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.
Yet after a public outcry by critics worried about Big Brother dictating home temperatures, officials with the California Energy Commission said this week that they will change the proposed regulation so that customers would have the option of blocking outside control of their thermostats.
No, it’s not the end of the PCT; rather it is the (alleged) end of the ability of the government to order an irreversible change in the temperature.
Fortunately, I’m not like the other losers from this past weekend; I get to play again after a chunky 1-3 weekend against the spread (2-2 on the over/unders, 2-2 straight-up). Once again, we have 4 games on the board, and this time we have the Pack going. For you wimps that just want the winners, remember the home team has a ridiculous record in this round, so take all four home teams to win outright. The rest of you, let’s make you some money.
Seattle @ Green Bay (-7.5/under-43.5) – The Seahags have no running game, so Matt Hasselbeck ought to be playing the lottery with a couple of pick-sixes.
Jacksonville (+13/over-50) @ New England – Over/under on the number of punts in this game – 4.5 (take the under).
San Diego @ Indianapolis (-9.5/under 46.5) – Marvin Harrison is back, and that along with Home Sweet Dome will be the difference between this meet and the one the Colts lost in November.
New York Giants @ Dallas (-7.5/over 46.5) – Stat of the week; teams going for a “three”-sweep are 11-6 in the third-game attempt.
– John David Beck, who is an idiot racist, was fined CDN$6,000 for “dehumanizing” the disabled, “a particularily vulnerable group”.
– Free Dominion, Free Republic’s sister site, has moved its corporate structure to Panama. They previously had moved their servers to the US because they had already begun to see this anti-conservative wave coming in 2002.
That’s right, honest-to-goodness snow fell in Baghdad today, and it’s been so long since snow fell, even 60-year-olds couldn’t remember a time that it did. No, it wasn’t sticking to the ground, but the locals that Reuters interviewed universally welcomed the snow as a sign of peace and hope. This makes the usual aches from shoveling the white stuff that fell here last night seem a little less achy.
No word from the “oh-so-compassionate” Left on whether this was Boooosh’s Fault™ or Gorebal “Warming”‘s fault. Money says they’ll blame both.
In a continuing effort to fill in the roll with the national standards, I’ve added Ankle Biting Pundits to it. Heck, it even fits with yesterday’s dog-eat-drunk motif.
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Somewhere below, I gave you a picture of the DeWalt Nano car that won the last “Car of Yesterday” race in NASCAR Cup history. I guess I should point you to the whole Flickr photostream of two different trips I took to the Matt Kenseth Fan Club Store/Museum up in Cambridge, especially since they were remodeling to give that car a proper display (it was in the “first Cup win” display when I was there in December):
Today’s lesson of what not to do when drunk and in a crashed car comes to us from Durham, NC’s Josue Herrios-Coronilla and examiner.com: Do not step in a canine land mine as you stumble away from the wrecked car and then keep the uncleaned shoe on after you stagger into the getaway van.
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One of the fastest ways to get my attention is to link to me. It’s not a guarantee to getting on the roll and the feed reader, but if the content is good, it’s a sure-fire way to do so. Yorick’s Persiflage qualifies on all counts.
One of my MRQs this week, “You hear me talking, Huckleberry boy?”, is up for MRQ of the week over at Real Debate Wisconsin. This is the only time I encourage you to vote early and vote often.
Sorry, competition, the Egg Slime Machine™ is not for hire this week; rather, you’re the targets. First, it wasn’t the hair that killed Romney in Iowa. Second, here comes the sqeeze. Finally, just grab some collagen.
Remember, vote for Marcellus Wallac…er, steveegg this week. Otherwise, he will get medevial on your asses.
Well, the Fox crew did what they should have; keep just enough of a rein on things to let the candidates either shine or step in it. So, who shone and who stepped in it?
Fred Thompson – Get me my shades. He had Huckabee’s breakfast, lunch and dinner, and dined on McCain’s snack while tossing back New York Times’ martinis.
Mitt Romney – Mostly-solid, but he was reduced to playing Roast-A-Paul-Nut.
John McCain – See Romney.
Rudy Giuliani – He’s a real vanishing man. Going to be invisible soon.
Mike Huckabee – The Republican Party didn’t leave him, he left the Republican Party.
Ron Paul – When even Mike Huckabee roasts you, you’re a bad candidate.
I hope the blogosphere’s personal DVR, Allahpundit, is rolling hard drive on Mike Huckabee’s meltdown in the spin room. If his defense of his outright liberalism by saying that Reagan was also a tax-raising liberal doesn’t sink his fat ass, I don’t know what will.
Yes, we had tornadoes in January for the first time since 1967. However, we’ve got quarter-sized snowflakes falling in the south suburbs of Milwaukee right now, so be careful out there.
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I believe I mentioned this before, but since it dropped off the front page, I’ll mention it again.
Americans for Prosperity is holding the Defending the American Dream Summit – Wisconsin at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee, WI on Saturday, February 9, 2008. Full details and registration ($29 for general/$15 for students) are available at the link. Trust me, you will want to sign up. I was at the national DAD summit, and that was a crowded (1,600 strong while AFP had originally anticipated about 600), fun couple of days. Even if we don’t get any of the invited Presidential candidates, they have a rather strong lineup.
So, if you haven’t already signed up, I have but one question, why are you still here and not there signing up?
A couple of tenents of the Ace of Spades lifestyle will soon be banned in St. Charles, Missouri bars, at least if the politicos have their way. The city fathers want to ban table-dancing, drinking games, and vulgar language. Those that have sensitive eyes, don’t click the “more” to hear my response; the rest of you, click away…
That’s right, kids, those crazy German zoos are at again. It seems the Nuremburg Zoo found the perfect mate for Knut, a 4-week-old female polar bear taken from her mother after the mother exhibited some of the same behaviors as another polar bear mother who practiced some post-partum abortion on her cubs.
No word yet on whether Allahpundit will bless the eventual union.
We have Ron Paul in the debate this time, so I will be drunkblogging this thing. Between roasting PaulNuts and the alcohol, I expect to beam swearing like a longshoreman and not sugarcoating the expletives behind either the phonetic alphabet or a <expletive deleted> tag, so this will not be simulcast over at my little corner of TownHall’s wall. I’ll be back here somewhere around 7:45 to run this bout of insanity straight into the ground (quick, somebody call the NTSB).
With that warning out of the way, I’ll once again remind you how I do this. I’m not the fastest typist on the planet, and my wireless keyboard is starting to crap out on me, so I paraphrase a lot. The questions from the mods will be in italics, the answers from the candidates will be in normal text, if you see “DING! DING!” in-line with an answer, that’s the bell going off, not me agreeing, and anything in parentheses in-line with a question or an answer is my commentary.
– 4 doors that lock
– 4 on the floor (those of you who said that you can’t drive a stick, you’re SOL)
– seat belts
– 2 cylinder, 33 hp gas engine, allegedly good for 50 mpg
– steering wheel
– a trunk big enough for a duffle bag
Air conditioning, power locks, radio and sun visors are available at extra cost.
In comparison, the DeWalt Nano…
…features seating for one in a custom-built racing seat, a 800-hp engine, built-in two-way radio, two ignition boxes, a 5-point racing harness, 4 racing GoodYear Eagles, detachable steering wheel, and at least in the pictured model, a lot of confetti for about $180,000.
Back to seriousness (or what passes for it here), while the manufacturer says that the Tata Nano has passed a full-frontal crash test, I’m reminded of another full-frontal crash test our British friends at “Top Gear” did:
Revisions/extensions (10:11 pm 1/10/2008) – The red pickup is reloaded. As of 10:10, we had $548,922 in it.
We got a new paint scheme for the truck, a new lease on life after making it through Iowa, and a new goal – $540,000 by the end of tomorrow, January 11. As I type this (just before noon Central), we’re $105,004 short of that goal. Why is it important to get those ads on in South Carolina? I’ll let Rick Moran explain:
But Thompson desperately needs to win in South Carolina in order to continue to be a viable candidate. And there are several factors at play in the Palmetto State that makes a Thompson win a realistic goal:
1. Romney has dropped out of the running in SC, having pulled his ads and is transferring staff in order to ambush John McCain in Michigan.
2. That leaves only three candidates with a realistic shot at winning in SC; Huckabee, McCain, and Thompson. Amazingly, none of the three candidates will have an overwhelming advantage when it comes to financing. This levels the playing field considerably.
3. SC voters have made it clear that opposition to illegal immigration is one of the top issues in the state. Looking at the three candidates above, who do you think has the most consistent, conservative record on immigration?
4. Outside factors may play a role in the dynamics of the race. McCain may very well be grievously wounded by a Romney win in Michigan – a state he won in 2000. There would be little time for McCain to right himself following a loss there what with the SC primary 4 days later.
In short, a Thompson win in SC is not only possible but within reach – if Fred has the money for media buys to get his message to the people.
Balance the budget and eliminate underperforming programs
Enact meaningful earmark reform
Eliminate improper government payments and prosecute fraud
Reform entitlement programs
Folks, I can’t force you to go through that door, donate to the Thompson campaign, and ultimately vote for him. I can only show you the door and why it would be wise to go through. So, please, go through that door, donate, and vote. For your convenience, you can either click on that button at the top-left of the blog or click on it below:
Revisions/extensions (6:45 pm 1/10/2008) – Actually, I have a pair of updates. The first is that the red pickup has $516,215 in it, which means we need another $23,785. The second is Fred talking about the experts (H/T – Austin over at The Fred File):
Those of you with sensitive sensibilities, don’t click as there are 4 f-bombs and 2 s-bombs just in the post (I lost count how many undeleted expletives are in the comments). The rest of you, enjoy Ace’s extra-crispy roasting of the head Paul-Nut.
Patrick has some exclusive video from a Citizens for Responsible Government press conference announcing support for the 27th Street businesses opposed to the closing of a portion of the I-43/894 ramp movements at 27th Street. Specifically, the DOT wants to shut off access to 27th Street from northbound I-94 (coming from the south) and from 27th Street to southbound I-94, prefering to shove all that traffic onto Layton Avenue. There are two schools on 20th Street (between 27th and I-94) within a half-mile of Layton, as well as a senior citizen complex on Layton between 20th and 27th.
The stated excuse is that traffic would have to cross too many lanes of traffic to get from the north-94-to-894 ramp to the 27th Street exit. While that is true right now (there is roughly 0.36 miles between the merge point of traffic coming from the north and south and the 27th Street exit, and essentially the same distance between the merge point of traffic coming from 27th and the split between northbound and southbound traffic)…
Click for a full-sized pic (1048×892 pixels, 235KB); from Google Earth
Note that the southbound 43/94 traffic that wants to exit onto 27th Street would get off the freeway before 20th Street, while traffic from 27th Street that wants to get onto northbound 43/94 will not merge with the “mainline” traffic at all and not merge with traffic committed to going north until 20th.
“So far, so what?”, you are probably saying. While the WisDOT has attempted to scrub any reference to direct access to 27th Street from the south from its project website, they forgot to “fix” the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, specifically Exhibit 2-7 focused on Layton Avenue (archived here):
Click for a full-sized pic (1004×776 pixels, 175KB); from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement linked above
Do note the small ramps extending from the main north-to-west ramp and the southern-most ramp from eastbound in the first two alternatives. Those were the planned movements between 27th Street and I-94 toward the south, movements that would not have encountered the “mainline” I-43/I-894 at all. While there was a major change between the prefered alternative in the DEIS (which is missing those movements) to the current prefered alternative in that the traffic moving from eastbound 43/894 and 27th Street to northbound 43/94 goes under rather than over the “mainline” I-94, there is no logical impediment other than cost that would cause those movements to be eliminated. Given the movements west of the split from southbound 43/94 to 27th Street and especially the merge between the 27th Street on-ramp and northbound 43/94, there does not even appear to be any less land used by the movements’ elimination.
If the businesses of 27th Street are willing to pay for the additional cost of keeping the movements between 27th and I-94 toward the south, there is absolutely no logical explanation to eliminate said movements.
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For those of you who were wondering whether there would be a Center-Right Coalition meeting this month, don’t fret. It is a bit later than usual, and it’s going to be on a different day of the week, but Mark Block and Brian Schimming have made a pretty good score. On Tuesday, January 22, Judge Mike Gableman will be the featured speaker at the Center-Right Coalition. As usual, it will be at The Madison Club (5 E Wilson in Madison) at 9 am (refreshments at 8:30). If you’re interested in going, let Mark know – markb – at – afphq – dot – org (though Mark reads this humble blog, I’m not the contact, so comments are off for this post).
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