2011 predictions

I don’t think I’ve ever done this before and thought it might be fun to try. Probably won’t be anything startling here, and you won’t find anything as detailed as James Wigderson’s, but, hey, I’m new to the game.

Now where did I put that crystal ball…

World:

• Tensions between North and South Korea will remain high, but no hot war will break out.
• Iran will continue to extend the middle finger to the world over its nuclear program.
• Withdrawal from Iraq will happen as planned. The country will continue “in peace,” much to the chagrin of Republicans.
• Afghanistan, on the other hand, will continue to struggle, as far as seeing a truce and shared government with the Taliban.

National:

I don’t see any big legislation coming out of the next session of Congress since the House is controlled by Republicans and the Senate and presidency is still in Democratic hands. But then again who would’ve thought that the lame duck session would have passed so much?

• First, despite all the hoopla by conservatives about repealing ObamaCare, nothing will happen.
• On the economic front, numbers will continue to stagnate with some slight improvement; sometimes the numbers will be good, sometimes bad.
• As the economic numbers stagnate so will Obama’s approval numbers.
• The campaign for 2012 will begin to heat up by the end of the year. Republican candidates will start their campaigns, probably Huckabee, Palin and Romney. No one on the Democratic side, except the very dark horse will challenge Obama.

Wisconsin:

This really depends on how the Legislature and Scott Walker get along and agree on priorities. We’ve already seen some of this. Walker’s team would like to get going on job creation. The Legislature has indicated they want to do some work on Voter ID and Concealed Carry among other things.

• The budget and how Scott Walker balances it while holding firm on tax breaks will continue to be criticized by the WHM (Walker Hate Machine).
• Jobs will be a disappointment falling short of Walker’s goal of 250,000.
• Scandal will continue to plague Walker’s team, not a lot of proof will come out, but there will be plenty of noise.

Waukesha:

How hard is this? Mayor Scrima, the Common Council and the city administrator will continue to give entertainment to all who keep watch on the city’s business. Water will continue to be an issue as well as the mayor plunging through the city’s business like a bull in a china closet. Almost makes me wish I would have run for Chris Hernadez’s seat on the council…

Sports:

• Brewers. Sorry, no playoffs again. They do find the .500 mark finishing 83-79. Greinke has a great first half, may even make the All-Star squad, but fades in the second half.
• Packers. After narrowly missing the playoffs this year, develop a running game next year and easily make the playoffs, but not the Super Bowl.
• Bucks. Well, they will continue to be the Bucks. Up and down. And missing the playoffs.

So whatever happened to that minor league team coming to Waukesha?

I thought about it last evening when I was at Frame Park watching the Badgerland Ski Team perform. There was also a high school baseball game going on and a Christian gathering at the same time.

Needless to say parking was at a premium. And there wasn’t anywhere near the 3,000 that was projected for the new team when they played. At least according to my poor estimating skills.

Not all parking areas were being used. I doubt that lot at the corner of White Rock and Niagara was being used. And there may have been some other places.

But every where else was pretty much full.

So anyway, back to the team. We know that initially the recession kept them from expanding. The team still has a web site, although there is no mention of Waukesha in the Northwoods League’s expansion plans.

And then I thought, “Hey, I bet James has some news,” and sure enough, I found this,

“The plans are on hold until at least 2011. Mayor Larry Nelson said he has conversed with Chad Bauer, who is to build the stadium for a Northwoods League baseball team. Bauer has not secured financing to build the stadium. Even if he does Nelson said the stadium would not be ready for baseball until 2011. The Common Council has to re-approve an agreement with Bauer in order for the stadium to be built.”

So there you have it. Bauer has to come up with financing and Common Council has to re-approve.

I don’t think that will be happening any time soon.

Waukesha Carnival 02/08/2009

Welcome to this week’s edition. It’s gettin’ late and I have to work tomorrow, so let’s get to it.

First sad news, Darryl Enriquez at Waukesha FYI tells us about the Waukesha Freeman layoffs. One of those laid off was photographer and Waukesha blogger Byron Houlgrave, who shared the last picture he clicked for the Freeman.

Continuing in Waukesha city, Jeff reviews the fish fry at Michael’s Italian America Restaurant at Five Points Blog.

James Wigderson went to the Waukesha Common Council meeting and shares his thoughts with us at Wigderson Library & Pub.

Spiralling out a little, Linda Richter at Inside New Berlin finds the security cameras in schools unsettling and it’s not just the price tag.

At peterepublic, Pete Fanning drops by to remind us he’s still alive, just very, very very busy.

Kyle Prast at Practically Speaking reminds us that US Rep. Sensenbrenner and state Rep. Leah Vukmir will have several town halls. One is past, two are upcoming.

In posts about state news, Wisconsin Sen. Mary Lazich (chief aide Kevin Fischer?) points out at Conservatively Speaking that the Wisconsin Covenant program could be costly.

In a couple of miscellaneous posts, Curt Otto gives us the question to last week’s answer, or something like that. Any way it’s all over at Maple & Main.

Meanwhile, over at the Spring City Chronicle, Michael Phelps gets the Bonehead of the Week award. Pretty much a unanimous vote, I would say.

Then in posts on national issues, MommaBlogger takes time out to rant over that Florida case of the botched abortion at Homemakers Guide to the Galaxy.

Dan Deibert shows us how fast government can move when they want to, with pictures at The D Spot.

Alex has some thoughts about Republican votes and raises at A Little off Main.

At The Other Side of  My Mouth, Tim Rock has some thoughts on the Republican vote on the stimulus package.

Silent e tells us why Democrats are unpatriotic at silent e speaks.

Cindy Kilkenny has a two-parter over at Fairly Conservative on building our own stimulus package.

Dad29 points out that the American people seem to be understanding the ramifications of the stimulus package.

Whew, that’s it for another long one. As usual, if you have one you liked add the link in the comments below or e-mail me at thoughtfulconservative [at] yahoo [dot] com. Same for posts you’d like to nominate for next week’s carnival. It doesn’t have to be one of your own. Links to our archives and future editions can be found here.

Since the debate has raged…

Surprise, Jennifer Hudson lip-synched the national anthem at the Super Bowl [All emphasis in the following is mine].

On Jan. 20, Jennifer Hudson sat in a Tampa hotel room and watched her new president make history on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. With the inspiring words of Barack Obama echoing in her head, the R&B divette then went to a local studio and recorded her version of the national anthem, the very one you heard at Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII.

Watch it, again,

You know I thought I was pretty good at telling live from lip syncing, guess I’ll have to practice more.

Here’s something interesting,

The NFL requires its pregame performers to prerecord their songs.

How about that? And not only Hudson,

Hudson pretaped her power, her pop, her patriotism in spacious Studio A of Morrisound Recording. Country star Faith Hill, who sang America the Beautiful at the game, also recorded at the noted Tampa facility.

Furthermore,

Not-so-coincidentally, Minor also produced Whitney Houston’s anthemic awesomeness at 1991s Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. That was also jaw-dropping. And yes, that was also prerecorded.

The goal? A risk-free performance.

“That’s the right way to do it,” said Rickey Minor, the pregame show producer, who has produced numerous Super Bowl pregame performances and is the music director for “American Idol.” “There’s too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance.”

And there you have it. I understand the reasoning, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. But I will now know that at important sporting events of well known songs, the performance more than likely is lip synched.

Super Bowl ads 2009

You can not only watch them but vote for your favorite on Hulu.com.

If I have time, I may post my top 5 later.

Super Bowl prediction

UPDATE: I was close on the score but had the winner wrong. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of the Super Bowl.

Well, I was got one right and one wrong in the championship games, so I’m still even through the playoffs.

One game left. I like what the Cardinals have done through the playoffs. Solid defense, especially against the run and a balanced offense.

But who can go against the Steelers, tradition, experience, good defense and good running game. That’s what wins championships.

Except for last year, the AFC has a four game winning streak. The Giants and the Bucs are the only NFC teams to win since Kurt Warner was in the Super Bowl last.

But I have not been impressed with the Steelers. Are they not that good? Or are they just doing what they need to do to move on.

My heart is with the Cardinals and I think they could win. If they can run. If Fitzgerald or Boldin gets catches. If Warner withstands the rush.

That’s a lot of ifs…..

But I’ll take it, Cardinals 26 Steelers 23.

Besides, if I pick the Steelers to win, that would be too easy. 🙂

Now where are those 3-D glasses.