This is just funny

And of course, sadly contains a hint of truth.

H/T: Shot in the Dark

Charity bribes

Do you ever get those mailings asking for money for something like a children's hospital foundation? They usually have return address stickers, presumably to make me feel bad that they've spent money on this "free gift" for me, which means I must give them money. Never mind the fact that for the number of times a year I actually mail something, it's a whole lot faster for me to write my address than to look for the stickers.

Either stickers got too expensive OR they realized no one used them OR they decided cold, hard money made people feel even more guilty. Regardless, my wife and I have each received a nickel recently.

No, I don't feel guilty. I can only spread my charity stripes so thin.

And yes, I did bankroll the nickel. Both of them.

Favre and God

Milwaukee's sign of the week.

There's the spirit of the law

...and then there's the letter of the law.

We saw this when we were on vacation in Bend, Oregon, with my brother and his wife in June.

Better return those library books

How do you explain this one to your kids?

Woman cuffed, booked for not paying library fines

GRAFTON, Wis. - A Wisconsin woman has been arrested and booked for failing to pay her library fines.

Twenty-year-old Heidi Dalibor told the News Graphic in Cedarburg that she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in court.

Still, she was surprised when officers with a warrant knocked on her door, cuffed her and took her to the police station to be fingerprinted and photographed.

Police Capt. Joe Gabrish says officers follow the same procedure with every warrant.

Library director John Hanson says a couple of dozen people are cited each year for failure to return materials or pay fines.

The incident cost Dalibor about $30 for the two overdue paperbacks. It cost her mother $172 to free her.

McCain taking charge?

Recent polls would seem to indicate that "The Maverick" isn't going down any time soon.

McCain winning in new poll, follows trend

John McCain has overtaken Barack Obama in the presidential race, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released Wednesday morning.

McCain leads Obama 46 to 41 percent among likely voters, which the poll found is outside the margin of error. Reuters/Zogby had Obama ahead by 7-points as recently as mid July.

McCain's resurgence comes at the doorstep of the Democratic Convention, and follows other polling that collectively indicates the presidential race has become a dead heat.
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Today's Reuters/Zogby poll conducted from August 14 to 16, by contrast, seems to follow a recent trend.
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And by one measure, for the first time Tuesday McCain has also pulled ahead, though tenuously, in the Electoral College count, 274 to 264, according to the RealClearPolitics average of state polling that includes narrow leads in swing states. The shift occurred after Indiana—the home of Democratic vice presidential prospect Sen. Evan Bayh—switched to McCain's electoral coffer.
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McCain continues to have more support among Republicans than Obama has from Democrats, though Pew measured an increase in support among evangelical Protestants even before the Saddleback forum Saturday night.

Perhaps most startlingly to Democrats, Reuters/Zogby measures that McCain is seen as the better manager of the economy, by a margin of 49 percent to 40 percent over Obama. In that poll half of voters cited the economy as the most important issue, as other surveys have as well.

Interesting...

Another ridiculous boycott

This time it's against a new movie called "Tropic Thunder". The chairman of the Special Olympics, along with others in organizations supporting people with disabilities, is calling for a boycott of the movie.

Members of the Coalition of National Disability Organizations -- disabled advocates and family members of people with intellectual disabilities -- have seen the movie and reported shock and disgust. Their reactions have resonated with many of us who take their cause and their voice with the utmost seriousness.

While I am disappointed that we were not consulted in the same manner as other minority groups depicted in the film and that there are 17 mentions of the "R-word" with one mention of the "N-word," I am grateful to Ms. Snider [DreamWorks CEO] for listening to the coalition and for taking steps to eliminate some of the film's most offensive marketing elements.

I have a few thoughts here.

1. Since when was "retard" the R-word? How does it come even CLOSE to the offensive level that the N-word reaches? It can be inappropriately used, but it sure isn't vulgar.
2. The movie is rated R. It's NOT a family movie. The movie is blatantly laden with sarcasm that offends numerous groups. And come on, you don't get an R rating because you were trying to play nice with everyone.

Much like a lot of other boycotts, I just don't understand what the point is with this one. I can't imagine there are many people in Tropic Thunder's target audience who care.

Best Olympic race ever!

As far as swimming relays go anyway. If you missed the men's 4 x 100 relay, go to NBCOlympics.com to watch it.

Olympic tragedy hits close to home

This is just sad. This couple lives just a few miles from us.

BEIJING - The murder of the father of a former Olympian at a Beijing landmark cast a sad shadow over the first full day of Olympic competition Saturday, just hours after China's jubilant opening of the Summer Games.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minn. — parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon — were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower.

The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and that Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries. She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.

Elisabeth Bachman was with them at the time of the attack, but uninjured. Her father was chief executive officer for Bachman's, Inc., a home-and-garden center based in Minneapolis.

The assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, leapt to his death from a 130-foot (40-meter) -high balcony on the Drum Tower, just five miles (eight kilometers) from the main Olympics site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

We watched the women's volleyball game against Japan this morning, which took place just hours after the murder, and I was surprised at how composed the team was able to remain. They had a few rough spots, but overall played a great game and came away with the victory. The tragedy makes me a whole lot more interested in following both them and the men's indoor volleyball teams through the Olympics.

The Star Tribune has more here.

The Pioneer Press has more here.

Sick of Obama?

You're not alone.

Poll: Nearly half hearing too much about Obama

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama may be the fresh face in this year's presidential election, but nearly half say they're already tired of hearing about him, a poll says.

With Election Day still three months away, 48 percent said they're hearing too much about the Democratic candidate, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.
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Two-thirds of Republicans and about half of independents said they've heard too much about Obama, as did a third of Democrats, a significant number.

In fairness, I think all of us would be sick of just about anyone being talked about as much as Obama has been for the last year. Still, it could work against him as people may be more intrigued with McCain in the final months of the election.

For Sale

I've been slacking on posting lately, but I've been busy.

Saturday, for example, my wife and I were busy putting a For Sale sign outside of our friends' home while they were away for the day. We also have the keys to their house, so we left them a few presents inside.

Just one problem: they have the keys to our house too. Number one rule of pranking: never do something you wouldn't want done to you. Because whatever you do WILL be done to you (and probably worse). I'm now officially on guard...