September 2, 2012

WDTY's Sly confronts Wisconsin legislator Brett Hulsey about the beach incident involving 3 children...

... which led to a charge of disorderly conduct, to which he pled "no contest."

Though both Sly and Hulsey are Madison lefties — click the tags below — Sly does a tough interview, with the refrain: People are "creeped out."

Hulsey has some stock phrases he repeats: it was "a potentially dangerous situation" (a boy was splashing 2 "little girls"), he'd been out in the "extreme heat" and wanted to "cool off,"  the splashing was "wild," "I admit I made a mistake," he "startled" the boy, in "a foot of water," the police officers "didn't write down a word" of his story, and he was "flabbergasted" that they wrote him a ticket. He tries to frame the story in terms of police abuse, and Sly practically shouts him down: Then why did you plead no contest?!

Hulsey's voice sounds whiny and sporadically spikes to a high pitch. He hedges about whether he flipped the boy's innertube over, but seems to concede it in the end.

Hulsey keeps saying he was not taking photographs of the children but of the sunset, but here's the location of the beach. Would that be a sunset vantage point on July 4th? The police report doesn't seem to have even the approximate time of the incident [says the incident took place at 7:24 PM. Sunset occurred at 8:40 PM. Would children be playing by themselves in the lake at that hour? [ADDED: It wasn't 8:40, but more than an hour before sunset. I'm still surprised that children would be allowed to swim in the lake at that time (or really anytime) without closer supervision.]

(Here's the Isthmus article that Sly refers to. Here's our discussion a few days ago about the incident.)

Hulsey is the Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin state assembly — in my district. The incident occurred on July 4th, but the first we heard of the story was when the Isthmus story came out on August 29th. The primary was August 14th, and Hulsey is, conveniently, unopposed in the general election. Nice timing.

ADDED: Rereading the police report, I get the impression that Hulsey was trying to play with the children. The children said that Hulsey had his "arms up off to his sides and his mouth was wide open but making no sound" — as if he was "trying to sneak up" on the boy. According to the report, "Brett then 'shocked' [the boy] out of his inflatable so that he fell into the water." His hands touched the inflatable and the boy, and the man and the boy started splashing each other, with Hulsey saying "something to the effect of 'do you want to have a splash fight with me?'"

That sounds like a man trying to play with kids. The boy was "happy" at first, but soon felt "confused," according to one of the girls (as reported by the police), and the girl said that made her feel "strange" because she "didn't really know what he could do."

Now, that sounds awkward, and you can think about how creepy it is and whether you'd call the police if your kids told you about a man doing that (and then taking photographs). But here's the thing: If he was trying to play, why doesn't he say that? Why does he say over and over that he was dealing with "a potentially dangerous situation"?

154 comments:

Meade said...

I'm pretty sure Bob Dylan is working on the protest song to this blatant display of injustice. I'm guessing it goes something like this:

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/hurricane

Camera shots ring out as day turns to night
Enter the Assemblyman from the upper beach
He sees the wild child's war on girls
Cries out, “My God, he's splashing them all!”
Here comes the story of the Hulseycane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin’ that he only sorta done
Put in the Isthmus, but one time he could-a been
The leader of the the Progs.

Meade said...

http://fliiby.com/file/877627/ryn1qpvq99.html

David said...

Ok--he was being playful with some kids. That's disorderly conduct? I used to be playful with random kids. It was my nature. I would not do that nowadays. Too many witch hunters.

Is he a child molester? Not based on this evidence. But we have long since redefined creepy, so he was at least unwise.

Maybe the sun set early that night. Or maybe it was a metaphorical sunset.



Ann Althouse said...

"Maybe the sun set early that night."

What?

Sorun said...

He has that gap between his teeth just like creepy old man David Letterman. Coincidence?

If I had a gap like that, I'd be using it to spit water at the kids.

Rabel said...

Time of the incident is stated as 7:24 by an officer and as between 7 and 7:30 by a witness.

The damning part is the statement by the Parks offcial regarding other incidents.

Perv or victim of a witch hunt, Hulsey's toast.

Guildofcannonballs said...

This son of a bitch Hulsey is potentially waging a war on mothers in Madison, a war of virtual terror.

WE WILL NOT BE SILENT ANY LONGER SCUMBAG!

"Mackesey's report notes that the mother stated she had an obligation to report the incident because she was "worried if this individual may have done this before or may do more in the future.'"

David said...

The sun does not set early.

That's my point.

He's dancing around the issue even though there's no evidence of anything other than water splashing. No allegation either, if I read it right.

His statements are confusing, ambiguous, perhaps even suspicious, but there's no evidence of anything other than bad judgment in a witch hunt climate.

I can't explain it. Hulsey can't either. Or won't. I have no idea why, and neither does anyone else.

David said...

"although he could hardly see, he said he could i-den-ti-fy the Guilty Man . . ."

Unknown said...

The kids felt creeped out and so did the adult on the beach, who watched him take pictures. For good reason.

He came up with the sunset story later.

I'd get a search warrant for his home and computer.

David said...

Sure, a warrant.

Let's search his computer.

Surely this must be probably cause to have law enforcement dig through his entire life.

And then let's search the computers of everyone who creeps out another person.

Just to be safe.

You creep me out Pat. Let's start with you.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The parent are making something out of nothing.

Its not like the congressman put the kid in a chokehold.

Once written, twice... said...

"I'd get a search warrant for his home and computer."

I would bound his hands and feet and throw him back in the lake to see if he floats. You can't be too careful with these witches!

Thanks Ann for being extra vigilant!

David said...

"Let's throw it in the lake and see if it floats."

I like that. Has a very early American ring to it.

Chip S. said...

What Sly really wanted was for Hulsey to start singing "Hot Fun in the Summetime."

Once written, twice... said...

Here is a link to the Isthmus Daily Page where Meade makes an ass of himself. Read it. It is hilarious.

Meade gone Mad!

AllenS said...

It's Madison, Hulsey is a good representative for that area of Wisconsin.

Comanche Voter said...

Hulsley--dumb enough to be a Democrat (and he is).

Original Mike said...

"Hulsey has some stock phrases he repeats"

Regardless of the topic, that's all Hulsey is capable of. I think he copyrighted "millionairesandbillionaires".

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Maybe the sun set early that night..

Nobody goes there anymore.. its too crowded.

Wince said...

Hulsey has some stock phrases he repeats... he'd been out in the "extreme heat" and wanted to "cool off".

Once written, twice... said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

Instead we should look into anyone named "Sly".

Once written, twice... said...

I have met Brett many times. A friend of mine who knows him better believes that the guy has some form of Aspergers syndrome. The guy seems to lack some basic social skills that the rest of us take for granted. He clearly wants to be liked and goes over backwards trying to impress people and befriend them. You could see that with him agreeing to meet with Meade to talk last year. Most pols, Dem or Rep, would tell an obvious rabble rouser for the other party to go fuck themselves in polite terms.

Ann, how do you know that the parents did not want to make trouble for Brett and decided to call the cops on him? Reading the reports it is hard to see why he got a citation. Ann, why are you not asking why the cops did not just give a more appropriate warning, telling Brett it is not appropriate in this day and age to interact with other people's kids without getting permission from their parents?

Also, I find it creepy that Meade acts all concerned and claims this should be taken seriously but then turns around and makes sure he is the first to comment on this thread with some Dylan parody. Hey lets make hay and dance on other people's foibles! Nice hobby Ann and Meade.

alan markus said...

@ Jay Retread:

I have met Brett many times. A friend of mine who knows him better believes that the guy has some form of Aspergers syndrome.

Thanks - that is exactly what I was wondering the other day i the original post:

Maybe he has a touch of Asperger's or something? Not able to pick up on certain social cues?

I looked at the Isthmus thread - amazing that with such a little bit of information to speculate on, it generated 152 comments.

Once written, twice... said...

"I looked at the Isthmus thread - amazing that with such a little bit of information to speculate on, it generated 152 comments."

Well, most of those comments are Meade and Dave Balaska making fools of themselves.

Baron Zemo said...

My Dear Lady!

Playing with other people's children is what the Democrat party is all about!

What is the problem?

kentuckyliz said...

So who's campaigning as a write-in candidate?

Ass burgers and politics don't mix.

jungatheart said...

Jay, why did you remove the link?

kentuckyliz said...

The write-in candidate can campaign using this slogan:

"It's for the children"

jungatheart said...

Ooops, sorry, there it is.

jungatheart said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Jay Retread said...

"I looked at the Isthmus thread - amazing that with such a little bit of information to speculate on, it generated 152 comments."

Well, most of those comments are Meade and Dave Balaska making fools of themselves.

9/2/12 6:15 PM

__________________________________

Considering everything that's happened in WI this year, who made fools of themselves?

kcom said...

"The sun does not set early.

That's my point.
"

For what it's worth, David, I laughed and thought it was an excellent joke. Sly but funny. Frankly, I was surprised it went over the Professor's head.

This was another excellent line, "You creep me out Pat. Let's start with you."

kcom said...

To be clear, nothing to do with Pat. You just managed to crystallize the problem with setting a standard that low.

Freeman Hunt said...

I don't understand this incident at all. I don't understand what Hulsey was doing. I don't understand why the police were called. I don't understand what the children were doing. I don't understand why pictures were being taken or what the problem was with taking pictures of the lake.

Sounds like a big pile of social awkwardness.

Petunia said...

The timing of the release of the information WRT the primary is interesting. But in the end it doesn't matter. Hulsey's a lefty in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Madison--limousine liberal land--and so he's almost guaranteed re-election no matter what he does.

Freeman Hunt said...

I have three children, and I don't understand this general prohibition of no pictures of anything if children are in the line of sight. If someone is stalking you and taking pictures, yes, that's creepy. But this idea that you can take no photos wherein strangers might incidentally appear is bizarre.

Once written, twice... said...

Ann, if you were any kind of civil libertarian, after reading the police reports, you would strongly question the defining of "disorderly conduct" in such broad terms.

Anonymous said...

I don't know - sounds he lightly discipled a kid in pubic and was soundly reminded that you can't do that in America anymore. He felt it wasn't worth a pubic brewhaha so he's just capitulating. 'Course he could be a wacko perv too.

Anonymous said...

...lightly disciplined...

Guildofcannonballs said...

Hulsey believes, from what I gather, the kids shouldn't have been there at that time of day, dressed so scantily, having so much fun.

Hulsey sounds like a sick bastard, because we know the jackwagon of filth terrorized a mother to the extent she called police and charges were brought against his perp behavior.

Now if any of you here have a reason to question the police and their word in this instance, you get your ass typing that reason right now, otherwise you join the sons of bitches alleging corruption without any evidence.

Freeman Hunt said...

No, that was quite un-Buckley.

Freeman Hunt said...

Now I've looked at the report. What on earth? A report that long for essentially nothing? Are Wisconsin police bored?

Stupid.

Freeman Hunt said...

But here's the thing: If he was trying to play, why doesn't he say that? Why does he say over and over that he was dealing with "a potentially dangerous situation"?

He knows that many crazy people think man playing with children = child molester, so he tried to assume the role of a child protector.

Titus said...

Thanks for shining a light on Madison politics. It is so uninteresting but I felt a deep need to post.

Have I ever told you how happy I was when I left Wisconsin?

The three happiest times in my life-getting my drivers license, graduating from high school and leaving Wisconsin.

If the fags were hotter in Madison I would of considered staying but they are so fucking ugly, white and provincial.

Freeman Hunt said...

Aren't you married now, Titus?

Titus said...

Madison fags give fags a bad name.

They have a gay bar next to a car dealership and you have to actually drive to go out. That's sad.

Up your game Madison!

CharlesVegas said...

Show us on the doll where the Democrat touched you.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Aren't you married now, Titus?

Titus cant keep his story straight.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Have I ever told you...

I knew I catch you Trooper.

It was only a matter of time.

Anonymous said...

A write-in Republican? Or an Independent?

Bob_R said...

Yeah. Too little information. One of the big attractions of this blog for me is pictures of Madison. So I'm really put off by the idea that taking pictures at the beach is a suspicious activity. Should we all practice baking cakes with files in them so we can break Althouse and Meade out of stir? (No law professor has a chance in hell of arguing her way out of jail.)

Ann Althouse said...

@Jay

Read my previous post. I did raise those questions. But it's hard to go there when Hulaey failed to fight the charge. He should have defended his reputation as Sly said pretty directly. Why didn't he? In politics, you have to be able to trust a person. He screwed himself politically. Why?

Michael Haz said...

Story floating on FB is that Segway Boy is now room temperature.
________________

Now I've looked at the report. What on earth? A report that long for essentially nothing? Are Wisconsin police bored?

They seem disinterested in an eyewitness account of Dem State Senator Mark Pocan telling friends about his trip to Costa Rica for sex tourism.

Story here. Scroll down a bit.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

So I'm really put off by the idea that taking pictures at the beach is a suspicious activity.

Suspicious?

How about Ann Romney and Brett Hulsey had a love child... Romney tapped Ryan for VP and in exchange Ryan and his wife present the love child to the world as their own.

Now this incident at the park, where Hulsey's fatherly instincts are calling to him (poor man is very remorseful) threatens to blow the lid off this affair and bring out the truth to the American people for the first time.

I'll have further details as they become available.

Paco Wové said...

"I don't know - sounds he lightly discipled a kid in pubic and was soundly reminded that you can't do that in America anymore"

Or ever, perhaps...

Paco Wové said...

Come to think of it, if somebody besides my spouse said they were going to "disciple me in pubic", I'd run like hell.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I say Hulsey exercised poor judgement playing with a strangers child.. in the era of Amber Alerts.

If his judgement was that poor, and I'm not saying I know what happened... maybe he should resign.

Whats that line about a dead girl or a live boy?

You people are going to have to let him go.

Sorun said...

I'm suspicious of old liberal men because often they're compensating for something. For example, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Mark Pocan, etc.

Calypso Facto said...

I'm with Haz that it's really strange there hasn't been an iota of discussion of the minority sex tourism claims regarding Mark Pocan. Maybe Sly can interview Pocan next?

The accuser, Dr. Glen Barry, was quite the celebrity when he claimed Scott Walker was a bad college student; stories that were published in virtually every paper in the state. If he was a credible authority then, what's different now?

Sorun said...

You know....Barney Frank, Daniel Inouye, Robert Byrd, Bob Packwood (hehe pack-wood), Gerry Studds, Mark Pocan...

A. Shmendrik said...

I couldn't sustain the interest to listen for more than 1.5 minutes.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

But here's the thing: If he was trying to play, why doesn't he say that?

A man playing with a child not his own on a beach with a camera.. could be made to sound weird...

Make it go away as fast as possible and avoid a subpoena... on his computers?... with a treasure trove... omg... Who have you people elected ;)

I think we have another Weiner on our hands... and I dont mean the end of summer.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

There is still hope for him.

Hes not on Drudge... yet.

Just come clean.. full press conference.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Althouse mentions the timing...

This is just the kind of distraction the press needs not to cover the bad economy.

We do love a.. is this a sex scandal?

We got to be very carefull here.

Wince said...

Some sage advice: if you are going to take pictures of a child without her parents' permission, try to avoid the daughter of leader of the local Hell's Angels chapter.

Phish's Mike Gordon Arrested
Bassist booked for child endangerment

By Gil Kaufman
August 19, 2003

Phish bassist Mike Gordon, 38, was arrested Monday, August 11th, on charges of child endangerment after he was found with a nine-year-old girl in a secluded boathouse during a show by the Dead in Jones Beach, New York.

According to a statement released by Major Richard O'Donnell of the New York State Park Police, Gordon was charged with a misdemeanor count of child endangerment and trespassing. "The arrest was the result of a complaint by the mother of a nine-year-old girl," reads the statement. "The mother became concerned when she could not locate her daughter in the backstage area."

The uninjured child was reunited with her family shortly after Gordon's arrest.

According to New York's WNBC television, Gordon told police that he was taking "art photos" of the girl.

The girl's father -- who, along with Gordon, was an invited guest backstage -- has been identified as a leader of a Hell's Angels chapter. Gordon is reported to have been held by venue security and members of the motorcycle club until police arrived, with WNBC adding that the Angels "were not gentle with the sensitive areas of the rock star's body."

A joint statement credited to Gordon and the girl's family and released Tuesday by Phish's label, Elektra Records, reads, "We have had several discussions regarding the situation that occurred at Jones Beach. It is now clear to all involved that this was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and we look forward to putting this matter behind us."

Gordon is due to appear in the First District Court of Nassau County on September 29th to face the charges, which could result in more than a year of jail time, according to Rick Hinshaw, spokesperson for the Nassau County District Attorney's office. Hinshaw said the DA's office could not yet comment on the specifics of the case.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm listening to Hulsey and he sounds like a guy in agony.

The context is.. lets say I'm speaking to an audience of 45,000 people and there a man with a pie...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Hulsey touched the inner tube... there might have been contact..

This is familiar language... but, maybe just in case, I'm going to brush up on my Starr Report.

kentuckyliz said...

I had to post something, because there are 69 comments and that's creepy.

MadisonMan said...

I know fan of Hulsey's -- he's kinda sanctimonious IMO, and toes far too closely to the far left liberal line.

But this seems like a whole bunch of nonsense.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I gotta do a better job proofing...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It was a hot summer.. twilight..

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

But this seems like a whole bunch of nonsense.

I beg to differ.. I think there are enough shades of gray here to lunch an official probe.

Once written, twice... said...

Ann Althouse,

For Christ sakes! What kind of civil libertarian are you?

Does the facts presented in the police report come any where near supporting the disorderly conduct charge or not?

Hulsey not wanting to be dragged into a hysterical witch hunt and just be done with it should not blind your judgment.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Kaity Tong, of Eyewitness News.. is promising to get to the bottom of this story, even if she has to move to Madison and albeit temporarily, subject herself to living in a State with a Republican governor..

Oh! the humanity.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Thanks Kliz, Its good to know... I'm not alone out here ;)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Ha! I gotta do a better job proofing...

It doesn't help that Hulseys story keeps... evolving.

MadisonMan said...

Oh Good God.

I'm no fan of Hulsey's is what I meant to write. Jeeze.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Does anybody know how... hrm.. how stiff the fine was?

I have to be very careful since this story is dealing with children.. we have to be prepared to answer their questions.. that's coming up in another segment.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

MadisonMan why dont you just get off your high horse... join us and the world will be as one.

Did you listened to the interview yet?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

There is a predator on the loose my good man!!

MadisonMan said...

Lem, I've known two people railroaded by parents who were concerned about their kids over what turned out to be absolutely nothing, and this smells almost the same.

(The difference being I don't actually know Hulsey personally. As I say, he's very sanctimonious and an odious political hack. But being a predator of the public purse does not also mean he is a child predator. So I'm very suspicious of the every one, including the parents who don't watch their kid as he splashes others, but suddenly are concerned when a man is near them).

Matt Sablan said...

And this is why you avoid even the appearance of impropriety whenever possible. It's why smart male managers are rarely, if ever, alone with female staff members, and male teachers do their darndest to never be alone with any students.

Because a lot of people don't give the benefit of the doubt in some cases, even if they should.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm hearing it again and Hulsey refers to the boy as a "young man"..

I go my neighborhood beach to go for a swim.. and.. auhm.. there is this... you know... young man.

I dont know what to make of that.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I hear you MM.

The WSJ exposed how Martha Coakley (remember she ran for Ted Kennedy's seat) railroaded a guy in Massachusetts... with unsubstantiated allegations.

The guy is out of prison now but he still registered as a sex offender.

Penny said...

Kids used to dream about what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Now they dream about potential child molesters.

Penny said...

If we keep this up, we're going to need a helluva lot more basements to house our kids and their dreams.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

He can always say he's going for counseling.

Counseling is good.

Joe said...

This is, in part, the result of people getting hysterical over boogymen and frightening the shit out of children about strangers.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It wasn't 8:40, but more than an hour before sunset.

In the interview Hulsey says there was an adult nearby reading a book.

Usually it has to be light enough out for someone to be reading..

Baron Zemo said...


Our good friend Jay Retread seems personally invested in this story.

Perhaps he too enjoys photos of young children at play.

It is all part and parcelof being an ultra-liberal Democrat.

Matt Sablan said...

Did he say reading a book or just reading? If he just said reading, it could have been an e-reader with a backlight or whatever it is called.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Thats a good point MS..

Thanks for shedding light on a possibility.

We just want to find out the truth here.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Why would the congressman play with someone else's kids?..

We could have a number of scenarios..

His wife doesn't let him play with his own..

I dont know.

There's a dark comedy I'm looking for to link to and maybe help elucidate where I'm coming from.

I found it funny.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Found it.

Life During Wartime (2009)

KCFleming said...

I for one am glad that being creeped out is reason enough to call the cops and get charged and lose a career.

Creeping people out is just plain wrong.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Hulsey says he deleted the photographs.

Usually I dont delete until I sync.

But that in itself is not incriminating... unless we have more children come forward and say they too posed for the congressman.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The child was in the corner.

Titus said...

Lem is drunk again, good night madison.

Carnifex said...

In the spirit of linking news to music, I give you, the Police...http://youtu.be/5Zp3LPRzuXo

Hey! Cheer up! At least no barn yard animals were mentioned in this little contre temps(is that the right phrase? My french is limited to what I learn on the streets here, which is to say, not much).

I don't believe this guy is a democrat. The children survived, and everyones knows all democrats hate children, and kill them every chance they get.(I'm feeling very Alex-y tonite)

Regardless, that the professor is shocked that careless parents act carelessly, is shocking. The regard people have for their children often shocks me...who is childless.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

You are just upset that I found out you are Trooper.

Chip Ahoy said...

Bah humbug.

I'm interested in the camera and the lens.

You see, *poses professorially * the camera itself is an item of interest that makes the photographer approachable. So have your tiny notebook, or your cell. But this situation is reversed from that. The potential stalker went wrong by not acknowledging the adults. It's through them that he gets the pictures of kids playing. Goes like this:

Hi. Are those your kids out there? You know what? I think I could get some really good shots out there, if you'd like to have them, it happens I have a really good lens on this thing today that think can pull that right in. I think it's possible to get some good pics, possibly. I can email them to you, if you'd like. Shame to miss this action. Free. It's a hobby. I'll take them off my hard drive.

Your kid is adorable with his flag such a little soldier ...

Sir, is that your boy? Would you like to have a picture of this?

Also kids love being photographed.

Sometimes it happens, you see the cutest things. They do something around here, I'll have to catch this sometime because I see it all the time, just last week even, school kids are walking in line holding hands to keep them together and they obey. I actually remember doing that, the teacher saying, "everyone hold hands" and me thinking, even then, "oh shit, this again." In my last neighborhood a mile away from here, a day care center took the kids out in the neighborhood every day and they used a rope. Each little kid had to hold onto the rope. So they snake around the neighborhood.

They also come piling out of school busses eager to do their field trips. Once I had my camera and just sat there snap snap snap snap snap rather like a perv, snapping pics of the kids skipping off to the museum.

Or perhaps you're sitting there with your telephoto and a kid begins doing something eminently photographable like flipping backflips off the sidewalk. It's by all means all right to snap away. So that he is caught is mid air five times, and people walk by as if nothing at all odd is happening. The jumper is approachable too, he wouldn't mind seeing these himself.

That's where the congressman went wrong. He failed to engage.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That's pretty good Chip.

I thought we had something there..

I guess its back to boring Conventions.

Unknown said...

So you guys think the parents should not have called the police? Even after their kids told them about a stranger taking their picture and how they felt about it?

Chip Ahoy said...

But if you're using one of those pocket point and shoots, then your SOL because those are not good items of conversation.

Speaking of pictures

Would you like to see a picture of a bottle?

It's the cutest little thing. Got it for $2.00 (ignore $6.00 shipping, that's irrelevant, you big silly) It's round and bumpy and has a short crooked neck. We like crooked neck bottles for hummingbird feeders.

You're thinking, It's too small, and it is too small, but there will be a dozen of things like these so the all must be small or filling them will be a drag.

So that's the beginning.

I also found ink bottles that made me laugh because they had the same idea as imhotep. Imhotep built the pyramids as a roofless building already destroyed by earthquake, and these bottles are designed to lay flat as if already spilled. So the bottle is like a blob with the opening aiming up at an angle, for the insertion of a quill pen. A glass blob with a bent spout, perfect for hummingbirds, and perfect for my size.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

SEALS DIDN'T WANT TO HELP RE-ELECT OBAMA

Said Drudge.. I thought the Seals? I thought they were Democrats... right?
They are getting divorce.. right?

Then I thought..

Men..The Obama Event Registry has sure gotten very aggressive... they are going after the Seals split assets.

Chip Ahoy said...

You see how the glass blob bottle came about. It was a problem, the bottles tipping over all the time. That's the worst thing that could happen besides catching on fire or perhaps having your papers splattered with your own blood by having been shot, those two thing would be worse than spilling a bottle of ink, but a problem common enough to design the bottle like that.

They blew the blob of molten glass into a mold for an ordinary in bottle but removed it while still hot and still pliable and forced it, coaxed it into a fallen position and bent the opening upward. There are similar bottles more angular, this is angular too but its angularity is not showing so much, the others are way angular and I like this one best. For the birds. Think of the birds.

bagoh20 said...
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bagoh20 said...

If you remember we had a discussion a while back about a kid needing help (I think in Battery Park, NYC) and how many of us guys said that it was very dangerous for a man to interact with a strange child, to the point where it had to be consideration even when doing something appropriate or good, as it could easily be misinterpreted by our current paranoid culture and legal system. We were told that was ridiculous and paranoid, yet right here you see it in action.

I could easily see myself doing what he did in a playful moment. At least I would have a few years ago, but now I would imagine a scenario like this, and avoid contact of any kind.

I don't see what was wrong here, other than the other adults overreacted. A grown man basically has to consider children to be radioactive. It's pretty sad.

I don't know, but I have to assume that pedophilia is no more common than it was 30 years ago, yet today we act like it's part of every man's character. Nobody is above suspicion.

Things have changed a lot since when I was a kid and men and kids were trusted together routinely, and I don't remember it being the source of any problem. Men and boys were even routinely naked together at pools or the YMCA, and I never saw or heard of anyone being assaulted.

What has happened to us? Is pedophilia really the epidemic we seem to believe, or is this just overreaction? I know that overreaction itself is epidemic in our culture.

bagoh20 said...

Maybe our culture's change in attitude has actually made pedophilia more common. The more taboo we make man/ child interaction, the more it triggers pedophilia, as when the flash of a woman's ankle used to be as exciting once upon a time.

Chip Ahoy said...

That's a nice hang glider. I like the cut of your leading edge.

Chip Ahoy said...

And your battens are bitch'n.

Chip Ahoy said...

Where did you go?

That's a thing about hang glider pilots I noticed. They were not really team sport people. As a group they are unique. They'd hang around waiting for conditions. That meant they weren't doing ordinary weekend things and killed time waiting to do something extraordinary all by themselves, something they cannot share. They formed a circle and played hacky sack together. That's like the opposite of a team sport, it's like a cooperation thing. They were all very nice people.

I had a Harrier II. It was considered fancy with its swivel keel mechanism. The keel does not swivel, the crossbar does, the mechanism is affixed to the keel, it allows the wing to shift an inch or so. That allows it to turn quickly. Like a hawk. I imagine hawks turn quickly. Maybe hawks don't turn quickly, but the Harrier II sure does.

You see *strikes a pose* when you're flying along and one wing suddenly lifts it means you flew through a thermal bubble. The invisible bubble of warm air is stretched out and if you are quick enough you can spin around and put both wings into the invisible thermal bubble and be uplifted. That's where your rush is. That uplift. Like a swing set, a really tall one, and you get that thing cranking and you lay back on the upswing and sit up on the downswing and get the most tremendous rush in blam-o right in your stomach and you must clutch the chains of the swing just to not fall off. And then there's jumping off too but that's another swing-related thing and right now I'm talking about the rush that you know as a child. The rush. The Harrier II can turn on a dime and deliver the rush because of the swivel mechanism.

So there's that.

I didn't know it at the time but my sail was the gayest sail on the training hills. Three training hills, one north of Boulder. And I mean GAY!

It was beautiful. A rainbow. A strikingly beautiful goddamn rainbow. Everybody loved that thing. They loved it more than I did. That made it extremely easy to sell when the time came. Everybody wanted it. I sold it in one minute. No thirty seconds. No, five seconds. I sold it in five seconds, it was that beautiful.

I owned it for four years. At home it was stored above the garage door when the garage door is opened. The garage door must be closed to access the simple pulley system. The rolled up glider lifted off the car and tied into place, then the garage door could open and close unhindered. Clever, eh?

That did screw up my car's bumper's. Brackets were attached to the bumpers front and back, then tubes fit into the brackets with a T shape on top. All that was homemade. Everybody pretty much stayed clear of me on the highway.

I took it to work on top of my car and had it in the lot all day. Everyone at the FRB knew that was mine and knew I was strange because of that. But other people did strange things too so that got me off the hook. Rodeo bull rider, square dance champion, they wear very strange clothes, stairwell runners for charity, catchers of eggs dropped from tall buildings contest for charity winners, strange things that let my strange thing off the hook. It's very easy to explain to anybody who asked, to fly like a bird. Duh.

Planes are so passé. Everybody flies those. The small ones are like Volkswagens with wings. They're all technical and engines and fuel and math and sciences and calculations and flight plans and communications and shit. Birds just do it.

AllenS said...

Send him to prison if he was caught using a fish eye lens.

frank said...

Hey Ann--any chance we get to comment on child sex predator tourist Mark Pocan or do you just vote for him?

Rusty said...

Chip.
Some heavy gloves and a propane torch and you can make your oun feeders from bottles from the craft store.

Curious George said...

The skeeve has a pedo-smile.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=spot_the_pedo

Ann Althouse said...

"Hey Ann--any chance we get to comment on child sex predator tourist Mark Pocan or do you just vote for him?"

I'd like to hear the facts on that topic, but I can't imagine him not winning at this point, knowing this district, which was drawn, self-advantagingly by the GOP, to be ultra-secure for the Democrats.

Why is this story coming up now, after the primary? It seems really unfair to throw this mud now.

Once written, twice... said...

Concering the charge that Mark Pocan is a confessed child sex predator-I clicked the link and read all of the posts at that guy's blog including the one where he makes his charge against Pocan. The guy-Dr. Glen Barry-is clearly a serious nut job.

Meade said...

That may be true, Jay Retread Who Sometimes Goes By the Name Phil And Heaven Knows What Else, but YOU are an unserious nut job calling Dr. Glen Barry a serious nut job. So I think we'll have to consider the source.

Once written, twice... said...

Yes Meade, consider the source. Read the guy's blog posts and tell me he is not looney.

P.S., Meade, have I personally hurt your feelings? I am so sorry if I have.

Once written, twice... said...

Sincerely.

Automatic_Wing said...

Dr Glen Barry seems like a pretty typical Madison lefty with the usual Madison obsessions: Envionmental doom-mongering, rights for foreign terrorists and Scott Walker.

He's almost like a cross between Freder Frederson and garage mahal. Are you saying those guys are nuts?

Michael Haz said...

If Mark Pocan was heterosexual and conservative the Madison media and bloggers would be all over this story.

As it is, Pocan is getting a free pass. Vetting a candidate is an activity reserved for candidates who are conservative. In fact, I was thinking that as I was reading Obama's college transcripts.

Once written, twice... said...

BS Haz,
Otherwise we would be hearing about Tommy Thompson being a public drunk and his girlfriends on the side. All well known and laughed about at the state Capitol for decades now.

Stick with your argument that this Dr. Glen Berry is a gadfly nutjob for both the left and the right. That's convincing!

Michael Haz said...

Really Jay? Show the proof.

Or maybe you're just a nutjob and what you say should be dismissed on that basis alone. It's an argument you seem to favor.

Or maybe you're Mark Pocan.

roesch/voltaire said...

Spent Sunday at Wingra beach with my granddaughter where there was lots of splashing going on between kids and kids and adults and kids and my take is that if any kid wasn't having fun being splashed on, they leave the area. If the two girls were still in the line of splash after Hulsey's swim, it seems like there was little danger involved--more likely just fun, and the most an adult should do in that case is say be careful and look for their parents. I don't know if disorderly conduct describes the actions of Hulsey, but creepy does seem to fit.

Meade said...

No apology necessary, Jay Phil Retread. I barely even have feelings.

At this moment, for good or ill, Brett Hulsey is the face of Progressive Democrats in Wisconsin. When faced with a dubious charge,instead of pushing back the hysteria of creep, standing up to anti civil liberty, and asserting the moral rightness of his actions (which should have been simply protecting children), Brett Hulsey pled no contest.

Meade said...

And that was, apparently, AFTER he consulted with his attorney.

Once written, twice... said...

Brett Hulsey was a joke before this event (he even went on WIBA every other week!) and he is a joke after it. Only in your obsessively right wing simple mind is he the face of Progressive Democrats in Wisconsin. For almost every Democrat I know he was and is their least favorite.

Next.

Meade said...

Unfortunately for Wisconsin Prog/Dems, "least favorite" is still favorite.

Ann Althouse said...

"When faced with a dubious charge,instead of pushing back the hysteria of creep, standing up to anti civil liberty, and asserting the moral rightness of his actions (which should have been simply protecting children), Brett Hulsey pled no contest."

Also, in the WDTY interview, he kept talking about how the 2 police officers weren't writing down what he said. That doesn't seem as important as these other things, so why was that the injustice he talked about? That was very strange, and it was his talking point on the legal process.

Ann Althouse said...

"Brett Hulsey was a joke before this event (he even went on WIBA every other week!) and he is a joke after it. Only in your obsessively right wing simple mind is he the face of Progressive Democrats in Wisconsin. For almost every Democrat I know he was and is their least favorite."

Did all these many Democrats oppose him in the primary? If he's so loathed, why did he waltz up to an unopposed reelection?

Are you going to mount a write-in campaign or something? Release the Manski?

Ann Althouse said...

"(he even went on WIBA every other week!"

A legislator shouldn't talk to the whole range of the public? WIBA listeners shouldn't hear from the other side.

You're not making much sense to me. Your comments are all over the place.

Why don't you identify yourself at least up to the point of saying what organizations you belong to and what candidates you have supported and how actively and intimately? Just local stuff.

You need to build your credibility, and you've been swinging wildly... splashing dangerously (potentially).

Get coherent and clear. Now.

Once written, twice... said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

"Spent Sunday at Wingra beach with my granddaughter where there was lots of splashing going on between kids and kids and adults and kids and my take is that if any kid wasn't having fun being splashed on, they leave the area. If the two girls were still in the line of splash after Hulsey's swim, it seems like there was little danger involved--more likely just fun, and the most an adult should do in that case is say be careful and look for their parents. I don't know if disorderly conduct describes the actions of Hulsey, but creepy does seem to fit."

Splashing is the most ordinary horseplay in the water. Hulsey should have been much more concrete about why he perceived this as potentially dangerous, such that a strange adult should intervene.

He did refer to the 2 girls as "little girls," maybe more than once, but the boy was 9 and the girls were 6. But maybe he couldn't fairly present the boy as a bully. The police report describes him coming up behind the boy and scaring him.

Once written, twice... said...

You are a funny one Ann. I half think you really take yourself seriously.

But hey I have somewhere to be. Ann, you and your sidekick Meade should spend the rest of your day inside doing your hobby. Maybe the Meadester can come up with some more parody lyrics? Keep it small!

See you later maybe?

Once written, twice... said...

WIBA is a joke on the level of professional wrestling. But why am I not surprise that Ann does not know that?

Calypso Facto said...

The guy-Dr. Glen Barry-is clearly a serious nut job.

Maybe. But why was he credible when quoted about Walker in the Journal Sentinel, State Journal, Capital Times, Isthmus, DailyKOS, bloggingblue, etc., etc.

The decent thing for all those outlets to do would be either follow up with a story on this accusation or issue an apology to Walker for using Barry's essay during the recall election.

Michael Haz said...

But hey I have somewhere to be. Ann...

Buh-by Brett.

Meade said...

Haz, do you know whether or not Dr. Glen Barry was part of that smear of Scott Walker, days ahead of the recall election, in which Walker was supposed to have committed some alleged crimes/sins/bad acts such as, I vaguely recall, fathering a child out of wedlock?

Michael Haz said...

Meade - This was picked up by news outlets and spread as being truthful.

Calypso Facto said...

Meade, I think that was the roommate of the wrong "Scott Walker".

As also erroneously reported by DailyKos. When will Dan Bice use his "professional reporter" skills to investigate the claims about Pocan?

Michael Haz said...

Meade - If you were referring to this, I understand it was started by one of the woman named in the story and who now teaches at U Minn and is a Dem activist.

She renounced the story a few days later after Dan Bice of the Milwaukee J/S called her to ask about it.

Meade said...

Thanks, guys.

Ann Althouse said...

@Jay You had a chance to be relevant, and you threw it away. I'm sorry I wasted time talking to you. It's not interesting to think about who you are, but what you're saying could have had some meaning if you'd addressed the questions I asked.

Once written, twice... said...

Sorry Ann, I am not your pupil and you are not the Socratic Master that you think you are.

Meade said...

In fact, you are not even Jay Retread. Your name is Phil.

Unknown said...

In fact, you are not even Jay Retread. Your name is Phil.

Fascinating stuff!

WineSlob said...

On a Madison Sand Dusky Beach
Hulsey Gave a Boy the Creeps
Pervert Took His Pic
His Motives Were Sick
And the Lefties Make Nary a Peep.

Once written, twice... said...

Meade wrote
"In fact, you are not even Jay Retread. Your name is Phil."

Oh, you are a wise one padawan Althouse.

Once written, twice... said...

Though, actually Phyllis. Only my good friends (like you Meade) call me Phil.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's not the first or last time that we have a pervert as a politician. There's no way to explain Hulsey's behavior other than he's a pervert. There isn't a person mentioned in the police report, other than Hulsey, who doesn't seem to think that Hulsey is a pervert. But only a pervert would claim that he can splash some children at a beach.....