Bull Moose Strikes Back

Tonight’s game against the Cowboys will be the biggest game the Packers have played since the 4th and 26 meltdown. Because home field advantage is on the line, it’s even bigger than the following year’s Wildcard loss against the Vikings at home which finally, mercifully, got Mike Sherman axed. (Who doesn’t want to see the Cowboys play in Green Bay in January?)

Anyway, because of all the Packer related excitement, I’m a bit edgy. And since I’ve spent the last few weeks months* in “one wrong remark from someone, and I’ll end up in jail” mode, I have my headphones on, so I can’t hear anyone, because the two exchanges I’ve had with co-workers already today have nearly sent me over the edge. One I’ll reserve for later, the other one was a remark about my clothes today. (*Change made per suggestion of another co-worker.)

Because, as I mentioned, it’s game day, I’m wearing my Aaron Kampman jersey from the time I wake up until completion of the game, like I have done for years with various other jerseys. But usually game day isn’t on a workday. I hadn’t been in the door for three minutes when one of my co-workers said, “Nice jersey, do you think coach is going to put you in or something?”

Now if that comment had came from a fellow football fan, or someone who could at least correctly differentiate a football from a baseball from a basketball I would have taken it as good natured ball-busting. However, it came from one of our resident effeminate vegans. And it came off rather snotty.

Aargghh… What possesses people to say stupid stuff like that to me? He’s lucky we are at work and I still need this job or I swear I would’ve put him through the window…

I’ll bet my left nut that he’s never said anything like that to the guy who wears a soccer jersey to work almost every single day. Soccer is about the only sport that gets a pass from guys like that.

Anyway, Go Pack!

UPDATE: Well, none  of the Packers seemed to have missed the memo about the game being in Dallas. On the bright side, though, I think the Packers figured out how to get around Favre’s problems in Dallas: Have his backup play.

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For the second week in a row, “Cavemen” was pre-empted by Charlie Brown.

Is it me, or is it a little sick that the Charlie Brown Christmas special ran exactly one week after the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special?

Ahh, who cares? No “Cavemen!” Once again, you’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

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Carl, of Aqua Teen Hunger Force fame, explains why he thinks what almost everyone who has any sense thinks: The BCS system sucks.

I think ESPN should give Carl his own show. He’d be in the top 1% of sportscasters working for that particular network. That video alone has more insight than everything Tom Jackson has ever said, for instance.

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From the column “I’m Embarrassed to be White” by Mike Adams:

In order to demonstrate the true nature of this professor’s racism, I suggested the student spend a few days emulating his professor’s conduct. He could start in the very class where he heard the “I’m actually embarrassed to be white” remark. Here are some specific suggestions I gave to the skinny white boy:
When a white person comes into class late, tell him “You make me embarrassed to be white…
Try this yourself and see how long it takes for the nearest black person to realize that you have higher expectations for white people simply because of the color of their skin… [T]his places you at risk of being labeled a white supremacist, or getting your skinny white ass kicked[.]

Nothing drives me crazier than the soft bigotry of low expectations. That’s why I when someone flicks a cigarette at me, I don’t check first to see if he’s white to inquire as to what the hell he thinks he’s doing. Because if I did so, I’d be a racist and would be holding back the progress of race relations in this country. Instead, I’m part of the solution and get up in the grills of jackasses, no matter if they’re white, black, Asian, or miscellaneous.

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A few weeks back, XM turned on a station called XM LED (channel 59). This station once and for all answers the question: Is there such a thing as too much Led Zeppelin? The answer is a resounding no.

They not only play Zeppelin studio and live albums, but dip into the Page & Plant material, pre- and post-Zeppelin groups, collaborations, and solo albums that Page or Plant were involved in, snippets of interviews with the band members, and even covers of Zeppelin by other artists.

It’s a fantastic channel. Unfortunately, it is temporary and will go dark in May. That’s when I use XM to listen to baseball anyway, but if you are an XM subscriber, listen while you can.

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Put these wads, and their “clever” reverse psychology protests at West Lake Center, in the “hate” side of the equation of my love-hate relationship with Western Washington. (And is that a small woman or vegan man in the picture in that link? A disturbing amount of people around here look like that.)

On one hand we have jackasses like that trying to get me to buy less stuff for Christmas, on the other we have the media giving us a play-by-play of amount of money spent on Christmas shopping and the disaster that will befall America – no, mankind – if that number doesn’t get bigger. (And depending on the network, some excitement about the imminent collapse of Western Civilization.)

To hell with you all. I’m buying a reasonable amount of gifts for a reasonable amount of people for the money I feel comfortable parting with. And neither some stupid hippie or the W$J is going to change that.

But in no case is my daughter getting the Disney Princess Throne that she wants. There is so much wrong with that I can’t figure out where to start.

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…[W]hen Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet.

What. In. The. Hell?

Often on the a little farther to the right than me, I’ll hear people talk about atheist leftists substituting environmentalists for religion. I used to think that idea was silly. Then I started hearing about people like Toni, people who sterilize themselves for the cause. That’s something people in a cult would do.

I’m all for people not having kids if they think they’d be bad parents, don’t feel they’d be loving enough, or even because they don’t want to spend the money. But because they have some vague reasoning that the kid will have some dire impact on the planet? That’s sick.

And how come she was willing to kill her unborn baby to protect the environment, but feels perfectly fine walking around spewing carbon into the air? By her line of reasoning, shouldn’t she kill herself? Or maybe kill her husband then herself? Or suicide bomb the “environmental charity” she works for? I’m sure I could come up with a perfectly eco-friendly explosive for her.

UPDATE: I like the good old days, when humans were only a danger to the planet, not to the Universe. Someone needs to get this to this story to all the extraterrestrials that may be doing the same thing.

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The Green Bay Packers are 10-1. I just wanted to point that out.

How come every time the Packers play the Cowboys in a game that means anything, the game is in Dallas? In the 1996 playoffs Dallas lost to Carolina on purpose just so they wouldn’t have to come to Green Bay for a game that mattered. At least Favre winning at Texas Stadium for the first time fits into the story of his storybook year if he can pull it off.

Because the game is on NFL Network I have a feeling that people with DirecTV in Green Bay Madison are going to be fielding a lot of “What are you doing Thursday night?” calls from friends and relatives. (Turns out the game is on local TV in Green Bay and Milwaukee, but not in Madison.) After watching a bit of the Colts-Falcons game last night, I remembered with a chill down my spine that I would rather listen to Joe Buck than Bryant Gumbel as the play-by-play announcer. At least Joe has Troy Aikman with him, who is a decent color guy, unlike Gumbel’s terrible color man Cris Collinsworth. Bryant Gumbel should stick with his job on “Gumbel to Gumbel” and leave the play-by-play to someone else.

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I thought this would be appropriate after my post a few days ago.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Bull Moose Nation!

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Issue: Whether the provisions of the D.C. gun control statute violates the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes.

In the near future, 1L or 2L Constitutional Law students will be writing that in their case brief of District of Columbia v. Heller, the D.C. gun control case the Supreme Court will be reviewing next year.
The Supreme Court looks at Second Amendment issues so infrequently, that this case will probably define gun control for a generation the way Roe v. Wade (or more accuratly, but less famously, Casey v. Planned Parenthood) has defined abortion rights for a generation.

The question for which cert was granted – more or less the issue statement above – sounds like they will put an end to whether the Second Amendment is a collective right or an individual right. Obviously, I’m of the opinion that it is an individual right – like the other rights in the Bill of Rights. The trend is towards finding gun ownership an individual right. The dissent in Nordyke v. King lays out the case for an individual right very nicely.

The question it does not sound like they will address is whether the Second Amendment is incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, and therefore applies to the states. If the court did do that, it would overturn a lot of state law. So much that I think the court won’t be anxious to do it when they don’t have to.

According to the last ABA magazine, the NRA did not want this case to be heard by the SCOTUS. They were happy with their victory in the appellate court and wait for a more friendly Supreme Court. Like so many issues the court is split 4 to 4 to 1 swing vote with Justice Kennedy holding all of the power.

So, should we believers of an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment have been careful what we wished for? I tend to think Kennedy will side with Roberts, Alito, Thomas, and S-Dog on this one. But betting on where Kennedy will land will make you a poor man.

In any case, it will be interesting to have a less nebulous body of case law to work with when it comes to gun control law. Finally, both sides should have a case to bite in to.

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Back when Miller Park was being built in Milwaukee, there was a lot of bitching about how it was financed. Which was fine, there is a genuine argument about whether baseball stadiums should be or are worth being financed by tax dollars. In any case, though, the stadium was being built, and the baseball sales tax was being assessed. Some people, people who were Brewers fans and/or baseball fans swore to never set foot in the stadium. The response I had to that one of us, or some of us together, came up with for that was, “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s tear the stadium down and give everyone their money back.” It didn’t make much sense to me hoping that the stadium would fail, since the only people it would hurt were the people who were paying the price for the stadium. They’d be getting no jobs, no commerce, and no any other economic benefit for their forced investment.

A few years ago, around the time the troop deaths were approaching 2,000 and before Saddam was hung, one of my leftist co-workers was bitching at me about the war. (Because for a lot of people around here, I’m the only one they actually knew openly supporting the war, which made me personally responsible for the war in their mind.) Using the same logic as my Miller Park statement I said, “That’s right. Let’s bring all the dead troops back to life, put Saddam back in power, and leave Iraq.”

Today’s Onion kind of runs with that argument:

I wonder if that isn’t the thinking behind the anti-war bills running through the Democrats hands in Congress right now. Why in God’s name would they want to leave now when things are finally starting to look better? Are they aware that we’re not going to be able to resurrect our dead troops, get our money back, restore Baathist rule, and leave?

Yes, they are aware of that. They are also aware of how invested they are in a US loss in Iraq. I hope Americans are paying attention to this. I think there is some genuine panic that the Democrats are not going to be able to run on a ruined Iraq and a humiliated United States in 2008. It seems that a real American would accept the fact that while it may be bad politically for him or her, an American victory is more important. Then again, that wouldn’t appeal to the Daily Kos crowd.

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This is what greeted me when I arrived at school tonight:

That’s the Christmas Holiday Tree ready to go into the Jesuit secular law school.

The next time I see that, I’m going to be the happiest sunuvabitch on the face of the planet, because that will signify the end of the law school road. Of course, then I’ll think about the bar exam and be unhappy again. But it’ll be a nice couple of seconds.

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“Cavemen” is preempted by the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special tonight. You know, the one where Snoopy makes a Thanksgiving dinner of popcorn and toast.

That makes me say: You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

Zing.

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From an article about the release of the original Sesame Street on DVD:

According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

What kind of kids are we raising where they can’t even take the harsh realities of Sesame Street circa 1970? Oh yeah, the kind that toe the political correctness line until their world collapses on itself. If today’s toddlers are raised in a world where Oscar the Grouch is too insensitive to be handled, and Cookie Monster’s cookie cravings have to be tempered with cravings for vegetables or their sensibilities will be permanently damaged, then I should plan on dying at age 65 or so before they take over the country. Cause it won’t be pretty.

A classic moment from the good ol’ days just to keep me from screaming:

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Law Firm To Purchase One Of Those Big Leather Chairs

DAYTON, OH—”As a respectable law firm, Davis, Cassini & Snyder needs an expensive leather chair that doesn’t swivel, raise, or lower,” junior partner John Cassini said.

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After rereading “The Pussification of the Western Male,” reading some other blogs trash movies in general for being leftist propaganda, and being buried in an avalanche of recent anti-war movies, I found myself wondering if anyone remembers that there are some good, manly movies out there.

Since Christmas gift buying and wish-list making season is upon us, I thought I’d whip up a by no means complete, in no particular order list of manly movies. So if you’re looking for the perfect gift for a man working an emasculating job, married to a castrating wife, or just needs a jump start in testosterone – or you are that guy – here is a list of movies that might help. Or that will at least let you fantasize about being a real man for a few hours.

If you find yourself drinking wine and eating fancy cheeses while watching any of these movies, you’re missing the point. Might I recommend Pabst Blue Ribbon and jalapeño popcorn?

Any other suggestions from the peanut gallery? Comments are open.

UPDATE:

We Were Soldiers – Based on a true story, Mel Gibson plays Hal Moore who commands the 7th Calvary as they fight the first major battle in Vietnam against an enemy greatly superior numbers and better tactical position. Probably the only Vietnam movie made that isn’t apologetic or antagonistic about the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam. Bonus: I’ve met Bruce Crandall (played by Greg Kinnear) who won the Medal of Honor for the events depicted in this movie. He lives a few miles from me. He is still a bad ass all these years later.

UPDATE 2:

A comment made me remember a couple of Kurt Russel movies that definitely belong on this list: Escape from New York and Breakdown. In Escape Russel plays Snake Plissken, a war hero/convict who makes a deal to rescue the President, who has crashed into Manhattan, which has been turned into a prison island. Ass whooping ensues.

In Breakdown Russel’s wife is kidnapped by the late, great J.T. Walsh during a cross-country road trip. With no where to turn, he has to hunt down the kidnappers and save his wife himself. Bonus lesson: When you have a chance to kill the bad guy, do it.

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• This is why I’m happy I have only vague recollections of the ’70’s. Well, that and Jimmy Carter.
• Holy cow, there are only three weeks left of class this semester. Better start studying.
• Registration for spring semester is done. My classes next semester: Patent and Trade Secret Law, Trademark Law, Patent Prosecution Lab, Intellectual Property Licensing Lab, and Individual Income Tax Law. I’m bored already.
• Our Admiralty Law professor is making us write our exam by hand. What is this, the 70’s? Obviously not, because no one is dressed like in that first link. The problem is that the only thing worse than my handwriting is my handwriting when I have a limited time to write something. This has trouble written all over it. If I feel my grade was knocked because of my handwriting, I’m going to be in the Dean’s office raising absolute hell. Then again, the prof didn’t seem to think handwriting will be a problem. Maybe he just assumes you are right if he can’t read it.
• It’s good to know that my old stomping grounds of Madison still has its annoying lefty population and the same bumper sticker problem that Seattle has. A scooter at school has the “Live simply so that others may simply live” and I’ve been meaning to comment on it for awhile. I think Atomic Trousers sums it up pretty well, though. I’d add that a gas powered scooter is a luxury beyond dreams for people in many parts of the world, so I’d start walking if I were that lady and really believed it. I’ve never had a problem with the “Coexist” sticker, other than the fact that people who slap those on are the kind of hypocrites who would bend over backwards to accommodate Islam or Eastern Religions, but would probably get pissed about a Christmas tree in the airport.
• There is a fellow ferry/motorcycle commuter who has a sticker on his helmet that says “This helmet worn under protest.” The only problem with that is that it is a full face helmet. I have a hard time taking that protest seriously. “I don’t want to wear a helmet at all, but since I have to, I’m going to wear the biggest one I can find.
• The Kitsap for Peace protesters were back for their weekly Friday protest/receiving of the bird at the Bremerton ferry terminal tonight after an absence of one or the other of us for four or so weeks. They’ve imported a giant puppet head from Seattle. Just when I thought they couldn’t get any more stupid looking…
• We had our charity auction at work today. That’s the end of the work year for a lot of the old guard there. Unfortunately, I still have to work. At least until December 7 when I take a month off.
• Friday night! Time to play Halo 3. (Looks at item 2.) Or not… Am I almost done?

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Don’t worry, I watched it.

Now I’ve been saying they should play up the “caveman” thing the way they did in the Geico commercials – as a way to comment on race relations without being constrained by political correctness. They did do that in this week’s episode, but like their last attempt they fell flat.

It would be interesting if they said something about race relations once they set it up. It was all set up this week as the cavemen prepared to vote. One caveman vowed to vote for the caveman candidate only because he was a caveman, the second caveman decided to vote for the other candidate because the caveman could never win, and the third caveman was undecided and became the object of a tug of war. So here would be an interesting place to explore – in a funny way – why the caveman felt they way they do about candidates of their own race, rather than just conclusory statements about the way they feel.

There was one kind of funny moment, where the non-caveman candidate uses one of the cavemen in a poster, blatantly posturing for the caveman vote. But then the show went back to being not really funny.

I hope when the writers’ strike settles the writers of cavemen are specifically excluded from the added benefits the writers win.

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If he’s convicted, is this enough for an asterisk? It’s too bad the wheels of justice turn so slowly that this couldn’t have come down in April. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about the asterisk question.

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Now, little boys in grade school are suspended for playing cowboys and Indians, cops and crooks, and all the other familiar variations of “good guy vs. bad guy” that helped them learn, at an early age, what it was like to have decent men hunt you down, because you were a lawbreaker.
Now, men are taught that violence is bad—that when a thief breaks into your house, or threatens you in the street, that the proper way to deal with this is to “give him what he wants”, instead of taking a horsewhip to the rascal or shooting him dead where he stands.

That’s from Kim du Toit’s essay “The Pussification of the Western Male.” Some of it is getting dated, I only agree with maybe 92% of it, and you have to read it tongue-in-cheek (like this blog) but it is the classic blog post as far as I’m concerned, kind of like “The Oddesy” of blogging. Even more than LGF’s take down of the memogate memo. It has gotten attention lately, as it was nominated for the “Most Wingnuttiest Post Ever” (I could only pray to make that list). Read it. Even if you’ve already read it, read it again. Some things in that essay can never be reinforced enough.

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