Brewers Draft: William Inman

I can't find anything on our second pick of the draft, William Inman, other than he is a 6-1 210 lb right handed pitcher from Tunstall HS in Virginia. Also, he was born on February 6, 1987. So, more than likely a young man , a project, who probably has a rocket arm. He wasn't a Baseball America Top 200 prospect, which is strange since I noticed a few top level pitchers went well after the 86 spot, which is where the Crew got Inman.

The Brewers third pick is now.

Brewers Draft: Braun Update

Bottom of the page, there is a video of Braun's reaction to being selected by the Crew. He even calls them a "tremendous organization."

Adam McCalvy already has an article on our first round pick.

With the fifth overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player draft the Brewers selected University of Miami third baseman Ryan Braun. He can hit, he can run and he can play a number of different positions (some scouts project him as a big league outfielder), and he is closer to the Majors than any high-ceiling high schooler the Brewers may have coveted.

Braun, 21, is just the second collegiate player drafted by Zduriencik, but the other -- Southern University second baseman Rickie Weeks -- was a no-brainer at No. 2 overall in 2003. Zduriencik's other picks were all straight high-ceiling, long-term projects out of high school: outfielder Dave Krynzel (2000), right-hander Mike Jones (2001), first baseman Prince Fielder (2002) and right-hander Mark Rogers (2004).

"I can bunt, I can steal bases and I can hit the ball hard and with power,' Braun told MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo last month. "I can help my team win games in a number of ways."

Ankle Biting Pundits on the Benefits of Unions (GM cutting 25000)

The union could have cared less that health care and other costs were skyrocketing - they wanted to continue the free ride and refused to see how this stance could only lead to disaster for everyone. Sound familiar (think Medicare and the RX Drug Bill)?

A very good interpretation of what went wrong in UAW's tactics. Basically, they were greedy idiots.

Your Next Milwaukee Brewer: Ryan Braun

I am a little disappointed. It just seems strange that with the fifth overall pick the Brewers took the third best player at a position. I could see if the was the third pitcher taken, but thid third basemen? Seems strange.

However, he is a hitter. And we will be able to watch him in the College World Series, which was a ton of fun when I was a kid watching Jenkins. He is projected to play third and possibly develop into a corner outfielder. He went to Miami as a SS and played a bit there in college.

Braun's Career Bests
Hits: 4 vs. Bethune-Cookman, 5/30/03
RBIs: 5 vs. Georgia Tech, 3/30/03
Runs Scored: 4 (three times), last vs. Pace, 5/2/03
Home runs: 2 vs. NC State, 6/7/03
Walks: 2 (five times), last vs. Georgia Tech, 3/29/03
Stolen Bases: 2 vs. Georgia Tech, 3/29/03
Strikeouts: 3 (three times), last at Jacksonville, 5/12/03

More:

From ESPN

The Brewers would love a crack at Gordon or Zimmerman, but instead will address their needs at third base with Braun, one of the best college bats available.

From MLB.com

Medium build. Athletic frame. Round shoulders. Body similar to Aaron Boone. Aggressive hitter, hits to all fields. Quick bat. Makes adjustments at plate. Power to all fields. Runs well, long strides. Avg arm strength. Makes plays in field. Solid 5-tool player.

I'll look for more throughout the day.

MLB Draft Results

Listening live via XM. Brewers pick fifth and are reportedly looking for a third basemen. The best two available are Alex Gordon and Ryan Zimmerman, both expected to go top four. Therefore, the first "up in the air" pick is probably going to be the Brewers. The process is different than most, as they fire off picks every 30 seconds. Therefore, once it starts, I'll stop and look into the Brewers pick.

Turns out the delay is because the Yankees aren't in the room yet...pricks.

UPDATE: Diamondback take Justin Upton, SS Great Bridge HS

UPDATE: Royals Alex Gordon 3B, U of Nebraska...DAMN!!

UPDATE: Mariners Jeffrey Clements C SoCal

UPDATE: Nationals Zimmerman Ryan 3B U Virginia

UPDATE: Brewers Ryan Braun 3B U of Miami

The Erstad Train Tolls Through Estrada

Check out this video, they show five or six fantastic angles of Erstad playing old time baseball. To me, this is classic, hard nosed ball that we need to see more of. The fact that Estrada keeps his hockey-style helmet on makes it even more appropriate for Erstad to roll him. By the way, armor clad Estrada dropped the ball and Erstad scored.



By the way, I was at the game last night and have a few thigns to say about that, and today is the MLB draft, so I will have a few things to say about whichever hot corner player they pick. The Crew picks fifth FYI, and two 3B are expected to go in the fourth, so they are looking at possibly taking the third best third basemen with the fifth overall pick. Seems strange to me, but we shall see.

Those Compassionate, Peaceful Leftists

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3793603

Cola Wars

Unknown to me, or anyone else I know of, there is a blossoming industry of Anti-American cola drinks sprouting up in Europe and the Mid-East. This is sort of strange but understandable. Never underestimate the human ability to turn a buck. Beautiful Atrocities has the story.

My favorite has to be Muslim Up, whose slogan is ""It is so by proposing an alternative of purchase so small it is which will prevent these neo-executioners of the new century from buying maybe the munition of excess a ball, a life." Very catchy.

There is also a Turkish cola that features an ad starring Chevy Chase.

Very strange times indeed.

For the Record, even I have been called Hitler

Beautiful Atrocities: IN THE FUTURE, EVERYONE WILL BE HITLER FOR 15 MINUTES

This is a nice, bipartisan list of people who have played the "Hitler Card" in the past few minutes. Good read.

By the way, I do have a lot to say about the Brewer game, I'm just struggling to come to terms with this absurd game. Honestly, has anyone ever seen anything so crazy as the Obermueller wild pitch on an intentional walk that scored a run? Baseball tonight starts in a few minutes and I guaranty, guaranty! that it is part of the opening video montage. Dispicable.

Talk About Living the Dream

1000 Bars

1000 bars in a year...sir, I salute you. If anyone knows of a blog like this in Milwaukee, I would be interested. Not that I'm a drunk or anything, but I am a young man in Milwaukee, bars are sort of my thing.

Bill Fillmath...Poker Genius

Bill Fillmaff's Secret System - You're Playing Poker. He's Playing Poker Right.

In honor of the start of the WSOP 2005 (casino employee tourney was/is today) I am posting a hillarious poker spoof video. It seems like these days if you're surfing the net you're also playing poker, and I talk to plenty a blogger who plays online poker as well so I figured I might as well share this with those who haven't yet seen it. Fantastic fantastic stuff.

While it pains me to say it, the uber-lefties over at Gawker Media have basically taken over much of my day. Lifehacker, Gizmodo, and Kataku are fantastic. Add the new oddjack.com, the gamblers blog, and I am spending a lot of net time on Gawker sites. (Any Fleshbot jokes and you are banned!) It looks like Oddjack will have a pretty good running commentary and poker blog roundup during the WSOP so if you're interested you sould probably check there throughout the week.

Travis Diener, top THREE PG in Draft

I was listening to Homer, still am actually, and he had a gentelman on from a website called tendexhoops.com which rates draft picks and potential pros. Based on the conversation it sounded like Tendex has a pretty good track record. Anyway, they have Travis Diener as a first round draft pick, and better than such names as Rashad McCants , Hasaan Adams, Ray Felton, Channing Frye, Ryan Gomes, Luther Head, and of course Mike Wilkinson.

This leaves us with an interesting dilemma. Should the Bucks take Diener at 36? It would be a PR coup (local boy makes HUGE) and would make for the interesting situation of the Bucks taking two white guys. That combo makes the draft much more intriguing to me.

I will say that this gentlemen and his system, Tendex, has convinced me that Bogut is the way to go. I have changed my mind, Bogut is the way to go. This system has been right far too often for me to ignore.

#1 - Bogut
#36 - Julius Hoge (if available this guy is a gamer, single handedly beat my UConn Huskies this year) or of course Travis "Spike" Diener.

That would be a nice draft cause face it, TJ Ford is a cripple.

So uh, I am Gene Sehrt

AP Wire | 05/30/2005 | Man owed $617,000 refuses to identify himself and claim money

"If you want my cooperation," the man in the courthouse warned the reporter asking about Sehrt, "you will not try to ascertain my travels, my location or my contact information."

Meanwhile, the $617,000 sits in the bank and gathers interest.

2005 National Spelling Bee Champion...Anurag Kashyap!!!

Hooray Anurag. He won by deftly spelling the word "hodiernal" a word I just had to double check three times to make sure I spelled it right. To clinch the victory he spelled "appoggiatura" in the 19th round.

Congrats, I am sure you're be wildly successful on the pro spelling circuit. I knew I shouldn't have picked Nidharshan S. Anandasivam. Damn.


EDIT: "double check three times." Heh, I'm an idiot.

Store Wars...

Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion

Personally I don't care if my food is organic or supermarket andi t's not something I worry about, but this is pretty funny. A take off on Star Wars about the virtues of organic food.

Greatest Athlete Ever...Kobayashi?

THE MIRACLE THAT IS KOBAYASHI.

A crazy, (tongue-in-cheek?) article on the "greatest competitive eater in the world, ever."

I saw Gutbusters and Gutbuster in Alaska the other day (late night TV is king) on the Discovery Times channel and these guys really are this nuts.

Officially Jumping on the Raul Chavez Bandwagon!

The Astros have designated Raul Chavez for assignment. A catcher, in the NL Central no less, will probably be available for the Brewers to pick up in the next week or so. PLEASE POUNCE! He knows the league and is hitting .200, a whopping 100% increase from Moeller. He also has the potential for power (stress potential). This guy isn't a long term solution by any means, but he can fill the backup catcher chasm that the Crew currently is facing. If Miller goes down for a significant amount of time, the Brewers are stuck with two pitchers in the line-up every day. At least this guy is a change, which is really all we need.

What a Petty Ass

I can't honestly believe that Doyle vetoed the Reagan renaming bill. I was dumbfounded when I heard that last night, and thought for sure the reporter got it wrong and just assumed Doyle vetoed any bill that came across his desk. I figured surely there was no political gain to vetoing such a bill.

Turns out I was wrong and Doyle really is that big a prick. I am incredibly angry right now basically because there is zero reason to do this. The highway is the Reagan Highway in Illinois and this would just rename the part that comes into Wisconsin to match. The reasoning given was that Reagan didn't have enough connection to Wisconsin. Hmmm, set aside that Wisconsin is part of the United States (well, maybe Madison isn't) and Reagan was the PRESIDENT for eight years. The past day I have driven on Ceasar E Chavez drive, Martin Luther King Drive. I can't even imagine all the Chairman Mao Circles and Lenin Lanes that must abound in Madison. Does this mean that Dolye would back a McCarthy Mile before a Kennedy Ave? If, heaven forbid, Doyle were still in office when Mr. Clinton passes, will he veto any bill renaming anything for him? Will that leftist rag the Urinal Sentinel put a lid on the "Governor Walker vetoes Clinton renaming bill" story?

This is angering in that it was done out of pure spite and arrogance.

So Crazy It Just May Have Worked (Napalm Bat Bombs)

THIS is what the history channel should be showing (although the torture thing and the Third Crusade shows the other night were sweet!). WWII plans for bomb casings filled with bats carrying napalm...

At the appropriate altitude, the bomb would open and over one thousand bats, each carrying a tiny time-delay napalm incendiary device, would flutter away and roost in various nooks and crannies, many of them in extremely flammable wooden Japanese buildings.

Here is the whole story

(via Defense Tech)

More Deep Throat Coverage?

Bill Clinton will be on Larry King tonight...

baaazing!

Chirac's Baby Down and Out?

I say party time in ol Amsterdam! Red light hookers cheap as they have been in years!

Peter Gammons - Something Brewing

If you missed this over the weekend, Peter Gammons jumps on the Brewcrew band wagon. (He really amps up the rotation and the farm system). I liked this nugget:

However, the feeling within the organization is that Fielder (.248) may need another year of Triple-A, which blocks any attempt Boston, Houston or anyone else might have of getting Lyle Overbay. "I don't believe in most cases you can get as much for a positional player during the season as you can in the offseason," says Melvin. "That's why we did the Sexson deal the way we did. Now, with pitching, especially frontline pitching, it's different. Sometimes there are so many contending clubs looking for pitching that they can make an advantageous deal."

07-08 the Brewers win the division. Mark it down. Next year they win 90 games...better write that in pencil.

Ben Stein on Deep Throat (We both think Felt is a scumbag)

This is probably the best "Deep Throat" commentary I have seen so far. Personally, I think the guy is, basically, a traitor to his country. He must have felt it was pretty important to do, since he didn't do it for fame or fortune it seems, but from here it looks like he was a government official who gave out secrets to journalists. Pretty damn traitorous, regardless of the context.

Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable...He lied so he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a generation of peace. And he succeeded...That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton -- a lying, conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon's kharma.

Stein does go a, um shall we say a tad overboard in his conclusion:

So, this is the great boast of the enemies of Richard Nixon, including Mark Felt: they made the conditions necessary for the Cambodian genocide. If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide.

What the Bucks Should Do

I am trying to get in the shower so that I can start primpin to go out, but with the Brewers holding onto a tenuous lead I am totally unable to leave the living room, much less stop watching the game. While I could listen to it on the radio in the shower, a 1-0 lead is far too much to risk. Hence, I am surfing the laptop.

I was shocked that the Bucks got the first pick, but when I looked at the draft I figured this is about right. Get the top pick in a lame draft...fantastic. My Bucks strike is still official (the UConn shorts I am currently sporting show my loyalties are with Ray) but I still would like to see the team do one or two things right.

Here is the scoop, the Bucks are a ways away from a solid team. They may squeak into the playoffs, but won't threaten. Bogut does not put them over the top, and he is about a 15-20 point, 8-10 rebounds per game guy. Solid, solid production. Marvin Williams could be special. A Garnett type player, a superstar. The Bucks could have a face. Therefore, since the Hawks probably want Bogut anyway, make a real serious show of desire for Bogut and see if you can't get Atlanta to bite, make a trade, and get a little extra to move down a spot and take Marvin Williams.

Boom, you get incentive to take the bigger upside player, the more exciting player, the bigger bang type player. If they can't get anything, still take the guy. The Bucks don't need solid, they need spectacular.

Friday Quick Hit

I would argue that any lame attempt at humor that will get you invesitage by the Secret Service is really not worth it.

Obvious Muslim Priorities

Cutting off civilian heads, burning and hanging contractors from bridges, car bombing weddings; these will get you a stern reprimand from a handful of Muslim clerics.

Allegedly putting a book in a toilet, now that will get you riots and "muslim outrage."

I liked this line

Muslim countries have condemned the reported Koran abuse. Many Muslims and Arabs are already angry at the U.S.-proclaimed war on terrorism, which they believe targets their communities.

So at least they know that they are a bunch of terrorists and terrorist sympathizers.

Spoofin "I'm Lovin It" brilliant!

mofnaldo2

Sorry for the goofiness today, but I get a little frazzled when there is no ball game.

(via A Hamburger Today)

Happy Anniversary Jose Canseco!

Long fly ball by Indians' Carlos Martinez bounces off Jose Canseco's head and goes over fence for a home run May 26 in History

Great line!

A few days after designating "I feel so small right now" Danny Graves the Reds are tearing up baseball, winning three in a row. I believe they call that a winning streak. It seems getting rid of the volatile Graves had nothing to do with it however, as Adam Dunn expalined.

The massage chairs that belonged to outfielders Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn were gone from the Reds' clubhouse, as well as a desk that Jason LaRue had set up, according to the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER.

"Surprise," Dunn said. "The chair is gone. Now, we're going to start winning."

Dunn said the chair didn't deserve what it got.

"It came to play," he said. "It never (griped) or complained."

Seems like it's all fun and games, but he ends with a bit of a shot:

Dunn wasn't happy with the decision, but he kept things light.

"We won last night," he said. "Imagine if we lost, he might have taken my glove."

Dunn bought the chair for about $1,000 last year. He had a tip bucket next to it to finance his investment. The tip bucket was still there.

"I'm surprised he didn't take the money," Dunn said.

Nicely done Adam, way to throw Miley uner the bus. At least Miley will be going out doing things his way.

I am still looking for the absurd Jeff Gordon "Wrigley Stadium" seventh inning stretch recording. MLB in the morning on XM175 has been playing it a ton but I can't find it online. Honestly, it is horrifying.

I'm also trying to get a clip of Mr. Baseball neighing yesterday after El Cabayo (Carlos Lee) home run. It was classic stuff.

Speaking of the Crew, they are back to .500. It's heartening considering the killer loss they took on Sunday to come back and sweep. They have Houston at home and should take at least two, we'll see.

End of May record WILL be: 26-25. Nothing impressive but anything over .500 is a bonus.

Kellen Winsolw...moron.

More "Hate America First" fun over at DU

What I pray for, should Bolton get confirmed, is that he will spark a global rebellion against the United States. Bush already has stroked a rebellion, but it's not a unified effort yet. Bolton could be the trigger.

Really need no commentary. These folks are nutters.

Leftist Forum on "Media Bias"

I am listening right now to Air America radio (currently being sued, for shame...) and they are broadcasting the leftist forum on media bias. Specfically I guess uber-dems like John Conyers are going to grips about Iraq war coverage and the Downing Street Memo coverage.

They have gathered such emminent and unbiased media dignitaries as Al Franken, Wonkette, abd Eric Alterman.

Congressfolks involved include extreme libs like Sheila Jackson-Lee, Jerry Nadler and Socialist Bernie Sanders.

I am looking forward to some fun and funny stuff. You can listen live at air america radio online. Google it then clean up your computer.

UPDATE: Franken opened up the deal, and whined about right wing radio, managed to plug his book and his radio show, and cracked a joke or two. Shockingly, he didn't mention Bill OReilly once.

Update: I guess the guy from AmericaBlog hates sports. I don't know why that matters, but it's the only interesting thing that has been said in the past few minutes. Oh and Eric Alterman isn't sure but he thinks the 2004 election was stolen. Oooh, AmericaBlog guy has written for The Economist and "isn't just a blogger." Way to go chief!

Tim Robbins, out from under the rock

Tim Robbins comes out and makes a post on the Huffington blog. Why? Not to espouse some profound political opinions he learned from his mother...er wife, Susan Sarandon. Nope, he wants to hawk some crap. His absurdly terrible play (so most critics have labeled it) is coming out on DVD next week and he wants to make some coin. That's a little umm, capitalistic there Timmy. Does the hyperbolic chamber that keeps Susan Sarandon "youngish" need some work?

Maybe I Like the Deal

Feingold is pissed. That makes me curious. If he is unhappy, I have to think I am happy about it.

This is not a good deal for the U.S. Senate or for the American people. Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House. Confirming unacceptable judicial nominations is simply a green light for the Bush administration to send more nominees who lack the judicial temperament or record to serve in these lifetime positions. I value the many traditions of the Senate, including the tradition of bipartisanship to forge consensus. I do not, however, value threatening to disregard an important Senate tradition, like occasional unlimited debate, when necessary. I respect all my colleagues very much who thought to end this playground squabble over judges, but I am disappointed in this deal.

When it comes down to it, I don't think it is possible to like/dislike this deal until a Supreme Court judge comes up. Once that happens the demeanor of the leftists will dictate if this was a good deal or a bad deal.

The Moeller Line

Forget the Mendoza Line (.200), Chad Moeller is steadily asserting a new line, the below .100 line. Not only is he the worst hitting player on the Crew (.098 batting average, .157 slugging, and .148 On-base) but TWO pitchers are hitting better than Ms. Moeller (Capuano has a .111 batting average and Obermueller is hitting .222) and a third, Gary Glover (.083) is steadily climbing above the Moeller line.

He can't bunt, can't field (his passed ball on Friday cost the Brewers the game) and can't throw runners out. For a fun little exercise, go here and check out his hitting chart. At Miller Park, Moeller has only gotten the ball out of the infiled 5 times. Are you kidding!?! To top it off, in 17 games playd, Ms. Moeller has 18 strike outs!

Not since Billy Schroeder has a Wisconsin athlete more deserved the nickname "Skirt."

A DU Morning Gem

Honetly, DU is the best place to go to follow C-Span without actually having to watch it, since they give you a blow by blow (with fantastic cataclysmic predictions thrown in...Feingold just sighed, it must be over, the Nazis are marching!!!!!). However, this was just odd:

Goodness gracious... we'd be better off with the Taliban in charge.

No, I did not make that up.

Democratic Underground: Only We Can Call People Nazi's!

A funny thread over at DU complaining about Frist using Hilter refrences in his opening remarks Thursday during the judicial debate currently raging.

Not only are they pissed, they think he should resign, for saying "I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city? It's mine."

Yeah, that's as offensive as some DUer's. absolutely.

Lampley Personally Knows "Big Time" Juicers

Jim Lampley has yet another interesting post on Huffington's "celebirty" blog. Being the headlining celebrity (he does HBO Boxing and stuff) he must feel it necessary to talk big. As such, he sort of puts his foot in his mouth.

Steroids and their imitators have been readily available to top athletes in every major sport for up to thirty years, and they are distributed through a massive pipeline that involves athletes, trainers, doctors, other medical personnel, agents, coaches, bodyguards, sycophants and hangers-on of all descriptions. The number of big-time athletes who have used them regularly is much larger than the public would ever want to know. The number who have used them situationally, just to recover from injury, dramatically expands the pool.

so uh, Jimmy, I think it's time you spill the beans. The first step to ending this abusrdity is to crack down. So lets hear it. The who what when where and why's of the steroid "pipeline" as you call it. You cliam trainers, doctors other medical personnel, agents, COACHES...who are they? You must know. I can't imagine you would just be spouting off to sound important, come on, you do boxing commentary, you're a big shot!

I especially want to know the "big-time athletes" who you know are doping, and who have doped situationally as you call it.

This should be jaw-dropping, headlining, subpoena generating news.

Apologies

I am having some issues with Firefox, somehow I lost all my settings and bookmarks and extensions and what not.

There are more pics and I'll get em up at some point, but first I have to figure this out.

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

President Bush Protest - May 19th

Keepin Tabs on Your Reps

Plogress.com (found via lifehacker) gives a blog of what each and every congressional representative is doing and when. Pretty nice tool for political junkies. It lists what they have their names attached to and is sort of an "effort tracker." Not surprisingly, Herb Kohl is still worthless.

Dr. Seuss Goes To War

This is actually an interesting site I found while using Stumble (a fantastic extension). Basically it catalogs a bunch of cartoons Dr. Seuss has done throughout the years to support the war/America. There are a ton of them, some funny some over the top, but all interesting.



Remind anyone else of leftists?

At Least Higuera didn't get the Win

This is just to say that Jeffrey Hammonds, I hate you as much as Stu Scott and Phil Kessel. You ate up seven roster spots with your outrageous contract and played in barely a full season. May the most recent hit be your last, and may you be sent to the Japanese leagues and swindled like Cecil Fielder.

It's not possible to really be this dumb, it it?

Kathryn Ireland (not the hot model, some designer, Hollywood type moron) thinks there should be a military draft. However, not the random, pick a number any number lottery style draft with loopholes and exemptions. Nope, she wants all Republican kids drafted. She doesn't say if she wants kids who are Republican drafted, or if she wants kids of Republicans drafted, but she knows she hates Republuicans so much, she wants them out of the country, in a war, and presumably dead.

Can anyone tell me, are they going to bring back the draft? I have three sons -- all nearly teenagers -- and am terrified that they will. Why don't they make it that just Republican kids get called up?

I think maybe this isn't such a bad idea. While we're at it, only liberals and their children have to pay taxes for social programs. Only liberals have to dump money into social security, and so on. See, if the leftists get freedom from Republican military sacrifices, then Republicans should get to live off the work of these leftists.

I think a 75-80% total tax on Kathryn's (and the rest of the fabulously rich over at Huffington's blog)income should do just nicely.

Presidential Protest with Class

Those classy hippies and socialists are at it again, this time in preparation for the President's speech tomorrow.

George Bush
in Milwaukee
this Thursday, May 19
Milwaukee Art Museum promoting his
Social Security plan
at a luncheon.
PROTEST

That part is fine. I can respect a good protest. I stopped by the No-To-Gold rally where we had discussion and debate. It seems however that discussion and debate are not what these nutters have in mind.

gather at 12 noon at O'Donnell Park at the far east end of Wisconsin Ave. We will then march with coffins and banners to join the rally at Michigan and Lincoln Memorial Drive.

We will need about 12 volunteers to help us carry coffins

Wow. Coffins, really? Shockingly they don't come right out and say "make you Bush is a Nazi signs" but I can almost guaranty at least one. I'm going to try and head over there during lunch to see if I can't get a few pictures of the moonbats.

Firefox Extension Bleg: Open Thread

I am constantly amazed at the amount of retooling that can be done with Firefox. I have been looking around all day to find various extensions and plugins and new search engines. I think that's part of the fun. However, I wanted to see if there were any really useful add-ons you have found.

Please leave any you like (or dislike) in the comments, thanks!

Rove Behind Newsweek-induced Killings!

Wow, I love this Huffington Post place. I have found out that Jim Lampley is an extremely unbalanced childish and radical liberal and I have learned that despite Andy Richter's brief reign, it is Karl Rove who Rules the Universe!

Norman Mailer feels that Newsweek was set up, just like Dan Rather was.

Who, indeed, was Isikoff's supposedly reliable Pentagon source? One's counter-espionage hackles rise. If you want to discredit a Dan Rather or a Newsweek crew, just feed them false information from a hitherto reliable source.

Not only that, he feels US "agents" could have SET UP THE RIOTS!

As for the riots at the other end, on this occasion, they, too, could have been orchestrated. We do have agents in Pakistan, after all, not to mention Afghanistan.

Richard Bradley agrees, rather heistantly, and throws out the name of Cobra Commander, er...Karl Rove.

The way this Newsweek fiasco has played out is a little too neat, and the White House has jumped on it almost as if they knew it was coming...Would Karl Rove or someone at the Pentagon really plant such a volatile item just to discredit the MSM?

Classy folks Huffington is bringing aboard, classy indeed.

Cheap Gas - Milwaukee

Cheap Gas - Milwaukee

This is absolutely amazing. Using google maps and gasbuddy this website has compiled constantly updated maps showing where each gas station is, and how much they are charging in various US cities. Luckily, Milwaukee is one of them (there are a ton). Just pull down the city from the drop box and presto, current, sortable (within hours in some cases) gas prices!

Relieving the boredom...Tuesday Style (pt. 1?)

Sick new Madden preview (new to me anyway).

Here is more on the recently unvelied PS3.

PS3 v. XBox 360.

Interview with Dave Chapelle, he's not insane, he just hates white people.

An off color interpretation of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as ultimate college metaphor, not for the easily offended.

My brilliant post about those idiots at the Urinal and their incessant desire to raise taxes over at Badger Blog Alliance

This is some kind of crazy counter-culture underground too hip for you deal where people remove wall hangings from hotel rooms and paint their own art underneath. Kinda cool, kinda vandalism. Now instead of checking for hidden cameras in the shower of your next hotel room you can check for art behind that terrible sea painting. By the way, they're called "secret wall tattoos." (thanks Lifehacker)

We don't live in a real tourist laden city, but I think this would be fun to do next time those FIB's invade our beautiful ball park (june 20-24).

pt. 2 later...possibly.

Eat it IE

CNN.com - Group: Internet Explorer share slips below 90 percent - May 13, 2005

Firefox is steadily gaining ground on IE as the little browser that could has more than doubled it's market share since October, from 3 to 6.8%.

Congratulations all you Firfox snobs...keep up the good work!

Firefox PSA

The Notebook - Funnyfox

I found these Firefox commercials via Lifehacker and it seems they are meant to be passed on. They are surprisingly good quality and as for effect, wel I guess they're pretty imaginitive. As Lifehacker says, it's tough to convey the fantastic web browsing experience through a commercial.

Anyway, check em out and pass em on.

Stay hot West Allis!

JS Online: The Morning Mail

What a great letter today from John Beatty in Stallis:

Clearly, the time has come to rename all sports teams at all levels, amateur and professional, the Progressives. Doing this has the dual purpose of eliminating all quibbling about team names and ensuring that no player's self-esteem is harmed by too many fans rooting for the opposition, since they would all be rooting for everyone. Further, it offends no one with fractious images and insensitive mascots.

Let's just settle this issue once and for all so we can get on to more important things that will determine the future of our civilization, such as the Michael Jackson trial.

Not to say I told you so...

April 26: Call Me Miss Cleo!

Scroll to the end of the post, how brilliant am I? I ask you, how brilliant am I? Plus, they did it without my Sheets disclaimer. Fantastic work Crew!

Finally, if Carlos Lee continues this power surge, and Turnbow can hang onto the closer role, AND Sheets doesn't miss more than one more start the Crew will come home looking like a much better ball club, and come May 13th, when they hit the road again WILL have a record above .500.

The End Is Nigh

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster

I saw this maybe a week ago and was sort of hoping it would go away. Alas, now that Vodkapundit has linked to it, I'm sure it will go on for months. A freaking Darth Vader blog.

It is time to close the internet to all newcomers, even though his blog is probably far more entertaining than mine, I guaranty his hard core fans are waaaaay bigger dorks.

I don't want to go on a rant here...

mediabistro: TVNewser

But this is pretty lame. I really like the Dennis Miller show, even though he doesn't get the best guests. I usually watch the replay of it later in the evening when I'm going to bed and I think he's entertaining as hell. Now I am down to zero decent late night talk shows (I was a Kilbourn fan). What a shame, I guess I'll just have to watch the third Sportscenter of the day and get ZERO new information.

Speaking of ranting, is there anything more stupid than this new Trifecta crap? Why not give Baseball Tonight the hour it deserves? There is no need for an outside the lines nightly. There are not enough truely compelling stories to fill 5 nights a week. It's crap, and it is pissing me off. If Fox Sports would get their act together and do some quality sports programming, they could steal a lot of viewership. Plenty of real sports people are getting quite sick of the MTV atmosphere that is starting to invade Sportscenter. In the last week I have seen that freaking IDIOT Stu Scott walking on a treadmill and wearing a ballcap and sweatshirt to close the show. ESPN needs more professionals like Dan Patrick. I'll tell you what, the best people on that show these days are Peter Gammons and Tim Kuprisin. More professionalism and less idiocy, the whole country should adopt that mantra.

I just don't get why people hate the French?

French channel portrays Pope as 'Adolf II' - Newindpress.com

The French version of the Daily Show decided it would be funny to call the new Pope, Pope AdolfII and disgrace the Holy Trinity. About as classy as you can expect from those filthy cowards.

Jim Lampley Is A Left Wing Whacko!

Only three days and already some "celebrities" are outing themselves as top notch nutcases. I've only browsed a few posts but this one made me laugh out loud.

Jim Lampley says Karl Rove stole the election because bookies "understand which information to trust and which indicators to consult in determining where to place a dividing line to influence bets, and they are not in the business of being completely wrong."

Hey Jim, wasn't Giacommo 50-1? Out of curiosity, what were the odds agaisnt the Panthers being in the Super Bowl a few years back? I'm curious if Jim knows the line on the Mircale on Ice?

So bookies had it at 2-1 that Kerry would win, that means Kerry really did win? I don't understand the logic Jimbo. I the Orioles keep playing good ball and make it to the Series, will Jimbo say it was stolen, that Karl rove must be an Oriole fan?

Jim Lampley's final thoughts:

I challenge every other thinker at the Huffington Post: is there any greater imperative than to reverse this crime and reestablish democracy in America? Why the mass silence? Let's go to work with the circumstantial evidence, begin to narrow from the outside in, and find some witnesses who will turn. That's how they cracked Watergate. This is bigger, and I never dreamed I would say that in my baby boomer lifetime.

By other Huffington Pot thinkers is he talking about great political minds like LArry David, Gwenyth Paltrow, Robert Evans and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss? Yeah, a real powerful team you have there Lampley...jackass.

In Case You Haven't Noticed, and Judging by the Attendance You Haven't

Honestly, I have been incredibly preoccupied lately. There is something special about what is going on down at Miller Park and it's a damn shame that everyone seems to be missing it. No, they aren't playing .750 ball and they aren't nipping the heels of the Cardinals, but they are playing very good baseball. This isn't the flukie, home run fueled winning streak of past years. Granted, they still might fall apart this year, but we are finally able to see the pieces fitting into place. I've missed only four home games so far and I feel terrible when I miss one. Why? Well yes I am a die hard Crew fan and have rarely missed many games (former beer vendor, so I went to the first 2 1/2 years solid at Miller Park) but there is something else.

For the first time I can remember it is possible to SEE a winner being formed. Hardy WILL hit. He'll end this year around .250 and a solid #2 hitter, and by next year will find his form as around a career .280 avg. with a .330-370 OB. Later this year we will see some more call-ups as guys start getting moved (don't be shocked if the Crew is minus Lee, Overbay, and Spivey by September)and we may get to see Fielder as an everyday guy for a month if OVerbay gets shipped out. Secondly, Hendrickson, while he is struggling now, will probably get a shot in late summer as will Capellan. I think by the end of thise year we will have a good look at a team that will be in serious contention for NL Central Champs in 06.

It is because of this excitement that I have been spending all my time on baseball blogs and minor league scouting sites and listening to MLB Home Plate on XM radio (honestly the greatest channel in the history of radio). I have spent my nights watching the crew while listening to the Cards, Cubs and Astros on XM. It's become a bit overwhelming and I have really fell off on politics.

Trust me however, as this nuclear option blows up (possibly Thursday) and the Governor race heats up and politics gets a tad jucier as the summer progresses, I will be back to posting in bunches. This isn't to say that I am taking a hiatus or anything, and since the Brewers go on the road my weeknights will be a lot less hectic, just to explain my recent slacking.

Go out and see the Crew!!

Oh yeah, check out House of Flying Daggers, a Zhang Yimou film...saw it this weekend, fantastic!

Pimentel: People of Cleveland, you are offensive racists!

As are you, FSU fans, Washington Redskins fans, and especially you "Fighting Sioux" fans of North Dakota, how dare you symbolize Native Americans as heroic warriors fighting for your community's honor in various competitive endeavors. It is insulting to suggest that Indians could properly carry the banner for your athletic team which fills you with such pride. How dare you!

Or so it would seem with this shot across the bow at reason and common sense opening today's "Oh, my goldness" editorial;

Now is - ahem - a golden opportunity to remember and appreciate that Marquette University did not return to the Warriors nickname. Doing so would have boorishly given offense to a race of people and betrayed the principles on which the Catholic institution stands.

I'm curious, how does the gay/lesbian/transvestite/god-knows-what-else student group setting up shop around campus reinforce those Catholic principles? Just curious?

Since when is the Urinal editorial board the least bit concerned with Catholic ideals. What a freaking crock.

I Don't Care How Stupid it is...We're Doing It!

Showing an incredible stubborn/arrogant/pompous/condescending/asshattedness the big wig jackasses at Marquette have come out swinging against their detractors.

"We're done," an upbeat John Bergstrom, the chairman of the school's Board of Trustees, said in an opinion echoed by Father Robert A. Wild, the university's president. "This is not an optional program. This is going to be a brand that we're going to build."

Excellent. While you build that brand people are laughing, not just at the University but at me for being associated with the University. I got text messages from friends ranging from Arizona to Providence taunting me. While it was mostly lighthearted kidding, this does serious damage to the value of an association with Marquette. A brand is important, and it seems this whole "Gold" fiasco is all about marketing for the Marquette higher ups. I don't remember them talking about the Golden Eagles as a business decision, which this clearly seems to be.

This is absurd. I will be at the No 2 Gold rally today...will you?

Worst...Nickname...Ever

As a 2004 alum, one of those fortunate enough to hear the speech that started this entire fiasco, I can say with all certainty that Marquette has managed to do what was previously thought impossible; they have pissed EVERYONE off.

I have already received about a half dozen golden retriever emails, and I don't want to tell you how many golden shower jokes have rained down on me since I've been in to work (and I've only been here ten minutes). This is a complete disaster.

I went to the ballgame last night (I am worried since today is the first one I'll miss since the streak started) and it was one of the best games I've seen all night. Then, I get to Kelly's Bleachers and the bartender drops this little bomb on me, I thought she was kidding and just trying to rib me a little bit. When I heard it on the trusty ol TV however, I knew it was true. Total lack of judgment. Are there zero people with marketing sense on the MU board? Isn't the Alan Edmonds guy on there, shouldn't he have some sense of marketing? How was this a unanimous decision?

The part that really gets me is nobody is talking about the Crew? Six in a row, a ten game hitting streak for Overbay, back to back fantastic pitching performances, fighting back to a .500 record, and SECOND PLACE! Not a word this morning on the radio.

My recommended mascot:

PSA: May 6th is "No Pants Day"

I have no clue what you'll do with this infromation, just thought you should know.

Sheets Update

This cannot go without quoting.

"It's like that guy said in 'Coming to America,' " Sheets said, citing the 1988 fish-out-of-water comedy starring Eddie Murphy as an African prince who heads to Queens, New York, in search of true love and ends up working in a fast-food joint.

"Today, it's sweeping floors. Tomorrow, it's fries!"

I absolutely love this guy!

Get well soon Ben, the Crew is on a tear!

More: I hate guns but not enough to do anything REAL

JS Online: Council backs bill to let county stiffen gun laws

JS Online: Council backs bill to let county stiffen gun laws

Okay, letm e get this straight: The Mothers Against Gun Violence think this bill will force your average gang banger in Milwaukee to wait for a background check before the guy selling guns out the back of his van will finish the transaction? Do these people have literally zero idea of the real world? Do they have no foundation in reality? I can sort of see how people could scare themselves into not being rational about conceal & carry (they won't use the gun if they don't have a permit...what?!?) but how can anyone honestly believe this bill is somehow worthwhile?

Davis said aldermen who do not represent central-city districts might have a hard time understanding the toll violence has taken in some parts of the city.

"When I have to attend funerals of kids," he said, before switching his approach. "Have you ever been jacked before? Have you ever had a person stick a gun in your face?"

And how will this stop that? I guaranty most of these aldermen were up in arms when Sheriff Clarke wanted to search automobiles for firearms. His gun initiative would have actually accomplished something, this will do literally nothing and just allows these incompetent boobs to say "heck, we tried!"


Side note: Ebay for guns...www.gunbroker.com

The George W. Bush Conspiracy Generator

I ran across this a few minutes ago and now I know how Air America's Randi Rhodes gets most of her ideas.

Luckily, the DUer's don't care how leftists mouth pieces make up their stories, as long as they involve the vast Bush Conspiracy...Bechtel Bechtel Halliburton Cheney Oil OIL!!!

What a Weekend!

If you're a Brewer fan, and why the heck wouldn't you be, then this weekend was fantastic! I made it to all three games (I've only missed the two weekday day games) and they were each exciting in their own right.

I was incredibly impressed with the baseball IQ of those in attendance on Sunday. The cheers and boos were exactly when they should have been, and seemed to have some impact on manager Ned Yost's decision making process. Overbay gets his fifth hit and the fans explode, standing ovation, forcing a curtain call. It was really an electric moment. I actually got chills watching the fan reaction and imagining what the place will look like (hopefully next year) when the crew is playing for a division title and Miller Park is packed. I am convinced that Milwaukee is a wonderful baseball town and is just itching for a winner. It really appears that given something to cheer about, Milwaukee could sell out more often than not.

The second indicator of high fan IQ was in the ninth, with two outs and Davis beginning to labor. Yost had Adams and Santana (the new call-up) warmed up since the top of the eigth and after a walk Yost got up and started walking to the mound. The fans let him have it. Boos rained down from all in attendance, literally everyone knew how great a complete game would be, and allowing Davis to finish it out made sense. He was at about 120 pitches, not a ton for the durable lefty and the score was wildly out of hand. The meat of the order was past so letting Davis pitch to one or two more hitters had little downside. After a brief discussion during which the booing continued, Yost relented and allowed Davis to stick it out. He was rewarded with a ground out and a Doug Davis celebratory fist pump.

The whole afternoon was incredible. Everything went perfect, two guys with 5 hits, a few home runs, a JJ Hardy RBI and a Doug Davis complete game. Watching the team play confident and with a bit of a swagger was new and exciting and I hope it means good things to come when those hated Cubs bring their rude crude fan base up from the depths of that hole known as Chicago. I generally enjoy Chicago, but it seems the dregs of the city make their way up to Milwaukee. I can't wait to hear their whining and moaning about the increased ticket prices and the backed up traffic and the lack of Bud. Idiots one and all...

I-Jacked, who says lefties can't come up with a gem?

The Shift Memo Gets I-Jacked : Sploid

You'll have to scroll down about halfway but if you like screwing with your snobbish iPod friends (my Dell Jukebox was such a better deal) then you'll love this idea. It comes from the newly launched Sploid.com, leftists lame answer to Drudge (but they are in the Lifehacker, Gizmodo family so at least it looks nice and is run efficiently) which blares news stories in a tabloid like fashion with over the top headlines like "Trump v. Bush" in an attempt to garner leftist audiences.

Anyway, the idea is i-Jacked, basically putting strange and creepy files onto your friends iPod, but short blips that are cleverly named thus hard to find and delete:

iJacked: 1) The intentional planting of horrible stuff on an iPod belonging to a friend, co-worker or loved one. 2) To hijack some fool’s iPod...How does it work, you ask? Simple. These days, people often share songs with their pals, which is a terrible crime known as Piracy or Felony Child Endangerment. Find out what kind of music your victim enjoys. If it’s your wife, for example, you might casually ask, “Lady, do you enjoy music? If so, please list three musical acts that would interest you, especially if I said I just downloaded secret new bootleg music by these acts.”

Then you offer to put this secret music on her iPod.

And then you load a cornucopia of awful things onto said iPod.

What kind of awful things? I’d stay away from traditional “songs,” because they tend to be several minutes long — giving the victim time to skip the song and find out its title — and there’s always the chance your victim will actually enjoy whatever crap music you install. Instead, just put a bunch of Deeply Wrong short audio clips, things that flash by with great weirdness & violence, leaving your victim confused and agitated. Did I really just hear that?

Your primary goal is to load as many little mp3’s as possible, because those iPods can hold thousands of songs and you want to up the chances that your grim additions will pop up in Shuffle mode. Also, if you have the time you’ll want to rename all the files so they don’t stand out. Tuck these little files on the end of long albums, you know? “HogSlaughter.mp3” becomes the last song on The Clash’s “Sandinista,” etc.

I love this idea, especially for your runner friends. What could be better than having a friend running in the park and out of nowhere hear a car horn and screeching tires from their immediate right and then turn and nothing is there. Talk about freaking out!

The Hits Keep Coming

Packers News - Deputy had to pull Taser in order to arrest Green

It seems Ahman Green was rather belligerent when he got arrested, forcing the sheriff's deputy to pull Taser on him. The more details that emerge the worse Green looks (although it appears there was no actual physical violence):

“Ahman was very upset and yelling so loud that his spit was hitting me on the face,” Heather Green said in her written statement. “I began walking backward and Ahman just kept yelling in my face until he had me backed up against a wall...”

As deputies pressed the issue, Green became agitated and told deputies to leave his house, the report said. Green told deputies that he was a football player and he wanted to go to bed because he had practice in the morning.

When Green refused to answer any more questions, deputies told him he was under arrest for disorderly conduct as a domestic violence offense and ordered him to place his hands behind his back. Green repeatedly refused and tensed his arms as deputies grabbed hold of him. Only after Sgt. Tim Johnson unholstered his Taser did Green cooperate and allow deputies to handcuff him...

Heather Green told authorities that she was not injured in the altercation but fled the house in her pajamas because she feared for her safety. There was no property damage inside the home, according to sheriff’s reports, but Heather Green said she is fearful of the aftermath of the arrest.

“I am afraid of what Ahman may do to me now that he has been arrested and what he may to do my property I left at the house,” she said in her statement.

Fantastic Letter to the Editor

Regarding tuition increases at the most bloated public university system in the nation:

UW SYSTEM

Explore alternatives to increasing taxes

The letter by Michael Hawes really incensed me ("More tuition increases are not acceptable," April 22). I worked three jobs to put myself through school and was just happy to have the opportunity to be in school.

Maybe one alternative to raising my taxes so he can have a lower tuition would be to close one of the University of Wisconsin campuses and consolidate students and instructors. That would certainly help keep tuition low and foster competition among the students for those coveted few positions on campuses. If tuition goes up and Hawes really wants to continue his education, he'll find a way.

Bill Hadley
Franklin

The letter got me thinking, just how absurd is the situation, so I went and found a map:



http://www.wisconsin.edu/campuses/images/smap.gif

No, that isn't a joke, and no I didn't add UW-Marathon County or UW-Barron County, and I didn't even make up UW-Marshfield/Wood County. Can you honestly look at this map and tell me there is nowhere to make cuts? Is it too much to ask for the people at Waukesha to go to Milwaukee of Whitewater (20-40 minute drive) or the people attending Richland to make it to one of the THREE surrounding schools? Can Fox Valley and Fond du Lac not be absorbed into Oshkosh? I get Superior, I get River Falls, but STOUT? A four year school, nestled neatly between two other four year schools. Waste in the UW system? If you want to talk serious spending cuts, lets get rid of Parkside, Platteville, and Stout for starters. Next, absorb some of the seemingly hundreds of two year schools into four years and combine those close, like Sheboygan and Washington County.

If we tackle this problem we are talking serious, dramatic cuts in expenses to the UW system and in turn a possible cut in tuition expenses (or plasma TV's for every dorm room) . It boggles my mind why this is never looked at as a serious alternative to raising tuition/taxes.

Thursday Urinal Roundup

JS Online: News:

After an easy House victory, the latest push to curb abortions moves to the Senate where Republican gains increase the likelihood of making it harder for minors to cross state lines to end pregnancies without telling a parent.

To me this just seems like common sense. Shouldn't we make it more difficult for minors to have abortions without their LEGAL guardians consent? Isn't that what the whole "legal guardian" thing means, minors aren't old enough to make drastic life altering decision for themselves, hence a parent is there to help them? If it's okay to end a life without the "legal guardians" consent, then really what purpose do they serve? I would argue entering a contract (legal guardian consent required) as a minor is a lot less dramatic and life altering thant ending a life.

Advocacy Group Reports Less Air Pollution

The "worst environmental President in the history of America" has somehow managed to reduce "significantly" the number of counties in which unhealthy air was reported for the first time in six years. President Bush must really be angry, somehow his plans to scorch the earth are failing.

2 want more cuts in Milwaukee fleet

I just can't imagine there would be more waste, I am sure DPW has cut their fleet to the bone. Come on, who are they kidding? I kind of found this amusing:

At a news conference outside a DPW facility, the aldermen also criticized a sport-utility vehicle assigned to Acting Port Director Eric Reinelt that was photographed outside a home Reinelt owns in Waterford.

Reinelt told the Journal Sentinel he has not been reimbursing the city for personal miles, and is unaware of any policy requiring him to do so.

DPW officials said the SUV was bought by the Port of Milwaukee and is not part of the fleet they oversee. It is unclear what policy may be in effect at the port or any of the other departments where vehicles are not overseen by DPW.

So basically there was this SUV sitting around, so the guy took it and uh, nobody is sure who/what/why it happened. Does the city really buy so many SUV's that they can just misplace one and it ends up going to a glorified temp? (Okay maybe that's a touch harsh, but come on no one knows who screwed up the oversight?)

I am also a little perturbed at the fine reporter Greg Borowski for making it totally unclear as to the extent of the fleet cuts. He reports that " DPW officials submitted a list of 104 vehicles to be eliminated, along with 40 pieces of heavy equipment. Another 65 cars and other "light" vehicles will be reviewed for possible sale later...The DPW also cut the number of vehicles city workers take home from 75 to nine on a year-round basis, and 25 during snow-heavy winter months." However he doesn't say how big a percentage this is of the overall fleet or how many vehicles remain.

Boots and Sabers covers anything I want to say about Holloway

Great Day for Packer Fans

JS Online: Green arrested

Ahman Green arrested after his second "domestic incident." Apparently he is two for two after being involved in an incident with his first wife on their intended wedding night (they got married a few months later) he spent a few hours in jail on Monday night after a 911 hang-up from his residence near Green Bay

Walker to Hold Out

Budding superstar Javon Walker will become yet another of Drew Rosenhaus' clients to hold out. This is getting disgusting. Don't sign him, let him hold out. I hope the Eagles do the same to Owens and the Cardinals do the same to Arizona. Eventually players will understand that signing with Rosenhaus will end their careers, instead of allow them to break contract after contract after one good year.


Al Harris Focus of Inquiry

Additionally WTMJ reported this morning on the radio that CB Al Harris is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a stripper in a nightclub near Miami.

Great day all around for the Green and Gold...

Tuesday Quick Hits

Daron Sutton, the TV voice of the BrewCrew has his own blog, and it's pretty interesting, all two posts so far. The guy is incredibly personable (thanks for the beer) and tells great stories. The only thing better would be if Rock dropped a few comments once in awhile.

The Dog Ate Daron's Homework

My view of the draft is much like most people I have talked to. The first pick was fantastic, in that they had no other choice and didn't blow it. Other than that, passing on Dan Cody in round 2 and Antajj Hawthorne in the later rounds was a gigantic mistake. Instead they took an absurdly raw and surly cornerback, a 26 year old linebacker/end who doesn't fit the system, and reached on Collins whom they could have taken at 58 after selecting Cody 51st. It just didn't make any sense to me whatsoever. They blew it after the first round.

How is this guy not from Wisconsin?

I think we need to start a collection, if this doesn't get the Brewers back to .500 I don't know what will.

Jay Mariotti bursts the Kyle Orton bubble. Not hard to do. Orton played well until he choked against Bucky and never recovered his form after that, to the point where he got benched for God's sake! I only mention this because he has the greatest line of all columnists I read today:

But the Bears don't need just Anyone. They have Rex, Chad and Kyle.

A boy band.

This Urinal editorial has led me to "republish" here a letter to the editors I wrote a year and a half ago.

SMOKING BAN
It's not government's place to make decision

I find it incredibly interesting that the Journal Sentinel recently printed an editorial condemning the Patriot Act as an attempt by the government to take away some of our liberties, and at the same time it is championing the exact same thing in a Sept. 12 editorial ("Dinner without the smoke").

Banning smoking from restaurants is not the purview of the government. Individual owners of various places of business have the right to ban smoking, and indeed many have. To say that this should be a government mandate is more intrusive into the lives of everyday people than allowing the government to have access to library records.

This is foolish and heavy-handed nonsense that hurts restaurant and bar owners and will eventually get out of control. I don't smoke, and I dislike when people smoke around me, but for the government to step in and ban it is out of control.

Americans don't want to live in a nanny state. We have the ability to choose for ourselves whether we want to eat around smoke, and there are plenty of choices available to us now. We don't need government to tell us how to live our lives.

Finally, if Carlos Lee continues this power surge, and Turnbow can hang onto the closer role, AND Sheets doesn't miss more than one more start the Crew will come home looking like a much better ball club, and come May 13th, when they hit the road again WILL have a record above .500.

Cap Times brings it with another doozy

Editorial: Walker vs. caregivers

I especially like the first paragraph, in which the extreme left editors call Walker "the state's most ambitious career politician." I'm just curious, but what do they consider Russ Feingold? Isn't Feingold a career politician, and isn't he running, for all intents and purposes for President of the United States? That seems a tad more ambitious than Governor of Wisconsin. He is still a state politician, Feingold is supposed to be working for the people of Wisconsin and promoting our interest in Washington correct? I know that he hasn't done a damn thing for this state, but does that mean the leftists have given up even considering him a Wisconsin Senator?

The first paragraph continues like a Russ Feingold bio:

...trying everything he can think of to get out of his current job and into the
governor's mansion [oval office]. If there's a gimmick that will allow the state
to avoid dealing with real issues such as education, health care or job
creation, Walker is for it - no matter how useless or outlandish the proposal.

Outlandish and useless ventures for us Wisconsonites like going to Alabama to mend fences with those he offended, or creating ridiculous campaign finance "reforms" that hinder free speech and caused the creation of the obnoxious 527's. Yes, those were definitely worthwhile efforts by Mr. Feingold. The rest of the editorial reads exactly how you would expect it to read, quoting world renowned publications like the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram to prove it's point that HSA accounts are "bad." Very insightful.

A Decent Urinal Editorial...Shocking!

The Journal makes a few good points in today's editorial on the TV flap in Muskego. I think the most astonishing thing I have heard through all of this is that the taxpayers would have gotten so little back, individually, that it didn't seem worth it. I can't imagine that thinking. If they would have given something back, I can't even fathom the shock and gratitude of the taxpayers. While the amount may have been small, the public relation and good will gains would have been enormous.

The first mistake in the Muskego flap was made by the School Board last fall when it decided on a 4-2 vote not to return to taxpayers $430,000 left over from a $36.6 million renovation and expansion project voters approved in a 2001 referendum. Sending the money back would have sent with it a clear message that board members are serious about fiscal responsibility and saving taxpayers money.

Set aside the TV's (I can't fathom the thinking behind EIGHT plasma TV's) which will be of little use to students (educational programming is educational programming) the school board blew a great opportunity for future gains. They could have pointed to this refund and said "see, we ARE being fiscally responsible, we aren't wasting money" and turned that into fantastic financial returns down the road.

As is often the case with fools, shortsightedness and greed did them in

Leftists Know What's Best...Again

I am constantly astounded by the audacity of liberals (American liberals in this case). It is always dangerous to think you know best for everyone and it seems this is the line leftists cross at every turn. Based on the past few months they obviously feel they have the right to pick not only the President's cabinet, but every judicial appointment as well...and even his ambassadors. They have taken the advise and consent roll to mean obstruction and bottleneck. In a country with a Republican House, Senate and Presidency, why in the world do the leftists feel they have so much power?

Well, interestingly their condescension goes far deeper than just American politics. Indeed, these diluted souls (as represented by Mr. Carlson above) feel they have the right to tell a worldwide religious organization who should lead them. Why do American liberals think they have the right to decide who becomes the head of a worldwide mostly conservative (in values and in many political views) organization?

Despite my being a Catholic and a conservative, with eight years of Jesuit education, I still don't feel I have the slightest clue as to who would lead the Church in this incredibly tumultuous time, but Mr. Carlson and countless leftists feel again that they know what is best.

They want a worldwide ban on smoking, cholesterol, guns, soda, and religion...because after all they know best. I am curious as to who he would like to see head the Catholic Church, would an atheist be "progressive" enough for these people? Maybe a lesbian?

I don't presume to want a white guy heading the NAACP, why would these people think a leftist could run the Catholic Church?

Oil unlimited? - Bruce Bartlett

An interesting read regardless of your take on the oil situation. It seems there is a rather popular theory about the regenerative possibilities of oil. Instead of being a depletable fuel it could in fact be literally "primordial" in nature.

In the words of geologist Vladimir Porfir'yev, "The overwhelming preponderance of geological evidence compels the conclusion that crude oil and natural gas have no intrinsic connection with biological matter originating near the surface of the Earth. They are primordial materials which have erupted from great depths."
For more than 50 years, Russian and Ukrainian scientists have successfully used the abiotic theory to find oil and natural gas. For example, the Dnieper-Donets Basin has yielded a significant amount of oil and natural gas even though it is an area that conventional biological theories reject as unpromising. A recent technical paper found that the results "confirm the scientific conclusions that the oil and natural gas found in ... the Dnieper-Donets Basin are of deep, and abiotic, origin."

Boots & Sabers Post...Epic

I have done it with a letter or two, even giving out idiot awards for certain worthy letters, but Owen over at Boots and Sabers managed to drop the hammer on every single letter written to the Urinal yesterday. Fantastic read, well done.

Yet another reason to SIMPLIFY THE TAX CODE

People scurrying to meet tonight's tax deadline might consider this: It's taking you and your fellow Americans 6.6 billion hours to do all that paperwork. The basic tax return - the Form 1040 filed by most people every year - accounts for 1.6 billion hours.

The Internal Revenue Service furnished those statistics to the White House budget office, which keeps tabs on the government's bureaucratic demands. The budget office notes that tax work "towers over the entire paperwork burden for the rest of the federal government" and accounts for some 80 percent.

"If anything, those numbers are probably understated," said David Keating, president of the National Taxpayers Union, which reports annually on the increasing complexity and demands of tax returns.

"A lot more of the cost is just planning to do the tax-smart thing. That can actually take a lot more time than reporting what you've done," he said.

So at least it isn't a hassle. If only Steve Forbes' flat tax postcard came in the mail this year instead. Hell a guy can dream.

Gas Tax Outrage

No one would accept an automatic tax increase for any other purpose or at any other level. School taxes go up, but school board members vote for that increase, and voters can decide to boot them out at the next election. The same applies to municipal officials.

I tend to agree, however I was out of town during the Annual Milwaukee April Fools Joke so I don't know how big a stink our radio commentators made, but it does seem that most politicians have been relatively silent about an issue that the masses would back: repeal the auto increase. It seems so simple to me.

XM Radio

Freaking awesome, that's all I have to say, it's freaking awesome. I work in a cookie cutter office building and it comes in perfect.

Every baseball game, every NASCAR race, tons of talk, ESPNNews broadcast (that means 5 oclock PTI!!) just incredible.

I got the Delphi MyFi with XM2Go, simply perfect.

Finally, the UN comes to its senses

How I missed this story yesterday I have no idea. It seems that the UN, being such a powerful and potent organization, has decided to make it illegal for terrorists to possess/threaten to use nuclear weapons.

The U.N. General Assembly approved a global treaty Wednesday aimed at
preventing nuclear terrorism by making it a crime for would-be terrorists to
possess or threaten to use nuclear weapons or radioactive material.

"By its action today, the General Assembly has shown that it can, when it
has the political will, play an important role in the global fight again
terrorism," U.S. deputy ambassador Stuart Holliday told delegates after the
vote. "The nuclear terrorism convention, when it enters into force, will
strengthen the international legal framework to combat terrorism."

Yes, in much the same way as making it illegal to carry a hand gun in Wisconsin has led to the erradication of hand gun crime and murder. This is so truely absurd. THESE PEOPLE ARE TERRORISTS! Their very existence is illegal, yet the UN thinks making it a crime for them to posess nukes will have some significant and profound effect?

"Well, I was going to nuke Chicago, but now I'll just use a car bomb. And crap, I had better get rid of these nukes before the UN passes a resoultion against me."

Adding teeth to the bill, they committee added this:

The treaty makes it a crime for any person to possess radioactive material
or a radioactive device with the intent to cause death or injury, or damage
property or the environment. It would also be a crime to damage a nuclear
facility.

When I ask, was it ever not a crime to damage a nuclear facility? When is it not a crime to damage any property that doesn't belong to you? God I hope Bolton goes in there and beats the living crap out of these brilliant ambassadors.

Firefox PSA

About a week ago we were discussing the Firefox connection and had a few posts about the fantastic browser. While I can't figure out how to get it to work at work, I do use it exclusively at home. Anyway, Lifehacker linked to a really great article in Linux Journal about tweaking and using about:config to make Firefox as amazing as possible.

Basically a must read if you're a Firefox user.

Great Day

Nothing can upset me today, except maybe an Astros win.

The Crew is legit in first, they are #5 in ESPN's power rankings, a jump of almost 20 spots thanks to their quality starting pitching and monster run production.

Jay Mariotti is predicting a Dusty Baker early exit and Wood got absolutely LIT UP yesterday.

I moved my alarm clock into my bathroom, which finally allowed me to get up early and get dialed (work out) before work.

And I finally have a bit of time to blog. Hopefully this lull will continue throughout the day so I can really make up for a few lost weeks. I guess taking off over two weeks to go West, followed by two days to watch the Crew is not incredibly conducive to blogging.

Digital Camera Plunge...Casio Exilim EXZ55

So I took the plune and got myself a digital camera with those tax returns that finally showed up and I have to say I am incredibly please with the results. The thing is beautiful and perfect for my needs. Fit in the pocket of my favorite jeans, huge screen (2.5"!) and 5 megapixels (what do I need more for?)

If anyone is looking for a camera to take to bars and parties, this is it. I am stunned by how great it is. The only drawback is the sub-par video performance, but that wasn't reallyh a big deal in my decision making.

Greatest Holliday of the Year!

Ladies and gentlemen it is 7 am, and I am waking up to the greatest day of the year. In less than an hour I will be at my favorite watering hole where drinks will be free until 11, when we will travel to the Park for the North Ave. cook out (and more free drinks). Around 1 we'll enter the hallowed ground and watch a sacred ritual. Not even the first game of the year at Lambeau are this beloved or looked forward to.

I need to shower and call a cab and get this day started right, go Brewers!!

This being a slow Friday and all

and the topic du jour of the week being the new Google Satellite service, I thought everyone might get a kick out of this:

Google Sightseeing

via: Lifehacker

Morning Quickie (because they really are great!)

UND Fighting Sioux smoked the Gophers last night in what was never really a game. Parise played great while the Gophers never really seemed to turn it on. They will now face defending champions Denver University (killed CC 6-2, all power play goals) on Saturday. Should be a great game, and if you're a true Badger fan, it's go DU all the way (rather, go Gwozdecky!)

The Crew seeks to remain undefeated as they take on the Flatland Cubbies this afternoon at 1:20. (Why does the Urinal print the times in EST? Why not central time? Just because they think like east coast leftists, does that mean they have to use eastern time?) It's a matchup between arguably the best Brewers spring pitcher in Capuano and the most overhyped pitcher in recent memory, Kerry Wood.

In "News of the 'Shaw" Waukesha School Board Slimeball Roger Danielsen has resigned. My View of the World has more, with audio!

Announcement

I have been invited to post over at the Badger Blog Alliance which has recently undergone a format change. They have decided to try the Corner-style format and go with a more free flowing style, with plenty of posters. Luckily I was one of "the chosen" and will be cross posting some here and there, but will still be posting plenty here, don't worry.

Anyway, check it out it should make for an interesting read.

More Churchill!

I'm not black, but if I claim to be on an application and you question it, then you sir are a NAZI! This according to Ward Churchill's lawyer. Now I have seen enough movies/shows to know that you want your lawyer to be the voice of reason, the guy who settles the situation, not enflames it. This is a theory Churchil obviously doesn't agree with. In public discussions he prefers the slash and burn tactic, and it seems he likes that in a law-dog too.

A University of Colorado faculty committee is investigating whether professor
Ward Churchill should be fired over allegations he plagiarized others' work, and
that he falsely claimed to be an American Indian to give his work more
credibility.
"Do you wish to employ the Nazi standard for racial purity? Do
you wish to employ the standard adopted by the United States government for
determining Japanese ancestry in order to qualify for internment?" attorney
David Lane asked in a letter dated Monday to acting chancellor Philip DiStefano.

I think I speak for everyone when I say "Go away you freaking scumbag!"

A question posed to the Urinal

Why?

In an editorial today the Urinal writers, in all their emminent wisdom, decided that they would be dissatisfied with 38 of 41 Milwaukee Police Captains being white men. Not underqualified white men, just white men. I am puzzled.

Keep in mind that 21 of the 41 people appointed to captain by Jones were white
men. By the jury's logic, the 17 who sued should have been promoted. That means
that 38 of the 41 appointees would have been white men. That's a result that
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he would find unsatisfactory. So would we.

Personally I want the absolute best people we can find. If that means we have 41 hispanic female ninjas as captians, 41 Hightowers or 41 midgets with the reflexes of a cat and the speed of a mongoose then so be it. As long as we have the best people in every position of law enforcement that we can possibly find then why would the Urinal have a problem?

This argument makes absolutely no sense. Say that we have 41 black Captains and Chief Haggerty wanted to "diversify" the force. However, the only people that apply for the promotion to captain are white male hacks who routinely skirt the law and have a terrible record? In the interest of diversity, would the Journal really want those men promoted to Captain?

Seems to me that in the interest of tax payers we should be looking for the absolute best and most qualified candidates to promote up the ranks of the MPD, and not just people who fit the color/gender preferred by the Urinal editorial board.

Quick Sports Round-Up

Just a few quick notes:

It seems that because of injury and durability problems, Erasamus James may fall to the Packers at 24 according to Mel Kiper Jr Draft Expert. If this is a likely scenario then I would doubt the Pack making a move to trade up because James would give them that speed rusher to take pressure off of Kabeer and allow the linebackers to play more traditional defense instead of scheming unusual blitzes and forcing Barnett into pass coverage.

The Packers need someone to complement end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and James would do just that. He can play the run and pass equally well

Additionally, the Swing Kings are in first place tied atop the division with the Cincinnati Reds. While I doubt the Reds can keep up this pace it seems obvious this is the year the Crew will go undefeated...okay fine, a .500 year and a JJ Hardy Rookie of the Year would be great too.

In somewhat shocking news, foxsports.com has the Crew at #19 in their Power Rankings, just 5 spots behind ChiTown and a spot above The Stros.

To be honest, it's great to see them playing well in PNC Park, where they were atrocious last year, and to see them putting up runs. I hope this carries over into Miller Park where the balls should be flying out for Carlos Lee!

Next game is Friday at Wrigley.

For those that don't know, the Frozen Four starts tomorrow, with an all WCHA final four. I would like to take this opportunity to say stick it to all you snooty east coasters...looks like the power shift is complete and Western Hockey is it!

I know families for both three of the four teams but I will definitely be rooting for whoever wins the Denver - CC game to beat whoever comes out of the UND - Gopher game. Sorry everyone, but you know how I feel about the Gophers, and UND ain't much better. I do wish all the players luck and hope for some great games.

In somewhat surprising news, Tyler Hirsch will be back on the ice which is a relief for me, and means I no longer need to feel guilty for hosting his video.

In other news, the Masters is supposed to start tomorrow, but with a 90% chance of rain in Augusta it might get postponed til later in the day or delayed til Friday, we shall see. As it is, my pick is Paddy Harrington, but I will be rooting for Lefty. (The Masters.org site has live video from the practice tees, something pretty cool you might want to check out).

Why Burmaster is wrong

sickening...

Urinal: Conceal carry bad because good people go bad

Forgive me, but the people at the Urinal get dumber and dumber...dare I say stupider...by the day. Their moronic logic is summed up well by Owen over at Boots and Sabers.

I ask the editors, how, exactly, would a law permitting concealed carry have
aided Ratzmann’s effort to slaughter his fellow church-goers? It seem that
he managed it just fine without concealed carry.

In reading the article further, it seems that not only their logic was flawed, but their examples of "failed" conceal and carry were as well.

Neither is the Atlanta courtroom shooting much of an advertisement for
concealed-carry. After all, alleged perpetrator Brian Nichols overcame armed and
trained officers to pursue his rampage. Armed judges or prosecutors - which the
gun lobby is advocating - wouldn't have stood much of a chance.

What the Urinal fails to mention is that the "trained officer" was a 5 foot nothin 55 year old grandma in a small room with an extremely large and athletic younger man. As a matter of fact Mr. Pimentel, your average armed judge/prosecutor would have stood a MUCH better chance. We all know in Milwaukee how fantastically well trained and professional the deputies staffing the court house are.

The arguments against conceal carry are so ridiculous they defies logic, but since you can't win an argument with someone who denies reason and common sense, this is a lost cause. Does Mr. Pimentel really believe that allowing citizens to go through hours and hours of training and certification will cause more gun violence? Will the average street thug who "strap" to protect himself during a drug deal really al of a sudden care about law and order and go get himself a permit for that stolen weapon? When is the last time you heard an armed robber lament the lack of a conceal carry law? "If only Wisconsin allowed me to carry a concealed weapon legally, I would break the law and rob that damn bank!"

O. Ricardo will always hate guns, just like he will always hate gun people who have "probably watched too many Westerns."

What a smug and arrogant ass.

First Full Day

I'm struggling a bit to get back into the swing of things so bear with me.

It seems that the fine citizens of Milwaukee will never stop paying for the wide and twisted legacy of Jeffrey Dahmer. As everyone remembers Dahmer killed 14 men in Milwaukee in 1991, and it is believed 5 of those victims were killed after 2 MPD officers encountered Dahmer with one of his victims but let him go. Well, that situation led to then Police Chief Philip Arreola to fire the officers, who were then reinstated. This whole ordeal led to strained relationships all around City Hall and Arreola left (for Washington's greener pastures) in 1996....

Which brings us to Art Jones. The most miserable excuse for a Police Chief the city has seen. The guy not only constantly prodded and fought with his force, he was a petty and vindictive man who made silly uniform changes (leather jacket incident anyone?) just to stick it to officers who didn't agree with him.

Well, now Jones has screwed us again! Who do you think will be paying for that 2.2 million dollars? Mr. Jones? Any of the commissioners? No, we will be stuck with the bill because Mr. Jones is either afraid of or hates white people. Fantastic! How does a knob like this get that job...political correctness. (Sorry Eugene, but it was true in this case).

Thanks a lot Dahmer, now not only is serial murder and cannibalism tops on the list when people think of Milwaukee, you've indirectly cost us millions in a reverse-discrimination suit.

I'm Back

After a much needed and deserved break, I am back into the land of Beer and Cheese. I have also gotten all caught up on work (shows how important I am that it takes one morning to catch up on over a week of work) and am really glad to see that my humble page actually thrived while I was away, and now that I am back will undoubtedly sink back into the abyss that is anonymity. (Kidding, obviously I know that the Hirsch video was in high demand, and I happened to be a supplier).

Speaking of Mr. Hirsch, we no longer need to feel bad about hosting the video of his outburst, as he has been cleared to play this weekend in the Frozen Four. He also talked about why he was absent from the team here. I will only be happy if nobody wins it, but it is pretty nice to see 4 WCHA teams make the finals.

My trip was fantastic, I won't go into details but I did get to see the Crew play during the days I was in AZ, and got to see some quality women's hockey while I was in Denver. Barcelona (Scottsdale night club) was fantastic as always and the ladies in both Denver and Scottsdale remain incredible. All in all a great time.

I'll get caught up on news and events today and hopefully have more tomorrow if not tonight.