William E Brower Jr.

It seems that Dr. Brower has a bit too much times on his hands. Instead of teaching his class he decided to insinuate that either the Young Republicans or snipers or those who support snipers are Nazi's.

During today's Mechanical Engineering 060 class, Professor Dr. William Brower
began by sharing a joke about the current sniper situation. He then lifted up
his arm and revealed a yellow, Lance Armstrong-style bracelet. He read what he
had written onto the bracelet - Adopt A Nazi - to the class.Two different
students in the class confirm this story.So, in the name of not offending
members of the Marquette community, Marquette confiscates our CR supplies and
table. Then a professor tosses aside all political correctness and basic
standards of human decency to say and show this in a class!?!? AMAZING! Someone should have attended yesterday's speech in the Varsity Theatre by Gandhi's
grandson, who talked about respect for others!

Well I decided I would look into this brilliant engineering mind. It seems he has been highly rewarded for his academic efforts, with grants and awards from the likes of Briggs and Straton, Johnson Controls, and yes, even our own "nazi" government, in the form of NASA. I will surely try and contact these organizations to find out if they condone this type of behavior, and if they currently have dealings with Dr. Brower.

Contact info:

William E. Brower, Jr., Ph.D. & P.E.
Professor
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Marquette University
Haggerty Engineering 229
P.O. Box 1881Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-1881
Phone: (414) 288-5657
Fax: (414) 288-7790
Email: william.brower@marquette.edu

Department Chair:

Kristina M. Ropella, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering
Marquette University
Olin Engineering Center, Room 338B
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee WI 53201-1881
Email: k.ropella@marquette.edu

Marquette University President:


Wild S.J., Rev. Robert A.
(414) 288-7223
President
Office of the PresidentProfessor; Theology
O'Hara Hall 101
robert.wild@marquette.edu

Resuming the Badger kick: Heatley gets sweet deal

I have been following this case with some interest, because usually I think it's absurd what happens when celebrities screw up. In this case, I was a little worried that Dany would get the book thrown at him because he was a celebrity.

The MVP of the 2003 NHL All-Star Game, Heatley was driving his Ferrari
convertible on a curved road in a residential area when it ran into a brick
pillar and iron fence. Authorities said Heatley had consumed some alcohol but
was not intoxicated. Snyder, a passenger, died after several days in a
coma..."As a parent, it's hard to explain how you feel about losing your son. My
pride in Dan was immeasurable," Graham Snyder said. "We will all miss him. So
how do we move on from here? Forgiveness in our hearts has helped us move on. We
forgive because Dany has shown remorse to his family."

I know it seems petty, but damn it, not one mention of Badger hockey.

A few questions from me for anyone paying attention

First, I got Mozilla's firefox a few weeks ago and love the tabbing and the live bookmarks...simply wonderful. However, I can't seem to get Java to work at all.

Second, can anyone help me jigger the template to put another sidebar on the right of the screen?

Third, is this not the winning team?


Fourth, has anyone ever finished Gravity's Rainbow...I mean honestly, I'm attempting it again tonight (my day off yesterday was your average Wisco twenty-something day off, I drank...a lot) but I know I won't get but a few pages and Slothrop will again become dull.

Fifth, Has anyone ever seen The Great Sinner with Gregory Peck? I loved it, saw it one morning about 6 years ago on AMC...I thought it was a fantastic film, but it isn't available on DVD or VHS (according to imdb.com).

THat's it, that's the list. Thanks in advance for any and all response.

Wisconsinites looking to relive the glory from a few hours ago

The game is being replayed right now WMVT. For me, downtown (Timewarner) that means channel 16.

Badgers Win!!! 3-1

Badgers win, 3-1, in a tense and physical match. Wisconsin got outplayed most of the first and third periods, but they dominated the second, scoring 2 in the second and the third in the first few minutes of the final period.

I waited til I got home for this one...

Talking at length about his political plans and the future of his party, Sen.
Russ Feingold said he would consider running for president in 2008 if there is
enough encouragement and interest from Democrats and if he thinks he has a real
shot at winning the nomination... Feingold is in the process of setting up what
is known as a leadership PAC, or political action committee, a common vehicle
for potential national candidates to make campaign donations and fund travel...
"It's the person people can relate to, the person that makes them feel
comfortable, seems to be sincere, maybe has some of the straight-type qualities
of McCain," Feingold said.
"That's the kind of person I want to be our
nominee. Whether or not I would ever fit that bill I think is a very open
question," said the senator, although he said, "I hope that's my strength."

Read that last quote again, because it is the single biggest problem faced by leftists like Feingold. "seems to be sincere" Are you kidding me? Russ doesn't want a candidate who actually believes in what he says, he just wants someone who can lie well to America, say nice things while raising taxes and granting huge federal hand outs. What a ridiculous thing to say.

As to Feingold actually running, I so hope he does. It would be twenty times better than Howard Dean running. Dean actually did some decent things in Vermont, but Russ has done nothing. He is to blame for the ridiculous 527's. The only bill with his name on it was an utter failure, let's nominate him for president! The reason I know it would be a boon for the GOP is because the crazies over at democraticundergound are begging for a Feingold nomination. As long as the dems are making the nut fringe happy, the right will continue to dominate the country's political landscape.

The Great Border Battle!

I can barely sit here at work with all of this excitement. No, I don't really care who wins the Super Bowl, it just reminds me of sitting in the cold and wet when Moss came in and humiliated the Pack at Lambeau, what I care about is the Border War between our beloved Badgers and the hated Gophers. I cannot put this hatred into any real words, it has been ingrained into my skull from the moment I was old enough to understand what was going on. My cousins and I have gotten into countless verbal wars and scuffles with backwoods Gopher fans throughout the years (sitting amongst their student section and calling for the death of Doug Woo was perhaps the fondest memory). This year, despite having a far superior team Bucky got swept in the Cities, so it is time for revenge. I'm not saying anyone should take their skate off and try to cut Briggs, but a little Derksen-esque, skate-over-the-goalies-hand-in-the-crase never hurt anyone..except Dwayne Derksen)

I predict two close games, but with the Badgers coming in riding a six game win streak and the Gophers struggling with some injured defensemen, I am confident of a Badger sweep. The insanity of the sold-out Kohl Center and the outrageous fans (originators of the Sieve chant thank you very much), not to mention the best PP and penalty kill units in the country, the Badgers could easily cruise in both games. I'll be sitting tonight's game out and watching it on FSN, but I will be there tomorrow in all likelihood.

Puck drops at 7 folks, Go Big Red!

Schuster weighs in

The prominent MSNBC newsman David Schuster decides that the Congressmen
who stained their fingers with ink for the State of the Union speech
"diminished the true significance of what happened last weekend in
Iraq." Mr. Schuster feels that since they aren't in Iraq, they
shouldn't be able to attempt a show of solidarity.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

"The fact is, few members of Congress have a son or daughter serving in
the
U.S. military. And few lawmakers have actually ever served
themselves.
Furthermore, in Washington, D.C., even "political courage,"
(never mind the
real stuff) is exceptionally rare. Am I being too
cynical? Probably. (And
I'm sure I'll get a ton of nasty e-mails from
some of you.) But, if members
of Congress want to show "solidarity"
with the Iraqi people... they are
welcome to head to Baghdad, put on a
flak jacket, and help/advise the new
assembly on writing the
constitution."

It seems to me that it is incredibly important that US lawmakers show
they are with the Iraqis. The hard stuff isn't over and while the
Iraqis are facing challenges from insurgents, US lawmakers are facing
challenges from the kook leftist fringe, headed by Ted "the
Chappaquiddick Killer" Kennedy. It is important that we show every
Iraqi we will not listen to the lunatics who want us to shout our troop
withdrawal plans from on high for every terrorist and murdered to hear
and scheme for. If we follow Teddy the lush and tell the world we are
pulling troops out on x day, obviously the terrorist will wait till the
day after x to kill people with no protection. They won't even need to
be suicide bombers; they can massacre people with no repercussion.

While the ink stained fingers may have been part political theater, it
wasn't unnecessary nor did it do anything to diminish what Iraqi's
accomplished on Sunday. Instead it was a fantastic "shout out" on a
global scale, telling the world that we will not abandon the Iraqi's.

Another Garofalo update

Find video and full transcript at the media research center here...

http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2005/cyb20050203.asp#5


Watch some of it, especially when she talks to Ron, she is unhinged even
when talking to fellow leftists...unbelievable.

Garofolo update...

Confederate yankee has an update on her MSNBC appearance that I talked about the other day.
(http://rightingwisconsin.blogspot.com/2005/02/jeanine-garofalo-on-weakest-show-ever.html)

http://confederateyankee.blogspot.com/

"The inked fingers and the position of them, which is gonna be a 'Daily
Show' photo already, of them signaling in this manner [does the Nazi salute], as
if they have solidarity with the Iraqis who braved physical threats against
their lives to vote as if somehow these inked-fingered Republicans have
something to do with that."

Social Security cowards

Obviously Olympia Snowe was going to be against this, and I anticipated the media drumming up as much GOP opposition as they possibly could, but why are congressmen playing into their hands so readily? Obvisouly any little sound bite they give about their concerns or doubts are going to be like gas on a flame to leftists, so why do it?

It is also telling to see how they are talking about reform and personal accounts. It's not, this would be bad for the country, or this is a terrible mistake...no it's "this is "politically speaking...not doable."

Screw politics Mr. Domenici, do what is RIGHT. A personal account would help millions of families around the country build lasting, meaningful, and transferrable wealth. That's what this is about, helping all of American's built a financial foundation.

Republicans Question Social Security Plan

Congressional Republicans are expressing doubt that President Bush (news
- web
sites)'s plan for personal accounts in Social Security (news
- web
sites) can win approval, saying lawmakers fear the political consequences of
voting major change to the popular retirement program...Her Maine colleague,
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting
record), has said outright that she opposes diverting the program's taxes to
pay for personal accounts. Snowe serves on the Senate Finance Committee that
would handle any Social Security legislation, making the task before Republicans
more daunting. ..."Politically speaking, right now it's probably not doable,"
Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting
record), R-N.M., said Thursday, citing lack of Democratic support. (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=3&u=/ap/20050204/ap_on_go_co/social_security)

This is so damn frustrating...

Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore Award

I've sort of been ignoring this story, because I am afraid I may be a little over the top when I say I am glad this guy is in our armed forces. The DUer's have been up in arms about this story for a few days now, and I thought it was pretty damn funny.

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050203/2005-02-03T223637Z_01_N03420928_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-MARINES-GENERAL-DC.html

I know that in today's PC world, he went waaaay too far, but I think it was right on. Basically, some people deserve to die, and he takes pleasure in being the one who gets to do it.

"Actually it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun
to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling," Mattis
said.
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five
years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said during a panel discussion.
"You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a
lot of fun to shoot them."

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Apologies

For my lack of updates yesterday, I had the day off and it was unusually
nice up here in Wisco so I decided to get some errands done and go
bowling. I also picked up a copy of A Case for Democracy, which I will
not begin reading until Sunday and if you don't know why you haven't
been paying attention. Badgers-Gophers, at Madison...it's a beautiful
thing.

Because of the monstrosity of the game, the Urinal had this great
story...

Eighth-ranked Minnesota is four points behind UW after splitting a home
series with Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. Ryan Potulny has a team-high
32 points (20 goals) for the Gophers, who are 6-5 on the road. Minnesota
swept UW by a total of three goals on Nov. 5-6. . . .UW trails
first-place Colorado College by three points. Both games this weekend
are sold out, a first for a series at the Kohl Center since it opened in
1998.
That's it, that's the list. The entire story right there. God do I
hate the Urinal. As disgusted as I am, I'm forced to route you to the
(Anti-)Capital(ist) Times.

http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/uw/hockey/index.php?ntid=27150

Good story on Badger men's hockey in general. The game is on FSN, if
you watch it, you will become a Badger zealot and watch again Saturday,
then you will buy a ticket to a game, then you will buy season tickets.
Don't believe me? Then watch tonight and find out.

Jeanine Garofalo on the weakest show ever

State of the Union, Late Night...What the hell is that? I guaranty that fool Ron Reagan loved the name of the show.

Any way, Jeanine came on about halfway through the show last night, and immediatley begins screaming. I was dumbfounded. I remember seeing her on TV a few years ago ranting and raving about the war (I was not aware that at the time she was auditioning for a job as a talk jock...good move though, the film career is really zooming) and I remember thinking she was just a nutty leftist. Well, since then she has become a "big star" on the struggling Air America Radio. I figured that since she is now paid to talk about politics she would have some intelligent and thoughtful things to say.

Instead she derided republican congressmen who raised their ink-stained fingers (homage to Iraqi voters) alluding their ink-finger salute was akin to the stiff armed Nazi salute. Very classy Jeanine, very classy indeed. Next she went on to scoff at the beautiful emotional display between the Norwoods and the Iraqi woman. After that she ranted and raved about lying, ranted and raved at Pat Buchanan. To top it off, Ron Reagan, her leftist compatriot asked her a question about the lefts plan for social security. She cut him off mid sentence and started shouting about how they do have a plan, and it's to do nothing.

At that point Ron basically tried to talk her down and tell her he was agreeing with her, but she kept shouting and raving until they either cut her off or she ran out of ideas. Cut to commercial.

All in all it was one pathetic performance by someone who is supposed to be a professional commentator. I cant imagine what her show must be. She had no idea about social security, had no real idea about anything. No wonder it's been a few years since I've seen her on TV.

People like Jeanine Garofalo and Howard Dean are going to ensure a long reign at the top for the GOP.


(If anyone knows where to find a transcript of the Garofalo appearance let me know, I am looking).

Hmmmm (lieberman Lincoln applaud privatization)

I thought so, but DeLay just said that Lincoln and Lieberman stood during the personal account portion of the speech...good things are brewing!

All you need to know about the left's response

Withdraw, surrender, LAME...thanks Vodkapundit! (http://vodkapundit.com)

UPDATE: It's time to kill the SOTU response. It's lame. Just lame. And also
it's very lame.
I don't care if it's Gingrich coming on after Clinton, or the
dead guy talking right now. It's just bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. And
also lame.
UPDATE: This guy makes Pelosi seem lifelike, and I don't mean in a
Death Becomes Her Way. Except that maybe I do mean it in that way.
UPDATE:
Did he just say "groundhog?" Did I say "lame" already?

Simply wonderful

First, let me say, I had a fantastic post written and ready to post when poof...and it was gone.

Overall the speech was great, he brought everyone along on the social security reform, and while privatized will be a difficult sale to any democrats, I had a feeling that Republicans are lock step with the president. The rest of what he said (other than immigration reform) I thought was good as well. (I know, I know, short and sweet...I'll read the transcript and get more up tomorrow on the nitty gritty). He made a very compelling case for reforming social security, without pounding on the personal account issue. I thought he handled that very deftly.

I want to make special note of the wonderful moment for all of America, the hug and ovation for the Norwoods. Is there a better symbol of "what it's all about" than a newly freed Iraqi woman embracing the parents of a man who sacrificed his life for her? It was a beautiful moment that will literally be remembered forever. It is an indelible image that touched my heart and sent chills down my spine. I cannot imagine how many men and women were brought to their feet and moved to tears by this display.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Norwood, and thank you to every American family who has made and will make the ultimate sacrifice. (special note: please go to http://www.bobbywarns.com/)

Bravo Mr. President, Bravo.

Insertion test (it's an image pervert)

On Edit: Talk about a quick freakin' learner! Look out Instapundit, here I come

Your humble SotU servant

I will be dilligently watching tonights monstrously important state of the union address, eagerly anticipating some juicy details about social security reform. I understand that some of you will be otherwise engaged or perhaps just not paying as close attention as you should so I will be providing commentary following the speech (perhaps during, alas I don't know how to "live-blog") focused especially on SS. I will also try and caputre the feeling of the "heads" and their analysis which will undoubtedly pale in comparison to mine.

Basically this whole post was an excuse to point my readers (who am i kidding?) to a fun interactive game that can be played along with the monumental speech.

http://www.drinkinggame.us/

You folks get drunk while I pay attention.

If you wanna be a Badger...

Allright, who isn't excited for this weekend? If you don't know, then you just don't know. Badgers-Gophers, hockey. I know it's a bit premature, but browsing USCHO.com I came across this great nugget about the STRUGGLING gophers!

Gophers' First Line Struggling To Pull Team Out Of Slump
if Minnesota's men's hockey team is to permanently pull itself out of its
January slump, both players said they know their scoring droughts need to end
immediately...That's about all Irmen offered for reasons behind the slump,
however. He said concentrating on the struggles makes it harder for him to end
the drought. "We've had a bad couple weeks, but once you worry about
it, that's when it gets longer," he said. "It's frustrating, but you've got to
work with it."... (http://www.uscho.com/news/uwire.php/men/JEMZ020220055695877)

Who doesn't love reading about struggling Gophers.

By the way, Gopher hockey sucks.

Badger Football recruiting verdict = tragically mediocre

Lame. They made zero imporvements today (signing day for those uninformed). Their prize is probably Travis Beckum, Oak Creek homegrown monster (6-5 220) linebacker.

The Urinal has an article, but it doesn't take into account today's signings, but here is what i've been able to gather...Alvarez sat in his palace and did nothing today. Dion Foster (5'8'' 190 4.4 40yd) commited awhile ago, ESPN has him listed as the 22nd tailback in the country. Other than that it looks fairly uneventful, www.rivals.com has UW ranked 6th in the Big Ten and 31st overall (tells how good a year the conference had). Right now it looks like they missed out on McDermott (QB Alvarez liked) and a CB named Derrick Smith.

I think it may be time to ask the recruiting guru (Czar Barry) where the heck he has been the last few years.

Trackback enabled

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

See...I am getting the hang of this blogging stuff, again thanks to Confederate Yankee for the idea.

Fukuyama-esque

In an almost as astonishing statement as "the end of history", Confederate Yankee makes the claim (not totally without merit) that yesterday we "won the war on terror." He makes a complelling argument; basically out fearhas cracked and we are able, for the first time, to really laugh at our enemy.

Amid all the jeers and laughter yesterday surrounding the “capture” of a
children’s action figure, a funny thing happened:We won the War on
Terror...thanks to the stellar fact-checking of the mainstream media and the
apparent desperation of terrorists reduced to threatening toys, the cloud of
terrorism threatening us has been lifted, if but for a time.We laughed at
them.And in that, we can find a special victory. (http://confederateyankee.blogspot.com/)

So far so good (social security proposal)

According to sources, SS reformwon't affect those 55 and above. That is a key point, especially for AZ and FLA lawmakers.

Social Security benefits promised to workers currently 55 and older would
remain unchanged under President Bush's call for voluntary personal accounts for
younger Americans, Republican congressional officials said Wednesday, citing
information provided by the administration.
These officials said they had
been told of the decision during a preview of Bush's State of the Union address,
including his call for far-reaching Social Security legislation. (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050202/D880I3K81.html)

In other news, the Klansman Byrd is back up objecting to and insulting a minority (www.c-span.org). Old habbits huh Mr. Byrd??

Doyle stinks, so does this slogan

'Wisconsin-Life's So Good'

http://www.jsonline.com/news/daywatch.asp#6124

It's weird, weren't the leftists just telling us how terrible life was in Wisconsin for the last four years? I suppose now they will tout the fantastic economic figures and attribute them to all of Doyle's vetoes (er, accomplishments).

Wisconsin - Life's So Good...unless a Republican incumbent is seeking reelection, then the bread lines are full and republicans are eating black kids...stay away! stay away!

Oh, the election is over and Doyle needs a boost? 'Wisconsin-Life's So Good'

Free the generic special ops soldier!!

This is turning into a ridiculous boon for humor, and I am sure it is lifting the spirits of American's everywhere. Talk about running out of ideas.

Here is the diary of our poor captured doll.
http://techcentralstation.com/020205F.html

update: woody and the gang from Toy Story are joining forces with GI Joe to provide some logistical support. RC has his dune buggy tires on and is prepping his engine for resistance to the harsh Iraq elements. (Yes leftist nuts, he has been fitted with armor plating).

The most important speech of the next four years

Assuming that there is no national disaster and that the war in Iraq continues it's present trend toward the positive, the State of the Union address President Bush will be delivering today is the single most importnat speech he will give for the rest of his presidency.

I say that without hesitation because the president has basically mortgaged his political future and his legacy on giving America the opportunity to make social security work for them, instead of working for social security. I am excited and apprehensive when I think about the speech tonight. We know he is going to focus on this issue, and as such this will be the first time all of America will be able to hear his vision. It is vital that he nail it, and that he puts seniors at ease and paints a picture of an ownership society that all intelligent Americans desire.

Here are a few articles to check out:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050202/D880CIA00.html

Brendan Minter offers some advice to the president at www.opinionjournal.com

inside Washington the conventional wisdom is that Mr. Bush needs to embrace
a "bipartisan" solution. The hard reality is that Mr. Bush will have to be
"partisan," because the Democratic Party is not negotiating in good faith. ..By
2030 there will be barely two workers for every retiree drawing a Social
Security check. That's a system that cannot long financially sustain itself. The
way out is to take advantage of what Albert Einstein called the eighth wonder of
the world: compound interest. By creating personal retirement accounts--allowing
Americans to steer a sizable portion of their Social Security taxes into a
401(k)-type account, where individuals can pick which mutual funds to place
their money in--Social Security can start harnessing the power of the economy.
..But until those serious Democrats return, President Bush is left with the
reality that the only way to save Social Security is to pursue a partisan bill,
while continuing to take his message to the people. By stirring up the voters,
the president may get as many as two dozen Democrats to come along in the House
and the half dozen he needs in the Senate. But he'll get that only if the
doesn't cede ground on the fundamental reform--large personal accounts, funded
and controlled by individuals. Partisanship gets a bad wrap, but sometimes it's
essential. (http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bminiter/?id=110006237)

Leftist Action Alert!!

You guys better get someone on the horn to Dan Rather, I am sure he is already out interviewing Duke and Wetsuit to get their reactions to their brothers kidnapping. I hope Dan gets the juicy backstory behind the alliance of Cobra Commander and Zarqawi. I'll bet there is some great stuff there.

Don't worry John Adam, Bazooka and Sgt. Slaughter are forming a team of commandos right now to come get you!

http://www.jquinton.com/archives/002444.html

Say it ain't so...

From The Corner over at NRO
Harry Reid just said, according to Fox, that President Bush can "forget
about privatizing Social Security."

What a crock. I have a feeling Mr. Bush is plenty ready for a fight,
and I think this debate can be framed well in the eyes of the American
people, and some personal accounts will be set up. Mr. Reid can forget
about filibuster after filibuster, or he can forget about have a leftist
party with any real power.

Driver on Favre: "he's pretty much going to hang 'em up"

I am a little shocked, and very much saddened. I hope Driver is talking out of turn, but he seems like a thoughtful and intelligent guy, so who knows...

Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver said in a radio interview this
morning that he believes Packers quarterback Brett Favre will decide to retire
and not play another season in the National Football League.Driver made his
comments on Sirius NFL Radio on "The Opening Drive" show with Dan Reeves and
Chris Moore. Sirius is a satellite pay radio service.Driver, who is in
Jacksonville for a Super Bowl promotion, was asked if Favre will return to play
next season."I don't think so," Driver said. "Everyone has been asking me that
question. He's a real close friend of mine and we've been talking back and
forth, and I think he's pretty much going to hang 'em up. I always told him, if
you're coming back just because of that playoff game, don't show up. But it
you're going to come back to try and win another Super Bowl, we'd love to have
you."

Driver said he thinks Favre has made up his mind and said the Packers'
request to know his intentions before the draft, April 23-24, forced Favre to
decide on retirement. (http://www.jsonline.com/news/daywatch.asp#6097)

An editorial that isn't leftist? "Social security is a SCAM"

I know, it's probably a small specialty paper, but heck it still has an intelligent editorial board.

Social Security is a scam...Unlike the piddling or negative returns of the
payroll tax "investment," privately-owned retirement accounts would show the
remarkable effect of compounding over a lifetime of work, even with conservative
rates of return.
And, unlike Social Security, any money left at death would
be a personal asset to pass on to one's heirs..A system that fosters dependence
on a government check is despicable. Worse, it sets up an expectation among
older Americans that they are entitled to a retirement subsidized by younger
workers. How dare any adult demand a living from another? [I love that
line]...Denying our young people the best opportunity to amass a personal nest
egg and in so doing establish personal financial security is beneath
contempt. But that's what Social Security does. [Fantastic finish]

Short, concise, and to the point. Bravo Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Bravo.

In response to the W2 or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Kiss an Entire Paycheck Goodbye

Alright, I have only had a full time job for half a year (I know, I lived a life of spoils and sloth) and I just received my first meaningful W2 tax form. I cannot believe how this has crystallized the issue for me. The worst part of it is, this really is only half of our costs. The FICA reported tax on the W2 does not show the employer match, which employers rightly factor into the compensation given to any employee. Kerry Kerstetter points this out at the fantastic http://www.socialsecuritychoice.com/ (seriously, check it out, NOW).

My point is that the 6.2% FICA tax that is matched by the employer don't
just come from nowhere. It is money that effectively belongs to and is part of
the cost of employing the workers. The actual total being taken from workers is
12.4% of earned income...The White
House description of the situation does mention the growth in the SS tax
from 2% to more than 12%. This makes the two percent figure that is most often
mentioned as being allowed to be set aside into personally owned accounts a much
smaller percentage of the total than if it were to be compared with just the
6.2% figure.

Considering I used the Heritage SS return calculator to figure what this money was doing for me, consider me incensed that it is losing me .75% every year. Wonderful. By the time I retire this money will be practically worthless under the current system.

Andy Roth basically says the same thing (about the W2 wake-up call) over at http://www.socialsecuritychoice.com/. He lays out the two choices before us:

1) Do you want that money going to the government with no guarantee of ever
getting it back? Are you willing to forego ownership rights on it? Either by
premature death, higher taxes, or lower future benefits, are you okay with the
fact that you might never ever receive that money (or a large portion of it)
back?
2) Do you want that money (or a large portion of it) going into a
personal savings account? One that is YOUR money. You own it. You control the
assets in this account and you control who will receive it upon your
death.

Honestly people, let's wake up and support the president on this one. It is time we take a page from the nutters over at democraticunderground and put some serious pressure on our representatives (especially those up in 06) to get this thing done. In reality, the GOP is probably going to require some intelligent (and safe) democrats since this will be tough for any Senator or Congressman from Florida and maybe even Arizona to back strongly, since the elderly go into cardiac arrest anytime touching social security is suggested.

They almost had it (actually the Times did OK)

The first sentence was good:

Courageous Iraqis turned out to vote yesterday in numbers that may have
exceeded even the most optimistic predictions.

However, only one sentence before the negative:

the impressive national percentages should not obscure the fact that the
country's large Sunni Arab minority remained broadly disenfranchised

By the way, whose fault is it that the Sunni's didn't vote?

Then back to positive! (Who let this stuff slip by?):

But even in some predominantly Sunni areas, turnout was higher than expected.
And in an impressive range of mainly Shiite and Kurdish cities, a long silenced
majority of ordinary Iraqis defied threats of deadly mayhem to cast votes for a
new, and hopefully democratic, political order.

It's mixed with a few barbs amidst the positive for the next paragraph, which ends with this gem:

For now at least, the multiple political failures that marked the run-up to the
voting stand eclipsed by a remarkably successful election day.

Capturing Saddam, freeing Iraq, capturing his sadistic sons, facing down Libya...Terrible political failures. The editorial continues in the same vein, but hell, the almost got it. This was an earth-shattering day for the Middle East, and a turning point the likes of which has never been seen. I heard (on Sykes) that even Al-Jazeera was being optimistic and a little less vehemently anti-American.

NYT editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/opinion/31mon1.html?oref=login (requires registration)

Ted Kennedy's head would explode

The new mayor of Baghdad is proposing to build a statue for President
Bush, proclaiming him "the symbol of freedom." (THE symbol of freedom!)
I love the idea, but it just might cause Michael Moore to actually mimic
his puppet from Team America and suicide bomb the statue.

I hope this happens, just imagine what the left would do!

"We will build a statue for Bush," said Ali Fadel, the former provincial
council chairman. "He is the symbol of freedom."
(http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/39526.htm)

(FYI, super busy today, probably won't get much posted).

Mam, you are too stupid for words

This letter appeared in today's Urinal Sentinel.

Commercials could be eliminated from networks
The Jan. 23 "Parade"
magazine contained the article by Norman Mailer that was interesting and
challenging. ("Our young people are America's future: Why do we make it so hard
for them to learn?"). I agree with Mailer that numerous commercials on
children's TV programs detract from their learning. I disagree that consumers
should pay for TV they want to see. Many people only receive network TV and PBS.
This would not help the poor.
Advertisement

My idea is to have the
very wealthy subsidize network TV, as they do with public broadcasting.
Since
our president proclaims "Christian values," that should remind all Christians
and others of goodwill that the Bible calls for people to aid the poor in many
texts, in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.
Catholic Charities
has researched and found that the combined assets of the world's three richest
people are greater than the combined gross domestic product of the world's 48
least-developed countries. It is quite obvious that rich people could eliminate
commercials on networks - ABC, NBC or CBS - quite easily as they do for PBS.
Problem solved!

Marie J. Davis
Crandon

(http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/jan05/297086.asp)

alright, Marie believes that rich people should pay so that she isn't inconvenienced by commercials on television? If this isn't a joke it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. You know what most inconveniences me, having to cook my own food. I think if I didn't have to cook I would have much more time, and be much healthier thus giving me the opportunity to perhaps help children learn? Marie seems to think that somehow taking commercials off of TV would lead to her kids being more intelligent. I honestly cannot even begin to fathom where this type of mentality comes from it is so utterly stupid. How did this moronic bit of drivel get printed in the paper? I can only think that Ricardo Pimentel and his cohorts at the Urinal thought Marie deserved to be made a fool of for writing this letter in, so they printed it so she could be taunted mercilessly by those who know her.

Marie J. Davis, if I had a weekly award for leftist lunacy, I do believe your bit of socialist schlock would take it in a landslide.