for freeing Afghanistan from the Taliban and Iraq from Saddam Hussein?

But then that might be admitting that President Bush is right to pursue the War on Terror. And the United States, especially under President Bush, can never be in the right.

Zarqawi has an ow-ie

UPI is reporting most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have been "evacuated" to a neighboring country after being severely wounded (hat tip: Conservative Thinking). I gotta think a punctured lung would be pretty painful. Good.

And if it's true he has been moved to a neighboring country and is being sheltered by them, the Bush Doctrine still holds.

more unscrupulous marketing to kids

This is just beyond the pale (hat tip: Instapundit).

Mainstream children's Web sites host a glut of adware, a security firm said this week, proof that spyware makers are targeting kids in an attempt to slip by parents and get their software onto home computers.

My son uses our computer to browse three sites. I strongly suggest installing a pop-up blocker. It's saved me a lot of headaches fixing the computer.

I'm also looking for any suggestions of software I might install that keeps the children restricted to certain sites. I don't want to block some sites; I want to block everything except three sites.

Solid Gold

Would you believe Marquette officials almost made "gold" one of the 10 options they are allowing the students to vote for? Professor John McAdams says the nickname advisory committee was given a very short list to create the current list of possible nicknames. The committee struck "Gold" from the list.

I'm starting to believe my own crayon theory.

from one of the leaders of the Reagan revolution

Today's quote of the day comes from former Reagan administration official Lyn Nofziger:

There is an old saying in this town (I just made it up) that when the going gets tough the Democrats can always count on a few Republicans to switch sides.

Nofziger regrets Senator John Warner (R-VA) is getting old and unlikely to run again, depriving Nofziger the chance to vote against Warner as payback for the deal yesterday with the Democrats which has probably scuttled two, possibly four of the President's judicial nominees.

The food fight will be televised

The committee formed to decide what to do with the six giant plasma screen televisions installed in the cafeteria of Muskego High School is recommending keeping the televisions right where they are. And according to the Journal Sentinel, two members of the committee in the report even "scolded" the superintendent for not defending the decision.

The Muskego-Norway school board will meet June 6th to discuss the report. Here is a list of school board members and their contact info:

Ray Schrank
President
W172 S8087 Lannon Dr.
Muskego, WI 53150
(262) 679-6042
rschrank@mnsd.k12.wi.us

James Schaefer
Vice President
W131 S6671 Kipling Dr. Muskego, WI 53150
(414) 858-9829
jschaefer@mnsd.k12.wi.us

R. Daniel Kinnick
Clerk
W160 S7266 Daisy Dr.
Muskego, WI 53150
(414) 422-0496
dkinnick@mnsd.k12.wi.us

Paul Oman
Treasurer
S63 W16195 College Ave.
Muskego, WI 53150
(414) 422-1834
poman@mnsd.k12.wi.us

Mark Waltz
Member
W195 S8638 Plum Creek Blvd.
Muskego, WI 53150
(262) 679-9166
mwaltz@mnsd.k12.wi.us

Lisa Voisin
Member
S81 W19363 Highland Park Dr.
Muskego, WI 53150
(262) 679-8797
lvoisin@mnsd.k12.wi.us

Rick Petfalski
Member
W194 S8184 Highland Park Dr.
Muskego, WI 53150
(262) 971-0004
rpetfalski@mnsd.k12.wi.us

If the school board follows the recommendation of the committee, the Muskego High School will be a great place to watch the NBA finals (starting June 9th) once the cafeteria gets it's liquor license. Try to find another sports bar in Waukesha County with a better view of the games. Heck, you may even win a 42" plasma screen tv.

Somehow "maintenance" slipped through

Two out of the three Madison school referendums failed, but a third one for $26.2 million over five years for "maintenance" passed by a 53 to 47 percent margin. I expect Wisconsin blogs, especially those based in Madison, will watch very closely to see how the "maintenance" money is spent.

With the margins of victory I expect the concerns over the bad absentee ballots to go away.

In pursuit of the Brave New World

Today the House of Representatives passed a bill that would expand funding of research that would destroy human embryos to harvest human stem cells. The bill passed 238-194, short of what will be needed when the President fulfills his promise to veto such a bill that would destroy human life for possible unknown gains in medical science.

Embryonic stem cells have been touted as a panacea yet there has been no cures found yet via this research. The forces of death, in making promises they cannot keep, are compromising the very soul of society. The President can stand for the defense of life by vetoing this bill.

Burger King toys indigestible

A follow-up on my observations regarding the marketing of a PG-13 movie to children well under that age, it turns out a parents group has targeted Burger King asking them to stop putting Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith toys in with their Kids Meals. The toy promotion is targeted at kids four to nine years old. Burger King has a lame response:

Burger King officials insist the promotion isn't specific to the latest film (the others are rated PG), but one that relates to the chain's long-term relationship with the Star Wars franchise. Executives point out that only four of the 31 Kids Meal toys are specific to Sith.

The toys "clearly celebrate not just one film but the entire Star Wars saga," says Edna Johnson, a Burger King spokeswoman. "The reception at our restaurants and from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive."

However, each toy is wrapped in a covering promoting the latest movie. And, let's face it, would Burger King be doing this promotion if it wasn't a part of the effort to promote the latest movie?

top terrorist may be wounded

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist, may be wounded, according to some internet reports. The United States is downplaying the rumors until they can be confirmed.

"There are a lot of these things that have happened in the past that have not panned out," a US official said. "All I can say at this point is I would approach it a little cautiously."

Memo to terrorists: It often helps if you poke the wounds with a sharp, pointy stick. The screams of pain will drive out the infection.

voting rules

The voting begins for Marquette's nickname today. Marquette is requiring a voter ID:

To begin, you will be asked to input your unique “MU Voice” code number. Students, faculty and staff will use their 9-digit Marquette University ID numbers. Alumni and other members of the Marquette community will use their unique 6-digit MU Voice code (printed above your name and address on the card enclosed in the MU Voice mailing recently sent to your home). You must keep your code. You will need to use it two times: once for this vote and again for the final vote that will begin on June 7.

After your code is accepted, you will have an opportunity to vote. You will be asked to select up to two nicknames from a list of options. One of your choices may be a write-in suggestion.

No word if Governor Doyle will intervene or if he will allow this outrageous disenfranchisement of elderly alumni to continue.

Madtown goes to referendum

Don't forget to vote! Madison has their school referendums today, three questions worth a "no" vote. There are still questions about how the wrong ballots were printed and sent out to absentee voters. More coverage can be found at the Badger Blog Alliance, among others.

Update! 12:17pm There's more, a lot more, on the referendum at Random 10.

Extraordinary Circumstances

Part of the deal struck in the US Senate last night to keep judicial filibusters and to kill the nominations of at least four nominees (Kavanaugh, Haynes, Saad and Myers)was the Democrats promise not to filibuster except under "extraordinary circumstances". There's been some debate and foolish optimism about the meaning, but today in the Washington Times we learn,

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said her group was "heartened that the crisis has been averted and the right to filibuster preserved for upcoming Supreme Court nominations. We are confident that a Supreme Court nominee who won't even state a position on Roe v. Wade is the kind of 'extraordinary circumstance' this deal envisions."

Expect this definition to get broader as Democratic necessity requires.

Hit and run

I've just been informed via e-mail by Amy Smith, Managing Editor, www.TheMilwaukeeChannel.com (WISN TV), they will not be posting on the website the segment they ran Sunday night attacking the new commercial by the Coalition for America’s Families. To call a group and it's television ad "racist" is pretty serious. If their assertion was correct, it certainly deserved more play than just Sunday night. However, since anyone watching the ad can clearly see that it's not racist, then it's understandable WISN TV would not want to promote their story any further. However, a public apology and retraction is still in order.

cheer yourself up

Some funny stuff over at Conservative Cat this morning. And don't miss an episode of CSI Schaumburg.

Meanwhile, the other bad compromise continues

Marquette University released it's Lettermanesque list of Top Ten College Nicknames so bland they cannot offend anyone:
Blue and Gold
Explorers
Golden Avalanche
Golden Eagles
Golden Knights
Hilltoppers
Saints
Spirit
Voyagers
Wolves

Yep, Golden Eagles made the list. So did Blue and Gold, for those who felt Gold wasn't inclusive enough. I'm surprised Golden Knights made the list, too Crusaderish. Saints will no doubt be offensive to the Muslims and Atheists attending nominally Catholic (well, Jesuit) Marquette.

I now give you the top ten preferred list of of alumni, faculty and students of Marquette:
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors
Warriors

Just from an aesthetic point of view, I like the name Warriors, too. Do you think the administration would ever go for it?

By the way, over at the Journal Sentinel they're running another online poll asking,

Do you like any of the 10 proposed Marquette nick-names or would you prefer something else?

So far anything else (i.e. Warriors) is winning 60.5% to 39.5%, but the poll is still young.

Update! 6:37am Mark Belling of WISN Radio has his own poll up, and it includes the Warriors.

With three you still get filibuster

The Republican Senate "moderates" managed to achieve a surrender on all but three of the Presidential nominees to the Appellate Courts. A compromise was reached between some Democrats and Republicans to allow the Democrats to retain their right to filibuster judicial nominees under "extraordinary circumstances" and Republicans get three, count 'em three, nominees through the Senate. The three nominees are Justice Priscilla Owen, Justice Janice Rogers Brown, and Judge William Pryor. On two more nominees, Henry Saad and William Myers, according to the Associated Press there is no agreement.

The Associated Press is also reporting Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada is claiming the agreeement means David McKeague, Richard Griffin and Susan Neilson, all named to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, will be allowed votes on the floor of the US Senate. However, Sean Rushton at National Review is reporting,

Liberal groups are telling journalists that Kavanaugh and Haynes will not be confirmed either.

Just to keep score: filibusters have already led to withdrawal of Estrada, Kuhl, and Pickering, plus Claude Allen who was withdrawn on threat of filibuster. Now, this illegitimately used tactic, supposedly renounced in general use going forward by this agreement, may kill Saad, Myers, Kavanaugh, and Haynes for a total of eight appellate scalps of 52 total nominees.

The Republicans who supported the deal are as follows: McCain (AZ), DeWine (OH), Snowe (ME), Warner (VA), Graham (SC), Collins (ME), Chafee (RI). Of the deal makers, Graham and McCain were possible 2008 contenders. Surely those hopes are finished, especially after Lindsay Graham was quoted as saying,

Judges are going to get a vote that wouldn't have gotten a vote otherwise. We're going to start talking about who would be a good judge and who wouldn't. And the White House is going to get more involved and they are going to listen to us more.

The other senator who has seen his 2008 shot at White House come to an abrupt end tonight, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who can safely say he leads a majority in name only. Having lost control of his own caucus, Frist should step down as Majority Leader.

the role of the US Senate

Ann Althouse sums up well the correct role of the US Senate in the confirmation of the President's nominees to the judicial branch:

So what is the best way to come as close as possible to representing what the majority of Americans wants in picking the individuals to fill the judicial slots?

The best answer is to allow the President to have his choice. The effort of electing the President engages the entire country. He's the one person who represents us all, and the Electoral College process gives recognition to the individual states in a way that gives far more regard to the people of the large states than the Senate does. This is not to say the Senate ought to do nothing with it's advise-and-consent role. It ought to at least ensure that the President doesn't stock the courts with unqualified cronies. But if the President selects worthy jurists, there is a limit to how much a minority of Senators should be able to accomplish.

There is no credible assertion the President's nominees are not qualified for the positions to which they are nominated. It's time for the Democrats to end the filibusters and allow each nominee to have an up or down vote. Failing a sudden recovery of a sense of responsibility by the Democrats, the Republicans must bring the filibusters to an end and free the President's nominations.

The Day America Died

Apparently that day was back in February, when Newsweek ran a cover on their Japan issue with a broken American flag in the trash can (picture can be seen here, hat tip: Charlie Sykes). The caption, according to blogger Riding Sun, "The day America died."

If you don't remember that cover here in the United States, you're right. It was a Japan-only edition. I guess trashing the flag is only acceptable for the overseas editions.

No comment yet from Newsweek why they didn't just burn a flag. Perhaps that's finally becoming trite?

Channel 12 news, PC attack machine

Last night on the Channel 12 news at 10:00pm, they ran a segment attacking a new commercial by the Coalition for America’s Families. Unfortunately WISN TV has made the segment available on their website so people can see just how bad of politically correct attack piece it was.

The ad correctly points out that in the Governor's budget with a $1.8 billion dollar deficit, Governor Doyle is proposing to allow illegal aliens to receive subsidized college tuition at the "in-state" tuition level.

WISN TV found one activist that they could show the ad and get the desired effect: she labeled the ad "racist." WISN TV knows there is nothing racist about the ad. They know that calling someone "an undocumented worker" isn't going to change the fact that the person is here illegally and should be sent home.

WISN TV owes the Coalition for America's Families an apology.

pulling the trigger on the nuclear option

They are pulling out the cots and preparing for an all night debate at the US Senate over the President's judicial nominations, according to the Associated Press. Over at Captain's Quarters , he reports on the continued waffling of some Republican senators who are preparing for life in the minority by trying to preserve the filibuster of a president's nominees. The latest waffler, according to the Captain, is Senator Mike Dewine (R-OH).

Meanwhile, MSNBC is also reporting,

...an array of conservative leaders in Iowa, which holds its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses in 2008, warned Republican presidential contenders that they must support Frist’s move to end filibusters of nominees.

“We are concerned about the two potential (presidential) candidates, Senator McCain , and from our neighboring state of Nebraska, Senator Hagel, who have so far refused to support an up or down vote," the group said.

I would contend it isn't just the "no" voters who should be remembered in 2008. It is also any Republican Senator that sought a compromise with the Democrats that included any of the President's nominees being brought to the floor of the US Senate. And if the vote to end the filibusters fails, then Senator Frist should also be held accountable for failing to lead a 56 member majority to prevail on a question second only in importance to the War on Terror.

By this time tomorrow we may well know whether Texas Supreme Court Justice Pricilla Owen will receive her long delayed confirmation vote on the floor of the US Senate. If the Democrats continue to play politics, if they continue to pander to their base and play the obstructionists and attempt to continue to filibuster this Appeals Court nomination, then its time for the "nuclear option" and end the filibuster for judicial nominations.

BBC faces strike

According to the Associated Press,

Thousands of British Broadcasting Corp. journalists and technicians staged a 24-hour strike over proposed job cuts Monday, severely disrupting radio and TV programs.

BBC management has responded with a 24 hour marathon of Benny Hill and Monty Python, and blamed Israel for the strike.

Warning, project under construction

Trying to add Haloscan trackbacks and comments. Machines hate me.

Update! so far, have added everything. Now I'm manually moving the old comments over and then I have to remove the blogger comments from the template. But it's a beautiful day and the park beckons... so another project that will just have to wait.

WISN wants you!

Since nothing else is working for them, WISN and Clear Channel have decided to put their morning ratings at risk with an American Idol-like contest, Milwaukee's Next Talk Star. Listeners will vote on who they want to be the next morning host for WISN. The best part is they're encouraging everyone to compete especially if you have no radio experience whatsoever.

I had to laugh when the traffic guy John Wyatt (sp?) asked afternoon host Mark Belling what he thought of this. "My reaction?.... My reaction is the same reaction Dwyane Wade had when he found out Marquette changed the name to Gold."

I'm sure there are a lot of people who think this would be pretty easy, but filling three hours or so every day with different material and talking to listeners can't be that easy or else we would all be doing it. Still...

Referendum alert in Madison

Apparently the problems with Madison schools are so bad that local officials there cannot be trusted to put the correct wording on the ballots for the school property tax increase referendum on Tuesday. The total number of incorrect ballots is over 80,000. Election officials hope to have correct ballots by Tuesday (estimated cost $30,000) but the absentee ballots have already been mailed with the incorrect wording.

Blogger Random 10 (who brings this to our attention) asks if its too late for Jimmy Carter to come monitor the election. Random 10 and other referendum opponents smell a rat. From NBC Channel 15 in Madison:

"At the eleventh hour at almost quitting time on Friday, the weekend before the election, it is just another example. I know people who when they heard this, the very first thought was they set it up, they set up an out," says [Kirby]Brant.

Meanwhile, over at the Wisconsin State Journal, Sandy Cullen goes out of her way to demonstrate the need for Madison Schools to improve:

Imagine the floor space of Chicago's Sears Tower divided into 46 schools and two administration buildings and you'll have a sense of how much property the Madison School District maintains.

But with a lot more roofs.

Okay, Sandy, let's play remedial math, story problems. If you have 46 schools and two administration buildings, how many roofs do you have? If you answer more than 48, you may be explaining the Madison School System's budget problem.

Wait, wait, I got another one. If you shake down taxpayers for every last cent they have, and then you ask them for more, which way should they vote on the referendum?

The Carnival of Comedy is up

A selection of blogosphere humor is up again over at IMAO, the Carnival of Comedy. I don't have anything in it. This is just a shameless attempt on my part to get the guys at IMAO to link to my site in their Blogroll.

Preakness Preview

Mark Belling of WISN has his Preakness picks up. Belling gives this analysis for what happened at the Kentucky Derby:

What happened? Quite simply, the best horses ran near the front and were burned out by a suicidal pace. The top finishers were horses that came from off the pace and passed the tiring leaders. The time of the race was slow and the stretch run was a ludicrously slow crawl.

I'm holding my money for the Preakness until I get the word from this expert.

Another MKE contest

No, I haven't been renominated for Blog of the Week. But one of the Blogs I read regularly has been nominated, het2blog. If you have the spare click, click on over to vote for him. C'mon, you aren't going to vote for the guy who thinks he's a character in a comic book, are you?

President Bush Coming to Milwaukee today

President Bush is coming to Milwaukee today at the invitation of the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) to speak about Social Security reform and private accounts. He'll be speaking outside the War Memorial Center. Entrance to the event starts at 9:15 am and the President is expected at 11:25 am.

So far, only one Democrat has proposed any alternative to the President's plan, Congressman Robert Wexler. Otherwise either Democrats have remained silent or they have denied there's a problem. One of those in denial is Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle who was quoted in today's Journal Sentinel, "We're not in any crisis mode, despite the president's effort to build it up."

The same article points out,

In three years, the first of the baby boomers will reach retirement age. In 12 years, by 2017, the system will be paying out more than it takes in, if nothing is changed.

By 2040, there will be two active workers paying into the system to support each recipient, down from today's 3-to-1 ratio, and much lower than the 16-to-1 ratio that existed in 1950.

Perhaps the Governor should read the papers more often. Perhaps the Journal Sentinel editorial board should as well.

If a Warrior offend thee

The Green Bay Packers, proving they have an eye for executive talent, have elected the infamous John Bergstrom of Bergstrom Automotive to the Executive Committee of the Green Bay Packers. Yes, the same John Bergstrom who currently serves as the chairman of the board of trustees at Marquette will now be sitting on the Executive Committee of the Green Bay Packers.

What can we expect of Bergstrom? Will he push the Green Bay Packers to choose a name less offensive to vegetarians? Will the Green and Gold become just the Gold? Will the Packers have to forfeit games against the Washington Redskins and the Kansas City Chiefs?

Will America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, be too patriotic and too anti-Indian to play at Lambeau? Speaking of too patriotic, what about the New England Patriots? And are US Air Force flyovers after the Star Spangled Banner too intimidating to Arab fans of the football team?

One can only hope Bergstrom's spiritual mentor Fr. Wild will be able to guide him through all these moral questions.

Help me Obi Wan!!!

6:01 pm. I just saw the first costumed Obi Wan of the day walking out of a movie theater in Brookfield where he must have been buying advance tickets. Here's my dumb question. Who wants to wait six hours in a cheesy costume just so when you finally get into the theater for the very first showing you're uncomfortable for 2 1/2 hours?

Which leads us, for no reason, to the top six pick up lines of Star Wars geeks in costume waiting in line at the theater.

#4 Okay, I'll swing on a rope from the marquee and you kiss me.
#5 You wanna see my Yoda?
#6 This Jedi always returns for the sequel.
#1 I turned my Ford Escort into a pod racer. Wanna go for a ride?
#2 We're not twins, we're clones!
#3 I just built a new hyperbaric chamber in my parents' basement.

Newsweek critic prevents riot

David Ansen of Newsweek magazine prevented a riot of costumed Stormtroopers, Jedi Knights and Yodas when he didn't rip on "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith". Deciding discretion would be more prudent, Ansen concluded his review by saying,

What you can't argue with is that Lucas has stayed true to his vision, and that that vision has changed the cultural landscape irrevocably.

No word yet if Ansen actually thought the movie was worth seeing.

Derbyshire on schools

John Derbyshire of National Review, widely quoted for saying, "I don't see how you can ever have enough nukes", had some interesting observations about a proposed school property tax in his area, and some correspondence from readers as well (here and here).

But even after we've voted the darn thing down, the budget will still go up four point something percent anyway, because of state mandates. And they'll probably just put the budget up for a vote again, and depend on voter fatigue to get it passed eventually. So the news is not all good. Still, it's nice to know people have taken some kind of a stand against the ever-swelling public sector.

We're not alone.

Gone in 60 Minutes

The Wednesday edition of 60 Minutes is getting cancelled due to poor ratings, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Dan Rather, the newsmagazine's lead correspondent, will contribute stories to the Sunday edition of "60 Minutes," said CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves.

"This was a ratings call, not a content call," Moonves said Wednesday.

Gee, you don't think it had anything to do with phony document controversy last fall?

Moonves said that story didn't figure in the decision to cancel it, "not even slightly."

But didn't that story and the continued presence of Gunga Dan damage the reputation of CBS, which probably led to the drop in ratings? Apparently that's the unasked question.

Meanwhile, Dan Rather gets moved to the Sunday 60 Minutes line up, so no food stamps for Gunga Dan yet. No word on whether he's bringing his own typewriter.

Referendum set for Delafield

The Common Council in the City of Delafield has finally set a date for a referendum to force capital expenditures greater than $1 million to require voter approval. This is lower than what the Common Council had set and does not contain the exceptions created by the Common Council in their failed attempt to bypass a citizen petition requesting the cap. By law, the Common Council was required to either consider the cap as specified by the petition or have it go through referendum. The referendum will be held July 12th.

Waukesha District Attorney Paul Bucher and even the state Elections Board had to get involved before the Delafield Common Council agreed to have the referendum. Amazing what taxpayers have to do just to prevent taxes from going up.

Star Wars and your kids

I'm fortunate. My oldest "youngling" is four. His sister is only six months old. Neither child has any desire to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

However, I have a friend whose child is ten. She's seen all the Star Wars movies up to this point on DVD and now the parents get to debate, do I take her to see a PG-13 rated movie?

Making the decision a little tougher is all the hype surrounding the movie. You might not believe it but my blog isn't the only media, new or old, discussing the new movie.

Add Burger King's children meals with a Star Wars toy, cereal with light saber spoons, television commercials, toys, video games, and it equals a lot of pressure on parents to give in to the popular culture and take their kids to the movie.

Of course part of being a parent is saying "no" in these situations, but one wonders whether part of being a responsible marketer is ease up on marketing to an audience younger than the film's intended audience. Of course, Kellogg's official statement by their spokeswoman Kimberley Goode hardly inspires confidence in a sudden appearance of marketing ethics any time soon,

"We believe that the Star Wars toys and promotional items give consumer of all ages a chance to experience the excitement of Star Wars regardless of whether they see the movie. At the end of the day, Star Wars is the most popular film franchise in history."

I wonder if she's taking her kids opening day.

Personal thoughts on Star Wars

[George Lucas should pay bloggers by the word.]

I remember fondly my first trip to see Star Wars. It was 1977 and I was a precocious child (read: obnoxious) who wanted to see the Moonies "MacArthur" instead. My uncle and my grandma maintained the patience of saints and I was exposed to the Lucas marketing machine for the first time.

Let's be fair. Yes, Star Wars was a marketing machine unseen in Hollywood. But it was also a very good story at a very bad time for our country. There were two narrative streams at the time. On the one hand: superpower decline, loss of faith in government, President Carter, detente, Carter kissing Brezhnev, inflation, Carter wearing a sweater, still-fresh memories of Nixon and Watergate, Carter getting attacked by a large rabbit, oil prices, malaise, President Carter, disco.

Then there was the other side. Star Wars, Superman the Movie, Ronald Reagan preparing to run in 1980, deregulation, disco destruction night at Comiskey Park.

I'm sure I don't have all the events in the right order. Whaddya expect? I was nine or ten years old.

But the main thing was, Star Wars. It was the classic battle of good vs. evil, of the United States finally beating the bad guys. We didn't know it was secretly a movie about Vietnamese Communists defeating imperialist America and we didn't care.

Then the second movie came out and I was a little disappointed (now it's the one I go back and watch). Then the third one came and... by then it was 1983. I was 14 almost 15. It wasn't a bad movie, but what's all this talking on the Death Star? Why does Luke have to be a wuss for half a movie? Why the hokey ending of saving Darth Vader's soul? Still, any movie with Harrison Ford (I even liked Regarding Henry) isn't all bad and we hadda see how it ended, right?

Fast forward a few years. I've started my second career since college, I've met my future wife, and George Lucas is about to release the fourth movie (part 1). I actually score tickets for opening day and I thought it wasn't bad. It was, after all, a kids movie. Jar Jar was annoying but the kids liked him. The rest of us relived our childhoods.

Then came Attack of the Clones. That awful teenage angst-ridden dreck with a Dr. Who plot. If I wanted to see a talentless James Dean impersonation, I'll go to Las Vegas and have my wedding vows renewed in front of him at a downtown wedding chapel.

Could someone please get Mr. Lucas a copy of Shakespeare's Richard III to see how a villain should behave? In the first movie Vader is killing and assaulting without remorse: rebels, fellow officers, whomever. In The Empire Strikes Back, he tortures Han Solo just to cause him pain. In the third movie, he helps rebuild the Death Star. In the last movie I-was-a-teenage-Sith-Lord regrets killing a bunch of sand people and whines to his girlfriend about how nobody's giving him his Jedi creds.

Die, Anakin, die. No wonder Obi Wan whips you up in the sixth film (third episode). You're too big for a spanking and too obnoxious not to get one.

George Lucas says this is the last one and he's glad the series is ending. So are we, George, so are we.

Student athletes, serfs!

I am taking on all comers. You can read how it started here, and comments here, here, and here. And here's the latest:

It's true that we should hold the "student" more accountable for his education, and there have been steps taken in some areas to do just that. For example, the state of Florida adopted the "Deion Sanders Rule" forcing college athletes to actually take their exams.

And as a conservative, I have never been happy with Maurice Clarett's decision to sue a private organization (the NFL) to force them to hire him. I think the courts made the right decision even as I think the NFL made the wrong decision in not allowing Clarett to declare himself elgible for the draft.

But let's be realistic. The days of the Joe Paternos pushing every kid to graduate has all but vanished in the push to win, win, win, with the accompanying increases in revenue for the universities.

Big time college sports has become an mega-dollar industry made more "efficient" in it's production because the main product is produced by laborers who are compensated less than the laborer that stitched their athletic shoes. If the kids were picking cotton instead for the university, there would be more of an outcry but ironically there would be less chance of injury.

So here's my proposed solutions. Let's allow the student athletes to form a union. Let's break up the NCAA monopoly. Let's allow student athletes to earn money from endorsements as long as the endorsement deals are done in the open. Let's have the universities, instead of adding time to the college athlete's "eligibility", guarantee the athlete that once he's been granted an athletic scholarship that the athlete will be allowed to have a scholarship as long as necessary to complete their degree.

And here's a novel idea. Let's have every newspaper sports department, radio and television media "donate" a portion of their advertising revenue to a fund to provide for injured student athletes and their families.

It starts with Owen

Texas Supreme Court Justice Pricilla Owen will be the first to be brought up by the US Senate tomorrow as the battle over the President's judicial nominations begins anew. Justice Owenis a nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

If the Democrats do not allow her to be voted upon, the Republicans must follow through on the threat to end judicial filibusters, the so-called "nuclear option."

There is still talk of compromise. Any proposed compromise that does not allow for a vote on each of the President's nominees must be rejected.

If US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist cannot muster the 50 votes needed to end the filibusters when the Republicans currently have 56 senators, Senator Frist owes it to his party to step down as Majority Leader. Any Republican senator that has any plans of running for president in '08 or beyond must act now in the interests of their president, their party and their country by voting to support a ruling from the chair to end the filibusters.

The Democrats may threaten all they want about bringing the US Senate and any pending legislation to a grinding halt, but it is their constituencies that will be affected the most, and their constituencies that will hold them accountable.

Do you hate Star Wars?

John Derbyshire at National Review Online The Corner:

Star Wars is crap. The whole thing, all of them -- crap, crap, crap. An insult to the intelligence of our kids.

John Podhoretz at The Weekly Standard:

Ever since he began making his second set of Star Wars movies a decade ago, Lucas said that Episode III: Revenge of the Sith would be the unvarnished story of the young knight Anakin Skywalker's degeneration and conversion into the black-helmeted, black-outfitted Darth Vader, the villain of the first three films. The tale of woe it really tells is that of George Lucas himself, the final chapter in the sad degeneration of a vital, vivid, and highly amusing moviemaker into a dull, solipsistic, and humorless incompetent.

Anthony Lane at the New Yorker (hat tip Galley Slaves): (rough language)

No, the one who gets me is Yoda. May I take the opportunity to enter a brief plea in favor of his extermination?

I'm sure we'll hear from plenty of others shortly. I'll keep adding as I find them.

1:28PM Robert E Schnakenburg at PopPolitics.com:

Chinatown. Taxi Driver. Midnight Cowboy. Network. These were some of the mainstream features Hollywood produced in the decade before Star Wars.

Gremlins. The Goonies. Ghostbusters. Beverly Hills Cop. These were the witless, soulless individually wrapped slices of cinematic cheese that followed in its wake.

5/18 Duane Dudek in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

...the finale feels less the inevitable conclusion of some great saga than the predictable mooing of a reliable cash cow.

11:53am Heh.

1:05pm Mike at Het2Blog has never seen a Star Wars movie:

I fell asleep watching one of them with my oldest son several years ago. According to my wife, sleeping on the couch while she watches a chick flick doesn't count as watching a movie with her, so I will apply the same rule here.

5/19 11:49 Ann Althouse: "I'd love to blog about it, but I'd have to go see it, and, for that, I would need to be paid. I think $500 would be a fair price."

4:26pm David Letterman: "It was a beautiful day here in New York City. It was so nice out I saw a guy putting sun block on his light saber."

Hey, Ohio State fans!

Maurice Clarett is facing stiff competition for a job as running back for the Denver Broncos. Former Badger Ron Dayne, Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell are also competing for positions in the Mile High running back factory Mike Shanahan has built.

Meanwhile, The NCAA has found just one infraction by the Ohio State football program, and it involved a quarterback, not Maurice Clarett. It appears the quarterback took $500.00 cash from a booster.

So, all's well that ends well. Except we still have not answered the question: why should "student" athletes toil for next to nothing to bring in millions of dollars for universities across the country? Shouldn't they receive some sort of compensation? And where are the "civil rights" leaders and why aren't they fighting for these young (mostly minority) men and women who get to wear the sports paraphenalia marketing symbols but don't get to profit from them?

As for quarterback Troy Smith taking $500 in cash from booster Robert Q. Baker, what was he thinking? The women's basketball team got free dental care from a booster. $500 is hardly worth pocketing.

Heck $500 is barely enough to buy the shoes your coach probably makes you wear so he can make money from the endorsement deal.

Feel the hype, Luke

yes, expect a lot of Star Wars postings this week. It's unavoidable. You will give in to the hype; you will fork out $10 to George Lucas this week. Jonah Goldberg at the Corner found this parody.

The cleansing fire

The Bonfire of the Vanities is up over at Conservative Cat.

Normally, the Bonfire is a chance for the blogosphere to poke fun at itself and have a few laughs. Today, however, the Bonfire has a vital mission.

Some mistakes are worth repeating, especially in a good cause.

Beware of Dog

We live on a corner lot in Waukesha with a cyclone fence separating the "backyard" from the sidewalk. I have on the fence two "Beware of Dog" signs, one on each end, so people can see the signs regardless of which way they're walking on the sidewalk.

My dogs are friendly and unfortunately everyone in the neighborhood has figured this out. My wife and I will often see people of all ages stopping by our fence, leaning over the signs, and petting our dogs. These are not small dogs. The one dog weighs 100lbs and is a Border Collie/Akita mix. The other dog is a Siberian Husky.

I cannot understand why any idiot would ignore a "beware of dog" sign and pet the dogs. And don't tell me the signs remove any financial responsibility in case the dogs accidentally bite or scratch someone. They don't. It's gotten to the point where I added a special insurance rider to my homeowner insurance just in case the dogs decide they don't like somebody for some reason.

Today my wife caught the substitute mail carrier giving our dogs treats. That's right, the mailman and the dogs are best friends. It's enough to make me "go postal."

Will the blood wash off?

On the basis of a single anonymous source, Newsweek published a story claiming US intelligence services disrespected the Koran as a part of interrogating prisoners at Guantanomo. Fifteen are now dead as a result of the rioting that followed. And now Newsweek is saying they cannot stand by the story.

The editors will be charged with no crimes, there will be no punishment for the magazine, and yet 15 lie dead on the ground of Afghanistan. Our enemies now have new propaganda to inspire terrorists to attack us because of Newsweek's sloppy reporting.

"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in the apology.

Maybe their office can take a collection to buy the coffins.

Is Superintendent Benfield over his head?

The Waukesha Freeman interviewed New Berlin school superintendent James Benfield for it's Saturday May 14th edition. He obviously has not grasped that he is facing a new time for the public schools. Taxes have hit the the ceiling of what thet taxpayers are willing to give, and per student expenditures must come down. When asked about the cost of health insurance for teachers, Benfield gave no indication he was willing to consider cuts.

"So I don't know whether it's too high or not. I know our teachers have not really had a good raise since '93."

One, if you believe teachers have not been given a raise, you're not paying attention. That's a deliberate attempt on the superintendent's part to divert from the issue with a deliberate falsehood. Two, if he doesn't have a concept of whether or not the teachers are getting a lot better deal on their health insurance than the taxpayers that pay for it, Benfield does not belong in the position of responsibility he holds.

Clearly the teachers' health insurance and benefits packages are far better than the work benefits of most of the taxpayers in the district. Most employers would tell you they could not succeed against their competition weighed down by the benefits received by teachers' union members.

If the district is truly at a financial crisis, it's time management asked the labor force to contribute to the financial adjustment to the new fiscal restraints facing the district. That means benefits and even salaries need to be looked at for adjustment.

Superintendent Benfield may not be the right person for the job.

State Capitol for Sale

Bargain hunters and antique collectors descended upon Madison to buy the leftovers from the recent Capitol restoration.

Unfortunately, we know what WEAC and the Indian casinos purchased in the State Capitol. What a bargain.

Another way for Marquette to bring back Warriors

Maybe what Marquette needs are "protest babes." Worked in Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan.

Music to my ears

An he had been a dog that should have howled thus, they would have hanged him.

Much Ado About Nothing II,iii

My poor friend is suffering such torture that he looks on Prometheus with envy. Of course, I have done my part for his suffering. What else are friends for?

On a different note, Wig you are an evil bastard!!! That was the damn song that was, WAS, stuck in my head. It had gone away until I saw what you did this morning. Now it is back.

Could be worse. Could have been a version by Vanessa Carlton.

Do you know where your burger's been?

I think I'll take a chance on the chili. According to the AP, fast food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardees are going to be running ads featuring Paris Hilton in a skimpy black bathing suit eating a hamburger. This is taking "food porn" a bit too far, which given her reputation, I didn't think was possible with Paris Hilton.

Gives a whole new meaning to "Crabby Patty."

[Hey, Jay Leno will probably make the same joke.]

From the eewwww department

Ann Althouse sums it up for those of us with lives that do not make the pages of The Enquirer:

What could be more personal than witnessing your daughter give birth, then blogging about it?
How about: witnessing your daughter give birth and not blogging about it.

The take-down of Arianna Huffington and her celebrity friends continues...

The final straw

Republican Majority Leader Senator Frist has apparently reached the end of his patience and has lined up the 50 votes to kill the Democratic filibusters of President Bush's nominees for federal judges. Shannen Coffin at National Review Online is reporting the following statement from Senator Frist,

Upon completion of action on the pending highway bill, the Senate will begin debate on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations. ...

The Majority Leader will continue to discuss an appropriate resolution of the need for fair up or down votes with the Minority Leader. If they can not find a way for the Senate to decide on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations, the Majority Leader will seek a ruling from the Presiding Officer regarding the appropriate length of time for debate on such nominees. After the ruling, he will ensure that every Senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up or down votes on judicial nominees; or, to enshrine a new veto by filibuster that both denies all Senators the opportunity to advise and consent and fundamentally disturbs the separation of powers between the branches.

This had better not be a hollow threat. Senator Frist's future career in politics is on the line.

meow mix

Conservative Cat has a collection of humorous postings to help get your weekend started. He posts a selection every day.

No word on what kind of mouse he uses.

Take this ballot box and stuff it

The pressure is on the Democrats and they know it. Wisconsin Governor Doyle indicated he may support a watered-down version of a voter photo id requirement being demanded by state Republicans. According to the Journal Sentinel,

In a statement late Thursday, Doyle said an alternative plan that Senate Democrats floated Thursday was "a very reasonable voter ID proposal."

The Democrats' proposal: A voter would have to present either a photo ID, an official document showing current address along with a signed affidavit, or the last four digits of their Social Security number with a signed affidavit.

We're getting closer. With passage in the State Senate delayed until May 31st, Republicans should take that time to try to get the necessary Democrats to support the stronger Republican bill rather than acquiesce to the Democrats' much weaker version. There is room to compromise (perhaps accepting other forms of photo id along with a utility bill showing the person's address rather than just a DOT issued id card) but in the end there has to be a photo id requirement.

You think Marquette has name troubles

An Alabama school system, as a part of a consolidation of schools, has dropped the name honoring Confederacy General Nathan Bedford Forrest. After the Civil War, Forrest became one of the early leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, so you can see why using the name might be disturbing to many Americans.

According to the AP,

Students at Forrest Middle School will move into what is Emma Sansom High School — named after a woman who showed Forrest's Confederate forces where to cross a creek as they chased federal troops in the area. In August 2006, it will become Emma Sansom Middle School.

This is a good decision on the part of the Gadsden, AL, school system. I think there might be some other government entities that may want to reconsider the names of public buildings and roads named after another infamous Ku Klux Klan leader. For example:

The Robert C Byrd High School in Clarksburg, WV
The Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center
The Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System

...and from Citizens Against Government Waste:
Robert C. Byrd Drive, from Beckley to Sophia (Byrd's hometown)
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia
Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Center
Robert C. Byrd Technology Center at Alderson-Broaddus College
Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, near Princeton
Robert C. Byrd Bridge between Huntington and Chesapeake, Ohio
Robert C. Byrd addition to the lodge at Oglebay Park, Wheeling
Robert C. Byrd Community Center, Pine Grove
Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarships
Robert C. Byrd Expressway, U.S. 52 near Weirton
Robert C. Byrd Institute in Charleston
Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing
Robert C. Byrd Visitor Center at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park
Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse
Robert C. Byrd Academic and Technology Center
Robert C. Byrd United Technical Center
Robert C. Byrd Federal Building
Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex
Robert C. Byrd Library and Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center
Robert C. Byrd Rural Health Center
Robert C. Byrd Clinical Addition to the veteran's hospital in Huntington
Robert C. Byrd Industrial Park, Hardy County
Robert C. Byrd Scholastic Recognition Award
Robert C. Byrd Community Center in the naval station, Sugar Grove

I lost...

...and apparently the vote wasn't even close. The MKE Blog of the Week is... The Tim Show. I found out, too, that he won with over 40% of the vote. I lost to a guy who recently wrote,

I recently found myself holding a pair of mounted deer antlers with a $10 price tag and wondering if it would look nice in my room. That's when I realized I'd gone a little far with my love of rummage sales.

Or maybe it was when I contemplated buying the $5 beagle puppy costume.

Now, it's not like me to run down other blogs. After all, some people may have critical things to say about mine. But given how much I was encouraging ballot box stuffing and more ballot box stuffing, you'll forgive me if I feel a little like John Kerry right now (who, by the way, promised Tim Russert on Meet the Press 102 days ago to release his military records).

Unfortunately, this was a privately run contest so it's not like there's well-kept records for the voting public to review. We may never truly know if I lost to the guy who blogged about his rash (I'm told I finished somewhere in the middle).

So I lost fair and square despite my cheating efforts and public threats to expose my hairy belly on the internet [memo to self: post photo]. I think it appropriate, as it was put so well in Young Frankenstein, we accept our failure with quiet dignity and grace.

Of course, it's all Ohio's fault.

Update! According to the winner, victory apparently smells like deodorant in the morning. I'll just say losing smells like a Grateful Dead concert.

Hold your own

Here's a piece of advice, if you are trying to beat the NFL drug tests, ship the fake penis and dried urine separately when you travel. Apparently, dried urine looks like cocaine to your average airport screener. Minnesota Viking Onterrio Smith claimed it was for his cousin.

Wonderful trivia about NFL drug tests:

"Our program requires that players be visually observed from the front giving the sample with their shirts off and pants down to their knees, making the effectiveness of such an effort remote," [NFL spokesman Greg Aiello] said in a prepared statement.

Hey, what happens in the NFL, stays in the NFL.

Show business is cruel

Dennis Miller's CNBC show is being cancelled. The last show airs this friday.

I'm a fan of Dennis Miller and, yes, I liked him on Monday Night Football. I actually get the "in gags" and obscure references. Unfortunately, I don't think he and the format (which always seemed in flux) ever agreed. The timing was terrible, too. The show ran against Sean Hannity and that other guy, taking away much of its target audience.

Unfortunately, there's no word on what will happen to Mowgli the chimp.

More fun in vote fraud city

Wisconsin State Senator Cathy Stepp says in a press release the State Senate will take up the voter id bill again today (hat tip: Lakeshore Laments). This on a day when warrants have been issued for the arrest of two voter registration workers who allegedly filled out false voter registration cards, and just after a joint federal/local task force found:

• More than 100 instances of "suspected double-voting, voting in names of persons who likely did not vote and/or voting in names believed to be fake."

• More than 200 felons voted when they were not eligible to do so. Under state law, convicted felons cannot vote until they have completed their sentences.

• More than 65 names had been falsely registered as voters by "deputy registrars" who had been paid to sign up new voters.

• The number of votes counted from the city of Milwaukee exceeded the number of people recorded as voting by more than 4,500 votes.

As Charlie Sykes pointed out yesterday, Democrats who denied the existence of voter fraud are going to have to find a new excuse to try and stop this first reasonable step of curbing voter fraud.

A sentiment I agree with totally

I don't think Trudeau meant us to be sympathetic with John Bolton, but today's strip pretty much sums it up for me. John Bolton will make a great UN Ambassador.

Update! 3:35pm Bolton has been voted out of committee without a recommendation. Should still pass the US Senate.

Goodbye Gold

When I'm wrong, I goof big time. Who'da thunk it? You can post comments below to laugh at me.

Marquette has announced they are reconsidering the name change. Still no Warriors, and still no game against UWM.

GOP3.com has more details. Apparently a list of ten names will be drawn up for the Marquette community to choose from, as well as a slot for write-ins. Warriors cannot be a write-in, and all write-ins

...must be consistent with both our Jesuit, Catholic mission and the Board resolution on Native American imagery.

No word if Marquette "Bingo Cards" or "Slot Machines" would be included in the ban.

Unfortunately for alumni and fans of the name "Warriors", I think "Warriors" is now a dead issue for another decade unless there's a creative protest in the near future, like say, a massive write-in campaign.

White House, US Capitol evacuated

Fox News is reporting the White House and the US Capitol were evacuated due to an unidentified aircraft violating the no-fly zone.

Update! 12:05 It appears a Cessna airplane was chased from the scene by a fighter jet and the all-clear has been given.

When you're listening to the MSM discuss the incident today, listen to how they go on and on about the evacuation and what that was like, rather than on the details of what caused the evacuation. Self-absorbed, anyone?

Marquette not changing their name to The Inquisition either

The Journal Sentinel is reporting there is an emergency meeting of the Marquette Board of Trustees to discuss the disastrous team name change to Marquette Gold. Here’s a prediction for you, they will not change their minds, John Stollenwerk will be read the riot act by his fellow trustees, and they will come out and make no announcement. From here on out, every trustee will be instructed to be absolutely silent until the controversy “blows over.”

This is not the Coca-Cola company.

Update! okay, I was wrong, Marquette has decided to dump "Gold". I must say I'm surprised.

Brew town ballots

We have the beginnings of a record of fraud and denial, obscured by the Milwaukee Election Commission’s incompetence. We’re told more than 200 felons illegally voted. We’re told more than 100 people either used fake names or voted twice. We’re told there were 65 phony registrations. And finally, the City of Milwaukee still cannot account for more than 4500 more votes than actual voters counted.

Despite the clear effect requiring voter id would have on these issues, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editors see it as just a little fraud, not crossing the threshold requiring correction by the voter id bill.

The Democrats and their supporters will continue to deny fraud, belittle fraud and, when they’re forced, offer weak alternatives to correct the fraud. After all, the fraud is in their best interest and they can defend the fraud by playing the “disenfranchisement” card for minorities and the elderly. What could be better than scaring minorities and the elderly, and getting to stuff ballot boxes in the process?

Meanwhile, Governor Doyle just announced, “…the last remaining Department of Corrections inmates held out-of-state have been returned to Wisconsin.” No word if he handed them a voter registration card as they got off the bus.

Voting ends noon today

Have you voted for the Blog of the Week? More than once? Did you use a fake name? A fake address? Do it again! It's not like you need to show a valid id or anything. Stuff that ballot box, and tell them Governor Doyle said it's okay. After all, it's better to make access to voting easier rather than harder, right? So go vote five, six times before noon. If they keep records like the Milwaukee Election Commission we'll never get caught. And if by chance we are caught, we'll just ask them, so what is the threshold for voter fraud? Can we tolerate a little to keep easy access to balloting?

So my friends, vote. Vote often and vote for me. Before Jimmy Carter shows up.

(Here's a whole list of names and e-mail addresses you can use. Go ahead, they won't mind.)

Correction Midnight, noon, whatever. Just means you have more time to vote!

Catnip

From the Wigderson Library & Pub marketing division: Conservative Cat has a daily round-up of humorous items. Always some gems worth reading.

Prince Harry, orphan killer

Britain's Prince Harry was seen recently smoking a cigarette near a group of orphans in South Africa (hat tip: The Corner). In a complete disregard for the health, safety and welfare of the children, Prince Harry subjected the children to deadly second hand smoke containing addictive nicotine and a multitude of carcinogens. Aside from the immediate and permanent lung damage, the impressionable children saw an authority figure smoking, which may influence the children later in life to not turn away from tobacco products. Here's a picture of one of the little children shortly after Prince Harry left the orphanage.

Graffiti at Milwaukee Art Museum Calatrava addition must be prosecuted to full extent

Police are saying they recognize the graffiti vandals left on the Milwaukee Art Museum's Calatrava addition and these vandals have struck before, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Art Museum is estimating $3000 to clean up the damage which puts it over the $2500 minimum necessary to charge the vandals with a felony punishable by up to 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is itself a piece of art that needs to be cherished and protected by the whole community. We would be outraged if the vandals had broken into the museum and spray painted a statue or a painting. So too should we be outraged when the building itself is attacked.

When these vandals are caught, an example needs to be made of them. Graffiti tends to attract more graffiti. By prosecuting and punishing these vandals to the full extent we can hope to deter vandals from striking the Art Museum again.

Remembering the Alamo

Just what are our children learning from television? The children's programming channel Nickelodeon gave into revisionist history and claimed the battle for the Alamo was about slavery. The 50-second short which aired for about two weeks chose to focus on slavery rather than a noble sacrifice for freedom and liberty against the dictator General Santa Anna.

Calling Dr. Frist

If Senator Frist, the Republican majority leader in the US Senate, has any desire to be president, these next two weeks are the time he either proves himself as a Conservative leader or starts planning his return to the full-time practive of medicine.

First on the list is the embattled nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. Democrats, fearful that a UN Ambassador might actually represent the President's views on foreign policy to that less than august body, have dragged up every slander and unsubstantiated allegation they can find. So far the worst they've been able to find is that Bolton may be impatient with subordinates. Frist needs to show that a Republican majority in the US Senate means something and lean on the Republicans to push this nomination out of committee to the full Senate where he'll be easily confirmed. Currently the vote is set for Thursday.

And then Senator Frist must act to push through the President's nominees for the federal judiciary. Currently there's a real chance a group of Republican Senators led by Senator Trent Lott may reach a compromise with the Democrats to allow some of the President's nominees but not all of them. This is unacceptable. Senator Frist needs to take control of his majority, squelch the so-called compromise, and make the Democrats end their filibusters against the President's nominees. If the Democrats will not agree to the allow the nominees to come up for a vote, Senator Frist should move to end the filibusters procedurally and call the Democrat's bluff.

If the majority leader cannot muster the 50 votes needed to end the filibusters when his party has a 56-44 majority he should resign as leader and plan on not running for re-election in 2006. He will have proven himself ineffective, and his failures will have demoralized his party's electoral base heading into midterm elections that historically are rough for the party in power.

State Senator Ted Kanavas on Walker/Green race

State Senator Kanavas was interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio this afternoon to discuss the state Republican convention which took place this last weekend. Senator Kanavas talked about how the two candidates are very much alike and very close in philosophy.

(For more on the two candidates positions, Boots and Sabers has interviews here and here.)

Senator Kanavas sees little good that can come out of a long primary campaign, and said that he and others actually spoke to the two campaigns at the convention and suggested one of the candidates drop out well before the September 2006 primary in order to allow the winner to have the resources to campaign against the incumbent governor. Once it appears clear there will be a winner Kanavas feels the other candidate should drop out. Unfortunately the Senator was not asked who else was in on the conversation and what were the reactions of the two campaigns.

This would have been an extraordinary conversation for Republican leaders to have, especially in Wisconsin, and it's too bad interviewer Ben Merens didn't follow up on this. I suspect the two campaigns individually told the Senator, gee, that's a nice thought, do you think the other guy will drop out?

Earlier in the interview, Senator Kanavas also had the right answer on campaign finance reform, raise the limits and have 24 hour reporting of campaign donations electronically. The public can see the donations and make their own judgements and the raised limits will reduce the influence of outside campaign activity by 527s and similar organizations.

I think this might be the greatest Blog posting headline ever

Over at Ann Althouse:

President Garfield's "spine, removed during autopsy, was passed around to jurors during the trial of his assassin."

Mind boggling Derby

I did not bet on the Kentucky Derby this year, saving myself about $100.00. Instead I watched it with my wife and afterwards just sat there stunned when they ran the numbers on what the exacta and trifecta paid.

Giacomo, a 50-1 shot, followed by Closing Argument, a 70-1 shot, with Afleet Alex (the horse I favored) running third.

Giacomo $102.60 $45.00 $19.80
Closing Argument $70 and $24.80
Afleet Alex $4.60

According to ESPN,

The exacta paid a Derby-record $9,815. The trifecta was a Derby-record $133,135. The superfecta from a $2 wager was a Derby-record -- and scarcely believable -- $1.7 million.

Afleet Alex had impressed me so much during the Arkansas Derby, jocky and rider running such an intelligent race that I absolutely loved them in a crowded 20 horse field. And he ran the same race... and Giacomo ran the same race and still had something left when the time came.

For the curious, Mark Belling's betting strategy did not fare so well today, though I suspect he was far from alone. He did make the call on Spanish Chestnut:

#13 SPANISH CHESTNUT — Same ownership as #15 Bandini and will be used to burn out Bellamy Road and High Limit on the front end to try to set things up for Bandini. No shot at winning himself.

When Spanish Chestnut was in the lead my wife asked if he could hang on. I responded I hope his owner took a good picture at that point because that would be the best he'll look today. By the next turn he was just one more horse blocking traffic.

So what prognosticator did especially well today in a race with big upsets? Mary Eileen's 13 year old daughter over at Stand in the Trenches. Unfortunately, no money down. Hey, she should at least be excused from doing the chores for a week or something. In the meantime, I wonder who she likes in the Preakness?

Update! Dummocrats didn't do so well handicapping the race either, but lists ten horses to watch for next year. We'll have to watch the California horses more closely to see if a trend develops.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Professor John McAdams has a summary of the meeting with John Bergstrom today who defended Marquette University's decision to change the team name to Gold.

No word if Bergstrom has committed to stop buying/selling/trading Buicks, Jeep Cherokees, and Cadillacs, and whether he'll stop selling Lincolns too because he fought in the Black Hawk war.

Update! A fair question would also be, will Bergstrom stop advertising at sporting events where the team names may cause offense. For example, will Bergstrom demand his Bergstrom Automotive signs be covered up every time the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians come to town to play the Milwaukee Brewers?

tomorrow is Mother's Day

To my mom, who uses her computer to play solitaire, still uses dial-up and thinks home schooling is a crazy idea, I just want to say thanks Mom, and that I love you, and I'm sorry I didn't go to business school.

To my wife, who only reads what I write occasionally, and only laughs at my jokes sometimes, and who always hands me the baby just in time for the diaper to be changed, I just want to say I love you and our kids couldn't have asked for a better Mom. And this time I'll remember you like the Egg McMuffin with no sausage.

The Great BS

Fans of Bud Selig, all five of you, Slate magazine has done a feature on your hero, and it's even favorable! But you have to get past a few killer paragraphs, like this one:

The most powerful man in Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, is also the most reviled. Fans hate baseball's commissioner because of a perception that he has mangled the sport's economics, because he decided to end the 2002 All-Star Game with the score tied, and just because he looks like the last guy who'd be picked for a Fourth of July whiffle-ball game. His nickname, "Bud Lite," captures his image as a weak-willed cipher with nothing like the fearsome reputation of his NBA counterpart David Stern or the charisma of Kennesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's first commissioner. Even the Bud Selig Fan Club Blog likes to pile on, with the slogan "All B.S., All the Time."

Of course, that's the opening paragraph.

Bud Selig did a lot for this city by bringing back baseball and steering the Milwaukee Brewers through the brief glory years. But the stadium controversy, the All Star Game, and the team's management under his daughter eventually they took their toll on Bud's reputation and some of the good things taking place during his tenure as Commissioner of Major League Baseball are getting ignored by his hometown and by baseball writers across the country.

Apparently Dan Brown is making money so...

If you think The Da Vinci Code was bad, wait until you get a load of what's coming next. Anne Rice has decided to cash in on Christ with "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt". Supposedly it will tell the story of Jesus' early years in his own words.

Somehow I doubt this will become a favorite gift at baptisms and first communions. The book is expected out in November, just in time for Christmas.

Didja vote yet?

If elected Blog of the Week, I promise not to post pictures of my tanless hairy beer belly. But if I lose, I might get irrational and do something completely crazy, like rename my site the Wigderson Gold!

Okay, I just ask that I finish ahead of the guy who wrote about his rash. Not that I'm running down the competition or anything. One of them even had something nice to say about me.

So remember, if elected, no pictures of my hairy belly. If I lose, uncontrolled behaviour. So vote early and often, and Governor Doyle even says you don't need a photo id.

Daily funnies

Conservative Cat has a daily list of funny stuff that is always worth a look. Yes, I'm shameless.

Giving them the Goldfinger

This will be my last on the Marquette controversy for awhile, I swear. That is until they do something else stupid. Oh wait, they did. Fr. Wild actually called one of the students to try to get the tonight's protest cancelled. Well, at least they didn't bring out the rack and other torture implements. So far it was just a phone call. Memo to Brandon, be careful who's on the other side of the screen when you go for confession. Penance may be more than you bargained for. [Update! GOP3 now believes the voice mail was fake. They have posted a sound file of the voice message.]

But I said this might be the last post on the subject for awhile. I suspect some people might be getting bored with the topic. They'll have bigger concerns, like Texas Tech switching to polyester.

And admittedly, while the controversy is raging, politicians in this town can get away with anything. Heck, one Milwaukee politician might even go nuts and demand more minority unemployment by destroying entry level jobs in the community . (2nd item) Who would know? Heck, former Lt. Governor Margaret Farrow could even make a public endorsement of yet another candidate outside Southeast Wisconsin (along with Congressman Mark Green) and the only question she'll get asked is, "Do you like Warriors, Golden Eagles or Gold?" That's the endorsement that's important right now, not an election over 16 months away.

But still, just one more post, and then we'll let the issue rest. Former Marquette Basketball player Dwyane Wade was asked what he thought of the name change:
From an ESPN interview with Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat:

ESPN: Your alma mater, Marquette, changed their nickname to the Gold. . . . What do you think of that?

Wade: To the what?

ESPN: To the Gold. The Marquette Gold. That's what they're going with now.

Wade: Awh . . . I got to call. I got to call in on that one.

ESPN: We are breaking some news.

Wade: I heard they were trying to change it back to Warriors.

ESPN: No, I guess they are going with Gold. I'm surprised they didn't call you to check to see if it was OK with you.

Wade: The Gold?

ESPN: Yeah.

Wade: No, I got to make a phone call to Marquette after we get off this . . . (laughter). . . . I don't know about that one.

ESPN: So that might change . . .

Wade: Marquette Gold. The Gold!

ESPN: All right, Dwyane . . . So far so good. I know your word carries a lot of weight at Marquette as well as Miami. Congratulations, enjoy the rest of the playoffs.

Wade: Thank you, I will. The Gold?

Update! It's official. The Journal Sentinel Editorial Board is out of touch with 95% of it's readership.

Update! Fr. Wild went to the rally. Doesn't he look glad to be there?