Prince and Radiohead...

Apparently, Prince covered Radiohead's Creep at a concert and now Prince's label has blocked the video on YouTube. This has disgruntled the super awesome Radiohead front man Thom Yorke.

Yorke added: "Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song."

This is a battle of epic proportions, as we see the one of the greatest rock bands of the last twenty years battle ________ (I'm not sure, but I think he is Prince again.) Go Radiohead! Protect the rights of the people, especially since Radiohead doesn't normally do Creep anymore.

Bell's, the real king of beers...

So, I thought I would enlighten any of you that may be beer drinkers and are unaware of the best beer in the world -- Bell's Two Hearted Ale. Take a peak at that link and review some of their other wonderful brews straight out of Comstock, Michigan. Bell's brings the Comstock lode (pun intended) to brewing good beer.

Two hearted ale is a wonderful balance of drinkability and hop presence. Bell's often uses Hemingway-esque to describe this brew, and despite my not quite being able to find a clear definition in my mind of what that means, it seems about as good as I could come up with as a critic. Tap. Please. Thank you.

Today's sign that the apocalpyse is upon us...

So, I stole one of my favorite themes of the old Sports Illustrated (or maybe they still have it, I wouldn't know as I stopped reading it in 8th grade). But, really what else could be a better title for the fact that Dunkin Donuts has pulled ads featuring Rachel Ray because right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin wrote that it looked like a kaffiyeh. Which, in Malkin's words is

''The kaffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,''

I really don't know if I am more confounded by Malkin's ability to significantly overreact to an artical of clothing, or if the fact that Dunkin' Donuts responded. I guess this could be used to extrapolate the political leanings of the DD crowd? Who knows, I'm just glad I didn't buy that white and black scarf this past winter...

100 metro areas carbon foot print...

per capita. Brookings has issued a report ranking 100 metro areas on their carbon footprints. I found it interesting that the bottom five were all either in or close to the good old Hoosier homeland. Of course, I shouldn't get too high and mighty as I sit here in Madison, where we are apparently 81st. Oops, so much for being a green city.

I haven't read the entire report, but I would be interested to see how certain elements were handled. The article in the NYT mentions the effects of centralized transportation hubs (e.g. ports and railway centers), but I would also question the validity in comparing some of the smaller Metros to the very large ones. For example, it seems quite likely to me that there is a fixed cost (in carbon footprint) of creating, transporting and providing the infrastructure, goods and services to the population of any area. It would seem, however, that with exceptionally high density (e.g. New York or LA) that the incremental cost for additional residents should be significantly lower than for a smaller metro. I think this is just another example of the Brookings Institute's West Coast Bias, which is promulgated by employees who are trying to get even at the college sports media for always dissing the PAC-10.

Op-ed page offers two goodies...

I know, you can't believe one of them isn't Billy boy, can you? Today's NYT Op-ed page features Tommy Friedman on energy policy and Amartya Sen on food prices.

Friedman aims to send a message to the consumer and automobile manufacturer both via a permanent floor of $4 per gallon of gasoline (1/2 the Euro zone going rate, he adds pertinently)...

But the message going forward to every car buyer and carmaker would be this: The price of gasoline is never going back down. Therefore, if you buy a big gas guzzler today, you are locking yourself into perpetually high gasoline bills. You are buying a pig that will eat you out of house and home. At the same time, if you, a manufacturer, continue building fleets of nonhybrid gas guzzlers, you are condemning yourself, your employees and shareholders to oblivion.

What a cruel thing for a candidate to say? I disagree. Every decade we look back and say: “If only we had done the right thing then, we would be in a different position today.”

Sen also develops an interesting argument related to the food price increases and how they are related to the increase in consumption (demand) of the fast growing economy's winners, at the expense of those winners fellow citizens who are not winning in the global economy.

It is a tale of two peoples. In one version of the story, a country with a lot of poor people suddenly experiences fast economic expansion, but only half of the people share in the new prosperity. The favored ones spend a lot of their new income on food, and unless supply expands very quickly, prices shoot up. The rest of the poor now face higher food prices but no greater income, and begin to starve. Tragedies like this happen repeatedly in the world.

Of particular note, is the fact that energy policy collides with food policy in the fields of Iowa, where we continually use countless bushels of corn to fuel our gas guzzling hybrid SUV's while empty stomachs ache for some of that fuel...

In 2005, the United States Congress began to require widespread use of ethanol in motor fuels. This law combined with a subsidy for this use has created a flourishing corn market in the United States, but has also diverted agricultural resources from food to fuel. This makes it even harder for the hungry stomachs to compete.

Ducks on the pond...

or just around the corner, as it is. The Madison Mallards season opens on Thursday, and even if I don't make the opener, I'm going to try and make at least a half a duck's dozen games this summer. There really is something to the slogan, baseball like it oughta be...

I think the Cards used to use that slogan... Or maybe that was Busch beer.

Gas consumption is down...

A whopping 0.6 percent from last year. Which, given the 70 cents a gallon (22%) increase over last year, would seem to indicate that if gas rises to $11 a gallon we might cut 10% of our consumption. I recognize, of course, that there is a cliff at which consumption will drastically be ratcheted back, but am admittedly intrigued by the fact that after all of the news about the effects of the increase in fuel costs we have cut consumption by a whopping 0.6%. This just confounds me. I wonder if anyone in Congress is questioning their complete ineptitude with regard to CAFE standards over the past 23 years? I doubt it, but they should recognize that their own capitulation to the auto industry is a significant contributory factor in the current situation, whereby even with large increases in price we are struggling to even hold the line on consumption. I guess you should also blame urban (or suburban) planners, auto manufacturers, and consumers, but it seems to me that a truly strong energy security policy needs to be set from DC.*

* Though I'm beginning to like the small approach favored by sustainable agriculture folks who were left out to dry by the feds for years and are developing their own alternative system of food production. Unfortunately, this may be a little harder to emulate with regards to alternative and sustainable energy.

Better late than never...

Or is it? The ruling military authoritarian junat in Myanmar is finally going to allow international assistance into the country. This comes nearly three weeks after the cyclone, which to me is a perfect example of dictatorial rule run amok. Of course, if we had an international body with an interest in promoting human rights and welfare maybe they could speak out on this issue... Or maybe they could offer political cover witha quote like this from Ban Ki-moon:

"He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter," Ban said.

Even with the countless "it's so good of them to allow this help" quotes, we did get a glimpse of candor from the UN World Food Programme:

Despite restrictions imposed by the junta, the organization says it's been able to distribute food to half a million people. Still, more could have been done had the WFP been given greater access to those in need.

"It's virtually impossible to quantify," Prior [UN spokesman] said of damage done by the lost time. "We've done very significant work during that time."

I would offer this as another example of how without transparency and freedom for the citizens a government (junta, political party, autocrat) in power not only can, but invariably will fail to act in the best interests of the citizens. This is of course a take on the old adage about absolute power, but is one that should not go unnoted.

Rove making and reporting the news...

So Karl* has gotten the ole subpoena from Congress, which I'm sure following the Bush administration's model will mean absolutely nothing. We can, however, have some hope that Congress will continue to push on the Executive Branch to answer some questions about the attorney firings.

Additionally of note is the fact that I quickly dropped in to the fox news website and noticed that this story had not, as of this afternoon at 4, been picked up for coverage. Hmmm... We Report (some things), you decide (with slightly altered information).... I know that this isn't groundbreaking news, but I couldn't find any mention over at FoxNews. Not too suprising, since they wouldn't want one of their big news analyst's to be making the news of the day... that might look biased.

* Why is it that I always smirk when I meet a right winger named Karl? I guess I would do the same if I met one named Vladimir too.... oh wait who is the President, uh I mean prime minister of Russia?

I feel really bad for Harper Lee and George Orwell...

If you look at the reader's choice list of the top 100 Best novels, you will too. (I should also feel a little bad for Tolkien, but you know he probably has a lot of crossover appeal with the Objectivists... though Orwell might too, which is unfortunate for them since he was definatively not of their ilk.)

The Triple Threat...

Perusing the NYT today, I found a very interesting snippet in Friedman's column.

“Call it the triple deficit,” said Mr. Rothkopf. “A fiscal deficit that will soon have us choosing between rationed health care, sufficient education, adequate infrastructure and traditional levels of defense spending, a trade deficit that has us borrowing from our rivals to the point of real vulnerability, and a geopolitical deficit that is a legacy of Iraq, which may result in hesitancy to take strong stands where we must.”

Rothkopf is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment, and author of the new book Superclass, which I may have to read despite it's conspiracy theory sounding blurbs...

Each one of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international ?nance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time.

Under any circumstance the "triple threat" mentioned hits on a lot of my concern with the current American situation. How do we work through these three deficits? I don't know the answer to that, but I do know we aren't doing much to address any of the three at this time.

CNN's gadgets...

I can't seem to locate the specific guy I'm thinking of's name, but has anyone else noted that CNN can't cover an election night story without relying on their super high tech touch screen gadget things? Don't get me wrong, I think they look awesome and have a lot of interesting utility, but it gets old to watch Anderson Cooper ask this guy --- "so, what does it look like?" -- with the answer being -- "here let's look at each county by county's results and I can zoom in and all kinds of cool ass stuff."

I could probably find ten things that are more important about the media's coverage of the 2008 primary election, but that wouldn't be me. I want to complain about the thing that bugs me.

Edmonds is a Cubbie...

I guess this shows that I'm not on the up and up as much as I think I am with regard to MLB. I never thought I would see the sad day when Edmonds would be wearing the Cubs uni... Oh well, maybe he can have a good year even with the team failing.

Here's to the Cards pulling out of the sixth inning jam.

Rove on Fox...

Is anyone surprised by the fact that Fox isn't disclosing the relationship between Rove and McCain when he appears on as a political commentator? Fair and balanced. Always.

Pass the Mustard....

Taylor Clark offers us omnivores a little insight into the vegetarian's mind, with an essay at Slate. I found the essay to be insightful in some respects, but a little sad in that it seems to promote the odd moral imperative that we should not kill animals and consume them (and craving a hot dog with mustard)...

Believe me, if obtaining bacon didn't require slaughtering a pig, I'd have a BLT in each hand right now with a bacon layer cake waiting in the fridge for dessert. But, that said, I can also tell you that with some time away from the butcher's section, many meat products start to seem gross. Ground beef in particular now strikes me as absolutely revolting; I have a vague memory that hamburgers taste good, but the idea of taking a cow's leg, mulching it into a fatty pulp, and forming it into a pancake makes me gag. And hot dogs … I mean, hot dogs? You do know what that is, right?

I understand that we don't have to kill and eat animals, but I do have some curiosity as to what we should do with all those cows if we don't. I really feel that sometimes this don't kill idea is dragging us away from a key part of our humanity -- as big time predator of an important food chain. It doesn't seem sustainable to me that we could cease eating meat en masse. I do recognize that Mr. Clark doesn't necessarily advocate for such a large transition, but the whole moral/ethical argument is, in my opinion, weak soup. Of course, we should strive to raise and kill these animals in the least offensive and harmful way, but -- call me a biological conservative -- I think that our traditional role as a predator in our food system is important.

Clark concludes:

Finally, grant me one more cordial request: Please don't try to convince us that being vegetarian is somehow wrong. If you're concerned for my health, that's very nice, though you can rest assured that I'm in shipshape. If you want to have an amiable tête-à-tête about vegetarianism, that's great. But if you insist on being the aggressive blowhard who takes meatlessness as a personal insult and rails about what fools we all are, you're only going to persuade me that you're a dickhead. When someone says he's Catholic, you probably don't start the stump speech about how God is a lie created to enslave the ignorant masses, and it's equally offensive to berate an herbivore. I know you think we're crazy.

Who says we shouldn't say those things to Catholics??? OK, I guess not, and I'll try to be good... My cordial request back to the vegetarians is that they not inform me what is in a hot dog while I'm preparing my homage to the "guts and stuff encased meat products on a bun gods" at the game. I know what's in those dogs (I've made them), and no I don't find it gross. Oh, and please pass the relish too.

Bill, you've been a bad boy...

No, not that Bad Bill, I'm talking about Bill Belichick. It looks like he is attacking Matt Walsh, maybe in an effort to show once again that the best defense is a good offense (or at least a solid offensive attack of credibility of any former employees by belittling their role and importance).

“There’s not a lot of credibility,” Belichick said in an interview broadcast on “CBS Evening News.”

Of course, he might be getting all shitty because everybody seems to finally be getting a little more worked up about this (including Senator Specter, however this may be his Eagle fan talking).

That rationale has already been rejected by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who fined the coach $500,000 and docked the Patriots $250,000 and its first-round draft pick.

“I didn’t accept Bill Belichick’s explanation for what happened,” Goodell said Tuesday, “and I still don’t to this day.”

In an interview with HBO for “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” Walsh dismissed Belichick’s attempts to minimize the impact of the taping. Walsh told HBO he was coached on how to evade NFL rules, and that team officials instructed him on ways to avoid detection.

“When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong,” Walsh said. “Coach Belichick’s explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn’t sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing.”

Belichick denied telling Walsh to hide what he was doing.

OK, so this donkey almost started to respect Belichick for his accomplishments, even though he comes across like an ass (of course, I'm one.. so). This cheating, however, really puts a taint on all their work... I think what still gets my goat is the fact that they were not punished with a forfeit for the first week of last season against the Jets. But, alas, we didn't have to give them credit for a complete perfect season since my G-men showed them where to stick it. Sorry for the negativity, but BB is an annoying overconfident jackass.

Age ain't nothing but a number...

Ken, over at Mel-Anon, offers up a solid question regarding why the mainstream media isn't covering the voting trends of the different age brackets in the Democratic primaries/caucuses. Ken points to significant differentials in the polling data that exemplify this trend. To quote at length...

Exit poll data shows that Obama does consistently better among the youth vote regardless of race, class, or gender. In Indiana, which Clinton won by a scant two points, Obama won among voters aged 17-29 by a 22-point margin. Clinton won among white voters as a whole by 18 points, but lost under-30 white voters 54-46. The MSNBC poll does not break down age by gender, and there are frequently not enough black and Latino voters to register representative samples. In Texas, Obama nearly broke even with Latino voters under-30 while losing the overall Latino vote handily, though in California his results were similar through all age brackets.

Likewise, Clinton has been sweeping up the over-65 vote by large margins in virtually every state. In Indiana, she won this group by 40 points, and it rarely breaks less. In North Carolina, she lost the overall vote by 15, but still carried the loyal elderly 57-41.

This data may indeed seem academic to some, but in the world of cross tabulation exercises, these splits pretty much assure that there is something significant happening here. I believe the media is treating this issue tenderly because they know that it's impossible to get it "right" from the marketing/advertising perspective. If you are a newscaster/host you know that the tried and true 65 and over demographic is a core base of you paycheck, but yet that ever alluring 18-29 crowd is calling your name... Is it possible to draw them into the "system" whereby they can tune in every Sunday morning (if they can get their lazy asses up) to watch some talking heads (some are bigger than others) blabber on about the talking points? Who do you alienate? The obvious business choice is neither, by ignoring the issue.

Generational change and conflict is at the crux of the American (and probably all) civilization. The young rebel against the old, seeking to simultaneously react and revolt against the wrongs perpetuated by their elders. The significant thing about the current revolt is that the young folks seem to be more directly engaged in the process than in the past, and are willing to exert their power through the more traditional means of organizing and voting. This is both inspiring and depressing at the same time, as one sees hope in the engaged young population and yet we are left to decry the days gone by of less conventional means of change (i.e. real protests). Of course, the extreme adversarialism promoted by the Boomers against their parents didn't exactly work out well. The one thing that I am confident in is that the Obama campaign has mobilized the young folks in a way that most political scientists would have not thought possible. So, to those in the Boomer cohort, I suggest you prepare to give up some of that influence...

Whether or not one sees Obama as an agent of genuine change, he is nonetheless an avatar for the battle between aging Boomers clinging to one more banzai run at saving their legacy and post Gen-Xers staking their own claims to a vision of which direction the country should go.

Well said, my friend, well said.

McCain's Rose Colored Glasses...

Apparently, McCain doesn't think we will have to fight the war in Iraq for 100 years anymore, but maybe we can win by 2013.

“By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom,” Mr. McCain said at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. “The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced.”

I am a little concerned that the "best" scenario McCain could come up with is "winning" in another four and half years -- and this "win" would still entail a troop present and "spasmodic" violence... I don't know that I can accept the idea that a functioning democracy can tolerate "spasmodic" political/ethnic violence. And what is so miraculous about 2013? What is going to happen in the next four and a half years that hasn't in the last five? Well, the one sure answer under McCain's watch is that more American troops and Iraqi civilians will die in a war zone.

Irrelevant Endorsement?

Does endorsing at this late stage seem a little silly? John Edwards apparently doesn't think so... I sincerely hope that this is indeed a deep committment to the poverty and inequality issues consistently raised by Edwards, but it may turn out to be a political cherry picker role, whereby endorsing before the end good ole Johnny might win some scrappie poos at the Cabinet table?

And the survey says...

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll from late April (partially available at pollingreport.com), 60% of respondents stated that the increase in gas prices have caused some financial hardship in their lives. Of particular note here, is the fact that this is down 12% from the 72% who responded in the affirmative to this question in March. This doesn't make much sense to me, unless if the coverage in March focused on the issue more, and therefore informed consumers to be worried little folks during that time... Of course, this is entails taking a rather negative view of the ability of the populace to fully weigh the realities of higher priced oil to their own lives. Or, maybe folks were comforted knowing the $1,200 was in the mail.

Of more interest to me is the fact that 78% of respondents think it is likely that they will pay $5 a gallon for gas at some point this year. Even more astonishing is that 44% think it is very likely to occur. I have to admit that this view is even more pessimistic than I am on energy prices, as I would peg it to top around $4.40 a gallon in mid to late summer. Additionally, five out of six respondents think oil companies are making too much profit, while 13% feel it is a reasonable profit. This poll also shows us that 3% of the respondents have some vested interest in oil, or so I would venture, given that this is the percentage that claimed oil companies were not making enough of a profit!!! For real?

Call me a millenarian...

But doesn't it seem like there have been a lot of weather related catastrophes recently? The Chinese earthquake, the Myanmar cyclone, the tornadoes (spelling?) in the midwest/south... Maybe I'm just normally oblivious to these things, but it seems like a tough couple of weeks for the human race with regards to our relationship to good ole momma nature.

Mushroom and Asparagus Linguine...

With the arrival of asparagus at the >Dane County Farmer's Market this past weekend, I can confidently pronounce that spring has sprung. I was able to pick up nearly all of the fresh ingredients to make the following mushroom and asparagus pasta dish last evening...

Ingredients:
9 oz. Fresh Mushroom Linguine from RP's Pasta
1 smallish Red Onion Garlic
3 cloves of garlic
2/3 lb. blend of shitakes and oyster mushrooms
1 bunch (15 stalks) of asparagus
White Wine (Praire Fume from Wollersheim in this case, though slightly drier is probably better)
1/4 stick Butter
handful of fresh arugula
Fresh green onions (3 stems)
Romano / Parmesan (optional)

Directions:
Remove stems from mushrooms (leave some of the oyster core), slice into 1/4 inch strips. Dice onion and garlic. Wash asparagus and cut away any overly firm portions at the base of the stalk. Cut each stalk into 3-5 pieces using a bias cut method. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in large pot (lots of room for the pasta to move), also bring 1 quart of water to boil in a double steamer (boiling is ok, but make sure to use plenty of salt in the water to keep those nutrients and color in the asparagus) for the asparagus. Heat a large skillet on high and when hot add a bit of olive (pomace) oil to the pan with the garlic and onions (red not green). Saute over medium high heat until the onions start to turn translucent then add the mushroom blend. Add the asparagus to the steamer and the pasta to the boiling water, each should cook for between 3-4.5 minutes.

After the mushrooms become tender to the touch, raise the heat to high and add wine to deglaze the pan. As the wine boils, lower the heat slightly and begin adding small amounts of butter to make the sauce. Work the butter into the wine, and allow to thicken over the heat. Drain the asparagus and the pasta, adding both to the saucepan. Toss in the green onions, some salt and pepper. Plate in pasta bowls and grate some cheese (optional) and chiffonade of arugala. Enjoy.

This recipe is neccesarily vague, as I've never been a tactician in the kitchen. I do, however, think that this style of fresh pasta and veggies with a white wine and butter (I hesitate to refer to this as a beurre blanc) sauce is something to be expreienced. Especially right now, as the asparagus is so much better (less bitter, crisper, and meatier) than what is available most of the year.

The Birds fall to second...

Alas, as I sit here sipping a Maker's Mark I am struck with the realization that after tonight's loss to the Crew, my Cards have fallen a half game out of first in the NL Central. What makes matters worse, is that it is the Cubs to whom we gave the top dog honors with our loss. This will hopefully be the last time we are out of first all year, but I am a little worried that the Cards are going through a bit of a regression to the mean...

NASCAR and baseball???

I am notoriously not a fan of NASCAR --- OK, I really hate NASCAR ---, but
this is just plain funny.

Jimmy Gobble is probably my fave, though the Jerry Springer car sounds interesting as well.

Cards are knotted at 1 against the Brewers, with the season series tied at 4, this is important for bragging rights for me.

A sad story, a scary society...

Apparently, more than one-third of laptop owners regurlarly take it to bed with them. I'm not sure exactly why, but this disturbs me quite a lot...

Joe Guppy, a Seattle couples counselor, says today's couples often find it challenging to keep the communication devices from getting in the way of, well, communicating.

"Communication problems seem to be the No. 1 thing people ask about when they call," he says. "They come to the session and pay me $100 just so they can sit together and talk. And to me, the No. 1 red flag is if each person is engaged in their own cyberworld or video world. I had one couple that would even get into arguments via text message."

Guppy recommends sharing digital distractions so one partner doesn't feel left out (Sekerak and her husband choose Netflix movies together) and establishing limits.

"Over time, we've learned to set boundaries," says Flannery, the PR consultant. "We can't answer phone calls during dinner. We can't bring the phone to church with us."

Nor, should you answer or even think about the internet, phone, blackberry or other communication device most of the time in the bedroom... there are other forms of communication and entertainment available!

Clinton not looking for help retiring debt...

Wink, Wink. CNN reports that the Obama camp, in the form of Axelrod, is denying they are in discussions with the Clinton camp on a "deal." This, given the Inverted CNN Spin rule, invariably means that the two camps are indeed in discussions over ending the battle. I would be amazed if a deal isn't being negotiated, my concern, however, is that one won't get done. Other than the potential retirement of campaign debt, I don't see much that the Obama camp can offer Clinton that she doesn't already have. I guess she may pressure him to pressure Harry Reid to step down as Majority Leader, but Obama surely can't act on any such pressure given the facts that Nevada is in play and Reid seems to get along quite well with Pelosi, whom Obama would definately need to be a viable president (as long as she remains in Speaker role). A real concern here for the Dems should be how do they keep Hillary happy, so that she doesn't turn Obama the young'en into a cooked and limp lame duck first termer through lack of ability to get anything through Congress. This would especially be a severe taint on his presidency, because the Dems are likely to control both houses.

Mother's Day

Mom,

I don't think you are going to read this, given you don't have a computer and have never been on the internet, but thanks for having me. That, along with raising me, was very kind. I know that seems like a huge understatement, but there is nothing to be done to thank a mom for her love, caring and hard work in raising a child.

Thanks!

Make sure to call, write, visit, etc. your mommma today....

Invade Burma???

I found this interesting article in Time. I admit that the thought experiment related to when an invasion of another nation is warranted, especially with regard to a humanitarian aide mission, was very interesting. Here's a bit from the article...

The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake; and the world has yet to reach a consensus about when, and under what circumstances, coercive interventions in the name of averting humanitarian disasters are permissible. As the response to the 2004 tsunami proved, the world's capacity for mercy is limitless. But we still haven't figured out when to give war a chance.

Isringhausen out as closer...

Well, after one day and a successful ninth inning conversion by Ryan Franklin, we can, I believe, say there is a pleasantness about the Cardinal clubhouse. Of course, the bullpen must be a little awkward in a situation where the entrenched closer (since 2002) is still there in the pen -- not hurt, not traded, not released -- but right there in th pen and on a "mental health" break. I'm really a little lost as to what that actually means, but at least we get to make this decision after blowing five saves and still being in first.

pump, pump it up...

Well, gas has finally topped $4 a gallon here in Madison. I fell very fortunate to have easy and frequent access to public transport, as well as being in a very walkable city. My wife and I drive about 15K miles per year, and get around 27 MPG in our old Saturn. This means that if prices average $4 per gallon for a year, we will face a gas bill of around $2,222. This is an increase of around $833 over what our annual bill was when gas hovered at $2.50 per gallon. This increase is real and I have noticed it, but I can honestly say that I haven't exactly felt the pinch, yet.

I do see how some have felt it though. When I consider the absolute increase in dollar terms of, say a two car family that drives a total of 40K per year and gets 20 MPG. The total bill for that driving, with $4/gallon gas, is a staggering $8,000 per year. This equates to a $3,000 increase from what the annual bill would have been when gas was at $2.50.

Taking this a step further, if you consider these absolute increases in comparision to median US income of $48K we are talking about 6% of the income going up in fumes. Or, even applying this to a family whose income is $75K, we see 4% gone. That my friends, is kind of staggering when applied to the populace en masse.

"The Democratic Recession" - Friedman 5/7/08

It appears that Friedman is back from book leave, and offers a solid insight into what he terms the looming democratic recession.

And the numbers tell the story. At the end of last year, Freedom House, which tracks democratic trends and elections around the globe, noted that 2007 was by far the worst year for freedom in the world since the end of the cold war. Almost four times as many states — 38 — declined in their freedom scores as improved — 10.

Friedman offers up the point that this decrease in democracy and freedom is inversely correlated with the price of oil, which doesn't seem completely baseless. I know that the democratic recession that is occuring in Russia should probably be of more concern to America and the West than it has been.

So, if the price of oil rising decreases democracy and freedom, we should want to do our best to lower the price of oil, right? Unfortunately, we have our love for oil and it may just be more than our love for democracy and freedom...

Friedman ties this all back to the 2008 election (which for the next 6 months will be mandatory) with a snippet of why the gas tax holiday is crazy...

But we also need to do everything possible to develop alternatives to oil to weaken the petro-dictators. That’s another reason the John McCain-Hillary Clinton proposal to lift the federal gasoline tax for the summer — so Americans can drive more and keep the price of gasoline up — is not a harmless little giveaway. It’s not the end of civilization, either.

It’s just another little nail in the coffin of democracy around the world.

Another Crisis in Myanmar...

It looks like the crisis in Myanmar after the cyclone is of epic proportions, with the top US envoy claiming a potential death toll of 100K. Unfortunately, the citizens of Myanmar aren't getting the help they should be, because the ruling military junta (in power since 1990) is dragging its feet in letting in international aide workers. It seems they are interested in getting goods, but are wary of bringing in people. So while they are worried about CIA agents canvassing their country under cover as aide workers, their citizens are dying. This type of disregard for human life -- and this is their own citizens -- makes me quesy to the stomach. Hopefully, that this cyclone, along with memories of the crackdown last year will begin to raise internatioanal awareness as to how horrible this situation is.

Primary night analysis...

It looks like Obama is going to crush Clinton in North Carolina, but the far more interesting storyline of the evening is the Indiana primary. Obama trails by 40K in votes with around 85% of the precincts reporting according to CNN. This amounts to a 52-48 lead for Clinton with vote totals of around 554K-513K. The kicker here is that a quick rundown of precincts reported shows that Monroe has 43% in already, but the vote totals indicate to me that these are the rural areas of that county. This means that Bloomington, with all of the Indiana students is still to come. This could easily break at a 3 to 1 clip for a total of 20K votes. Additionally, Lake County hasn't reported at all, and being in the Chicagoland area with a large black population --- should be prime real estate for Obama. If turnout there is around 50-65K, this could also break at 70-30 for Obama. This could very possibly make up 30-40K in votes. This is a huge speculation, and depends on turnout... but I think a telltale sign that I'm on to something is the fact that they have not called the race yet. Obama may just win the Hoosier state...

Feeling Blue in Indiana....

To harken back to day's gone by over at Donkey Behind the Times, I'm offering up this fine piece of Op-ed journalism from the NYT. Penned by Porter Shreve, it hits on a couple of soft spots for this ex-pat Hoosier...

On the stretch of I-65 between here and Chicago, a billboard proclaims “Jesus is real” on one side and, on the other, “Hell is real.” I moved here from North Carolina, so I’m used to roadside proselytizing. But since January of last year the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been issuing red, white and blue “In God We Trust” license plates and by now, it seems, they’re on every third car.

The real big issue for me with this isn't just that it is a blatant extension of an already muddled area between church and state, but the fact that these "novelty" type God plates are available at the same rate as the standard plate, while all other "novelty" type plates are available for a premium. I don't know exactly how the lawsuits filed by the ACLU folks are going, but I have to admit I'm not saddened by getting to avoid these plates at every turn.

Shreve goes on to discuss how in his (limited) experience with voters Obama doesn't appear to be losing... Unfortunately for Shreve (and more so for Obama), he is in West Lafeyette, and not "down south." I figure the area south of Indianapolis and somewhat rural (excluding Bloomington, Terre Haute, and Evansville) will break for Clinton 70-30, which will lead to a 53-47 win for the Hillary machine. Hell, why am I postulating, when a dairy farmer hit the proverbial nail on the head in the op-ed...

I talked to the father of another student, a family dairy farmer in north-central Indiana. He supports Mr. Obama, whom he feels “has the common person’s needs more to heart.” Still, he thinks Hillary Clinton will win the primary today.

“And what about November?” I asked. “Any chance this red state will go blue?”

No, he lamented: “Even Jesus would have a tough go as a Democrat in Indiana.”

Racial Disparity in Drug Sentencing...

According to a new report issued jointly by the Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch, and reported in today's NYT, there is an extreme disparity between the rate of incarceration for drug offenses between whites and blacks. The national average is 10.1 blacks are sentenced for every one white sentenced. This seems like a lot, until you see that good old Wisconsin ups the ante to a 42.4 to 1 ratio. I honestly am having trouble fathoming how that can even be possible. I am not so proud of being a Badger today.

In addition to the racial disparity, the overall increase in drug related arrests is staggering...

In 2006, according to federal data, drug-related arrests climbed to 1.89 million, up from 1.85 million in 2005 and 581,000 in 1980.

More than four in five of the arrests were for possession of banned substances, rather than for their sale or manufacture. Four in 10 of all drug arrests were for marijuana possession, according to the latest F.B.I. data.

If this data is correct, roughly 750,000 arrests were made for possession of marijuana. This is a completely incomprehensible use of public resources and seems to be about as unsustainable of a policy as one can conceive. Spending countless hours arresting, processing, and, all to often, incarcerating individuals for possession of weed just doesn't add up to me.

Gas Tax Holiday, it's great - Hillary promises...

Despite the results of a recent CBS News / New York Times poll showing that more people feel the gas tax holiday is a bad idea than good, Hillary is apparently taking Obama to the mat on this issue.

"What has happened to Barack Obama?" an announcer states in the new 30 second spot, among the campaign's most bruising to date.

"He is attacking Hillary’s plan to give you a break on gas prices because he doesn’t have one," the ad's announcer also says.

It is possible that the "announcer"* is correct and Obama is attacking Hillary's plan because he wasn't smart enough to think up such a silly proposal, but it may be more likely that he is attacking the plan because, well, it's just kind of stupid. It makes absolutely no sense to incentivize more oil consumption, thus maintaining heightened demand on our infrastructure, while at the same time failing to provide the adequate resources for maintaining this infrastructure. I guess the most suprising thing to me about this proposal and subsequent attack based upon it, is twofold. First, it suprises me that a Clinton would try to create a wedge issue out of something that apparently is a split in opinion polling. This makes sense only if you plan to beef up the assualt on the issue by shamelessly appealing to pie in the sky policies, whereby regular ole folks get cash in their pocket and we just take the cash from those big bad oil companies. The second big suprise is that the Clinton camp would willingly follow a McCain generated proposal. You would think that you couldn't mimick Republican policy proposals and still claim to be the true reformer.

* Don't you ever wonder who these announcers are? What must it feel like to be the person selected for having a creepy, frightening and negative voice?

Orwell and Obama...

Jeff Greenfield penned an interesting article viewing Obama through an Orwellian lens of class consciousness. Greenfield attempts to critique the current Democratic/liberal/progressive American movement through Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier. Orwell used Wigan Pier to offer a descriptive account of the lives of the working poor in Northern England in the 30's. He peppered this astute work of journalism with a critique of contemporary socialism in England, especially focusing on the fact that many of it's adherents were of an elitist character. Greenfield does dig out one of my favorite Orwell statements regarding English Socialism...

One key to the movement's lack of popularity, Orwell argues, is its supporters. "As with the Christian religion," he writes, "the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents."

Orwell was famous for his willingness to point out the flaws of the left, and his indictment of the superiority complex of the organized Socialist movement is still prescient.* I often find causes of interest to me overpopulated with those who seem to want to feel good about the cause, but yet do as little as possible to extend its benefits to the masses. This form of exclusivity runs explicitly against the philosophic roots of liberalism and progressive politics. It is, however, unfortunately a very real part of any organized political movement that espouses a voice for the working class. The leaders too often forget what gives them the power, and alas an internal ruling class forgets to embrace who and what they stand for...

Orwell also rails against the condescension many on the left display toward those they profess to care most about. Describing a gathering of leftists in London, he says, "every person there, male and female, bore the worst stigmata of sniffish middle-class superiority. If a real working man, a miner dirty from the pit, for instance, had suddenly walked into their midst, they would have been embarrassed, angry and disgusted; some, I should think, would have fled holding their noses."

* I do think, however, that it is important to recall that Orwell wrote Wigan Pier in a different context than contemporary America. The social classes in England of Orwell's time were much more static than those in America today. This is not to say that many of the same issues regarding class elitism don't appear in today's world, but it seems to me that there is less of a permanent inter-class disdain established at birth. The class differences are often related to lifestyle choices, which depending on how you read Orwell, may well be what should be expected and maybe even praised.

Cubs vs. Cardinals

Tonight, the Cubbies head into St. Louis to face the Redbirds. St. Louis has a half game lead and looks to extend it by another with Wainwright, the current ace of the staff, faces Hill. Pujols has reached base in every game this season, which puts him at 29, or about fifty games from the record... which is held by Ted Williams, I believe. This also reminds me of how insane the Joe D. 56 game streak really is.

Of particular note to those superstitious baseball folks is that the Cardinals set a new franchise record with 18 wins in April. The AM Donkey also set a franchise blog record with 36 posts in the month of April. Ergo, I must now make two posts for every game played by the Redbirds to ensure that they stay undefeated for May. I love me some baseball superstitions, speaking of which what ever happened to Turk Wendell?

British Politics...

It looks like Labour took a drumming in local elections in England and Wales. I had the feeling that the Conservatives might win, but I would not have predicted the Liberal Dems would also edge Labour in vote percentages. The Labour administration, running since 1997, may well be experiencing governing coalition fatigue. Additionally, this is probably indicative of the old "it's the economy stupid" mentality of voters, who given a ballot during uncertain economic times will often go for change. An interesting word choice, I know, and I admit I'm postulating how Cameron and Obama would work out as an Anglo alliance... It seems odd, but then again who would have thought the Blair-Bush love affair would be so resilient.

Happy May Day Comrades...

I nearly forgot that today is May Day, that pagan cross quarter celebration cum international labor celebration. I guess my forgetfulness is probably centered on the fact that I have become a part of the dark side (i.e. management), and can't fully comprehend the travails of the working class any longer. I do, however, remember a time when I was very in touch with the concept of worker's power and the need for an international brotherhood to rise up and end the failings of our current capitalistic nation-state based approach. Wow, what fun it was to read Marx, Engels, and Trotsky in eighth grade in Southern Indiana. Talk about a political pariah... I'm now sure how a socialist makes it in the the swath of land between the forks of the White River.

On a more policy sounding note for the day, I do believe that some of the criticism of NAFTA and free trade deals are legit, but that these should focus on the labor standards being inadequate in the other countries and not the underlying chauvinism that is often perpetuating the criticism. I'm all for fighting for international worker's rights, but I sometimes think this is a veiled attempt at American job security chauvinism. I understand the comfort of job security, but we need to understand that a secure social safety net is the answer more so than complete protectionism.

Law school and sex toys...

Even I couldn't make this up ---The drama flairs here in Madison after the University of Wisconsin administration shut down a sex toy seminar. The rationale for this cancellation, was of course, nothing to do with the content, but instead focused on the potential for commercial exploitation of the University's campus:

In an interview Monday, Law School Associate Dean Walter Dickey said the event was canceled for content-neutral reasons, pointing to a Student Organization Office policy that prohibits the promotion or sale of commercial products by a private company.

The student group in charge of the promotion challenged the ruling, and it seems they have won, at least halfway.

Law School Dean Kenneth Davis now says there was a misunderstanding and the Sex Toys 101 event can be held as long as no commercial products are promoted or sold...
Maria June Selsor, chairwoman of the organizing group, said the event won’t happen this academic year since classes are ending this week, but it may be rescheduled for next semester.

So, we won't get the opportunity to experience this workshop this year, but it's on the table for the fall... Always something to look forward to here in Madison.