Fish Fear Me

Maybe He's Courting The Moral Majority

This looks like another of those "I knew They told me if I voted for John McCain" moments I keep seeing:

"We should do everything we can to make sure the world holds Nevada in the same high regard you and I do," Reid continued. "If we want to attract business to Nevada that puts people back to work, the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution."

Then MGM Resorts International told him to get his paid-for ass back to work.

Hunker Down Holiday

Happy President's Day. 

The snow continues to fall this afternoon, but most of the accumulation from this storm is done. Looks like a little over a foot at my place, a half a foot more just a little ways south of me. Enough to give us a record snowfall for February, a record for snowiest February, and vault this season up to second or third snowiest, depending on which TV channel you believe. Looks like there could be more on the way this week. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and borrow a snow rake for my roof I think. Regardless, the last couple of days have been good ones to just hunker down at home.

I did pick out a new mattress this weekend and it should be delivered late this week. I don't think I have ever gotten anything on one of those President's Day sales before, so that's one thing off my checklist. Every American should get something at a President's Day sale before they die. Kind of the way the Hajj is for Muslims.

Hmmmm:

At trial, Wells Fargo didn't send anyone to represent themselves, so Patrick got a default judgment against them for $1,173. They eventually sent him the amount, but they had still had not responded to his letters or agreed to fix his premiums, as required by law. So he filed for a sheriff's levy. This directs the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor's property to pay up. In this case, it was the local branch office of Wells Fargo mortgage, the ones who had been ignoring him all these years.

To get the levy, he presented the court clerk with his default judgment and got the Writ of Execution and the Instructions for Levy which he delivered to the sheriff's office. He paid them a $50 deposit to cover their administrative costs. A local sheriff then went into the Wells Fargo branch office and took an inventory and posted notice that nothing could be removed. The court also gave him several posters which he was expected to xerox and post around town.

Most likely Wells Fargo will not actually have that office seized, but I like how the man got their attention.

So we have apparently admitted that the US citizen being held in Pakistan on murder charges was a contractor working for the CIA. I still don't get how there could be any confusion about his diplomatic status. You don't just show up at another country and say, "Yo, I'm a diplomat and, dude, I got full immunity." Host countries like to know who such people are before they grant them a diplomatic visa and let them in. I thought they also were very clear about the diplomat's immunity status as well. As I've said before, I smell a screwup on the part of the US here. Was somebody was doing something that should have been reserved for a "diplomat" who was "covered"?

Oh Goody

It is time to pay for last week's temps near 50:

Last week I thought that the thaw would perhaps ease the flood threat this spring by getting some of the snowpack out of the way now. Silly me.

More: Even more good news just now. Because the snow started about four hours later than expected, I was hoping that meant we were going to see the low end of the scale today. Wrong, at least according to another local station. They are saying that the storm just shifted a little and the Twin Cities is now solidly in the 15-20" range. If it keeps snowing the way it is right now, I can see it. It's really coming down.

Wisconsin's Public Employee Unions: Abetting Dishonor One Profession At A Time

As an act of theatre, Wisconsin's Democratic senators disappearing for a day wouldn't be much of a big deal. As a tactic to slow things down for a few days I can't say I approve, but again, it's not that big a deal. Denying a quorum in the state senate as a policy negotiating tactic seems to me to cross a line. Obviously it isn't illegal, but it's not honorable politics and it strikes me as one more degradation of the political process by denying the legislative majority the right to do what they were elected to do. 

And let's talk about teachers. Like I mentioned yesterday, a sick-out to protest for one day could probably forgiven, but the teachers who decided to push things even further and lied and called in sick to show up at Madison for more than that have dishonored themselves and their profession. Their students know why they were gone and they know that they lied to do so. Good luck getting their respect back. 

And now, they've managed to corrupt some doctors into lying and writing sick notes for them.

 

That's right, some of the public employees who have lied to spend much of last week at the Wisconsin state capitol protesting are getting sham notes from doctors so they not only don't have to face the consequences of their actions, the taxpayers of Wisconsin will end up paying them for their lies. Shame on them and shame on the doctors who are lying for them. The doctor above is not doing something honorable, he's a liar and a disgrace to his profession. 

I was fairly dispassionate about things before, but now if I were to give Wisconsin Governor Walker some advice it would be this:

"They lie and cheat to protest reform, they bring President Obama in on a state matter, you school voucher their asses. That's the Chicago way!"

You Know What It's Going To Be In 100 Years? It's Gonna Be Sand!

I've been feeling a bit crabby the last couple of days, so how about some definitely NSFW and politically incorrect humor?

Like I said, NSFW:

 

We Had To Stop Their Education In Order To Save It

Some school districts in Wisconsin have had to shut down for a third day because the teachers have gone to Madison to protest? If I was a parent in one of those districts I would be pretty angry right now:

The large amount of expected absences led the Madison School District to cancel school today, the third consecutive day of closures.

Other districts, including Belleville and Pardeeville, also announced Thursday that school would be closed today.

On Thursday, after the state's largest teachers union Wednesday night called on its 98,000 members to attend rallies in Madison, districts including La Crosse, Mosinee and Racine shut down because of teacher absences.

That's not right. One phony sick day off would probably warrant a minor grumble at most, but three is ridiculous. Now we're talking callous disregard for the children they are supposed to teach and the taxpayers of their districts who pay their salaries. 

There's more to the story than just teachers, it involves government workers in general. This is what the fight is about:

The measure would increase the contributions of public employees to their own retirement and medical benefits. The plan, put forward by new Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., would have public workers make equal contributions to their retirement funds (teachers currently contribute $1 for every $56.94 from the state) and increase workers’ share of health insurance premiums to 12.6 percent. Teachers in most districts currently pay less than 5 percent of their insurance costs. The national average for workers is 27 percent.

While the increased contributions are a sore spot, the greatest anger among demonstrators is over the portion of the bill that would strip public workers of the right to bargain for higher wages, benefits and changes to job duties. Pay raises for public workers would be subject to voter approval. Under the law, the state would also stop withholding union dues from government paychecks and make due payments strictly voluntary.

Back in the days when government salaries were low, you could justify better benefits and job security to make up for it. Surveys show now though, that not only are benefits sweeter than ever for government workers, overall salaries have surpassed the private sector too(the caution here being not all jobs, it's case by case).

I'm open to opposing arguments, but it seems to me that the issue here is that some unions have decided they want it all, and they have used their power to force Cadillac wage and benefit deals on the taxpayer. Now the taxpayers are striking back. Judging from the sense of entitlement union members displayed in Madison this week, I'm think it's about time.

Bummer

Twins pitchers and catchers report today, but there's some disappointing news that has one person holding out and perhaps not reporting for the season at all: Me.

The problem is one more money making deal at the expense of the fans:

Fox Sports North announced Wednesday that it will become the Minnesota Twins' exclusive home, which means the end of weekend games on broadcast channel WFTC, Ch. 29. It also means that the 18 percent of Twin Cities viewers who don't have cable or satellite will be left with only eight scheduled games airing nationally on the Fox network. Add in cable subscribers who only pay for the basic tier, which FSN is not part of, and you've got a lot of fans crying foul.

A previous deal had left only the Sunday afternoon games as regularly scheduled on broadcast television. That was 25 games last year. Now Twins fans will have to catch one of a handful of national games on FOX when those are available or pony up for cable, mlb.com, a seat at the bar, or a ticket for a game.

You know what? This might just be the last straw. I think I've finally had it. Years of caring more about revenue, from both the management and the players, have at last become too much. I was going to do a post today about how pitching for the Twins is shaping up this year, but the hell with it. There will be no post on that today and no need for a category called "Minnesota Twins-2011."

I have to choose between forking over some money if I want to watch the team or quitting as a fan, I guess.

I quit.

It's Not Really That Tough

A front page story of the StarTribune this morning:

Minnesota drivers have more than the harsh winter to blame for an early flurry of tire-wrecking potholes. The Twin Cities' cratered roadways also offer a glimpse of the future as the state struggles to stretch inadequate funds to tackle growing transportation needs.

Here's an idea: Stop wasting billions on a light rail system that is only  gauranteed to never pay for itself and be an additional money suck on the taxpayers for eternity. And maybe we should stop sending money to Washington D.C. to have it returned to us only if we build a stupid and wasteful light rail system.

That really wasn't that hard.

The Perils Of Making Them "Other"(Updated)

I guess Nir Rosen is the latest poster child for "Stepped in it...big time."

While the world reels in shock over CBS reporter Lara Logan's sexual assault in Egypt, another American journalist is causing a different kind of outrage, calling Logan a "warmonger" who was simply trying to outdo Anderson Cooper.

Nir Rosen, an NYU fellow who has extensively covered the Iraq War, made the insensitive remarks during a Twitter rant on Tuesday. He has since resigned from the university's Center on Law and Security.

Rosen also has apologized. 

I'm sure Rosen sincerely regrets those tweets, but I wonder, does he regret the dehumanization of Logan that made him feel free to write that crap to begin with? Because I think that's really the core issue here, assuming Rosen isn't some kind of sociopath. Make a charge and slap a label and then feel free to write what would otherwise be considered outrageous. And c'mon, there's not much more outrageous out there than joking about someone's brutal rape and beating.

Look at how he characterized Logan to justify what he was writing:

"...dedicate her career to promoting America's wars."

"...her role glorifying war."

"...we should at least remember her role as a major war monger."

Given Rosen's long history of vehement opposition to America's efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq it would not surprise me a bit if he had not just dehumanized Logan, she was probably somewhere below pond scum as far as he was concerned.

To be clear, I'm not singling Rosen out here as some unique example. I think the trap of dehumanizing people we disagree with is a risk that everyone faces. I know I've struggled with it at times. While there are truly human monsters out there, let's face it: Nearly all of the people we disagree with politically are really decent human beings.

That's not to say that all labels are bad or we can't call people out for bad behavior or opinions we disagree with, and to sometimes do that in anger or with passion. Heck, I called him a dirtbag over at The Swilling and I stand by that assessment. But he's a human dirtbag and I'm not wishing some horrible fate on him.

At the end of the day you should still be able to recognize that your political opponent is a person. If you can't, then you might want to take a step back and think about things. Because you're probably one easy and sudden momentary lapse of reason from the tweet or blog post that you'll quickly come to regret.

Update: Wow, now he takes the poster for "abject."

"Like most men, I need to be better educated and far more sensitive to the suffering of women and victims of sexual abuse."

Or, translated:

"Thank you Ma'am, may I have another!"

Read the whole thing, but geez, now I'm all contemptuous of both the initial offense and that apology. That's a pretty tough trick, because I'm not that much of an asshole when it comes to these things.

Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up, He Explained

Another day, another hysterical rant from a global warming alarmist. The only thing that makes this one special is its remarkably inapt attempt to portray skeptics as the modern day equivalent of the 17th century Roman Catholic Church, persecuting the brave global warming alarmists:

Will it take the Republican Party as long to accept modern science as it took the Roman Catholic Church? The church waited 359 years to admit Galileo was right — the earth does move around the sun. Not until 1992 did the Vatican officially withdraw its condemnation of the man Albert Einstein called the father of modern science.

Today, even children know that the earth revolves around the sun. But that idea was heresy to the 17th-century church. When Galileo would not abandon his views, the Inquisition put him on trial in 1633. He was forced to recant under penalty of death, then lived under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Now the House Republican majority is launching its own attack on Galileo’s scientific descendants. Rejecting mainstream climate science became a GOP litmus test during the 2010 midterm elections. Republican leaders then floated the idea of putting mainstream climate science on trial in congressional hearings.

I've got some bad news for the author, Mark Hertsgaard. The rigid thinking and slavish devotion to one theory, the hysterical attempts to denounce critics, and the dismissal and suppression of science that contradicts them can all be laid on his team, the global warming alarmists. That's their behavior, not the behavior of the responsible skeptics. We are not the ones hiding data, hiding how data has been manipulated, and shutting opposing views out of the conversation. We are not the ones telling people to shut up.

And we are not the ones making false assertions such as this:

This is true today: Modern science has conclusively demonstrated that human activities are dangerously overheating the planet — notwithstanding Republicans’ desire to repeal that conclusion.

That is absolutely false. Modern science has done nothing of the sort and I strongly suspect that Mr. Hertsgaard actually knows that. There is a great deal of debate about how much the earth has warmed recently, what has caused it, and the implications for the future. Mr Hertsgaard is certainly welcome to make his case but he seems a bit more preoccupied with silencing his critics using everything but science in the process.

Hiding temperature data and how it has been manipulated. Conspiring to shut out scientists with opposing views. Using ridicule and vicious slurs to attack honest critics. Those are tactics, not science, and it is instructive that global warming alarmists have to resort to such nonsense. 

Hertsgaard's piece contains not one bit of actual scientific evidence, but it is quite long on invective and ends with this rather dubious advice:

As Republicans seek to repeal climate science, it is past time for the chattering class in Washington to stop giving them a pass. Climate cranks should instead be called to account for the terrible damages they have set in motion and prevented from further sabotaging our nation’s response to this crisis.

I guess responding to critics with evidence that can withstand scrutiny is out of the question. You know, Hertsgaard sounds more like a Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith here. I get the distinct impression that when he writes "denier" or "climate crank", what he really means is "heretic."

Science!