The Cost of Freedom -- Now Discounted

By Keith Schmitz

Head on over to Boots and Sabers for a discussion that has started out over campaign finance disclosure and now has moved over to the issue of citizenship.

You will see some posts assert that freedom comes without a cost, beyond listening to Lee Greenwood bellow "I'm Proud to Be an American."

There are some enlightening insights into a certain line of thinking, and it is almost like reading John Dean's latest chunk from his oeuvre.

Growing in Wisconsin

by folkbum

I get a lot of email in a day. I'm not entirely sure how I end up on so many lists, but my spam filters generally keep the worst stuff safely sequestered in its own little circle of email hell.

But somehow the spam filter failed and let this one through the other day:



I've blocked out a lot of the particulars, including the email addresses not just of bloggers but of real people exposed because the sender here has no idea, apparently, what the BCC field is for. If you want to find the blog, two (conservative, natch) blogs have already blogrolled it, and I'm sure more Wisconsin-haters will be on board with it soon enough, so you can find it wherever.

The blog itself is nothing but a bunch of links to stories in news sources, with not commentary--not even an "interesting" or "heh" or "oh, crap, this one's going to hurt." Its blogroll is a who's who of who likes trash-talking Wisconsin, including media luminaries (dimunaries?) like Belling, McKenna, and Sykes.

Regardless, I've been doing kind of what this guy (assuming; the blogonym is gender-neutral) has asked for, and keeping some stories about Wisconsin business in mind the last week or so. I share a few now, since it seems this blogger missed all of them:

• Menasha Packaging will expand its wide-web printing plant in Neenah by about 44,000 square feet and add a new press, the firm said today. The addition will mean a small number of new jobs, a spokeswoman said. Construction is expected to begin within a few weeks and be done by the end of the year.
  
• The Carver Boat Corp. said Tuesday that it will spend $27 million to build a plant to make a new line of yachts in Green Bay and add 450 jobs.
  
• Manitowoc Co.'s $2.1 billion offer for a British food-equipment manufacturer would create the largest company of its kind for products such as ice machines and restaurant fryers, Manitowoc CEO Glen Tellock said Monday. Combined, the two companies would have manufacturing plants in 10 countries and a customer list that includes some of the world's biggest restaurant chains, such as McDonald's and Subway.
  
• The first Woodman's grocery store in Milwaukee County is open for business, bringing a new low-price competitor to the area. Woodman's is looking for more locations in the metro area.

And that's just a week or so of casual reading of the jsonline business coverage. Imagine what I could find if I cared to pore over the Business Journal, Small Business Times, other state papers, and so on.

Look, I know the economy is not great. If things were humming along, I think we'd all be a lot happier and (many of us, anyway) even more willing to part with our taxes this week. But to suggest that Wisconsin is somehow circling the bowl, and that any second now we'll all be suffocated by the vacuum of a mass exodus is ridiculous. It seems a little like watching NASCAR for the crashes--and it is certainly not constructive or productive in any way.

Let's Sing A Song Of Cheer Again

By 3rd Way

I have previously mused about the significance of song to our culture, and voiced a preference for "America the Beautiful". The Pope's arrival today made me take a closer look at a song that was sung, quite beautifully, by our Military Choir in his honor. After learning more about it I concluded it is time to pull the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" from the official playlist.

Is it just me or does anyone else find it unsettling when our President greets a religious leader with a gun salute and the singing of these lyrics:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

Chorus

His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on."

Chorus

Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Chorus

Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Chorus

While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

Chorus

Our God is marching on.

This song also serves as the unofficial anthem of the Republican party, they sing it at the conclusion of their national convention. The unofficial anthem of the Democratic party is "Happy Days Are Here Again".

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again,
Happy days are here again.
All together, shout it now!
There's no one who can doubt it now.
So let's tell the world about it now,
Happy days are here again.
Your cares and troubles are gone,
There'll be no more from now on!

The Democrats should play this up. Which party would a young voter rather belong to; the one that sings a song with an unsettling mix of militarism and Christianity or the one that sings a song of of joyousness?

I'm Sure It's Only Coincidence

by capper

I'm sure that it's only coincidence that on the day that Senator John McCain is coming to town to tout "his" economic agenda that the National Weather Services would issue a wind advisory.

My advise is to just stay inside and watch the telly:



On second thought, maybe I'll just step out for a drink after all.

Bad And Worse

by capper

A sign when your blogging is getting out of control:



And a sign when it's gotten out of control:

Drinking Liberally Returns

by folkbum

In the email today:

My friends, it's been a while. We've seen an ugly state supreme court race, the county executive still in power, and the presidential race bordering on the tedious and arcane. In this time, we need somewhere that we can come together to find commonality, camaraderie, and most of all, really good beer.

Thus it gives me great pleasure to announce that Drinking Liberally has returned to Milwaukee!

When: Wednesday, April 16, 7-9PM
Where: Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood

The Sugar Maple, located at 441 E. Lincoln Ave., is just east of KK. They have 60 quality beers on tap, and it's SMOKE FREE.

We are happy to welcome our first special guest, Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski!

Drinking Liberally is an informal social club. All are welcome, and there's no fee or cover charge. Come meet friends new and old, and have a good time.

While we do not endorse any candidates or causes, local candidates have found volunteers and supporters at Drinking Liberally. And you are welcome to bring literature and opinions to share. Also, teetotalers are welcome -- this is Drinking *Liberally* after all.

See you soon!

Jason and the Milwaukee DL crew

I will be there--the fat balding pinko commie drinking coke instead of tap beer.

Green Days

by folkbum

I almost never get blogads submitted, so it's always exciting when one comes along. The pretty blue ad there on the right takes you to an online petition that requires nothing more than your name and an email address. You can even opt-out of the emails the Sierra Club would surely send your way if you left the box checked. So if you support clean, renewable energy, click through. If you support this blog, click through. Heck, even if you just want to encourage the nut-fringe of the enviro-bat wing of the leftist loony brigade to waste their money on lame-oids like me, click on through.

Also of note: I got an email last night about a new project out of Marquette University called greenvoting for Wisconsin. While I am not thrilled with "greenvoting" as one word, the site looks like it could become a solid resource for people interested in environmental causes.

Finally, one other greenish-related item: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is having a medicine collection day (.pdf) this Saturday, April 19, from 9 AM to 1 PM. (Note to MMSD web designers: Fewer pdfs, please!) There are sites in Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties for collection. It wasn't that long ago that there was a big study about how widespread the presence of many common meds is in our drinking water; disposing of extra or expired meds in an appropriate way can help reduce that problem.

Kentucky Shows Way Forward on WI Supreme Court Ruin

Update: Recusal Standards: A Partial Solution to Judicial Mess

Via MAL Contends

In light of recent Wisconsin Supreme Court races that were expensive assurances that the would-be justices will exercise bias over certain classes of litigants, here’s one progressive good government idea from Kentucky to which Wisconsin needs to catch up and follow.

From the Kentucky News-Enterprise: “Three Kentucky Court of Appeals judges will hear arguments on two civil cases at the (rural) Hardin County Justice Center Wednesday (April 16) to offer the public an opportunity to see the appellate court at work.”

From the Kentucky Court of Appeals webpage, a citizen reads:

Cases are not retried in the Court of Appeals. Only the record of the original court trial is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the court for a decision.

In Kentucky the 14 appellate judges (elected to eight-year terms, like the Supreme Court Justices) travel the state to hold oral arguments in various locales to, among other functions, educate the citizens of a largely rural state about appellate procedures.

That type of educational innovation and outreach is needed in Wisconsin where the candidates, third-party groups and much of the citizenry seem to believe the mark of a good appellate judge (such as a Supreme Court justice) is how often the judge will rule against the defendant appellant in criminal cases.

Wisconsin certainly measures up to Kentucky in Wisconsin’s webpage explaining the appellate system.

But this Kentucky initiative to reach out and explain the appellate judicial system, in place “for as long I can remember it,” in the words of a Kentucky public information specialist, demonstrates further how far behind Wisconsin has fallen in the integrity of its judicial appellate system and Wisconsin’s non-existent innovations (and many are needed) to ensure an informed citizenry as a check on the impartiality of justice in Wisconsin.

Show me an uninformed, depoliticized citizenry and I will show you rapacious, self-serving interests who will aggressively protect their interests with any legal means at their disposal.

Public financing is surely needed, but absent aggressive and innovative education on the role of the judiciary, good government initiatives will fail miserably.

I had to put gas in the Prius last night

by folkbum

I mean, really. The indignity!

But seriously: How hard would it be to put a display in every car like the one the Prius has, where you can get a real-time monitor of your mileage? Driving almost becomes like a game--how high can you keep the bar all time? Can I drive better in these next five minutes to beat the MPG of my last five minutes?

I wonder what kind of fuel economy would result from everyone's having a better handle on their consumption habits?

(Further questions abound: For example, how about a useful real-time monitor of your home energy usage? Seems like that ought to be standard, too.)

Happiness is Warm BS

by Keith Schmitz

Just got back into town on Friday and saw this wonderfully convoluted letter from one Karl Schubert of Wauwatosa, commenting on his fear that if people admit themselves into a mental hospital they would be stripped over their hazy "second amendment rights" under certain proposals.

Here's the money quote from Herr Schubert:

If voluntarily checking into a mental hospital makes one ineligible to own firearms, this will have a devastating effect on mental health care. Gun owners will avoid treatment simply to avoid having their rights confiscated. If the Brady Campaign wants to avoid crazy people with guns, keeping them from getting treatment will not help.

Maybe it is their irrational attachment to an inanimate object that is evidence of their craziness. Even crazier is the suggestion that there is some therapy in allowing someone to nuzzle up with the nuzzle of their weapon (or in many cases weapons).

Certainly there is exhibited here a profound level of pathology, i.e. not giving a crap about the welfare of everyone else.

It makes good common sense that if someone has mental problems to limit access to a firearm which would magnify the level of tragedy if this person would snap. Who could argue that?

This leads to a question. Second amendment rights do deserve consideration. But for some people, where does the coinciding responsibilities enter into the discussion?

It's The Economy, Stupid!

by capper

Another Explanation For Poor Communication?

by capper

For all you Macophiles...

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

by capper

A couple days ago, Elliot Stearns posted the question, "Why does the Left in America hate America?" I posted a comment with an oversimplified view that there was a communication problem.

The next day, Jay put up a similar post, remarking on the loss of civility in people's postings and comments. This loss of civility has even caused yet another blogger, this time Patrick, to ban a commenter, mickey, who has a bad habit of making things personal with people with whom he disagrees. Owen Robinson, who also posted on the loss of civility had banned mickey a long time ago.

People, in general, often have a hard time expressing themselves in appropriate ways. In Jay's post, he mentions two bloggers who feel that this is the only way to get their point across. All they are really doing is blocking whatever message they wanted to express. If a person is insulted, they are not very likely to be receptive to the rest of the message. In my personal experience in real life and in the blogosphere, people are apt to me more receptive to what I have to say, if I don't call them a name or otherwise insult them. I, likewise, am more prone to pay attention if my dead mother isn't insulted, or I am called a name.

As I had mentioned in the comments thread at Elliot's site, I used to facilitate a anger management group for adolescent boys. The first thing I had to do was get them to understand what anger was. Anger is an emotion that is spurred by a real or perceived threat, harm or slight. The other normal responses to such a stimulus would be fear or sadness. However, in society, people are afraid to show signs of weakness so they try not to show fear or sadness. They chose, consciously or subconsciously, to go with anger.

The other thing I had to help these kids understand was to put what they deemed as threats or slights into proper perspective. Obviously, if someone is trying to cause you physical harm, you are going to want to fight to protect yourself. Someone calling you a name, or looking at you funny, is not on the same level, and does not merit the same response.

The hardest part was helping the kids learn to discern when they were feeling angry, what was making them feel that way, and thinking before acting and/or speaking in response to that stimulus. I think part of the reason that this was so difficult is that people don't like taking a close look at themselves in an honest fashion.

An excellent example of this would be the child that gets caught misbehaving, and then gets punished for it. First of all, the child is upset because s/he is being punished, which by definition is usually an unpleasant and averse situation. Secondly, the child, whether they realize it or not, is probably feeling shame for their behavior. But because shame is often considered to be a sign of weakness, it is covered up with anger. Then the child tells the parent that they hate them, or they take it out on their toys, etc.

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people have a hard time moving on beyond this point. The adult who is caught breaking the law yells at the cops and calls them names. He or she is upset due to the threat of punishment, and lashes out in anger.

The blogger who makes a dumb comment, and gets called out on it, lashes back, often in a personal matter. He or she is threatened by the loss of face or the feeling of shame.

I think one of the biggest threats that people feel is the fear of the unknown and the different. This is where racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice stem from. Instead of facing their fear of the unknown or the different, and possibly making some unpleasant discoveries about themselves, they chose to fall back on anger and lash out at people, hurling invectives and smears at a person, a gender, a lifestyle, a belief system or a race.

To get back to Elliot's question, I don't think that these people, in general, hate America. I think it is a specific part that they don't like, but in the heat of their anger, they get carried away and start saying or doing dumb things. The same can be said for the other examples as well.

Now, keep in mind these are not universal truths. Sometimes anger is justified, such as when someone is presenting an immediate threat, or when someone does something that goes against the norms and morals of society, like a rapist, child molester or murderer. Sometimes the person cannot control their emotions, due to a mental illness or traumatic brain injury.

Nor am I saying I am above any of this. I get mad too, and sometimes I say and/or do stupid things. I am just sharing my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for reading, if you haven't already gotten bored and moved on.

Cheney's Sunglasses

by capper

By now, everyone and their uncle has heard the silliness regarding Cheney and the reflection in his sunglasses. There was some wild speculation that it was a reflection of a naked woman or an alien, even though either of these would have sent his Pacemaker into overdrive.

This story has been pretty thoroughly debunked.

But no one has really caught the strange thing about this picture. Cheney is actually smiling. I didn't think he knew how to do anything but grimace and smirk.

Sometimes life smacks you in the behind ...

by folkbum

... and sometimes it's me in my Scion. No one was hurt, the other guy was able to drive away, and my airbags didn't even go off. And it was nowhere near Pete's near-apocalyptic experience; I was not very far away from that spot on the same interstate, but I didn't make the paper.

On the other hand, my car is not drivable, so I will be without it for a while. On the upside, my loaner is finally allowing me to assuage some of my long-standing Prius envy.

Anyway, thanks to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's department for their expeditious response, even if I did get a ticket (grumble, gruble). And everyone who passed us and didn't slow down or get over for the emergency vehicles deserves to rot in hell.

That's civility for you

by folkbum

Anybody remember that episode of "The Simpsons" where Krusty the Clown is trying to resurrect his career--well, okay, one of the episodes where Krusty is trying to resurrect his career--and some other comedians are trying to help him figure out why he's not funny? At one point Kristy Krusty squints up his eyes, throws on a pair of glasses, stick sticks some fake buck teeth in his mouth, and does a horrible stereotypical--some would say racist--Asian accent. "Ah, so" he says, and does an extended bow.* The other comedians look on in horror.

That's kind of how I felt reading this, from the guy who wants to elevate the debate on the Wisconsin blogs. (But, hey, at least it's not a retard joke!) UPDATE: I didn't keep my browser window open or copy and paste the original, but John Foust (in comments below and at bootsandkittens.com) has the Google cache: "Always be suspicious of government official who seek to remove themselves from public scrutiny." Owen has edited the post to fix the pidgin-Chinese sound of his "fortune cookie."

On a more serious note, Nick Schweitzer has a thoughtful look at the women-in-the-military topic here.

* It was not just offensive, but it was stale--Jerry Lewis ran that bit into the ground 40 years before.

The Smart Bush

It looks like at least one member of the Bush family may have learned a little something the from the follies of the elder members of the family. Lauren Bush (W's niece) is weighing her options before casting her vote this fall.

From New York Magazine:

"I think this election is very exciting. I mean, to have a woman and a black man as leading candidates is pretty amazing, and it's about time," she said. So does that mean she's going for a Democrat? "I'm going to vote for the candidate — I'm not going to vote for someone … you know … you have to look at the whole picture," she stuttered. So her vote's up in the air? "Well, my family isn't … Yeah, I'd say my vote is in the air. I don't want to talk about it."

Civility Revisisted, a blog post in three acts

by folkbum

Prologue: Remember where we started?

Act I: An email from a reader who wished to remain anonymous:

I think the growth of strong liberal voices in the Cheddarsphere contributes to Owen's perception of a decline in civility, not because liberals are less civil but because they're more likely to challenge his ideas. I remember when the dominant voices in Wisconsin blogs were mostly conservative -- Badger Blog Alliance, Owen, Kevin Binversie, Sykes -- and that overall the conservative blogs outnumbered the liberal ones almost 2-to-1. For awhile there it seemed like it was pretty much just you and Xoff on the other side. Now the raw numbers are almost even and with the addition of Rowen, Soglin, Whallah, Cory Liebmann and the Mikes (Plaisted and Mathias) the blogosphere seems more balanced and Owen's probably more likely to get a decent rebuttal to his posts instead of just a pat on the back. I don't deny that there's some civility lacking, but I also think bloggers on both sides sometimes tend to interpret legitimate criticism as a personal attack, just because blogging by nature is such a personal endeavor.

All true, especially that last point. When you spend a long time crafting an important post--the research, the writing, the editing--you can take it personally when someone tries to tell you how you're wrong. I like to think I'm good at knowing the difference between criticism of ideas and criticism of me, and I know which to respond to and which to laugh off.

Act II: The uncivil defend themselves.

Hermes: I hope my readers understand that I sometimes require them to humor my own indignations, condescensions, angry outbursts, and even occasional naughty words. [. . .] That's part of my idiom, my shtick. This is not a family-friendly blog! I'm not here to make you feel nice. I assume I have a mature, educated adult audience. I write about controversial topics. I write purposely to fire people up - to get them mad enough to go out there and grapple with issues, engage me in debate, and actively learn about the world around them.

Plaisted: I think sharp language that keeps the focus on what people say and what they do to advance their own political agendas and those of others is fair comment. I say this knowing that I have been attacked for my own comments and characterizations. I try to challenge and engage people on the other side on their terms about what they are saying and doing on subjects they have chosen to engage in.

That's on the left. None of the uncivil on the right have offered a defense, and some, in fact, have offered massive dumps of irony instead.

Act III: Blogroll watch. Vague or specific promises in some quarters--notably, these quarters--to clean the uncivil from the blogrolls have, far as I can tell, produced no changes. At least this blogger was already off most of their lists ... but surely the line has been finally crossed with that post?

There remain no words

by folkbum

Revised (original) shorter Dad29: Why do women in the military get raped? Because the Clenis violated Natural Law.

Actually, I lied; there are words: Go read Emily Mills's response.

The show Mark Belling, Badger Blogger, the religious right, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel didn't want you to see

by folkbum

In a fit of misoverestimation of my own talent, I once upon a time hauled my guitar, my many capos, my nasally voice, and a dozen songs into a Real Live Recording Studio and hauled out a professionally produced CD.

That recording studio was Walls Have Ears, which is located in an historic Oakland Avenue building on Milwaukee's East Side. The studio has both produced WAMI-award winning artists and records and been a WAMI-award winner itself. A relative unknown, I was able to afford such a swanky outfit because I was the learning-curve project for now-expert engineer Sandy Weisto. The project was then mastered by Walls's owner, Bill Stace.

For making my warbly self sound almost listenable, I owe both Sandy and Bill a tremendous debt, even though it was years ago.

The historic building housing Walls Have Ears is actually the Miramar Theatre, also owned and operated by Bill Stace. It has re-invented itself as a home to eclectic performances of all kinds, hosting plays ("Late Night Catechism" had two long runs there), music, films, and the best Tuesday-night open stage in town. (The open stage is run by Sandy; for two bucks you get an appreciative audience, 15 minutes on the big stage, and a complimentary CD of your performance.)

So I got my dander up a bit when I saw this a few weeks ago on my usual rounds through the Milwaukee blogs:

The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel chose Good Friday to start running an ad for a play called Puppetry of the Penis. [. . .] The show isn’t until mid-April, but they have to run the ad this weekend to get the full shock value for their perverted show. Mark Belling spoke about this outrage today, he called and spoke to some vice president of advertising at the paper, he wouldn’t give a straight answer to anything.

The show is at the Miramar from April 15-20, as you may have noticed from the BlogAd running there on the right hand side of your screen. And as it turns out, all the bullying from Belling, the religious right, Patrick and others on the blogs must have done a number on that nameless "some vice president of advertising" since the paper caved and pulled the ads. I got this email from Bill a short time later:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2008

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL CALLED IT “SILLY, NOT SALACIOUS” IN 2004 BUT NOW THEY ARE REFUSING TO RUN ADS FOR THE SHOW

After receiving complaints regarding a PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS ad which ran on Good Friday, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is refusing to run additional ads for the show, which will appear at the Miramar Theatre in Milwaukee April 15-20. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel had no problems running ads for previous engagements of the show and ran an ad without complaint prior to Good Friday.

In keeping with the comedic tone of the show, return engagements such as Milwaukee, are being referred to as part of the “Res-erection” tour. It was an unfortunate coincidence that an ad featuring this language ran on Good Friday. Producer David J. Foster and William Stace, owner of the Miramar Theatre sent a letter to the editor of the Journal-Sentinel on March 25th apologizing to those who may have been offended, and explained that the same ad runs year round wherever the show is being presented, and was never intended to make light of the religious holiday. The newspaper declined to run the letter.

PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS is a comedy. It is not sexual and there is no swearing. And, we certainly make no references to the Bible, Christianity or any other religion. “We have even received a clean bill of health from the Bishop of Colchester, who said, ‘There is nothing wicked about the human body. I refuse to condemn this show.’”

PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS sent the Journal-Sentinel a revision of the ad with the words the “Res-erection Tour” removed. Instead, a quote from the Journal-Sentinel’s review of the show in 2004 (“Silly, not salacious”) was included. The newspaper still refused to run the ad. Speaking from his office in New York, show producer David J. Foster said “It’s a shame that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is being swayed by a small minority of people who are afraid of seeing the word ‘penis’ in the newspaper."

I don't think I'll be able to make it to a show (there are already a couple of other
things on my agenda for next week), but anything that irks Mark Belling has got to be a good thing in my book. So I'm helping Bill promote the show since your local daily paper--the same daily that gave it a fairly favorable review a few years back--apparently doesn't want you to go see it. I say, go; support local independent venues like the Miramar and show the bullies that they don't get to decide for you what is and is not appropriate entertainment.