Sen. Kanavas: Is It Time to End the UW System?
7/15/2005
Contact: Senator Ted Kanavas
(608) 266-9174
(Madison) Ju1y 15, 2005 - Senator Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) today questioned the need for continuing the UW System and speculated that autonomous institutions could be more innovative and productive.
"It may be time to end the UW System and allow the individual campuses to stand alone, competing with each other for students."
Read it all here:
http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=40752
The UW System is the gem of the state. The heart of our progress.
Now, here is the funny thing about his wish to end the UW (from his biography):
While attending the University of Wisconsin, Ted majored in political science where he was exposed to another form of community service, elective politics.
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/sen33/news/index11.htm
Just like the Madison Republicans - after they get their use out of it, it is no longer necessary.
Hypocrite alert!
7.15.2005
7.14.2005
So Much for His 2004 'Straight-Talker' Hype....
Bush honesty rating drops to lowest point
The survey, which was conducted from July 8-11 among 1,009 adults, and which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, finds that respondents, by a 49 percent-to-46 percent margin, disapprove of Bush’s job performance.
Furthermore, only 41 percent give Bush good marks for being “honest and straightforward” — his lowest ranking on this question since he became president. That’s a drop of nine percentage points since January, when a majority (50 percent to 36 percent) indicated that he was honest and straightforward.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8561443/
The survey, which was conducted from July 8-11 among 1,009 adults, and which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, finds that respondents, by a 49 percent-to-46 percent margin, disapprove of Bush’s job performance.
Furthermore, only 41 percent give Bush good marks for being “honest and straightforward” — his lowest ranking on this question since he became president. That’s a drop of nine percentage points since January, when a majority (50 percent to 36 percent) indicated that he was honest and straightforward.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8561443/
More on Plame/Rove Aftermath
Written by Larry Johnson, associate of Plame's:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/7/13/04720/9340
For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak. Novak's column was not an isolated attack. It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.
Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985. All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies. We had official cover. That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.
A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.
The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey. Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world. When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.
According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on." Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.
At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/7/13/04720/9340
For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak. Novak's column was not an isolated attack. It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.
Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985. All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies. We had official cover. That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.
A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.
The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey. Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world. When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.
According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on." Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.
At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.
Let's not forget the consequences of Rove's actions...
Leak of Agent's Name Causes Exposure of CIA Front Firm
By Walter Pincus and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 4, 2003; Page A03
The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.
The inadvertent disclosure of the name of a business affiliated with the CIA underscores the potential damage to the agency and its operatives caused by the leak of Plame's identity. Intelligence officials have said that once Plame's job as an undercover operative was revealed, other agency secrets could be unraveled and her sources might be compromised or endangered.
A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities.
"That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A40012-2003Oct3
By Walter Pincus and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 4, 2003; Page A03
The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.
The inadvertent disclosure of the name of a business affiliated with the CIA underscores the potential damage to the agency and its operatives caused by the leak of Plame's identity. Intelligence officials have said that once Plame's job as an undercover operative was revealed, other agency secrets could be unraveled and her sources might be compromised or endangered.
A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities.
"That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A40012-2003Oct3
Dean on Rove...
...in Madison!
Bush said in 2003 that he would fire anyone in his administration involved in the leak, and the White House has been on the defensive since the latest news reports showing Rove may have been involved.
"Now we're going to find out, Mr. President, if you'll keep your word: who do you value more, Mr. President, do you value intelligence operatives defending the United States of America or do you value political operatives from Texas?" Dean told a crowd of 500 in a downtown Madison theater.
"Who do you value more, Mr. President, the security of the American people, or your political cronies? Will you keep your word?"
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/12126172.htm
Bush said in 2003 that he would fire anyone in his administration involved in the leak, and the White House has been on the defensive since the latest news reports showing Rove may have been involved.
"Now we're going to find out, Mr. President, if you'll keep your word: who do you value more, Mr. President, do you value intelligence operatives defending the United States of America or do you value political operatives from Texas?" Dean told a crowd of 500 in a downtown Madison theater.
"Who do you value more, Mr. President, the security of the American people, or your political cronies? Will you keep your word?"
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/12126172.htm
Proud to Have Him as Our Chair...
Wednesday night may have been one of those rare occasions when a crowd was already boiling before Howard Dean gave a speech.
Not that the chairman of the Democratic National Committee calmed them down. He left a group of more than 700 people cheering after his short talk in the Orpheum Theatre on State Street.
This was after state Democrats barely avoided a fiasco, having rented only the theater lobby - capacity less than 150 - for the short-notice "grassroots" fundraiser.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=46832&ntpid=4
Not that the chairman of the Democratic National Committee calmed them down. He left a group of more than 700 people cheering after his short talk in the Orpheum Theatre on State Street.
This was after state Democrats barely avoided a fiasco, having rented only the theater lobby - capacity less than 150 - for the short-notice "grassroots" fundraiser.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=46832&ntpid=4
Repercussions of War....
Iraqi civilian casualties
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published July 12, 2005
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi humanitarian organization is reporting that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion began in March 2003.
Mafkarat al-Islam reported that chairman of the 'Iraqiyun humanitarian organization in Baghdad, Dr. Hatim al-'Alwani, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55 percent of those killed have been women and children aged 12 and under.
'Iraqiyun obtained data from relatives and families of the deceased, as well as from Iraqi hospitals in all the country's provinces. The 128,000 figure only includes those whose relatives have been informed of their deaths and does not include those were abducted, assassinated or simply disappeared.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050712-122153-5519r
How is your Congessmember responding:
John Nichols: State Dems rate high in peace report
Two Wisconsin representatives, Madison's Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee's Gwen Moore, are among the most consistently anti-war members of the current Congress.
The Peace Majority Report, an online publication that works with a broad array of anti-war groups from Veterans for Peace to Military Families Speak Out and Pax Christi, has developed a scorecard that reviews the votes of members of the U.S. House and Senate on issues of war and peace.
Baldwin, who is usually considered to be the most anti-war member of the Wisconsin delegation, earned an impressive score of 89 percent
But Baldwin fell slightly behind Moore, who was elected last fall and so far is maintaining a 92 percent pro-peace score.
Sen. Russ Feingold earned a solid 77 percent pro-peace rating, while Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl had 62 percent.
Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, rated a credible 72 percent.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, the most conservative Democrat in the Wisconsin delegation, clocked in with a less-impressive 53 percent
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, scored only 21 percent.
Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, got 20 percent.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, was at 13 percent.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, brought up the rear with just 12 percent.
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=46897&ntpid=1
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published July 12, 2005
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi humanitarian organization is reporting that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion began in March 2003.
Mafkarat al-Islam reported that chairman of the 'Iraqiyun humanitarian organization in Baghdad, Dr. Hatim al-'Alwani, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55 percent of those killed have been women and children aged 12 and under.
'Iraqiyun obtained data from relatives and families of the deceased, as well as from Iraqi hospitals in all the country's provinces. The 128,000 figure only includes those whose relatives have been informed of their deaths and does not include those were abducted, assassinated or simply disappeared.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050712-122153-5519r
How is your Congessmember responding:
John Nichols: State Dems rate high in peace report
Two Wisconsin representatives, Madison's Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee's Gwen Moore, are among the most consistently anti-war members of the current Congress.
The Peace Majority Report, an online publication that works with a broad array of anti-war groups from Veterans for Peace to Military Families Speak Out and Pax Christi, has developed a scorecard that reviews the votes of members of the U.S. House and Senate on issues of war and peace.
Baldwin, who is usually considered to be the most anti-war member of the Wisconsin delegation, earned an impressive score of 89 percent
But Baldwin fell slightly behind Moore, who was elected last fall and so far is maintaining a 92 percent pro-peace score.
Sen. Russ Feingold earned a solid 77 percent pro-peace rating, while Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl had 62 percent.
Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, rated a credible 72 percent.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, the most conservative Democrat in the Wisconsin delegation, clocked in with a less-impressive 53 percent
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, scored only 21 percent.
Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, got 20 percent.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, was at 13 percent.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, brought up the rear with just 12 percent.
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=46897&ntpid=1
7.09.2005
Invasion of the Business-Speakers
MSNBC has a great interview with Don Watson, author of "Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak are Strangling Public Language." I haven't read the book, but it has been added to my list.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8514826/site/newsweek/
Working in a professional atmospheree, I have always thought that 'business speak' is crazy. There is no word I hate more than 'proactive.' What does that really mean?
For everyone that has ever giggled at a memo, here are some great excerpts and examples:
Does it infuriate you that everyone, from the local pastor to your kids school principal, seems to have a mission statement touting their core values.
He laments the fact that librarians are now referred to as: information needs identifiers, and that his 12-year-old granddaughters report card said that she had developed a variety of products in history class. He cites a John Deere tractor safety notice that warns customers to lock the brake or unexpected non-powered tractor movement may occur.
We are all customers. Even the CIA talks about having internal clients. Im quite sure that in another iteration, the Army will talk about enemy clients. Once they decide were all customers then the consequences for basic relationships in civil society are not good.
I think it happened when we decided to a greater or lesser extent that we live in an economy, not a society. Its become badge of honor for people in their professional lives so theyll bring it home with them. Soon theyll be saying: Were going to watch 'The Wizard of Oz' together in a family scenario.
In the book, you quote President George W. Bush as saying: We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.
Ive collected examples that people have sent in on the Web site [www.weaselwords.com.au]. One of my favorites is from a high-school [evaluation]: Just as the skill and processes are not compartmentalized in the creation process, the evaluation of outcomes will occur against a background of understanding that separation of outcomes into discrete components is subordinate to the evaluation of the total process as a comprehensive outcome. Nobody has any idea what that means.
When you turn language into an assembly line, you take all the potential out of it. You can't write a poem in this language. You cant tell a joke, you can't convey feeling. You can't discover new meanings. This writing is incapable of taking you anywhere. It's deliberately circumscribed. It's almost an abuse of human rights.
Here's how we beat it:
How do we fight this abuse of language, or as you say, become a refusenik? When people use this jargon, ask them what they really mean.
But, there is hope:
Even after all the harm that American corporations have done to the language, there's still Mark Twain. Americans do great good for the language; they keep it alive and moving.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8514826/site/newsweek/
Working in a professional atmospheree, I have always thought that 'business speak' is crazy. There is no word I hate more than 'proactive.' What does that really mean?
For everyone that has ever giggled at a memo, here are some great excerpts and examples:
Does it infuriate you that everyone, from the local pastor to your kids school principal, seems to have a mission statement touting their core values.
He laments the fact that librarians are now referred to as: information needs identifiers, and that his 12-year-old granddaughters report card said that she had developed a variety of products in history class. He cites a John Deere tractor safety notice that warns customers to lock the brake or unexpected non-powered tractor movement may occur.
We are all customers. Even the CIA talks about having internal clients. Im quite sure that in another iteration, the Army will talk about enemy clients. Once they decide were all customers then the consequences for basic relationships in civil society are not good.
I think it happened when we decided to a greater or lesser extent that we live in an economy, not a society. Its become badge of honor for people in their professional lives so theyll bring it home with them. Soon theyll be saying: Were going to watch 'The Wizard of Oz' together in a family scenario.
In the book, you quote President George W. Bush as saying: We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.
Ive collected examples that people have sent in on the Web site [www.weaselwords.com.au]. One of my favorites is from a high-school [evaluation]: Just as the skill and processes are not compartmentalized in the creation process, the evaluation of outcomes will occur against a background of understanding that separation of outcomes into discrete components is subordinate to the evaluation of the total process as a comprehensive outcome. Nobody has any idea what that means.
When you turn language into an assembly line, you take all the potential out of it. You can't write a poem in this language. You cant tell a joke, you can't convey feeling. You can't discover new meanings. This writing is incapable of taking you anywhere. It's deliberately circumscribed. It's almost an abuse of human rights.
Here's how we beat it:
How do we fight this abuse of language, or as you say, become a refusenik? When people use this jargon, ask them what they really mean.
But, there is hope:
Even after all the harm that American corporations have done to the language, there's still Mark Twain. Americans do great good for the language; they keep it alive and moving.
7.05.2005
Guess Who's a Democrat?
Katie Couric: I read, though, that you're a Democrat. Is that true?
Rev. Billy Graham: Yes. I am.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8326362/
Also here:
Graham called the Clintons "wonderful friends" and "a great couple," quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050626/ap_on_re_us/billy_graham_14
Looks like Rev. Graham read into the New Testament as well.....
Rev. Billy Graham: Yes. I am.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8326362/
Also here:
Graham called the Clintons "wonderful friends" and "a great couple," quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050626/ap_on_re_us/billy_graham_14
Looks like Rev. Graham read into the New Testament as well.....
"The people of Wisconsin have lost a true progressive..."
Joe Wineke's statement on our loss:
Statement from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on the Passing of Gaylord Nelson
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Contact: Jessica Erickson (608) 255-5172 x 406 (voice) (608) 255-8919 (fax)
MADISON -- Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, released the following statement today on the passing of former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson:
"The people of Wisconsin have lost a true progressive -- a champion of the environment, of civil rights and liberties, who helped make our great state a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
"Gaylord Nelson was a man of humble origins who went on to accomplish great things, yet never forgot his Wisconsin roots. He was a man of principle and passion, who was committed to public service and the work that needed to be done to keep Wisconsin progressive. He was part of an remarkable group of people who built the modern Democratic Party, and his influence remains strong today.
"As a politician, he possessed both the willingness and the ability to work across party lines for the common good. Even as he debated vigorously with those across the aisle, he still showed his political opponents respect, admiration, and friendship.
"Gaylord Nelson is best known as the founder of Earth Day and the modern environmentalist movement. As a young boy growing up in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, his love and respect for the environment grew -- and only deepened throughout his 89 years. He recognized long before most politicians the passion the American people felt for the environment -- and the importance of preserving our natural world for future generations. And he succeeded in placing the environment on the national political agenda.
"Nelson’s influence, however, was much more far-reaching. He was not only a champion of the environment, but also of civil rights, civil liberties, and consumer protection. As a U.S. Senator, he fought on behalf of small businesses and Wisconsin dairy farmers. He worked to fight poverty, and provide jobs and training for struggling workers.
"And even as his health declined in recent years, he continued the fight to protect the environment, calling on President Bush and Congress this past Earth Day to provide real leadership on environmental issues. He kept up the battle because, as he said, ‘our work’s not done.’
"Our work is not done. And it is up to us to pick up the torch Gaylord Nelson long carried, and fill the enormous shoes he left behind.
"Gaylord Nelson’s life is an inspiration to all Americans -- and we are proud to call him a Wisconsin son. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Nelson family as we remember his life of service and sacrifice."
http://wisdems.org/index.php?display=ReleaseDetails&id=580598&PHPSESSID=cedcaa1effed523639ab933c0045062e
We were discussing the life and legacy of Gaylord Nelson at an event Sunday night. I found out we have a member of the Winnebago Dems who has been trout fishing with Gaylord Nelson.
What an experience that must have been.
Statement from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on the Passing of Gaylord Nelson
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Contact: Jessica Erickson (608) 255-5172 x 406 (voice) (608) 255-8919 (fax)
MADISON -- Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, released the following statement today on the passing of former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson:
"The people of Wisconsin have lost a true progressive -- a champion of the environment, of civil rights and liberties, who helped make our great state a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
"Gaylord Nelson was a man of humble origins who went on to accomplish great things, yet never forgot his Wisconsin roots. He was a man of principle and passion, who was committed to public service and the work that needed to be done to keep Wisconsin progressive. He was part of an remarkable group of people who built the modern Democratic Party, and his influence remains strong today.
"As a politician, he possessed both the willingness and the ability to work across party lines for the common good. Even as he debated vigorously with those across the aisle, he still showed his political opponents respect, admiration, and friendship.
"Gaylord Nelson is best known as the founder of Earth Day and the modern environmentalist movement. As a young boy growing up in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, his love and respect for the environment grew -- and only deepened throughout his 89 years. He recognized long before most politicians the passion the American people felt for the environment -- and the importance of preserving our natural world for future generations. And he succeeded in placing the environment on the national political agenda.
"Nelson’s influence, however, was much more far-reaching. He was not only a champion of the environment, but also of civil rights, civil liberties, and consumer protection. As a U.S. Senator, he fought on behalf of small businesses and Wisconsin dairy farmers. He worked to fight poverty, and provide jobs and training for struggling workers.
"And even as his health declined in recent years, he continued the fight to protect the environment, calling on President Bush and Congress this past Earth Day to provide real leadership on environmental issues. He kept up the battle because, as he said, ‘our work’s not done.’
"Our work is not done. And it is up to us to pick up the torch Gaylord Nelson long carried, and fill the enormous shoes he left behind.
"Gaylord Nelson’s life is an inspiration to all Americans -- and we are proud to call him a Wisconsin son. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Nelson family as we remember his life of service and sacrifice."
http://wisdems.org/index.php?display=ReleaseDetails&id=580598&PHPSESSID=cedcaa1effed523639ab933c0045062e
We were discussing the life and legacy of Gaylord Nelson at an event Sunday night. I found out we have a member of the Winnebago Dems who has been trout fishing with Gaylord Nelson.
What an experience that must have been.
Governor Doyle Announces State of Wisconsin Will End Fiscal Year With a Positive Balance
Governor Jim Doyle today announced that the State of Wisconsin will finish the fiscal year (FY) in the black with an estimated balance of about $6 million. After Governor Doyle inherited a $3.2 billion deficit, FY05 marks the second consecutive year that the State of Wisconsin has been back in the black under Governor Doyle's leadership.
"When I came into office, I inherited a $3.2 billion dollar deficit -- the largest per capita deficit in the country," Governor Doyle said. "It was a hole so large no one thought it could be fixed without huge tax increases ... but by rolling up o! ur sleeves and cutting wasteful spending, we protected our core priorities like education, balanced the budget, and didn't raise a single tax."
http://wisdems.org/index.php?display=ReleaseDetails&id=580122
While I may not always agree with his spending priorities, you cannot argue with his success in keeping his promise to balance Wisconsin's budget.
"When I came into office, I inherited a $3.2 billion dollar deficit -- the largest per capita deficit in the country," Governor Doyle said. "It was a hole so large no one thought it could be fixed without huge tax increases ... but by rolling up o! ur sleeves and cutting wasteful spending, we protected our core priorities like education, balanced the budget, and didn't raise a single tax."
http://wisdems.org/index.php?display=ReleaseDetails&id=580122
While I may not always agree with his spending priorities, you cannot argue with his success in keeping his promise to balance Wisconsin's budget.
Gersh is Gone...
I have enjoyed Gersh Kuntzman's humor/interest column on MSNBC for awhile. This week he published his final one:
Parting Shots
My brand of liberalism has been called wacky, but now it’s the GOP that’s gone crazy on us.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8475067/site/newsweek/
I'll miss you, Gersh.
Parting Shots
My brand of liberalism has been called wacky, but now it’s the GOP that’s gone crazy on us.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8475067/site/newsweek/
I'll miss you, Gersh.
7.01.2005
M-W.com's Word of The Day
Interesting...
The Word of the Day for July 1 is:
bunkum \BUNG-kum\ noun
: insincere or foolish talk : nonsense
Example sentence:
Vincent thought he had given strong arguments in support of his theory, but Professor Lyons dismissed it as bunkum nonetheless.
Did you know?
Some words in our language have more colorful histories than others, but in the case of "bunkum," you could almost say it was an act of Congress that brought the word into being. Back in 1820 Felix Walker, who represented Buncombe County, North Carolina, in the U.S. House of Representatives, was determined that his voice be heard on his constituents' behalf, even though the matter up for debate was irrelevant to Walker's district and he had little to contribute. To the exasperation of his colleagues, Walker insisted on delivering a long and wearisome "speech for Buncombe." His persistent -- if insignificant -- harangue made "buncombe" (later respelled "bunkum") a synonym for meaningless political claptrap and later for any kind of nonsense.
The Word of the Day for July 1 is:
bunkum \BUNG-kum\ noun
: insincere or foolish talk : nonsense
Example sentence:
Vincent thought he had given strong arguments in support of his theory, but Professor Lyons dismissed it as bunkum nonetheless.
Did you know?
Some words in our language have more colorful histories than others, but in the case of "bunkum," you could almost say it was an act of Congress that brought the word into being. Back in 1820 Felix Walker, who represented Buncombe County, North Carolina, in the U.S. House of Representatives, was determined that his voice be heard on his constituents' behalf, even though the matter up for debate was irrelevant to Walker's district and he had little to contribute. To the exasperation of his colleagues, Walker insisted on delivering a long and wearisome "speech for Buncombe." His persistent -- if insignificant -- harangue made "buncombe" (later respelled "bunkum") a synonym for meaningless political claptrap and later for any kind of nonsense.
6.29.2005
Where Have I Been?
Sorry for not blogging much, if anyone is concerned. My beloved laptop went to the great Best Buy in the sky a week and a half ago. Hopefully the new one will be coming this week.
Until then, things will be sparse. I am on a friends PC right now, just wanted to put some neat stuff I read recently out there....
A Few Great Sentiments:
LEGEND has it when Henry David Thoreau went to jail to protest an unjust law, his friend, the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, visited him and asked, "Henry, what are you doing in here?" The great nature writer replied, "What are you doing out there?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29safire.html?
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson began as friends. The tensions and frictions of the early Republic took care of that. Then, after years of silence between them, a mutual friend persuaded them to write to each other. In 1812, they launched into a correspondence that continued until it was ended by their deaths.
That ending point was on their minds and drove their correspondence. As Mr. Adams wrote Mr. Jefferson, "You and I ought not to die, before we have explained ourselves to each other."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/opinion/25limerick.html?ex=1120536000&en=80a762f04a20b32e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Here is a great editorial on the sacrifices teachers make for their careers. For my money, they are the best deal we as a society have. They catch way too much flack from people.
Here are some facts & figures:
Not counting those who teach summer school, about 20 percent of the country's teachers have second jobs
If you're at the Circuit City in Grapevine, Tex., you might run into Erik Benner, who teaches history and coaches the football team at Cross Timbers Middle School. His work at the school, which averages 60 hours a week, does not come close to paying the way for his family of four, so he moonlights during the year, selling stereos and digital cameras.
If you live in the Bay Area of California, you might find the head of Redwood High School's science department helping customers at the Plumpjack Cafe select a wine to complement the soft-shelled crabs. Skip Lovelady has not missed his Saturday night waiting shift there in 12 years. He can't afford to. If he could get more shifts this summer, he might take them. But they're not available, so he's teaching summer school.
The average salary for a teacher in 2003 was $45,771. A teacher with a master's degree might get an additional stipend of anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Across all professions, however, the average beginning salary for those with master's degrees is $62,820 - about what a teacher might earn with 15 years of experience.
Imagine that scenario in the private sector. A chief executive decides he wants better performance from his company. He issues a mandate that all employees be highly qualified. Then he proposes, as No Child Left Behind does, that the staff members be more tightly controlled, that they conform closely to his top-down directives and that they be tested yearly to keep their jobs. And he wants all of this without raising salaries a penny. Who would want to work for such an outfit?
Is it any surprise that 45 percent of new teachers leave our schools within the first five years?
The editorial end with a suggestion for bonding to increase teacher salaries, just as you would bond to increase physical services. It is an interesting proposition that I think should be discussed. Read it all here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/opinion/27eggers.html?ex=1120536000&en=ada10ae795c7c0a6&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Until then, things will be sparse. I am on a friends PC right now, just wanted to put some neat stuff I read recently out there....
A Few Great Sentiments:
LEGEND has it when Henry David Thoreau went to jail to protest an unjust law, his friend, the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, visited him and asked, "Henry, what are you doing in here?" The great nature writer replied, "What are you doing out there?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29safire.html?
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson began as friends. The tensions and frictions of the early Republic took care of that. Then, after years of silence between them, a mutual friend persuaded them to write to each other. In 1812, they launched into a correspondence that continued until it was ended by their deaths.
That ending point was on their minds and drove their correspondence. As Mr. Adams wrote Mr. Jefferson, "You and I ought not to die, before we have explained ourselves to each other."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/opinion/25limerick.html?ex=1120536000&en=80a762f04a20b32e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Here is a great editorial on the sacrifices teachers make for their careers. For my money, they are the best deal we as a society have. They catch way too much flack from people.
Here are some facts & figures:
Not counting those who teach summer school, about 20 percent of the country's teachers have second jobs
If you're at the Circuit City in Grapevine, Tex., you might run into Erik Benner, who teaches history and coaches the football team at Cross Timbers Middle School. His work at the school, which averages 60 hours a week, does not come close to paying the way for his family of four, so he moonlights during the year, selling stereos and digital cameras.
If you live in the Bay Area of California, you might find the head of Redwood High School's science department helping customers at the Plumpjack Cafe select a wine to complement the soft-shelled crabs. Skip Lovelady has not missed his Saturday night waiting shift there in 12 years. He can't afford to. If he could get more shifts this summer, he might take them. But they're not available, so he's teaching summer school.
The average salary for a teacher in 2003 was $45,771. A teacher with a master's degree might get an additional stipend of anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Across all professions, however, the average beginning salary for those with master's degrees is $62,820 - about what a teacher might earn with 15 years of experience.
Imagine that scenario in the private sector. A chief executive decides he wants better performance from his company. He issues a mandate that all employees be highly qualified. Then he proposes, as No Child Left Behind does, that the staff members be more tightly controlled, that they conform closely to his top-down directives and that they be tested yearly to keep their jobs. And he wants all of this without raising salaries a penny. Who would want to work for such an outfit?
Is it any surprise that 45 percent of new teachers leave our schools within the first five years?
The editorial end with a suggestion for bonding to increase teacher salaries, just as you would bond to increase physical services. It is an interesting proposition that I think should be discussed. Read it all here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/opinion/27eggers.html?ex=1120536000&en=ada10ae795c7c0a6&ei=5070&emc=eta1
6.23.2005
I've Always Liked This Guy....
Suddenly a man, out of breath, but still smiling and friendly, tapped me on my shoulder and said, "Ma'am, here are your keys." It was Al Gore, former vice president of the United States. Mr. Gore had gotten off his machine behind me, picked up my keys, handed them to me and then resumed his workout.
It was nothing more than a kind gesture, but at that moment Mr. Gore's act represented all that I yearned for - acceptance and acknowledgment.
Read it all here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/opinion/23abdrabboh.html?th&emc=th&oref=login
It was nothing more than a kind gesture, but at that moment Mr. Gore's act represented all that I yearned for - acceptance and acknowledgment.
Read it all here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/opinion/23abdrabboh.html?th&emc=th&oref=login
Answers to Questions
There has been a lot of chatter on the various Oshkosh blogs about a run in I had recently. I thought I'd answer any questions here.
I, personally, did something stupid. I regret it, I own up to it. I paid my fine and co-operated throughout the process. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was affected.
I learned two things from this experience. The first is that my personal actions have consequences that reverberate farther than I knew – I will remember this for the future.
Second, I learned that local politics have become too poisoned. It is because of personal stands that I previously took that this story was pushed.
While I am proud of these past stands on my individual issues, I admit that I may have been shrill. I pledge to stay involved with pushing issues I feel important to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and on; I, however, hope to do so in a more polite manner in the future.
I hope that Oshkosh, from here on out, can be a place where everyone is welcomed into the political process. And that issues can be debated in a forthright and polite manner.
If there is anyone affected by my personal actions, who has further questions, feel free to contact me directly.
I, personally, did something stupid. I regret it, I own up to it. I paid my fine and co-operated throughout the process. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was affected.
I learned two things from this experience. The first is that my personal actions have consequences that reverberate farther than I knew – I will remember this for the future.
Second, I learned that local politics have become too poisoned. It is because of personal stands that I previously took that this story was pushed.
While I am proud of these past stands on my individual issues, I admit that I may have been shrill. I pledge to stay involved with pushing issues I feel important to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and on; I, however, hope to do so in a more polite manner in the future.
I hope that Oshkosh, from here on out, can be a place where everyone is welcomed into the political process. And that issues can be debated in a forthright and polite manner.
If there is anyone affected by my personal actions, who has further questions, feel free to contact me directly.
6.21.2005
The Way Things Look From Abroad....
I don't know if any of you know this, but I was an exchange student - I lived for a year in Ghent, Belgium (thanks Rotary!). I recently received the following email from my Host-Father, asking some questions, I have excerpted it below:
----
While sitting in the plane last Saturday, I read the International Herald Tribune of 18-19th June and read a small news clip as follows:
Quote
MADISON, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Assembly has approved a ban on the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses, a restriction that would be the first in the United States if approved. (AP)"
Unquote.
Jef, what is happening in Wisconsin? Do your people want unwanted pregnancies and possible abortions as a consequence...
You know, the Belgian Government is making access to the morning after pill as easy as possible for the girls and women in need... We, as far as I know, don't have that culture yet of putting condoms , etc discretely for sale at school level. But here they only have to go to the pharmacist.
Jef, what is the rational behind this decision: is it a return of fundamentalism or is there a more pragmatic reason?
-----
As I mentioned when I originally posted the story... Is this what Wisconsin wants to be first in the nation/world on?
How will these moves by the legislature look to outside interests looking to move their families or their businesses here?
Some background, my host-Father is an international agriculture consultant, his wife a published historian and volunteer for Catholic charities and causes. They are not considered left-wing in any matter. They are reasonable people.
The sort of people that should read about Wisconsin in the International Herald-Tribune and think, "that is a place I'd like to visit." Not the people we should be chasing away.
----
While sitting in the plane last Saturday, I read the International Herald Tribune of 18-19th June and read a small news clip as follows:
Quote
MADISON, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Assembly has approved a ban on the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses, a restriction that would be the first in the United States if approved. (AP)"
Unquote.
Jef, what is happening in Wisconsin? Do your people want unwanted pregnancies and possible abortions as a consequence...
You know, the Belgian Government is making access to the morning after pill as easy as possible for the girls and women in need... We, as far as I know, don't have that culture yet of putting condoms , etc discretely for sale at school level. But here they only have to go to the pharmacist.
Jef, what is the rational behind this decision: is it a return of fundamentalism or is there a more pragmatic reason?
-----
As I mentioned when I originally posted the story... Is this what Wisconsin wants to be first in the nation/world on?
How will these moves by the legislature look to outside interests looking to move their families or their businesses here?
Some background, my host-Father is an international agriculture consultant, his wife a published historian and volunteer for Catholic charities and causes. They are not considered left-wing in any matter. They are reasonable people.
The sort of people that should read about Wisconsin in the International Herald-Tribune and think, "that is a place I'd like to visit." Not the people we should be chasing away.
6.20.2005
2 Great Articles about the War (and the War at Home)
First from Bob Hebert:
It has become clearer than ever that Americans do not want to fight George W. Bush's tragically misguided war in Iraq.
It has become clearer than ever that Americans do not want to fight George W. Bush's tragically misguided war in Iraq.
You can still find plenty of folks arguing that we have to stay the course, or even raise the stakes by sending more troops to the war zone. But from the very start of this war the loudest of the flag-waving hawks were those who were safely beyond military age themselves and were unwilling to send their own children off to fight.
It's easy to be macho when you have nothing at risk. The hawks want the war to be fought with other people's children, while their own children go safely off to college, or to the mall. The number of influential American officials who have children in uniform in Iraq is minuscule.
What hasn't changed is the fact that the vast majority of the parents who support the war do not want their children to fight it. A woman in the affluent New York suburb of Ridgewood, N.J., who has a daughter in high school and a younger son, said: "I would not want my children to go. If there wasn't a war it would be different. I support the war and I think we need to be there. But it's not going well. It's becoming like Vietnam. It's a very bad situation. But we can't leave."
The Bush crowd may be bellicose, but for most Americans the biggest contribution to the war effort is a bumper sticker that says "support our troops," and maybe a belligerent call to a talk radio station.
The home-front "warriors" who find it so easy to give the thumbs up to war endanger the truly valorous men and women who are actually willing to put on a uniform, pick up a weapon and place their lives on the line.
The president and these home-front warriors got us into this war and now they don't know how to get us out. Nor do they have a satisfactory answer to the important ethical question: how do you justify sending other people's children off to fight while keeping a cloak of protection around your own kids?
If the United States had a draft (for which there is no political sentiment), its warriors would be drawn from a much wider swath of the population, and political leaders would think much longer and harder before committing the country to war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/20/opinion/20herbert.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
And then from our own James A. Genisio:
I know how to greatly increase volunteers for the military. If the Bush twins, Barbara and Jenna, or even one of them would volunteer for the military, volunteer to fight terror in Iraq, volunteer to establish democracy in Iraq, many others would follow. Imagine if we watched President Bush and the first lady saying goodbye to their patriotic children, Barbara and Jenna, as they went off in uniform to risk their lives for what their father and mother tell us is a great cause. What an inspiration! What an example! What a glorious day that would be.
http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/opinion/stories/opinion_21474414.shtml
6.17.2005
500 Miles per Gallon of Petroleum Gas
We don't import electricity. We generate all of our needs with coal, hydropower, nuclear power and natural gas. Toyota's hybrid cars, like the Prius, run on both gasoline and electricity that is generated by braking and then stored in a small battery. But, says Luft, if you had a hybrid that you could plug in at night, the battery could store up 20 miles of driving per day. So your first 20 miles would be covered by the battery. The gasoline would only kick in after that. Since 50 percent of Americans do not drive more than 20 miles a day, the battery power would cover all their driving. Even if they drove more than that, combining the battery power and the gasoline could give them 100 miles per gallon of gasoline used, Luft notes.
Right now Toyota does not sell plug-in hybrids. Some enthusiasts, though, are using kits to convert their hybrids to plug-ins, but that adds several thousand dollars - and you lose your Toyota warranty. Imagine, though, if the government encouraged, through tax policy and other incentives, every automaker to offer plug-in hybrids? We would quickly move down the innovation curve and end up with better and cheaper plug-ins for all.
Then add to that flexible-fuel cars, which have a special chip and fuel line that enable them to burn alcohol (ethanol or methanol), gasoline or any mixture of the two. Some four million U.S. cars already come equipped this way, including from G.M. It costs only about $100 a car to make it flex-fuel ready. Brazil hopes to have all its new cars flex-fuel ready by 2008. As Luft notes, if you combined a plug-in hybrid system with a flex-fuel system that burns 80 percent alcohol and 20 percent gasoline, you could end up stretching each gallon of gasoline up to 500 miles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17friedman.html?th&emc=th
Right now Toyota does not sell plug-in hybrids. Some enthusiasts, though, are using kits to convert their hybrids to plug-ins, but that adds several thousand dollars - and you lose your Toyota warranty. Imagine, though, if the government encouraged, through tax policy and other incentives, every automaker to offer plug-in hybrids? We would quickly move down the innovation curve and end up with better and cheaper plug-ins for all.
Then add to that flexible-fuel cars, which have a special chip and fuel line that enable them to burn alcohol (ethanol or methanol), gasoline or any mixture of the two. Some four million U.S. cars already come equipped this way, including from G.M. It costs only about $100 a car to make it flex-fuel ready. Brazil hopes to have all its new cars flex-fuel ready by 2008. As Luft notes, if you combined a plug-in hybrid system with a flex-fuel system that burns 80 percent alcohol and 20 percent gasoline, you could end up stretching each gallon of gasoline up to 500 miles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17friedman.html?th&emc=th
Is this how we want WI first in the nation...
The Assembly vote made Wisconsin the first state to seriously consider banning emergency contraception on college campuses, said Elizabeth Nash, who tracks state legislation at the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports abortion rights. Bills in Virginia have died in the past two years.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20050617/ap_on_he_me/contraception_ban
More:
The legislation would prohibit University of Wisconsin System health centers from advertising, prescribing or dispensing emergency contraception — drugs that can block a pregnancy in the days after sex. The state university system has 161,000 students on 26 campuses.
"Are we going to change the lifestyle of every UW student? No," LeMahieu said. "But we can tell the university that you are not going to condone it, you are not going to participate in it, and you are not going to use our tax dollars to do it."
(UW students can get the drug at discount rates from campus pharmacies funded by student fees.)
Democrats said the bill would deny rape victims a chance to stop pregnancies and predicted it would lead to more unwanted pregnancies and surgical abortions.
Democratic Rep. Marlin Schneider called the measure "a direct frontal assault on the right to privacy, on the right of free speech, on the right of a free press."
"Apparently some in this body want to take us back to the time when the dispensing of contraception was a criminal act," Schneider said.
The morning-after pill, a heavy dosage of hormonal birth control, can work to prevent a pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex by preventing ovulation or fertilization.
LeMahieu said the bill would not affect traditional birth control pills. Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said the bill was worded too vaguely to know for sure.
The drug, which requires a prescription, was approved as a contraceptive in 1998
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) on Baghdad Occupation (1920)...
Sounds very familiar...
"[We] have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. [We] have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows... Our unfortunate troops,... under hard conditions of climate and supply, are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad."
Read it all here:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918p/mesopo.html
Those who fail to learn from the past are forced to repeat it.....
"[We] have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. [We] have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows... Our unfortunate troops,... under hard conditions of climate and supply, are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad."
Read it all here:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918p/mesopo.html
Those who fail to learn from the past are forced to repeat it.....
Buyer's Remorse????
Bush & Republican Congress down in almost everything.....
Americans are in a season of political discontent, giving Mr. Bush one of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and even lower marks to Congress, according to the New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Forty-two percent of the people responding to the poll said they approved of the way Mr. Bush was handling his job, a marked decline from his 51 percent rating after of the November election,
Congress fared even worse in the survey, with the approval of just 33 percent of the respondents, and 19 percent saying Congress shared their priorities.
Americans are in a season of political discontent, giving Mr. Bush one of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and even lower marks to Congress, according to the New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Forty-two percent of the people responding to the poll said they approved of the way Mr. Bush was handling his job, a marked decline from his 51 percent rating after of the November election,
Congress fared even worse in the survey, with the approval of just 33 percent of the respondents, and 19 percent saying Congress shared their priorities.
Two-thirds said they were uneasy about Mr. Bush's ability to make sound decisions on Social Security.
Only 25 percent said they approved of the way Mr. Bush was handling Social Security
45 percent said the more they heard about the Bush plan, the less they liked it.
Mr. Bush's approval rating is below the historical pattern for June in the first year of a second term: President Clinton's stood at 60 percent and President Reagan's at 59 percent.
51 percent said they thought the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, while 45 percent said military action was the right thing to do
Moreover, only 37 percent said they approved of Mr. Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq, down from 45 percent in February.
A strong majority of Americans now say the effort by the United States to bring stability and order to Iraq is going badly - 60 percent, up from 47 percent in February.
only 33 percent said they thought the country was on the right track, while 61 percent said it had gone off in the wrong direction
When asked an open-ended question about the most important problems facing the nation, Americans cited the economy and jobs, war and terrorism at the top of the list. Social Security, which has consumed an enormous amount of political energy this spring, did not make the top six, suggesting voters have a different view of political priorities than the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House.
In February, 54 percent of Republicans said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job; in the most recent poll, that had dropped to 40 percent.
Keep up the good work - 2006 is coming!
Right-Wing Christian Group Plans Protest of Soldier's Funeral
This is from the opinion page of the Wausau Daily Herald:
Don't offer fertile ground for hatred
First you're baffled. Then you're almost speechless. Next, you're outraged. And if you make it past the outrage, you might end up being sad and maybe even saying a prayer for them.
That's the typical reaction when one reads about the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church. The Topeka, Kan., group that protested the 2003 Wausau performance of a play about the death of a gay man is returning to central Wisconsin.
Last time they visited, the sang "God hates America, the faggots' home," to the tune of "God Bless America," while protesting outside a theater. This time, they plan to picket the Antigo church where Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr.'s funeral service will be held Monday.
Their logic is that soldiers who die in Iraq are being taken by God in punishment for American tolerance of homosexuality.
If you're baffled, speechless and outraged, you're not alone.
Phelps and his group preach hate, not hope. They seek to divide, not unite. Rather than filling souls with the love of God, their words harden hearts.
And you know what? The one thing they crave, more than salvation or forgiveness or redemption, is notoriety. Like a self-absorbed 2-year-old throwing a tantrum, they thrive on attention.
So phooey on them. Forget them. Ignore them. Don't give them what they want. Don't allow hate to poison you, too.
Let them shame themselves by sullying the memorial of a proud and honorable man who gave his life in support of the Constitution - the very Constitution that guarantees Westboro the right to protest.
And let their repugnant words fall upon a silent and empty Antigo street.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. - Psalm 23.
Kudos to the Daily-Herald for coming up with the best way to address these people.
Don't offer fertile ground for hatred
First you're baffled. Then you're almost speechless. Next, you're outraged. And if you make it past the outrage, you might end up being sad and maybe even saying a prayer for them.
That's the typical reaction when one reads about the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church. The Topeka, Kan., group that protested the 2003 Wausau performance of a play about the death of a gay man is returning to central Wisconsin.
Last time they visited, the sang "God hates America, the faggots' home," to the tune of "God Bless America," while protesting outside a theater. This time, they plan to picket the Antigo church where Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr.'s funeral service will be held Monday.
Their logic is that soldiers who die in Iraq are being taken by God in punishment for American tolerance of homosexuality.
If you're baffled, speechless and outraged, you're not alone.
Phelps and his group preach hate, not hope. They seek to divide, not unite. Rather than filling souls with the love of God, their words harden hearts.
And you know what? The one thing they crave, more than salvation or forgiveness or redemption, is notoriety. Like a self-absorbed 2-year-old throwing a tantrum, they thrive on attention.
So phooey on them. Forget them. Ignore them. Don't give them what they want. Don't allow hate to poison you, too.
Let them shame themselves by sullying the memorial of a proud and honorable man who gave his life in support of the Constitution - the very Constitution that guarantees Westboro the right to protest.
And let their repugnant words fall upon a silent and empty Antigo street.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. - Psalm 23.
Kudos to the Daily-Herald for coming up with the best way to address these people.
6.16.2005
Today in History - 1933
The New Deal Begins!
Expressing hope that unemployment would be decreased by at least 1,000,000 men by Oct. 1, President Roosevelt took an optimistic view of the industrial situation in a long statement on the Industrial Recovery Act. He called upon industry to cooperate by hiring more men to do existing work, at shortened working hours and a living wage.
...
President Roosevelt's statement follows:
History probably will record the National Industrial Recovery Act as the most important and far-reaching legislation ever enacted by the American Congress. It represents a supreme effort to stabilize for all time the many factors which make for the prosperity of the nation and the preservation of American standards.
Its goal is the assurance of a reasonable profit to industry and living wages for labor, with the elimination of the piratical methods and practices which have not only harassed honest business but also contributed to the ills of labor.
While we are engaged in establishing new foundations for business which ultimately should open a return to work for large numbers of men, it is our hope through the so- called public works section of the law to speedily initiate a program of public construction that should early re-employ additional hundreds of thousands of men.
Obviously, if this project is to succeed, it demands the wholehearted cooperation of industry, labor and every citizen of the nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0616.html#article
Now, let's keep Roosevelt's reforms going....
Expressing hope that unemployment would be decreased by at least 1,000,000 men by Oct. 1, President Roosevelt took an optimistic view of the industrial situation in a long statement on the Industrial Recovery Act. He called upon industry to cooperate by hiring more men to do existing work, at shortened working hours and a living wage.
...
President Roosevelt's statement follows:
History probably will record the National Industrial Recovery Act as the most important and far-reaching legislation ever enacted by the American Congress. It represents a supreme effort to stabilize for all time the many factors which make for the prosperity of the nation and the preservation of American standards.
Its goal is the assurance of a reasonable profit to industry and living wages for labor, with the elimination of the piratical methods and practices which have not only harassed honest business but also contributed to the ills of labor.
While we are engaged in establishing new foundations for business which ultimately should open a return to work for large numbers of men, it is our hope through the so- called public works section of the law to speedily initiate a program of public construction that should early re-employ additional hundreds of thousands of men.
Obviously, if this project is to succeed, it demands the wholehearted cooperation of industry, labor and every citizen of the nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0616.html#article
Now, let's keep Roosevelt's reforms going....
6.15.2005
Thoughts on TABOR...
Several of our Republicans in the WI Senate and Assembly have said that it is the Colorado model that they are basing TABOR on. What does that mean? Here are excerpts from an interview with the 'father' of Colorado TABOR, Douglas Bruce:
First off, Bruce says, the state should adopt a statewide voucher program for public schools and simultaneously cut state aid to education. How much? For starters, it could be an amount equal to the difference between per-pupil spending now (about $8,000) and the $3,000 annual voucher level being talked about by voucher advocates.
Next in line for the budget ax would be higher education. I always thought most people thought higher education is a good thing. Going to college not only helps one land a better-paying job, it might even help with appreciating life more, expanding minds and all that stuff.
To Bruce, however, the state's colleges and universities collectively are a fiscal drain down which state taxpayers have poured millions and millions of dollars for nothing.
"As a matter of simple morality, why should Jose Fernandez or Joe Johnson, who are flipping burgers or mopping up floors, pay higher taxes so that Cecil Candyass can go to Boulder for four, five, six or eight years?"
Bruce urges dramatic increases in college and university tuition so that the people who insist on getting an education pay the full cost of it themselves.
Next, there's Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides medical care for the poor. Bruce would eliminate it. He argues there is no federal requirement to have the program, so we shouldn't.
I asked Bruce how hospitals should respond when poor people without insurance present themselves at emergency rooms.
"If you don't have the money, you don't get the service."
So, if you agree with Bruce's vision of a Colorado where everyone goes to private school, there's no state-subsidized colleges and universities and poor people without health insurance go without medical care — be happy.
Bruce and the right-wing Republicans in the Legislature carrying his ideological water are gonna make it happen — eventually.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/03/10/editorial1.html
This is why me must win in the next elections - do you want this to be the vision of Wisconsin?
First off, Bruce says, the state should adopt a statewide voucher program for public schools and simultaneously cut state aid to education. How much? For starters, it could be an amount equal to the difference between per-pupil spending now (about $8,000) and the $3,000 annual voucher level being talked about by voucher advocates.
Next in line for the budget ax would be higher education. I always thought most people thought higher education is a good thing. Going to college not only helps one land a better-paying job, it might even help with appreciating life more, expanding minds and all that stuff.
To Bruce, however, the state's colleges and universities collectively are a fiscal drain down which state taxpayers have poured millions and millions of dollars for nothing.
"As a matter of simple morality, why should Jose Fernandez or Joe Johnson, who are flipping burgers or mopping up floors, pay higher taxes so that Cecil Candyass can go to Boulder for four, five, six or eight years?"
Bruce urges dramatic increases in college and university tuition so that the people who insist on getting an education pay the full cost of it themselves.
Next, there's Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides medical care for the poor. Bruce would eliminate it. He argues there is no federal requirement to have the program, so we shouldn't.
I asked Bruce how hospitals should respond when poor people without insurance present themselves at emergency rooms.
"If you don't have the money, you don't get the service."
So, if you agree with Bruce's vision of a Colorado where everyone goes to private school, there's no state-subsidized colleges and universities and poor people without health insurance go without medical care — be happy.
Bruce and the right-wing Republicans in the Legislature carrying his ideological water are gonna make it happen — eventually.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/03/10/editorial1.html
This is why me must win in the next elections - do you want this to be the vision of Wisconsin?
Shaivo was "Irreverable"
"Her brain was profoundly atrophied," Jon Thogmartin, medical examiner for Florida's Pinellas-Pasco County, told a press conference. "There was massive neuronal loss, or death. This was irreversible and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."
“The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he added.
Thogmartin added that Terri Schiavo had been blinded by the injury and that all evidence indicated that she could not have survived without a feeding tube.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8225637/
And yet, on the Senate floor Frist felt that "based on a review of the video footage, which I have spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office" she could recover.
What a joke.
“The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he added.
Thogmartin added that Terri Schiavo had been blinded by the injury and that all evidence indicated that she could not have survived without a feeding tube.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8225637/
And yet, on the Senate floor Frist felt that "based on a review of the video footage, which I have spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office" she could recover.
What a joke.
6.14.2005
Good Start, Joe... Keep at 'Em:
DPW: New Study Shows GOP Photo ID Plans Would Disenfranchise Over 200,000 Seniors, Women, Minorities and the Young
6/14/2005
MADISON – Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, released the following statement today on a new UW-Milwaukee study on the driver’s license status of Wisconsin voters:
“This study shows that what Democrats have been saying all along is true. The restrictive photo ID measure being pushed by Republicans would disenfranchise 100,000 Wisconsin seniors, and potentially 100,000 more Wisconsin citizens without driver’s licenses – primarily women, minorities, and the disabled.“
“The only other state in the country with this kind of restriction is South Carolina – a state that barely turned out 50 percent of its voters in the 2004 November election, while Wisconsin turned out 75 percent. We ranked at the top in voter turnout; they ranked at the bottom. South Carolina is definitely not the model we should follow.”
“More importantly, this study confirms the true agenda of the Republican Party. Republicans are not interested in election reform; they are interested in stacking the elections in their favor and turning away voters like the elderly, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and young people who traditionally vote Democratic. The study also shows that the measure would have a disproportional effect on Milwaukee County. The GOP’s agenda clearly isn’t about cleaning up elections, it’s about crass politics, plain and simple.”
“Instead of trying to disenfranchise legitimate voters, we need to clean up our election process so only valid votes are counted. Democrats believe in tougher identification at the polls to prevent fraud, but not punitive restrictions that would disenfranchise individuals who have a constitutional right to vote. Governor Doyle has laid out a comprehensive package that would improve the way our elections are conducted top to bottom. Republicans should be focused on working with the Governor to put those reforms in place, instead of attempting to construct new obstacles to voting.”
6/14/2005
MADISON – Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, released the following statement today on a new UW-Milwaukee study on the driver’s license status of Wisconsin voters:
“This study shows that what Democrats have been saying all along is true. The restrictive photo ID measure being pushed by Republicans would disenfranchise 100,000 Wisconsin seniors, and potentially 100,000 more Wisconsin citizens without driver’s licenses – primarily women, minorities, and the disabled.“
“The only other state in the country with this kind of restriction is South Carolina – a state that barely turned out 50 percent of its voters in the 2004 November election, while Wisconsin turned out 75 percent. We ranked at the top in voter turnout; they ranked at the bottom. South Carolina is definitely not the model we should follow.”
“More importantly, this study confirms the true agenda of the Republican Party. Republicans are not interested in election reform; they are interested in stacking the elections in their favor and turning away voters like the elderly, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and young people who traditionally vote Democratic. The study also shows that the measure would have a disproportional effect on Milwaukee County. The GOP’s agenda clearly isn’t about cleaning up elections, it’s about crass politics, plain and simple.”
“Instead of trying to disenfranchise legitimate voters, we need to clean up our election process so only valid votes are counted. Democrats believe in tougher identification at the polls to prevent fraud, but not punitive restrictions that would disenfranchise individuals who have a constitutional right to vote. Governor Doyle has laid out a comprehensive package that would improve the way our elections are conducted top to bottom. Republicans should be focused on working with the Governor to put those reforms in place, instead of attempting to construct new obstacles to voting.”
What If Watergate Happened Today
Here are excerpts from Johnathan Alter:
From a distance, Watergate seems like a partisan affair. But that's because we tend to look at it nowadays through red- and blue-tinted glasses. In truth, President Nixon was forced to resign in 1974 by Republicans in Congress like Barry Goldwater, who realized from the so-called smoking-gun tape that he was a crook. This was after the Supreme Court—led by a Nixon appointee—unanimously ruled against him in the tapes case.
But imagine if Nixon were president in this era.
... former Nixon media adviser Roger Ailes banned the word "Watergate" from Fox News's coverage and went with the logo "Assault on the Presidency" instead.
... as in the Valerie Plame case, the Justice Department subpoenaed Woodward and Bernstein to testify before the grand jury about their sources. When they declined, they were jailed for 18 months on contempt charges.
... W. Mark Felt, held a press conference to air complaints that the White House and his own boss were impeding the FBI probe. Of course it was only a one-day story, with Ann Coulter predictably screaming that Felt was a "traitor." Rush Limbaugh dubbed Felt "Special Agent Sour Grapes" because he'd been passed over for the top FBI job. Within hours, the media had moved on to the tale of a runaway bride.
... I hoped that the Nixon tapes might bring some justice. But soon the tapes just became more fodder for those legal shows on cable. The Supreme Court split 5-4, along largely partisan lines, as it did in Bush vs. Gore. That allowed Nixon to keep control of the tapes. When he burned them, the bipartisan outcry you would have heard in the old days over destruction of evidence was muffled by a ferocious counterattack from the GOP's legion of spinners. A group calling itself "Watergate Burglars for Truth" set up a 527 to argue that Bill Clinton and other Democratic presidents had ordered more black-bag jobs than Nixon.
... Nixon gave a TV interview to the British journalist David Frost in which he said, "When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." This explained why he felt comfortable approving the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Ken Duberstein and a few other principled Republicans weighed in that Nixon was bad news, but they were drowned out by former aides like Pat Buchanan and G. Gordon Liddy, who wanted to firebomb the Brookings Institution. When "Firebombing Brookings: Good Idea or Not?" became the "Question of the Day" on MSNBC, Liddy's radio show got a nice ratings boost.
Read it all here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8101512/site/newsweek/page/2/
From a distance, Watergate seems like a partisan affair. But that's because we tend to look at it nowadays through red- and blue-tinted glasses. In truth, President Nixon was forced to resign in 1974 by Republicans in Congress like Barry Goldwater, who realized from the so-called smoking-gun tape that he was a crook. This was after the Supreme Court—led by a Nixon appointee—unanimously ruled against him in the tapes case.
But imagine if Nixon were president in this era.
... former Nixon media adviser Roger Ailes banned the word "Watergate" from Fox News's coverage and went with the logo "Assault on the Presidency" instead.
... as in the Valerie Plame case, the Justice Department subpoenaed Woodward and Bernstein to testify before the grand jury about their sources. When they declined, they were jailed for 18 months on contempt charges.
... W. Mark Felt, held a press conference to air complaints that the White House and his own boss were impeding the FBI probe. Of course it was only a one-day story, with Ann Coulter predictably screaming that Felt was a "traitor." Rush Limbaugh dubbed Felt "Special Agent Sour Grapes" because he'd been passed over for the top FBI job. Within hours, the media had moved on to the tale of a runaway bride.
... I hoped that the Nixon tapes might bring some justice. But soon the tapes just became more fodder for those legal shows on cable. The Supreme Court split 5-4, along largely partisan lines, as it did in Bush vs. Gore. That allowed Nixon to keep control of the tapes. When he burned them, the bipartisan outcry you would have heard in the old days over destruction of evidence was muffled by a ferocious counterattack from the GOP's legion of spinners. A group calling itself "Watergate Burglars for Truth" set up a 527 to argue that Bill Clinton and other Democratic presidents had ordered more black-bag jobs than Nixon.
... Nixon gave a TV interview to the British journalist David Frost in which he said, "When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." This explained why he felt comfortable approving the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Ken Duberstein and a few other principled Republicans weighed in that Nixon was bad news, but they were drowned out by former aides like Pat Buchanan and G. Gordon Liddy, who wanted to firebomb the Brookings Institution. When "Firebombing Brookings: Good Idea or Not?" became the "Question of the Day" on MSNBC, Liddy's radio show got a nice ratings boost.
Read it all here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8101512/site/newsweek/page/2/
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