Badger's Den

Milwaukee Storms
11:33 a.m. - 2008-06-09

Spent the weekend in Milwaukee with Eugene. Survived the storms and flooding and managed to spend a few hours at Pridefest though missed the star performer Saturday night cause we didn't want to be wet.

Found some geocaches along Lake Michigan that got us outdoors tromping through the woods and climbing down to the water. It also about got us eaten by mosquitos, too. We were in the woods when the tornado sirens went off. Time to head for cover.

After driving through an unexpected flooded street with at least a foot of water, we decided to hole up at a comvenient tavern where we could watch several other cars stall out.

Sunday had rain in the morning so after we checked out of the motel, we went for lunch and then headed our separate ways home.

Hail the Capitalist
9:00 a.m. - 2008-06-04

I was in Oak Brook for a seminar a couple weeks ago. In talking to people about the state of things, I heard a couple of disturbing things.

First, that Kansas City wants to build a highway from Canada to Mexico where trucks don't have to stop for customs until they reach KC. Now it just seems like there are so many ways this can go wrong especially in a time when we're trying to increase border security.

Second, the FAA isn't concerned at all about our deteriorating Air Traffic Control system. When it finally goes belly up, US citizens will be happy to outsource the service to cheaper Mexican controller.

I worry about outsourcing because while peace and properity are great times for international cooperation, hardship and turmoil are not. With all our pharmacuticals outsourced, how willing will those source countries during a pandemic to send medicines to the US?

The military is buying equipment from overseas (new tankers from Airbus). If I were a soldier, I would feel a lot better that my plane, tank, ship, rifle were made by my own country, not by someone whose interest is solely financial.

But that seems to be the root of things today - money. Actually the making of more and more and more of it without government interference.

Two things I am convinced of is that what makes money for Wall Street and for corporations isn't necessarily good for the average people.

But I am also convinced that increasing the standards of the public IS good for business.

Sadly our culture of designed scarcity and greed values money over all.

I wonder how many companies drool over Exxon's enormous profits and wonder how they can get a piece of that action.

Pride - but let's not overdo it now
8:37 a.m. - 2008-06-03

The afinity group at work is having an impact in samll ways. For the first time ever, a gay pride flag is flying over one of our company's buildings. The corporate IT building. Cool. Except you can't see it without passing through a security gate.

Eugene Visits
3:35 p.m. - 2008-05-28

Eugene left today so the PED will be setting in soon. He spent four days here and as usual they flew by way too fast. The weather was crazy but we were able to spend some time outdoors.

Mike from Madison was also in town and we had breakfast with him on Saturday. I introduced them to the world of geocaching and I think Eugene is addicted, lol.

We went to a gourmet dinner fund raiser last night and had one of the most elegant dinners I've had in a long time.

We also saw the new Indiana jones movie as well as DVDs of Cloverfield and No Country for Old Men.

Now I'm tired ;)

My New Hobby
10:27 a.m. - 2008-05-15

I have a new hobby because I didn't have enough to do with my other hobbies of traveling, model railroading, biking, reading, writing, photography, die cast car collecting, hiking, drawing, movies, computers, music, video gaming, canoeing, blogging, tai chi, learning to play the piano, studying history and philosophy and religion... (I'm sure I'm leaving some out).

I am into geocaching. Its like a treasure hunt using GPS. I bought a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx handheld GPS unit meant for hiking use. There is a website where people who hide cache's put the coordinates and clues.

You download them into your GPS and select FIND and off you go. The cache's aren't supposed to be buried, but they can stil be a challenge to find.

Last night I found my first. my GPS got me within 3 feet of the cache. I found it in a hole in a post hidden behind a reflector. It was a film canister with a log sheet in it which I signed with my ID and replaced.

Fun stuff...

Commentary on the News
2:38 p.m. - 2008-05-09

Some tidbits I reacted to in the news lately with my coments in italics...

From the Puritans...

In 1960, the FDA approved the pill as a birth control method. But it wasn't until Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, however, that the pill became available in all states to married women. With Eisenstadt v. Baird in 1972, the pill became available as well to unmarried women in all states. In 2000, more than 16 million American women were taking the pill.

Two gay U.S. men were arrested and later released without charges after kissing in a Cayman Islands nightclub. A police spokesperson told the Compass that two Cayman laws - the Penal Code and the Towns and Communities Law - could have been used to lay changes on the grounds that same-sex kissing in public caused distress or a disturbance to another member of the public.

What if I'm distressed by hetero kissing??? Or distressed by someone hassling me for legal behavior?

From a poetry blog...

Williams is able to create so much meaning out of what is left unsaid. It reminds me of the "short story" by Hemingway: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Something else from the news...

Yesterday, when I heard about the DC Madam’s suicide, I kept thinking this whole thing could have been ripped right out of an Edith Wharton novel. It's so 19th century. Women are still paying the ultimate price for prostitution – death, humiliation and destitution – while men continue to thrive in positions such as a U.S. Senator or a well-paid attorney. Makes me wonder how much our country has progressed since the 19th Century.

When I was in grade school, we would sing the Happy Wanderer. I found it on Youtube recently. Here are some of the lyrics. The second verse made me want to cry when I was a kid.

I love to go a-wandering,
Along the mountain track,
And as I go, I love to sing,
My knapsack on my back.

Chorus:
Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.

Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die!
Oh, may I always laugh and sing,
Beneath God's clear blue sky!

Maybe I was just obsessed with the dying part.

It was insteresting that the president is planning to veto an assistance bill for homeowners in over their heads after recently bailing out the financial institutions that caused the mess. Do both or neither, but be consistent. America the land of the wealthy.

When I listen to Republicans talking about people needing to toughen up and quit relying on the system, well, what about Mozilo? How is it possible in this day and age to screw up so badly yet walk away so wealthy? It's easy, because this is the system that the GOP created where only the middle class and poor lose. Risk has been minimized at the top and it's everyone else who is stuck with the bill.

And finally...

When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.

And carrying a fistload of money.

previous - next