define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); No Runny Eggs

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.

April 29, 2008

Time to call a Cease Fire on Operation Chaos

by @ 7:01. Filed under Miscellaneous.

While I can’t say that I understand what dynamics are causing this, and Rasmussen still shows McCain leading either Democratic candidate, a recent poll indicates that Hillary Clinton is now leading John McCain in a national poll by 9%.

I think it’s time to call a cease fire on Operation Chaos for the following reasons:

  1. With Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, his wife, it appears that Barack Obama has not only proven to be mortal but an unvetted mortal as well.   In fact, in a recent poll the “Obama concern factor” has dropped by 17% amongst Republicans.
  2. Even in a general election it appears unlikely that Barack Obama will be able to move to the center.   He has staked out positions so far to the left on significant issues it would be hard to come back with any credibility.   With Hillary, well, credibility has never been an issue for the Clintons.   They find ways to sway with the polls and convince people that that’s what they meant all along.
  3. Hillary moving ahead of McCain in this significant fashion would suggest that the rumored divide within the Democratic party where BO supporters won’t vote for Hillary and vice versa appears to be more rumor than fact.
  4. While slipping a bit, Hillary still has a 5 point lead in a recent poll for Indiana.
  5. While still down in recent polls, Clinton’s about to get the endorsement of North Carolina’s Governor.

It’s been a lot of fun watching the Democrats squirm and complain about Operation Chaos.   I think the Operation has done it’s job.   Even without the ongoing support of Operation Chaos valiant men and women Hillary is now assured of staying in the race to the convention or until forced out by a preemptive vote of the Super Delegates.   Speaking of which, There is growing concern within Democratic ranks about BO’s electability.   We don’t need to be reinforcing the notion of Hillary being more electable in the final primaries.

My hat is off to Rush and the operatives of Operation Chaos.   Please welcome the returning operatives with the respect and honor they deserve!

(Update:   As of 1:30 Central Time, Rush has called for an operational pause.   Stay tuned for further instructions.   This has been a public service of your local Operation Chaos outlet.)

BDS and now FDS?

by @ 7:00. Filed under Business, Miscellaneous.

Bush Derangement Syndrome has been with us nearly as long as President George W. Bush has been in office.   People afflicted by the syndrome believe that all of the world’s and country’s ills, regardless of the facts or the Bush Administrations involvement, are the result of something that President Bush has done or caused to be done.   BDS has led to serious incivility in the public arena.   Worse, it prevents public discourse on solutions to numerous  issues as those afflicted with the syndrome are unable to rationally or logically respond with any answer other than “BUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHHH!”  

I’m now beginning to see signs of FDS or FED derangement syndrome.   Second guessing the FED has been great sport for years.   There have always been segments of people who pontificate, hypothisize and hand wring over every move the FED might or does do.   That activity is OK, generally it’s harmless.   However, since the FED stepped in on the Bear Stearns deal I’m seeing more and more articles that are trying to link the FED to issues they or their policies come no where near.

One of the most recent and aggregious FDS arguments is in this opinion piece.

The article starts by calling the Bear Stearns move “reckless.” OK, I’m open to differing opinions on this one and at the time, honestly debated whether the move was “brilliant”, “idiotic” or somewhere in between. I’m not willing to say “nothing to see here, move along,” but each day that goes by in which the markets heal a bit brings me closer to saying “brilliant” or maybe “damn lucky”. In any event, using a term like “reckless” at this point seems…well…reckless.

From there the article makes the claim that the fall of the dollar “40%” as stated in the article, was a direct result of the Bear Stearns move. The FED certainly does have part of the responsibility for the slide of the dollar but many other things including the size of our Federal Deficit and the world’s expectations of our future economic health also have significant impacts. Where I see FDS is that the dollar had done nearly all of its slide PRIOR to the Bear Stearns deal and in fact, has rebounded slightly in the time since. If anything, the improvement of the markets which can be traced to the Bear Stearns deal has improved the dollar not impaired it.

The worst example of FDS in the article is the claim that the FED is responsible for food inflation and the food riots that have occurred in Africa. As previously stated, I don’t believe the FED’s Bear Stearns action caused a dollar decline or inflation.   However, let’s assume that they did.   While the Fed’s actions may have contributed to some food inflation it is by no means responsible for the world wide increase based on the following 2 facts:
1. All but one of the countries in Africa that have seen food riots, have their currencies pegged to the Euro. The Euro’s value has been the inverse of the dollar. As the dollar slides, the Euro has increased.
2. Even the US commodity food prices have risen at a rate far in excess of the change in the dollar. This fact means that something more than the dollar is driving the cost of food commodities.

So what’s moving food prices? I know it’s hard for the FDS folks to take in logic but today, even Condoleezza Rice recognized that  the chasing of biofuels has led to increases in food prices. So as not to be accused of having EDS (Ethanol derangement syndrom), I would also offer the rising cost of oil and speculation as other contributors to rising commodity/food prices.

FDS, while not generally fatal, is a horrible disease. If you find that a loved one has contracted FDS, take them immediately to a library and inject them with a good dose of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

April 28, 2008

Blank feeds and WP 2.5, 2.5.1

by @ 19:52. Filed under The Blog.

There is a rather big problem for those that use the direct link to the feed-generating files in WordPress (i.e. wp-rss2.php, wp-rss.php, wp-rdf.php, wp-atom.php and wp-commentsrss2.php) on blogs that upgraded to WP2.5/2.5.1, either in their own feed readers or (in my case) as the feed FeedBurner reads. They don’t send anything out in many cases.

I found that out the hard way when my last 2 posts did not get sent out to the feed, and some comments made after the upgrade also didn’t make it out. Fortunately for you guys, the fix needed was entirely on my end as I switched FeedBurner to read the more-nebulous …/feed and …/comments/feed URLs (since I have Pretty Permalinks set up), and I have the FeedBurner FeedSmith plugin directing all of you to FeedBurner.

Unfortunately, those blogs I had my feed reader set to go to wp-rss2.php will have to be reset to read either the …/feed or …/?feed=rss2 URL, depending on whether they have Pretty Permalinks set up or not. That’s going to be a major pain in the ass.

Revisions/extensions (10:25 am 4/29/2008) – It is specific to WP 2.5.1. I haven’t seen any real mention of this in the WordPress forums, but as Peter has told me, the upgrade sure feels like going from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

R&E part 2 (10:34 am 5/3/2008) – Bringing up word of a patch from the comments. Thanks Nicolas.

Hi Steve,
There is a fix available at trac.wordpress.com ; that should avoid your users migrating from wp-rss2.php to /feed/

http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6460

Hope it helps,
Nicolas

Envirowhacko update – Cheddar edition

by @ 17:53. Filed under Envirowhackos.

I’ve got two of them for you from today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Item #1 – Older cars to now be exempt from emission testing

Where do I go with this puppy? Before I got my Subaru, I used to cringe every time one of those testers mistook my car for a race car at Road America, so I’m glad that portion of the testing will no longer be done. However, if the goal were to get the most-polluting cars off the road, wouldn’t it behoove the state to test the cars most-likely to be polluting (i.e. the older ones)?

Instead, they’re going halfway to a cost-savings by only testing the vehicles with OBD-II diagnostics by plugging in a code reader. Most cars pass this test with flying colors, at least if the operators remembered to tighten the gas cap all the way for 3 months prior to testing. Moreover, they’re going to start “testing” new heavy-duty and diesel vehicles, and spend boku bucks installing self-service “testing”. Why not just jettison the entire regimen?

Item #2 – Focus of water quality to shift from Milwaukee to farms

I guess the envirowhackos think that almost-somewhat-not-quite-deep-enough tunnel is deep enough now. Either that, or they don’t think they can get us in the burbs to pay for separating Milwaukee’s and Shorewood’s sewers.

Question; if we’re supposed to burn our food, and we’re going to need every available cropland acre just for that, just how is that compatible with the coming assault on farmers?

Upgrading to WP 2.5.1

by @ 15:32. Filed under The Blog.

I still don’t much like the posting interface, but the biggest bugs of 2.5 have been ironed out, and Shoebox says he’s ready to go. Hopefully I don’t crash the place.

Revisions/extensions (4:11 pm 4/28/2008) – It worked.

R&E part 2 (4:23 pm 4/28/2008) – The nicest thing about 2.5.x is I don’t have to mess around with downloading and uploading updates to my plugins. WordPress now can handle the uploading of those updated plugins automatically. Of course, I have to remember the customizations I do with them.

Down goes the legal impediment to voter ID requirements

by @ 14:24. Filed under Elections, Politics - National.

(Now, who do I give this H/T to; I could go with Brian Fraley or Matt Lewis, but Katie Favazza and Sister Toldjah have them easily beat in the looks department, I haven’t linked to them in a while, and ST has the link to the decision from SCOTUSblog)

The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter-ID requirement 6-3. In a bit of an oddity, Mark Sherman, the AP reporter who wrote that piece, pointedly noted that the author of the opinion of the Court, Justice John Paul Stevens, was a dissenter in Bush v Gore in 2000.

A quick, non-lawyer review of Justice Stevens’ opinion of the court and Justice Scalia’s concurrence reveals the idiocy of opposing photo ID from both the liberal and conservative perspective. While I prefer Scalia’s reasoning, Stevens’ broad repudiation of the arguments against a photo ID requirement, specifically including the “partisan”, “undue burden” on the poor, and “undue burden” on the elderly arguments, ought to have Wisconsin’s Democratic Party reconsidering their staunch opposition to a voter ID requirement. Then again, I’m not hopeful that the ‘Rats will give up their permanent advantage of vote fraud made easier by the lack of a voter ID requirement.

Revisions/extensions (11:38 am 4/29/2008) – I would be remiss if I didn’t point you in the direction of a lawyer’s take, specifically Rick Esenberg’s take. He notes that, because it is Justice Stevens’ opinion that is the controlling one instead of Justice Scalia’s, the door is open ever-so-slightly for future challenges to voter ID requirements.

One Senate seat the Dems won’t get

by @ 12:17. Filed under Politics - National.

Democrats were hopeful that the Senate seat of Norm Coleman from Minnesota, would be one that they could get in their attempt to get a 60 vote,  filibuster proof majority.   The Dems felt that by running Al Franken, a candidate with high name recognition and strong liberal politics they could turn the seat in a state that recently elected one of the most liberal members of the Senate Amy Klobuchar.   It’s not going to happen.

Last month SurveyUSA released this survey  showing that Coleman was up by 10% with momentum in his direction.   This poll was taken around the time that it was revealed that Al Franken hadn’t paid workers compensation insurance for his employees in New York.   At the time Franken’s team had numerous and changing reasons for why the payment of the insurance, was an “oversight” (including “he wasn’t home”) but in the end agreed to paying a fine.

Team Franken thought that paying the fine would let them get back to running for Senate but they were wrong.   A new issue was raised alleging that Franken hadn’t filed California state income taxes for a period of years.   Again Team Franken moved into spin mode  alleging that it was another “oversight” and that Franken’s California corporation was to have been terminated as he hadn’t done business in California during that time. Once again Team Franken thought they could get pass the issue by paying the back tax and penalty.

Case closed.

Um…..not quite.
Read the rest of this entry…

McCain Salute

by @ 8:28. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Following up on my post below, here is the new McCain salute.
Help!!

Feel free to copy the HTML for your use:

<img src=http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6139/mccain08ip9.jpg alt=Help!!/>

The Morning Scramble – 4/28/2008

by @ 7:14. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

No offense from the Brew Crew leaves me in Heartbreak Hotel…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qo1eaWF8c[/youtube]

– Mary Katharine Ham brings back the Peeps. PEEPS!!!!
– Lawhawk notes the continuing lawfare going on at Club Gitmo. Since when is having 3 squares a day and world-class health care considered grounds for insanity? Oh, that’s right; we’re talking about the marriage of convenience between the Islamokazis and the Left Lawyers, both of whom want to go back to a time before the Industrial Revolution.
– Uncle Jimbo wants to take the COIN that’s been working in Iraq global.
– The gang at IraqStatusReport.com translated Ayman al-Zawahiri’s latest pronouncements, and to the surprise of nobody that’s actually paying attention, he called Iraq the “most important arena” in the Global War on Terror.
– Jim Hoft is puzzled at Barack Obama’s continued call for an immediate unconditional surrender to the Islamokazis in Iraq.
– He also catches Howard Dean uttering one of George Carlin’s famous seven words while describing the Algore/Pelosi plan to try to stop Operation Chaos. Fight on, HowDea.
– Professor Stephen Banbridge hopes we don’t repeat 80-year-old economic history. Unfortunately, economics and history are no longer taught in public schools.
– Jim Geraghty asks whether Obama is running for President or Supreme Court justice. Bonus question from Jim; what portions of the Constitution beyond the Second Amendment does Obama consider optional? Well, we know both Hillary Clinton and John McCain consider the First optional….
– Dr. Melissa Clouthier explains why Operation Chaos has taken root. Note to self; take John Hawkins’ advice and add her regular blog to the feed reader of bloat.
– Michelle Malkin popped some extra-butter popcorn while the Paul-Nuts “joined” with the McCainiacs to make a mockery of the Nevada GOP convention. If only I had a horse in that fight,….
– Doubleplusundead notes McCain is playing with fire in the South. Once again, the vitriol leveled at his “own side” wasn’t leveled at his “opposition”. Once again, if only we weren’t reduced to having to take a meager pleasure in Operation Chaos,….
– Purple Avenger asks how gubmint will tell the difference between a Pilatus Porter cargo plane and a Cessna Citation. Asian Badger, care to explain how they won’t be able to tell?
– Speaking of AB, he has some advice for Wesley Snipes. S. Weasel, you might want to consult him; he does have experience with earning an income overseas.
– Chris has the Gorebal Warming Buster chart of the week. Yes, the Winter That Won’t Die™ isn’t dead yet up in northwest Wisconsin.
– Kate asks, “Why Twitter?”
– Owen answers, “It can help you get out of an Egyptian prison.”

“Disneyland” in Baghdad?

by @ 7:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I saw this story last week about a developer who wants to build an amusement park in Baghdad.   The understatement of the article was the opening paragraph:

Llewellyn Werner admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with – insurgent attacks and looting.

Ya think?

Disney’s parks typically make some adjustments so that the attractions reflect some of the local culture and aren’t 100% American. So I got to thinking….what kind of adjustments would be made to “Disneyland – Baghdad?”

  • Mahdis of Sadr City– In the  Baghdad version of Pirates of the Caribbean we would see the Mahdi Army ransacking and running roughshod throughout scenes of Sadr City.   Rather than Johnny Depp making cameo appearances, we would see Muqtada al-Sadr peaking out from barrels and from behind burqas to see if it was safe for him to come out of hiding.
  • The Closet of Presidents – well, they’ve only had one that’s actually been elected.   It seems like it will be quite awhile before they will need an entire hall!
  • Small World – rather than scenes of happy children representing harmony of the countries of the world, this attraction will be dedicated to the countries and factions that the insurgents in Iraq represent.   Rather than hearing the refrain of “It’s a small world after all,” over and over, we would hear a refrain of “Death to all the infidels,” in  those same, nauseating children’s voices.  
  • Buzz Lightyear – As you ride through this attraction you’ll help Buzz save Iraq by eliminating Iranian agents.   The ride will be kid friendly because as we’re assured regularly by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian agents in Iraq are as make believe as the evil agents of Zurg!

These are the attraction descriptions that have slipped out from the tightly guarded planning process.   If you hear of more, make sure to give us a heads up in the comments!

Help!!/

April 27, 2008

And I thought they were serious….NOT

by @ 7:28. Filed under International relations.

On Thursday Hamas offered a six month cease fire to Israel.   Yesterday, Israel rejected that offer saying that the offer did not “appear serious.”

Not serious?   How could they possible come to that conclusion?   Could it have had anything to do with Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based Hamas leader  saying,

“It is (the cease fire)  a tactic in conducting the struggle … It is normal for any resistance … to sometimes escalate, other times retreat a bit. … Hamas is known for that. In there was a cease-fire and then the operations were resumed.”

or maybe it was this reassuring comment that gave the Israeli’s pause:

“We are ready to cooperate seriously from a place of power,” he said. “If Israel does not accept, then we welcome confrontation,” Mashaal said in the interview from Doha, Qatar.

Wow, those Israeli’s are pretty sharp. I’ve never had the pleasure, but I’ve been told that their airport security folks can just look at you and know whether you’re up to no good. They must have needed every one of them to poor over these comments to cipher out Hamas’ real intent.

As a parting shot, the same Hamas leader warned,

“If the blockade is not to be lifted from Gaza, then the Gaza Strip will explode.”

I don’t normally hold populations responsible for their thuggish governments. In most cases they had nothing to do with the thugs being in power. However, as Jimmy Carter pointed out last week,  the Palestinian people, fully aware of who they were and what they stood for, elected Hamas into power.   Until the Palestinian people awaken to the fact  and change  having a ruling party with a goal of exterminating another soverign country, they may get our sympathy but should not get anyone’s assistance.

April 26, 2008

Support McCain

by @ 10:17. Filed under Politics - National.

After my rant yesterday telling McCain to “shut up” about the North Carolina ad, I now feel compelled to atone and offer to you this suggestion for showing your support for John  McCain.   From David Hinz over at RedState:

I propose that each and every Conservative demonstrate his or her support for Senator McCain for President by purchasing a “McCain for President,” bumper sticker, or better still, two. Then we should all affix those bumper stickers upside down — as a clear message to the senator. As a former Navy flier, Sen McCain will understand that message only too well. As explained below, displaying an ensign or the American flag upside down is a message of danger. It means, “…a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

As one of the posters at RedState mentioned, you’ll probably want to use two stickers because if you have just one upside down, people will just think you’re an idiot!

Update:   I forgot to mention that you can buy your stickers at www.JohnMcCain.com.   I bought 4 window variety this morning for $5 each.

April 25, 2008

Just Shut up!

by @ 9:55. Filed under Miscellaneous.

In a well publicized statement, John McCain has repudiated the North Carolina Republican Party over it’s ad that decries the endorsement of the two Democratic Governor candidates of Obama saying that Obama is too far left for North Carolina.   The commercial uses Obama’s link to Jeremiah Wright as evidence of Obama’s far left views.  

As a part of McCain’s statement he said North Carolina’s Republican Party was “out of touch with reality.”

Out of touch with reality?   Did I miss something?

In a poll done within days of the Jeremiah Wright revelations, the Pew Research Center found the following:

When asked whether they were personally offended by Jeremiah Wright’s comments, a majority of Independents (52%) and a significant majority of Republicans (75%) said they were personally offended.   Even Clinton supporters had a majority that were offended (59%).   The only group polled who didn’t have a majority that were personally offended by Wright’s remarks were people who were already decided, Obama supporters.

The person who seems to be “out of touch with reality” is John McCain!

Earth to John…….

The reality is that you are at best, accepted by the  conservative base and not truly supported by it.

The reality is that if the Democrats had a nomination process that made sense, they would have had a nominee in March and you would face double digit deficits in every poll taken.

The reality is the longer we keep the Democrats fighting (yes, while the primary focus is the Governor’s race, the ad surely helps reraise the concern about Obama) the better your chances get.

The reality is that rather than on your opponents, you use your harshest criticisms and comments on those you should be most aligned with.

The reality is I’m getting sick and tired of hearing from you.   In the past few weeks you’ve flip flopped on the mortgage bailout, reiterated your nonsense about going green and joined the populist “CEO = bad people” meme.

If John McCain wants to “stay above the fray” that’s fine.   In fact, I don’t even mind if he asks the North Carolina Republicans not to run the ad.   John McCain crosses the line when he berates  people who should be  his supporters in a way that he claims to be above doing with his Democratic contenders.

The Morning Scramble – 4/25/2008

by @ 8:18. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

If this doesn’t make you at least tap your feet, I can’t help you…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmALL-V74Po[/youtube]

– Jo Egelhoff is running for the 57th Assembly seat being vacated by Steve Weickert. I’m not waiting until either September or November to do this endorsement – Jo Egelhoff for the 57th Assembly District.
– Madison Conservative comes back from an extended blogging break to let us know that Obama’s old friends are planning some shenanigans in the Twin Cities come September.
– Michelle Malkin says that they won’t be alone.
– Justin Higgins gives the business to one of his friends on Justice Antonin Scalia’s answer on abortion.
– JammieWearingFool has the line that will explode liberals’ heads everywhere. After all, it was the Goracle that wanted the 2000 election in the courts.
– Nick Schweitzer extends the “unintended consequences” theme to the true cost of ethanol subsidies.
– Mark Pribonic ties a personal story to the potential corn-a-hole-fueled food crisis (or is it already here?).
– John Adams goes back into history to defend anonymous speech.
– Dave in Texas has this week’s example of the Culture of Badassery; a legally-blind man whups up on a home invader who claimed he was just there for his cat. I normally would send you straight to the version with the comments, but the comments aren’t exactly safe for work because it is AoSHQ after all.
– John Hawkins assesses the state of the GOP. He’s a bit too kind to the Congressional leadership.
– Doubleplusundead plays Name! That! Party!
– Sister Toldjah smacks Howard Dean around like a pinata.
– Slublog uses an instant-classic Slushop to mock Harry Reid’s attempt to prevent Operation Chaos from reaching its conclusoin. I don’t see any reduction in popcorn sales.
– Uncle Jimbo delivers a well-placed TOT barrage on the media over their latest resurrection of Mookie Sadr.
– Jim Lynch did not misunderstand Nancy Pelosi’s claim of misunderstanding.
– CDR Salamander says, “Chavez, start worrying. The snake-driven 4th Fleet is coming back.”
– Michelle Malkin has pretty much my reaction to the NC GOP ad linking a couple of Dem candidates for governor to Obama and Wright. Dare I say she’s on my short list of people to write in for President come November?
– In the wake of a completely-meaningless and, for Mequon residents, annoying protest against “Big Oil” by a local gas station, J. Gravelle takes on Big Air. Breathe, J.

I really should either put down a later time for this to hit the Net when I do some legwork the previous night, or not answer e-mail while I’m putting the finishing touches on this :-)

Consensus?

by @ 7:08. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Al Gore’s consensus appears to be less cohesive these days.

The International Climate Science Coalition has issued a Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change.   The ICSC was the group that was banned from participating in the UN’s Bali climate change conference last December i.e., they’re the good guys.   Amongst other things, the declaration states:

That current plans to restrict anthropogenic CO2 emissions are a dangerous misallocation of intellectual capital and resources that should be dedicated to solving humanity’s real and serious problems.

That there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity has in the past, is now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change.

That attempts by governments to inflict taxes and costly regulations on industry and individual citizens with the aim of reducing emissions of CO2 will pointlessly curtail the prosperity of the West and progress of developing nations without affecting climate.

That adaptation as needed is massively more cost-effective than any attempted mitigation, and that a focus on such mitigation will divert the attention and resources of governments away from addressing the real problems of their peoples.

That human-caused climate change is not a global crisis.

The Manhattan declaration now has at least 500 signers, 150 of which are either climate science specialists or scientists in closely related fields. That compares to the IPCC report that had about 100 similar individuals.

If that’s Al Gore’s definition of “consensus,” Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be worrying about who the Democratic nominee will be.

April 24, 2008

Method to McCain’s No-Negative Messages Madness?

by @ 22:42. Filed under Politics - National.

Jim Geraghty figured out why John McCain is trying to silence anybody and everybody that hits the Democrats hard; he’s running very hard to the mushy middle as Mr. Clean. 16 years ago, that might have worked, because that is precisely how his BFF Russ Feingold overcame a massive money and name recognition disadvantage to first win a 3-way primary battle and then win his Senate seat. However, this isn’t 1992, and frankly, most of the country isn’t Wisconsin. That mushy middle doesn’t really exist; at best it represents 10% of the electorate, and it’s been shrinking every election.

Sean Hackbarth pointed out a potentially-significant flaw in McCain’s plan; he’s not been consistent on the lack of use of the Wright-Obama connection. Actually, let’s drop the “potentially”; it’s certain tha McCain’s former friends in the LeftStreamMedia will use that inconsistency against him to further shrink the mushy middle.

Moreover, every open step toward the mushy middle, especially in the form of a repudiation of the GOP base (or at least what, up until recently, was the base), further weakens him in the eyes of said base. This specific case reinforced my opinion that the current “leadership” of the GOP really wants to be a permanent minority center-left party. I’m all-but-ready to abandon the See-Dub plan and follow doubleplusundead in saying, “Screw McCain.”

Roll bloat – west of the apples edition

by @ 21:44. Filed under The Blog.

I’m all out of the descriptive words right now, but since it’s on the roll, I do want to make sure you know to check out Today’s Concerns by Greg Kowalski. I may not often agree with him, but it always is good to have another local view in the hopper.

Adding Fuel to the Fire

by @ 10:46. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Sorry for the pun…no, I guess I’m not.

I heard on Glenn Beck this morning that gas prices increased $.012/gallon every 30 days while the Republicans had control of congress.   Since Nancy and her gang have had control, gas increases $.076/gallon every 30 days.

HMMMMMMM Does Nancy have ties Exxon that we don’t know about?

Hillary and Barack continue to want to run against Bush in the election.   I suggest John McCain run against Nancy and the Democratic control of Congress.   If McCain had any real conservative balls, this would be the commercial he would be playing non stop between now and the election.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5UYNX_XGQA[/youtube]

Re: Nero Fiddles

by @ 9:00. Filed under Corn-a-hole, Politics - National.

That is a real head-slapper, Shoebox. I originally was going to just do this as a comment, but there’s simply too much to say, partly because Matt Lewis pointed to something in today’s Wall Street Journal that causes me to radically extend the time frame that the Neroes have been fiddling.

Before I get to the fresh material, I do have to comment on the Pelosi (lack of) plan:

– Filing lawsuits against OPEC acting as a Cartel"¦.

It’s not a new idea. I took a whack at it back when Herb Kohl (D-Nobody’s Senator) introduced it as a bill last year, and those words still stand. Do note who voted for it in the Senate; 2/3rds of the Three Nominating Stooges voted for it (McCain wasn’t around).

– Continuing to chase gouging Bogeymen"¦
– Chasing more gouging Bogeymen"¦.

Bogeymen is precisely the right term. I’ve lost count of how many times “Big Oil” has been exonerated in those witch hunts.

Forcing renewable energy into the marketplace…

I’ve taken so many whacks at the bad effects of “renewable” energy mandates, I’ve lost count.

That serves as the launching point into the fresh material. Back in 2000, then-Illinois state Senator Barack Obama pushed through a sales-tax holiday on gasoline sold in Illinois. The WSJ article failed to state why this was an issue back then. In 2000, Chicago and Milwaukee were the only two areas selling a particular formula of reformulated gas. The spring of 2000 saw a convergence of that and three factors that drove gas prices up above $2/gallon when the average price was $1.52/gallon:

– A switchover between the winter and summer blends of that extra-special Algore Memorial RFG, which included, going into 2000, the only widespread use of ethanol.
– The extended shutdown of one of the two refineries that made said RFG.
– A brand-new mandate by California that MBTE be replaced by ethanol.

Ed Morrissey also notes that these factors were never addressed. Hence, we are where we are.

I will say that the gas sales tax holiday indeed worked in reducing gas prices for the summer of 2000. The prices in northeast Illinois were, for a time, significantly lower than that in southeast Wisconsin, and were roughly the national average. Because the Illinois Legislature made it a statewide holiday, prices downstate were close to the lowest in the nation. However, once again, Ed notes that it was and is a temporary fix.

The Morning Scramble/Open Thread Thursday – 4/24/2008

by @ 8:07. Filed under Open Thread Thursday, The Morning Scramble.

It’s Open Thread Thursday, so this thread’s yours after some blues and a couple links:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDfnTstvir8[/youtube]

– Allahpundit and Michelle Malkin offer up diverging predictions on the LeftStreamMedia reaction to one of their own getting pied. Those who know me already know which one I believe.
– Justin Higgins saw LeftStreamMedia bias up close and personal.
– James Wigderson highlights a blog fight between a professional political type and a neophyte. Normally, I wouldn’t note this because I am a neophyte myself, but it’s worth another couple bags of popcorn (besides, I know and trust the pro).
– In a show of bipartisanship, Greg Kowalski and Kevin Fischer whack the new name of the 27th Street Corridor redevelopment that the Oak Creek and Franklin Common Councils approved (in executive sessions at the request of the Zizzo Group) – BOOMGAARD. Question for the audience (especially the Moronbloggers); does that sound more like a tribute to the 3 apple orchards that used to be on 27th (that’s Dutch for “apple”) or an ordnance range? My little contribution to that (beyond the executive session); while it flew through the Franklin Common Council unopposed, it took Hizzoner Dick “Borrow-and-Spend” Bolender to break the tie in Oak Creek.

With that, I’m going to enjoy at least the morning and start praying The Winter That Won’t Die™ stays dead. The “S” word is in the forecast for Sunday night.

Nero Fiddles

by @ 7:19. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Wednesday morning, John Boehner along with other House Republican leaders, sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking her to make good on her 2006 promise  to have a  plan to reduce gas prices.   As Boehner pointed out, and all of us are feeling, gas prices are up over 50% since Pelosi took office.

This afternoon, Pelosi released her plan.   You can see the details here.

As I read it, Nancy thinks the following will reduce gas prices:

  • Filing lawsuits against OPEC acting as a Cartel….
  • Continuing to chase gouging Bogeymen…
  • Forcing renewable energy into the marketplace
  • Chasing more gouging Bogeymen….

Can anyone explain to me where one penny of reduction in gas prices will come from any of these “initiatives?”   If anything, the result of these acts will be to increase government regulation, raise costs on existing gas suppliers and force the use of uneconomical alternative energies.   The result will not be a reduction in gas prices, rather, it will be an overall increase in energy prices.

Nancy is proving to have the leadership traits of Nero.   The difference between Nero and Nancy is that Nero still had something to burn when he got done.

The Understatement of the Day

by @ 7:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

“It required the steadiest of hands.”

The doctor seems pretty cavalier about the whole thing.   However, he makes the mistaken comment that the “pin” was still in the grenade.   I wonder if his bravado would have come down a couple of notches if he knew that this kind of grenade has no pin.

Congratulations to the soldier and the doctor!

RIP Mr. Frick

by @ 7:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Mr. Frick, AKA Werner Groebli died Wednesday at the ripe old age of 92.

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Frick, he was a comedic ice skater and a staple of the Ice Follies for many years.

Mr. Frick’s signature move was the “spread-eagle cantilever.”   You can see it in the following clip, about 1:57

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFemWV8M7y4[/youtube]

Watching the video I’m reminiscent of the great family television entertainment that was available during Mr. Frick’s era, I miss it.

God bless you Mr. Frick, thanks for sharing your talent.

April 23, 2008

Ask Egg, Vol. 3

by @ 17:57. Filed under Ask Egg.

It’s been far too long since I opened up the question lines. Since the brain is sufficiently-fried from the springtime allergies, I guess it’s time to break out the can of whoop-advice (you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you?) and lay the snarkastic smackdown on some candy-asses (you knew it would come sooner or later).

Letter #1 –

Dear Egg,

After successfully destroying my party, I’m starting to look for a second. Any suggestions?

-Southwest Mav

Dear Southwest,

I don’t believe for a second you’re going to listen to this, but since you asked (mostly for money that isn’t leaving my bank account), I’ll answer. I have but three words – conservative, conservative, conservative. You may not salvage your burnt and collapsed bridges with a bunch of conservatives, but if you’re serious about killing earmarks, if you’re serious about securing the tax cuts, you’re going to need conservatives in Congress. Going further left for the VP choice is just a recipe for disaster on so many levels.

You may be tempted to go with the minority block that gets shunned by the far side of the aisle. I’ll shock you and most of my readers with this bit of advice, but as long as it doesn’t violate the three-word credo I outlined, do it. Do remember, however, that we don’t know which block will get shunned.

One more thing; dump Juan.
-Egg

Letter #2 –

Dear Egg,

Despite spending more than $2,200 for every man, woman and child in my city, and despite a budget of over $1.2 billion, I just can’t seem to scrape up enough cash to run my emergency services. I’m thinking about converting a soon-to-expire tax for my own purposes, and radically increasing both the amount and scope. Should I?

– Missing in Milwaukee

Dear Missing,

Allow me to quote Michelle Malkin here: “Suck.It.Up.” You mean to tell me there isn’t even 0.65% fat in that bloated government you run? Give me that budget and a red pen, and I’ll find you millions. I might not make the unions happy, but as you lefties are fond of saying, the needs of the many and all.

Start cutting.
-Egg

Letter #3 –

Dear Egg,

Oh man, I’m in so much trouble. Two months ago, I was the anointed one, able to do no wrong. Since then, I’ve stepped in a punji pit, shoved one foot in my mouth, and the other in my wife’s because her feet aren’t big enough to keep her quiet. The ghosts of my recent past are crashing in around me, and my Jedi mind tricks are starting to fail. It’s gotten so bad, the class enemy of my enemy endorsed my enemy.

-Critical in Chi-town

Dear Critical,

I’ll have to ignore the fact that, before the Maha-Rushie endorsed her, I did. It’s always darkest before the dawn (or is that before it goes pitch-black?). You two are generating record profits for the popcorn concessions, and the only way she’ll get what you want before the middle of summer is if you quit, so keep on keeping on.

Fight on!
-Egg

Letter #4 –

Dear Egg,

Talk about your law of unintended consequences. I’ve managed to finally put my stamp on this team by getting the old man to retire, and I suddenly realized I don’t have a quarterback that will last more than 3 games. I can’t swallow my pride and ask him back. What do I do?

-Super-Genius in Green Bay

Dear Super-Genius,

If you had planned and prepared properly instead of scheming to get rid of the old man, you would have prevented the likelyhood of piss-poor performance. You’re pretty much screwed because the proper planning and preparation would have included getting a top-flight QB draftee last year instead of a broken-down bust of a defensive tackle, and the team did too well this year to get a top-flight draftee. Worse, because you were too slow in the free-agent market, the slim pickings in the free-agent market are down to almost none.

Start praying.
-Egg

The Morning Scramble – 4/23/2008

by @ 9:55. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

There’s just one song to play after the combo Operation Chaos/NRE Spring Hill Campaign picked up an 8.6% win (wish I had a better-quality video, however)…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4vZFGKrNIo[/youtube]

– Before we start in earnest, I have a PSA from Michelle Malkin and S. Weasel – Go, buy a book from Mark Steyn today. The proceeds from the stuff that gets ordered today will be going to defend some good Canadian conservative sites against an attempt to use the power of gubmint to shut them down.
– Mary Katharine Ham relays the spin, the whole spin, and some commentary on the spin.
– PJ-Comix melts down the DUmmies. Well, when doesn’t he, but this one comes after he told them they were delusional.
– Jeff Wagner diagnoses Cheney Derangement Syndrome at West Allis Central High School.
– Tom McMahon explains why “they’re” angry.
– Jim Lynch remembers the first Earth Day. I wonder if that car his school buried is still salvageable. Oh, and he could use your hits; he’s looking to top 100k before his blogiversary May 24.
– Fred Keller wonders if the Academy will want their Oscar back from Algore Goracle after the revelation most of his footage was faked.
– The Goracle was simply following the lead of the Gorebal Warming “scientists”; Dad29 notes they didn’t do a proper peer-review process, rather going to those that would simply rubber-stamp their attempts to crush capitalism.
– Speaking of the Gorebal “Warming” science, Brian notes all four agencies in America that track the world’s temperature recorded the fastest year-over-year temperature drop in recorded history.
– Mondoreb remembers history and says that the selection of Vladimir Lenin’s birthday as Earth Day was no accident.
– Drach makes the case for me to relocate to Oklahoma; law enforcement willing to hold onto illegals until they’re deported.
– Chef Mojo wants to add to his arsenal with that welfare economic stimulus check. Buying American firearms is about the only way that it isn’t simply welfare (though it still is welfare).
– Dad29 returns to the DUmmies to answer why they keep on losing. PJ would award the DUmmie quoted a Kewpie Doll for having a moment of clarity on guns.
– Lance Burri asks, “Is it fair?” No, the tax structure in Wisconsin is anything but fair, especially when the top 0.1% (no, not 1%) in income pay more in state income taxes than the bottom 50%.
– Wyatt Earp has the catch of the day. No, I’m not talking sports, and no, there’s no video, but a postal worker caught a 1-year-old girl who fell out of a second-story window.

Enjoy the rest of hump day.

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