Winnebago County Single Stream Recycling

For anyone that is interested in the single-stream recycling presentation that was done for the Winnebago County Board yesterday, I have a copy of it linked here.

From MSNBC - The Bush years -- then and now

Results of GOP rule:

The Bush years -- then and now

From NBC's Mark Murray
With President Bush set to leave the White House less than two weeks from now, here's a "Then and Now" to show what the United States looked like when Bush was entering office and what it looks like now as he's leaving. The "Then" is the best-available figure as Bush was taking office in 2001. The "Now" is the most recent figure.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CHENEY FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 49% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONGRESS APPROVAL RATING
Then: 48% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION
Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)
Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET
Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

Which Side Are You On?

I saw the movie "Harlan County, USA" this weekend. I recommend it very highly. It is about the 1973 Coal workers strike.

During a previous strike in the same county, Florence Reece - the wife of a striking worker, wrote the song "Which Side Are You On?" and I think it may be the greatest song ever written.

Mrs. Reece sings a few verses of it on the movie, and many people have done versions of it since.

Here are some:

Pete Seeger


Dropkick Murphy's


Natalie Merchant (w/ Mrs. Reece in the beginning)


Billy Bragg


The Washington Squares


Movie Trailer:

DPW Chair

No, really... a chair made from DPW (Department of Pubic Works) barriers.

This is what you get when you look up 'DPW Chair' in Google:


Here is the blog I got it from...