Looking Glass - Janesville, Wisconsin - (Redux) - Friday Night Fish Fry - burgers and breakfast too

The Looking Glass tavern down in the bar district of downtown Janesville has been a haunt of mine for a while now.  They have managed to get on my "Breakfast" Category list, my "Wisconsin-esque Tavern" Category list, and now, my "Burgers" Category, as well as my "Friday Fish Fry" Category list.  I think they are one of only a handful of taverns that have made all those benchmarks.  And now, we are doing a fish fry redux. 

As I have written previously, this is a tavern that transcends the new era of the sports/entertainment what-can-you-do-for-me-as-a-patron style of taverns, and the old wood interior Wisconsin tavern presentation.  While Karaoke is belted out on Wednesday night, the old stuffed taxidermed moose on the back wall dangles his perennial cigarette from his big snout.  There are a few flat screen televisions behind the old bar usually tuned to sports.  

As mentioned in my "Breakfast" Category, the Looking Glass puts on a dandy breakfast during the Saturday Janesville Farmer's Market and all year actually. The Farmers' Market is from May to October. The Looking Glass has the breakfast  from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every Saturday morning.  For a blue-collar sum, you can get scrambled eggs, cheesy potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and French Toast. But what gets my attention is they also offer Corn Beef Hash. 

Normally, The Looking Glass is a late night haunt in the tavern district of downtown Janesville. But, the Saturday breakfast is a departure from the bar scene.   
  
The cooks are around a good portion of the open hours.  You will find a variety of drink special offerings posted on the wall.  At times on Sundays, you can find certain beers for one Buck - "Crappy Beer Night."

The crowd is eclectic and breaches several generations. You will not find a jukebox - the music is a la carte via computer.  The big window lets you keep an eye on Main Street.  

The bar, floor, and furnishings are mostly old wood and distressed - as they should be for it is an old Wisconsin tavern.  It is a typical long and narrow brick building with a high ceiling - the classic Nineteenth Century American downtown architecture. There is a newer patio out side. And like so many old storefronts, there is a large picture window to admire Main Street through.
The staff is easy going and sociable.  

They usually have a salad and soup offering during the noon-ish hours Monday through Friday.
From time to time, I find myself in The Looking Glass in the late afternoon for a burger, beer-battered fries, and a pitcher of Miller Lite beer. The burger is cooked just right for my taste, not too red, not too well-done. I opted for a slab of Parmesan cheese on the affair.  I order the beer-battered fries to finish off the burger basket.  A few pickle slices accompanied the presentation. To top the whole chow extravaganza off, I ordered a happy-hour pitcher of Miller Lite.  On Mondays, they offer a two for one burger option. 

The burger, fries, pitcher, and tip, and my general debauchery, will never set me back to much.  

The first fish fry review I did for Looking Glass and to accommodate my sporadic work schedule, I ducked in The Looking Glass about one o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday for a fish dinner.  I ordered the two-piece Cod basket with onion rings.  The rings tasted like they were beer-battered as well. Two large chunks of fish come with the affair.  The Cod was lightly breaded and very tender on the inside.  The tarter sauce was tasty and the cole slaw was good and fresh.  A lemon was tucked on the side.  The whole presentation came in a good-sized wicker-esque basket. 

 This most recent fish fry expedition found me popping into the Looking Glass a few weeks ago this time on a rainy early August evening. I was about to participate in the Janesville Story Tellers' Club which was starting at 8:00 p.m. on said Friday night at the coffee shop next door.  Dadio told some dandy whoppers, all recorded live on Janesville Community Radio.  

Dadio participates in Story-telling night hosted by Open Mick, Friday, 1 August 2014

Two crispy logs of deep fried Cod on a hot bed of lettuce was the main entree.  The cup of cole slaw was beyond tavern. The tarter sauce was smooth. Hot French fries covered the dinner. Dark toasted and buttered marble bread topped off the presentation. 

Similar to the burger basket, my fish basket, pitcher of beer, and tip did not set me back too much at all.  

{ 6 July 2010 fish fry review }    WordPress backup

The Looking Glass is cool with Cool Dadio.  It is certainly worth having a beer and some eats there.  Try it once before you die.  Find them at 18 North Main Street, in downtown Janesville. Call (608) 755-9828 for more information.

Note: You can find a chronological list at the Cool Dadio Media Fish Fry Page of these fish frys as we have visited them.  The list presents the most recently visited fish fry at the top, in lieu of alphabetical order.

Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The 15 month employee longevity rubric

Dadio has embarked on his literary war plan, "Operation: Lame Employer Shouldn't Piss off a Guy who Buys Ink by the Barrel."   

One of my lame new norm America employers has totally broken my spirit.  They don't care about their employees, make no bones about lack of empathy for said employees, and basically celebrate their own bad behavior.  It's all so necessary for a new-norm America.  

It's the Governor Scott Walker, Congressman Paul Ryan, Senator Ron Johnson, and Gubernatorial Candidate Mary Burke, quad-fecta new-norm Wisconsin Soviet-esque work scheme. 

In the interest of disclosure, ol' Dadio is in no way a flaming union Democrat.  Just the contrary fair reader. If anything at all, Dadio is a flaming free spirit Libertarian.  A political and philosophical bent more often associated with Republicans.  

Like I say, "Shouldn't have pissed me off."  Bad behavior is bad behavior. 

The new norm now not-so-new-norm part-time, non-benefited, work place does not function well if an employee stays longer than 15 months.  It is at 15 months that the employer has the dilemma of trying to justify not even a nickle pay increase.  The, too-busy-with-new-productions excuse for no breaks or no lunch times, no longer holds water by the 15 month mark.  

With the realization of no hope, employees too dumb or desperate to flee before 15 months begin to reciprocate with minimum wage work out-put.

A truly disturbing trend is all too familiar. Seeing a couple young workers come through now and then that actually have a spirited outlook is not disturbing. But, over and over again, seeing their faces drain of hope by the end of the first week, is unnerving.  

The employer has little tricks to nudge these stubborn and desperate workers out: They will tinker with work hours like a dope dealer trimming shards off a brick of has```hish with a razor blade; they will harass employees if they see them by the vending machines, if there are even any vending facilities at all; they will keep the employees standing throughout an entire 11 hour shift; they will forbid employees from bringing food or liquid to the work station, yet not let them go on break; they will forbid lunch and say it is just the nature of the business; they will complain if the employee goes to the restroom; they may confiscate work locker space; they will schedule the employee seven days a week, but only totaling 25 hours, and thereby wrecking the whole week for little pay; they will administer rules on a Seventh-Grade rubric as in requiring only baby-bottles allowed for drinking water; they will not call low-level supervisors, "supervisors," but rather "operators," thereby obfuscating responsibility; management will never have an information meeting; they will not fix broken work tools like jacks thereby making workers struggle with heavy production material; yet, high-paid mechanics who are pals of management will wander around with no tools and grins on their faces with the blessings of said management; the same management will hire their children, pals, and relatives, and promote them over you; and, said management will come out to the production floor now and then, grinning, telling stories, move a product a bit, and vanish back into the office bunker.

But, the aforementioned management will never discuss the reality of the desperate situation.

Once the realization of no-hope is absolute, the employee will start missing days, coming in late, stop pitching in, and probably start voicing discontent. Good workers are transformed into bad workers; and, management will pounce on the paradox. It is only a matter of time before said employee vanishes. 

These jobs and employers lean on the excuse that these types of jobs are just temporary. They say,  "People move on as they move up."  But, there is no moving up in the new America.  Many people, especially older people have to work these types of jobs for years.

Employers know workers have become conditioned to except this abysmal life.  Many workers enter their 30s and have never had a real full-time job.  New convoluted norms and mores (culture) blame the workers for their failure.  It is a dandy strategy. 

If you see yourself in the above essay, slip on the glass slipper, it will probably fit. But, your prince will never show up.

People who shower before work in lieu of after work have no idea what I am talking about. What side do you fall on? 

Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - They took my damn small work locker

I was writing a book about breaking workers' spirits. "Broken Spirit," found on cooldadiomedia.com and plunked on its own page. It all got tripped up about six months ago when I went 75-percent blind. Then, the Go Daddy Internet people who I do a lot of work with, changed their portals and I have had to move 7000 essays, pictures, and postings to Google BlogSpot and WordPress. 

Be all that as it may, the new American work culture is so bleak, it's collective bad behavior just jumps right out of its own pants like projectile diarrhea. You'd think current employers would want to hide, camouflage, and obfuscate their latest shenanigans. Nope, it's low hanging fruit in this era of trying to survive as a worker.

My current employer of nine years has not pinched out a pay raise of even a nickle since 2007. Some of my co-workers were in Fifth Grade then. Turn-over is rampant. No pay increases, no breaks, no lunch, no benefits. The work crew changes over every five weeks. I usually look up from the production line and count a dozen people who have only been on the job for a couple weeks. Then, there is me. 

Hours and hours of re-training new workers that will not stay longer than a month. It costs the product, it costs the customer, it runs off older surviving workers like me, and it is....., insane. All along the way, my employer crosses the fingers and hopes they will never have to give me a penny of pay increase for the trouble. 

What's wrong with me? Why don't I quit too? Two-mile commute; my blindness has not caused my employer to even flinch; no one has been interested in hiring a guy with 50 years of work experience and three college degrees for awhile. At least in Janesville, Wisconsin, anyway. I might as well be an ape on a tire swing as far as Janesville is concerned. Janesville..., a tired city fraught with service jobs, nepotism, and a destroyed industrial base.

Where's this essay going Dadio? The good readers ask. 

It's the little things that finish a guy off. It's what the Nazis, Communists, and Fascists did and still do. They took and take away the simple lives of the Jews, free spirited peoples', entertainers, arts culture, and countless other groups and their simple pleasures one by one. Eventually, they even took and take away the aforementioned beleaguered people's lives. 

What a leap of connection it is then, when I mention that Human Resources came to me today, actually sat me down in a formal "sit-down," and took away my small work locker. 

"Dadio!," you fair readers gasp. "Comparing a surrendered locker to the Holocaust?" Hear me out fine readers. It's the lowest end of tyranny. What's left..., they going to come and kill my kitten next?

After nine years of me having the same small place of respite to park a needed tool or two in (my own tools by the way), keep a soda bottle, and hang up my keys, room must be made to appease all the nieces, nephews, friends, and relatives as they come to work through the revolving employment door. They will work for a couple weeks, embarrass the management class they are related to, then move on, vanish, and/or miss work and get fired. Maybe, even get in a fight or two. 

Really..., my locker? Just when I think they could not possibly have anymore tricks to break a blue-collar spirit, I never in a million years thought of confiscating a simple small work locker. 

OK, after all these years, my good employer seems to want me gone anyway; so..., what the fuck! Their whole shtick falls apart if workers stay longer than a year and a half. These employers are just a microcosm of a greater pandemic of un-empathetic work places in the abysmal Janesville and Wisconsin and American, work culture. 

Game on then good employer. The last straw has been laid on my back. "Cry Havoc and let Slip the Literary Dogs of War." 

Just one caveat to those who have fired a lame work culture shot over my bow. 

Never piss off an old man that buys ink by the barrel.

Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).

Wisconsin Weekly War Casualty Data - week of 10 September 2014

Wisconsin Weekly War Casualty Data - week of 10 September 2014

This entry was posted on 9/10/2014 1:31 AM and is filed under War Casualty Data.


 (Each week Cool Dadio Media collects and updates Weekly War Casualty Data from various sources)

                                        As of this blog entry's posting date:

129,171 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented). 

16,623 Iraqi Security Forces were killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

4,491 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

2344 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

318 Coalition soldiers were killed in Iraq from Spring 2003 to December 2011. 

1125 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

5 American/Coalition/State-Department deaths in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.

32,242 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.

19,984 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

42 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

4 Wisconsin military contractors have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

1 Wisconsin military contractor has been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001

3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.

166 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

24 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.

7 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011. 

68 journalists (Syrian, American, French, UK, freelance) have been killed in Syria since January 2011.

War casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; Brookings Iraq Index; wikipedia.org; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .

FaceBook, Paul Ryan, Iraq War III, all good reasons to split the new-norm Janesville-Wisconsin-American scene

You know, I was gonna post a couple essays on good ol' fuck'n FaceBook about what a miserable place Janesville, Wisconsin, is, to try to survive in these days (in its perennial happy-assed, part-time minimum wage matrix). And then, I thought about maybe posting another writing regarding how fucked we all are as working Americans now that we aforementioned said Americans are embarking on Iraq War III. Just think of all the funny-money-tax-money this newest war to protect the "Good World," will cost us blue-collar Americans (what's left of us anyway) (We ain't paid for Iraq War II yet).

But what's the fuck'n point? In a couple minutes after posting said essays on FB, my little literary masterpieces, will be lost in a venerable cornucopia of cyber-Zuckerberg-ian, cuter-than-a-kitten kittens, irresistible-as-a-puppy puppies, forced-to-look-at redundant babies, self-absorbed stupid human videos, abjectly-disturbing computer game drama, predictably bad fuck'n jokes, painfully-uninteresting family stories, and, regurgitated self-help crap.

I really am thinking...., and thinking more about it every day, now that I reach that precipice in life of maybe never waking up on any given morning, that little Bobby is all about splitting this lame FaceBook pop-stand.... and the pathetic brick and mortar Wisconsin/American city I live in. It kind of reminds me of when I split "the bull-shit scene" in the mid '70s.

Grinning in the background is, Congressman Paul Ryan, our First Congressional District, new-norm-service-industry-send-jobs-to-china apologist. The back stage of his Congressional District is in a shambles. I am a working sucker trying to survive in his miserable District (a once vibrant industrial region - now mired in fast-food jobs). I will be leaving Ryan's District - and at 60 years old. What a shame. It is called "silent flight." We all just leave - the very young to the very old. And, you all think things are hunky-dory. None of us that are fleeing these new norm economic hells bother to stop by the city council or county board meetings to voice a bitter good-bye. Good luck suckers.

Maybe, after all, upon reflection, there is some poetry here in this "new not-so-new banal American social media, tired Congressman, and new-norm economy crap."

It's all been done before.

Eric Erickson - another big fat, double-chinned, never-serving-in-the-military-x-generation-media-pig

So Eric Erickson, another big fat, double-chinned, never-served-a-day-in-the-military-x-generation-FOX-news pig says, beleaguered "American workers who work minimum wage are losers.....mostly people who failed at life."  The comment was made as he served as a guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show.

What the mother fuck'n fuck?

I am so sick of the "big news" assholes marching on to their play house with impunity. While, American workers die at their new norm jobs.

Eric Erickson, you are an opportunistic media prick. You are a fat-faced child of new-media hell.

The powers that be, Democrats and Republicans, businesses moving jobs off-shore, wrecked America. Sent all our jobs to China et cetera. Now those "powers" and their apologists are pissed we minimum wage workers are, pissed off as we said workers struggle to make ends meet with what service jobs are left.

And you Mister Erickson are an apologist for the aforementioned powers. I am calling you out you fat-faced prick.

Don't declare war on what is left of us underemployed workers Mister fat-faced-never-served-a-day-in-the-military Erickson piece of crap.

Sue me fat-faced prick...., I look forward to it...,

You will fuck'n lose.

Not a day in the military Erick has spent. Me...., well how about 'Nam as a soldier and Iraq as a journalist?

Erickson, I am a primarily a conservative and you and your neo-ultra-Libertarian, Ayn-Randian rhetoric, make me sick. Jobs sent to China..., and other places. The economy is crippled by the likes of you. And, now your ilk is mad the rest of us try to survive on what you have left us. Your subconscious sanctimonious self-loathing sees you scramble to blame the very people trying to survive in your new norm America.  

Johnny-come-lately media Pigs like you make me sick. 

Yours truly, Bob Keith

See you in court of the Gods of fairness an decency..., fuck face prick..., 

A nod to an old friend, football colleague, classmate, and farming neighbor..., Dan Hookstead, 1955 - 2014

Having worked on an ambulance for years and having done the Army thing in the Cold War and the end of 'Nam, I like to pretend I am immune from the sadness of death. But,an old friend, football colleague, classmate, and farming neighbor's passing really hits home.

Dan Hookstead passed away a couple days ago. We both chewed some of the same Lima Center, Wisconsin, dairy farm culture dirt back in the 1960s and 70's. Dan grew up on his family's farm less than a mile from my family's farm. We both survived the last throes of the small rural American school system, both attending the small Lima Center, Wisconsin, First through Sixth Grades country school. We are both probably better off for it. Later at Whitewater Junior High and then High School, we waded through the challenge of being "the outsiders from the little country school," among all the city kids.

Back at Lima Center School with no equipment, we played tackle football to the angst of our teachers, Then later at Whitewater High School under the tutelage of legendary Coach Jim Crummey, we played Varsity football together. Dan's Senior year we won the Southern Lakes Conference Football Championship. The next year when I was a Senior, we repeated the task.

While on the sidelines during a play in Dan's Senior year, there occurred one of the few plays I ever winced too. I will always remember Coach Crummey's comment to his Assistant Coach regarding that hit to an opponent player dished out by Dan. "Good God, Jack..., did you hear Hookstead's hit; you could hear that other kid's bones crack throughout the entire stadium." Here's to you Dan. We chewed some of the same Wisconsin dirt.

http://www.gazettextra.com/20140903/dan_hookstead_whitewater_1955_2014

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic signs with, "Hey Ya' Big Jerk," Productions

PRESS RELEASE:

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic signs lucrative media deal with savvy, "Hey Ya' Big Jerk," Productions.

Another Labor Day in an American economy slow boiling its workers and people

Another Labor Day in an American economy slow boiling its workers and people.  

I popped into the Labor Fest in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Sunday.  It was once a huge affair. And, it's always free to get in.  Always free bands. Of course, beer and chow is always a la carte - got to keep the lights on some how.  But, even a couple years ago, well into the throes of the Great Recession,  the event was a multi-day vibrant laid-back fellowship.  It is always held on the grounds of the Labor Temple on the south side of Janesville off Center Avenue.  

But this year I was shocked.  The event was relegated to one day.  The huge food tent was gone. The hugh main stage was gone.  There was a beleaguered beer tent, and a couple taco wagons.  Beer was three dollars a 12-ounce can.  I passed and headed to one of my haunts that serves up 16-ouncers for a buck.   

I wanted to participate. I wanted to have a good review to report to the banal reader.  But, I can't paint lipstick on this starving pig.  The collective new-norm American mission to destroy the American worker and the Middle Class has been a resounding success - jobs sent to China; a culture of underemployed; and, an American work force relegated to scratching for low-paying service and part-time jobs.

Right under everyone's noses, the simple celebrations and once reliable American middle class that enjoyed them, have both been nuetered.  Mission accomplished.  We are in trouble peeps...., 

..., peer past the social media blur and just look at what is left of your own town and neighbors. 

Iraq III - The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - Dragged into a war ensemble we insisted we would not play

Events moved fast over the last couple months in Iraq and the Middle East.  The Israelis are a war again in Gaza; an American journalist is beheaded in Syria, a capstone to their two-year civil war; the same be-headers of the aforementioned journalist have taken over a third of Iraq to compliment their already occupation of a third of Syria; President Obama sends a contingent of troops to Iraq; President Obama orders the fighter jets to rain hell on the bad guys; as, said bad guys kill everybody and anybody.  

I was asked to be on the radio the other day; now twice.  I was in Iraq in 2006 and again in 2008 as an independent journalist.  I never felt safe.  A guy like me could be sent right up the kidnap network, sold to one bad-guy group after another.  Anyway, 1380 AM out of Monroe and Janesville, Wisconsin, asked me to pontificate on my experience over there.  I was interviewed on Thursday the 14 of August and again on Monday the 18th.  No one wanted to here my Iraq shtick for six years, until just recently as Iraq goes up in flames.  Media is fickle; a subject for another post on another day.  

So..., we are back in Iraq for round three.  President Obama inherited Iraq and finally got all the American troops out of there at the end of 2011.  It was a short-lived hiatus.  The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) rose out of the ashes of the Syrian Civil War, fragments of Al Qaeda, and marginalized Sunnis from Saddam Hussein's era. They are as bad a rabble of guys as Pol Pot was in the Cambodia Killing Fields in the '70s and '80s in the aftermath of our Vietnam War. 

For all ostensive purposes we have been in or near Iraq since 1990 and the first Gulf War. We have never left Kuwait and Turkey. Before that our navy guarded ships in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iraq war of the 1980s. After the first Gulf War we guarded the Kurdish region of Iraq from their own leader Saddam Hussein by allowing no flights over the region.  So..., like the American Vietnam War era, we have been in Iraq or its vicinity for 25 years. Trillions and trillions of dollars, thousands of American deaths. 

Poetically, I was operating in the same area of Iraq that has caught so much news in the last few weeks.  I visited the Yazidi people and their temple in Lalish, Iraq.  The temple is in the mountains near Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, and under ISIS control. The Yazidi are an ancient peoples that are pre-Christian and Islam.  And like they did with the Christians in Mosul, the ISIS bunch went after the Yazidi with a vengeance tagging them, "heathens."  The Yazidi are a peaceful ethnic group within the Kurdish people, a persecuted ethic group in their own right.  I always new I was safe in Iraq when I saw the conical roofs which are a signature of Yazidi architecture. 

It looks like we intervened at the very last minute to stop some of the destruction going on in northern Iraq. The autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq has its own army, the tough Pesmerga.  They kept me safe in Iraq. They are basically a uniformed army in pickup trucks.  They have had to fight ISIS forces who stole our old military equipment from the failed Iraqi Army they overran with ease. 

The Kurds, along with Israel, are our only friends in the Middle East.  The former being Sunni Muslim and the later being Jewish. Unlikely bedfellows arrive in war.  We are also now in the uncomfortable position of having to ally with Iran and Syria, two countries we have been at quasi war with for decades, to fight ISIS. This ISIS bunch is so violent they sour Al Qaeda, Syria, and Iran and ISIS has no compunction about destroying any one of them. 

We are going to need a lot of luck.  Nowadays we fund our country with taxes from a population of beleaguered workers whose incomes and futures are far bleaker then the generation prior. As my neighbors in Janesville, Wisconsin, move out of their houses due to unemployment and the misery that comes with it, 

America is mired in a non-benefit, part-time job economy inspired in some part by spending trillions of dollars on two perennial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Coupled with jobs hemorrhaging to China and  and corporate offices fleeing to the third world for two decades, draining tax coffers...,, is American "even" capable of funding the fighting of a third war in Iraq? 

Wisconsin Weekly War Casualty Data - week of 27 August 2014

Wisconsin Weekly War Casualty Data - week of 27 August 2014

This entry was posted on 8/27/2014 1:30 AM and is filed under War Casualty Data.


 (Each week Cool Dadio Media collects and updates Weekly War Casualty Data from various sources)

                                        As of this blog entry's posting date:

127,892 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented). 

16,623 Iraqi Security Forces were killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

4,489 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

2343 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

318 Coalition soldiers were killed in Iraq from Spring 2003 to December 2011. 

1125 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

5 American/Coalition/State-Department deaths in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.

32,242 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.

19,952 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

42 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

4 Wisconsin military contractors have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

1 Wisconsin military contractor has been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001

3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.

166 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

24 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.

7 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011. 

67 journalists (Syrian, American, French, UK, freelance) have been killed in Syria since January 2011.

War casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; Brookings Iraq Index; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic - Show 46 - 26 August 2014

Show 46 podcast - Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Army Specialist Robert Michael Rieckhoff - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq

Army Specialist Robert Michael Rieckhoff, 26, of Kenosha, Wisconsin was killed on Thursday, March 18, 2010 in Baghdad, Iraq. His unit had been attacked by rocket-propelled grenades. He was assigned to Battery Brovo, 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, New York. 

The Kenosha News via their Website related that Specialist Rieckhoff was at guard duty in a watchtower when attacked. He had typically done artillery work, but was on guard duty because his group was waiting to return home in June. Rieckhoff was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. He had also served in Kuwait. The paper went on to note Rieckhoff had just re-enlisted for five more years in the Army. Specialist Rieckhoff also had been promoted to sergeant which was just about to take affect.  The family was quoted as saying Robert had helped train the Iraqi Army. He was due to come home in June of 2010 around the time of his 27th birthday. He had just bought a Dodge Charger.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned that Robert was nicknamed "Bubba" as a kid. Rieckoff had joined the military when he was 18 years old. Robert was remembered as a practical joker and someone who could make people laugh, and Robert also frequently reminded everyone he had sidestepped trouble by joining the military. Rieckhoff had joined the Army Reserves in 2002 after graduating from Tremper High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At a later date he went on to join the Regular Army. The Journal Sentinel also said that while in the Reserves, Robert worked at a Pizza Hut in Kenosha. While in Iraq, he constantly communicated with his family by telephone and e-mail.

The Web site findagrave.com notes that Robert Rieckoff was born on June 6, 1983. The obituary posted on the site made reference to Robert's ability to, "...always there for his fellow soldiers if needed and during tense times he could quickly liven everyone up with his quirky sense of humor."

The Web site militarytimes.com using information from the Associated press notes that at the time of his death Robert Rieckoff's had an 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

At the time of his death Robert Rieckoff was survived by his children Tyler, and Katrina, of Tennessee; sisters Sheila Sartorius, Kaszaray Rieckhoff , Jolene Garwood, and Cathy Garwood; brothers Roland Garwood III and Bobby (Becky) Garwood; father Scott Rieckhoff; mother Barbara Garwood; stepfather Roland Garwood; maternal grandmother Judith Nelson, his paternal grandmother Sue Rieckhoff, maternal grandfather Wayne Anderson; uncle Bruce Anderson; and, nieces, Alexis and Jasmine Sartorius. 
Army Specialist Robert Michael Rieckhoff was laid to rest at Sunset Ridge Memorial Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Information for this short biography about Army Specialist Robert Michael Rieckhoff was pieced together from the following sources: kenoshanews.com, "Local soldier dies in Iraq,";Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Family honors memory of 'Bubba,' soldier killed in Iraq," March 20, 2010; findagrave.com, "Spec Robert Michael Rieckhoff," March 20, 2010; projects.militarytimes.com and Associated Press, "Army Spc. Robert M. Rieckhoff," AP articles, "Kenosha soldier killed in grenade attack in Iraq," "Soldier ‘became such a man’ in the Army, "Flags lowered in memory of Rieckhoff," "Friends, family say final goodbyes to fallen soldier"; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs “Fallen Heroes Page”; and, CNN.com “War Casualties Page.”

Note: This “Wisconsin Military Casualties Afghanistan Iraq Compilation” Daily Dadio blog Category is under construction. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Wisconsin War Casualties Page for a list of names noted by date of death. 
[ If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ]

Tubby's Too - Richmond, Wisconsin - ( Redux) Friday Night Fish Fry

22 August 2014

Tubby's Too - Richmond, Wisconsin - Friday Night Fish Fry

This entry was posted on 22 August 1014 at 1:30 AM and is filed under Taverns Wisconsin, Friday Night Fish Fry, and Friday Night Fish Fry - book version. 

Years ago, when I got out of the Army, I told a friend I just wanted to sit in an old Wisconsin tavern for a bit to reconnect with my Wisconsin.  He took me to a tiny old bar out on Highway "A" between Richmond and Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  That was almost 40 years ago, I believe it was called Tubby's back then too. 

After we sat for a bit and had an adult beverage or two, my friend said, "Happy now? Is this Wisconsin enough for you Mister Army guy?

And I always remember my response, "Yep, just what the doctor ordered." 

Last Friday little Dadio headed out on the teal and cream Harley to Tubby's Too Bar & Grill.  It ain't changed much from those 40 years ago. Tubby's is the consummate Wisconsin Tavern. It is out in the lake country of Southern Wisconsin in Walworth County. It is a small place but the local people's presence gives it a big heart. Try to get there earlier because it is usually busy and you may have to wait a bit. There are only eight tables of different sizes and each with various numbers of chairs. Going solo this night, I bellied up to the bar to help conserve space. 

They start dishing up the fish on Fridays about 5:00 p.m. and serve 'till about 9:00 p.m. ish. They offer deep fried Walleye or Cod.  The price is the same for either. There are two-piece and three-piece options. This price I think is very fair considering the cost of transportation of sea food these days. Also, some places charge extra for Walleye just because they can. At Tubby's you get a fair shake for your buck. 

You will get a choice of potato pancakes (the lake locals call them cakes) or fries. The potato pancakes do not look like the traditional homemade cake, but they taste like homemade. 

You get a cup of cole slaw and some tender fresh dark bread slices held together with butter. The tarter sauce is my style - just tart enough to know it is there, yet creamy.

Every time I go out there to Tubby's Too I clean every crumb off the plates. That's probably the final seal of approval in the world of tavern fish fry. On Friday they also offer a 16 ounce T-Bone and Butterfly Shrimp. 

Tubby's is owned by Tubby Brewer. He used to bar-tend there and has been the owner for several years now. The origin of the need-a-second-look name according to Mark the Bartender and a couple patrons is that it was chosen because there is a bar "Up Nort" with a similar name. So Tubby had to improvise a bit. Tubby's dad was also called Tubby so the current owner is a Tubby too.

Their other special night is on Tuesdays. They offer Steak and Shrimp; Steak and Lobster; Steak, Lobster & Shrimp; 16 oz. T-Bone; Butterfly Shrimp; and Prime Rib. The prices vary of course, but they are very competitive with bigger venues.

While eating my chow and downing several Miller Lites, I  chatted with a guy from Chicago Bear country who has a cabin out on one of the nearby lakes.  You will usually find yourself talking to somebody in Tubby's.  It's just that kind of place. 

Tubby's Too is cool with Cool Dadio.

To get there from Janesville, take County Highway "A" out past Highway 89 in Richmond. Cross over Highway 89 and stay on "A'' and Tubby's is a mile or so down on the right. The official address is W8497 County Road "A," Delavan, Wisconsin 53115.  Folks may also refer to it as being in Richmond, Wisconsin.  Phone (608) 883 - 2909.

{ 25 May 2007 Tubby's Too fish fry review }  WordPress backup

Note: You can find a chronological list at the Cool Dadio Media Fish Fry Page of these fish frys as we have visited them.  The list presents the most recently visited fish fry at the top, in lieu of alphabetical order.

Note: This Friday Night Fish Fry book version includes some of my favorite Southern Wisconsin fish frys after a revisit - a redux as it were. You can find all the fish fry reviews at the Cool Dadio Media Fish Fry Page. 

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic - Show 45 - 19 August 2014

          Dadio                                          Donald

Show 45 post cast Tuesday, 19 August 2014  - yet again from Jeff's Coffee Bar
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- More Lunch Bucket shenanigans form Jeff's Coffee Bar on the west side of Janesville, Wisconsin, - corner of Mineral Point and Crosby Avenues. Join the show live or call (323) 580-5769.  Live radio starts at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, 19 August 2014.  But, pop into Jeff's at 2:30 p.m. for the Pre-show Jam and listen to our actually copy-writed music session that we are not allowed to play on the radio air. 
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- Considering recent events in Iraq and the apparent beginnings of a third American war there, we will try again to revisit some information gleaned by Bob Keith during his work there in 2006 and 2008. 
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- Little Dadio was on 1380 AM Big Radio out of Janesville and Monroe, Wisconsin, last Thursday the 14th of August 2014. And again this morning. He was talking all things Iraq. Radio's "Sly" was the host on Thursday; Stan Milam was at the helm this morning. 
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- Today, if the creek don't rise, we will try again to revisit the Iraq War III discussion. Dadio was in Iraq in 2006 and again in 2008 as an independent Journalist. 
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- Oh well, since the radio portal and motherboard we rent actually worked to day, we just chewed the fat about: 
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- Donald is mistaken for "The Donald" in Vegas..., scored the penthouse suite
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- Local events Dadio did not go to
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-  Dadio parses National Night Out and their military assault vehicle and the combat carb        
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- Somebody set the motherboard to Moscow time
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- Where Dado will go after the show for the cheapest beet
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- Our 45th show song is a cheerful little diddy by Shinedown
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- Packers backup QB Matt Flynn found his mojo - thank the god of your choice
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- Dadio goes to fish fry at O'Reiley and Conway's in downtown Janesville
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- More names added to the "Famous People Dadio has lived longer than," list
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Army Sergeant First Class David James Hartman - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq

Army Sergeant First Class David James Hartman, 27, of Merced, California (his mother lives in Pardeeville, Wisconsin) died on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, in Timagara, Pakistan. His convoy was attacked by insurgents using an improvised explosive device.  Sergeant First Class Hartman was assigned to Team 622 in Company B, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne), out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was one of three soldiers killed in the explosion which occured in Timagara, Lower Dir district, North West Frontier province, Pakistan.  They were traveling to attend a ceremony at a girls' school that had been renovated with U.S. assistance.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Hartman's mother Trea Bacon as explaining Sergeant Hartman had been originally trained in combat but retooled to civil affairs work.  David was born in Merced, California in 1982 and lived with his father in Lathrop in the Modesto area until he was 12. He later lived with his mother and his stepfather who was serving in the Army and was stationed in Japan. Hartman enlisted at 17 years old after graduating from high school from Kadena High School in 2000 which he attended on a U.S. Air Force base in Okinawa. He had been a member of the ROTC program. David had been married to wife Cherise about four years, an old high school friend. They had one son Michael, one year old, and before his deployment his wife became pregnant with their second child. 

The Lake County News of California noted Kelseyville and the Clear Lake Riviera as a point of reference for Hartman's father Greg and stepmother Kate.  The County News sited The United Kingdom's Telegraph newspaper as reporting that the three American deaths were believed to be the first US military deaths to occur in Pakistan. Sergeant First Class Hartman had been deployed to Afghanistan previously in 2002, and also to Iraq in 2004.  Previous positions held by Hartman were platoon sergeant with Company C, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Division; electronic maintenance shop foreman, forced entry switch section team chief and sergeant, senior electronic maintenance technician and senior switch technician with the 50th Signal Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps. 

Some of Sergeant First Class Hartman's military awards include: The Joint Service Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terror Expeditionary and Service medals; NCO Professional Development Ribbon;  Overseas Service Medal; the Bronze Star; and, the Purple Heart.

Wisconsin's televison station WMTV 15 via their Website nbc15.com discusses Hartman's connections with Pardeeville, Wisconsin.  David would often visit his mother Mikail Bacon who lives there. The community put forward commemorations and the installation of a memorial in Hartman's honor. Information from the The Press Democrat found on the Internet notes that Hartman's father was a pastor as well as a contractor in California.  The site quoted information from the New York Times that Hartman was among at least 60 to 100 members of a team that trains Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in counter-insurgency techniques. The Times corroborates that the soldiers were on their way to attend a ceremony at a girls school that had  been renovated with U.S. humanitarian assistance.  Reports also have the soldiers wearing civilian cloths. The site mentioned Hartman's younger brother followed in his footsteps completing boot camp the day before Hartman’s death.

The Portage Daily Register and wiscnews.com out of Wisconsin noted the incident involved a suicide bomber ramming a car into Hartman's vehicle.  Per information via the Associated Press, the description of the attack raising questions of whether the attacker had inside information. How the bomber knew the soldiers would be passing through Lower Dir and which vehicle to attack has raised concerns.  Sergeant First Class Hartman was part of a little-publicized mission to train local Pakistani forces in the volatile northwest near the Afghan border. Along with Hartman and the two other soldiers the explosion killed three girls at a nearby school and a Pakistani paramilitary soldier traveling with the Americans. Two more U.S. soldiers were wounded, along with approximately 100 other people, many from the school. The Daily Register went on to note Hartman's military schooling as including the Civil Affairs Qualification Course; Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course; Basic Airborne Course; Joint Network Node Operators Course; Unit Movement NCO Course; Equal Opportunity Leaders Course; Gryphon Group's Mobile Force Protection Course; and, Explosive Hazard Awareness Trainer's Course.

At the time of his death David Hartman was survived by his wife Cherise Sabio Hartman; son Michael; and another child on the way; his mother Mikail "Trea" Bacon; father Greg Hartman and stepmother Kate Hartman; three sisters sisters; both paternal grandparents; and a younger brother. Sergeant First Class David Hartman was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was the the 18th Wisconsin military service person killed in the Afghanistan war since October of 2001. 

Information for this short biography about Army Sergeant First Class David James Hartman was pieced together from the following sources: Los Angeles Times, "Army Sgt. 1st Class David J. Hartman, 27, Merced; among 3 killed in blast," June 17, 2010; Lake County News, "Kelseyville family mourns son killed in roadside bombing in Pakistan," February 6, 2010; nbc15.com, "Pardeeville Mother Grieves Loss of Son; Killed in Pakistan,"June 13, 2010; The Press Democrat and the New York Times found on the Internet, "David J. Hartman," February 03 2010; Portage Daily Register via wiscnews.com, "Military service a focus of Pardeeville's July Fourth parade," July 1, 2010;  Portage Daily Register via wiscnews.com, "Son of Pardeeville woman killed in Pakistan,"  February 5, 2010; Portage Daily Register, The Associated Press, "SHAHI KOTO, Pakistan - The deaths of three American special operations soldiers...," February 5, 2010; Portage Daily Register via wiscnews.com , "Fallen soldier to be honored in Pardeeville," May 23, 2010; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs “Fallen Heroes Page”; and, CNN.com “War Casualties Page.”

Note: This “Wisconsin Military Casualties Afghanistan Iraq Compilation” Daily Dadio blog Category is under construction. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Wisconsin War Casualties Page for a list of names noted by date of death. 
[ If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ]

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic show Thirty-eight 22 July 2014

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic

          Dadio                                           Donald

- Show 38 pod cast Tuesday, 22 July 2014

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           - The Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic, along with the Janesville Community Radio project has been invited to broadcast from the Rock County, Wisconsin, Rock County 4-H Fair.  Find the Radio Clinic at Jaysen Jorgensen's State Farm Insurance ( FaceBook ) tent.  The Lunch Bucket will be on site from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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          - It's another live on remote radio clinic for Lunch Bucket.  Check'm out at the Fair.  Lots of distractions, lots of background noise, lots of peril, lots of challenges.  

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          -  Quite a list of folks who scrambled to make broadcasting from the Fair a reality - tune in the pod cast and get who skinny on the experience.

Been thinking about the schizophrenia of FaceBook

Been thinking about the schizophrenia of FaceBook.  Recently I have become involved in a media venture (project if you will) that is using FaceBook as a main source of its in-house communication.  My interest is not in the choice of communication vehicles selected by said media project.  Instead, my attention is on the vast information vortex itself, and most of the World now uses, one "social media" portal, we all know as the aforementioned..., FaceBook. 

There it is in a not so tidy package: All your pictures; pod-casts; messages; chit-chat; rants; "selfies" and...., more rants.  FaceBook haphazardly throws your precious intellectual postings in some tired categories.  You can find your historical activities on the portal in a button well hidden from your main work screen.  What ever you post, more often than not quickly falls to the depths of the bottomless pit, an ongoing pile of postings from all your pals and not so pals.  It's down below the bottom side of the screen somewhere now - irrelavant in seconds as new junk appears from you and your posse ad nauseam.

I remember MySpace. The precursor of FaceBook.  It at least had more of an organized blog format. FaceBook on the other hand is just a cluttered junk room.

And too, I remember the angst when even before MySpace, blogging started on various Internet locations.  Media types said the legitimate news culture was coming to an end. And for the most part it has disintegrated.  I wonder what they think of the  worthiness of FaceBook? Now what is left of the "real news" often relies on those blogs and blog type sites, they once hated as news delivery devices. 
FaceBook is really just people talking about themselves, taking pictures of themselves, often talking to thin air. "Hey look at me, I just had my appendix taken out, I took a pic in the operating room."  

"Social Media" is such an Orwellian obfuscation.  FaceBook is anything but social.  It is a drunken buzz of constant bullshit, similar to what might be heard in a sports bar during happy hour. In a minute, the drunken patrons are on to yet  another conversation they will never remember. 

People bury their head is FaceBook all day on their phones. Primarily, because new banal information pops up constantly and old postings vanish below that screen forever lost in a pile of self indulgent crap.

Whether intentional or serendipitous to Mark Zuckerberg, millions of people have their pie-holes glued to his portal masterpiece all day and night.  There is  always another "something" to check.

The infamous "Friends" phenomena; oh boy. When an old classmate or acquaintance pops up a "Friends Request," we usually "Accept."  But soon the reality sinks in that all this hype of reconnecting with ancient personal history just reminds me of why I left behind these people in my distant past and at some point had hoped I would never meet again. 

FaceBook - Narcissism meets voyeurism meets vicariousness meets obsessiveness meets envy meets relentlessly busy annoyances.

I wonder what information technology gem will belch to the surface and replace FaceBook? You know it's a'com'n. 

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic show Thirty-seven 15 July 2014

Dadio's Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic

          Dadio                                           Donald


- Show 37 pod cast Tuesday, 15 July 2014

- And yet again and for the sixth week in a row, we broadcast from Jeff's Coffee Bar which is on the West side of Janesville, Wisconsin. Great chow, great place..., join us. 

 - The Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic will be at the Rock County Fair, in Janesville, Wisconsin, next Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Find us at the Jaysen Jorgensen State Farm Insurance tent.  Find a Janesville Community Radio table at the State Farm tent for the whole duration of the Fair. Suppose to be by the "Rabbit Barn." 

-  A couple weeks ago the whole show Dadio held up the broken tripod mic stand by holing onto the microphone like his shlong. Nothing but peripheral noise in the background. 

 - Tallest water slide in world not in Dubai, but in..., Kansas?  Who the hell wants to go to Kansas?

- Song of the day segment

-  "We do what we are told (Milgram's 37)" by Peter Gabriallu

-  A little chit-chat about the odious Stanley Milgram "Obedience to Authority Experiments" from the early '60s

-  College students should know about Milgram; if not, we will find you and..., electric shock you

-  37 of the 40 dupes in the experiments, went to the limit while electric shocking  another person after the latter's wrong answers. The shocks are on the instructions of a guy whose only official capacity is the wearing of a lab coat. The shocks weren't real.  The dupes did not know that though. 

- "Prattle" means talking while doing a presentation such as cooking.  Hard as hell to do 

- Janesville's Yuri Rashkin pops in the show - Chief cook and bottle washer from the Janesville Community Radio (JCR) project

- Dadio plucks Yuri's brain about: Singing while playing piano; Women living longer than men; Wisconsin family names; interpreting Russian for the court system; Toastmasters; and, (JCR) at the Rock County 4-H Fair all next week. 

- Yuri Rashkin also weighs in on: The Lunch Bucket at Fair on Tuesday next Tuesday the 22nd at 3:00 p.m.; (JCR) Friday Night Story-telling August 1st at Little Bean Coffee in Janesville; telling a story standing vs sitting; our county fair is right in the middle of residential near east side of Janesville; and, Discover Janesville radio show.

- Yuri and Dadio arm wrestle as to who to support for Wisconsin State Senate District 15. 

- The hosts of Public Radio's, "A Way with Words" are a bit perky for Dadio's like'n 

- Word / Phrase segment

- "Discourse Particle"

- Umms and ahhs to hold your place in a conversation

- Only has become an annoyance in the last hundred years with recordings

- You are actually more believable if you use discourse particles

- Dadio had another bar-time faux pas - red-handed and left-haired

- Russia has a perennial Christmas movie in the spirit of "It's a Wonderful Life"

- Some drunk guys forget who's turn it is to go to Leningrad - romance ensues

- Youth revolt against Russian parents - "not" smoking

- Lunch Bucket Radio Clinic fourth quarter

- A week ago or so, the Chicago White Sox baseball team hold an impromptu Klan rally with cheap Chinese rain ponchos with pointy hoods - WTF?

- Not the first White Sox dubious fan promotion. In 1979, radio shock jock Steve Dahl hosted Disco Demolition night. As Dahl started blowing up his hated disco records on the field, fans went crazy and charged onto said field tearing up the diamond turf; the stadium was filled with smoke and fire; and, the game was "called." The Sox had to forfeit the game to the Detroit Tigers.

- Man writes book about safely running with bulls..., gored by..., mad bull

- Dadio angers German World Cup soccer fans when he asks..., "How'd that tak'n over the world thing ever work out?" 

- Russian soccer fans mad at their team for not suffering enough

-  Dadio remembers the Uruguay rugby team that had to eat each other to survive after a plane crash in the Andes Mountains in 1972 - now that is a suffer'n sports team!

- NASA admits the International Space Station smells like a musty basement with litter boxes

​- But, there are six dudes up there now from Russia, USA, and Germany - sounds like a fraternity dorm - apparently smells like one too