Where would you have stood back then?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by penquin

Althouse made a post about violence in other civilizations, and someone replied with “On the face if it, sounds like a metaphor for mob psychology. Very current events, if you ask me.” I replied with the following:

 

Or not-as-current events as well. Some people seem to forget that our county was founded on terrorism and violent revolution.

Speaking of…lots of folks say that they can no longer support teachers, firefighters, police officers, etc, simply because of the “violent” way some of ‘em have been protesting at the Capitol. Would it then be logical to think that those same people would have been Tories during the Revolutionary War? After all the Sons of Liberty did a lot more than just chant slogans and hold up signs.

Keep in mind that the actual Boston Tea Party caused far more property damage than the protesters did at the State Capitol…safe to assume that today’s Tea Party members (if they were around at the time) would have looked at the events of Dec 16 1773 and decided they were siding with England because of those actions?

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Three Stickers – One Truck

Posted on March 27, 2012 by penquin

Driving home from work today I was behind a pick-up truck that had three different stickers on it. I really wish the picture I took with my (cheap) cellphone turned out better, ’cause then that would save me ~1000 words by just posting that. (Tho I’m pretty sure I can share this in less than 140 words.)

The truck had an old/faded “NRA Member For Life” sticker on it, right next to another one for the US Marine Corps. Nothing too unusual there. But the third sticker, which looked much newer than the other two, simply said “Recall Walker.”

Think about that for a second. How much more “right wing” can you get than a Leatherneck that is also a member of the NRA? Yet he is publicly urging others to recall our sitting Governor.

Interesting times, no?

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Fix your own house first

Posted on March 26, 2012 by penquin

Althouse had a post about how Republicans in WI aren’t too excited about the Presidential race, but rather they are focused on the upcoming recall elections. Of course, the thread tangented off a bit and someone in the thread asked why people from “right to work” states would care about what happens here, and another commentator replied with “Because we’re the ones who will have to bail you out when your clusterfuck of Union Nirvana goes off the cliff“, resulting in this response from me:

Actually, if you look at how much money is sent to DC and compare how much flows back to each state it seems that Wisconsin has been bailing out the rest of the country for quite a while now.

(On the other hand, Virginia receives the most Federal $$$ per citizen and it is also one of the strongest “right to work” states in the country.)

I’m curious, Fen – which state do you live in? Since you’ve brought it up I’m wondering if we’ve been bailing you out or not….

Seriously, I’m sick & tired of people from out-of-state attacking the workers of Wisconsin and it is even worse if it is coming from a citizen of a state who is taking more than they are giving.

Don’t be badmouthing my state if we’ve been carrying your lame ass all this time…and the odds are pretty good that we have been.

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You’re fired because I don’t like your politics

Posted on March 25, 2012 by penquin

Boots and Sabers has a post about a Wisconsin company that is disciplining some of their employees because the workers signed the petition to recall Gov. Walker. Someone wrote “A reporter signs a recall petition? Fine, but he should also face the consequences for doing so, and that includes losing his job—a job that he does not have a right to hold”, and I responded with this:

With that in mind, would it also be acceptable for a company to fire an employee for NOT signing the recall petition?

Ya’ll are opening a HUGE cans of worms with this one…

Kinda funny how the same crowd that is pushing for the “right to work” laws in Wisconsin are now saying that there isn’t a right to work at all, but rather they beleive you can be fired for disagreeing with your bosses political opinion….even if you don’t voice your own opinion while at the job!

I haven’t heard of anyone being disciplined for not signing the recall petition…so far it appears that only one side of this issue is behaving as such.

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How can they ban a plant?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by penquin

It is funny ’cause it is true…

…but of course, it is also sad ’cause it is true.

 

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Open letter to the woman I met last night

Posted on March 18, 2012 by penquin

As I pulled around the corner towards home late last nite (early this morning) I noticed a pair of flip-flops in the middle of the street. Going around them, I saw you laying on your back in my neighbor’s yard with your feet in the gutter. After parking the car in my driveway, I walked over to check if you were ok and it quickly become obvious that you were pretty drunk. I asked if you needed the cops called or anything (I thought that maybe you had got into a fight with someone and they had just left you there), but despite your slurred words you were very clear about not wanting any law enforcement involved; rather you just wanted to lay down for a while before going home. Knowing that if we stayed outside the police would probably show up (it’s a pretty quiet neighborhood) I helped get ya up off the curb, picked up your purse/phone/glasses/shoes, and brought you into my house. After putting you on the couch and covering you with a blanket, I set a bucket next to ya and made you promise to aim for it if you were gonna hurl. I had to take a quick shower (was filthy&sweating after working all day), and upon returning you mumbled something about me calling your husband to come get you. It sounded like a grand idea, but you kinda passed out before I could get his name and I didn’t think you’d appreciate me going down your entire contacts-list. A few minutes later, you stirred a bit and asked if I had more blankets ’cause your feet were cold. I asked if you’d rather sleep at home, and that seemed to make you wake up a lil’ more…you looked around and saw that you were in an unfamiliar place and you actually asked if I was going to kill you. I assured you that wasn’t gonna happen…I just wanted to get you home safely. (Plus, I didn’t want to go upstairs to my bedroom with a stranger passed out on my couch. I really didn’t think this one all the way through beforehand.) You told me your husband’s name and asked me to call him on your phone, but there was no answer. I then looked at your drivers license and saw that you lived only a few blocks away so I offered to take you there. After a couple attempts at standing, you were finally able to walk unassisted to the car, and you kept apologizing for “all this trouble” as I drove you home. After dropping you off and watching you walk inside, I realized that you might wake up with a lot of questions (How did I get home? Who was that guy in the red car? What was up with all those penguins in his house?) and no way of knowing what happened.

I can’t answer all your questions about last nite, but I can fill in the details for the hour or so between the time I found you on the curb and when I took you home…

http://madison.craigslist.org/mis/2908782729.html

 

And since I know some of you pervs are wondering, I didn’t channel my inner-Quagmire but rather behaved as a gentleman should….tho, I may have laughed a lil’ more at the drunk girl than a gentleman would.

 

 

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Mohammad Luther, where are you?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by penquin

Christian Post has an article about how the New York Times accepted an ad that urged Catholics to quit the Catholic Church, but won’t run an ad that is urging Muslims to quit Islam. One of the statements in the anti-Islam ad was “You’re kidding yourself if you think the mosque is ever going to expunge the Qur’an of its violent texts that inspire jihad, or interpret them out of existence”, which lead me to posting this response:

Dunno about that. The Catholic Church had their Protestant Reformation, and I reckon that Islam is about due for their own Mohammad Luther to nail a treatise on a mosque door.

 

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Like I said, it ain’t about pay for me…

Posted on March 18, 2012 by penquin

Boots and Sabers was wondering why someone would sign the recall petition against Walker, so I was happy to explain my point of view:

Many different people have many different reasons for signing the petition. The main reason why I signed the recall petitions is because the ban on collective bargaining goes way beyond the paycut that most public employees were forced to take. The trade that I’m involved in can be dangerous at times; people can get hurt on the job, and sometimes they even die. OSHA/State laws don’t always protect us (for instance, there is no law/regulation in WI in regards to workplace fatigue…working 10 hours without a break can be an inconvenience if you’re working at a desk, but can be very dangerous if you’re working around heavy equipment/machinery. Rigging/climbing is another example…there are a lot more) so we have safety rules & workplace conditions as part of the contract with our employers. Some of our employers include cities, counties, and even the State of WI, but ACT 10 has made it illegal for any safety issues/workplace conditions to be part of a contract with them, thus making it more likely that I or one of my co-workers will get hurt or killed while on the job. This is the main reason why I signed the petition to recall our Governor.

I don’t expect this would be enough to change you mind about supporting Walker, but hopefully you’ll be able to better understand where some of us are coming from….

 

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There are more than just two choices.

Posted on March 17, 2012 by penquin

Althouse was discussing Rick Santorum desire to wage a War on Porn and someone commented “If Santorum is the nominee, I’ll vote for Obama”, prompting this response from me:

Actually your best bet would be to vote for a 3rd/4th party that better suits your tastes.

By voting for Obama, you’re telling the Professional Pollsters that you’re willing to accept him despite his major flaws and thus nothing will change in the next election – the major parties will still keep on putting the same ol’ same ol’ on the ticket.

If more people started voting outside the TwoPartySystem…especially if there are enough votes to “cover the spread”…then the PartyLeaders will see that they need to address other opinions/stances in order to win your vote. Until that happens, they can just ignore those concerns ’cause you’re still voting for their guy anyways.

It can be a slow process, but that is how Woman’s Suffrage was finally passed in this country, as well as the passage & repeal of Alcohol Prohibition.

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Papers pleeze….

Posted on March 14, 2012 by penquin

I keep seeing these long lists of stuff that everyone “needs” a Official Gov’t ID in order to accomplish (for both interactions with the gov’t as well as private business transactions) and I can’t help but wonder: Why even bother with a paper card anymore?

Perhaps we should have every citizen embedded with a electronic chip that can be used as an official ID. Simply scan your wrist and there is no question at all of who you are.

It would be easier, more cost effective, and less prone to abuse and counterfeiting…so why not?

That was my comment in response to a post Althouse made in regards to the Voter ID Law in Wisconsin. What prompted my remarks was seeing several “small government” conservatives going on&on about how we’re required to show Our Papers whenever we do practically anything else, so what is the big deal about this law? Nevermind the fact that I haven’t been carded for booze for years (I guess that those particular commentators ain’t out of their 20s yet…NTTAWWT, of course), but it is kinda surreal seeing people on the right asking…nay, demanding….for this law to be enacted and their justifications for it.

I can’t help but recall what my favorite author once said about this issue: “When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away.” However, it seems like that battle is already over….ID are required and that ain’t gonna change. So if requiring an ID for anything/everything is how our society is to function, then why not take advantage of modern technology in order to make it more efficient?

 

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