Walker signed the budget.

Whew.  Here's a list of additional budget vetoes.  

Freedom Flotilla 2: now, with journalists.

The anti-Israeli fleet of small ships is planned for this Tuesday.  Oddly, Turkish IHH has dropped out, leaving the flags of NATO and EU countries to represent the ships.  Another twist has developed: American journalists from CNN, CBS, et. al. plan to accompany the flotillas.  They might call themselves embedded reporters, except that implies the ships are engaging in violent actions, which they vehemently deny.  And yet a further twist: Israel is threatening sanctions, of sorts, against journalists who participate in the flotillas.

Palinizing Bachmann: Think Progress joins the fun

A Think Progress article opens with a description of a candidate who is extremely well-liked by their base and is an extremely effective fundraiser.  Sounds like Obama, no?  Nope, it's presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann.  Supposedly, she is Dangerous!, has Radical! Ideologies!, and recognizes that she is a Kook!

The article then lists the ten "nuttiest" things Bachmann has ever said.  Ever.  Ever, ever, ever!  (Does this mean that Think Progress's work is done, and they won't be publishing any further Bachmann smears?)

WI Supreme Court: playground shenanigans or serious business?

I have been trying to ignore this story, but I just can't seem to do it.  Apparently, A Situation occurred behind closed doors between Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices on the eve of announcing their ruling on the Act 10 case.

Who said it: Democrat or Republican?

A Wisconsin blogger has asked an important question regarding the celebrations -- the "glory" -- at the end of the road when questionable tactics wereused to achieve victory.  In other words, do the means justify the ends?  I've clipped some quotes from the blog.

Coulter's Mob & Le Bon's Crowd

In Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America, author Ann Coulter cites sociologist/psychologist Gustave Le Bon's work The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1895).  This was a new one for me.  A brief review of wikipedia portrays Le Bon as a formative element of the field of group psychology, especially as it relates to group think and propaganda.  Wikipedia notes that Edward Bernays -- who was influence by Le Bon -- wrote a work titled propaganda, in which "he declared that a major feature of democracy was the manipulation of the mass mind by media and advertising", in addition to both Hitler and Mussolini making use of Le Bon's findings.

Note: The work appears to be amoral; it is an academic study of the collective consciousness as opposed to an Alinksy-style how-to manual.

The Democrats Stole Your Birthday Cake!

Today was my mom's birthday.  I'm the cake-maker (and that went great, thank you very much), and my cake-themed card was a hit, too.

Cover: picture of empty cake platter.
Text:  The Democrats stole your birthday cake!


Inside, text: They sliced it up and gave it to people who aren't fortunate enough to have a birthday today.




Heh.  Heh heh heh.