Cecil The Lion And The Man With No Morals Who Slaughtered Him, Walter James Palmer

Simply chilling.

It took place earlier this month. when Walter James Palmer hunted Cecil the lion.  He was taken to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe where he and his team spotted the lion. The creature was lured outside the park with a dead animal and Palmer then wounded him with a bow and arrow. In pain and fear for over 40 hours Cecil was hunted down without mercy. Then Palmer shot and killed him with a rifle. He paid $50,000 for the chance to murder this lion.

The beautiful lion was then skinned and beheaded outside the park.

This soulless man has reignited emotions about the ever-controversial practice of big game hunting.  Make no mistake about who participates in this savagery.  Rich, mean-spirited, and deep-pocketed killers.

They are not like you or me as they first have no inner compass to direct them away from such hatred for animals.   Second they have made so much money they have endless ways to spend it but lost their soul in the process.  So they travel to the African savanna in search of beautiful beasts they can boast about back home.   But first they slaughter and kill them.

Walter James Palmer may have a lion’s head on his wall but his morality was left in the heart of Africa.  May he never have a night where Cecil does not invade his dreams.

I do believe there is a place in hell for people who abuse children and animals.

Who Will Be In The Republican Debate August 6th?

While it is certain which eight candidates will be on the debate stage next Thursday for the first presidential debate featuring the Republicans what is far from clear is who will round out the ones to stand on the stage.

It is quite obvious from all the polling that Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson will make the cut.

But then things get cloudy.  And here is why.

FAUX News, which is hosting the debate says that they will allow candidates on the stage based on the average of the five most recent national polls. But FAUX News isn’t saying which polls they will use to calculate their average.

While it not clear who rounds out  the ten it is not out of bounds to say who will not be there to debate.   They are Carly Fiorina, George Pataki and Lindsey Graham,  Each have less than 1 percent support.   Then there is Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal who also will sit on the bench.

So that leaves Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and John Kasich.   One of them will not make the cut.

Harsh Review For Edgewater Boathouse: Single-Occupancy Restroom For 100 People

Rarely have I read a more biting critique of an eating establishment in our Madison press.    I am not sure how others are impacted by such reviews but living in walking distance to this place will help me determine were to eat, and where not to.

The atmosphere is faux-nautical and we would have had a great view of Lake Mendota, had it not been obstructed by other diners.

The four of us were rather humorless after a half an hour had gone by with no sign of our appetizers. When we asked about them, you could tell our very friendly server had forgotten to put in the order. She came back promptly with the chips with guacamole and salsa ($6) that we ordered.

One tablemate thought the guacamole was straight from a Trader Joe’s box, but I gave it a little more credit. I liked both the guac and the semi-watery salsa, but we all agreed it was shabby to serve the two dips in little plastic cups. It would be easy to upgrade that.

Another tablemate plucked a hair from the tortilla chips, but didn’t make a big deal of it.

The Waldorf chicken salad sandwich ($8) with grapes and walnuts on overly supple light wheat bread was a near miss, overwhelmed by mayonnaise.

My daughter ordered the “burger jr.” ($5) and it was certainly a junior portion — almost comically small. It came with chips. She held it up to laugh at it, but had no complaints about the taste.

The wait for our main courses was nearly as long as our wait for the starters, and the problem may lie in the hassle of getting food from the first floor to the second. Installing a dumbwaiter could help. 

It’s also wise to go to the Icehouse to use the washroom. The Boathouse, which is in the building across from the main hotel, has just a single-occupancy restroom, which is inadequate for a restaurant that seats 50 on its terrace and another 50 inside. (It should be noted that others have said the Icehouse restroom is then 75 uphill steps away.)

I left somewhat mixed on the experience, but my companion who ordered the chicken salad sandwich was more critical. “There were so many things wrong with that meal, I don’t know where to begin,” he said.

Said my other adult companion, “You can’t beat the view, but the food has a ways to go.”  

Gun Violence Reigns in Chicago

There is nothing more to add than the facts.

Seven people were killed in the dozens of shootings in Chicago since Friday.  The most recent was a 15-year-old boy.

In the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side, a 16-year-old boy was shot multiple times in the upper body during an attack in the 2800 block of South Keeler Avenue about 7:45 p.m. Sunday and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An 18-year-old man was struck multiple times in the torso and was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.

Police say at least 35 people were wounded in shootings this weekend.

The homicides this weekend bring the year’s total to 263, according to an analysis of a Chicago Tribune database on city homicides. That’s an increase of 35 over last year and 25 over 2013, according to Tribune data. The city has also seen more shootings, according to a Tribune database on shootings: 1,532 total gunshot victims through Monday morning this year, which is almost 100 more than during the same period in 2012 — a year that saw 500 homicides.

What Makes Donald Trump Smile Today?

“I think our candidates should pledge not to run as a third-party candidate.”

— RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, quoted by Politico.

Mike Huckabee Needs Ethics Lesson

Mike Huckabee is willing to resort to anything in order to make a headline.

Huckabee evoked imagery of Nazi death camps when discussing the deal over Iran’s nuclear program this weekend even going so far as to say President Barack Obama “would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven.”

“This president’s foreign policy is the most feckless in American history.  He’s so naive he would trust the Iranians and he would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven. This is the most idiot thing.”

The former minister who loves to talk about morals and righteousness might also want to take a lesson or two in ethics.  I cannot image this was the Christian approach that he wants voters to feel he lives by, or how he deals with complex policy questions.

He also might bone up on the on diplomatic deal so he can talk constructively about it rather then need to resort to the lowest common denominator type of campaigning that turns off many citizens from listening further.

Rand Paul Seeking The Bottom

Long time readers to this blog know I have no warmth for Ron Paul or his son Rand. To them government is something just to dismantle and scorn. They always like to make it seem they are so erudite and as such the people should hush, listen, and learn as they tell the story of how once upon a time our nation was stolen from us by unconstitutional means. There is always the sense that black helicopters are lurking just over the horizon.

I follow those who I find adrift from reality but seek public office. (Yes, my days are busy.) As such I am following the campaign of Rand Paul in his quest for the White House.

My first thought on the day he entered the contest is the same I have today.  What is he doing in the Republican Party?

Paul does not agree with Republicans on many matters, such as foreign and military policy, and they do not think him worthy of their time.   There seems no one willing to quench Paul’s thirst which results from Potomac Fever.

The latest story to make the news sums up the pitfalls that is now the Paul campaign.

Something is awry at the Rand Paul campaign. The main super PAC supporting his presidential bid raised just $3.1 million in the first half of 2015, about $100 million less than Right to Rise, a super PAC backing Jeb Bush. In fact, the pro-Paul group’s fundraising total was lower than that of every other major super PAC that is backing a Republican candidate and has announced its totals. On Sunday, a new NBC News/Marist poll showed support for the Kentucky Republican declining to just 4 percent in New Hampshire (compared with 14 percent in February).

The Des Moines Register and Quinnipiac University polls found that Paul’s net favorability had dropped in Iowa by 18 and 14 percentage points, respectively, compared with the beginning of the year. In New Hampshire, Paul’s net favorability rating has sunk by 15 percentage points according to the University of New Hampshire and 11 percentage points according to Suffolk University.

Defending Scott Walker

There is an old adage that you have not really worked in broadcasting until you have been fired once. It now might be said of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates that one is not really in the race until being attacked by Donald Trump.

If that is true, than Scott Walker is now a real contender for the White House.

He moved onto Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. He said that the state of Wisconsin is doing “terribly” and accused Walker of being a flip-flopper.

“He was totally in favor of Common Core,” Trump said. “Scott Walker changed when he saw he was getting creamed.”

Trump said he was retaliating for nasty comments made by a Walker fundraiser.

“Today I read this horrible statement from his fundraiser guy about Trump, and I say, ‘Finally, I can attack. Finally,'” Trump said.

Lord knows I am no fan of the Wisconsin Governor.  I have many serious concerns over policy decisions that he has made over his time in office.  I have questioned the way his election for recall was funded and supported the John Doe probe.

So I find it odd this morning after reading the comments from Trump that I feel like, “Back off dude, and leave him alone.”

Donald Trump can bring out the truly weird in all of us.

My reaction comes from the way Trump is running for president, and not over issues that are and should be a part of any election. I have been stunned by the bombastic and nasty way Trump uses the campaign process to get headlines.  It seems that Walker is now in the verbal line of fire from the billionaire, and should expect more.

To say that since the Walker campaign was critical of Trump now gives license for another attack to begin in the campaign is offensive to me. Sure I know how the real world of politics operates. I also am well aware if there is any one with a record to complain about it would be that of Walker.

But instead of attacking Walker how about proposing some alternatives and working to make people want to pay attention to the political process instead of being repulsed by it?

Walker at least, for all his faults, does not make people wonder how he became so nasty, or wonder how much dirtier he plans to go in his hunt for the nomination.   Walker may be wrong far more than he is right but I would want to chat with him over coffee on my front lawn.  Trump would never get past the terrace.

I suspect I am not alone in finding Trump so loathsome that I feel it important to come to Walker’s defense over the tone of the election.