A clue for Herb Kohl

Since Sen. Kohl can't buy a clue with all his millions, I'll tell him why cell phone companies have raised the price of text messaging. They have raised their prices because stupid people will pay them.

Based on Herbie's thinking, I expect to get front row seats for the Bucks next year for the $20 I'm willing to pay for them.

What a dumbass.

How to deal with Favre

After his interview with Jack Buck it is pretty clear that Brett Favre is now, mentally at least, a Viking.

As much as Favre likes to retire, the Packers should announce the retirement of Favre's number on the day of the Vikings game. And like Favre, the Packers can change their mind about it later.

This can become an annual event.

This is the correct answer

Created by Recipe Star

HT - Owen, the poultryman.

Markets in action - Oil/Corn/Ethanol

It has been over seven months since I last updated this chart. The price relationship between oil, corn, and ethanol remains rock solid.

Purely by chance, if you follow my critics.

Sotomayor cites poor wording

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, believes she used a poor choice of words when she indicated a Hispanic woman would make a better judge than a white man, the White House said Friday.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that he believes after having conversations with "people who have talked to her," that Sotomayor would do a better job of articulating her belief that "your experiences impact your understanding."

"I think she'd say that her word choice was poor," Gibbs said.

In her 2001 remarks, which have led many on the right to call her a racist, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Given a chance to clarify those remarks, Sotomayor said "I did not mean to offend, but it is known that Hispanic females possess an intrinsic aptitude which explains why these women have excelled in the judiciary."

Larry Summers could not be reached for comment.

Smoke Day, one day later

Smoke Day V was another great success. We fought off scattered morning showers and could not have asked for a more beautiful afternoon for the party.

Our neighbors did most of the party organizing, leaving my wife and I free to cook. I also had a couple of experienced barbecuing friends show up, and their help made my job much easier.

One of the first things served was my famous Redneck Sushi. It was fantastic and disappeared in an instant.



Here is my friend Brad preparing a batch of Big Bob Gibson chicken for our guests. That was only a small part of the over 170 pounds of meat and poultry that was cooked.



Mrs. Headless featured pies for our Smoke Day dessert. She offered over 30 different varieties. All homemade. All from scratch.



My smoker array. Four Weber Smokey Mountain cookers and two Weber kettles got the job done.



You are invited again next year. Just bring beer.

A solution to the WI budget hole

Don Surber had a post on Monday about the disparity between state government workers' pay versus that of private sector workers.

The average state government worker makes $50,350. The average private sector worker makes $43,889. That is a 14% difference.

And don’t get me started on fringe benefits.

The Las Vegas Sun had a story on Sunday comparing what state workers in Nevada compared to what state employees make in other states.

That’s not the question.

How much do they make compared to the people in Nevada who don’t work for the state. That is the pool of workers from which the state of Nevada hires.

State workers there make $54,831 a year.

Private sector workers make $42,825 a year.

State workers in Nevada make 28% more in pay alone. Plus better benefits — more state holidays, more sick leave, earlier retirement, defined benefits retirement — than the people in the private sector.

That makes no sense. These are mainly clerical jobs.

But in state after state, that is the case. Taxpayers make less than their employees.

In California, state workers make $66,928 a year.

Everyone else averages $50,182 a year.

That’s a 33% difference.

Is it any wonder that California state government is running up a $42 billion deficit?

Wow, 33% more than private jobs!

I had to check where Wisconsin stacks up. Darned if we don't make California look like misers.

Our under-compensated state employees make $16,974 more than private sector. And because WI private employees make significantly less than those in California, our discrepancy is 45.4% more being paid to our public servants. Only Iowa is worse.

Doing some simple math, if Wisconsin state employees were only paid the national average of $6,461 more than private workers, our $6+ billion dollar deficit would quickly evaporate.

Here's the list.

Disparity in state versus private employee pay
	U.S. average	$6,461	14.7%
1	New York	($691)	-1.2%
2	Missouri	($322)	-0.8%
3	Georgia	$700	1.7%
4	Texas	$1,443	3.3%
5	Virginia	$1,823	4.0%
6	Massachusetts	$1,867	3.4%
7	Delaware	$2,154	4.7%
8	Tennessee	$2,918	7.6%
9	Maryland	$3,352	7.0%
10	Wyoming	$3,639	9.4%
11	Connecticut	$4,108	7.2%
12	West Virginia	$4,270	12.7%
13	Florida	$4,457	11.3%
14	New Hampshire	$4,585	10.6%
15	South Carolina	$4,651	13.3%
16	North Carolina	$5,269	13.7%
17	Arkansas	$5,535	16.6%
18	Louisiana	$5,543	14.7%
19	Washington	$5,893	12.8%
20	Arizona	$5,919	14.4%
21	Nebraska	$6,083	17.2%
22	New Mexico	$6,135	17.1%
23	Hawaii	$6,357	15.7%
24	Kentucky	$6,472	18.0%
25	Pennsylvania	$6,511	15.4%
26	Mississippi	$6,853	21.5%
27	Oklahoma	$7,188	20.5%
28	Indiana	$7,266	19.7%
29	North Dakota	$7,387	22.6%
30	Kansas	$7,490	20.4%
31	Alabama	$7,822	21.3%
32	Oregon	$9,015	23.3%
33	Illinois	$9,522	20.3%
34	Alaska	$9,526	21.5%
35	Utah	$9,962	27.1%
36	New Jersey	$10,316	19.5%
37	South Dakota	$10,336	33.0%
38	Maine	$10,473	30.2%
39	Colorado	$10,812	24.1%
40	Nevada	$12,006	28.0%
41	Michigan	$12,276	28.7%
42	Montana	$12,589	39.2%
43	Minnesota	$13,153	30.3%
44	Ohio	$13,297	33.9%
45	Vermont	$13,321	37.0%
46	Idaho	$13,593	40.9%
47	Rhode Island	$15,469	37.7%
48	California	$16,746	33.4%
49	Wisconsin	$16,974	45.4%
50	Iowa	$23,027	65.8%

The next smoking ban

I don't think it was a coincidence that this was published in the Journal-Sentinel on the day after the Wisconsin smoking ban was passed.

The science run: Gas vs. charcoal

By Susanne Rust of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: May. 14, 2009

Worrying about climate change while cooking those brats on your charcoal grill?

Scientists say if you are, you might think of switching to a propane grill.

That's because propane is more environmentally friendly than carbon (sic - Ms. Rust meant charcoal).

Eric Johnson, lead author of Elsevier's Environmental Impact Assessment Review, reported that the carbon footprint for charcoal grilling is almost three times as large as that for liquid petroleum gas grilling.

The differences come in large part by how the grills work. Propane grills are like conventional ovens - they have power ratings and can easily be switched on and off. Charcoal grills, however, can't be switched on and off easily, and fuel consumption is difficult to regulate.

Mr. Johnson is absolutely ignorant about how my charcoal grills and smokers work. I maintain pinpoint control of temperature and I can quickly snuff out the coals by controlling air flow. It will burn minimally longer than my gasser after I finish cooking.

Like Dad29 exposed with bisphenol-A, the MJS is latching onto more junk science as they start their next witch hunt. Yesterday tobacco is banned, tomorrow it will be charcoal.

Cut to the bone

This is being circulated around Wisconsin state government.

The photo characterizes their modified first response unit after budget cuts impacted station staffing and equipment.

I can see a similar proposal for the state budget cuts!

Oh my!

Our poor, poor pitiful government employees. Having to get by with only 37.2% more spending than they had in 2003.

Belling knows brats

Boiling bratwurst is evil.

You don't do it for the same reason you do not boil ribs. It cooks the flavor out of them. I performed a scientific test to prove this hypothesis.

Stop it. And don't ever think of doing it again.

Our booming economy ...

Just not in Wisconsin.

The office of North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue (D) announced today that Toshiba Nuclear will open a project management and engineering center in Charlotte; adding 194 jobs to Mecklenburg County. The jobs will pay average salaries of $122,037 a year.

I would imagine that Wisconsin was near the top of their list, but just missed out. But I would be wrong.

The company is the primary contractor for the construction of two nuclear reactors planned in Texas. The company initially considered sites there and in Northern Virginia, where it is based, for the new operation before cutting the list to Charlotte and Atlanta.

"Charlotte is becoming the place to be in the U.S. for nuclear engineers," Fuyuki Saito, chief executive of Toshiba America Nuclear Energy said in a statement. "The quality of the work force, quality of life and strong support we have received from state and local officials make Charlotte a perfect fit for out new center."

Strong support from state and local officials, I wonder what that means?

H/T - NEI Nuclear Notes.

Almost heaven

The Calumet River Café.

Relax. Have some smoked shrimp and an Old Style. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Where did I eat today?

What could go wrong?

As seen on Instapundit:

California's biggest energy utility announced a deal Monday to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity from a startup company that plans to beam the power down to Earth from outer space, beginning in 2016.

...

Solaren would generate the power using solar panels in Earth orbit and convert it to radio-frequency transmissions that would be beamed down to a receiving station in Fresno, PG&E said. From there, the energy would be converted into electricity and fed into PG&E's power grid.

...

Solaren's chief executive officer, Gary Spirnak, said the project would be the first real-world application of space solar power, a technology that has been talked about for decades but never turned into reality.

"While a system of this scale and exact configuration has not been built, the underlying technology is very mature and is based on communications satellite technology," he said in a Q&A posted by PG&E. A study drawn up for the Pentagon came to a similar conclusion in 2007. However, that study also said the cost of satellite-beamed power would likely be significantly higher than market rates, at least at first.

Talk about your unintended consequences. This technology is being developed to reduce the use of carbon based electricity, but it will directly cause global warming. How can concentrating and converting solar energy, then sending it to the planet not cause warming?

Granted, the warming will be on a very small scale, but it will be warming nonetheless. And probably warm the earth more than the CO2 from producing the same electricity using coal.

Smoke Day Entertainment

What's a barbecue party without an Elvis tribute artist?

Nothing. That's what.

So if you see someone at my place on May 23 wearing a white leather sequined jumpsuit and a big belt buckle, it won't be me.

This year we've added Brian from The Suspicious Minds to our entertainment line-up.

I may have to hire professional security for crowd control this year.




Be afraid. Very afraid.

Oh, the humanity ...

The peregrine falcons are back at Kewaunee and it is not pretty. There is carnage everywhere, bird parts and bodies scattered all over the plant site. I witnessed an especially disturbing occurrence today, a seagull in the parking lot being left to bleed out and die. It appears that the falcons may be hunting for sport.

I won.

Lab results.

LDH: Normal
AFP - TUMOR MARKER: Normal
HCG, SERUM: Normal

ABDOMEN/PELVIS FINDINGS:

Shotty aortocaval and mesenteric lymph nodes are stable. There is a stable, 1.4 x 1.8 cm soft tissue density contiguous with the distal abdominal aorta on the left. There are no enlarged mesenteric or retroperitoneal lymph nodes.

Layman's interpretation.



Words that I heard today:

The chances of recurrence more than five years after the diagnoses of testicular cancer are dramatically reduced.

"I won" sounds significantly less trite in this context.

Smoke Day V

Only two months away.

This year's theme: More, more, more.

Details later.

Riding the Presidential Short Bus

What a (social) retard. And now he's been challenged to a Bowling Throw-down by Michigan's Special Olympics Champ.

Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics bowler from Ann Arbor Michigan who has reportedly bowled three perfect 300 games, says he could take President Obama on the lanes. "He's cool, but he can't beat me."

I suggest a debate on the economy or national security instead. No TelePrompters allowed. My money will be on Kolan.

Don't blame me, I voted for Palin.