Blogage

OBITUARY: Feminism

2008-09-06T18:40:57Z

"To be hoist with Ms. own petard" Shakespear – from Hamlet*

Feminism died this week. It committed suicide.

It wasn’t the first attempt. It pushed Hillary Clinton, under a bus to be with a man, named Obama. Though feminists, and their media Eunuchs, dutifully followed her and laid down palms on her path to the White House, they dumped her, like last year’s football team captain, for the mysterious and trendy stranger that captured their heart. Perhaps it was because men were just beginning to admire her for her fighting spirit and inability to quit.

As if these symptoms were not enough to check into the intensive care unit, a ~~feminist~~ (female) icon, named Palin, emerged from the North. She was not from money, connections, or a political family like Kennedy, Bush or even Clinton, yet she rose to be nominated for Vice President of the United States based solely on her character as a person. A feminist dream, or so we were led to believe, before Palin arrived.

Feminists, trapped in their own lie, began to knaw on Palin like a wild animal knawing on its own leg to get out of a sprung trap. They asked questions about her so enlightened as to make the King of Siam (The King and I) look profound. When that failed to beat down the upstart, they did the only noble thing they could do next, slime her 17-year-old pregnant daughter in order to stay as classy as they have been from the start. Plans for the down syndrome baby have yet to be revealed since their first attempt failed on the blogesphere.

Prepare to be sickened: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/17933/7330/417/579267

Stereotypes raised their ugly head again when chauvinist pigs and subservient housewives, disguised as decent people, attacked, and beat back, the gang rapists and their cheering bystanders. Shocked by the reaction they caused, the perps went into street punk mode and said, “she asked for it” and “we were just doing our job as journalists.”

Experts agreed that it was probably better for everyone that the mob of decent people got to the punks before Palin. Palin emerged from the assault; well, like a trooper, proving finally, that family beats sisterhood by an exponent of 50.

Other feminists who never registered a pulse when Islamic extremists were stoning, to death, young girls for impure thoughts in Pakistan, or female genital mutilation in Afghanistan, were flat lining on brain wave activity when they asked how she could possibly raise a family while holding down the VP position.

Gloria Steinem, sperm donor of the feminist movement, and widely known to lead a very fulfilling and happy family life, issued a do not resituate order by stating: “Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton.” “Palin is not the right person for the job.” It was not exactly known out of which, of her two faces, she issued that statement.

Funeral services will not be held due to a lack of interest.

In unrelated news, feminist Marlo Thomas left Phil Donahue, egg donor of the feminist movement, for Whitney Houston’s ex husband Bobby Brown.

*The word remains in modern usage in the phrase to be hoist by one's own petard (or to be hoist with one's own petard), which means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall in one's own trap", literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoisted, or blown upward) by one's own bomb. Shakespeare used the now proverbial phrase in Hamlet. From Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org

Sociale’ No More?

2008-09-03T01:57:00Z

I wanted to write a post about a neat new way to have gourmet meals at home at a very reasonable price but I am not sure they are open anymore. They are located at Good Hope and Appleton Ave. in the beautiful new retail and condo development called Woodlands Market Place.

The business is called Sociale’ and they are a make it take it food provider. My wife, Rene’ was invited to a party there where she and several neighborhood friends sampled food and prepared 5 meals for 6 people.

One of the great benefits is no clean up from a cooking perspective. You can heat and eat a great meal and throw away the aluminum containers in which they were prepared.

You can make calzones and load them with pepperoni, or have chicken sautéed in peach sauce (it did not sound great to me, but it tasted great). There are plenty of side dishes that are delicious as well.

I could go on, but I called and the number was disconnected and when I drove past the store there is nobody home. If anyone knows what happened here please let me know. I want to reorder!

24th Assembly Seat-Vote For______

2008-08-23T21:58:00Z

On Thursday, Aug. 21^st, I attended the candidate forum for the 24^th Assembly Seat. It was sponsored by Dennis Farrell and was taped and produced by Harry Stoetzel of Falls Cable Access Corporation that will play it in regular rotation on Cable Channel 14. A similar forum took place two nights earlier and I hope to see that on Cable Access as well.

All of the candidates were well spoken and well prepared. The questions were direct and brought out the candidate’s positions.

While I am never too shy to share my opinion, I will not make any endorsement in this race. Why? Because there isn’t one weak candidate in the pack and they all deserve your attention to this race and win, based on the merits of their positions.

The Democrats have two good choices (Torrey Lauer and Charlene Brady) along with a very strong Republican line up: Dan Knodl (Pronounce the K), Randy Melchert, Jason LaSage and Michael Moscicke: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Moscicke/17371349634
.

I walked away with a clear favorite. People should tend to go with the candidate who conveys a sense of urgency. Candidates like that tend to make more of an impact than those who know the problems facing the Wisconsin and our District but are way too patient, or analytical, to solve them-today.

One candidate got the Journal Sentinel’s endorsement (which, in Menomonee Falls, is a kiss of death) but he also has been the only “No” vote on a school board which demonstrates courage and independent thinking. One of the candidates has a plan to lower gas prices in Wisconsin. That is good, and the plan is pragmatic, but the problem in Wisconsin is out of control spending. Nobody can cut or restrain taxation without limiting spending.

Sue Jeskewitz leaves a legacy of identifying worthless Information Technology (IT) projects that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and delivered no benefit to the citizens of Wisconsin. This would be a great place for her successor to begin.

Our job, as citizens in a democracy, is to make informed choices. Fellow blogger, Mr. Weaver, has candidate information on his site here: http://blogs.menomoneefallsnow.com/hunting_season/archive/2008/08/18/the-24th-assembly-district-candidates-in-their-own-words.aspx

Candidates: Please use Blogage to further inform the voters in this race. My only restriction is that I must verify comments are authorized by you, or your campaign, to ensure accuracy and protect you.

Voters: This is a great race with high quality candidates. Do your homework and then vote on September 9^th!

Bye-Bye, by Buy American

2008-08-15T03:29:00Z

The Presidential candidates are trying to impress voters as to who loves Harley Davidson more.

McCain would rather hear the roar of Harleys than having cheering fans in Berlin. Obama thinks McCain stabbed Harley in the back for not supporting a “Buy American” bill that would mandate government entities to buy products produced in the U.S.

“Buy American” sounds wonderful, and hey, who wouldn’t want to buy our own products if they best meet our needs and budget? The problem is this: If you mandate what, or how, to buy, it takes control away from the entity buying what they want or need. Governments have a hard enough time making good buying decisions and/or saving money without the help of those in Congress who never ran a business.

During the peak of the 1980s auto crisis, every Detroit motorcycle cop was riding a Honda. Buy American? Yea, right. Thanks a lot Detroit. The fact of the matter was Harley Davidson was not producing a quality product back then, according to their dealers. (By the way, neither was Detroit.) They would tell me of all the innovative ways they would keep new Harleys from leaking oil onto their showroom floor. Not drips but “Exxon Valdez” type leaks where customers were slipping and hurting themselves.

H-D nearly became extinct. Instead of writing their own epitaph, they remade themselves. They became fanatical on quality and cost cutting. They invested heavily in their brand. They made a market for their product and then they sold all they produced. They got a government bailout but it was really more of a commuted death sentence and a swift kick in their behind.

When bidding for the High School renovation, we wanted to give our local businesses every opportunity to bid, work, or supply the project without compromising cost savings or quality. We could not have restricted non Menomonee Falls’ companies even if we wanted to because competing for the business is always in the taxpayers’ best interest. If we restricted non Menomonee Falls’ companies, Menomonee Falls’ companies could rightly be restricted from working on projects around the state.

When governments mandate buying their own products it is called protectionism. Protectionism starts trade wars that affect all sorts of businesses, violates trade treaties, and fuels a global trade rift. For example, if we mandated that all U.S. airlines bought from Boeing, Airbus would demand the same from the EU. With pure capitalism the buyer is the winner, along with the company with the superior product at the best price.

The only way to get people, world wide, to “Buy American” is to make a superior product at the right price.

The most effective way to ship jobs overseas is to not understand basic capitalism and vote for laws that will deteriorate the market.

5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE FORUM

2008-08-10T22:06:40Z

Please note the time and date of this important forum. These are all the details I have at the moment. Keep posted for more.

5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE FORUM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008 7:00 - 8:00 PM
GERMANTOWN VILLAGE HALL

Hat Tip: Bootsandsabers.com

Olympic Spectacle

2008-08-07T21:23:00Z

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies, scheduled for this Friday, should be fantastic. It may take a lot for you to watch TV on a beautiful Friday evening but this should be will worth it.

The people of China have been waiting for the chance to show the world the beautiful side of their country as well as the subtle warmth of the people for over 20 years. I do not think they will fall short on this opportunity.

For the sake of all of our athletes, I hope it is a great experience for them as well.

We have several locals we can celebrate. Best wishes to Garrett Weber-Gale a swimmer and one of the 5 fastest in the world.

Wanted: "Weekend" Warriors- Musicians

2008-08-03T18:59:03Z

Greetings: I am looking for any musicians who may want to play/practice one night a week.

I have a complete band set up in my basement that includes “Sunn” amps, full PA-with mixer, drums, keyboard and about 15 various guitars. Nobody would have to pack up or move anything.

Right now we have a reliable drummer but he has had an interest in playing guitar so that spot can change weekly.

We could play just about anything (except Styxx) including Jazz, Latin, Rock, Country and Folk.

Anyone with an interest can contact me via: ted (at) thatsbrilliant (dot) com for more information.

Musicians at any level are welcome as long as they are fun to be with.

Starbucks and Boeing

2008-07-31T03:15:26Z

I just returned from Seattle, Washington and when I landed, the city was abuzz with the news that the United Arab Emirates had just ordered 200 planes from Boeing. When I left, the news was about Starbucks loosing about 1,000 executive positions. When a city has such diverse corporations, it is easy to see how bad news in one industry can be tempered by great news in another. Love Starbucks or hate them, it would be great to have a company like them headquartered in Milwaukee. There are still lots of good jobs at their headquarters and their building is beautiful site to see in a not so great part of Seattle.

Pay Elected Officials More Money

2008-07-23T02:26:20Z

That’s right, your eyes are not deceiving you. Future elected officials should be paid more-much more.

As a former elected official who did not run for office for the money, I will provide some very good reasons to support my claim. FYI, I never voted myself a raise or asked for more money for auto mileage. In fact, I never submitted an expense report in my 3 years of service. This is very typical of most elected officials in the Falls and Germantown.

Fact: An average board member will save your community or school district hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a good one will save millions in the long term.

Fact: A bad board member will cost taxpayers millions and continue to cost you even when they move on (example: Milwaukee County Pension Scandal). They don’t care if they raise your taxes, or about the decline of performance, as much as they are liked. Everyone, good, bad, or mediocre, is paid the same wage, about $4,500 a year. Would you trust your personal finances to someone who only made that much in a year?

Let’s look at the perceived problems: “Elected officials don’t run government or school districts like a business.” “They don’t care about raising taxes.” “They don’t care about delivering a quality product/service.” “Nobody who could do a better job runs for election.” (I don’t believe any of this to be entirely true, but examples of this can be seen everywhere you go.)

Now let’s pretend you are the owner of an enterprise where all, or some, of the above examples were true of management. What would you do?

When a company is in trouble, owners usually seek a proven top-gun(s) to come in and turn things around. Higher pay is always necessary, and expectations, time-lines, and results go with it. With taxpayers, it is the opposite.

When serving on a board, I will admit, I was more interested in getting results than what someone was paid. However, I was more prone to fire someone, or freeze the pay of anyone who was not performing. That ensures results, or consequences. Results mean more savings, better performance, lower taxes, and better value for taxpayers. Consequences bring faster management changes if results and goals are not met.

Let the free market, capitalism, and competition apply to elections. Higher pay will bring out more quality candidates, or at least, a larger selection of candidates. Some of our best school board members were/are stay at home moms. Many moms have told me they were interested in running but would be better off finding a higher paying part time job that would not conflict with family time. We could tap into that market with higher pay.

How many employers are happy to have their employees spend less time on the job to attend committee meetings? None, and few who would admit it. How many professionals could bill more hours or make more sales that are commissionable if they were not spending 4, 9, or more hours a week serving the public? The answer: the very few who are generous enough to stick their neck out for their community or those who could not make $4,500 on the open job market.

Paying more will not eliminate opportunists, quite the opposite, but it should inspire more candidates and interest in elections because people should expect more for their money. If the electorate chooses poorly, paying someone more, or less, would not change that result anyway. Vigilance is a price we pay for Democracy and it can pay dividends.

Being in office can be good for business, but the reverse is also true. If you make the hard decisions, as you are supposed to do, few will like you, many won’t care, and some will hunt you down like Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. When someone or a bogus group makes accusations about you, or your business, it can be detrimental even if they are complete fabrications. What person would run for office under those conditions? Someone very committed or someone who should be committed. Higher pay would narrow that spectrum.

I suggest raising the minimum salary of board members to $12,000. The pay increase would take place when the newly elected person taking an incumbent’s position is sworn in. That way nobody votes for his or her own pay increase and the field of candidates opens up immediately.

If you like your elected representative, support them and reelect them. If not, let’s fill the ballot with some fresh candidates.

Yes, yes, public service should be selfless, but most elected officials, who don’t run for the money, also put in time at church, Rotary, schools, community service, etc. so let’s not try and put a guilt trip on them for not being noble. Many miss their kid’s baseball games, wife’s birthdays, etc. to make meetings or keep their full time jobs. Serving is already a personal sacrifice; it should not be a financial one too.

It's Only Jews...

2008-07-19T21:08:28Z

It’s only Jews…

My favorite college professor, who later became a friend taught valuable lessons that I hope to pass on to my children.

Larry Rudner was fascinated by the Holocaust. He lost 3 grandparents and numerous aunts and uncles in Treblinka, an extermination camp in Poland.

I was fortunate enough to take his Holocaust course. The first day was very memorable. The first question Professor Rudner asked was how could something like a Holocaust happen? After many different answers he asked, “could this happen again?” Before he would let the class answer he admonished one of the students in the class who was dressed very shabbily. He began to pick on the student by pointing out that nobody should attend class dressed like that and engaged the class to comment.

When it became apparent the class was also piling on this student, I spoke up and defended the student. I was promptly instructed to shut up or I would be the next victim of his critique. For a while, I sat there in stunned silence until reengaging the professor who continued to whip up on my classmate.

It was then he stopped. He looked sad and then he spoke. “The student and I had planned this event in advance. He purposely dressed poorly to help me make my point. Holocausts are started by the power hungry; beating up on those that cannot or will not defend themselves. Holocausts grow when those who know better, are stronger, sit by, and let it happen or are willing participants. Silence is willing participation. So far, only one person will pass this class. Now get out of my sight.” That was day one…

Those who did not stand up against Kristallnacht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystalnacht) found it harder and harder to maintain their personal freedoms (especially and ironically religious freedom) in their own country or stop a movement that would haunt many untill the end of their lives. Those who justify their silence by thinking, “It’s only Jews, members of our community, someone else’s kid, or that quiet neighbor” are often unaware of who is next in line.

Note: Larry Rudner wrote several novels on the Holocaust. His last novel was published shortly after he died of brain cancer. Shalom my friend.

Stupidity Disguised as Compassion Makes Taxes High

2008-07-08T22:38:44Z

The dreaded “Mortgage Crisis” is in full bloom and the woe lemmings are dutifully following the doomsayers over the cliff of common sense.

What caused this crisis?

Stupid borrowers who really knew they could not afford to buy a house that was not in their league, No, there was no socioeconomic bias happening here. CEOs loosing million dollar homes were in this equation too and just as stupid as anyone else who wanted to live well beyond their means.

Stupid greedy lenders who thought they could pass these bad loans on to the secondary market, often took credit applications written on cocktail napkins, never seriously checked reported/claimed salary, and checked credit scores by seeing how many blue stars someone had on Ebay.

What is the government solution to this problem? A $250 Billion bail out to Dumb AND to Dumber.

We the people are rewarding those who made idiotic financial decisions even though 97% of Americans are paying their mortgages on a regular basis and on time. We are letting the lending entities who made these stupid loans live to loan another day instead of letting them die a rightful death so they won’t corrupt the market in the future.

Let the borrowers go back to renting since they have no equity in their “home” anyway. Let the lenders go bankrupt or go to jail since they are bad business people. This is a solution that costs taxpayers nothing and will correct the market within months.

The Forty-Yard Rule

2008-06-21T21:30:14Z

Now that the weather is finally getting warm, it is time to prepare for the seasonal unpleasant site of men over 40 walking around places like State Fair, Summerfest, Falls Fest, and yes, even the Smithsonian Sculpture Gardens in D.C. without a shirt. Many of these guys are in their 60s with tattoos as faded as the south side of my house.

Do they ever get lucky? I don’t know, or care, but they scare my kids, and me too, a little bit. Anyone with that much poor judgment is likely to do worse things.

We +40 men all consider ourselves buff beyond belief, but some of us have a little voice inside our heads whispering that the women and young girls looking at us are actually comparing us to Jabba the Hut instead of plotting how to get us to drive their Lamborghini back to their penthouse. Another clue, the gagging sound they are making between fits of laughter.

For those of you who are King of your castle here is a simple rule for men who want to do the right thing. The 40-Yard Rule: “No man over 40 will cross the border of his property without a shirt. Simple and effective. If you want to mow your lawn, sit on your porch, work on your car, go for it. Otherwise, do not cross that border except to help your neighbor. Then return promptly to your own property. Exceptions: If you go to a pool, beach or other swimming area.

Waukesha Co. State Test Scores 2007

2008-06-02T13:32:00Z

This Waukesha County State Test Scores Graph shows the results of last years test scores for the State Test taken last year. It takes at least 6 months to get the results back.

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/graphic.asp?graphic=http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/may08/scores4_053008_big.jpg

This Waukesha County State Test Scores Article gives some objective observations on the results.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=756607

No comment from me-at this time…

Closings

2008-05-27T01:44:54Z

For those of you who like to know what is going on, business wise, in the Falls, the following stores are now closed:

1. Ponderosa - closed two weeks ago.

2. Camille's at Good Hope and Appleton closed about two months ago. Was open about 3 months.

3. The Custard Company on Main Street closed about a month ago.

Honor Them

2008-05-23T14:03:39Z

Please use this blog post to honor those who have fought, served, and died for our ability to live as we as we are today. Please honor those who are serving right now as well.

Posting a tribute below is very simple and would mean a lot to those who should forever be remembered.

High Tech Job Loss Brewing

2008-05-20T03:14:19Z

No announcement has been made as to where the headquarters will be located when the merger between SAB/Miller and Coors/Molsen is approved by the Feds. My prediction, dating back to December 07, will be Colorado. I wish it were not so, but that won’t make it so.

The announcement will probably be similar to GE’s when they moved their GE Medical world headquarters to the UK from Waukesha while they pretended to move it to Wauwatosa. I will bet you didn’t even know that:

“Southeast Wisconsin did lose the bragging rights to being GE Healthcare's headquarters last year. After General Electric Co.'s acquisition of Amersham PLC, the headquarters was moved to Chalfont St. Giles - a city near London.”
JSOnline Oct. 29, 2005

Every state is trying to be “Thee Biotech State” or the “Pharmaceutical Capitol” of the U.S. because the moniker implies high tech, high paying jobs. Wisconsin’s leaders declared they want this title. While the “goal” sounds good, is it a realistic?

I want to be the starting power forward for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2008. Even though I am over 50, under 5’8’’ and never played college basketball, my goal is more realistic than Wisconsin’s.

Many do not realize that Brewing is a high tech industry. Miller Brewing had a world class technical center in which there were over 35 PhDs in areas such as microbiology, cereal chemistry, protein chemistry, foam chemistry, etc. It had more PhDs than any other non-medical or non-educational institution in Wisconsin. Pabst and Schlitz also had significant research facilities. The industry also paid good wages and benefits to the line workers and provided many executive positions like accounting, IT, legal, and marketing.

Hundreds of S.E. Wisconsin companies are/were vendors to Miller Brewing-including mine.

Wisconsin was the brewing capital of the U.S. but things change and brewing dispersed. No effort was made to save it or replace it. Brewing wasn't high tech enough.

There are plenty of opportunities for Wisconsin to be the capital of something else. Paper and printing are good examples. While it doesn’t create the buzz as being the Pharma Capital it is infinitely more sensible, realistic, and achievable.

Maybe someday we will have a Governor who can lead companies into Wisconsin instead of filing lawsuits against them. Until that day, we will be known as the “Moving Van State” moving corporations out of Wisconsin.

It's Just Not That Funny

2008-05-12T01:07:00Z

It seems like only yesterday that most of us were able to get on with our lives thanks to the writer’s strike settlement. Hopefully, you are all pleased with your favorite shows returning in full splendor.

“Boston Legal” was an amusing show until about two weeks ago when David Spader hectored the U.S. Supreme Court while defending a retarded murderer from receiving the death penalty (good luck kid, your high minded lawyer just tweaked the nose of your last chance). Denny Crane added to the absurdity by ripping one during the proceedings. This show has truly left the cliff and is heading for the rocks below. It reminds me when “MASH” was a great show, before everyone became good buddies and each episode delivered one pious sermon after another.

Today’s comedies need to use shock, sex, or something gross to get the laughs. They use everything but good writing. It’s just not that funny.*

Something happened the other night while watching TV. My kids looked at me very puzzled. When I asked what was the matter they both responded, “Dad, you are laughing out loud-you never do that when you watch TV.”

Now, I love to laugh but had to admit it doesn’t happen when watching comedies. What was I watching? The classic “Beverly Hillbillies.”

“The Beverly Hillbillies” is just laugh out loud funny, even to this day. What is great about the show is it never really makes fun of Jed and his kin. They are just good-hearted mountain folk that are in a culture clash in a strange land and trying to make sense of it all. They have great riches but never loose their center. That is, they never loose site of who they are in spite of a great reversal of fortune.

Those supposedly much smarter city slickers who try to swindle money from them always end up trying to escape from the Clampett’s overzealous generosity. The Clampetts never would think of giving money to someone when they could teach them how to plow, cook possum, or have some of Granny’s free doctor’n.

When working the Appalachia region of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, I found the folks there to be trusting, generous, and friendly. So, the real story behind the show is the joke may have been on us city folk all along.

* Admittedly, I laugh out loud watching “The Simpsons” but, hopefully, the kids aren’t around to watch me, while I’m watching that.

The Cost of Compassion

2008-05-05T02:00:00Z

Who has not been touched by the death of a pregnant mother and school administrator, her unborn baby, and her daughter? People overuse the word tragedy to describe many things. This truly was a tragedy. A verdict will soon tell us if it was murder. Maybe Mark Benson will get another chance.

Charity is not charity if you give with other people’s money, resources, or at other’s expense. Charity is giving of yourself, the money you have earned or the money and/or time you could spend on yourself but choose to give to improve the lives of others.

Compassion has a price, and I do not mean money. Do we automatically offer compassion because it is right or because it makes us feel and look noble? People often write “compassion checks” on someone else’ account and take the credit for being noble.

Apparently people wrote Mark Benson multiple “compassionate checks” long before he went out driving without a valid license.

Who paid the price for this compassion?

Was it worth the cost?

Note: The laws in this state are too weak for multiple offenders and people who drive without a valid license. The judge did what he felt was fair but even the maximum sentence would not have prevented ths tragedy.

John Harbor’s Caught Fire

2008-04-30T00:51:00Z

In case you have not heard, the news has had two consecutive Fridays where there has been over 100 people in the main room listening to live music. www.johnharbors.com

John Harbor’s is across the street from the Associated Bank on Main Street and is an untraditional Coffee House. They serve good food and are friendly hospitable folk. This is the kind of place people tell me we need in the Falls but never seem to support. Well, at least the last part has changed. You can get a good cup of Joe, a nice wine or a beer in a totally smoke free environment. You can even get a Bourbon but you have to spell it for Jeremy, the bartender.

The main room looks like a hip living room and is an ideal place to have a meeting or to hear live music-a rarity in this village. It is a great place to take your spouse, friends or even your kids if it is early enough and they like Gelato.

Two weeks ago there was a trio of Arrowhead High School girls playing music to a group of supporters, along with seniors, middle aged men and women, some wearing Harley gear and some wearing western wear (me). Everyone was getting along just fine.

While most of the bars I frequent these days only serve lettuce and tomatoes, I don’t normally find myself hanging with HS kids, but these were kids who were mature beyond their age. It was fun to watch them have fun. I would hope my kids spend Friday night this way when they get to be that age.

There are some events on May 2^nd and 3^rd that will benefit kid's organizations so what better time to check this place out for yourself.

Endangered! Environmentalist Credibility

2008-04-24T01:24:43Z

20 plus years ago the visionary CEO of Monsanto decided to work with environmentalists to create a better world. He asked them what Monsanto could do to help the environment. The environmentalists had some great ideas: create crops that would have significantly higher yields so farms would not have to expand at the expense of forests and wetlands. Make crops less susceptible to insects so there would be less or no need for insecticides. Make crops that could grow in less than ideal climates so there can be real hope to end world hunger. “OK” said the CEO, “I will get back to you.”

Several years later the CEO called the environmentalists back to show them the accomplishments of his research and development team. “Here are crops that have higher yields, are less susceptible to insects, grow in less than ideal climates, and will soon be able to do all of these things using less water. The reaction of the environmentalists was one of horror. “These are genetically modified seeds!” cried the environmentalists. Yes said the CEO what is wrong with that? Environmentalists: “They are genetically modified!” CEO: “Yes, what is wrong with that?”

This circular conversation continues to this day. No scientific proof exists against genetically modified crops just feeble mental resistance to science. Europe, always pretending to be the superior intellect to the U.S, saw the obvious advantage to Monsanto’s product as a way to kill their seed and agricultural business. Therefore, naturally, they decided to ban any genetically modified food products under the guise of protecting their citizens from harm. In actuality, it was an absolute trade barrier. Japan, never willing to take second place to trade barriers banned containers, and anything in them, that at one time contained genetically modified food products.

France, even blocked several UN tankers of corn, donated by the U.S. to Zimbabwe’s starving people to “protect” them from the evils of genetically modified crops. Tens, and possibly hundreds of thousands of human beings starved to death as a result. Meanwhile, the scientists who created genetically modified products eat them, and continue to feed them to their children knowing they are perfectly safe. By starving innocent humans to make a point, environmentalists may have created a mental standard that makes the Spanish Inquisition look like the apex of human thought and kindness.

Today, as food prices not only rise but are in short supply in Europe and Japan, these high minded environmentalists are starting to think that genetically modified food is not so bad after all. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/21/business/21crop.php?page=1

You would think that with credibility like this nobody would even listen to them regarding our energy needs. Well even embracing genetically modified corn could not save us from perhaps the stupidest idea in human history-ethanol.

If Stalin were alive today, I think he would be an environmentalist, the Ukrainians would be extinct via a genetically modified free starvation, and he would get a Nobel prize for saving the planet.