Speaking of Iowa...

This amuses me:

One line that landed a little flat, though, was when Mr. Obama sympathetically noted that farmers have not seen an increase in prices for their crops, despite a rise in prices at the supermarket.

“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” the senator said. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”

The state of Iowa, for all of its vast food production, does not have a Whole Foods, a leading natural and organic foods market. The closest? Omaha, Minneapolis or Kansas City.

Who needs Whole Paycheck Foods when you can buy arugula and other produce direct from the grower at a farmer's market, a CSA, or a stand by the side of the road (where I got my tasty tasty sweet corn)? You pay less, the grower gets more money...and in Iowa, there's even a system for vendors to accept food stamps.

Not quite as ignorant as John F'n Kerry's proposal to abolish the USDA, since he was ignorant that even Massachusetts has agriculture; just another pol who has no idea how real people live.

Welcome back, Iowa's 133rd!

Drove back to Iowa last Friday for my class reunion (less said about that the better...). As soon as I crossed the Mississippi, there were signs, banners, marquees, writing on cars, and even radio ads offering free dinners to welcome back the 133rd from an extended deployment in Anbar province, Iraq. I mean extended; according to the complimentary copy of the Des Moines Register in my hotel room Sunday, they were deployed longer than any American unit since WWII.

*sniff*
After over a year of living in Milwaukee, it felt good to see people actually support the troops.

And get some decent sweet corn.

Cat kills people, gets treats

Looks like a sweetie, but looks are deceiving...

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.

Oscar the cat doesn't like to be put out in the hall when a patient is dying.

...

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Let's look at this more closely:

Cat visits people.

People die.

People assume the cat has magical feline intuition.

Give me a break! How do they know he's not doing something to hasten the deaths of the patients??? The only thing cats think about more than murder is food. I'm allowed to live only because I can work doorknobs and can openers, and if I ever stop I'm the cat's next dinner. We all know who's in charge of that nursing ward, and it ain't the nurses.

People think they're way more important to plants and animals than they actually are.


Gotta go, someone just brought me his feather-onna-string.

SAT words

Heh.

“They’ve been stalling,’’ said John W. Olver, D-Mass., chairman of the House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee. “They are nihilists. They are jihadists.”

I had to look up nihilist, because I thought it meant that you rejected all organized systems of belief, which would indicate it was impossible to be a nihilist and a jihadist simultaneous.

ni·hil·ism [nahy-uh-liz-uhm, nee-] –noun
1. total rejection of established laws and institutions.
2. anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.
3. total and absolute destructiveness, esp. toward the world at large and including oneself: the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.
4. Philosophy.
a. an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.
b. nothingness or nonexistence.
5. (sometimes initial capital letter) the principles of a Russian revolutionary group, active in the latter half of the 19th century, holding that existing social and political institutions must be destroyed in order to clear the way for a new state of society and employing extreme measures, including terrorism and assassination.
6. annihilation of the self, or the individual consciousness, esp. as an aspect of mystical experience.

Still seems kinda contradictory to me. Number 5 works--have to destroy Western society to set up a global caliphate--but even so, if you're destroying things in the name of Allah you're not rejecting ALL "established laws and institutions."


I love words.

Heh.

I love Greg Gutfield.

Last week the New York Times took McDonalds to task for introducing a new drink called the "Hugo," forty two ounces of affordable soda, an amount that could drown a sizable rodent. What really peeves the paper: McDonalds printed the ads so everyone could read them. "Hugo ads are available in several languages," the paper scolds, "making sure that minorities - who are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic - are aware of the budget beverage."

So, by making these ads multi-cultural, McDonalds is racist. But, what if Micky D's hadn't printed the ads in different languages? You just know the Times would have hinted at racism there as well. After all, how dare they exclude minorities from a bargain deal?

It seems you can't win when you make something people want. If only the New York Times knew what that was like.

As an Obese-American, I have no idea why I'm supposed to be offended by being offered a cheap 42-oz. diet Coke (which happens every summer). I never take them up on it, because it comes with 40 oz of ice and I'm out of liquid by the time I get back on the interstate.

Instead, I purchase 44- and 64-oz sodas at QuikTrip and Kum n Go (stop laughing!), much as I have been since 1989 (OK, I started out with the refillable 32-oz bottle-with-built-in-straw, the "squart", which may still be in a cupboard at my parents' house). Some of them will even let you fill your gallon container full of sweet life-giving Mountain Dew directly from their fountain. McDonald's is advertising something that's been available from other retailers for twenty years--is the Times just now noticing the existance of fountain drinks?! No wonder they can't sell papers.

Suddenly, I'm thirsty.

lgf: TSA Warns Airport Security About 'Dry Runs'

From LGF...

WASHINGTON - Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September.

The unclassified alert was distributed on July 20 by the Transportation Security Administration to federal air marshals, its own transportation security officers and other law enforcement agencies.

The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included “wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances,” including block cheese, the bulletin said. “The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern.”

Security officers were urged to keep an eye out for “ordinary items that look like improvised explosive device components.”

Oh crap, that's me.

A week ago Saturday it was Play-Doh I'd picked up on the way to the airport for my niece's birthday. The TSA screeners bitched at me for holding up the line and let me through with four 5-oz tubs of the stuff (after the let the Arab guy ahead of me through with two 6-oz bottles of what he claimed was perfume, not that they opened them to check...).

Contrast to the time I tried to take Iowa chops (best pork on the planet!) out to New England. They only let me through after I explained what they were, they unwrapped the whole package to see the frozen meat, and they swapped the package for explosives. Apparently they were out stoned the day it was explained that touching pork before or during your martyrdom disqualifies you for Paradise with Allah. Or, just as likely, the TSA doesn't cover that during employee training.

I need a bacon necklace for travel.

UPDATE 9:08 a.m.:
Heard on the radio the "Milwaukee incident" was someone carrying wires in a block of cheese on June 4. This only makes me MORE disturbed that people were being passed through security with large quantities of liquids in July...

Looking like a good time to look for a new job...

The Wall Street Journal notices the Wisconsin socialist health plan:

This employment tax is on top of the $1 billion grab bag of other levies that Democratic Governor Jim Doyle proposed and the tax-happy Senate has also approved, including a $1.25 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, a 10% hike in the corporate tax, and new fees on cars, trucks, hospitals, real estate transactions, oil companies and dry cleaners. In all, the tax burden in the Badger State could rise to 20% of family income, which is slightly more than the average federal tax burden. "At least federal taxes pay for an Army and Navy," quips R.J. Pirlot of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce business lobby.

As if that's not enough, the health plan includes a tax escalator clause allowing an additional 1.5 percentage point payroll tax to finance higher outlays in the future. This could bring the payroll tax to 16%. One reason to expect costs to soar is that the state may become a mecca for the unemployed, uninsured and sick from all over North America. The legislation doesn't require that you have a job in Wisconsin to qualify, merely that you live in the state for at least 12 months. Cheesehead nation could expect to attract health-care free-riders while losing productive workers who leave for less-taxing climes.

That would be me. I've no interest in paying the extra estimated $500/mo in taxes (probably more, since I'm in software and I have no little deductions running around) for "[r]ationing via price controls and, as costs rise, waiting periods and coverage restrictions." It might not even matter if I did--the company I'm contracting for isn't going to hire anyone if they have to pay an extra 15% on top of wages to the state.

I like Milwaukee, but I love Indianapolis; $6k will more than cover gas to Lake Michigan 6-7 times a year.

Polite arsonists...

Milwaukee police are investigating the burning of about 17 garbage carts on the city's north side overnight.

The person or persons responsible pulled the carts away from cars and garages so only the carts were damaged.

How considerate!


I feel sorry for kids who grow up in the city--Shorewood, 'Tosa, and Pewaukee as well as the north side. I set my share of stuff on fire as a teenager, along with all my friends, and since all my friends lived on farms, it was generally legal (or, at least, no tax dollars were involved). We'd end up in a pasture or a ditch miles away from town with a stack of broken snow fence or a pile of stumps that someone's dad was going to burn anyway, and just let go. All the psychopathology, none of the criminal record.

City kids don't get that.

God help me, I agree with Al Sharpton

Well, half agree. That's still enough to make me queasy.

NEW YORK (AP) - The Rev. Al Sharpton denounced Paris Hilton's release from jail on Thursday, saying it had "all of the appearances of economic and racial favoritism."

"I think that it's both another glaring display of how race and money seem to get different treatments. There seems to be a different criminal justice system for some than others," Sharpton said.

I don't think race was as much a factor as money. Poor, obscure, dumb white women don't get to leave with an ankle bracelet.

Now, if Oprah drives drunk and has to serve all 45 days, THEN RevAl and I are in total agreement. I somehow don't think she'll consent to take part in my social experiment.

Maybe I declared allegiences too soon.

I like Iowahawk's immigration policy, except I would deport all Cubs, and anyone sleeping with Gisele Bundchen (this must be done before Week 9). Hey, it's not like I'd ask him to pardon wealthy campaign donors....

(Unrelated, I am curious about the family history of a blonde woman with a German surname from Brazil. *cough*)

D-Day

Wishing people a "Happy D-Day" doesn't sound right, but I like to mark it every year. I miss Charles Schulz's annual Peanuts tribute; I don't have time this morning to poke around the intertubes for a picture of Snoopy on Omaha Beach so just imagine it. :)

This week, the Senate is authorizing the invasion of the U.S. It's eerie. We used to be darn near invincible; lately we've caved from within.



In other news, I signed on as a Friend of Fred. I don't expect him to win the nomination, but if his candidacy can push Guliani into recognizing that the Bill of Rights isn't a "privilege" and keep him from screwing over rural America, that's good enough for me.

Heh.

Teachers find plenty of fun summer jobs

But when they complain about their annual teaching salary, don't you DARE point out that it's only for 9 months' work.

Funniest thing I've seen in weeks.

"Focus like the Proverbial Laser."

Hillary Clinton used this phrase during the debate tonight (which I did not watch, because I don't have cable).

If anyone can find an actual proverb about lasers--with some sort of documentation about where you've seen it used in print or film--I'll buy you a fine local microbrew.

Breaking: Terror Plot at Kennedy Airport

Just a nuisance, like prostitution and NCAA tournament pools.

The suspects must be Lutheran. No?

Obviously they only wanted to blow up JFK as a reaction to BushHitlerMcChimpy's illegal invasion and occupation of...Trinidad? Guyana? Oh.


I'm heavy on the sarcasm today because, like moonbats and KosKidz, I'm questioning the timing, and that bothers me. The investigation has been going on for almost 18 months, and the arrests take place while Congress and Bush are colluding on a plan to open the borders, ignoring the national security implications that should have smacked them in the face after we learned that three of the Fort Dix Six came across the Mexican border illegally.

This is weird. In the 90s, I knew Clinton didn't give a crap about anything but his own popularity, but at least most other elected officials were concerned about the future of the American people. Now very few of them give a crap about the current citizenry or the future of the country, and it scares me.

At least there are still some people in law enforcement who care. And the NY Times doesn't know about them....


Ignorance really is bliss. I wish I was the kind of woman who can't be interested in anything more profound than clothes and makeup and shopping and celebrity gossip.

Curse you, intertubes!

I had a HUGE post about the 2000 Iowa caucus, farm art, and Hillary Clinton, but Blogger ate it. There's three hours of my life I want back...

Fraud, corruption, bribes, etc.

I wasn't going to comment on the Alderman McGee thing, and then when I read this article about the Milwaukee police officer/Mexican national being arrested for using a fraudulent identity to live and work here illegally, I remembered this article from the American Thinker about how bribery and corruption is the whole heart of the Mexican bureaucratic system.

Given:

a) McGee's initial offense was demanding money in exchange for getting residents' applications for city licenses approved. They may have been approvable on their own merits, but they weren't getting approved without his under-the-table "cost of doing business".
b) It's just accepted in Mexico and other Western Hemisphere countries that if you don't give government officials money to put in their own pockets, you're not going to get your license.
c) Large swaths of U.S. society enthusiastically embrace the plan to import teeming hordes of people from Mexico and similar countries.
d) The teeming hordes show no interest whatsoever in assimilating into the American system, and their champions show no interest in expecting them to assimilate.

I conclude that a) the American culture is going to degrade to the point where everyone expects to hand cash over to government officials--not the government--to get permits, etc., just like elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere; and b) if McGee had just waited 3-5 years, no one would have blinked twice at him expecting thousands of dollars to approve a gas station permit, much less charged him with a crime (the solicitation of murder--maybe. Could go either way.)

I'm finding this conclusion more disturbing than the various "you crackers are all out to keep a good black man down" rhetoric I'm reading/hearing. I think I've become desensitized to it over the past year since I moved to Milwaukee. I don't have TIME to keep anyone down--ask the cat. I do wonder what it feels like to call a man who threatens to kill the mother of his unborn baby a "good man" but that's not really germane to the corruption discussion.

This new stuff today about election fraud and vote buying--also very Third World. McGee's just ahead of the trend. Or behind it--$5/vote? My dad got offered that in Cook County (IL) in the 70s (even though he was a student with 1.5 kids, I doubt he thought twice before refusing). Fraud ain't keeping up with inflation.

But that's my take: In ten years, this McGee corruption charges will seem downright quaint.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Honesty and Transparency

House Minority Leader John Boehner Calls Immigration Bill 'Piece of S---'

Good for him!

Gas taxes

This is interesting.

Gas prices soar, WI Gov Doyle seeks to raise state gas tax, claims it's not really a gas tax.

Gas prices soar, IN Gov Daniels refuses to suspend state gas tax as Democrats urge.

I don't really know how to analyze these, since I lack the economics background. I do note that gas in Indiana is taxed at 6% + $0.18/gal, so around $0.38/gallon at $3.40/gal, and the gas tax in WI is $0.33/gal regardless of price and expected to go up to around $0.40/gal. From a consumer standpoint, the flat-rate tax per gallon is much easier to not notice as prices fluctuate. And it seems counterproductive to "combatting high prices" to seek to limit the amount of gasoline a company brings into a state--something economists understood in the 18th century and Democrats can't figure out (or willfully ignore) today.

What I can analyze is that neither of these policies are really about "helping citizens." In Indiana, the Dems hate Daniels so they're toying with a visible small issue to make him look bad; in Wisconsin the Dems are exploiting the "ZOMG! Companies make profits and that's wrong!" fears and resentments of people who don't understand math and don't like people making more money than they do.

But I find the regional differences in strategy--more taxes! Less taxes!--interesting. Just like it interests me that an Indiana Democrat would probably be cast as a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal right-winger on either coast. :)

Mark Steyn's Modest Proposal

From NRO:

My suggestion is that, on the day this bill comes into effect, all 300 million US citizens and legal residents should apply for a Z visa.

This is an excellent idea. I, too, want to live and work here without paying taxes (if only I had some children to take advantage of the free education, healthcare, and WIC!). And since whatever clerks are getting stuck filling out the paperwork won't have any idea what day I entered the country, and I'm sure the form won't ask for a Social Security number...