Hey, what happened to that Walter Williams quote that I saw posted up here a few minutes ago?

For many years, I have worked with patients suffering from all kinds of neural dysfunctions. Some were diagnosed as psychiatric cases, others as Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, trauma injury, or the general decline due to aging. During these years I have been able to ‘rub elbows’ with a good number of neurologists and other specialists concerning brain damage and biochemical disorders. (NO! NOT as a patient!)

As of late, there is a consensus among these professionals, without being able to see and test her directly, that Cindy Sheehan is as brain-dead as Mike Tyson, Darryl Strawberry, or Teddy Kennedy. Their analysis of video clips and statements cause them to draw this conclusion. Some have even gone so far as to maintain that her feeding and hydration should be withdrawn. They seem to feel that her quality of life is not one that should be continually forced upon her.

I’m not real comfortable with this prognosis, but I can’t uncover any evidence that would refute their conclusions.

Can anyone help me out here?

This was emailed to me today. I thought it would go well over here.

Two boys are playing hockey on a pond in a Chicago park when one of the boys is suddenly attacked by a crazed Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy takes his hockey stick, shoves it under the dog's collar, twists it and breaks the dog's neck, saving his friend.

A reporter is standing by, sees the incident, and rushes over to interview the boy. "Young Cub Fan Saves Friend from Vicious Animal" he starts writing in his notebook.

"But I'm not a Cub Fan", the little boy replies.

"Sorry but since we're in Chicago, I just assumed you were", says the reporter and starts writing again. "Sox Fan Rescues Friend from Horrific Attack," he writes in his notebook.

"But I'm not a Sox Fan either, " the little boy replies.

"Sorry but since we're in Chicago, ' I just assumed you were," says the reporter and starts writing again. "Bears Fan Rescues Friend from Horrific Attack," he writes in his notebook.

"I'm not a Bears Fan either," says the boy.

"Oh... I assumed everyone in Chicago was either for the Cubs, Sox or Bears. What team do you root for?" the reporter asked.

"I'm a Packers fan," the boy replies.

The reporter starts a new sheet in his notebook and writes: "Little Bastard from Wisconsin Kills Beloved Family Pet"

As the military casualty toll nears 2,000 under the auspices of our ‘War on Terror’, I have often wondered about the crisis-style analysis that this number receives. It seems miraculously low considering the conditions under which the military is fighting and almost petty compared to the successes involved. My question has long been, "How much higher is this death toll in war than it would be in peacetime?"

Thanks to The Discerning Texan (who thanks Powerline) and a 1998 report from the Department of Defense, my question increases in legitimacy. "An inspector general report published this summer shows that 6,790 service members died accidentally in the nine years from 1988 through 1996. That compares to a total of 11,216 accidental deaths during the previous five-year period. The report said service members are less likely to die accidentally than their civilian counterparts. Pentagon officials attributed the relative 66 percent decline to several factors, including reducing and managing safety risks." In the mid-eighties about 4,500 military personnel died every 2 years. During the late eighties through the mid-nineties, the death toll was dropped to about 1,500 every two years, "...less likely to die accidentally that their civilian counterparts."

As silly as it may sound, it seems like life in Iraq or Afghanistan is just as safe for a young man or woman as civilian life in the U.S. statistically. It doesn’t sound right or even sensible, but with numbers that low it can’t be too far off. I spent my teen and military years during the Viet Nam era and the Iraq war in no way compares. Using the death count as a rhetorical weapon against the Bush Administration and its policies ultimately bears little weight in reality. Oh, that’s right, playing on emotions and ignoring factuality is fine since the end justifies any means deemed necessary.

The Evil Empire... Kim Vader, Natalie the Hutt (H.T. to Todd), & the Empress Nichole-- Plotting domination of the Universe.

But... there's a disturbance in the Force.

EEEEeeeyoww! Sonofabee-utch!!!

That's more than a disturbance-- that's a contraction in the Force!

Chmmm, chmmm... Intriguing, not it is? Chmmm, chmmm.

Cateye Knights rest after an extremely exhausting training session.

Cole Skywalker staunchly resists the Dark Side.

Even Chewbarka refuses to be co-opted by Vader.

Princess Morgan learning to use the force.

"I'm drawing that breast closer!!"

Coming Soon: Grandpa Steve Strikes Back!

What Leroy said: "You look radiant, my dear. You are just glowing!"

What Leroy was thinking: "That reminds me... I have to get more beer."

By the way...

I'm hosting the third weekly Carnival of the Badger over at Badger Blog Alliance. That's where I gather samples of what the Wisconsin blogosphere is talking about this week and list them all.

Here's this week's version.

Maybe if somebody over here says something worth repeating, I'll include it.

James Lileks says what I've thought on more than one occasion:

...to judge from the credits several hundred people labored on "the Ring 2," from caterers to grips to best boys to gaffers to foley artists to elk wranglers and PR people and bondsman and the usual raft of creative types needed to help a director bring his vision to life. I would love to get them all together in one large auditorium, thank them for trying, then put the question to the room: since all of you are competent rational individuals who obviously know how to make movies, why did that suck? Really, I'm looking for theories here.

Dead silence

Oh, come on. You've all seen good scary movies. Hell, the first "Ring" was good enough, mostly because of that tape. But this sequel sucked so hard David Oreck filed a patent violation. You have to know that. Or does the field of self-delusion never really dissipate? You're telling me there are guys sitting in bars right now banging the table and say "HELL yeah I did costume design for 'Battlefield Earth'"?

Muttering

Okay then. Who wants to blame the writer? Whoa, don't everyone raise your hands.

About how many movies, books, TV shows have YOU thought that?

IT'S A GIRL!

Natalie delivered a 7lb. 15oz., 19" baby girl just a short time ago. All appears well with baby and mother. Leroy is looking for cigars.

Possible names may be Morgan or Madison (Newberg).

This is my version of live blogging.

I am presently planted in a Mercy Hospital waiting room. Natalie, the girl pictured to the left is in labor! I guess they do grow up.

Lance, Al, are you ready? Prepare, prepare... it won't be long!

Oooo. Just found a nerd paradise through a link at Instapundit. The Speculist, a future-science-techno blog. Motto: "Live to see it." Cool.

Check out this post about a space elevator. Feel the nerd-drool running down your chin.

Beloit College released their annual "Mindset List" today - the list of things that are unique about the incoming freshman class - in this case, the class of 2009.

Not a lot on there that turns your head, but two things did get my attention: just the fact that these freshmen were born in 1987 - the year I graduated from high school - which means people who weren't born when I graduated can vote now. That one kinda made my stomach turn.

Then there was this one:

They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.

Geez, they weren't born when Challenger went up. I still remember exactly where I was when I heard about it.

Is this for real? I was just looking through somebody else's blogroll and saw USS Clueless there, so I clicked over. As you may know, Steven DenBeste, the proprietor, retired from blogging last year.

There is one post at his site, dated from March of this year. Yet, the counter at the bottom claims "This page has been viewed 344 times today, 956 times yesterday, and 8624149 times since 20010726."

WHAT? Almost a thousand hits in a single day, and he isn't even blogging anymore?

Plus, he's still got a link to Mr. Pterodactyl.

Whaddayagonnado.

It wasn't me.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

Yes, I've finally got the pictures. Oh, okay, I've had them for a while. What I mean is, I've finally scanned them, adjusted them, and taken the time to write a blog post about them.

So, with no further ado, I give you:


Mitchell with a fishhook in his head! Oh, yeah, the biggest thing we caught all day. Okay, the only thing we caught all day.

Click on any of these for a bigger version.

Here's a closeup:


And note that Owen is none too happy about me making fun of his older brother.


Here's the one you've all been waiting for - the reason behind that disturbance in the Force you all felt about a month ago:

Yup, that's Old Whig, aka Al, holding his daughter who quite obviously needs a nap.

I mean, take a look at this:

That's a little girl who needs some quiet time, right there.

Here's another shot.


My original post on how this all came about. It also explains why Mitchell and I are wet in those pictures.

And here's Al's.

I've gotta get a bigger grill.

Stay tuned...I'm scanning pictures tonight.

Lot of interesting stuff in this Larry Elder column, which asks the question: "If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, what happens?"

Leroy & Natalie (#1 daughter) ready to go and give us grandbaby #2. She went into the labor department tonight to be checked, but it proved to be a no-go today. Soon... very, very soon. (We don't know the baby's sex as of yet!)

Cole & Auntie Kim (#3 daughter). Cole is now 8 months old. However, as the next post will show, he will not much longer be the baby of the extended family.

Just did a Google Search for Hank Reardon, looking for his speech in Atlas Shrugged - the one he made in court. My own blathering column on objectivism came up #6.

I guess that'll do it for today.

And while I'm at it...

In case anybody who reads Grandpa John doesn't also read the various other Wisconsin blogs, or in case you do, but forgot to do it before, go over to mkeonline and vote for the Badger Blog Alliance - another blog with which (note correct grammatical structure) I am involved. They do a "blog of the week" contest, and we're in it this week.

Go Vote!

Bumper stickers:

Saw this one the other day:

I love my country...but I think we should see other people.

What the hell does that mean?

Bonus: I walk by a liquor store every day going to and from my parking spot. They recently put this sign up: "Abacus broken. Expect Delays."

Nerd Update (subtitle: I've Discovered Ebay):

Yes, I know my use of the colon, above, is incorrect. Enter proctology joke here.

As many of you know, Todd and I were avid fans/collectors of Star Wars toys when we were young. As the Keeper of All Things Burri, it has fallen to me to store what's left of our once-great collection: just a handful of action figures and a few extremely-beaten ships these days.

Recently, I decided to set a long-term goal for myself: to restore our collection to its old glory, and even to surpass it. I can't recall exactly why I first checked Ebay.com. Might have been a friend's recommendation. But...holy crap, is there a lot of stuff out there.

I've already bought a vintage 1978 landspeeder (I've wanted one since I was eight years old) and a vintage 1978 X-wing fighter (ditto the wanting), and expect to receive my Moon of Endor speeder bike in the mail anytime. My next target: a vintage Tie Fighter.

The cool thing about it is, these things don't cost that much. The action figures, especially: if you don't mind a loose, played-with figure with a few flaws, you might pay ten bucks for it. But you can probably get it for less.

Point being, I'll be able to do what I'm setting out to do over the course of a few years without having to dedicate every single free penny to it, which is good, because there aren't a lot of free pennies lying around.

On the other hand, original action figures in their original packaging are worth hundreds of dollars, and a few rare variations (like a Jawa with a vinyl, rather than cloth, cape) could probably fetch a grand.

Anybody got one of those? I'll give you five bucks and a pack of gum for it.

Watching the Packers' pre-season game:

My wife is so tight-fisted she's been known to squeeze a quarter and make nickels fall out of it. Thus, we only have basic cable at my house.

Basic cable, in Baraboo, means ESPN is snowy: you can see what's going on, but you can barely hear anything.

Thus, I watched the Packers/Chargers game on TV, but also turned the radio guys on for the audio. Annoying, because they're a couple seconds ahead of the TV, but there you go. Until I can afford the ultra-satellite dish, anyway.

Thus, I was in position to both watch Longwell's 53-yard in-the-drizzle field goal, and listen to Larry McCarren's extremely amusing shouldn't-have-eaten-that-fifth-bowl-of-chili sound effects at the same time.

Yes, I know it was only a preseason game, but that was really fun to watch. Except for the shots of the Chargers' kicker. Wow, did I feel bad for him.

On This Day in Wisconsin History

1919 - Green Bay Packers Founded
On this date the Green Bay Packers professional football team was founded during a meeting in the editorial rooms of Green Bay Press-Gazette. On this evening, a score or more of young athletes, called together by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, gathered in the editorial room on Cherry Street and organized a football the team.

Oooo.

Twenty years ago, as a PhD scientist, I intensely studied the evolution versus intelligent design controversy for about two years. And finally, despite my previous acceptance of evolutionary theory as 'fact,' I came to the realization that intelligent design, as a theory of origins, is no more religious, and no less scientific, than evolutionism.

In the scientific community, I am not alone. There are many fine books out there on the subject. Curiously, most of the books are written by scientists who lost faith in evolution as adults, after they learned how to apply the analytical tools they were taught in college.

Hat tip to Jib.

UPDATE - Here's another one on the same topic. Not as good as the first one, but this seems like the topic du jour.

This is really crappy!

(B.S. News Syndicate)– Violence erupted today during an anti-war protest at Betroit Memorial Hospital in Gran Fla-Tu-Lents, France today. There were no serious injuries although several were arrested.

The protest began peacefully in the packed Constipation Ward. Protesters carried signs and chanted, "Hell, no, we won’t go!" As they waddled toward the Nurses’ Station they were confronted by surly patients trotting over from the Diarrhea Unit shouting, "You pukes are full of it!"

One counter protester interviewed after the melee stated, "These anal retentives are living a leisurely life on their ivory towers with stool softeners, suppositories, enemas, and Sitz baths that has not allowed them to experience the daily terror of bloody, pussy, projectile diarrhea. We experience this terror on a daily basis and will not sit quietly as they attempt to pass this pile of sh*t off!"

B.M. Hospital administration forestalled comment.

Could E. coli be considered a WMD?

Another softball season in my long career has concluded. We are in the middle of a three year rebuilding plan. Despite vast improvements from our first year we still ended up with a perfect 0-9 record. However, no one takes us for granted anymore. Many of our games were very close. Next year with a couple of pick-ups we should contend for the title. I was even wondering if I could lure Grandpas John and Jerry out of retirements to travel to Orfordville on Monday nights. We have plenty of salary cap room. (When we pass Slim’s hat, he’s a 7-3/4, there’s always plenty of room.) As members of my old Janesville City League team age some will be joining us in our Ol’ Farts’ League.

I’m beginning to feel like one of those major league players having luggage decorated with travel stickers. I have played in Orfordville, Janesville, and Racine, Wisconsin, Marietta, Georgia, Victoria, Texas, and Stuttgart, (West) Germany.

Softball is a great game. (It has been burri, burri good to me.) It can be played competitively even well into your senior years. Last year we had one player that was 82. He could still hit very well. It was fun having him with us.

Oh, BTW, I ended the season going three-for-three at the plate, with several assists and put outs at shortstop.

Bonus article tonight next door: A Beginner's Thoughts on Objectivism.

Be gentle.

Saw this bumper sticker today:

"We're making enemies faster than we can kill them."

Put that guy down as favoring more investment in weapons research.

Perhaps this is why Mr. Pterodactyl has been so sparse with his blogging lately.

Ach! Another book meme!

Fine.

1. How many books have I owned?

You mean, lifetime? Does that include all my kids' books? Because in a technical legal sense, I own those, too. Thousands, I would think. Let's say 2,000. Unless you also mean "funny books," a euphemism for comic books, which would put the number higher.

2. What was the last book you bought?

"Battlegrounds," which is a comparison of various old military battles, based on the terrain on which they were fought. Bit of an odd read, really.

3. Last book that you've read.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

4. 5 books that have meant a lot to you.

The Bible; The Collected Works of Dr. Seuss (mostly the Horton books, "If I Ran the Circus", and "Oh, the Places You'll Go"); The AAA Wisconsin/Michigan Tour Book; "Robert the Bruce" by Nigel Tranter; and...geez, I can't think of another one. Okay, "The Hobbit," which helped me become a full-fledged teenage nerd.

YOUR TURN GRANDPA JOHN!

James Lileks, my favorite writer, pens a description of John Bolton's first day at the U.N.

My favorite part:

3:17 p.m. -- The afternoon sun is getting hot; Bolton discovers the shade is stuck. He calls building services. He is informed that the shade has been stuck since 1966, that the U.N. Commission on Window Treatments was convened in 1967 to address the matter, and is scheduled to meet again in 2006, once India withdraws its objections to giving the rotating chairmanship to Yemen -- as one of the founding countries, it has the right to the chair, but when the nation split in two its claim to the chair was remanded to a subcommittee, which went on a fact-finding mission to a French drape manufacturer and never reported back aside from annual expense accounts from a beach house in the south. The Plenary Commission on International Shade Accords, a separate body, has recommended that any action on drapes or curtains be postponed until the U.N. building is renovated, or that a large movable curtain be erected across the street to block the sun, but this debate has been stalled over an amendment condemning Israel's treatment of Venetian blinds in the Gaza Strip. Of course, now that Israel has begun withdrawal from ...

Read the whole thing!

Book Meme-- From OldWhig

How many books do you own?

-In the vicinity of 500.

Last book bought?

-Postmodernism Rightly Understood, Peter Lawler.

Last book read?

-Bible (ESV)

-Shades of Loneliness, Pathologies of a Technological Society by Richard Stivers.

Five of your most meaningful books?

-Bible (NAS)

-Francis Schaffer's Trilogy

-Vision of the Anointed & Quest for Cosmic Justice, both by Thomas Sowell

-Idols for Destruction by Herbert Schlossberg

-Original Intent by David Barton

I'd like to pass it on to Grandpa John!

Via Vodkapundit, a series of screen captures showing english subtitles on a version of Revenge of the Sith that was dubbed in Chinese. If you're keeping score, that's ROTS translated into Chinese, then translated back into English for the subtitles.

Very funny. Here's the link.

But how's her asthma?

After 23 years of evoking syrupy memories of the world's most beloved frontier girl, Laura Ingalls Wilder Michele took the name of the world's most beloved villain.

But really, the Brighton architect insists, she was calling herself 'Anakin' long before 'Star Wars' devotees embraced it as the birth name of Darth Vader.

'It's just who I am,' said Anakin Steuart Michele, adding that her parents' well-intended homage to the 'Little House on the Prairie' author, 'just didn't fit.'

And we're worried about zebra mussels?

TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico — When hordes of monkeys began invading Puerto Rico's agricultural fields, devastating crops and eluding capture, the major concern was trapping them before they reached urban areas, where they would pose a public health hazard and be nearly impossible to round up.

...

The animals — descendants of the patas and rhesus monkeys that escaped from medical-research labs — are known to be fertile and aggressive.

Mature monkeys can weigh up to 50 pounds, and it's estimated the monkey population in southeast Puerto Rico stands at between 1,000 and 2,000 — and it's growing every day.

Jawbone's a'flappin' his gums agin.

Overheard during a Madison radio newscast concerning President Bush’s back door placement of John Bolton as U.S. rep to the U.N., "Bolton has been criticized for using intelligence to promote his conservative views." Geez, we can’t have any of that, can we?