Sunday, February 28, 2010

Hey...Republicans

Wake up. Just because we are Conservative doesn't mean we are your chattel. You may not win with us, but you will certainly lose without us.

You betrayed the Conservative movement. You betrayed the Constitution. You made a contract with America and broke it. You have more to atone for than the Democrats do. We know what they are.

"You Lie." You care so little about the values you claim that you apologize for having them. You allow the other side to bully you. You abandon your friends at the drop of a hat.

We believed in you. We thought you were the party of small government. When we needed you most, you spent like drunken Democrats and left us high and dry. "No New Taxes". We read your lips. Then you made a deal with the devil himself. We elected a Texan who appeared for all the world to be Conservative; I know...he was my governor. Nobody helped him in Washington. you allowed him to make bad decisions like "No Child Left Behind", S-CHIP, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. You allowed him to consort with the political enemy, just as you did, then you let him "swing".

No, I have no use for the GOP. I have no love or allegiance to you. My only allegiance is to the Constitution of the United States of America. So don't send your minions to recruit me or other members of our Patriot movement. And don't spy on us. You claim to be on the same side, but you look down your noses at us.

Those who follow Constitutional principles of small federal government and primacy of the States will have my loyalty. The rest of you won't.

Obamacare....Rope-a-Dope?

The premise was presented to a group of us last night that Obamacare is just a diversion; a rope-a-dope. The intent is to keep us occupied with one thing while moving on many other fronts. It makes some sense. while we are focused on this and other BIG issues (Cap & Trade being one), the leftists are busy moving forward on things like the one-person, one-vote National Popular Vote project. This legislation will gut the Electoral College and does violence to the Founders intent.


There are many other "initiatives" out there to combat; we must fight on all fronts.

All that said, it took nearly 100 years to get to this point. It will take as long to get back to where this country belongs. We will have to start on the local level; school boards, city and county government. And we can never go back to complacence. The Left is the enemy of the Constitution. The Constitution is the foundation of the greatness that has been the United States of America for nearly 250 years.

Up or Down

I will be calling my senators (Both "D"). This is the height of hubris:

In a sober call to arms, Pelosi said lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public. (Emphasis mine) "We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We're here to do the job for the American people."

So, you are not going to do the job the American people want, but what you "just know" they want. Right?

Torches and Pitchforks, y'all.

Oh, Nancy. Gosh You're Cute

Dumb, but cute.

First, she says this:

In a broadcast interview, Pelosi calls tea party voters the "astroturf" movement. She says many of those voters have good intentions but that the Republican Party has hijacked the movement for its gain.

And in the next breath:

The San Francisco Democrat says the tea party coalition shares some common ground with Democrats, such as their dislike of special interests in Washington.

"Special Interests". I'm sure she means her disdain for SEIU? Or maybe ACORN?

Nancy, our disdain is for all of that, but we save most of our disdain for you.

We are closer to the GOP than to the current iteration of Democrats, but we haven't been "hijacked". In fact, i'd be inclined to say we will hold the GOP accountable more severely than Democrats because we know Dems are Leftists and Statists, but Republicans claim to be the party of "small government". Claim being the operative term.

No, Nancy, our allegiance is to The Constitution of the United States of America. Not to any party.

Hang on Nancy...you are in for a rough ride.

Doobs and Boobs

Has anyone met a stoner who wasn't clearly affected by long-term marijuana use? I don't think this comes as a surprise.

Pastor David King

Pastor David King spoke at our TEA Party party last night. He is running for Wisconsin Secretary of State. He needs your support (He already has mine). Talk him up, donate money to his campaign.

I took some video as he spoke last night. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to want to upload. I may try again later.

Anyway, check out Pastor King if you haven't already.

Edit: 0715. It's only a 500mB video. No wonder it won't load.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

This Qualifies As An Improvement?

The (alleged) AGW non-science is in shambles. The (alleged) AGW industry is attempting to pick up the pieces. In light of all this, shouldn't the government be scrapping carbon legislation instead of doing this?

Another horrible idea from a bunch of people who think your money is theirs. I mean, who doesn't think "saving the planet" is a good idea? Just like, "do it for the children" (more like doing it TO the children, but that's for another post). But who is going to get clobbered by this? Let's see....carbon tax on gasoline and emissions caps on utilities.....gosh....who would get hit hardest by this? THINK, DAMMIT....THINK!

The Census and the Constitution

Jerry Day explains (via The Raw Deal):


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Women on Submarines

Possibly the worst idea since .....ever?

Maybe things have changed immensely since my day. Submarines are very close quarters; zero privacy. To make them co-ed is an awful idea. All-woman submarines? Great. Have fun. Co-ed? Not so much.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Central Valley Redux?

The feds turned off the water in California's Central Valley to protect a fish.

Expect it to happen again. Today's Federal Register contains a Notice of Document Availability for the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Recovery Plan.

Here is the troubling part:

Throughout much of its historic range, the decline of the Rio 
Grande silvery minnow is attributed primarily to destruction and
modification of its habitat due to dewatering and diversion of water,
water impoundment, and modification of the river (channelization) (Emphasis mine).
Competition and predation by introduced non-native species, water
quality degradation, and other factors also have contributed to its
decline.

This is very similar to the argument used to turn off the water to the Central Valley. Expect this to end the same way. The Rio Grande Valley is also a very large food producer.

Hold on to your wallet.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

They Continue To Think We Are Stupid

OK, Jeffrey Sachs. You are an economist. Apparently you are well educated and you still can't figure out for yourself that this whole (alleged) AGW thing is a fraud? That's pretty sad. But even more sad is how you characterize those of us who, from the beginning questioned the theory. Yes, Jeffrey: THEORY. Remember: When the Left questions, it's "Patriotic". Not so for us knuckle-dragging Right Wing Zealots.

He got this part right:

...critics who contend that climate scientists have deliberately suppressed evidence — and that the science itself is severely flawed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global group of experts charged with assessing the state of climate science, has been accused of bias.

What else would one call all of this? Evidence has been disposed of, data has been altered, clearly there is corruption in the IPCC, and the science is sloppy at best.

The fact is that the critics — who are few in number but aggressive in their attacks — are deploying tactics that they have honed for more than 25 years. During their long campaign, they have greatly exaggerated scientific disagreements in order to stop action on climate change, with special interests like Exxon Mobil footing the bill.

There is zero truth in this paragraph. Climate skeptics are legion. (If you found this page, you can do the research). Notice he throws in a little "evil" Exxon-Mobil for good measure. Of course, research by industry is, by definition suspect, but shoddy research by organizations with an agenda (IPCC) is not?

Today's campaigners against action on Climate Change are in many cases backed by the same lobbies, individuals, and organisations that sided with the tobacco industry to discredit the science linking smoking and lung cancer. Later, they fought the scientific evidence that sulphur oxides from coal-fired power plants were causing "acid rain." Then, when it was discovered that certain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were causing the depletion of ozone in the atmosphere, the same groups launched a nasty campaign to discredit that science, too.

This is nothing short of slander. Acid rain? Where is it now? There are still oxides of sulfur in many emissions. Surely there must be something somewhere? The story faded to obscurity. The (alleged) Ozone Hole was never shown to be caused by CFC's and that story has faded away. Again, "theory as fact". Name Names, Jeffrey. I dare you.

Sachs also makes claims that the Climategate emails and the fraudulent Himalayan Glacier stories are no big deal. YES THEY ARE. If the UN wants to fundamentally change the way we live, they better have it right. All of it.

Climate change science is a wondrous intellectual activity. Great scientific minds have learned over the course of many decades to "read" the Earth's history, in order to understand how the climate system works.

What this means is that you and I are too stupid to understand.

No we aren't Jeffrey.

Torches and Pitchforks, my friends.

The Electoral College

The movement to eliminate the Electoral college does violence to the Constitution and to "original intent".

Kelda Helen Roys makes her arguments in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But she's dead wrong.

Dr. Kevin Gutzman makes the counter-argument here.

Bottom line: The Electoral college exists because the United States is a "federation" and is set up on Federalist principles that is, the States are Supreme and the Federal Government is answerable to the States. Consequently, it is the States picking the Executive. To do otherwise eliminates the last vestige of States Rights and the Tenth Amendment. It is similar to the reasoning behind each state having two senators.

Either we or our children will look back on these days and say, "they got it wrong"...if they are allowed to speak freely at all. You see, no government in history has amassed power and failed to use it against their citizens.

Read Dr. Gutzman's article. I was fortunate enough to hear him speak a few weeks ago.

We Continue To Be Out Of Our Freaking Minds!

Attorney Dennis McBride writes in MJS today. I will try to dissect this best I can.

The Milwaukee County Transit System, which carries 150,000 people a day, keeps cutting service because it is starved of funds, while Milwaukee forgoes a partnership with Chicago, the Midwest's largest generator of jobs.

McBride has it backwards here. It is starved for funds and keeps cutting service because nobody rides it. If the busses ran even somewhere near full, I think I'd be OK with expanding. But they don't. Add the crime and violence that lives in the transit system and more people will find another way around. Does McBride take the bus and walk several blocks to his destination? Or does he take his BMW/Mercedes/Lexus, etc. to his reserved parking spot? What partnership with Chicago? And how does an RTA fit into that? AMTRAK runs to Chicago....again, less than full. Is he expeccting busses to run there? Or is this a KRM reference?

McBride references Wauwatosa and the numbers of people working there. Again, how many take transit and how many are willing to walk several blocks in the cold/rain/snow after getting off the bus. Of COURSE a bus from a commuter college to the suburbs will be full. In addition to the students, the bus passes through the inner city allowing people there to reach shopping at Mayfair. I guarantee you, these people riding Route 10 are not the well-to-do East Side Lefties who want this to happen.

To ensure a solid economic future, metro Milwaukee needs a Regional Transit Authority to lock in real property tax relief, restore the local bus system and obtain federal funds to build the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line and connect with Chicago's Metra system. Even people who may never ride transit have an interest in the economic development that transit investments would create.

In what way will a subsidized RTA "lock in real property tax relief"? Seems to me that, since the current system is already requiring huge subsidies from the taxpayers, a larger system would require more. Or has McBride not figured that one out. Further, there ARE no "federal funds". It's taxpayer money. Isn't the life already being sucked out of us?

Metro Milwaukee has been losing jobs continuously since 1980 while some other northern tier cities have experienced growth. Cities like Minneapolis, which has left Milwaukee far behind economically, have invested in mass transit and proved its benefits and continue to expand their systems knowing that balanced transportation encourages higher-value taxable development.

Metro Milwaukee is losing jobs because Milwaukee is hostile to business. The tax and regulatory structure in the city and state has made it nearly impossible for small business to make it. It has ZERO to do with mass transit. In fact, I challenge McBride to name one major employer who left Milwaukee citing poor mass transit as a major factor. Cities like Minneapolis were business friendly long before they invested in mass transit.

An RTA is a terrible idea for an area that has no plan for growing the economy, no plan to become business-friendly and no plan for regulatory reform.

Race-Based Mascots

The Beer: The Punk IPA Clone is bottled and put up. At least a couple weeks before it's ready to drink.

The Bicycle: I saw a video of a Levi Leipheimer descent down a winding NoCal backroad. Amazingly fast. In complete control. The man is crazy.

The VRWC: Is this really something the legislature should be doing? Even without the critical issues of the day, the government as final arbiter just doesn't set well with me on this. The Leftists are all in favor, I'm certain, but I have to ask them: If the worm turns and the legislature and Governors mansion become the province of the "extreme" Right, are you ok with them arbitrating this stuff?

I'm not. I suppose it's better than the Feds, but still....

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The TNR Echo Chamber

The Beer: Both IPA's are in the secondary. Another week or two to bottling.

The Bicycle: It must be age catching up with me. I've done something to my left knee. I don't like it.

The VRWC: Our friends at The New Republic and those who comment there are alone, I think, at the bottom of a coffee can. They seem to believe that, by taking more money from consumers, we can move out of this recession and debt problem. They take shots at Americans for Tax Reform and The Wall Street Journal.

But this is the really interesting part:

And that’s the issue: Will the Republican party remain beholden to the forces that Grover Norquist and The Wall Street Journal represent?

Stop with the inference to some kind of conspiracy here. The Republicans have been off the Reagan Conservative Reservation for many years. We The People have finally had enough. Enough of the government taking from the productive to give to the unproductive. Enough of being told that, while we Conservatives give voluntarily until it hurts, we're greedy because we don't want to feed that beast which is the Federal bureaucracy. We are tired of being told to "evolve"; that what we believe is simply outdated and bad. It's not. We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore.

But that there are only ten comments on an article that has been posted for 6 hours tells me not that many people read TNR. Maybe not more than read this blog.

TEA parties and Time Mag

This is about as even-handed as the MSM has been on the topic.

Friday, February 19, 2010

We Just Don't Understand the Message

The thread continues to percolate through the Leftist (and Lamestream) Media. We apparently got stupid between November of 2008 and now. We just don't understand how BAD it would have been had The Chosen One not enacted his policies on the drive to Socialism. The message just needs to be s..l..o..w..e..r..and LOUDER.

TNR has such an opinion. We just don't get it. It's a problem with "proving the negative". If Ed Kilgore is designing the 2010 Strategy for Democrats, they are in REAL trouble.

On a variety of fronts, the Obama administration is suffering from an inability to show Americans the parallel universe in which its past policies were not enacted—and the future that will result if its current proposals bite the dust.

Not in the parallel universe it which I reside. But my planet has a blue sky, too. We see the unbridled spending as little more than pork and Big Government. Neither of which stimulates the private sector. We see huge debt as far as any of us can imagine. Debt my children and grandchildren will have to pay. We see railing against "evil" and "corrupt" Wall Street, followed by a bailout of and crony capitalism with the same. We see violence done to contract law when bondholders are shut out and auto companies are given over to Unions. We see policies that undermine the sovereignty and security of the United States.

Yes, we are just "stupid".

They do not, unfortunately, have such a convenient example that will help them explain the need for climate-change legislation, as conservatives, stupidly but effectively, cite this winter’s heavy snowstorms as disproof for the scientific consensus about global warming trends.

Apparently, Kilgore thinks we are SO stupid that we can't see the corruption and ineptitude of the (alleged) AGW "science".

Or should they focus on current Republican proposals, such as they are, which in many respects make Bush policies look pretty responsible? It’s hard to take both tacks simultaneously, since the extremism of contemporary Republican politics is in no small part motivated by a determination to separate the GOP and the conservative movement from association with that incompetent big spender, Bush, who failed because he “betrayed conservative principles.”

It takes some real "stones" to make the claim that Republicans are extreme, considering the actions of this administration. Although, it can be argued that Kilgore sees current policy as "Centrist", so from that point, one can see how he would view the free-market proposals of guys like Paul Ryan as "extreme". He also fails to recognize that, by some polls, nearly 70% of Americans agree with this "Right-Wing Extremism". Bush did betray conservative principles, as did Republicans in Congress. That's how the Left came to power. Republicans got stupid because their constituents failed to hold them accountable.

We're not stupid, the message isn't too hard for us to understand. We just don't like what we are hearing (and seeing).

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Fuzzy Logic

The girl is awesome and spot-on. Stop over if you haven't read her.

What HE Said About (Alleged) AGW

It's nice to know I was right about this from the git-go (yes, Jill, I was and still am).

The (alleged) AGW alarmists are convulsing and collapsing over this.

I'm thrilled. Now if we can only stop Doyle.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Challenge?

More drivel from PuffHo...I mean HuffPo (is there a difference?).

Here's a major reason why the Republicans are still a viable party: they don't mind getting loud. They're willing to flagrantly lie out loud, while also making a huge production out of insignificant and contradictory nonsense that heretofore was never even considered to be a political trespass -- shamelessly and unapologetically amplifying it all to a level of noise that forces the press and voters alike to pay attention.

Really? This from the party that pays people to disrupt speakers they disagreee with? The party that just lied about whose policies won the war in Iraq? Seriously.

Elsewhere, Rep. Eric Cantor released a statement about the president's invitation to the Republicans to attend a televised health care summit later this month. The statement lead off with the words "government takeover." So right there, when greeted with an outreached hand, Cantor insulted the reform bill by referencing Frank Luntz's completely exaggerated "government takeover" line.

Again...really? The stated objective of The Chosen One is Single-Payer. We have seen so much Leftist incrementalism over the last 50 years, it is reasonable to believe the innocuous-sounding "Health Care Reform Bill" is another.

John Boehner, meanwhile, held a press conference in which he discussed the president's bipartisan outreach. And at one point Boehner used the epithet "Democrat majority." Out loud and on television, Boehner used a pejorative term for the Democratic Party designed to emphasize the "rat" syllable. I'm actually shocked he didn't accidentally refer to the president as "Osama."

Wow...they really believe that? The "Democrat Party" term is used to indicate that there is nothing democratic about it. Toe the line or else. The only "rat" inference is in their small minds. And "epithet"? Dude, "Teabagger" is an epithet, not "democrat"...In fact, you guys have referred to yourselves for decades as "Democrats".

There's more, but I just can't sullie these pages with the amazing BS coming from PuffHo.

Suffice it to say, if they want to get loud and fearless, "bring it".

BPA Jihad

Meg Kissinger continues her Jihad against BPA in the Milwaukee Urinal.

My response:

So....industry-funded research is, by definition..."tainted"? Then why is research funded by groups such as Environmental Working Group (notoriously anti-chemical) not automatically tainted?

I suggest Ms. Kissinger stop her jihad against BPA and look at peer reviewed scientific research. Every anti-BPA reference in this article is by a Leftist, anti-chemical organization.

ScienceFirst's (another commenter) comment at least references the peer-reviewed research I suggest. For Ms. Kissinger to do otherwise undermines her points.

And undermines any integrity the Urinal might have remaining.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

TaxGo

There's no way Congress slows spending. They'll just raise taxes.

The Clinton administration wound up with surpluses because they had a fiscally conservative Congress. Bush ended up with deficits because he didn't. Neither President was particularly helpful in keeping spending down.

Torches and Pitchforks.

Submarine Races?

The Beer: Punk IPA Clone is in the secondary. Waiting for Sweetgrass to finish in the Primary.

The Bicycle: Dang it's cold. I actually got up on the elliptical this morning for 30 minutes. Brutal. But better than going into the season "cold".

The VRWC: This is not new. It's been on The History Channel and the National Geographic Channel. Before that, I read about it in "Proceedings", I believe. Seems to me there was scuttlebutt about this project even when I was in the US Navy Submarine Service.

Every Time I Think They Can't Tell A Bigger Lie

Here come a couple whoppers:

Iraq is President Obama's greatest achievement?

Seriously? This administration inherited the situation in Iraq. It was successful while they opposed every move; they claimed it was a lost cause. The wrong war......

Now they want credit? Maybe it's because of Baghdad Bob Gibbs.


Wow.

Funny how the bad stuff they claim they "inherited", but for the good stuff, they take credit.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Hell, I Miss Dick Nixon

Seems a billboard which has popped up in metro Minneapolis with GWB's "Miss Me Yet?" seems to have been funded by a group of small-business owners, some of whom may have been Obama supporters.

"The ad was purchased by a group of small business owners who wish to remain anonymous," McNamara said. However, McNamara did offer this political bombshell: "Some of the people in the group who paid for this were Obama supporters."

Naturally:

Cindy Erickson, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Chisago County, where the billboard is located, suspects the ad's funders are conservative activists posing as Obama supporters. "I don't have any idea who did it, but my thought was that they're Tea Party people," she said.

Ummm Cindy? Listen carefully here. Some former supporters of The Chosen One are TEA Party members. I know that's a shock. After all, who wouldn't want TCO to take the burden of life from their shoulders? Right? Hope and Change turned into the same old politics, only with a hard Left turn. There are a bunch of folks out there who have moved away from TCO. Of course, as a woman I met Friday night said, "It's just not true." I'm sure you think that way, too.

OK. We can talk in November.

Alleged AGW and Denial

H/T: Dad29

The Beer: Brewdog's Punk IPA Clone has been fermenting since Sunday. Since I'm staying home today (40 miles one-way in a snowstorm to get to work doesn't really sound like a great idea), I'll brew the Sweetgrass IPA clone I didn't brew Sunday.

The Bicycle: Univega is up on the trainer. What's MY problem?

The VRWC: Who are the deniers now?

Do we really need an new federal agency? Hasn't NOAA already been performing "climate research"? Why is duplication the necessary? In addition, what about all these:

All this points to fraud of the highest order; people who should be arrested, convicted and jailed for the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the human race.

But the Obama Administration, instead allows the formation of a new government bureaucracy.

Torches and Pitchforks. Torches and Pitchforks.

Statue of Selig at Miller Park

This is a tough one for me. Without Selig, there's no Milwaukee Brewers. No 1982 World Series. No Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and others. On the other hand, Selig was a cheap owner and has been a lousy commish.

I suggest any plaque placed with the statue point out the good and the bad.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Not So Tough Without Your Car.....

Or your supermajority.

And NOW we're going to be transparent? The GOP would do well to tread carefully here.

Obama told CBS's Katie Couric that he and the leaders of both parties will "go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward."

The Chosen One has no intention of considering alternatives to His plan. This is all about appearances.

"If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements," Obama said, "then procedurally, there's no reason why we can't do it a lot faster than the process took last year."

No, no, no. There is no hurry on this. OTOH, based on what I learned last night, don't bother. It's unconstitutional.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Somebody's Gonna Get Hurt

The Beer: Liberty Ale is bottled. Up next, two IPA Clones. One from Brewdogs via BYO magazine, the other from Grand Teton Brewing. Brewday tomorrow.

The Bicycle: I'm a slug.

The VRWC:

I'm not a fan of whaling. There is no need for any whale "parts". But I'm not Japanese, either. The anti-whaling cultists have been involved in another collision with a whaling vessel in Antarctic waters. That's 2 in the last 30-or-so days. I don't know if the Japanese are hunting whales for scientific purposes or not. Neither do the cultists. Besides. There are legal avenues that can be taken.

Don't be surprised to see someone sink. With loss of life. Is it worth it?

Liberal Commentators and the TEA Party Movement

Is it just me? Or do they all sound like "Baghdad Bob"?




Catch Papantonio at about 1:00:



Same school of journalism, no doubt.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

What, in the name of anything that makes any sense makes people think that the (less than) high speed rail proposed by Gov. Doyle is going to spur some kind of job renaissance in Wisconsin?

Ok, China and Europe have them? So what? I want a clearly stated business plan that shows EXACTLY how a billion of my tax dollars will make any positive impact on the Wisconsin economy at all.

You guys are killin' me here!

We are Joking Here, Right?

A hydroelectric facility at Estabrook?

Has anyone looked into the credentials of Titus Energy? I'm seeing a pretty web page with one person listed as their "Team". A check of his LinkedIn page shows no energy experience at all.

5+ years consulting may be something, but I'm not seeing anything that indicates the company has done any work in hydro.

From a technological standpoint, this one doesn't smell so good. The Milwaukee River is very "flat". A hydroelectric facility relies on falling water. I have't done the "mgh" calculations, but I'm pretty sure it will require a greater elevation head than is available at Estabrook.

Bad idea...really bad.