Bush Approves Execution

Good. 

President Bush on Monday approved the execution of an Army private, the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military. With his signature from the Oval Office, Bush said yes to the military’s request to execute Ronald A. Gray, the White House confirmed. Gray had had been convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area over eight months in the late 1980s while stationed at Fort Bragg.

This thug needs to see the inside of a coffin.  See, we can use the word "thug" on white guys. Oh, wait, he's black. Never mind! It’s a shame it’s taken so long.  Let’s hope that it doesn’t take much longer.  After all, life is precious, so let's cheer this state-sanctioned killing, as Jesus would. If it's good enough for the President, it's good enough for me.

Violent Crime Down in Milwaukee

Good news! 

Over the first half of the year, Milwaukee’s violent crime decreased 19.4% compared with the start of last year, Police Chief Edward Flynn reported today. “Our violent crime decreases seemed very significant, which caused me to make everybody go back and check the numbers again,” Flynn said in speaking with the Journal Sentinel’s editorial board this afternoon.

Maybe all the thugs have killed each other, and crime is dropping.

Deficit of $490 billion for 2009

This is just grotesque.

The White House on Monday predicted a record deficit of $490 billion for the 2009 budget year, a senior government official told CNN. The White House blames a faltering economy and the stimulus package for the increased budget deficit. The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation’s $14 trillion economy. The official pointed to a faltering economy and the bipartisan $170 billion stimulus package that passed earlier this year for the record deficit. The fiscal year begins October 1, 2008. [...] “I remember that back when we were discussing the stimulus package, both parties recognized that the deficit would increase, and that would be the price that we pay in order to help improve the economy,” she said.

Bear in mind that such a deficit is not inevitable.  When they do the budget next time, there is absolutely nothing preventing the Congress and the President from enacting a balanced budget.  Well, nothing except the political will to do so, and the fact that the Republicans will be busy blaming it all on Obama's new policies. I mean, who could've predicted that Bush would've done such a thing seven-eight times in a row? Why didn't we have any forewarning about this?

A Gas Retailer’s Perspective

I received this email that I thought I would share. 

I’ve written to you a couple of times in the past regarding the irrelevancy of the minimum markup law on gasoline. I had to write this morning after you again brought up the law just a few minutes ago. I am a gasoline retailer and own a fairly heavy volume convenience store northwest of Green Bay. These are my ACTUAL margins for the month of July:

Regular - 2.67%
Mid-grade - 3.09%
Premium - 3.16%
Diesel - 2.72%
Diet Coke 173%
Whole 205%
Two-Percent 195%
Pink Stuff 230% (half-gallon)

These are my ACTUAL margins year-to-date:

Regular - 4.34%
Mid-grade - 5.07%
Premium - 4.65%
Diesel - 4.11%
Diet Coke 178%
Whole 193%
Two-Percent 185%
Pink Stuff 250% (half-gallon)

As you can see, my actual margins are much less than required by the minimum markup law. When you take into account credit card fees, which vary from store to store but average about 2.0% of sales, my profit margin for July gasoline sales is closer to 1%! One stinkin’ percent!! That’s 4 cents on a $4 gallon. The state of Wisconsin makes 31 cents a gallon and the federal government makes 18 cents a gallon and they’re not here working seven days a week. I mean that figuratively, of course. Of course I have a crew of minimum wagers working for me. I'm not stupid.

If it weren't for the other products, I'd be in the poor house. It cracks me up when the bleary-eyed moms and dads come walking in at 7 a.m. because they're out of milk and they don't want to drive to the grocery store. What the market will bear, baby! I don't even put price stickers on it any more. Why bother? They need it, they'll pay. And who the hell wants to drink that pink stuff? That's why I mark it up a little higher. Later in the day, I enjoy the confused looks of the people who see the big warm two-liter bottles of Coke on the rack and the tiny, cold ones in the cooler. That moment when they realize the tiny bottles of the cold stuff is the same price as the warm bottle that's eight times the size, ah, that makes my day.

My point is the minimum markup law is irrelevant. It is much like the speed limit. The law is on the books but it is ignored and not enforced for the most part, except in this county when the driver isn't quite the same shade of white as the rest of us, if you know what I mean. We should be focusing on putting more pressure on politicians whose policies have given us $4 a gallon gas and having them change those policies. By which I mean the Democrats, of course. As you can see from the above numbers, the minimum markup law is not inflating the street price at all. Say, what exactly is the minimum markup law? Do I have this all wrong from the get-go? Math wasn't my strong suit, especially percentages. Here, have some jerky. We get the good stuff from Nueske's.

Keep the minimum markup law on the books or repeal it, as a gasoline retailer it means nothing to me.

Regards,

Jeff from Green Bay

Socialist Party Meets in Kern Park

Can anyone articulate for me how this platform is substantially different than the Democrats’ platform?

The antidote to both, Moore maintains, is to put the Socialist Party in power, so it can go about ending the Iraq war, implementing national health care and guaranteeing work — and at least $35,000 a year — for everyone.

Our President has a guaranteed work program of a different sort, involving the forced repayment of debt plus interest for generations to come. Thank God he's not a Socialist like some Democrats I know!

Chicago To Continue to Ignore the Constitution

Good.  Looks like another opportunity for some case law. 

Chicago Police will continue to enforce the city’s handgun ban and firearm registration laws while lawyers fight the pro-gun lobby in federal court. The National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association filed federal lawsuits to shoot down Chicago’s gun laws after the U.S. Supreme Court voided the District of Columbia’s handgun ban last month. City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges told a City Council committee Thursday that she’s prepared to fight those lawsuits all the way to the Supreme Court. “Chicago’s gun ordinance was not invalidated by the . . . decision. Three prior Supreme Court decisions have found that the Second Amendment does not apply to states and municipalities,” Georges said. “The decision did not change that case law.” Georges said she’s confident that the U.S. District Court will dismiss the gun lobby lawsuit challenging Chicago’s existing laws.

Consider the utter absurdity of the statement that I bolded.  Replace “Second Amendment” with any other amendment and the statement is lunacy.  All the Amendments are the same, aren't they? I think Scalia said that. Can you imagine if the cops walked into my house without a warrant and without my permission and just said, “oh, the Fourth Amendment?  It doesn’t apply to West Bend.” Not that I'd let them in, of course. Depending on the time of day and my drinking to dull the pain, I might just take them out as they came up the driveway. Or if Wisconsin decided to forbid women from voting under the reasoning that the Nineteenth Amendment doesn’t apply here in the same way it doesn't apply inside some varieties of Christian churches in our fair State, as the Lord knows that the menfolk are the lords of their homes and the church, so the women can just arrange the doughnuts, make the coffee and take care of the screaming children.  It’s ridiculous, which is why Chicago is going to spend a lot of money of lawyers to lose their case. Follow this Sunday logic: Wendy, bring me a beer!

Hat tip Of Arms and the Law via Dad29.

Democrats’ Failed Energy Policies

While accurate, I don’t think that this meme is entirely fair.  It’s true that gas prices have gone up dramatically under the Democrat-run Congress, but that is primarily driven by the cost of crude.  The cost of crude is being driven up for a lot of reasons, only some of which are the result of American policy, and even fewer of which I'm willing to admit here in front of other Republicans.  So it’s not fair to blame the Democrats for the increase in the price of gas. That's why I'll post this PhotoShopped caricature of Pelosi that pretty much blames the Democrats for something. The average reader will take a look at this and know how to react.

That being said, it IS fair to blame the Democrats for doing nothing to help counterbalance the other factors that are driving up the cost of crude.  See, interference in markets is a valuable part of economic theory, when it can be applied to Democrats. They have not done anything to increase supply.  Totally their fault. They have not done anything to decrease demand.  Totally their fault. They have done nothing but sit on their rumps and bitch about the war.  Their inaction is their folly, unlike the war in Iraq, which is working out pretty good to affect prices of many goods. The other day on the phone Wendy told me the prices in the grocery store have risen, and I heard something very similar on the radio while driving from Milwaukee to Dallas the other day. I listen to the radio while driving. Do you? Interesting!

Furthermore, it is also fair to blame the Democratic Congress for doing nothing to shield America from its dependence on the global market by making America more self-sufficient.  By "self-sufficient", of course I'm still talking about using lots of oil. Does it mean anything else? If America increased its domestic oil production enough to provide for America’s needs, then the price of oil wouldn’t matter so much.  It's not like any international oil company would be tempted to sell oil elsewhere if the price was higher, if they could sell it to their friends here! Yes, domestic companies would have to make the choice to sell the oil domestically or export it, but at least America would be able to provide for our own needs.  I say so. So mote it be.

The Democrats need to realize that the oil companies are not evil.  If they had more oil here, they wouldn't sell it to the highest bidder! They'd keep the price nice and low, even if demand increases in the land of the red, white and blue. They provide a resource that is vital to our economy.  Yes, we need to diversify our energy portfolio with alternative means of energy (including oil, gasoline, oil-based diesel and lighter fluid), but we also need to properly manage our oil resources. By "manage" I mean that the oil companies would be able to continue to harvest their profits from our public lands and waters as if they owned them. It's not like this is something the government could pay someone to extract for the public good. Follow the logic: the public good has to be filtered through the oil companies, because they're our friends.

And… this is the height of hypocrisy. I mean, if you hear it on Glenn Beck's show, it pretty much has to be true:

The DNC would like to save money for their convention and so they have decided that they’re going to buy it from the State gas pumps.  You know where the police officers and State troopers and everybody else, you know, the snow removal trucks, where they gas up.  The DNC has struck a deal that they can gas their cars up during the convention and they’ve already started this, to avoid the $0.40 a gallon gas tax.  From the same people who said the gas tax won’t make any difference, the gas tax means nothing.

That’s How It’s Supposed to Work

I object to the interpretation of the reporter.

Congress is locked in a partisan dispute over energy legislation that has produced plenty of combustible debate but is unlikely to produce a bill to help lower gas prices anytime soon. [...] As the legislative process breaks down…

The legislative process is not breaking down.  This IS the legislative process.  You know… the one where we let the lobbyists write the drafts of the law, toot the trumpets for the Astroturf pseudo-grassroots groups hired by the lobbyists, debate the issue a little, abide by the rules and use a few heart-warming archaic phrases like "forsooth", and try to come to some sort of agreement as to the best course of action by holding our breath and insisting that we won't raise taxes at the local level to help block the pain at the Federal level, assist the votes based on how much money the lobbyists have spread around to the legislators, with the money correlated as a measurement of their value to the party, and then finally the aides to the elected are recruited for new jobs in industries connected to the lobbyists and the whole process can begin again.  The entire legislative process is not encompassed in the passage of bills and the activity taking place in the Congress is not at all an indication that anything is breaking down.  Money talks.

Man Shoots Lawn Mower

What an idiot.  Machines don't have feelings! We can have feelings for machines, like guns, but do they love us back except in our minds?

A 57-year-old south side man, who might have been struggling with a hangover, is charged today with shooting his lawn mower with a sawed-off shotgun. “I’ll tell you the truth,” a criminal complaint quotes an apparently inebriated Keith Walendowski. “I got pissed because my lawn mower wouldn’t start, so I got my shotgun and shot it. “I can do that. It’s my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want,” Walendowski told police. Ignorance of the law, however, is not a legal defense. Walendowski is charged with a felony count of possessing a short-barreled shotgun and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct while armed. If convicted of both charges, he faces up to six years and nine months in prison.

But this really bothers me:

Police recovered the shotgun, shells, a handgun, rounds for the handgun and a stun gun.

I can understand confiscating the shotgun because it’s evidence in connection with the alleged commission of a crime, but why did the police confiscate the handgun, handgun ammunition, and stun gun?  Like the guy was crazy or something? Follow the logic: He only wanted to harm motorized lawn equipment, not people. That much should be obvious. Since I presume that they confiscated them after he was in custody and was of no threat to them, why did they do it?  Doesn't everyone have an illegal stun gun laying around, just in case? I’d be majorly ticked off if I was arrested for shooting my lawnmover and they confiscated all of my guns.  Watch out, law enforcement! You don't want to mess with me when I'm ticked off and slightly buzzed. And does he have to wait until his case is over before he can get the handgun back? Hasn't everyone thought about shooting their lawn mower sometimes?

Perhaps some of our lawyer and law enforcement readers can enlighten me.  No, really. I'm serious. Stop looking at me like I'm a owl. I'm an idiot? No, your an idiot.

Hot Air Tour Tomorrow At Miller Park

Don’t forget to register!

Attend the Milwaukee, WI stop of Americans for Prosperity’s nationwide Hot Air Balloon Tour and 2nd Annual Taxpayer Tailgate at the Parking lot of the AFP-WI office, 1126 S. 70th St., West Allis. We invite you and your entire family to come out for our event, which will include a Brewers game ticket, music, food, t-shirts, and free tethered hot air balloon rides (weather permitting). At our event you will also learn about the serious threat global warming alarmism poses to our prosperity, including legislation being considered by Congress that would more than double gasoline prices.

The "hot air" refers to the balloon, not what AFP has to say.

Obama Decides Not to See Wounded Soldiers

Nice. And by "nice" I mean not nice. Can't everyone see that Obama is not nice? He doesn't care about the wounded troops. He no doubt hates America and all it stands for, including the freedom to send volunteers to Iraq to be wounded.

Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his campaign said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate on a campaign-funded journey. A campaign adviser said the U.S. military saw the visit as a campaign stop.

Obama could have actually left the press outside and spent a little time with the troops, but I guess that was too much to ask.  So uncaring, unlike the President who sent them there - he cares. He's the Carer, unlike some Democrats I know. It seems like only yesterday when we were complaining that Obama wouldn't visit Iraq. Now that he's there, we're left with complaining that he didn't visit certain troops even though he visited other troops. These Dems are hilarious. I bet if we told him he wasn't nice because he wasn't whistling Dixie whilst standing on one leg to entertain the troops, he'd do that, too. We could keep him going for hours.

Because Milwaukee Needs More Crappy News

Tim Cuprisin brings us this little tidbit:

Beginning September 8, we will begin our afternoon news at 3 p.m. with a new hour of news, weather and information. “Live at 3” will be anchored by George Mallet, Courtny Gerrish and weather with Brian Gotter. [...] The 3 o’clock news is in addition to the new half-hour of news that we’re adding at 6:30 p.m. effective August 25, as was previously announced. This means TODAY’S TMJ4 will provide news from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m., weekdays.

Why?  So they can report more murders of thugs by thugs?  So we can cringe more at the blond anchor lady’s unfortunate bangs?  Isn't her hairdo just hellish? What is that woman thinking? So we can witness more witty banter between the new folks?  So they can just stop with the overdone “Breaking News” break-ins and just have the news on all the time?  Who do they think they are, Fox News? Why do I have to keep watching this news, over and over, every afternoon just to dull the monotony? Every day, make lunch, put it in the dishwasher, off to the park, then home again to the TV and the same crappy news and her bangs! Her bangs! Her bangs! What is with this woman's hairdo? Don't these people have anything better to do with their day?

That’s a lot of news.

Court Rules in Favour of Mosley

Well. I wonder what kind of boots he was wearing. I bet they were shiny.

Mosley, the 68-year-old president of the International Automobile Federation, won £60,000 ($120,000) in damages from the tabloid News of the World for a report about Mosley’s sex session with five prostitutes. One of the women secretly filmed the bondage and caning encounter, which featured some of the participants in prison-style uniforms and was said by the newspaper to have a Nazi theme. However, the High Court judge ruled that there was “no public interest or other justification” for the publication of the pictures and the story, and he also dismissed the paper’s suggestion that there were Nazi overtones to the session. Mosley, the son of fascist pro-Hitler British politician Oswald Mosley, welcomed the ruling as proof that his sexual behavior is a private matter. “I hope that my case will help deter newspapers in the U.K. from pursuing this type of invasive and salacious journalism,” he said.

Patrick Assaulted By Some Thugs

Patrick had some trouble and gave us another opportunity to use the word "thug" as well as inflating petty vandalism and theft into "assault", not unlike the size of the fish I caught last weekend up north.

I have some teenage (12-14ish) punks that were scared away from my house yesterday by a friend. They were trying to break apart my stockade fence that covers my back yard. Well, today, they came back, this time they did rip up the fence a bit, but still couldn’t get through, so two of them knocked on my front door asking if they could trim my bushed for $5, while two others went around the back of my house and stole a big 55 gal. fish tank that I had next to my garage.

Luckily my buddy came to my rescue again and called telling me those punks were walking down the street with that big fish tank, so we jumped in my car and tore off after them. That tank is heavy so they only made it about three blocks. I expected them to drop it, but they sat it down gently. When we got out of the car, one punk said that ’some man” told him no one lived there (my house) and they could have the fish tank. That of course didn’t hold water, remember, two of them came to my front door. When they were ready to just give it back and walk away, I told them to stick around, the cops were already on the way. This of course made them take off running, but not before the tallest one called one of them “Lil Tone” and gave him a sign. So I assume one is names Tony or Anthony. One of the others was recognized by my friend to be a kid that has been around the neighborhood on the back of a red mini-bike, so they will be around.

Sorry, but if I were Patrick, I would have answered the door with shotgun in hand, a few curse words, and wild-ass crazy eyes.  If that didn’t work, I’d unlock my safety and call 911. 

Patrick, West Bend has some reasonable home prices and a low crime rate, meaning we don't have a lot of "thugs" if you know what I mean.  Come join us at the compound.