Could Madison WI burn like Maui?

We like our ribs charred, not our back yard!

All a sudden, Maui doesn’t seem so remote! Or California’s Sierra Nevada. Or Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The lovely Lisa asked if we should grill ribs on the back 40 this noon. (We did and they were delicious! Aye, there’s the rub!) South-central Wisconsin is under a Red Flag Alert, which is the National Weather Service’s way of saying Watch Out for Fire, dammit! Hot today (98° F), windy (gusts up to 25 mph), and dry — extremely so from Grant and La Crosse counties east through Green Lake and Marquette counties. Relative humidity (at 23%) that would dry your spit before it hit the sidewalk. The Experimental Work Farm’s white plastic bucket of truth and justice reports no moisture in the last 17 days. Southwestern Wisconsin is under severe drought.

Which got this old farm boy to thinking. (Well, something’s got to, right?) Conservationists have re-established a lot of prairie hereabouts in the last few decades (even Blaska had a hand in that). But prairies do burn.

We're asking Gov. Evers for an emergency declaration permitting guys to pee in our back yards. Maskless.

Speaking of Labor Day 

John Nichols may be right (space/time continuum disruption detected!) that Americans love strong labor unions. That’s his Labor Day weekend pitch in today’s Sunday fishwrap. Indeed, the Gallup polling organization says “More in U.S. see unions strengthening and want it that way.”  

Americans just don’t want to join one. “The numbers,” as even NPR admits, “tell a different story.” Only 10.1% of workers pay dues — the lowest ever —  and most of those are government workers. Organizing coffee shop baristas will not bring back the New Deal.

Seeing is believing but not proving

If Blaska would only sit through 2000 Mules, he would believe the Stolen Election myth! So say the True Believers. We don’t doubt the power of moving pictures. The Head Groundskeeper is willing to believe that Marty McFly saved his parents’ marriage at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley high school. But Blaska has no authority to overturn an election! If you have evidence, we keep saying, prove it in court! Which Mulish producer Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, source of his fantasies, have refused! What does that tell you?

The State of Georgia in April 2022 issued subpoenas to True the Vote for relevant documents and information who, supposedly, had first-hand knowledge of ballot trafficking.

“After multiple good faith efforts by the State Election Board and its counsel to obtain the requested information and documents, True the Vote continues to indifferently vacillate between statements of assured compliance and blanket refusals.”

— Atlanta Fox 5 TV

The Georgia Election Board’s own investigation found that those people were submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law.

Go deep!

Luke Fickell’s UW Badgers had their hands full with a MAC mid-major team Saturday 09-02-23 at Camp Randall Stadium. Despite the Air Raid hype, Bucky is still a run-first team, probably the best in the nation. Come October against Ohio State, Tanner Mordecai’s two interceptions won’t scour, as Abe Lincoln would say. Still, the QB’s strike 60 yards downfield hit Skyler Bell in the hands and looked great before it bounced off to the ground. Hey Defense? No picks? No sacks?

Blaska’s Bottom Line — Nothing more exciting than an 89-yard run to a touchdown when your team seems to be treading water. We’re still juiced about Badger football.

How whelmed are you by Badger footballers
— over- or under-whelmed?