A word (or few) on service

This is a weekend dedicated to military service. Memorial Day is a melancholy holiday for me. I think of my many family members and friends who served in the military. Aunts and uncles from the WW II age are almost all gone now. Nephews and cousins have served from Vietnam to the Gulf War. Friends and sons and daughters of friends are on active duty right now.

My generation of high school graduates faced Vietnam. My draft number was 36. Flunked the physical at the induction center. While I went home on one bus, another bus headed in another direction carrying more than one of my high school cohorts toward military service.

That day I was relieved to tears. And I was remorseful with guilt. The direction my bus traveled opened completely different doors than what were opening for that other bus full of people with draft numbers like mine.

Eventually, I joined the Peace Corps serving in South and Central America. It's not the military. Yet, I've always hoped that in some measure small or grand that I had represented my nation as best as I could.

You see, I really love this country.

Ghoulish

Spoke with a mortician today. Thought of Scott Walker

Leave Bratfest Alone

The following is probably easy for me since I've never been to a Bratfest in my entire life. But as protest/boycott efforts go, targeting Bratfest is the all-wrong choice of all-time. Indeed, the guy who runs Johnsonville is a republican asshole contributing to the Walker campaign. And contributions are one thing but he had to then run his mouth off about it. We've established his assholishness.

Then there's your other major event sponsor - Metcalf's. They, too, donated to the Walker campaign. In fact, a lot of people and organizations donated to the Walker campaign. I don't like that but it's hardly a foul and besides campaign donations are how the process is greased. Metcalf's is as solid a local citizen business as you can have in a community. Its charities are widely felt and appreciated. Want good corporate citizenship? Look to Metcalf's as an example.

Finally, there's Bratfest itself. The event is a community fund raiser, fergawdsakes. And a generous charity at that. World's Largest Bratfest has a whole page of benefactors for the proceeds. Sweet.

The object of a boycott/protest is to hurt the other guy. Oh, and I'd love to hurt Walker and his minions. But a boycott of Bratfest won't have any affect what so ever on Johnsonville Brats or Metcalf's. It will however, take money out of the charitable pool. Sure, your alternate fests can raise some money but my guess is not as much as what might be lost at the main event.

One possible silver lining to the alternate fests, and I think there's now about four, is that they don't affect Bratfest in the slightest but do manage to bring whole new audiences out for charitable causes.

Such a turn of events would be a net gain. Meanwhile, go to Bratfest, eat, drink, listen to music and be happy. There are better ways to hurt republicans than to threaten a solid local charity event
 

Wutz that in your pants?

Concealed carry law? Really? I've always assumed the guy next to me had a loaded gun in his pants. But I'm funny that way. Thinking about what girls conceal in their pants.

Is that a gun in your pants or are you having a breakdown?

Concealed guns? Hell, yeah! I'd throw public education off the boat any day to have a gun hidden in my pants.

Ghoul fest

Never satisfied, the Ghoul-in-Chief signed the hateful, odious voter suppression law today licking his lips greedily at the shrieking death scream of democracy. Surprising he could take the Koch out of his mouth long enough to hold a pen.

Voter suppression

Sprayed yard for weeds. Thought about voter suppression.

Quote of the day

State Senator Fred Risser being interviewed on the TeeVee: "Wisconsin has a tradition of democracy."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Heh? Someone needs to clue Risser's republican cohorts in on the tradition. And I think democracy is more than a tradition.

A job creating engine

It's a long list that I can only dimly summarize: Budget ruination, voter suppression, ending planned parenthood, public authority...

These republicans are a damn job creatin' engine now ain't they?

Republican filth parade continued in Wisconsin senate today

It's not every day you get to see actual ghouls eating the flesh of living humans. But you can see it in the Wisconsin senate. Like today. Wisconsin Eye has the gruesome video if you have the stomach for it.

Why did I read that anyway?

Wisconsin State Journal, you know. Letters to the editor. Comments sections. Editorial page. You see, editors make choices about the letters they publish, the stories they run. So when I see a letter comparing damage done to the Wisconsin state capital to terrorism my head hurts.

Why would an editor choose to run with such a letter? Seriously. Protestors are terrorists? Fuck. If I think generously, I'd say the paper picked a letter calling demonstrators terrorists just to illustrate the sheer stupid.

It's sheer stupid alright but I doubt making a letter writer look stupid was what the Journal had in mind with the selection. No, watching the Journal over time my guess is they're pandering.

They're trying to be fair, you see. Never mind that one of our citizens thinks demonstrations are acts of terrorism. Hell, that's a valid point right? Let's run with that one, Earl, you know, to show we're being fair.

The Wisconsin State Journal is a rag.

Saudi's finest

Greetings,

Swung by the gas station to top off the old car and get a couple of gallons of lawn mowing fuel. $30 later I'm asking myself why the fuck don't we boost the tax on this crap? The price of gas can go up 10-15 cents overnight and we just keep self-fleecing.

Almost every single penny leaves. Much of the money spent on gas leaves the country. If we'd slap an other 10-15 cents tax on it right now we could at least keep some of the cash closer to home. Gawd forbid we'd spend that gas tax on public transportation but even if the tax was spent on more and better roads and bridges we'd at least have some increased economic activity to show for our pain.

Of course if the citizens of this country were genuinely interested in bitch slapping a few of these oil rich despots around the world we'd go on a conservation binge like no other. Energy conservation is decidedly unprofitable for a few people. Conservation would be great for a guy at the pump like me.

The cheapest gallon of gas you'll ever have is the one you never have to buy.

Well, good!

No worries

Greetings,

My grandfather sold horses, mules and hay to the crews building US HWY 51. No worries. Nobody's grandkid will ever have to tell stories about grandpa selling gravel, sand and concrete to build the supertrain in Wisconsin.

Ya think maybe? Duh!

Here's the deal: Greed isn't exactly fresh. We're all a little inclined, no? But normal humans resist. Decency prevails among the decent. And we're fucked for the decency. Meanwhile the whores of gluttony lick their lips and bletch satisfied.

Speculation explains more about oil prices than anything else | McClatchy

McClatchy

McClatchy

Republicans legislate licking their fingers, smacking their jowls satiated on malfeasance.

Rusty

Still a softy

Greetings,
We'll be talking about The Great Rescission Garden 3.0. And the revolution. Random yet focused. There will be pictures.

Me

Totally mine

Greetings,

Desperate times. And I hate being oppressed. Time to speak up, speak out.
Me