Happy Half-Price Candy Day Eve!

Oingo Boingo: "Dead Man's Party"
Mashed up with some Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.

So much for the Feline-American vote

My brother requested an absentee ballot and they sent him two. Instead of returning them both marked for The One as everyone in Portland is expected (required?) to do, he gave the extra ballot to his cat, Phydeaux.

















Now some poor slob from ACORN has to vote THREE times to deliver OR for The One. *shakes head*

(Phy, I think you left a hanging chad...)

Huh.

So apparently this whole "giving birth" thing isn't really the most amazing moment in a woman's life--or at least, it's not as memorable as watching Barry O give a speech.



If it's wrong to amuse myself by imagining her disappointment next February when Obama doesn't pump her gas for her for free, I don't wanna be right.

(On the plus side, if I "go John Galt", I get free health insurance from you suckers still working. HEH!)

Beer...

Something to do to stave off post-election...whatever: I will be seeing the local documentary "99 bottles" at the Rosebud/Times Cinema next weekend. (While the name of the blog is the "Madison Beer Review" they seem to travel around the state.)

And I am shocked I was previously unaware of the Beer Mapping Project. I'm firing that one up the next time I go to München.

It's all over now!!

WASHINGTON, DC - In a shocking reversal, the Alien has switched his endorsement from Barack Obama to John McCain.

With major implications for the U.S. presidential election, political kingmaker the Alien has changed his endorsement amid furor. Both political camps are buzzing about the implications, as the Alien has correctly predicted the winning president in every election for the past 28 years.

Ongoing investigation points to Cindy McCain as being the cause for this historic shift in allegiances.

Uncovered photos suggest that in a last ditch effort to help her husband’s failing campaign, Cindy McCain seduced and then blackmailed the Alien for his endorsement.

...and you thought all she brought to the party was beer. Heh heh heh!!

Thank you, Cindy, I will sleep easier tonight.

In related news, foreign celebrities threaten to leave if Obama loses. Well, that completely changes who I plan to vote for next week. Or something. (HT Treacher, who is in Feuer.)

Nothing new under the sun, really

Obama's holding a rally in Iowa tomorrow. Algore held a rally> in Iowa the Friday before Election Day 2000, too. The snipers on the campanile as he told us to vote for him because he's smarter than any of us and knows how to run our lives better than anyone else were a nice touch, I thought. College students cheered his megalomania--YES!! Save us from having to make our own choices! And give us free stuff!!

Later that day I graded a paper that referred to the "fashion conches consumer" throughout--written by a native English speaker in her second year of kollij--and I wasn't allowed to mark down for "grammar", much less sheer bloody ignorance.

That's the day I realized Western Civilization is doomed.

When I was 16, I mostly wanted to go to the prom.

Or even have a conversation that wasn't about the homework for Mr. Upah's class with a boy who wasn't my cousin. Gotta dream big.

I'm not sure what's more touching, the mother of the bride wearing her bra outside of her dress, or the father of the bride leaving the designer tag on the outside of his suit, but I don't like these reminders that I'm old enough to be a grandmother. My native culture does have that in common with the Roma...

Metaphors

I saw this at the gym tonight--where I watched footage of a spider eating a mouse on the History Channel because it was less disgusting the masturbatory Obama informercial playing on the machines to either side of me--and I had a good much-needed laugh. I think it's the giant McCain head. Giant fake heads are funny.

A McCain win is almost going to be almost as good as Super Bowl XLII:

stunned and beaten and humbled in a way that defied explanation, bathing in a shower of red, white and blue confetti that was not, for once, meant for them.

Less glee, more relief, but satisfying.

Michael Ramirez deserves his Pulitzer.

And he should get another one for this:


(Anyone else miss Cox and Forkham?)

How can anyone write this without laughing their ass off!?!

"the nonpartisan group Hip-Hop Caucus" Yeah, right.

Apparently in Georgia convicted felons can vote before they finish serving their sentence, if they vote before they start serving their sentence.

Semi-related, Bono needs to get over himself.

Huh.

Now an Obama ad runs asking Americans simply to take the day off to help get out the Obama vote: apparently American businesses, universities, and the government all are supposed to sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars in lost collective work days to subsidize the Obama campaign in order "to change history"?

You can probably hit seven, eight precincts if you get lunch to-go.

Obama oppresses poor and "urban" people

Gotta have photo ID to get into his $5M "victory party" in Grant Park. Self-styled "champion" of the the poor and "urban" doesn't seem to want them around.

(Harsh? "Poor and urban" are his own words..)

Damn shame Adolfe Hitler, Daffy Duck, and Doodad Pro can't attend the party after they donated all that money to his campaign. Although I suppose if they slip a couple more Benjamins into the right hands...

Well, this explains Hawkeye fans.

And Kos Kidz, gangsta rappers, NOW, etc:

From screaming baseball fans to political rally-goers, groups that engage in boastful self-aggrandizing may be trying to mask insecurity and low social status.

I fully expect someone to denounce the study as racist.

(They don't say what it means when you cry yourself to sleep wearing your Brewers pyjamas.)

Random observations

• The Christmas lights are up in Cathedral Square.
• There was a line to vote at the Ziedler Building when I walked by at six. Vote early, vote often.
  
• Apparently penalties can only be called on the Colts, no matter how many cheap shots the Titans take. I suppose this makes the Titans this year's F-Pats.

Bah.

Huh.

I read this whole article about middle-aged "feminists" (the original title, they took the f-word out) pining for their daddy's money, and not once do they note that the federal government will take 55% of it, unless Daddy dies in 2010. Huh.

This need for an inheritance to fund retirement could have been avoided, at least until last week. Huh.

This creeps me out.

American companies can't legally make candy or cereal commercials targeting kids, but Barack Obama's website not only targets 'em, they offer tips on how to brainwash other peoples' kids into manipulating their parents to vote for O (the link is to Dr. Slogan, who provides the links to the official website).

(I will say this for the Obama campaign: they got their money's worth on the logo design. The United States of Obama concept disgusts me, but it's easy to reproduce in just about any media--like children's clothes--and it's instantly recognizable. The star and "Country First" is classier but too subtle.)

Anyone crochet?

Candidate finger puppets.

I'm waiting for someone to point out that making an Obama finger puppet is somehow racist, but if you only make McCain, that's racist, too...

Meanwhile, dressing as Obama for Halloween is racist, as is not dressing up as Obama for Halloween.

Steyny stuff.

McCain vs Obama is not the choice many of us would have liked in an ideal world. But then it’s not an “ideal world”, and the belief that it can be made so is one of the things that separates those who think Obama will “heal the planet” and those of us who support McCain faute de mieux.

I'm not sure you can close that gap, actually.

"Scared for America"

Me too.

Some good news out of Ohio. Now, pull the rest of the obvious frauds...

What recession?

It was raining when I woke up, so I spent a boring day making various purchases I've been delaying because I hate shopping. I hate Brookfield, but the fabric store there has the biggest selection in the area...so off I went.

Did anyone out there NOT go shopping?? Rush-hour style traffic. Cars lined up to get in the mall, which was packed. Ugh. The parking lot of every restaurant was full. I stopped in the Linens-n-Things to see if I could score a good deal on sheets (the answer was no, only 10% off) and it was packed full of people with carts full of crap*. Then, I had to wait 45 minutes in the line at the cutting table--and they had five women cutting. Mostly Halloween costumes (good luck, ladies!) but a lot of $20/yd stuff for home dec projects...

(I am making a Spider-Man cape for my nephew's birthday. Yes, I know Spider-Man doesn't wear a cape. YOU tell a four-year-old he shouldn't want a Spider-Man cape...)

Oh yeah, the economy's shot and everyone's scared.

I need to replace my 19" tube TV or get a converter box, and I dread even going out looking. Maybe I can put it off until football next year...

(Then I read stuff like this, and...bah. I feel sorry for the 3-year-old, because her parents are jerks, but that's it. I'll give you $100 for the HDTV...)

* I'm not sure what's sadder, that someone manufactures a special bowl to put your garbage in, or that people buy them. How am I supposed to believe the government needs to pay for everybody's HIV tests and abortions and toenail fungus cream when they can afford to buy that sort of crap??

Cathouse

Er, Cat House.

They have a website.

I'm thinking of a career change.

Did someone say "voting irregularities"?

Democrats have already started throwing out the ballots of active-duty servicemen.

Can't imagine why.

Normally you don't want people with big guns to "get angry" or "feel disenfranchised because of voting irregularities", but they're thousands and thousands of miles away from the $2M "victory party" at Grant Park, what are they going to do about it?

Clothes.

I opined freely at Badger Blogger today about Sarah Palin's new clothes. Lisa Schiffren explains it more clearly than I can. That first weekend after her selection was announced the "women's media" and MSM plastic-faced women were making fun of her shoes and her earrings; it wasn't going to get any better if she didn't start dressing like the rich women who've spent their whole careers in Washington.

The RNC probably could have skipped the retail and went straight to designers and asked for freebies a la Clinton. But this is uncharted territory--no one has ever put a non-rich, non-career-Washington woman without an influential husband or father on the ticket before. They'll know better for 2012...

Meanwhile, no one will look in Michelle's closet to check the origin of any unreported gifts within. While we hiss at "crazy old cat lady" stereotypes here at Radishhof, we also enjoy the PUMA blogs' sense of humor:

...angry, America-hating sleeper sofa from your shutin[sic] Aunt Tilly’s house, the one with all the cats. The cat pee sofa.

That’s our Michelle!

Heh.

How stupid do they think we are??

Oh, come ON:

Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations.

There's already suspicion of foul play! And no one with an IQ above room temperature believes those stupid college kids and others bussed into Ohio to vote illegally are casting a ballot for John McCain.

And this just pisses me off:

Shelton, of the NAACP, said he understands the need for police to maintain order. But he is also concerned that some political partisans may point their finger at black voters as potential troublemakers because the Democratic nominee is black.

Shelton said any racial or ethnic group would get angry if they felt disenfranchised because of voting irregularities.

Fair enough. Can non-blacks now be allowed to get angry about real documented "voting irregularities" without being accused of racism and hatred and suppression??

Oh, and in addition to the vote fraud, Barry's taking illegal money. If that bothers you, you're a racist. *insert Dr. Pepper jingle*

Washington Irving, call your office

Nothing in this photo shocks, offends, or surprises me; perhpas I've lived in Wisconsin too long.

Grazing toward the bright future of the motherland

Socialist realism is hot in art these days...

This is Antoinette, in Plymouth, just off SR 67.

It's all clear now...

Jim Treacher says Obama's "story hasn't changed; we're just too dumb to get it straight":

"Did Bill Ayers and I work in the same office for three years? Of course we did. I've never denied that. And yes, it was a very small office, which [grins] was not illegal the last time I checked. But his desk was facing in a completely different direction than mine, and I wasn't even born yet when that building was constructed. Also, there are lots of buildings in Chicago. Look, this is boring. Can I be president now?"

Oh. Totally understandable. Carry on. *snort*

Even Joe Biden knows we're doomed

by an O regime.

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

One key difference between JFK and BHO? JFK actually liked America. Incompetence is not the same as indifference.

...and only a moron would have admitted this before January.

Well, at least we got to see the Snoopy blimp.

When the Colts hire guys off the street to play defense, they should give 'em a copy of the rulebook. Good grief.

Other than the losing, I had a lot of fun at Lambeau (probably because the Colts sucked like a Hoover so all the drunks were happy instead of angry). Best pro football venue I've been to, I think (Arrowhead is a lot louder, but I've only seen BigXII games there). We felt very close to the action, and we weren't that close, really. And the cheese curds--OMG.

I will totally go back wearing green when they play some team I hate. Of course, it's six years until the FPats and four until Jax...maybe Baltimore.

Also, do not mix Weissbier and marshmallows.

And I could have done without the teenage boy on my left hurling invective at Peyton Manning until the six-year-old boy sitting in front of him wearing a Manning shirt began to cry. Yes, I know Packers fans pride themselves on their assholeness, but there should be an age limit.

OH: Everyone who was ripping Aaron Rodgers a new one in August should be ashamed of themselves. He looked good yesterday. Mind you, it's easy to look good against the Colts D...

Scrabble word of the day

I can't make this stuff up:

SOWPODS WOTD: aboma

ABOMA*ABOMAS n a South American snake.

Of course, it's no good in North American play, only in the rest of the English-playing world.

Celebrity Encounters of the Trivial Kind

Heh.

I'm in Appleton with my best friend. We met Dallas Clark's mother-in-law in the parking garage (she was wearing a Packers sweatshirt) and got on the elevator as Jim Irsay was exiting.

We did not hang out in the lobby all night waiting for a glimpse of players (although offhand I can tell you I wouldn't recognize most of the defense without numbers on their backs because they're all different guys every week).

We will hang out to moon the team bus after the game.

UPDATE: As I was making the Scrabble post, Coach Dungy walked through the lobby. Commence squealing like a bobby-soxer...

UPDATE: Oooh, Anthony Gonzalez. We're the only people here who recognize him (he's on my fantasy team, actually...

The Ice Age is here!

Good news from Tim Blair:

Alaskan Glaciers Grow for First Time in 250 years

High snowfall and cold weather to blame.

Make a special note of "250 years." The Model T is 100 this year...

My favorite comment:

Haw! Obama bragged that when he becomes president, the oceans will begin to recede. Sarah Palin’s not waiting for the election; she’s making the glaciers grow right now.

You know what bothers me? Right now, some jackass is many Gorons and jackasses are reading this and thinking, "I saved the glaciers by lobbying my Congressman to ban non-toxic lightbulbs!" Nevermind that not everyone has switched...

Bleg

If you ever see me acting like these women, please call the DNR and have them put me down in a humane manner, but quickly. Very quickly.

Dr. Sills also came across many single midlife women who expressed financial insecurity. "It's the 'I'm afraid I'll be a bag lady and I need to find some man to help pay my bills' anxiety," she explains.

I'm hoping to avoid destitution by not buying unnecessary shoes and "beauty" treatments. Kind of a Catch-22 there, eh?

(The comments gave me a craving for Tim Hortons.)

Hrm.

I like him better when he's not talking about making other people's house payments for 'em:


(I wonder who Obama was sitting next to, and what he thinks about Black Liberation Theology).

Oh, and Goldstein:

Had the media spent half the energy vetting Obama as they have digging into Trig Palin’s conception, Sarah Palin’s tanning habits, or Joe the Plumber’s licensing status, we may not be near electing a President who would be better suited to run Venezuela.

But then, that’s the point, isn’t it?

Heh. Heh heh.

Too busy working on my tailgate to rant about politics. I may have missed the window for small charcoal grills.

Please enjoy this picture of Robert Mathis. ;)

Poverty

The quilt blogs are into this:

Blog Action Day asks bloggers everywhere to publish posts today that discuss poverty in some way. The goal: By all posting on the same day we aim to change the conversation that day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.

Is there anyone on the planet without a legitimate mental disability who is "unaware" of poverty? *guffaw*

They're mostly writing about Bono and Jimmy Carter and Obama--nevermind that Carter caused more poverty with his policies than he has alleviated with Habitat and Obama intends to cause greater poverty at home while sending more tax dollars to corrupt rulers abroad under the guise of "solving" poverty (Bono is ineligible to run for office here, thank God). I suspect none of them have read Walter Williams:

Avoiding long-term poverty is not rocket science. First, graduate from high school. Second, get married before you have children, and stay married. Third, work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage. And, finally, avoid engaging in criminal behavior. If you graduate from high school today with a B or C average, in most places in our country there's a low-cost or financially assisted post-high-school education program available to increase your skills.

I have great respect for Williams and Cosby and Sowell and other like-minded successful people because they've lived out their own advice instead of waiting for someone else to fix their lives.

(Now, what can I do to encourage children who aren't related to me to finish school? I can't think of anything. In a culture where a woman's only value comes from her men and her children (unless she's a Republican candidate for VPOTUS *rolls eyes*), who wants to listen to a fat white spinster tell them not to get pregnant until they graduate, and then only with one man? Especially if the government is simultaneously throwing money at non-working single mothers?)

More recent Williams on poverty in America.

Williams on Africa.

Williams on the recent bailout.

Oooh. I now feel self-righteously smarmy about "raising awareness."

What took so long?

Sarah Palin finally called Rush today. It's taking a long time to download tonight, much longer than usual. I don't know why she didn't call earlier--Snerdly would have put her through.

I had every intention of going to Drinking Right this evening, but my social anxiety disorder is acting up (groups of people I don't know...aigh). I'll try again next month.

Another O quilt

At $230, it's a bargain (cheapskates!).

Nightmares not included.

Huh.

I hope Mr. Johnston is working on a GED on the side, but other than that, I don't see what the big deal is here. All the women from my high school who had babies at 18 have much better lives than I do. You can always have a career when the kids are grown, if that's what you want; the other way 'round just doesn't happen.

Don't read the comments; the world is full of shit-heads.

(I always have to put a hyphen in "shit-heads" because otherwise I read it "shi-theeds". Bah.)

That's more like it.

Watch the run that starts around 1:33.

Mmmm. Donut.

Gaze into the giant zero of the Obama logo, the hole in the star-spangled donut, the vast fathomless nullity that is the gaping keyhole to the door of utopia. To a sad shriveled Republican cynic, there’s nothing there but the wide open spaces of Obama’s blank resume. But a believer will see therein the healing of the planet and the receding of the oceans. The black hole of Obama will suck you in through the awesome power of its totally cool suckiness.

I wish I could write like Mark Steyn.

What a difference a week makes

View from Parnell Tower 4 Oct 2008:



View from Parnell Tower 11 Oct 2008:



My parents were here this weekend; my mother vetoed the brewery tour so we spent yesterday driving around Kettle Moraine with a stop at Harrington Beach. Then we went to a big birthday dinner with my work friends, which went over surprisingly well (they did not come to post-dinner drinks at La Cage, heh). Today they're on their way back to western Iowa with a van full of New Glarus beers and fresh cheeses from the factory near Belgium WI.

Did anyone else bust out laughing when they read this?

U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democratic party's presidential nominee in 2004, is to headline a rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday morning aimed at encouraging early voting by supporters of presidential nominee Barack Obama.

After reading the comments at James Harris's blog, I will not make any witticisms about Obama supporters doing a rich old white man's bidding. But, heh.

Hate is not a family value

But who believes their own bumperstickers?


Worth reading the whole thing. Depresses me--because it's happening, and because the coverage is so backwards.

It's all about the Washingtons

Well, that was disgusting

Watching a little CSI.

Planned Parenthood is running a spot featuring the rape kit smear.

Complete with a rape victim suggesting that future rape victims will be charged if McCain is elected.

Which they are, in some states. Like Illinois, where the guy they're shilling for was in the state senate (granted, not for very long...) and could have addressed this matter on a state level. Because it's a state/city matter. Yes, some administrative details still are still left to the states--shocking, I know.

That's what I get for watching TV.

More like "reluctant McCain supporter."

Is that what my voice really sounds like?!?

• I was there to see Sarah Palin, and I was not alone in that. Nice to see so many pre-menopausal women in attendance, and lots of young daughters.
• Good day overall, although I misunderestimated when rush hour starts around here.
• I was in line with some nice people, a couple my parents' age and a family with an enthusiastic teenage son, and we had some nice conversations about issues and our admiration for Sarah Palin.
• I was in the chairs in front of the media, but too far back to see much. And my camera choked on the low light (flash is really useless from further than 10-12 feet).
  
• Paul Ryan is hot. Yes, that's not rational principled discussion, but I never noticed before and I could not not notice.
• Tommy Thompson's speech had me more excited about voting for John McCain than anything John McCain said (with the possible exception of his promise not to bring our service members home in defeat, I tend to like that).
  
• Good soundtrack as they entered.
  
• As noted earlier, not thrilled with this whole government-giving-my-money-to-people-who-bought-too-much-house thing. Although I bet the illegal aliens who took off when they got foreclosure notices are wishing they'd stayed.
  
• Didn't appreciate the undercurrent of body-size bigotry, either. All that yapping about Joe Thomas inspiring kids to "be healthy"--the federal government's stupid height-weight chart that health insurance companies use to deny individuals coverage classifies him as "part of the problem" by about 90 pounds--and look at him! There's nothing wrong with him! *tangent*
  
• The "change the culture to support women" who find themselves contemplating abortion is good, but as usual I note that no one ever suggests changing the culture to teach boys to keep it in their pants (or support the mothers of their children if they don't), or even that young women are valuable for more than sex, etc. Teenage girls don't get pregnant by themselves.
• The adoption stuff was good, although I don't think that's the most pressing issue for most people. It humanizes the candidates, though, reassures that the "good people" stuff isn't a facade. I disagree with some of their ideas and agendas but like Bush, I think McCain's basically good people.
  
• I agree with the angry guys about McCain needing to fight like he wants it. Stop being so nice, dammit.
  
• James Harris was awesome. :) I didn't recognize him at the time, of course.
• I felt McCain's answer about Hugo Chavez and Communist aggression in the western hemisphere was kind of weaselly, but overall I'm satisfied with the attention he'll pay to national security/defense. Especially since the alternative is so very, very bad.
  
• I was dumb for not pressing forward to shake her hand. But it was really hot in there.
  
• My ears got sunburned waiting for the motorcade. *shakes fist at the sky*
  

Overall, a good day. Beat pressing buttons. And it was a lot more fun and a lot less frightening than the al-Gore rally in the middle of the Iowa State campus in 2000 (hey, I wasn't going to vote for him, but I wanted to become well-informed about what I was voting against, and what better source than the jackass's mouth?).

Well thank goodness no one watches local news

I was stopped by Channel 12 on my way out of the McCain-Palin "Town Hall" (my "flee!" reflex didn't kick in) and I don't remember everything I said, but I'm a cube jockey instead of an extemporaneous speaker for a reason. Heh.

In the pause while I tried to think of something to say about John McCain that was both true and flattering--and he pissed me off early in the day talking about his plan for the federal government to pay other people's mortgages to keep house values artificially inflated while I get no breaks for renting instead of buying above my means with no money down--they pointed out I didn't seem very excited, which I wasn't--I was hot, dehydrated, and hungry, and I couldn't get any pictures from where I was seated of anything but other people's heads--and I don't remember what I said but I'm sure it was awful.

He asked about the polls, and I said, "Hey, the polls don't matter that much, in 2004 the polls said Bush would lose." And it wasn't until much later than I realized Kerry won WI in 2004...when I was living in Iowa, which went to Bush. Oops.

The one thing I said that won't embarass me if it doesn't end up on the cutting-room floor was that McCain needs to really emphasize the differences between him and Obama if he wants to win.

(And I was wearing the wrong bra for the shirt I had on, which I didn't notice until I was at the Machine Shed spilling gravy on it. *wince* I know how to not dress like white trash, really.)

At least I didn't say, "Well, he (McCain) sounds like a Muppet." Which he does.

In 30 years when I'm telling this story to my nephews' kids ("We used to have this thing called television...") I will embellish it so I don't sound like such a dork.

UPDATE: They showed my "the polls in 2004" quote. Those earrings look a lot better in my bathroom mirror, really.

Obama Quilt

Needs arugula. They did a nice job combining the disparate styles, but the block in the lower left corner with the Maoist three-quarters profile imposed on the American flag creeps me out.

My attempts at political quilting have been thwarted by my inability to draw a barracuda. But somewhere in my back room there is fabric printed with mooses that I bought in Alaska three years ago.

Rally!

They don't need me at work tomorrow morning (I really don't like the sound of that) so now I'm trying to figure out what time to leave to go the Palin-McCain rally in Waukesha. I don't like anyone enough to drive out there during rush hour...

If you're there, and you see a lone Muppety-looking fat woman tearing up during the national anthem and making faces at other peoples' babies, do say hi. :)

Thank you, all

For your thoughts and posts and prayers for my brother. I'll be sure to let him know people around here are pulling for him. :) Again, he leaves in April, so I've got some time to visit him in Portland and stuff.

It always amazes me how nice people can be to people they don't even know.

Family stuff

My little brother is in the Oregon National Guard and will go active duty in April and to Iraq in June or July. Luckily he doesn't burn to a crisp in daylight like I do.

Well, it's different now, but I still think we can't leave until the job's done--can't create a vacuum for Iran/Syria/Al-Qaeda/etc--and I feel kinda bad that my brother is a much better person than I am. He's under strict orders to pass along the addresses of buddies in his unit who don't get packages/letters from home for whatever reason so I can "adopt" them (he has two other sisters who will keep him in Blistex and magazines, not to mention our mother). Maybe I can be a little less useless.

Ah, feminists.

They're having psychological issues because conservatives are "violating" Rosie the Riveter. Example: Ellen Goodman in a snit. I fixed this key graf for her:

After all, Sarah Palin Nancy Pelosi may yet be is the fulfillment of an old feminist prophecy that Texan Sissy Farenthold once described with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek. We will have achieved equality the day mediocre women take their place beside mediocre men. Check that one off the to-do list.

There. Now it's true.

And look what they were selling at the Milwaukee County "Victory Center" (my model was uncooperative, something about Palin's lack of interest in Feline-American issues):


Much less vulgar than the "contemporary feminist" version. I hope I annoy them. I also bought a "Nobama '08" button for my ham-sammich-Dem-but-making-an-exception-this-year best friend. :P

(I have a ticket for the rally in Waukesha, but I don't yet know if I can get out of work on Thursday. I'm taking some time off later in the month and I'd hate for them to realize they don't really need me. The GOP could get Obama-like turnout every day if their members/voters didn't work for a living...)

Why would anyone want the government in charge of their medical decisions?!?!

Testimony about unsafe/illegal working conditions at the Agriprocessor plant in Postville may be lost because the prosecution didn't get depositions scheduled before the deportations of illegal aliens they employed.

I'm not really surprised that different federal bureaucracies don't communicate. But imagine the assorted inevitable disasters when the various federal bureaucracies need 20 days to process requests from your doctor, or don't submit the proper forms to the right clinic before your scheduled operation...

I've long been arguing that immigration enforcement is more humanitarian than our current setup--trafficked "sex workers" (including children) and other illegal workers can't freely contact the local authorities to report their abusers--so this just fries my hash anyway.

Anyone want to start a 527?

Michelle Obama is partially responsible for the proliferation of Barney. How many millions of Americans loathe that vile magenta lump of putrid polyester? How much harm has he done to our nation's children?

Disgusting.

(This may be satire, I haven't decided yet.)

Sigh.

It is impossible to listen to baseball and watch football simultaneously.

Good news, though. Sage Rosenfels starts today for Houston.

UPDATE:
Dear Sage,
The game lasts 60 minutes.*
Love,
Radish

Dear Gary and Reggie,
Thank you for taking some of the sting out of an otherwise shitty day.
Love,
Radish

* (The ball is oblong. The rest is theory.)

Milwaukee should probably take note...

Contra the Smashing Pumpkins, apparently the embers do fade in the city by the lake, the place where I was born.*

I like Milwaukee; I've yet to figure out why so many people here want to be a smaller version of Chicago. Chicago is not a role model.

The largest employer in the city of Chicago is the Federal government. Followed by the City of Chicago Public School system. Other major employers are the city of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority, the Cook County government, and the Chicago Park District.

My main musing this morning is: When it collapses under its own weight, will the rest of Illinois get stuck bailing them out, or will they go to the feds via CRA/ACORN/Je$$e Jr/Obama?

* My birth certificate has a field for "Father (if known)" Srsly. I guess that was more efficient than typing "Unknown" over and over and over...

Yup.

Although I still wouldn't throw out Coburn or Pence.

Eskers and kettles and kames, oh my!

Bah. We were up by 20 when I got out of the car to spend some time in the woods.

Kettle Moraine State/National Forest/Scientific Reserve.



Tomorrow I expect a long afternoon of sitting on my couch listening to Bob Uecker and watching the Colts on TV and being totally unable to keep up with either game.

Mark Steyn is back!

I particularly like the phrase "Metamucil networks."

Heh.

Oh $#!+

This time next year, we're going to be longing for the relative prosperity of the Carter Administration, aren't we?

(And why is Gwen Ifill wearing Michael Jackson's clothes?)

Scranton! Drink!

Biden lies about the climate! Drink!

Biden lies about oil! Drink!

Biden lies about Cheney! Drink!

Biden lies about S-CHIP! Drink!

You know, Joe, oil prices wouldn't be "going through the roof" if you and the Dems didn't refuse to let anyone get it out of the ground and then double-tax the companies who refine it...

Yes! Strong finish!

Aaargh, I forgot to turn it off before Couric started spewing. Drink!

Silence! I KEEEL YOU!

Achmad the Dead Terrorist deemed "offensive to Muslims" by South African government, no longer allowed on TV.

I wonder if he'll be allowed under the new regime here.

(H/T Chele)

Glum.

I'm feeling more pessimistic than usual tonight. Jonah Goldberg*:

Hitler—who understood as well as any the importance of winning the hearts and minds of youth—once remarked, “When an opponent says ‘I will not come over to your side,’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already...You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing but this new community.’”

This is scary, but this feels worse. It might already be too late.


* A couple of nights ago I had a dream that I was shopping for size 3XL CC Sabathia shirts (which I am in real life--haven't seen one yet, which is odd given CC's physical size) and Jonah Goldberg was a sales guy at the mall. The only interpretation that makes any sense is "I need to get out more."

C'mon, my cat can see through this.

Muslims for Obama held a voter registration drive at mosques around the nation. They say it's non-partisan and there will be no "advocacy on behalf of any candidate or party, whether written or verbal." Except, you know, "Muslims For Obama" kinda gives it away...

I wonder if they bothered checking proof of U.S. citizenship.

Dear Corey,

Please stop swinging indiscriminately with RISP.

Love,
Radish

(The radio at work worked fairly well, except for the feedback from the EM field of the workstation on the other side of my cube and people bothering me every ten minutes for the score.)

Granite countertops!?!

The "moderator" of the VP debate is thoroughly smitten with The One. Did anyone seriously expect anything else? After eight years of BDS, are we still that naive?

But this, this is what jumps out at me and irritates me anew:

Barack Obama is sitting in the back of his rented luxury campaign bus with its granite counters and two flat-screen TVs...

His campaign has been collecting little $10 donations from working poor people as well as retired people and college students (maybe he's using "public financing" after all, eh?) for two years--give whatever you can, as an offering toward Hope and Change!!--and his freaking bus has freaking granite countertops?!?!?!

He believes there's a housing crisis, a financial crisis, that rich people have too much money and don't deserve to keep what they've earned for themselves...and his freaking BUS has freaking GRANITE COUNTERTOPS. He "organized" the Chicago projects and pretended to improve the living conditions of real people (he may even believe lining his patrons' pockets was an improvement, I don't know), and nothing got done and he's got GRANITE COUNTERTOPS on his BUS.

And it's a rental, so he can't even donate it to a bookmobile or mobile clinic in November (not that donating his own stuff would ever occur to him--generous tips for good service don't even occur to him).

Televangelists everywhere are cringing in disgust.

Silver lining--because that's how I roll, in my crappy rented apartment with warped plastic counters--some granite countertops contain radioactive minerals. Unless the radiation gives him comic-book super powers. Nevermind.