Keeping It Real, Defined

I like to bowl, particularly compared to golf. Bowling is cheaper, more of my friends can pick up a bowling ball and roll. Bowling isn’t seasonal. It will take a minimal investment of time and money to get respectable at bowling. Investing seriously in bowling will cost a ball and a glove: maybe $100.

Golf is expensive. It’s seasonal. Fewer of my friends will play it. It will take a large time and financial investment for me to get respectable at it. I’d also have to acquire my own clubs, which are several hundred dollars.

Here’s my dilemma. This morning, I received my third request for work-related golf in the last month. I have never heard of anyone playing work-related bowling. You just don’t see too many business deals going down at the local bowling alley.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less that bowling offers a minimal business atmosphere. It’s actually a bit refreshing. Nonetheless, I do have an obligation to my employer to be a conduit for new business. That doesn’t mean I drop every penny I have on golf lessons and clubs. It does mean I have to consider said conduicity in my social engagements. Once again, I’m cool with that.

I like to keep things real. Keeping it real, to me, is all about staying true to one’s principles, thus paving the way to prudence, temperance, and other virtue. For work-related purposes, it may be wise to ask for golf lessons. While that wouldn’t be a bad idea, I’d prefer to spend my time and energy getting good at bowling. Does going the golf route mean I’m note keeping it real, if I can only have one?

A Great Reason not to live in Chicago

Corruption!

Hopefully bloggers like Eric Zorn are starting a revolution.

What Else Would it Be Called

The Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on partial birth abortion last week. It was basically a no-brainer move from a legal perspective.

Whenever you see the term "partial birth abortion" in print, however, save on this blog or other biased material, you'll usually see it prefaced by "what's called by critics" or some such equivalent.

The baby is literally partially birthed. Would critics of the critics prefer to call it a "vaginal canal vaccuum procedure" or "Fetal Delivery Simulation"? Those are about as nice a term as I can come up with to describe the procedure.

Baseball Thinking

Some baseball thoughts through 3 weeks…

*My pick for AL MVP is batting .243
*Do you know a pitcher with 10.3 Ks/9 IP? I do, and I’m glad I picked him for Cy Young.
*As for that World Champion pick…
*If it weren’t already obvious, the Cubs will go down as having the most overpriced, overhyped offseason in recent memory.
*The NL Central and AL West are really, really B-.
*Mr. April is apparently playing with the intent of exercising his option to void his already gargantuan contract. He’s on pace for 114 HRs and 295 RsBI.
*The Yankees have one pitcher who’s both healthy and worth mentioning -- and his ERA is 8.44.

Choir Boy Barack

Obama is returning dirty money.

I hope his campaign milks this one for a long time. Particularly considering Hillary's campaign's spending past...

Where Intent is Blind

Attention Madison residents: your State Senator has reintroduced a Death "with Dignity" bill that would legalize doctor assisted suicide in Wisconsin.

Read more here.

Ignore for a second the possibility of arguing that this is anti-life, which of course it is. To sponsor this bill in a climate where we still 40 million people with no health care coverage is ludicrous. Sponsoring this bill - even if its passage where a good thing - is putting the cart before the horse.

Do you know why the poor are more sick than middle- and upper-class Americans? Besides smoking more often, they get less health care. Assisted suicide will absolutely have a more pronounced effect on the poor, as they will constantly be given the choice between a bill, or a peaceful death.

That a Democrat misses this floors me.

Then again, what should I expect from Fred Risser....

Spines are Good

Old news...Zimbabwean bishop is rallying against a corrup government.

This guy can drink on me any day.

Crunchy Defined

Colin Beaven and Michelle Conlin, Lyons Den salutes you!

Mo Money Mo Problems

This will be my last post referencing newly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler, I swear...

Great piece in today's State Journal about to what extent a judge or justice ought to recluse themselves from a case in which an involved party contributed to their campaign. Can you imagine if legislators did the same thing? It'd be a thing of beauty! Reason being, there soon would be no more money involved in an election.

It does raise an issue of to what ought be done regarding campaign finance. I don't know what the correct idea is, but I wonder why the idea of a spending cap hasn't arisen. Basically, candidates are still on their own for fundraising, but strategy in spending funds and when becomes pivotal, knowing that their opponent(s) are operating with the same budget. It'd be the fastest way to make sure we don't have a quarter-billion dollar presidential race next year...

Happy Easter

"What Up Now?"

I'm Saying She's a Gold-Digger

I mentioned this in a reply, but this is a few weeks old.

A woman in Massachusetts is suing Planned Parenthood. She's suing PP because they, for whatever reason, did not succeed in aborting her child two years ago. The plaintiff claims that PP is now liable for the costs of raising the child.

Stop laughing.

Don't get me wrong, I can't name a more vile organization in the USA today than Planned Parenthood. Many organizations lobby for abortion rights, but only Planned Parenthood (to my knowledge) actually financially profits from a woman's decision to abort. At least NOW can separate theory from application.

I admit, I do not know the complications that may cause an 'unsuccessful' abortion attempt. That this case might be heard alone is bad law. If the plaintiff were financially prevented from raising a child, my understanding is that Massachusetts still permits a mother giving up their child for adoption. I don't know about you, but my golddigger alarm is going off.

A culture of life has, at minimum, two things:
*Communal Respect for human dignity, particulary as it translates itself into a right to life (but also into a right to the pursuit of happiness, including a just wage, equitable treatment of the lowly, solidarity, etc.)
*An understanding that - by and large - one cannot milk the fruits of society without a commitment to individual responsibility.

The plaintiff fails both tests.

John Paul II

I'm at Easter dinner yesterday with my wife's step-family. I'm flipping channels, and here's a documentary on PBS regarding the early papacy of John Paul II.

Two thoughts...

1.) The solidarity movement in Poland after his election to Pope is every bit as historically meaningful as Ghandi in India.
2.) There was a great quote that JP2 had in an address to Krakow after being elected: "There is no freedom without solidarity."

I love that guy.

DiceK

He's better at pitching baseballs than I am.

The guy is 26 and he already has 1300 career strikeouts. Granted it's at AAA+ Japan, but that's still completely absurd.

Yay Barack.

If Obama has any hurdles at all, it's lack of sweeping black support and fundraising, according to Dick Morris.

Hoping against hope that we don't have a Giuliani v. Clinton race for president, I find myself getting giddy when any political candidate other than Rudy and Hildabeast find any success.

So when I read that Obama's fundraising is catching up here, I get excited.

Midwives

A midwife helped us deliver our last child. We'll never go back to doctors.

This was on Channel3000.com today. Great intro piece.

More Thoughts on Family Planning

Actual conversation overheard recently...

Acquaintance A: "I think I'd like to have one child. But I'd also like to adopt."

[I love the thought of adoption. Very few acts are more loving in my book.]

Acquaintance B: "Yeah, that'd be cool."
Acquantaince A: "The thing, though, that keeps me from saying yes to adoption, though, is I really think I would make a cute baby."
Acquaintance B: "Yeah, I could see that."

Physical looks are now are our adoption/conception decision-maker. Jaw-dropping.

Sweet Lord

If you haven't heard - Chocolate Jesus

Film Critic Gene Siskel had the best take on critiquing film. He says that he doesn't critique a film based on what its message is, but rather how the message is delivered. That challenges me to expand my box on thinking about art, but I know in my head he's more right than wrong.

The problem, though, is on more abstract art, where the message is purposely gray. One is left open to interpret message and delivery as negatively as possible, thus possibly feeling offended.

On the one hand, the Gene Siskel in me thinks that the delivery was poor, ergo this is just bad art and I can just stop there. On the other hand, though, I would want the artist Cavallaro to take it down if it were a sculpture of me or my wife. Why shouldn't I want it taken down because it's of my Lord?

I can see this both ways. Comments welcome?

Holy Week

Happy Holy Tuesday, the third day of Holy Week.

Let the countdown begin: dead man walking...

I Did My Taxes Yesterday

Four quick thoughts...

1.) The Self-Employment Tax is a complete joke. I would argue it borders on a form of systematic discrimination.
2.) The chair of the IRS says that paying taxes is "fundamental to democracy and the rule of law." I'm VERY curious where he took civics, because I don't see that at all.
3.) The Earned Income Credit is a thing of beauty.
4.) We needed the FairTax thirty years ago.