In the News

The Butcher of Srebrenica has been captured. I wonder who the anonymous tipster was. I'm not usually a supporter of capital punishment, but I would gladly serve on a firing squad to execute that monster.

Congress is growing a spine over Libya.  I'm glad to see both parties stand up for the War Powers Act. I usually trust President Obama's judgement, but I don't like any Commander in Chief to have dictatorial, unconstitutional powers. He had his 60 days. It's time to get Congressional approval for the action in Libya or end it in 30 days.

John Edwards will face criminal charges for misusing campaign funds to cover up an affair.  John Ensign should be very nervous.

Concealed carry advocates want no training or permits required.  For everyone's safety, I think we should start mandatory firearms safety classes in public schools. Imagine if we let everyone drive a car with no training or testing required.

Did Anyone Notice the 2nd Coming Yesterday?

Maybe Jesus came back as a pillar of cloud.

Music for the Rapture

The song selection is obvious, but here is a terrific cover by Great Big Sea.

The Right Wing Should Handle Tommy Thompson With Care

The rumor that Tommy! will run for Herb Kohl's Senate seat in 2012 has not been met with enthusiasm by the wing-nuts.  The Club for Growth has gone after him for his support for health care reform.  Senator Ron Johnson has been less than encouraging.

If the current Republican Party establishment treats Thompson the way they have treated Newt Gingrich since he dared to criticize Paul Ryan's Medicare privatization scheme, Thompson may decide to ditch the Senate race and instead run a primary challenge to Scott Walker in a recall election. Anyone care to predict how that would turn out?

Erik Prince's Foreign Legion

Blackwater founder Erik Prince has found a more lucrative market for his mercenary business.  His new company, Reflex Responses, is providing security for the government of the United Arab Emirates, where he "hires a mixture of Colombian soldiers of fortune and South African vets of Executive Outcomes, the pre-Blackwater merc firm that fought nasty counter-guerilla wars in Angola and Sierra Leone."

I guess that's one way to keep the Arab Spring from spreading.  Perhaps the UAE feels that foreign mercenaries will have fewer qualms about firing on peaceful protestors than their own army, who may have relatives in the crowd.

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Define the Set

This is somewhere between the sort of story problem you would find on the SAT and in The Onion's old "Cultural Idiocy" quizzes (I was recently reminded of the old CI feature because, 20 years ago, my friends and I used to do them together at the campus-area bar where we all hung out).

Can you identify the set to which all of these items belong? 
Quarter
Half Dollar
Baseball
Tennis Ball
Walnut
Ping Pong Ball
Golf Ball

I'll bet that Tim Morrissey gets it first.

She Swallowed the Spider to Catch the Fly...

The Wisconsin DNR plans to introduce three species of Chinese wasps in an attempt to control the Emerald Ash Borer.

Bringing in new invasive species to control an invasive pest -- what could possibly go wrong?

I heard the buzzing of a crop-duster overhead a few days ago, reminding me that gypsy-moth-spraying season is upon us.  I guess my neighborhood is among the lucky places in Dane County to receive a bath of soil bacterium that is supposed to kill the caterpillars.  I suppose it's better than the toxic soil vapors that folks near the Madison-Kipp plant have to deal with.

The joys of Spring in the Midwest.

Bin Laden Was Not "Assassinated"

With apologies to Chris Rock, who used similar words about Tupac in a stand-up routine years ago:

Osama Bin Laden was not assassinated.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

That al-quaeda bastard was shot.

Seriously, do we say that John Dillinger was assassinated?  Or Bonnie and Clyde?

Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead

A moment of celebration is in order. Sing it, Harry.