No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for posts by steveegg.

December 19, 2009

Demon Snow hits the East Coast

by @ 23:26. Filed under Weather.

With my friends up and down the East Coast buried under a lot of snow, I figured I should try to cheer them up by giving them the heart of the transcript of Bob and Brian’s “Demon Snow” (from their 1995 album “Tahellwitchoo”. We’ll pick it up just before Brian takes over (the picture is courtesy The Saginaw News):

(Bob) There’s a lot of pictures of salt trucks.
This is a salt truck.

(Start the Brian monologue) This is the machine that will deliver us from Demon Snow,
That fell, like poison from the sky,
Coating our roads with icy death,
Untill the brave men rose
That steer the monster orange 10-wheelers.
Throwing themselves into the teeth of the monster,
Defying nature, and all its forces,
Saying, “I stand on this wall. You will not pass.
“Go back, Demon Snow, back from whence you came.
“Leave the good people of Milwaukee alone.
“I melt thee, I melt thee with SALT!
“Damneth thee!” (Bob chimes in with a “Shut up!” because he’s been laughing uncontrollably)
“Damn thee to Hell now, white monster!”
There’s a guy on the back of a salt truck,
Caught up in all kinds of lines and wires,
Going into the snowstorm.
“Look! He beckons! Ahab beckons!”

I know, it’s a poor substitute for the actual audio, but since I don’t have permission to post that,….

December 18, 2009

Is this what Obama and Feingold wanted?

by @ 12:44. Filed under Law and order, Politics - National.

(H/T – Ed Morrissey)

Back when the United States Senate was debating a “born-alive” protection act, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) asked Russ Feingold (Moonbat-WI) what should happen if a baby happened to be born alive during an abortion procedure. Feingold’s answer of leaving it up to the woman and the doctor proved to be so repugnant that Feingold had the Senate record scrubbed of the answer.

Meanwhile, when he was in the Illinois State Senate, President Barack Obama voted against a “born-alive” protection act no less than three times, and went on to infamously say on the Presidential campaign trail, “But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Fast-forward to Rustburg, Virginia, where WSLS-TV is reporting that one fucked-up repugnant piece of repugnant shit bitch of a “mother” who smothered her newborn won’t be charged with anything because the baby was still attached to the mother. I’ll let Investigator Terry Emerson explain the state of the law in Virginia:

In the state of Virginia as long as the umbilical cord is attached and the placenta is still in the mother, if the baby comes out alive the mother can do whatever she wants to with that baby to kill it. She could shoot the baby, stab the baby. As long as it’s still attached to her in some form by umbilical cord or something it’s no crime in the state of Virginia.

Before you think that this is the first case of its type in Virginia, guess again. The WSLS story goes on:

The Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office worked unsuccessfully to get the law changed after another baby died in the county in a similar case. Emerson says they asked two delegates and one state senator to take the issue up in the General Assembly. He says the three lawmakers refused because they felt the issue was too close to the abortion issue.

What. The. FUCK?!?!?!

December 16, 2009

Cartoon of the day

by @ 22:19. Filed under Health Care Reform.

Sarjex, the semi-official cartoonist of Hot Air, captured the struggle to keep PlaceboCare from becoming law…

Go back Demon Placebo, back from whence you came. Leave the good people of America alone.

Milblog silence – supporting CJ Grisham

by @ 12:36. Filed under The Blog.

Several of the milblogs I read, from Blackfive to CDR Salamander, to This Ain’t Hell to Confederate Yankee to Argghhh! to Neptunus Lex to Uncle Jimbo, have gone into radio silence to protest the treatment of milbloggers in the military, and especially C.J. Grisham of A Soldier’s Perspective. As DrewM said, even though I’m not familiar with Master Sgt. Grisham’s blog, the fact so many who I trust have decided to back him speaks volumes. I’ll use John’s version:

15 DECEMBER 2009

MILBLOGS GO SILENT FOR FELLOW BLOGGER

Milblogs Go Silent

On Wednesday 16 December 2009, many milblogs – including This Ain’t Hell, From My Position, Blackfive, Miss Ladybug, Boston Maggie, Grim’s Hall, Bouhammer, and those participating in the Wednesday Hero program – are going silent for the day.  Some are choosing to go silent for a longer period of time.

The reason for this is two-fold.  First, milblogs are facing an increasingly hostile environment from within the military.  While senior leadership has embraced blogging and social media, many field grade officers and senior NCOs do not embrace the concept.  From general apathy in not wanting to deal with the issue to outright hostility to it, many commands are not only failing to support such activities, but are aggressively acting against active duty milbloggers, milspouses, and others.  The number of such incidents appears to be growing, with milbloggers receiving reprimands, verbal and written, not only for their activities but those of spouses and supporters.

The catalyst has been the treatment of milblogger C.J. Grisham of A Soldier’s Perspective (http://www.soldiersperspective.us/).  C.J. has earned accolades and respect, from the White House on down for his honest, and sometimes blunt, discussion of issues – particularly PTSD.  In the last few months, C.J. has seen an issue with a local school taken to his command who failed to back him, and has even seen his effort to deal with PTSD, and lead his men in same by example, used against him as a part of this.  Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.

An excellent story on the situation with C.J. can be found at Military Times by clicking here.

While there have been new developments, the core problem remains, and C.J. is having to raise funds to cover legal expenses to protect both his good name and his career.

One need only look at the number of blogs by active duty military in combat zones and compare it to just a few years ago to see the chilling effect that is taking place.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to the public.  They have provided vital context and analysis on issues critical to operations and to the informed electorate critical to the Republic.

On Wednesday 16 December, readers will have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it.  Those participating are urging their readers to contact their elected representatives in Congress, and to let their opinions be known to them and to other leaders in Washington.

Some milblogs will remain silent for several days; some just for the day.  All have agreed to keep the post about the silence and C.J. at the top of their blogs until Friday 18 December.

The issues go beyond C.J., and deserve careful consideration and discussion.  We hope that you will cover this event, and explore the issues that lie at the heart of the matter.  Contact the milbloggers in your area or that you know, and hear the story that lies within….

You can donate to CJ’s Legal Fund by logging into PayPal, go to the send money page, and put in his email: dj_chcknhawk (AT) yahoo (DOT) com; or, you can send donations directly to:

Grisham Legal Fund
c/o Redstone Federal Credit Union
220 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35893

Please write “Grisham Legal Fund” in the memo line if you use this option.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to you. Today, many milblogs are gone and others are under attack from within and without. Today, you have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it. Make your voice heard by writing your congressional representatives and others, and by making donations as you see fit.

The battle for freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas is fought on many fronts and in many ways. Without your help, the battle may well be lost.

Eggs on the road – pre-Christmas edition

by @ 11:14. Filed under Miscellaneous.

There’s so many events tomorrow, and so little time. I’ll start tomorrow evening’s festivities at Leah Vukmir’s Christmas Party over at Alioto’s (3041 N Mayfair in Milwaukee) at 5:30 pm tomorrow. I had originally hoped to make it to the Racine County GOP’s Pints and Politics Christmas Party over at Spokes Restaurant (14001 Washington Ave in Yorkville, just west of I-94) at 6:30, but I’ve got an invite to an informal AFP bloggers’ get-together over at Mama’s Italian Cuisine (7718 W Burleigh St in Milwaukee, and yes, it’s right next to Papa’s Social Club) at 7:30.

And here come the Iranian missiles

by @ 10:08. Filed under War.

(H/T – Ed Morrissey, who erroneously gave me full credit for correcting a typographical error in the post)

Yesterday, I ran with the news that the next ICBM-interception test from the Missile Defense Agency will simulate an Iranian launch on the continental US. Today, John McKittrick, who works in the industry, reports on and dissects Iranian claims of a successful test-fire of a two-stage solid-fuel missile, the Sajjil-2, with a range of about 1,200 miles.

A few points, culled from both McKittrick’s own analysis and those of others he links to (assuming, of course, that the Iranians are 100% truthful; they have been known to exaggerate rocketry claims in the past):

  • Switching to an all-solid-fuel rocket (the previous long-range rockets had been at least partially-liquid-fuelled) allows Iran to fuel and store a rocket for a much longer time. Liquid-fuel rockets tend to need to be fuelled shortly before launch and need fixed sites, while solid-fuel rockets can be made road-mobile (think about the Sovi…er, Russian SS-25. In fact, the video of the launch over at Closing Velocity appears to show it taking place from a Transporter-Erector-Launcher unit.
  • The speed of that missile is reportedly faster than that of previous Iranian missiles. While it doesn’t make it invulnerable to radar like the Iranian Defense Minister claims, it makes it harder to intercept.
  • It takes relatively-little tweaking to extend the range of that missile, especially with the effort the Mad Mullahs are ordering put into the program.
  • While making a 2-stage solid-fuel intermediate-range missile work is not a guarantee of making a 3-stage ICBM work, it is a shorter leap to go from 2 stages o 3 than it is to go from 1 stage to 2.

Revisions/extensions (10:40 am 12/16/2009) – It is telling that House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-OH) has a reaction before either the White House or the State Department:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement after Iran’s successful test-firing of an improved, long-range ballistic missile capable of striking Israel and U.S. assets across the Gulf region. The test came after The Times of London this week revealed evidence that Tehran had been working on a trigger for a nuclear weapon.

“Coming on the heels of revelations that Iran is working to weaponize its nuclear program, this missile test raises the specter of danger to U.S. national security interests. The clock has been moved forward and the world’s largest state-sponsor of terrorism now is closer to having a deliverable nuclear weapon. Should that day come, global stability and efforts to combat nuclear proliferation will be permanently compromised.”

“The United States must not fall silent in the face of Iranian aggression and provocation, and we must lead the international community to impose sweeping sanctions against the Iranian economy until Iran changes course. On Tuesday Congress authorized the administration to sanction any international companies or individuals who sell or ship gasoline to Iran. We encourage the President to follow through on this authority immediately, and to unite the international community to implement a strong new round of sanctions against Iran.”

Time to retire Obey

by @ 8:16. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Sean Duffy is doing what they said can’t be done – working on retiring ossified liberal Democrat Rep. David Obey (D-WI). As part of that, and in the spirit of the first Tea Party 236 years ago today, he has launched the Strike a Blow for Freedom money bomb.

Make it happen, now and in November 2010.

Roll bloat – Time to open fire

by @ 7:31. Filed under The Blog.

Uncle Jimbo has opened up his own shop (again) over at In the Crosshairs. He has more ways to kill you than you can imagine, so don’t make him angry – put him on your feed reader today.

Questions for Tom Barrett

by @ 7:18. Filed under Education, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Charlie Sykes, who called it his Wednesday Hot Read a day early)

Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon), ranking member on the Assembly Education Committee, sent the following letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett regarding the proposal before the Legislature to have the mayor take over Milwaukee Public Schools (letter courtesy WisPolitics):

Dear Mayor Barrett:

As the former chair and current ranking Republican on the Assembly Education Committee, I am alarmed at the current state of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). With 65% of eighth grade math students scoring below basic levels, it is clear that drastic changes must take place.

However, before taking a vote on such an important issue that will affect thousands of families in MPS, I need to gather more information to alleviate some of my concerns. Rather than blindly handing complete control of the system over to you without any specific details, I am requesting that you share your vision of how to improve MPS. It is imperative that the status quo is not allowed to continue for the future of Milwaukee students and taxpayers.

Specifically, I would like information from you, including:

Your plans to address the unfunded pension liability issues that were raised in the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute report this week.

The specific labor contract changes you believe are necessary to ensure long term fiscal stability for the school district.

How you will address failing schools.

Your plans to address the abysmal MPS academic performance highlighted in the recent Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) report from the Institute of Educational Sciences.

The tools you are willing to use to hold schools and teachers accountable for their performance in educating the children entrusted to them.

You are welcome to come to our Republican caucus to address these specific issues. Should you have any questions regarding my request, please contact me at 608-266-1192. I look forward to learning your specific ideas on reforming MPS and increasing student achievement.

Sincerely,

Brett Davis
State Representative
80th District

Given the only semi-successful mayoral takeovers of public schools in recent memory happened in New York City and Washington, DC, and both school districts still lag so far behind the private schools that in DC, Marion Berry (yes, THAT Marion Berry) is a school-choice advocate, those are just starting points for the questioning of the effectiveness of taking MPS away from the school board.

Do note I’m not saying that the MPS board, and indeed the entire culture of MPS, doesn’t need to be replaced wholesale; indeed, that needs to be done post-haste. My concern is that one failed leadership regime will be replaced by another like regime.

December 15, 2009

The fisk of the day

by @ 20:45. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Robert Stacy McCain shows how a fisk is done by pounding overhead smash after overhead smash on the carcass formerly known as the head lizard:

Actually, it had sort of been brewing in my subconscious for a long, long time. . . .
(Ever since he went off his meds.)
Something just triggered it off, I don’t know what it was. . . .
(He ran out of commenters to ban.)
I actually fought against being classified as a right-wing blog for a long time. . . .
(He also fought being classified as a textbook case of borderline personality disorder, with less success.)

Memo to self – always try to stay on Stacy’s good side. It’s actually pretty easy to do if one is not an asshat.

PlaceboCare mini update – 12/15/2009

by @ 18:28. Filed under Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

I’m not sticking around for all the votes of the amendments, but there’s a few items to touch on (mostly courtesy my friends at The Weekly Standard:

  • Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) went back to his roots and said that dumping the Medicare-expansion option was good enough for him.
  • Michael Goldfarb reports that the White House has threatened Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) with closure of Offutt Air Force Base (home to the United States Strategic Command, which handles all military things WMD, space, and command-and-control related) if he didn’t jump on board.
  • Mary Katharine Ham broke out some classic movie cliff scenes in response to a quote from President Obama saying that the ‘Rats were on the precipice of an “achievement”. I’m partial to the use of the “Themla and Louise” one, as it was entirely self-inflicted just like PlaceboCare.
  • The Senate Doctors, Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY) hammered home the pratfalls of going to that precipice, especially going there alone…
    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfr1SLC2sUM[/youtube]

Tuesday Hot Read – Mary Katharine Ham’s “Women and the GOP”

by @ 16:53. Filed under Politics - National.

When I make comments on Twitter about the need for Fox News to give Mary Katharine Ham her own show, it’s pieces like this one from the current edition of The Weekly Standard that form the main body of exhibits:

The storyline relies on a misunderstanding of Scozzafava, willful ignorance of the recent behavior of women voters, and denial of the GOP’s 2010 candidate field.

Scozzafava’s ouster had little to do with her sex and a lot to do with the fact that she was a “moderate” Republican only if you believe “moderates” are endorsed by Markos Zuniga of Daily Kos, support card-check and the stimulus, work closely with ACORN-entangled liberal advocacy groups, and are funded primarily by Planned Parenthood and the Service Employees International Union.

Scozzafava is far from the model for reasonable, moderate Republican women. She’s the kind of woman who calls the cops on a reporter for asking her policy questions. But she’s the woman liberals wish represented Republicans–because she’s a liberal herself, which is why she became an improbable fetish of the Fourth Estate.

If the media had cared to look beyond the fluky, three-way race in NY-23 for national implications, they could have considered women voters in battleground Virginia.

I could have just as easily taken the analysis of the voting patterns in Virginia, or the lineup of women in and running for prominent offices, or her calling out Carly Fiorina’s playing of the gender card in California’s Republican Senate race against her primary opponent Chuck Devore, but I don’t want to steal her entire work.

Here we grow again

by @ 15:12. Filed under The Blog.

Once again, Shoebox has come through with a high-quality guest-blogger who goes by the nom de blog Birdman. In addition to the brief bio he sent Shoebox, I’ll add that he has a lot of experience in Twin City-area politics. I’ll let his bio do the talking:

Born in ’61.
Happily married to my first wife.
Two children.
Sexual preference: A lot.

Believe truth is absolute, and that pursuit of truth is a life-long
enterprise.

You can learn all you need to know about the current political trends in
America by reading “The Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek.

Favorite writers: George Will and Robert Bork.

Favorite movies: A Few Good Men and Oh God!

Roll change – back from the grave

by @ 13:30. Filed under The Blog.

I should’ve done this a couple months ago, but better late than never (I blame that overstuffed reader). Dean has reopened Musings of a Thoughtful Conservative.

More evidence Iran’s nuclear program is explosive, US to test missile defense on an Iranian attack scenario

by @ 11:49. Filed under War.

(H/T – Drudge)

The Jerusalem Post reports some rather disturbing items regarding the Mad Mullahs’ “peaceful” nuclear program:

  • In recent days, diplomats have been worried that Iran has been testing neutron initiators. As the Post puts it, “A neutron initiator begins the implosion that ends with a nuclear blast, and as a component of the nuclear cycle has no use in civilian or military programs unless in the production of atomic bombs.”
  • On Monday, The Times (of London) reported that an Asian intelligence agency found said neutron initiator work had been going on between 2003 and 2007, during which Iran claimed that its program was “peaceful”.
  • Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, head of the Missile Defense Agency, said that for the first time, the agency would test a scenario based on an Iranian ICBM launch on the continental US.

Two quick reactions:

  • I agree with Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, who said, “If Iran is working on weapons, it means there is no diplomatic solution…. Is this the smoking gun? That’s the question people should be asking. It looks like the smoking gun. This is smoking uranium.”
  • One of the reasons the original Eastern European missile defense plans were the way they were was to intercept Iranian ICBMs inbound to CONUS. I’m sure John McKittrick could correct me if my impressions of the various BMD programs are wrong, but an SM-3-based system will not deal with that particular threat no matter where in or around Eastern Europe it is based.

The ball’s been dropped for too long, and I have absolutely no confidence that Obama will pull the trigger on any action against Iran.

Revisions/extensions (6:05 pm 12/15/2009) – John McKittrick pretty much confirmed my suspicions in a longer piece devoted to the BMD test, and noted the (ex-Army) THAAD also doesn’t handle ICBMs mid-flight.

He also gave the key difference between the January test and the previous ICBM BMD tests – unlike the side-on approach with the target launched from Alaska down the West Coast (to simulate a North Korean launch on CONUS), the target’s coming pretty much straight at Vandenberg from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll. That’s a few extra thousand miles per hour in closing velocity.

NFC playoff picture – After Week 14

by @ 10:49. Filed under Sports.

If it’s December, it’s time to take a look at who’s where in the playoff picture. Everybody has 3 games left, and to be in the wild-card picture, a team has to be able to finish at least 8-8 and finish no worse than 6-6 in the conference (the worst that the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals can do) to make it through the tiebreakers. The St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins can’t make it to 8-8, while the Chicago Bears can’t finish better than 5-7 in the conference. That leaves 11 teams for 6 spots, with 2 already claimed.

In the playoffs

New Orleans Saints (13-0, 9-0 NFC, 1st in the NFC South) – The Saints, who have already claimed the NFC South crown and a first-round bye, are in the driver’s seat. However, unlike the also-undefeated Indianapolis Colts, they do not yet have home-field advantage locked up. In fact, if they and the Minnesota Vikings tie, the Vikings would win the tiebreaker based on a better conference record. The magic number for home-field advantage through the playoffs is 1.5 (any combination of Saints wins or Vikings losses, with a tie counting as a half). Given the schedule of the Dallas Cowboys (8-5) on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12) on 12/27 and the Carolina Panthers (5-8) on the road on 1/3, it is at least even money the Saints will finish 16-0.

Minnesota Vikings (11-2, 8-1 NFC, 1st in the NFC North) – The Vikings have not yet locked up the NFC North crown, but they do have at least a wild-card berth locked up. They can win the NFC North with a win or a Green Bay Packers loss (or two ties between the two teams) as they swept the Packers. Assuming they win the NFC North, and they and the Arizona Cardinals (who beat the Vikings) do not both finish 11-5, their magic number to lock up a first-round bye is 1.5 (any combination of Vikings wins or Philadelphia Eagles losses, with a tie counting as half). They have the Carolina Panthers (5-8) on the road Sunday, the Chicago Bears (5-8) on the road 12/28 (so much for ESPN’s hope that game would mean anything), and the New York Giants (7-6) at home on 1/3.

In the driver’s seat

Philadelphia Eagles (9-4, 8-2 NFC, 1st in the NFC East) – The Eagles already swept the New York Giants, beat the Atlanta Falcons, and would hold any tiebreakers involving the Minnesota Vikings (conference record) and/or the Arizona Cardinals (common opponents). They can get two more head-to-head tiebreakers and the three-way East tiebreaker with games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. A win against the Niners (6-7) at home on Sunday (or a tie by either team in any remaining game and a tie/loss by the Giants, or one win in their other two games) gets them into the playoffs. If necessary, a win at the Cowboys (8-5) on 1/3 gets them the division crown based on winning either the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Cowboys (division record) or a three-way against the Cowboys and the Giants (games against each other). Beyond that, the magic number for the division is 2.5 versus the Cowboys and 0.5 versus the Giants. Sandwiched between the two games with possible playoff implications is a game against the Denver Broncos (8-5) on 12/27.

Arizona Cardinals (8-5, 6-3 NFC, 1st in the NFC West) – They blew a chance to clinch the NFC West last night by getting swept by the San Francisco 49ers. However, they did beat the Minnesota Vikings, so they do have a theoretical shot at a first-round bye (it requires a two-way tie; the Cardinals would lose in a 3-way tie with the Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles). Their magic number to clinch the NFC West is 1.5 (any combination of Cardinals wins or Niners losses, with ties counting for half), as they swept the Seattle Seahawks, though a three-way tie would give the NFC West to the Niners based on games against each other. On the wild-card end of things should they degenerate to that point, their magic number is 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, and 1 against the Carolina Panthers. They also hold head-to-head tiebreakers over the New York Giants (by win) and Cowboys (common opponents), and have to play the Green Bay Packers (9-4) on 1/3, but lose head-to-head tiebreakers to the Eagles (common opponents) and the Panthers (by loss). They also would have the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Falcons (6-7) via conference record unless they both finish 8-8 and the Falcons win their remaining conference game; in that case, the Falcons would take it based on the record against common opponents. Their other games are at Detroit (2-11) Sunday and against St. Louis (1-12) 12/27.

Green Bay Packers (9-4, 7-3 NFC, 2nd NFC North, 1st wild-card) – The Packers still have a theoretical chance to take the NFC North crown, but since they got swept by the Minnesota Vikings, it would take a total collapse (outlined above). They hold head-to-head tiebreakers against the Dallas Cowboys (by win), San Francisco 49ers (by win) and Atlanta Falcons (conference record), and have to play the Arizona Cardinals (8-5) 1/3, but lose the head-to-head tiebreaker to the New York Giants (common opponents). Their magic number is 1 over both the Cowboys and Giants. Their other games are at the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-7) Sunday and against the Seattle Seahawks (5-8) 12/27.

Scrambling to get in

Dallas Cowboys (8-5, 6-3 NFC, 2nd NFC East, 2nd wild-card) – The formula is deceptively-simple – win out and they’re in as NFC East champs by virtue of sweeping the Philadelphia Eagles (9-4). Unfortunately, not only do they have a horrid December record over the last several years, they also don’t have the tiebreaker against the Packers (lost to them) or the Giants (got swept by them). They did, however, beat the Eagles once (they play in Dallas on 1/3), the Falcons, the Panthers and the Seahawks, and hold the tiebreaker over the Niners (common opponents). Besides the Eagles to close the season, they get the New Orleans Saints (13-0) on the road Sunday and the Washington Redskins (4-9) on the road 12/27.

New York Giants (7-6, 5-4 NFC, 3rd NFC East, 3rd wild-card) – Their chances took a body blow when they got swept by the Philadelphia Eagles, but things could get very interesting in a 3-way tie in the NFC East. Outside of that, they do hold head-to-head tiebreakers over the Green Bay Packers (common opponents), Dallas Cowboys (swept them), Atlanta Falcons (beat them), and Seattle Seahawks (common opponents), have to play the Panthers (5-8) at home 12/27, and would lose the tiebreaker to the Arizona Cardinals (lost to them). Sandwiching the Panthers game are trips to the Washington Redskins (4-9) Monday night and the Minnesota Vikings (11-2) 1/3.

On life support

San Francisco 49ers (6-7, 5-4 NFC, 2nd NFC West, 4th wild-card) – They do hold all the tiebreakers against their NFC West foes (swept the Arizona Cardinals, have a better division record than the Seattle Seahawks, and have the best record against each other). They also would have the tiebreaker against the Dallas Cowboys (conference record), and have to play at the Philadelphia Eagles (9-4) Sunday, but would lose the tiebreaker to the Green Bay Packers (lost to them), Atlanta Falcons (lost to them) and Carolina Panthers (conference record). After Sunday’s game, they get Detroit (2-11) at home 12/27 and St. Louis (1-12) on the road 1/3.

Atlanta Falcons (6-7, 5-6 NFC, 2nd NFC South, 5th wild-card) – Atlanta holds only the head-to-head tiebreaker against the San Francisco 49ers outright by virtue of beating them, while they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, and would lose the tiebreaker to the Carolina Panthers (split, but the Panthers would have a better record against common opponents). Also, there is one and only scenario where they would have the tiebreaker over the Arizona Cardinals – they both finish 8-8 and the Falcons win their remaining conference game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12) 1/3. Before then, they play the New York Jets (7-6) on the road Sunday and the Buffalo Bills (5-8) at home 12/27.

Being fitted for a toe-tag

Carolina Panthers (5-8, 5-4 NFC, 3rd NFC South, 6th wild-card) – First, they have to beat the Minnesota Vikings (11-2) on Sunday, the New York Giants (7-6) on the road 12/27 and the New Orleans Saints (13-0) on 1/3. Next, they must have the Giants (who they would have beaten), Atlanta Falcons (6-7, with whom they split), Dallas Cowboys (8-5, who beat them) and San Francisco 49ers (6-7) end up with at least 8 losses, with the Niners and/or the Giants (and/or the Arizona Cardinals if the Niners go 8-8 to win the NFC West) ending up at 8-8 along with them and the Cowboys. If that happens, no matter what the combination is, the Panthers would be in the playoffs.

Seattle Seahawks (5-8, 4-6 NFC, 3rd NFC West, 7th wild-card) – The good news is getting to 8-8 is easier for the Seahawks, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12) on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers (9-4) on the road 12/27, and the Tennessee Titans (6-7) on 1/3. The bad news is they do not win any division tiebreakers nor any head-to-head tiebreakers with teams that can finish 8-8. The only possible way for them to make the playoffs is if neither the Carolina Panthers (5-8) nor the San Francisco 49ers (6-7) get 8 wins, if the Dallas Cowboys (8-5), New York Giants (7-6) and Atlanta Falcons (6-7) finish 8-8, AND the Falcons win their remaining conference game to create a 3-way conference record tie between the Falcons, Giants and Seahawks, AND THEN it depends on strength of victory (which doesn’t look good for the Seahawks, seeing three of their victims have a grand total of three wins).

December 9, 2009

Cheddarsphere Christmas Party the Second

by @ 20:43. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Direct from Fred the social director:

Our Cheddarsphere Christmas this year party will be on Sunday, January the 3rd, from 2pm until whenever at Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W. Burleigh Milwaukee .

Just like last year we’ll be collecting predictions from the attendees for the coming year. (Hopefully we’ll do better than last year!)

The Packers will be facing the Cardinals on the big screens. (Hopefully the game will matter in some way)

Since it was so popular last year, we’ll be doing a white elephant gift exchange this again. Participation is optional, buy a gift valued at no more than $5, wrap it and bring it with you to the party. Everyone who brings a gift will throw their name in a hat and then you draw and pick a gift at random. (Gift exchange to commence at halftime of the Packer game)

Just like every year this is a NON PARTISAN CHRISTMAS PARTY, all are welcome, blog authors and blog readers, those who comment and those who hide in the weeds.

Bloggers, please do what you do best, spread the word.

If you will be attending PLEASE leave a comment (at Fred’s place; comments are off here) so we can give the bar an idea of how many people will be coming along.

Word on the street is Milwaukee County Executive (and candidate for governor) Scott Walker will be there. The other candidates for governor have also been invited.

Also, Shoebox may make an appearance.

Demon Snow 2009 update

by @ 8:08. Filed under Weather.

All I have to say is I got REAL lucky here in Oak Creek. The first round of Demon Snow started while I was at Drinking Right with most of the usual crew, which made the drive home a bit of an adventure. When I got home about 11 pm, the power was out, I was getting pelted by snow falling off the trees over the street, and there were about 2 very-wet inches on the ground.

Sometime around 1 am, two things changed – that snow became rain, and the power came back on. About 6 am, there was about another inch on the ground, the wind had pretty much stopped, but I could still see the tire tracks from last night, so I decided to get the super-soggy snow off the pavement before the temps take a nose dive later today. No sooner did I get done with that than the snow restarted in earnest.

Still, that makes me very lucky compared to my friends to the north of Milwaukee County and to the west of US-45. They got the snow ALL NIGHT LONG, and unlike the predictions, it sounds like it’s not exactly the fluffy stuff.

December 8, 2009

There’s No Way Out of TARP Part 6 – Porkulus II

by @ 12:35. Tags:
Filed under Miscellaneous.

Editor’s note – this post has some salty language. It’s been too long since I’ve unleashed my inner Rottweiler, so deal with it.

It’s been a while since I delved into the fucked-up world of TARP. The Wall Street Journal yesterday dragged me back into it with news that instead of $341 billion in 10-year losses in TARP, the White House is projecting $141 billion in 10-year losses, and that the $200 billion in “savings” would be spent on a second Porkulus package. Before I continue, let’s review what TARP was supposed to be and what it turned out to be thus far:

  • Originally, TARP was supposed to be the functional equivalent of a $700 billion short-term revolving-credit line, where the federal government would buy “distressed” real assets and hold them only long enough for the private market to recover to absorb them. Overall, it was expected that the majority-to-entirety of the $700 billion out there at any one point would be repaid.
  • TARP turned very quickly into direct-cash injections into the financial system and an actual $700 billion revolving-credit line, with much the same repayment promises, and then morphed again into the bailout and purchase seizure of GM and Chrysler. Ultimately, $204 billion went out the Treasury door.
  • On the repayment end, $10 billion came back to the Treasury in the form of interest and dividend payments, and an additional $70 billion was paid back. In addition, Bank of America will repay its $45 billion TARP loan next week, and the Treasury claims that total repayments may hit $175 billion by the end of next year.

Now, let’s do some math here. $204 billion out less something north of $70 billion back in (the WSJ story did not differentiate between interest payments and dividends; the latter would honestly be applied toward principal) would leave something less than $134 billion outstanding. Assuming (yes, I know, assumption is the mother of all fuckups, so please spare me the ass-you-me horse manure) that the Treasury isn’t blowing smoke up our asses, and assuming no more TARP “investments”, that $175 billion in repayments would leave something less than $30 billion outstanding.

That leaves a “few” questions. First question; what the fuck else is the ObamiNation going to nationalize with TARP to push the 10-year-loss to $141 billion, and what the fuck were they going to nationalize to push it to $341 billion?

Second question; whatever happened to keeping TARP temporary (fuck you very much for the clusterfuck, Bush)? While the entire $700 billion is “spent” according to the budget, in reality, it’s not spent until the money goes out the door, and it was, up until now, supposed to theoretically be repaid in full.

Third question; if Porkulus I was so “successful” at creating/”saving” jobs (BTW, could any O-bots explain how 10.2% is lower than 8%?), why do we need Porkulus II?

Fourth question; what the fuck does continuing to restore the welfare state or weatherstripping homes have to do with Plugs Biden’s favorite three-letter word, J-O-B-S?

Your inspirational Soviet poster of the day

by @ 8:58. Filed under Weather.

It is especially appropriate for those of you between the Wisconsin bunker and the Minnesota bunker seeing the deepest of the foot-deep snow Gorebal “Warming” will be splitting the difference. My blogfather used to put this up at the various runs of Spotted Horse before he flamed out whenever Demon Snow threatened.

For those of you who can’t read Russian, the rough translation is, “Everyone to the fight with the blizzard.”

I have got to find the Brian Nelson classic “Demon Snow”. The bad news is that the Bob and Brian album it is on, “Tahellwitchyoo”, is out of print, and my copy is long gone.

Revisions/extensions (11:09 am 12/8/2009) – Thanks to a loyal reader, I now have “Demon Snow” in my inbox, and it’s as good as I remember. Now go back Demon Snow, back from whence you came. Leave the good people of Milwaukee (and the Twin Cities) alone.

December 7, 2009

Search wars, Pearl Harbor version

by @ 16:58. Filed under Miscellaneous.

(H/T – Ace)

It has become a long-standing joke embarrassment that Google refuses to acknowledge certain historical dates important to Americans. Today is no exception. I’ll let the screencaps of the current home pages of Google, Yahoo, and Bing speak for themselves (at least for the most part; do click the images for the full-sized versions):

Note the complete lack of mention of the significance of the day on Google, and only a single reference to the events of that day (the sinking of the USS Arizona) on Yahoo. What you can’t see on Bing’s screencap are the interactive links:

  • Over the USS Arizona Memorial is a question on what day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said would live in infamy, which takes one to a “Bingified” copy of a Wikipedia article on the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  • In the harbor to the right of the Memorial is a question on how one can best pay respects to those who died there in 1941, which takes one to a Bing search for “USS Arizona Memorial”.
  • In the harbor to the right of the USS Missouri is an offer for help on locating Pearl Harbor, which takes one to a Bing map showing where the southeast corner of Pearl Harbor is (about a mile south of the USS Arizona Memorial).
  • On the USS Missouri is an invitiation to take a break from war news by viewing “beach pictures” from the area (really a Bing images search of Oahu, the island’s name).

While Bing doesn’t quite get the entire execution right, I do have to give them an A for effort. The rest – an EPIC FAIL!

Revisions/extensions (5:11 pm 12/7/2009) – Welcome Ed Driscoll readers. I guess it helps to have a memorable Tweet – “Say what you will about Bill Gates and Microsoft — they know what day it is and what country they hail from.”

Former Neumann backer James Klauser endorses Scott Walker for governor

by @ 15:43. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

This came into Charlie Sykes’ mailbox a while ago from former Thompson-era Department of Administration secretary James Klauser:

7. December, 2009

Dear Friend:

Jim Doyle, after 8 years, will leave Wisconsin state and local finances in a shambles. In his first term he spent and borrowed; in his second term he spent more, borrowed more, raised taxes and used the Obama stimulus dollars to cover the deficit. Those Obama dollars will soon be gone. Jim Doyle prudently decided not to seek re-election. Instead he handpicked the Mayor of Milwaukee, a former liberal Democrat Congressman, Tom Barrett to run instead. The Doyle team managed to intimidate out of the race any potential serious challenger.

Tom Barrett is a decent, pleasant fellow. He can accurately be characterized as being indecisive and uncreative…sort of bland. However he is very liberal. He makes Doyle’s liberalism pale. Barrett has a record in every public office he has held of increasing spending and raising taxes. The Doyle-Barrett team is hostile to school choice and charter schools; they are opposed to the reforms to welfare initiated by Governor Thompson. The Doyle-Barrett team would continue to allow our transportation infrastructure to erode. After 7 years Doyle-Barrett figured out there are problems with the Milwaukee school system….duh! Their solution…double duh!

Initially Doyle blamed the fiscal mess on the previous administration; now he excuses it because of the national economy. The truth of the matter is it relates to his profligacy and spending/borrowing patterns. The Doyle-Barrett taxes are impeding our economic recovery. Their social policies such as climate change programs are killing jobs.

The Doyle-Barrett team is already working on sustaining liberals in office. Left-wing liberal groups such as Acorn, One Wisconsin and a variety of other front groups are today working in Wisconsin to keep these liberals in power. Obama needs Wisconsin for his re-election. He will be in this with both feet.

While the election is months away it is forcefully underway. 2009 saw the Conservative/Republican candidates compete. Now is the time to come together and support the strongest candidate who has the best chance to win.

I have been impressed with the growth and effort of Scott Walker this past year. He has truly earned his spurs. He is working hard; he has built a great organization; his campaign is drawing more people to it every day. He has sharpened his message. He has maintained his principles and integrity. We can expect the same in Madison.

This campaign will not be easy. The liberal other side is not above fallacious exaggeration and distortion. Scott needs our support to carry forward and win the election in November (which is not that far away). If you have not already committed, I encourage you to join me in endorsing and supporting Scott Walker for Governor. Let’s straighten out the Doyle-Barrett messes. We can believe in Wisconsin again.

Back in April, just before Walker announced he was running, Klauser endorsed Neumann. Last month, after Neumann gained no real traction with the right-of-center crowd, Klauser pulled his support and his wife resigned as the treasurer of the Neumann campaign.

While I am relieved that Walker won’t have to face a serious challenger, I am saddened that the Neumann campaign has flamed out so spectacularily.

PlaceboCare ad – 15 minutes could cost you 15%

by @ 13:36. Filed under Health Care Reform.

(H/T – David Freddoso)

The Employment Policies Institute spoofed a GEICO ad as part of their Rethink Reform site…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuhfLkh0UtQ[/youtube]

Senate hard at work (or is it hardly working) on wrecking the economy

by @ 12:22. Filed under Health Care Reform, NRE Polls.

The Senate held a rare Sunday session, ostensibly to work on PlaceboCare. However, Politico has the scoop on what really went on behind closed doors – the Dems were jonesing on Chinese food while watching football. What, Mr. Days is too public for them?

Seriously, the main focus of that story was on the declining support for a “pure” public option, with a public-private “compromise” beginning to emerge. Guess it’s as good a time as any to put up a poll suggested by Shoebox…

What will be the final issue to split the Dems' support for PlaceboCare?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

  • Nothing - Harry will hold them together (47%, 15 Vote(s))
  • Abortion Funding (25%, 8 Vote(s))
  • The Public Option (16%, 5 Vote(s))
  • The Price Tag (13%, 4 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 32

Loading ... Loading ...

Social Security not-so-slow-mo collapse, part (I lost count)

by @ 12:05. Filed under Social Security crater.

Ever since Ed Morrissey figured out that Social Security had started to run monthly deficits back in May, I’ve been on it on-and-off. There’s some bad news, and some REALLY bad news over the last couple months:

  • The FY2009 primary (cash) surplus of the combined funds was $19.356 billion. While that is slightly higher than the summer 2009 Congressional Budget Office estimate thanks to slightly-higher-than-projected revenues, it does not represent any meaningful improvement in the ugly projections for the future. That also was the worst 12-month performance since January 1993-December 1993, and the worst fiscal-year performance since monthly records were kept starting in 1987.
  • The $4.377 billion primary deficit for September 2009 and the $4.829 billion primary deficit for October 2009 were, excepting the anomalous August 1990 performance, the 4th- and 3rd-worst monthly performance (respectively), trailing only 2nd-worst December 2008 and worst-ever August 2009.
  • For the third straight month, both halves of the Social Security “trust fund”, the Old-Age Insurance Fund and the Disability Insurance Fund, ran monthly primary deficits. That stretch has never happened before. Moreover, the prior two times that happened were in December 2008 and November 1993.
  • But wait, it gets worse. That $4.8 billion primary deficit for October made the September 2008-October 2009 12-month primary surplus only $14.902 billion, the worst 12-month performance since monthly records were kept starting in 1987.

Do remember that there is not a single penny set aside in the federal budget to pay cash to either the interest or principal owed to the Social Security “trust fund”.

Revisions/extensions (1:51 pm 12/8/2009) – With a tip of the hat to Ed Morrissey, Chuck Blahous provides some more bad news:

  • October marked the 6th straight month of red ink for Social Security, yet another record-bad performance.
  • Before the CBO’s summer 2009 projection that the fiscal-year cash deficits will begin in 2010, neither the CBO nor the Social Security Trustees had predicted this situation to begin prior to 2012 since 1983.
  • Since 1987, November has been a negative month 11 of the 22 years, and all 6 years following a negative October.

Chuck also explains why this situation is a bad thing far better than I can:

The rising debt that the Trust Fund holds can perhaps best be understood by conceptualizing it as being like a mortgage owed by the federal government, albeit an unusual kind of mortgage in which no cash payments are made by the borrower (the federal government) until the lender (Social Security) needs money. As long as Social Security’s own incoming tax revenue is sufficient to fund its benefit payments, the government is not required make any payments on the mortgage. When Social Security’s incoming tax revenue falls short, however, the government needs to produce extra cash and start paying that mortgage off. The mortgage debt will continue to grow, however, as long as the interest on the debt is greater than the monthly cash payments being made.

An individual analogy may help to make this clearer. If an individual homeowner took out a mortgage and then paid only $1770 on it over six months, when the mortgage’s interest costs alone over that period were $5930, then at the end of those six months that person would owe a further $4160 on the mortgage despite having made several payments. Paying down just a portion of the interest and none of the principal on a mortgage parallels what is happening here. The money obligated to the Social Security Trust Fund continues to rise as the fund accrues interest; but our cash-strapped government now has to deliver additional money to support benefit payments, and has had to do so for half a year.

Revisions/extensions (12:16 am 1/7/2010) – I don’t know how I missed the various typos confusing “billions” and “trillions”. Sorry about that.

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