Homosexuals, Women, and Leprechauns (?)

There must be nothing left to protest over in Iowa City. Especially since they are protesting the colors of the visitor's locker room these days.

For those who have never heard the story, legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry was convinced that pink was a calming color. In order to gain an edge, he had the visitor's locker room painted pink. Sounds like a pretty funny idea, right?

Well, during the renovation of Kinnick Stadium in the off-season, the University of Iowa took Coach Fry's ideas a step further, adding pink lockers, carpeting, and even urinals to the locker room.

LINK

Now, students and professors are protesting that "the use of pink demeans women, perpetuates offensive stereotypes about women and homosexuality."

What is so offensive about women being represented by pink? When babies are born, they are generally dressed in pink if they are a girl. Trust me, our soon-to-be daughter's closed is loaded with pink stuff! What is stereotypical of that?

Also, where does it say thatpink represents homosexuals negatively? Carson Kressley from Queer Eye didn't seem to put off when he donned a pink Red Sox jersey on their show, did he?

The next thing we know, the homosexuals will be saying that rainbows are perpetuating a offensive stereotype about them. And imagine if the them and the leprechauns got together to fight against rainbows. The homosexuals would be saying that the rainbow projecting its image across the sky is a knock on them, while the leprechauns would be worried that rainbows are a negative stereotype due to the thoughts that they sit with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and protect it. Now that would be a formidable duo...gays and leprechauns! What would happen if a leprechaun and a...NEVER MIND!

Isn't there a war somewhere that these people should be protesting? Stay out of sports!!

Three Cheers For Mediocrity

I know I shouldn't be commenting on this, as I am a frequent poster on the website I am going to mention and I am also as happy as the people I am about to mention, but I have to!

For those who are not baseball followers, the Milwaukee Brewers won last night, pushing their record to 79-78. This gives the team a winning record, and a possiblity at finishing with a winning record for the first time in 13 years.

After reading the posts made during (and especially after) yesterday's game on brewerfan.net, it is funny to see how ecstatic and excited Brewers fans are with being mediocre. Check out this link...especially page 10.

LINK

Just think what it will be like if this team can continue their push and maybe threaten to make the playoffs in the next couple years. It is going to be FUN!

Blame The Media

On Drudge this morning, the top story is about how the national news media and their overblown coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

LINK

Here are the highlights for those who cannot read the whole article, from the L.A. Times:

• Many of the stories about murders, rapes, and the such have proven to be unsubstantiated. It is compared to a rumor passing through the halls of a high school.
• As always, all of the good things that were going on were ignored. Some examples are given in the article.
• Other stories that have proven to be false include: bodies stacked up in the basement of the Superdome; bodies in the cooler of the Convention Center; dead babies in garbage cans; sharks swimming through the flooded streets.

This all reminds me of the story that came out after 9-11 of the man who "rode" one of the towers down and walked away from ground zero with only scratches.

It seems that everyone wants the "scoop", but most do not want to wait to make sure their story is accurate.

The Next "Big One"

It seems that the damage from Hurricane Rita did not live up to the hype. This leads me to one quick thought...

What will happen next time?

Will people be willing to endure hours and hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic? Will people be willing to make plans to stay with friends and family? Will people be ready to put a hamper in their life?

It makes you wonder, now that we have seen a "false alarm". We will see how people react next time. Will the government be "crying wolf"? Who knows? I know I would be getting the hell out of Dodge every time...or not even live there to start with!!

Bush Bashers...Where Are You?

I have heard hints of it, but not an outright comment of it, but when are people going to accuse President Bush of having more interest in his home state, Texas, and Hurricane Rita, than the states affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Here are a couple reasons why he actually should, even though only the first one is the fact that he is from there:

1. He is from there, of course he is going to take an interest in it. You can't fault him for this, can you?

2. He wants to take in the response of government officials first hand. After the debacle of all forms of government after Katrina, you cannot fault him again.

3. This storm is headed directly toward more oil refineries. We saw what happened to gas prices after Katrina, I don't want to know what will happen if this storm makes a direct hit on the rest of them. He should take a direct interest in something that will directly affect our economy as well as one of the hottest issues according to the general public these days.

4. The man is doing his job. Inagine the public outcry if he wouldn't take a direct interest in this storm.

I guess to some people, the man can do nothing right, even when he does the right thing. I guess to all of those who are going to say "Where was he last time?", I say to you "He learned from a mistake. We all make mistakes."

Packer Nation Update

I have been wondering for a couple years now when it would all come tumbling down. It seems that the wheels on the Green Bay Packers' Bandwagon have started to wobble a little bit.

I thought people would wait until Brett Favre was gone until this happened, but my thoughts have been affirmed today. In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online today, there was a poll asking if the Packers would be able to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. As of 2:00pm Friday, the vote was 70%-30% that the Packers would lose...AT HOME!

And this from a poll in the home state of the team. I know that internet polls are by no means scientific and accurate, but you have to give the poll a little credence.

Here is a link to the poll.

Hit 'Em Where It Hurts

While reading this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I read of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's proposal to increase some fares on County buses.

After reading where the increases will come, I am in a state of disbelief.

Walker's plan calls for those who use weekly passes and other forms of pre-paid fare to pay more. This shocks me because these are the people who are keeping the system alive. They use it on a regular basis. Why should we be punishing those who are helping the system and/or trying to do what has been promoted for years...ride the bus?

Regular fares would remain the same, but weekly passes and student passes would increase in price, as would the ever-popluar Summerfest Shuttle ($6...getting to be a rip-off!)

I just don't get why we should stick it to those who are heeding the advice of leaders, who tell us to take the bus to avoid the Marquette Interchange construction, or for various other reasons.

And this guy wants to be our governor?!?

Here We Go Again

As I wondered out loud last week, I am again thinking about what is going to happen after Hurricane Rita hits the coast of Texas this weekend.

The commercials and telethons and star-studded events will ensue I am sure, but where is the money going to come from this time? Obviously the government will find a good chunk to give out again, as they should.

But what about donations and relief effort. So many people opened their hearts and wallets to those affected by Katrina that it is going to be hard for people to do it again. Think about it...you are a person that gave a good chunk of money out already. Where are you going to get money from this time? Especially with talk of higher gas prices.

Many people are already strapped for cash due to higher costs of living. Talk of hig gas prices, higher heating costs this winter, and the increased overall cost of living is going to have to take a toll soon. Will we see people spending less money this holiday season? Will travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend go down? Something has to give, and I don't quite know what it will be yet.

Personally, I see Melissa and I cutting costs around the holiday season. This is mainly due to the fact that our little girl will be with us by then, but also because it is one of our biggest "non-necessities" that we spend money on every year, besides going out and such, which will also probably decrease drastically in relation to our baby girl being born!!

Normalcy

I'm not talking about President Harding here. But I am talking about things getting back to normal...in New Orleans.

It appears that the Deja Vu Strip Club in the French Quarter re-opened for business last night. Here is my question...for who? Didn't the mayor just order the city re-evacuated? The only people there are military and police personnel, and don't they have things they should be doing, like helping in the efforts to make the city habitable again? Just wondering...

More Thoughts on Katrina

Two major things have come to my mind lately about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The first has to do with the panhandling that has become so mainstream in the past two weeks. Everyone expects you to give money. The NFL does. College football does, Noodles and COmpany does. Pick 'n' Save does. Even McDonald's does. Here is what I think. I give money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina every two weeks. It is disguised on my paystub as "Federal Taxes".

Now I know that this is a tragedy and that many people lost everything, but you can't expect people to give everywhere they go. All these people are lining up for our money. While we are opening our pockets to these people and their problems, I fear that we will be ignoring other people in need. This really hit me when I was in the drive-thru at McDonald's the other day. I saw that the little tray where you can leave your change for the Ronald McDonald House has been changed to Hurricane Katrina relief.

What about the poor kids and their families that Ronald and Co. have been helping for years? What are they supposed to do? What about the millions that should have been given to the MDA through the Labor Day telethon? What about non profit groups such as the United Way? These people do not get a cut of my tax dollars. I will continue to give to them. Now I have George Lopez behind me on TV asking for money on behalf of ESPN and the NFL.

We get the point. The way they run these commercials and PSA's, they are almost guilting people into giving. It reminds me of the WWII propaganda posters. "If you do not give to the Hurricane survivors, you are on "their" side." They should run commercials like this every March and April to guilt people into paying their taxes. Show our poor and homeless throughout the rest of the country and say "These people need your help. Please pay your taxes so that we can continue to run our Social Security system in our country. Without your dollars, what will happen to these people who have no other choice than to live the way they do?"

On to the second thing, does anyone in New Orleans know what the hell is going on? Now the mayor is stepping back on his order to let people back in to the city. And conveniently, he has yet another excuse. There is another storm on the way. Or maybe this guy realized that the city is in no condition to take people back yet. One hospital in the city of New Orleans open and you want to let hundreds of thousands of people back in with chain saws and other power tools. Come on! No clean running water and you want to let people back. Settle down! Take your time. Mardi Gras is not for many months. You all have plenty of time back then. You are not going to get brownie points for repopluation your city quicker Mr. Mayor. There are reasons that the colleges in the city cancelled their ENTIRE SEMESTER! Nice to see he has someone else besides himself to blame. When is this guy up for re-election?!?

The Police Blotter

I love this feature when it is put into newspapers for a couple reasons. First, it is funny to hear some of the stuff that people do. It is even funnier when it is someone you know. And it is yet funnier when it happens in your home town.

With that being said, here is an excerpt from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's police blotter in my home town of West Allis, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee for those who are unfamiliar).

************************************************************************************

Drunken driving

A 31-year-old West Allis man was arrested on allegations of drunken driving and disorderly conduct for splashing a law enforcement officer with urine from his property bag and swinging the bag at his face in the 11000 block of W. Lincoln Ave. Sept. 5.

************************************************************************************

You wonder if they used the urine to determine if he was actually drunk or not!!

This explains everything...and is so true. From The Onion.

President Bush Takes Blame for Katrina

OK...so he didn't take blame for the Hurricane happening (which it seems some people actually want him to do), but...

President Bush came out today and said that he is personally responsible for the Federal Government's poor reaction and performance after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Many people are asking why he is coming out and doing this. I say why not?

Here is why I think this statement and subsequent public address Thursday night are good ideas:

• It is a sort of damage control. People will be less willing to blatantly point a finger at someone who has admitted they made a mistake. Any other time a public figure makes a mistake and acknowledges it publicly, they usually are not as hostile toward the person.
  
• What does he have to lose? He is not up for re-election. He does not seem to have any intent to stay in politics after his term is up. He is losing nothing (but maybe public support) by coming out and doing this. He's not going to lose his job, so why not take the bullet for the rest of the administration.
  
• It protects the party. Again, Bush is taking the bullet for the rest of the country's Republicans, especially in areas affected by the Hurricane. This could possibly take the anger people in the Gulf Coast are feeling away from locally elected politicians and send it toward President Bush.
  
• It makes the news talk about the Hurricane's aftermath and takes the media focus away from pertinent issues, such as the confirmation hearings of Chief Justice candidate John Roberts.
  
• And finally, there are no new television shows to pre-empt, so this is the best time to take the national airwaves over for a message of possible apology. Wait, doesn't the new Survivor start Thursday? Never mind...bad move! People need their Survivor and won't be happy id the President takes it away...or pushes it back. I better set my DVR for CBS all night!
  

When you take a step back and look at it, this is probably one of the best moves President Bush has made so far in his second term.

Drudge Strikes First Again

The Durdge Report beat everyone to the punch again today with breaking news.

Matt Drudge was the first to report that large parts of Los Angeles have just lost power. Before CNN, before Fox News, even before the LA Times. Nobody has details yet, but I'm sure they are on the way.

Another piece of proof that Drudge does have some value...for all those non-believers.

BUMP

I am writing this to direct everyone's attention to the post Melissa made over the weekend. Make sure to scroll down far enough to get to it. It is very important!

Way To Go Pat's Fans

This is from this morning's Drudge Report:

'THE BIG BOO' CROWD HISSES KANYE WEST
Fri Sep 09 2005 10:30:28 ET

The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was loudly and lustily booed during last night's NFL kickoff show.

The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.

"The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number," reports the BOSTON GLOBE.

Developing...

Now if we can only get him off this benefit concert tonight. I am interested to see what kind of response he gets. Too bad I will be at Miller Park watching a dandy pitching match-up between the king of hard luck, Doug Davis, and the immortal Roger Clemens. Maybe I will DVR it to see what happens!

Improvement!

Well, the Greater Metro Conference swimming season got underway this week. My girls from West Allis had a tough challenge last night (which they all are!) against the Red Raiders of Wauwatosa East. Last year, we were defeated by a score of 115-71. It was our first dual meet and we knew that we were in for the long haul

This year, we brought a much improved team into East and gave them a little run. After two events, we were in the lead, helped by a 1-2 finish in the 200 Free! Before the diving break, we were only down by 4 points, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Then diving and the second half of the meet came. The divers are regrouping from the loss of their top two divers to graduation and injury, and the back half of our meet needs some work. This year, when the waves settled, the final score was 114-72...a one point improvement!

We CANNOT look at it this way though, as Tosa East also has a much improved team from last year. Looking at the times posted at this meet (the same place on the schedule), all times were MUCH better than the same time last year.

I am very proud of my girls! Though there is no rewards for losing a dual meet, but the over 70 personal best times and 3 individual winners is definitely movement in the right direction!

Move On

On my morning jog through the Drudge Report, I found this disheartening story about the political activist group "MoveOn". For those who don't know, these are the people who are pushing the liberal agenda to the people with no regard for costs or impacts on society.

This group is now trying to use the Hurricane to push their agenda. They are claiming that John Roberts' "record on civil rights ... is clearly not the direction our country needs to head now."

Not only that, but they are using images of the evacuees as proof of this.

Give tha damn people a break already. It's bad enough that the national news media has camersa and microphones in their face way too much, but now to politicize this whole debacle even more?

I think these people at MoveOn need to do exactly that...MOVE ON! It's pretty clear that the general public does not want to see the plight of the people of the Gulf Coast politicized anymore. It is also becoming clear that there is nothing politically wrong with John Roberts becoming a Supreme Court justice (unless something unreal pops up in the next week or so). MOVE ON to something else...like trying to win the 2008 election so we can stop listening to your whining and the right can blame your candidate for everything in the world that goes wrong.

WOW!

found this in another blog, written by the college basketball rpi guru, jerry palm.

Barbara Bush on NPR, after a tour of the Astrodome: "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

are you kidding me? unreal!

The Hell You Say

NEWSFLASH: There are two Supreme Court justice vacancies. Chief Justice William Rehnquist died and he needs to be replaced.

It was nice to see that most major news outlets today still had this as their 4th or 5th story.

Also, the confirmation hearings for John Roberts are starting...for those who care about the long-term effects of the government on our lives.

More on Kanye West

I found this while trolling the AP wire this morning. This is Kanye West in reference to his appearance at the upcoming "NFL Kickoff" celebration.

"I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment, and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits," West said Tuesday at a news conference to promote Thursday's free concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't part of Friday's benefit "entertainment"? There was music there, wasn't thre? Wasn't it a time of need last Friday? Didn't people's spirits need to be lifted on Friday?

How can he go out and make ridiculous comments one day and claim that they are unnecessary a few days later at a "similar" event...a concert that was part "entertainment"?

The guy needs to put his foot in his mouth very soon!

Why So Political?

One of the great things about teaching high schoolers is that you can have somewhat logical conversations with them. Today in class we were discussing the many different ways the government affects their lives, even though most of them are not 18 and cannot vote yet.

One thing that came up was the Hurricane, as it seems to come up in any conversation if you talk to someone long enough. This leads me to my next point about high schoolers...they cannot think for themselves sometimes. They were all trying to convince me that the lack of support after the flooding was the President's fault. I would think this is because of how politicized this event has become in the media...especially in the cable news channels.

I know it is an unfair comparison, but I try to compare the public's reaction to 9/11 to this, and I don't remember nearly as much (if any at first) political talk about the event. They both happened about the same time after an election, but if you watch CNN you would think that Citizens for Responsible Government was leading a recall against the President.

After 9/11 it seems that the country united as one, even the staunch Republicans and Democrats...remember all the politicians on the stairs of the Capitol (I think) singing together? Where is all the non-partisan singing after a natural disaster (something we couldn't really control) hits that will likely cause more deaths than 9/11?

Everyone is WAY too quick to lay blame on this one. The time for that will come, but only after we know all the facts. We should really be worried about cleaning up the city and getting everyone possible back on their feet rather than polarizing ourselves even further along partisan lines.

It's bad enough that we have prominent African Americans going on national TV during a benefit concert claiming that President Bush "hates" African Americans. He can't be serious, can he? Not only is that a ridiculous comment in itself, but it sets a great example for our naive youth to follow ("Kanye West hates the President, so maybe I should too!") Do we really need every talking head on cable news claiming that "so-and-so" is the person to blame? And I wonder why so many of my students are blind liberals. They really are quite impressionable. Here is an example...

Sample Conversation Between Myself and a Student:

This conversation starts as we are discussing something where the President comes up in the conversation.

Student: The President sucks.
Me: Why?
S: Because he is a fag.
Me: Really? I thought he was married and had kids?
S: No, he is stupid.
Me: How do you know that?
S: 'Cause he sounds stupid.
Me: Can you prove he is stupid?
S: No.
Me: Then how can you say he is stupid if you can't back it up?
S: Because.

That is generally when I give up...or at least wait until we talk about political ideology in class. They take a quiz and many of them end up being way more moderate or conservative than their talk would show.

The life of a teacher I guess. At least I can have somewhat logical conversations with them!

Anyways...we all need to calm down and take a step back. The way we are going right now, it feels like we are on the verge of another Civil War. They say history repeats itself...this time it will be about politics rather than states' rights and slavery.

More Impact From Katrina

Like most of us, I have been on Katrina Overload. Watching TV, reading stories on the internet, etc. about the devastation and the aftermath of it. Since much of my life revloves around sports, I have found yet another link to it. This has to do with Tulane University.

The school announced over the weekend that it will not be open for a fall semester, but that its sports teams will compete. I though about how this would work, only to realize that their student-athletes will be taking classes at other institutions. It got me thinking about what a nightmare this would be. I have enough problems coaching at one school and teaching at another.

I read into this story further and came to find what a logisitcal mess every business along the Gulf coast must be. Not only are people trying to pick up the pieces of their personal lives from the storm, but their employer comes into it. I was reading on the Tulame site all the problems with distributing paychecks and receiving information about medical benefits.

The problems there only seem to compound, especially for business owners and managers of businesses. They have at least twice as much to worry about...amazing!

I think this lessens the problem we have about practice being at 3:15 and Melissa having a meeting until 3:45!

Can Offense Win Championships?

One of the things you will hear coaches in nearly every sport say is that defense win championships. If that is the case, the Badger football team isn't going to win too much this year. The Wisconsin defense looked anemic, especially in the first half, but thankfully the Badger running game is still one of the best in the country.

Here are my quick thoughts of today's game:

• The uni's scared me right from the start. For those who remember, the last time the Badgers wore alternate uniforms, they got smoked in their season opener versus Colorado on national TV, at home, and at night! When it was 20-7, I was really worried.

• Brian Calhoun started slow, but then turned it on. He seemed to be tentative hitting the holes in the first half, but once he got comfortable he showed the talents that have been touted since his transfer was announced.

• The secondary is really missing Scott Starks and Jim Leonhard. Hopefully someone steps up VERY soon and can fill those holes, because the Badger secondary was burned all day long. i don't want to see what experienced Big Ten QB's will do against this D.

• The improvements at Camp Randall looked very nice. A couple new video boards and some new seating, but it just didn't look like Camp Randall on TV. I'm sure it will grow on me, especially since everything I have heard about the renovation is nothing but glowing. I need to get there very soon!

• I had the game on in the car for a little and I remembered how much I like Matt Lepay. He is a great announcer for both football and basketball, which is something to say. He is almost as ingrained in my mind with Badger sports as Bob Uecker is with the Brewers. Let's hope Lepay stays around that long...I don't know why he wouldn't.
  

I'm sure I could go on for a while, but I am tired, so I am going to sleep! Great start to the college football season, and the Badger's season. I am getting a little more optimistic about the season, but I will not be convinced until we see what happens against Michigan

Blame Bush For Gas?

While surfing the internet today, I found this comment on another person's blog. The poster is saying the President is to blame for the high gas prices...though the hurricane has "some" effect.

Hmm...last time I checked gas (and I drive by about 5 stations on my way to work), the price on Monday morning was in the high $2.70's on the South Side of Milwaukee. Today, gas was up to $3.25. The 55 cent difference was "some effect" and we should blame the President for the rest??

As I see it, it is as easy as simple supply and demand. The supply of American produced oil is low. The demand for oil in America is high. If you were a supplier of oil, wouldn't you charge the highest price you possibly could in order to make the most profit possible. I know I would...regardless of what the President was doing.

It's kind of like the black market...or scalping tickets. If tickets are around, scalpers do not make money. If tickets are scarce, scalpers make good money. Very rarely do the people selling the tickets change their price depending on who they are selling to (unless they are from Chicago!).

As long as people stay dependent on automobiles (I know I will be) the price of gas will continue to increase until the equilibrium point is reached when producers of oil are not moving their supply enough to make a profit. I don't believe that "magic price" where people will stop driving even exists...especially since many people said that "magic price" was $2.50 or even $3.00. And I don't know of too many people who decided to take the bus or bike to work this week! The price of gas will continue to increase until the equilibrium point is reached when producers of oil are not moving their supply enough to make a profit.

Also, if the President is to blame for the high price of gasoline, then why have prices for gas in Europe been so high (still much higher than gas here today!) for years. President Bush is not in charge of Europe also, is he?

Here are the gas average gas prices in Europe as of mid-August...

Netherlands $6.77
Norway $6.56
Denmark $6.29
Belgium $6.02
UK $6.02

Wisconsin 8/05 $2. 70's
Wisconsin 9/05 $3.20's

He is our President people! As much as I agree with him in some areas, and disagree with him in others, he is still the elected leader of our country (don't even start talking about "stealing" elections!) Face the facts, or at least follow through with your empty promises to "move to Canada if Bush is re-elected". In other words, "Take off...eh!"