One Thing Hasn't Changed In My Lifetime & It's Being Helped Now By J.B. Van Hollen

Wisco's a bunch of drunks.

A recent national student shows Milwaukee adults take down more drinks than any other city in the country. On average, they drank nearly 13 alcoholic drinks a month. And according to "The Daily Beast," 21.8% of those adults are considered binge drinkers.

 & the news just keeps getting better.

It's a sobering thought: nearly one in four Wisconsin drivers drove intoxicated in the past year. Wisconsin ranked number one in a recent poll as the state with the highest percentage of drivers who admit to driving drunk in the past year - 23.7 percent.

It would help, of course, if Wisco's ReThug Attorney General Van Hollen took drunk driving seriously. He doesn't.

The sharpest contrast: Hassett wants to end Wisconsin's status as the only state in the country where first-time drunken driving is a municipal violation, not a crime. Van Hollen opposes that, saying it would suck up resources that would be better spent chasing hardened criminals such as Internet sex predators.

Yes, it's really, really true that Internet sex predators kill many more people than drunk drivers. What a tool.  We have to remember that Van Hollen's friends are part of the drunken driving cohort.

"There are a great number of people - people I know personally - who have first offenses," Van Hollen said. "I don't consider them criminals, and I wouldn't want them to be tagged that way for the rest of their lives for having made what can legitimately be called a mistake."

My emphasis. Unbelievable, isn't it? Yet, the dumbo Wisco voters put the evil bastard back in office. We are on our way to joining Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, et.al., as dumb, poor, unhealthy, but supposedly good for business. I would like to know what was in these voter's heads, what led them to elect such backward thinkers, backward lookers?

My First Positive Contributiion For The New Year - 2011

Good luck, y'all.

 

IMO, Kahn Began The Awful Decline Of America, Particularly The Decline Of The American Middle Class

Soon after pushing through deregulation, Reagan was elected & fired the air traffic controllers, every single one of them.  The country never recovered from this one/two punch.  Alfred Kahn, of course,  is dead.

Well, Well, Favre Wins From The Sidelines

I guess a person could call this game an upset.

As Atrios Says - No One Could Have Predicted

Except of course, us DFHs. So much for public/private cooperation.

But in interviews, they also said that the insurance premiums are unaffordable for some who need the coverage - and that some would-be customers are skittish about the plans because federal lawsuits and congressional Republicans are trying to overturn the entire law.

& Wall Street, the heartless bastards who melted down & created the mess we are still living with, all of a sudden became real smart when it came to dealing with regulation.

The U.S. government, promising to make the system safer, buckled under many of the financial industry’s protests. Lawmakers spurned changes that would wall off deposit-taking banks from riskier trading. They declined to limit the size of lenders or ban any form of derivatives. Higher capital and liquidity requirements agreed to by regulators worldwide have been delayed for years to aid economic recovery.

“We continue to listen to the same people whose errors in judgment were central to the problem,” said John Reed, 71, a former co-chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., who estimated only 25 percent of needed changes have been enacted. “I’m astounded because we basically dropped the world’s biggest economy because of an error in bank management.”

My emphasis.

Teena Marie, R.I.P.

She's dead & somehow I completely missed this phenomena.

It's A Tough & Dangerous LIfe

Logger killed.

Oh, Yeah - Happy Professional Sports Beat - The Refs Were Alright

Big win.




& more.




Poor, poor New York City.

A Good Read For The Day After Xmas

Frank Rich.

No Plate, No Special, Just A Blue Light On The xmas Tree

This is a closeup of our xmas three & yep, just a lonely blue light.  It needs some music, since I've had the music bug the last couple of days.  See my other blog for a bunch of xmas music. They are all great, I promise, just believe me, OK?  So that was a lead in for these versions of The House Of Blue Lights, a song I really appreciate.  There are several approaches to the song represented here, they all do the song well.  Later.

See, you trusted me, listened to all the versions completely & fell so much better now that the tie you received from Aunt Henrietta, the box of socks from Aunt Rose, & the box of stale cookies from Aunt Aloise are all marginalized now, aren't they? Aren't they? OK, I'm glad you're happy now. After all, it's xmas.

They Say Today Is Xmas

Well, dig this:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

Mrs. coldH2Owi had me put on a jacket & my insulated pacs so we could go down to the pole barn. While I thought I had kept a good eye on any movement in & around the barn, I began to hope I had missed something. Mrs. coolH2Owi pointed over into the right corner & said two things: "Obviously there is no boat" & "It's under that plastic over there." As my loyal five (yes, five!) readers have no doubt astutely observed, she was right, it was no boat. It will, however, be helpful around the chicken coop & the entrance to my workshop, places I can't get the snow blower to. Oh well, I had to walk to the barn this year, so maybe next year the walk will be as uplifting, so uplifting that I might be floating.

Merry Effing Xmas, Y'All

Gordon Setters & The Boss, alright, alright.

I Hate To Say It Because So Many Others Have Said It Today, But What The Hell Was Pat Robertson Smoking & Where Can I Get Some?

Well, he got one thing correct in his wasted life.

Fred Foy, R.I.P.

That don't make names like that anymore.  Too bad, he's dead.

Wisco Poverty

I wonder what the fine brains on the County Board will do about the poverty rate in Ashland County? My guess, which took me 3 seconds to come up with, is absolutely nothing. Here's a map that has the grim news. All that ReThuglican control of the federal government during the Bu$hCo regime was to create more poor people. Of course, President Obama decided that those who are not poor should be able to continue laughing all the way to their private, overseas banks.

Cheaters Win

Packers lose.  Refs stunk it up.  Patriots cheated again.  How does Belicheck sleep at night?  I'm sure very well with the appropriate meds.  No link since I watched the game on the teevee & am too tired to look up the Green Bay paper & cite it.  Later.

This Is What's Wrong With The United States Senate

What is so bad about the institutions that govern (rule) us, is that they really do not represent the wishes of the American public. The ReThuglican Party lost a vote on DADT fairly & squarely albeit later than it should have happened.  Because of that loss, they are allowed by the acane & stupid rules of the Senate to hold up & maybe defeat the New Start treaty with Russia.  & by defeating it I do not mean having more votes than those senators who support the treaty.  This is why our politics has become dangerous to our democracy.

With some prominent Republicans angry over passage of legislation ending the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, the mood in the Senate turned increasingly divisive....

****

...complicated by a deadlock over spending and the political subtext about whether the pact’s approval would rejuvenate a weakened president after his party’s midterm election defeat.

So, they're pissed that they lost a vote, eh? I think I was taught that after the votes are counted we move on, we need to keep doing the stuff that keeps the people safe, secure, happy, healthy, invigorated, curious, & understanding. But see how this is working out? They're worried that President Obama might "look" better because he got a treaty ratified? Talk about acting as if the playground aide is inside taking a wizz.  This is all about politics with these evil ReThugs.  & the only American people that they give a rat's ass about are the super wealthy - they got their goddamned tax cuts.  Now we will wait, like we've been waiting since Alzheimer Ronnie, for that trickle to start moving down to us peons.  I hope my fellow peons aren't holding their collective breaths.  We will all be dropping like flies while we wait for that holy of holys - jobs created by giving the stupidly wealthy tax breaks.  Anyway, we need to somehow fix the Senate before it destroys the country.

Just Worth Repeating

As a sanctimonious elistist (I read books), I just couldn't help myself & had to post this again.  Yes, Faux News viewers, you are stupid Americans.

Joe Manchin Is A Chicken Shit

Maybe he's worse, a Blue Dogshit?

War On xmas, War On xmas, War On xmas, It's Over There, Channel 21

Tom Tomorrow

Click the cartoon to get just the cartoon in a separate window.  Then you can read it all.

George Pickow, R.I.P.

He's dead.  He took some wonderful pictures.

Josh White

Pete Seeger

Judy Collins

Tony Bennett

Jean Ritchie, Mr. Pickow's wife.

My kind of family:

Besides Ms. Ritchie, Mr. Pickow is survived by their sons, Jon and Peter, who sang on many of their mother’s albums, and a sister, Lenette, named for Vladimir Lenin.

Relatively Local Sports Beat - College

The University of Minnesota-Duluth won a national title in football today.  They beat Delta State 20-17 with a last second field goal.  Good for them.  Now if the men's hockey team & the women's hockey team can produce Division 1 titles, it will be quite a year for those of us who actually pay attention to this sort of thing.  I will admit that I could care less for UMD's football team, but I do follow their hockey teams, particularly when they beat the stupid Minnesota Golden Gophers, or as I like to call them, The Chipmunks.

 

This Stinks & It's Another Reason To Despise ReThuglicans

I just hate these people.  Look at the tears on the faces of the kids who just learned a terrible, racist lesson.

This Is A Great Thing

DADT repealed.

Mike Shanahan Is An Idiot

Apologies to The Son-In-Law, but it is true.

 

Apparently, These Scientists Just Want To Piss The Tea Baggers Off

The Dead Sea is just full of scientific surprises.

Uli Harms, the executive secretary of the international drilling program, said he thought the hole had penetrated through the sediment from four ice ages. “That would be my personal guess,” he said, adding that the findings had to be checked in laboratories.

 

Welcome To The Future

If you are rich enough, conned enough, turned on enough, maybe you will be a match. This is why we need true health care reform. As it is, President Obama's health insurance reform sure didn't stop this awful scam. Of course, I'd like to see the models & just how short their skirts were before I pass total judgement. Some things are just difficult to remove from my brain, sorry. Anyway, if you shoot me now, at least the world will be free of my sanctimonious offerings on this blog.

This is just an example, please, no volunteering until we have all the facts.

Really Expensive Piles Of Sand Did Nothing - Good Job Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal is a typical ReThug - spends $200 million on failure, then denies the data by saying it is a political smear. My guess is that God told him what to do in the first place & we all know God & ReThugs & Bu$hCo never make mistakes, at least mistakes they can remember.

Via The Progress Report. It came through the email intertubes.

Already Posted But Love This Headline

Extended exposure to Fox News makes voters stupid, university study finds

From The Raw Story.

Robert Reich, Not A Drunken Denist

I had a dentist when I was young who had the last name of Reich.  I found out, sadly, that he was a drunk & the one molar I have left on my bottom jaw is the result.  He either pulled permanent teeth while telling me they weren't or not getting rid of all the decay before putting in the filling, thereby trapping the decay which, of course, worked its way through the tooth in other ways.  This bit of personal history leads to Robert Reich, clearly not a drunken dentist, but rather, someone with a brain that he uses.  Here are a few examples:

The new tax deal embodies the essence of Reaganomics.

 

It will not stimulate the economy.

 

A disproportionate share of the $858 billion deal will go to people in the top 1 percent who spend only a fraction of what they earn and save the rest. Their savings are sent around the world to wherever they will earn the highest return.

The only practical effect of adding $858 billion to the deficit will be to put more pressure on Democrats to reduce non-defense spending of all sorts, including Social Security and Medicare, as well as education and infrastructure.

It is nothing short of Ronald Reagan’s (and David Stockman’s) notorious “starve the beast” strategy.

*****

Since Ronald Reagan was president, median hourly wages have barely budged, and America’s vast working and middle classes have taken home a steadily smaller share of the nation’s income (adjusted for inflation). The typical male worker today is earning less than the typical male worker thirty years ago.

 

Yet the richest 1 percent of Americans is now taking home a larger percentage of the nation’s income than at any time since 1928. And we recall what happened in 1929.

*****

Nor did George W. Bush’s tax cuts trickle down. Between 2002 and 2007 the median wage actually dropped. And Bush’s record of job creation was pathetic relative to Bill Clinton’s, when taxes were higher. Under Clinton, America added 22 million net new jobs. Under Bush, barely 8 million.

 

So why are Democrats voting for Reaganomics?

*****

That Democrats have allowed themselves to get into this fix is a testament to either their timidity, obtuseness, or dependence on the campaign contributions of those at the top.

My emphasis.

Duh!

The word study & Fox News never went well together.  Here is more proof to support the obvious.

 

Almost Goodbye To Don't Ask Don't Tell

The House finally passed the repeal of DADT.  Now, the Senate must act.  I understand that they do have the votes, but, but, but...

Blake Edwards, R.I.P.

As a youngster I loved the Pink Panther movies. Blake Edwards made me laugh.

Clip via First Draft.

Clip via alicublog.

This Is What Happens America When You Have An Appointed President (Criminal?)

The EPA has become the protector of corporations, rather than the environment.  The bees &; beekeepers aren't the only losers.

Only, as the latest memo points out, the study, when it was done (long after 2004), was inadequate in demonstrating that clothianidin does not pose a threat to honeybees. Unfortunately, with the EPA's failure to ensure clothianidin's safety before allowing its use on corn and canola, it fell to beekeepers to discover why their bees were dying, and how the EPA allowed clothianidin on the market.

*****

The hope is that only pests who try to feed on the plant will be killed, and beneficial insects will not be affected. Sadly, it appears that the bees never got that memo.market.

Tip of the hat, nod of the head, shake of the hand, but no tip in the Tip Jar to RLK for the link to the article mentioned above.

Musky I Tell You, But Not Much Of An Ox

& now something completely different.  Yes, I know I must attribute that sentence to Monty Python.

Cute, eh? 

You Go, Iceland

Here's an example of how a country actually embraces the concept of freedom, not only freedom of the press, but freedom, complete freedom. I'm proud to have once know a woman from Iceland. In fact, Iceland was & is now even more of a destination I'd like to experience before I croak. Iceland, you rock.

& then there is Bjork.

The Wealthy Are Truly Different That You And Me

Justice is not blind, it can tell if an accused person is wealthy. Then stuff like this happens.

Representatives for Cheney and Halliburton met with Nigerian officials in London over the weekend. In the United States, KBR has already admitted bribing Nigerian officials. In February 2009, the company agreed to pay a $402 million fine. Halliburton itself paid $177 million to settle allegations paid to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but didn't admit wrongdoing. Still, despite the settlements, Halliburton's spokeswoman said “there is no legal basis for the charges” in a statement Dec. 8. Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesman Femi Babafemi told Reuters the company had offered to pay up to $250 million.

How about a couple of questions often posed by ReThugs: (1) If you are innocent, why did you run? (2) If you are innocent, why did you pay the fine? I am not going to hold me breath waiting for an answer. I'm going to do what the ReThugs do all the time - guilty, guilty guilty, guilty.

Partisan Judges? You Been Living In A Pipe Dream?

The Federal Judge who found the requirement that all Americans buy health insurance from private insurance companies unconstitutional has part ownership of a consulting firm called "Campaign Solutions."  Seems to me, an admitted elitist, that something like this stinks like a skunk flattened by a semi.

Or in case your are one of those singalong types, here's your chance.

Lest anyone be confused, I strongly opposed this HCR bill for many reasons, but foremost was this requirement that people buy insurance from private insurance companies. This is absurd on its face. If this is such a great idea, how come programs like Badgercare were developed? Badgercare in no panacea to the health care problems in Wisco, but if the market was such a great deliverer of product, how come it didn't deliver affordable health care to those without it? That question will hold true if poor people are required, under penalty from the IRS, to buy from private companies. The holy market doesn't much give a shit for people, especially poor people, who don't have a lot of spare change for investing.

The Streak Is Over, Too Bad

Something For All Of Us Progressives To Think About

Worth a read.

Democrats need to unite behind a simple set of moral principles and to create an effective language to express them. President Obama in his campaign expressed those principles simply, as the basis of American democracy. (1) Empathy - Americans care about each other. (2) Responsibility, both personal and social. We have to act on that care. (3) The ethic of excellence. We have to make ourselves better, so we can make our families, our communities, our country and the world better. Government has special missions: to protect and empower our citizens to have at least the necessities. I don't know any Democrats who don't believe in these principles. They need to be said out loud and repeated over and over.

My emphasis. So what do you think?

Sports Beat Utterly Disgusted Division

The Lions?  The Lions?  I hate to say this, but Favre would not have lost this game.  The refs really sucked in this game, I mean they really sucked.

 

 

Sports Beat

Just weird.

Banking Elite?

Not in America, right? Land of the free, home of the brave, right? Democracy forever, OK? Our wonderful system is not derivative of any other country in the history of the world, see?

Ah, Youth, It Knows How To Express Itself

This expression shows just how I feel about politics these days. She doesn't look too sanctimonious, though, does she? See more & get a true explanation of what's up with The Babies.

Scandal? More Like A Set Of Massive & Covered Up Crimes

The Roman Catholic Church was worried about the sex abuse of minors by priests in Ireland, worried that their sovereignty was being challenged. Good grief, what a thing to be worried about when thousands suffered at the hands of the male priests. Brides of Christ? Heh. Not so much. The Roman Catholic Church is first among supposed enlightened men who have wreaked death, destruction, & human exploitation of the worst kind.  Since there is no hell, I can't wish them an eternity in a hell without beer, but I sure hope these bastards suffer in the here & now, which is all there is & all we need.

Dud So Far

The storm has been pretty much a dud so far here in northern Wisco. Minneapollis, however, sees to have been nailed big time. As of mid-afternoon, here's where the snowfall stood, according to the weather service:

20.00 OAKDALE MN WASHINGTON 0247 PM


15.20 WOODBURY MN WASHINGTON 0230 PM


14.90 4 SSW MINNEAPOLIS MN HENNEPIN 0220 PM


14.60 MINNEAPOLIS MN HENNEPIN 0300 PM MEASURED AT THE MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. STORM TOTAL.


13.50 2 N MENOMONIE WI DUNN 0155 PM


13.00 SHAKOPEE MN SCOTT 1231 PM


12.90 1 SW ST PAUL MN RAMSEY 0214 PM


12.80 BLOOMINGTON MN HENNEPIN 0100 PM


12.00 NEW BRIGHTON MN RAMSEY 0243 PM


11.70 ST LOUIS PARK MN HENNEPIN 0249 PM


11.50 HASTINGS MN DAKOTA 0138 PM


11.50 JIM FALLS WI CHIPPEWA 0119 PM


11.50 1 SSW DELANO MN WRIGHT 0114 PM


11.50 WYOMING MN CHISAGO 1238 PM


11.40 CHANHASSEN MN CARVER 1221 PM STORM TOTAL MEASURED AT THE NWS OFFICE IN CHANHASSEN.

(The total amounts are listed in inches just before the city is named, ed.)

We've had maybe 3 or 4 inches so far today. Maybe it will snow all night & we'll have some substantial snow in the a.m. Then I'll need to convince myself to get all dressed up, hop on the garden tractor (it has the snow blower attachment, well, attached) & blow some snow. OK, so it appears the storm isn't as much of a dud 17 miles north --

Civil Emergency Message

WIC003-120000-


BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE

ASHLAND COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN

251 PM CST SAT DEC 11 2010


THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE

ASHLAND COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY OF ASHLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT.


US HIGHWAY 2 IS DECLARED IMPASSABLE AND CLOSED BETWEEN SANBORN AVENUE AND STATE HIGHWAY 13 NORTH DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER

CONDITIONS. MOTORISTS ARE TO USE THE DESIGNATED STATE HIGHWAY 137 DETOUR.


THE CLOSURE WILL REMAIN IN AFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

I'm going to make a relatively safe assumption that the wind off the big lake has made it impossible to see anything in that stretch of U.S. 2. NOAH is reporting 8 inches of snow in Ashland, the city. The wind up there can get nasty. We are beginning to see a little wind, most gusts. So far I can still see across the yard to the tree line. updates later, maybe, it all depends on how I feel or, more precisely, how the weather gods feel.

Hate From The Past

Nixon bloviating reminds me of the present day Tea Baggers. Here's some of the shit spewing from Nixon's mouth --

“The Irish have certain — for example, the Irish can’t drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually every Irish I’ve known gets mean when he drinks. Particularly the real Irish.”
*****
“The Italians, of course, those people course don’t have their heads screwed on tight."
*****
"The Jews are just a very aggressive and abrasive and obnoxious personality.”
*****
An indication of Nixon’s complex relationship with Jews came the afternoon Golda Meir, the Israeli prime minister, came to visit on March 1, 1973. The tapes capture Meir offering warm and effusive thanks to Nixon for the way he had treated her and Israel.

But moments after she left, Nixon and Mr. Kissinger were brutally dismissive in response to requests that the United States press the Soviet Union to permit Jews to emigrate and escape persecution there.

“The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy,” Mr. Kissinger said. “And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern.”

“I know,” Nixon responded. “We can’t blow up the world because of it.”
*****
Nixon also strongly hinted that his reluctance to even consider amnesty for young Americans who went to Canada to avoid being drafted during the Vietnam War was because, he told Mr. Colson, so many of them were Jewish.

“I didn’t notice many Jewish names coming back from Vietnam on any of those lists; I don’t know how the hell they avoid it,” he said, adding: “If you look at the Canadian-Swedish contingent, they were very disproportionately Jewish. The deserters.”

My emphasis. Of course, it was Nixon's "Southern Strategy" that began the awful ascendancy of the ReThug Party. America has, IMHO, pretty much gone to hell  & Nixon became that downward spiral. All of his tapes show this, & the ones just released show what a complete ass & racist he was.

The Glories Of The North

Storm Warning. Crap, just crap. I won't mind the snow, but I will mind the cold, I will mind it very much. Yes, I will post pictures of the wonderous, craptacular event. Jeez Louise.

THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
TO 6 PM CST SUNDAY.

* TIMING AND LOCATION: SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS ASHLAND AND IRON COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AND WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 18 TO 24 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED IN THE WARNING AREA...WITH HIGHEST AMOUNTS EXPECTED ALONG THE  GOGEBIC RANGE.

* WINDS AND VISIBILITY: NORTH WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL CAUSEBLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WHICH COULD REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A MILE AT TIMES. LOCALLY STRONGER GUSTS...30 TO 40 MPH...ARE EXPECTED NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR.

* MAIN IMPACT: THE ACCUMULATING...BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS. BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 30 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING.

My emphasis.

Good For Bernie Sanders

At least one sitting senator has the guts to stand up to President Obama's capitulation on Bu$hCo's tax breaks for the millionaires &  billionaires. Keep up the good work Bernie.

Senator Schumer finally does the right thing. It was a long time coming, but Schumer is on the good path. Hopefully he will stay there.

To Schumer (N.Y.), Obama's decision to accept a two-year extension of all the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush - even at the highest income levels - is a needless capitulation to resurgent Republicans. Schumer wanted the president to push harder to extend the tax cuts, set to expire at year's end, only for middle-class families.

My emphasis.

Friday Morning Blues

No guts.

The move to delay the rules, announced this week by the Environmental Protection Agency, will leave in place policies set by President George W. Bush. President Obama ran for office promising tougher standards, and the new rules were set to take effect over the next several weeks.

No morals.

No accountability. Yet.

Absolutely no morals.

Complete & Utter Stupidity.  I sure hope you Walker-clone idiots are real happy. On the other hand, President Obama should have been doing this to his enemies (not post-partisan partners) for two years.

 

Welcome To The 19th Century

Unfuckingbelievable.

Koala Cute - Aren't They Always Cute?

From the email tubes:

Thanks to G., the vet for these great photos of twin koalas.  Their mother was killed by a car.  The driver stopped & took the mother to a vet, not G., the vet, & they discovered the twins.

Sports Beat, Including The Blood Sports

Well, I did not put a dent in the whitetail deer population of Wisco this year.  In fact, sitting in the lonely blind only produced one sighting of three does & their fawns on the last day of the regular gun season.  I then sat in the blind for another week holding my muzzle loader & saw nothing but red squirrels, gray squirrels (one black phase), blue jays & ravens.  Then yesterday, as I was sitting sanctimoniously in the living room, a smallish six-point buck ran to right the blind & up past the sauna.  Oh well, at least I have a roadkill buck fawn hanging the the pole barn.  My brother-ion-law, the sainted Dan, found it & brought it up over Thanksgiving.  It looks to be good, not too banged up at all, the usual problem with roadkill.  He will make some great andouille sausage. I have come to really love jambalaya &  gumbo.

Oh yeah, there was a professional football game last Sunday, the Packers beat the 49ers.  Here are the photos of the best catch of the game if not the whole weekend of professional football.

There was no college football of note here in Wisco.  The Badgers must now wait 5 or so weeks before they play in the Rose Bowl.  Too bad the brilliant minds of the NCAA member schools can't see the value of a playoff to determine the best team in the nation.  I often find the bowl games or the "championship" game to be not only anticlimactic, but also not very good.  I  mean, how good would you be if you didn't take a powder for 5 weeks?  I thought so. 

In terms of other football, i.e., Division 2  I see that the UMD Bulldogs are moving on. Now, a close map fanatic would note that UMD is not in Wisco & that would be correct, but coldH2Owiville is close to Duluth, in fact, before the purchase of the satellite dish, all of our teevee stations came from Duluth, so I feel the need to mention them. Plus, no Wisco team made the top 25 in Division 2.

In Division 3, our own UW-Whitewater is ranked Number 1 & will be in the final four this year, again.

OK, that's it until next Sunday when the Packers should beat the hapless Lions.

More From The Sanctimonious, Yeah, That Would Be Us & We Are Righteously Piling On

Via Tbogg.  This is from the comments at No More Mister Nice Blog.

This is about to blow up in his face and when it does it also blows up in the party’s face and in his supporters faces. That seems to be something that Obama and his supporters just don’t get. His public humiliations are our public humiliations. And when he has a triumph (as he sees it) he either undersells it by failing to attack the Republicans and the wealthy and with a follow up karate chop to the neck or he spoils the whole fucking thing by going off on his own supporters for being too idealistic or too I don’t know what.

*****

...but the fact of the matter is that Obama and the dems have lost the first round of tax issues and lots of us agree with Digby that the payroll tax holiday is very likely to be a time bomb that we can’t defuse later.

*****

I doubt that things will get better economically and even if they do Obama has himself helped sow the seeds of future trouble by playing up the deficit, trying to find common ground with the republicans, and generally undercutting progressives and progressive values as “idealistic” and foolish and unrealistic and negative.

And its all so absurd. Just don’t insult your own voters. Just don’t do it. Whatever your personal feelings.  It can never be a good idea.

My emphasis.

Funny, But I'm Not Laughing

Via Dependable Renegade.

 

Sanctimonious?

No, I'm apparently more like one more shit in the outhouse of politics.
Since I'm not a grown up, but President Obama is, I think it's time to listen to Blonde on Blonde again for the gazillionth time.

Nobody feels any pain tonight as I stand inside the rain
Ev'rybody knows that baby's got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls

And she takes just like a woman
And she aches just like a woman
And she wakes just like a woman
Yeah but she breaks just like a little girl
Queen Mary, she's my friend yes, I believe I'll go see her again
Nobody has to guess that baby can't be blessed
Till she sees finally that she's like all the rest
With her fog, her amphetamine and her pearls
She takes just like a woman
And she wakes just like a woman
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/bob-dylan-lyrics/just-like-a-woman-lyrics.html ]
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl
It's was raining from the first and I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here and your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse is this pain in here
I can't stay in here ain't it clear that
I just don't fit yes, I believe it's time for us to quit
When we meet again, introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world
You take just like a woman
And you ache just like a woman
And you make love just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl

Emphasis mine. Oh yeah, I'm also ready to give up the good for the perfect.

Here you go:

Or maybe it's more like this:

I Just Go Nuts At xmas*

Bob Dylan can fix everything.

*This was first pointed out to me by Alex Kurki, a great, now dead, friend.

After The Glow Has Dissipated

From the email tube.

Weak? I'm Leaning More Toward Incompetant

What does President Obama think he's doing?  Read this.  It might help, but I don't think it will.  What a sad place we are at in this country.  & the people with the ideas, the energy, the truth are marginalized as the professional left, the non-grownups, idealists, etc., etc. 

But this week I have no blessed clue what the hell he's up to. I've tried to look at this from every angle and each one leads me back to weak, weak, weak.

He's following rules that no longer exist, pandering to voter attitudes that will have zero consequence in terms of both his approval numbers and his reelection chances. He's completely off the rails -- well beyond any notion of post-partisanship. In fact, if his intention has been to "change the way Washington does business," he's currently and epically failing because I simply can't believe that the new and improved way is this way.

Within roughly 24 hours, President Obama preemptively capitulated to the Republicans and proposed an unabridged GOP idea -- freezing federal worker salaries, then, almost as if on cue, the Senate Republicans put their unflinching childish obstructionism in writing and pledged to block everything unless the president extends the deficit-ballooning Bush tax rates. And in that mix, the Republicans blocked extensions of unemployment benefits. Twice.

I've highlighted the links that were in the original post. They make interesting, if sad, reading.

It's Not Working, Really, It's Not Working

To all the very serious, grown-up people in Washington, D.C., IT'S NOT WORKING, neither are 9.8% of the American population that are actually looking for jobs.  In other words VSGUP, there are a lot of people who are discouraged, underemployed, or desparately catotonic.  With the previous in mind, the real unemployment rate is more like 17.1%, & that was in September of 2010.  It's worse now & even without stats the 9.8% "official" number is probably short by half.  But the real rich need their tax breaks.

Powderhorn Park Rally

The Son-in-Law & The Babies star in this news video.  It's my brush with fame!  Seriously, this rally is in response to a shooting & sexual assaults.  I'm sure proud of the Son-in-Law, as we always new, The Kid made a great choice.

 

 

 

 

Amur Tiger Time

I just love the Amur Tiger.  I just don't love what is happening to them, i.e., on the road to extinction.