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.

February 18, 2008

Repeating, new polling places in Oak Creek

by @ 22:15. Filed under Politics - Oak Creek.

This is a repeat of last month’s post listing the Oak Creek polling places. They’ll be open from 7 am until 8 pm tomorrow.

Heads up, Oak Creek readers (if I have any, that is). Starting with the February 19 primaries, there are new polling places for those of us in the 1st, 2nd and 6th Aldermanic districts. Also, there is still a temporary relocation of the polling place for those in the 3rd Aldermanic district. You can either go to the city’s website to view, or move your eyes down just a bit…

1st Aldermanic District (Wards 1, 2, 3) – Oak Creek-Franklin School Administration Building, 7630 S. 10th St. (just south of the divided roadway portion between Rawson and Drexel)

2nd Aldermanic District (Wards 4, 5, 6) – Oak Creek West Middle School, 8401 S. 13th St. (between Drexel and Puetz)

3rd Aldermanic District (Wards 7, 8, 9) – Temporarily at the Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (between the library and the National Guard depot). Do note that beginning with the fall primary election on September 9, 2008, this polling place will be back at its regular place at Oak Creek East Middle School, 9330 S. Shepard Ave. (between Puetz and Ryan, though in the new building)

4th Aldermanic District (Wards 10, 11, 12) – Carollton Elementary School, 8965 S. Carollton Dr. (no change)

5th Aldermanic District (Wards 13, 14, 15) – Meadowview Elementary School, 10420 S. McGraw Dr. (no change)

6th Aldermanic District (Wards 16, 17, 18) – Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (just north of the previous polling place at City Hall)

My personal recommendations

Tomorrow is the Wisconsin Presidential and non-partisan spring election primary. As there are no non-partisan primaries in Oak Creek, I have but two recommendations, one of which I can’t vote in but for which I am recommending a friend:

Presidential Primary

Yes, Hell has frozen over and is in the process of being crushed by glaciers. We have nothing left but ‘Rats and those that, but for an issue or two, would be happier as ‘Rats. On the RepubicRAT side, we have the second coming of Jimmy Carter in Mike Huckabee (who, but for God and guns, would fit right in with the ‘Rats), John McCain (who twice in the last 7 years attempted to join the ‘Rats) and Ron Paul (who, but for the size of government, would fit right in with the ‘Rats). On the DhimmiRAT side, we have a pair of unreconstructed lieberals in Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. So, what’s a charter member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy to do?

Easy; do to the ‘Rats what they did to the Pubbies and put forth the weaker candidate in the opposition party. In my humble opinion, that weaker candidate is Hillary Clinton. She has less charisma than Obama and should have the effect of rallying conservatives against her. Moreover, if she does win in November, she should have shorter coattails than Obama, and, depending on the “time of the month”, might be marginally better than Obama (after all, it was Obama and not Clinton that was 2007’s most lieberal Senator). Of course, the majority of the time, the two are indistingishable from Fidel Castro, Iosef Stalin and Karl Marx, but would you rather have 99% of Marx or 100% of him?

Kenosha’s 5th Aldermanic District

I wholeheartedly recommend Kathy Carpenter in Kenosha’s 5th Aldermanic District. I’ll let her make the case:

As far as my reasons for entering the race for alderman, there were several. First, I love Kenosha. I started my life off traveling a lot. My father was in the Navy.

I spent a lifetime looking for a home, a place to settle, a place to lay down roots. I found it in Kenosha. Kenosha is home.

I believe in Kenosha and her people so much, that I want to be part of her future because Kenosha is part of my future. Does that make sense?

Also, the tax issue is huge in Kenosha. I have talked to liberals, conservatives and independents and they all say the same thing- Kenosha’s taxes are too high. We do not get enough bang for our buck. Citizens are frustrated with the way our government has been spending.

Poll-a-palooza

Revisions/extensions (9:35 am 2/19/2008) – ARG has some fresh numbers from a poll taken 2/17-2/18 that put them more-or-less in alignment with the rest of the polls. However, do note the wild swing on the Dem end, and take with the appropriate amount of salt (and donlt let that stop you from participating in the NRE Spring Hill campaign).

(H/T – Charlie)

We’ve got some fresh numbers on the eve of destructio…er, the primaries:

Public Policy Polling:
Democratic – Barack Obama up 53%-40% (the 2/12 poll had him up 50%-39%; note that they used some special sauce as their “standard turnout” model has Obama up 47%-44%, a gain of 1 point from 2/12)
Republican – John McCain up 50%-39% (the 2/12 poll had him up 53%-32%, and the president of the firm openly wonders if Mike Huckabee can pull off the upset)

American Research Group:
Democratic – Obama up 52%-42% (the 2/6-2/7 poll had Hillary Clinton up 50%-41% and the 2/15-2/16 poll had her up 49%-43%)
Republican – McCain up 51%-43% (the 2/6-2/7 poll had McCain with 51%, Mitt Romney 2nd with 29%, and Huckabee behind “undecided”, Ron Paul and “somebody else” at 4%, and the 2/15-2/16 poll had McCain up on Huckabee 47%-44%)

Random thoughts:

– While the polls are showing some tightening between McCain and Huckabee, I will note that just about every pollster got just about every call of a late “surge” wrong, from Thompson’s South Carolina “surge” to Mike Huckabee’s Virginia “surge”.
– The ARG is proving to be one hell of an outlier. RealClearPolitics’ rolling 7-day average had Obama up by 4.3% in 3 polls taken between 2/8 and 2/14.
Note; this has changed 180 degrees to the Public Policy serious sauce.
– Related to that, that’s some serious sauce from Public Policy in their pro-Obama numbers. As I noted, the “standard turnout” model shows a much smaller lead for Obama.

Buyers are Liars (and what that has to do with Republican prospects)

by @ 17:26. Filed under Miscellaneous.

…so said a realtor that we worked with as we finished our tour of penance in Iowa and moved back to Minnesota. His point was that people shopping for a home will tell you all kinds of things that they “have to have” in their new home. However, when it came right down to it, they would be flexible on nearly all “essentials” if they found a house that met their basic needs and their budget. What’s this got to do with the Republicans?

Rasmussen Reports has a pollthat tracks monthly the generic preference for control of Congress. If you look at the box in the upper right you’ll see that the R’s have been pretty much at a double digit disadvantage from the oldest date listed, April ’07. No surprise here, the MSM has been telling us constantly how much more Joe Lunchbucket and Susan Soccermom like the Rats over the Rs. Then, an odd thing happened on the way towards elections. Take a look at the recent few months. All of a sudden the Rs are back to low single digit differences…in fact, I’d guess that they are probably within the error rate of the poll.   Heard any of that from the MSM?

So what happened? It could be a number of things; progress in Iraq, Bill’s racist comments, Nancy and Harry’s not so great adventure. I don’t have the evidence yet but I think it’s the economy stupid. Take a look at when the numbers turned, just in the past couple of months. What’s new since then, nothing really except that most folks have become convinced that the economy needs help.

Polls have been consistently showingthat the Rats are thought to be better at the economy. That never made any sense to me especially in the large margins that the polls showed. A real disconnect for me was after the last Rat debate when they talked to their focus group and asked about tax policy. All but 3 “independents” in the room said they were all for changing the taxes as Hill and BO want to do. Now unless they “clean up real nice,” these folks looked to be a pretty good cross section of America. It is/was inconceivable to me that the majority of them would see a tax increase and be OK with that. I think that as Hill and BO have continued to “out left” each other and Nancy and Harry have had their picture placed in all dictionarys beside the word “inept”, people have started to do some of the simple math of what a Rat president and Rat Congress will mean to their pocketbooks.  

Regardless of who the Rats choose this Presidential election is going to be one of the starkest in terms policies and their impact on the average American.   Some have argued to the contrary but I still think America has an IQ level that is above the world average.   The Republicans need to be clear and concise in showing their ability to manage economic issues.   If they do, it will be a huge plus for November.   If they don’t or muddle it, we may as well start looking for property in Mexico.

Post-Daytona 500 thoughts

by @ 13:46. Filed under Sports.

I suppose the good news is neither Hendrick nor Toyota took the race. Random thoughts:

– Why would Robbie Gordon go from Ford to Dodge? I mean, Dodge is the ugly red-headed stepchild of NASCAR now that Toyota’s in with Gibbs. Wait, I just answered the question.
– Maybe Hendrick Motorsports isn’t so invulnerable after all. Their engines broke before the Duels, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s shift knob broke, then Jeff Gordon’s suspension broke. By the end, the Official Driver of the 2008 Hen¢AR Sprint Cup season had nobody left to help him.
– The Toyotas are pretty damn strong. They’re the only cars that could routinely pull off single-car moves up through the field. Guess having 15 horses at the rear wheels on the Official Team of Hen¢AR and 30 on the field does wonders.
– The leading candidate to be out at Roush Fenway when they drop to 4 teams is now David Ragan. He’s Kyle Busch without the talent, as he ruined Matt Kenseth’s and my day by mistaking the DeWalt Ford for a vacant piece of Daytona real estate long before the last lap.
– While 465 beats 435, 870 beats 465. Busch the older is a team player, while Busch the younger isn’t. Nice job upsetting the applecart, Penske boys; enjoy the Room of Doom next week at California as Brian and company begins Operation: Vengeance.
– When Tony Stewart finally wins a Daytona 500, will he get a receiving line like Dale Earnhardt did?

Yes, I will be live-blogging tomorrow

I took the weekend off (way off) after following the Republicans around southeast Wisconsin Thursday and Friday. I know, I still owe you write-ups, but all the Gorebal Warming the candidates brought with them knocked me flatter than the front end of Matt Kenseth’s car after David Ragan got done mistaking it for a vacant piece of Daytona.

Anyway, I’ll be here tomorrow night no later than 7:45 pm (Central, of course), 15 minutes before the polls close, for some live-blogging. Because I’ll likely be crunching numbers as the majority of the delegates on both sides of the aisle are awarded on a per-district basis, and at this point there is no single source for me to get those numbers, I doubt it will be a drunkblog on my end; that doesn’t preclude you from drinking (in fact, I encourage that).

To send yourself a reminder, either use the truncated box at the top right of the blog or the not-truncated one here:

Freedom isn’t free….even in Berkeley, CA!

by @ 9:19. Filed under Law and order.

You’ve got to love this! It has cost Berkeley, CA nearly $100K to pay for police coverage of the protest at the Marine recruiting office.

So I’m thinking, rather than hold back the earmarks from them, maybe we should just get the Marines to open 10 more offices in Berkeley. With 10 more offices the protesters could bankrupt Berkeley  within a year!

Hillary 4 U N Me

by @ 8:41. Filed under Miscellaneous, Politics - National.

If you haven’t seen the latest song (unofficial but no less serious) for the Hillary campaign you need to stop and take it in.

People of Wisconsin unite! Vote for Hillary! Stand as the Hillary Firewall tomorrow!

February 16, 2008

Charles, Charles, Charles…..

by @ 13:38. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Where to start with an interview like this with Charles Barkley?

First, Charles as Governor of Arizona….Charles would make Jesse Ventura appear to have been a well reasoned, self controlled, Rhodes Scholar.

Charles really likes and respects McCain but is decidedly prochoice and pro gay marriage. Has Charles bothered to check McCain’s position on these topics?

Charles is now a theologian. I’m no Biblical scholar but I can find my way from Genesis to Revelation….I missed the particular verse Charles is referencing. he must be reading that NRL (New Revised Liberal) translation of the Bible. That’s the version that keeps getting quoted as saying “I can do anything I want as long as I and only I, think it’s right!

Charles, go back to pontificating on basketball. I don’t think you’re particularly good at that either but at least you’re not doing any permanent harm to any mush head that  may take  you seriously!

February 15, 2008

The emporer has no clothes!

by @ 19:13. Filed under Miscellaneous.

An excellent article by Charles Krauthammer about the vacuousness (filled with hot air for those in Rio Linda) of Barack Obama. The question I have is whether folks will figure this out before  BOs singing John Mellencamp tunes in the Oval Office (OK, it’s a vague reference.   you’ll have to follow the link).

Campaign-a-palooza day 2

This will be updated later, so do check back.

I missed both John McCain and Barack Obama in Oshkosh; the lesson of the day is to not leave only 1:10 for a trip that takes 1:25 plus a refuelling stop.

I did, however, catch Judge Gableman. It was a small, but nice crowd for something literally put together the last minute by gopfolk. I mostly knew what Gableman was going to say; I’ve run into him several times over the last couple months. However, I will relate a quick tidbit that just might shock the liberals out there. One of the folks there (I forgot to take attendance) asked about a bill floating through Congress (and supported by Obama) that would mandate “equal pay for equal work”. Even though Gableman is unlikely to hear it as it would be a federal matter and he, he did offer a very brief comment on it. The judicial portion of that was that as long as it passed Constitutional muster, he would defer to the legislative branch. He did also go on to say that it is the voters’ job to keep a check on that legislative branch.

Well, I’m off to Serb Hall, the Milwaukee County Lincoln Day dinner, and John McCain. At least I shouldn’t be too late for the social portion of that; it starts at 6 (with the dinner starting at 7) and Serb Hall is about 15 minutes out.

Revisions/extensions (9:57 pm 2/15/2008) – I’ll have the full-out report up tomorrow (likely late), but I’m inching a bit closer toward rolling over come November. One thing I’ll let fly now; if McCain becomes President, expect Tommy Thompson back at HHS.

Of course, for every time I think that I might not write in two people in the general, there’s something like this (from AoS instead of Hot Air because this post doesn’t deserve the trackback) – McCain’s looking to the liberal RepubicRATs for VP choices.

Gableman in Racine today at 4 pm

by @ 9:19. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

The proprietor of One Man’s Opinion, gopfolk, set up a “meet and greet” with Judge Mike Gableman, candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He will be at Java Vino, 424 S. Main St., in Racine at 4 pm.

Guess I won’t be spending as much time at the EAA as I thought. Oh well. It’s not my first trip through the EAA (one of my previous trips included a flight in their replica of the “Spirit of St. Louis”; I picked up a new appreciation of what Charles Lindbergh did in 1927), and it probably won’t be my last.

The Ventilators produce the official song of the NRE Spring Hill campaign

by @ 9:03. Filed under Politics - National.

Remember, we can still sabotage the ‘Rats like they did the Pubbies, so go vote for Hiliar…(dammit, I almost slipped) Hillary Clintoo…(there I go again) Clinton in the primary Tuesday after listening to The Ventilators “Superdelegate (It’s Not Easy)”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYq90WLK8dE[/youtube]

Just remember to shower after participating in the NRE Spring Hill campaign, and do not, repeat, NOT repeat that in November.

Campaign-a-palooza, Day 1

Since I missed Mike Huckabee’s stop in Pewaukee Wednesday night, I decided to take a road trip to Madison to catch him (and Uncle Jimbo, and as it turns out, Christian Schneider). Because of various “technical” difficulties (mainly a major malfunction in the digital voice recorder when I accidentally hit “stop” about 5 minutes into Huckabee’s speech), I won’t have a write-up of that. Fortunately, Chris saved my sorry self, and put up a write-up that is better than anything you’ll read anyplace else (especially here with my name in the byline).

As it turns out, the first male First Lady wannabe was also in Madison yesterday, mainly because his wife realizes Wisconsin is lost except for the cash. Since I had a couple of races to watch, I don’t do B-teamers, and I would have been too tempted to go carve some ice out of Lake Mendota and attempt to present it to S(l)ick Willie, I left watching him to UJ and Chris. This time, it’s a double-header multimedia report, as Chris once again put finger to keyboard, and Uncle Jimbo put video to hard drive.

Today, I’ll probably miss Barack Obama in Milwaukee just over an hour from now as I have too much to catch up on, though I may well road-trip it to Oshkosh for his stop at noon. After that, and some time at the EAA, it’s back to the home county for John McCain and some fish at the Milwaukee County Lincoln Day dinner at Serb Hall. Hopefully, I won’t have things chunk up on me like they did yesterday; I doubt Chris or UJ will be bailing me out.

Revisions/extensions (7:35 am 2/15/2008) – What I have to look forward to tonight, courtesy S. Weasel.

R&E part 2 (10:01 am 2/15/2008) – Scratch the Obama thing; McCain will be doing a town hall meeting at the EAA at 11:30.

February 14, 2008

Breaking: Bonds tested positive for steroids in November 2001 (update – 11/2000, not 11/2001)

by @ 18:50. Filed under Sports.

Revisions/extensions (8:43 am 2/15/2008) – The US Attorney’s office screwed up in its initial filing; it was in November 2000, not November 2001. Reuters notes that they will be making an amended filing today in the linked story.

According to Reuters:

The allegation came in a legal filing in his steroid perjury case that referred to Bonds’ long-time trainer, Greg Anderson.

“At trial, the government’s evidence will show that Bonds received steroids from Anderson in the period before the November 2001 positive drug test, and that evidence raises the inference that Anderson gave Bonds the steroids that caused him to test positive in November 2001,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello wrote.

As I said at TheWisconsinSportsBar, I’m shocked, VERY FUCKING SHOCKED he took steroids the year he broke the (single-season home run) record. Pope Bud I should swing for this.

“Don’t know much about ‘rithmatic”

by @ 14:10. Filed under Politics - National.

I suspect this was the last thing that Mike Huckabee thought would happen; Mitt Romney endorsing John McCain.

I had actually been contemplating the effect of Romney’s endorsement earlier this week. I saw it as the one thing, prior to sometime in late April or maybe May, that could call Huckabee’s bluff about remaining in the race. Huckabee has been continuing to say he was in the race not for himself but to make sure that people had a vote. Even though the math showed that Huckabee had a slim or nothing chance of winning he would reply with a pat answer, “I know the pundits and I know what they say — that the math doesn’t work out,” he said. “Folks, I didn’t major in math, I majored in miracles, and I still believe in those too.”

If this announcement proves true and Huckabee still remains in the race, all the kids on “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” will be able to do the math!   If Huckabee does not bow out, it will show his true colors; he’s in it for his ego and to sell books.

Please, please, pretty please!

by @ 11:47. Filed under Politics - National.

Rumors are out that John McCain will resign his Senate seat to focus on the Presidential campaign.

As I continue to look for the silver lining of a McCain candidacy or Presidency, this may be one! It would be almost impossible for a Rat to take McCain’s seat. Even with Bush’s anemic support in ’04, he carried Arizona 55%/45%. I don’t purport to know all the names on this list but you won’t find a better borders person than JD Hayworth.

Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job!

by @ 11:28. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Thousands of people are still living in trailers that FEMA brought in to house the refugees of Katrina. Having been rumored for quite a while, FEMA now confirms that some of the trailers may have a problem with formaldehyde.

Symptoms of formaldehyde exposure can be as innocuous as watery or itchy eyes or a runny nose. At it’s worse, formaldehyde has been identified as a probable carcinogen.

But don’t worry about the formaldehyde levels! FEMA has an RV expert with the answer, "You can get it to dissipate very easily if you just ventilate it," he said. "People may just need to be shown how to open the windows."

Uh huh, and I guess for the next hurricane we should just show them how to roll up their pants legs?

Note to Cindy: Your 15 minutes of fame are up!

by @ 10:26. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I knew Cindy Sheehan was a one tune jukebox in the US but couldn’t she have learned a new tune for her international tour?

Appearing in Egypt, Sheehan has turned up to support the Muslim Brotherhood. Since we last saw her, Sheehan must have completed her JD as she’s apparently now an expert in international law and purports to deposit some of her new found knowledge on Hosni Mubarek.

I thought Sheehan might have found a new cause until I saw this quote in the article, “As a mother of a son who was killed in the war, I presented a letter to Ms. Suzanne Mubarak to realize how those women and children are suffering.”

You’re kidding me right? I guess this just proves the old adage: When all you have is a hammer, the entire world looks like a nail!

The enthusiasm gap

by @ 8:10. Filed under Politics - National.

I’ve stolen too much of Tom McMahon’s material already, so I’ll simply point you to his two-part look at how the Web is viewing the three-horse race:

Part 1 – Web traffic
Part 2 – CafePress designs

I’ll be concerned when there’s a mine shaft gap.

Roll bloat – non-political version

by @ 7:39. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Because there is more to life than politics and sports, and because Florida has a lot of photogenic wildlife, I’ve made an executive decision to add Cabbage Hammock.

Spring is, after all, coming soon, and I figure we needed a reminder of what it looks like. The Gatorade Duels are today, pitchers and catchers report on Saturday, there’s 46 days to opener in Miller Park South and 50 days to the Home Opener.

The Freefly lives!

by @ 6:57. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Kev is back from his undisclosed, secure location, so Uncle Jimbo and he have delivered a double-header Freefly. In part 1, they take out Code Pink and Hezbollah, among others. In part 2, they deposit a fat hanging screwball from Congress in the cheap seats.

Go, watch and enjoy.

February 13, 2008

Do I hounddog Huckabee or watch the Duels tomorrow?

by @ 17:56. Filed under Politics - National, Sports.

I already missed the Barack Obama rallies yesterday and today (Uncle Jimbo has a video of yesterday’s), and I’m likely going to miss Mike Huckabee’s start tonight (it’s suggested that those that want to be there be there by 6, and the Country Springs is more than 5 minutes out). Most of his campaign appearances will be tomorrow during the Gatorade Duels, but there are a couple of possibilities; an event in Madison at 11 am and one in Green Bay at 7:30 pm. Given it takes just over an hour to get from Madison back to the bunker, and about 1 1/2 hours to get to Green Bay, and the Duels start at 1, I’m in a bit of a quandry. Do I risk missing part of a Duel to catch Huckabee, especially since I did get him at the Defending the American Dream summit in DC? If so, which stop? We are supposed to get a couple of inches of snow in the Milwaukee area mainly after noon (roughly the same for Madison), while Green Bay will have several inches starting late tonight.

On a related note, I have to thank JSOnline for their campaign tracker. While it doesn’t have Bill Clinton’s appearances on behalf of his wife, it does have the rest of the semi-public appearances. Guess the winter speedster is going to get some high-speed miles.

Revisions/extensions (7:10 am 2/14/2008) – I’ll be in Madison; there’s some lunching to do.

If European newspapers can do it, so can I

by @ 13:59. Filed under War on Terror.

(H/T – Sister Toldjah)

CNN reports that, in response to the Danes’ arrest of three Islamokazis wishing to end the life of Kurt Westergaard, the creator of my favorite Mohammed cartoon, newspapers across Europe reprinted it. Since CNN is too much of a coward to do more than describe it, allow me to repost it:

ST also points to another pic from lawhawk, which I will dutifully swipe:

jyllands.jpg

Revisions/extensions (3:08 pm 2/13/2008) – Michelle Malkin notes, as part of her reposting of the Mohammed cartoons, that the “human rights” complaint against Ezra Levant has been dropped.

R&E part 2 (5:00 pm 2/13/2008) – If you are away from work, and the kids are not near the computer, and you don’t mind a little raw animal humor, the Emperor has a very special pic to commemorate the occassion. I did say that the link is NSFW, didn’t I?

Obama…..Speechless?

by @ 10:19. Filed under Miscellaneous.

By now you’ve probably all heard about the flap where a Che Guevara flag was photographed at one of his Texas campaign offices. Yesterday Obama made an official response to the issue.

Amazing! Isn’t this the man about whom Chris Matthews said he got a “Chill run up my leg”  because his speeches were so motivating and moving?  “Inappropriate.” “Wasn’t mine”….that is the best, most verbose, most loquacious response he could come up with? I didn’t know that Obama’s campaign had been impacted by the writers strike.

 I wonder if Obama would have been as nonchalant had a swastika or a confederate flag been hung in the office?   I’ll bet he would have managed a slightly longer string of words in that case!

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