Results Are In... (Oshkosh City Council)

Bryan L. Bain 2846 22.23% Tony Palmeri 2112 16.49% Meredith Scheuermann 2021 15.78% Jessica J. King 1842 14.39% Bob Cornell 1762 13.76% Mark C. Nielsen 1322 10.32% Kent Monte 885 6.91% Write-in 14 0.11%

The top 6 go on. The top 3 in April become Council Members.

Picture of the Year...

Read the caption here...

or

A float depicting U.S. President George W. Bush being spanked by the Statue Of Liberty passes by during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, western Germany, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. Thousands of spectators attended the traditional street carnival parade in the state of Rhineland-Palatinates's capital. (AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer)

Buses at the Jail

I sent an email to Sheriff Brooks with some questions about safety at the bus pickup outside the jail.

Here is the post. I'll keep up with any reply.

Monte is Again Online, Just With Content Missing and a Big Lie Added...

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about Oshkosh Council Candidate Kent Monte, it seems he is back up online.

However, he seems to have removed several of his posts - and added a bit of a logical puzzle.

As I mentioned yesterday, his blog seems to often traffic in rumor and innuendo, however after the blog shutdown of yesterday, many of the controversial posts seem to be nowhere to be found...

On his blog, he explains his offline time as:

the "glitch" that prevented my site from being viewed on Saturday night. It has been resolved (although I am not sure how)

However, in a comment on my little blog here, he explains:

I didn't change anything with my site and it was "repaired" this morning. It was not planned nor intentional for it to have gone off line sometime between Saturday and Sunday. I did get it fixed as soon as I became aware of the problem. Blogger assures me that it should not have happened and will not happen again.

Well, Kent, which is it? Was it something that was resolved miraculously in a way that you do not know, or did you work with Blogger to fix it? It clearly cannot be both.

Did you lie to everyone on your blog, or just to my readers here?

Also, if you note the timelines of past posts on the side of my blog, I have been using Blogger for almost 3 years now. I have never seen my, or any other blog, spontaniously require you to be part of the blog's inner circle to read it. That needs to be something that is selected by the blog owner.

Kent, where did the posts where you spread false innuendo about current council members go? If you are going to put a false story out there, be resolved enough to stand behind it or correct it, not just delete it as if it never happened.

Where is the post where you falsely claimed that a competitor took money he did not? Where is your explanation of why you went on WOSH to question another candidates integrity and intelligence?

What are you going to do once your are elected? Ask the clerk to go back and change the minutes of meetings if you are not happy with what you said or how you voted?

Kent, if you cannot stand by your word and get your story straight on these little blogs, what will you be on the Council Dias?

This is an odd way to get elected...

... shutting down public information.

above is a screen grab from Kent Monte's Blog site. Kent is a candidate for Oshkosh City Council who has been documented with posting and spreading rumor and innuendo. His blog has a regularly been criticized because of his habit of publishing attacks on councill members and community leaders before he has all the information, then editing or deleting the posts when it is pointed out to him that he is wrong.

It seems that now, Monte feels the best way to get elected is to not allow anyone not approved to view his website and therefore his opinions on the city and it's future.

You know, it may be the smartest campaign move he has ever made.

What do you know, you can ride an Oshkosh Truck to BFE?

Egyptian government, Oshkosh Truck ink deal
OSHKOSH — Oshkosh Truck Corp. Wednesday announced the company won a contract from the Egyptian Ministry of Defense to supply 30 medium tactical trucks.

The trucks will be specially designed to meet the ministry's logistics and transport requirements.

Oshkosh Truck, which is the parent company of Pierce Manufacturing with operations in Grand Chute and the Town of Menasha, said the contract, valued at $4.9 million, is the first major international order for the model line.

C'mon Ziggy, Can't You at Least Give Us Global Warming?

In a past post, I highlighted all the ways that Manitowoc's Bob Ziegelbauer parts from the Democrats that he caucuses with and claims to be a part of.

I can understand that, many of them are issues that really boil down to ones on political views. He happens to be swimming against the political Democratic mainstream, but I guess he could make his own argument.

But, now he is against established science:

"I am not one of those who is rushing to join the bandwagon of accepting as indisputable fact that we have man-made global warming that puts the planet in jeopardy," Ziegelbauer said. "I think that's grossly overstated and most importantly, far from scientifically decided.

"These proposals in the name of a global warming crisis are troubling especially because they use the hysteria to justify a massive government intervention into the day-to-day lives of our community and I find that especially threatening to our future prosperity as well."

The bill in Wisconsin comes after Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle called for creation of a global warming task force. Doyle also has proposed spending $30 million on additional renewable energy sources including solar, wind, hydrogen, biodiesel and ethanol.

Come on Ziggy, are you going to come out against evolution next?

The King Is Gone...

I remember seeing the King and His Court when they came to Princeton as a kid. I was supremely entertained.

Eddie Feigner, arguably the greatest softball player of all time, the amazing pitcher who led his four man team around the world playing conventional nine man teams for 61 years, died February 9th at the age of 81 in Huntsville, AL.

An American Torture...

A contracted interrogator tells his story:

American authorities continue to insist that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident in an otherwise well-run detention system. That insistence, however, stands in sharp contrast to my own experiences as an interrogator in Iraq. I watched as detainees were forced to stand naked all night, shivering in their cold cells and pleading with their captors for help. Others were subjected to long periods of isolation in pitch-black rooms. Food and sleep deprivation were common, along with a variety of physical abuse, including punching and kicking. Aggressive, and in many ways abusive, techniques were used daily in Iraq, all in the name of acquiring the intelligence necessary to bring an end to the insurgency. The violence raging there today is evidence that those tactics never worked. My memories are evidence that those tactics were terribly
wrong.
...
Some may suggest there is no reason to revive the story of abuse in Iraq. Rehashing such mistakes will only harm our country, they will say. But history suggests we should examine such missteps carefully. Oppressive prison environments have created some of the most determined opponents. The British learned that lesson from Napoleon, the French from Ho Chi Minh, Europe from Hitler. The world is learning that lesson again from Ayman al-Zawahiri. What will be the legacy of abusive prisons in Iraq?

Doyle Takes Amendment Head On

The pro-amendment people said that the point of it was nott o deny people benefits. Lets see them prove it.

Doyle Will Ask For Domestic Partner Benefits

POSTED: 2:59 pm CST February 11, 2007
UPDATED: 3:14 pm CST February 11, 2007

MADISON, Wis. -- Gov. Jim Doyle wants the state to pay for health-care benefits for domestic partners of all state employees.

Doyle said he'd put the request in his state budget proposal.

Doyle asked for a similar benefit package for just UW employees in his last budget, but Republicans took it out in the legislature.

Doyle said the benefits are needed to attract the best and brightest people to state jobs.

A spokesman for the Republican Assembly speaker said the governor's headed in "completely the wrong direction."

"Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid"

From MSNBC:

Wal-Mart and unions unite on health care
Retailer, other big employers aim for ‘quality, affordable’ coverage

Executives from Wal-Mart and three other large U.S. employers on Wednesday joined union leaders in calling for “quality, affordable” health care for every American by 2012.

However, they did not propose any specific policies to achieve this goal, or commit to spending any extra money in the near-term to provide health coverage to more workers.

Joining Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Lee Scott and Service Employees International Union leader Andrew Stern at a Washington press conference were top executives from Intel Corp., AT&T Inc. and Kelly Services Inc., a temporary staffing agency.
...
The partnership of business and union leaders laid out four main goals, including universal health-care coverage for all Americans and boosting the value of every U.S. dollar spent on health care. The business and union leaders’ coalition, dubbed “Better Health Care Together,” pledged to convene a national summit by the end of May to recruit others from the private sector, labor, government and non-profits.

However:

(Walmart's) Scott said Wednesday he would not withhold financial support from lawmakers and candidates who oppose universal health care. WakeUpWalMart spokesman Chris Kofinis called that stance “hypocritical,” pointing out that Scott blamed politics as the main reason the nation lacked universal health care.

The Automakers have also called for universal healthcare in meetings with the White House.

If you are against this, you are against history's current path. This is a fight that we can and will win. It is nice to see Wal-Mart aboard

I'm still not shopping there, however.

A Good Decision From Ford

As I noted in a previous post the Ford Taurus was discontinued even though it was their best seller.

Now comes this news:

Ford Set to Rename Five Hundred Sedan "Taurus"

NEW YORK (Reuters)
- Ford
Motor Co. (F.N) is planning to announce that its Five Hundred mid-size sedan will be renamed the Taurus, after its once-popular but now discontinued model, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Tuesday.
The newswire said Ford executives would announce its plan on Wednesday at the Chicago auto show.
No Ford spokesman was immediately available to comment.

Winnebago County Board Size

I have an update on my Winnebago County Board blog here....

Judiciary and Parks Meetings

For Parks And Judiciary click on them for the full agenda.

Parks will be discussing the soccer fees - Judiciary will look at maps for supervisory districts.

Something to remember when you read that Global Warming isn't happening...

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered.

The article is here.

Happy Birthday, FDR

From NYTimes 'On This Day'

1882 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Come again, we need you.

Irony:

1933 - Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

Also today:

1972 - Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as ''Bloody Sunday.''

It is also Dick Cheney's birthday. I believe good taste should dictate that Cheney reschedule his to a different day.

In Peoria, Bush Celebrates the End of the American Middle Class

The story that is not being told about Bush's visit to Peoria:

"There is a balance that must be struck,” Caterpillar group president Douglas Oberhelman told The New York Times, “between being competitive and being middle class.”

That is from a February 26, 2006 story in the New York Times (I blogged it here and here).

Remember this when you hear that:

Bush is touting Peoria-based Caterpillar as an example of how his administration's trade agreements and tax breaks can boost global sales and create jobs for U.S. workers.

What he is really saying is that by selling out real middle-class supporting jobs, Caterpillar can:

... net about $9 billion in sales outside of North America in 2006, when revenues of about $41.5 billion netted profits that topped $3.5 billion -- both company records.

Where is the extra profit coming from?

Highly profitable Caterpillar Tractor, for instance, now offers its new hires just $22 an hour in wages and benefits, half what it pays its more senior employees.

and:

After more than a decade of failed strikes and job actions — mainly in Illinois, where Caterpillar has its biggest factories — the U.A.W. reluctantly accepted a two-tier contract that provides for significantly lower wages and benefits for newly hired employees. The new second tier is as much as $20 an hour below the cost of employing Mr. Doty, 50, and a dwindling band of other veterans.

Bush is in Peoria today... Celebrating that community winning the race to the bottom, and the end of the American Middle Class.

And the $3.5 billion profit it netted his supporters.

Greg Baise, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, disagreed, calling Caterpillar the perfect stop ahead of Bush's economic address.

“Cat has had a very strong run the last few years. If there was a symbol of industrial might in America, I think they represent that as much as anyone,” Baise said.

Unfortuantely, he is correct.

Quote of the Day - Smoking Ban Edition

What a great point, do you think she was a debate champion?

Mary Lou Duerr, president of the Wood County Tavern League, does not want to see any smoking ban include taverns.

"There's something about drinking and smoking that goes together," she said.

Friedman on Bush's State of the Union:

As I read the president’s remarks, listened to the tepid public reaction and looked at his latest polls, which show Mr. Bush to be wildly unpopular, it seemed to me that the American people basically fired George Bush in the last election. We’re now just watching him clean out his desk. Both his energy proposals and his recent Iraq surge were about the best he could muster, given his pink slip.

Krugman Quotes FDR

A great editorial here.

Krugman compares the coming health debate to the New Deal (I agree).

“We had to struggle,” he declared in 1936, “with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. ... Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”
...
But politicians who try to push forward the elements of a new New Deal, especially universal health care, are sure to face the hatred of a large bloc on the right — and they should welcome that hatred, not fear it.

Bush now at 28% - Clinton at 69% same time in his term

The latest CBS poll:

THE STATE OF THE PRESIDENCY
Only 28% of Americans approve of the way the President is handling his job, while more than twice as many, 64%, disapprove.
This is the lowest approval rating the President has ever received, but it is not much different from earlier this month, when 30% approved.
PRES. BUSH’S JOB APPROVAL
Now - 1/1-3/2007
Approve - 28% - 30%
Disapprove - 64 - 63
Interviewing for this poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday. Saturday was the third deadliest day of the fighting in Iraq for U.S. troops.
There is more bad news for President Bush. By a two to one margin, Americans think he does not share their priorities. Just 28% think he does, while 69% think he does not.
DOES BUSH SHARE YOUR PRIORITIES?
Yes 28%
No 69

Contrast this to January 25, 1999 - 6 years into Clinton's Presidency (and during his impeachment)....

Clinton's approval rating remains high despite the Senate trial, with 69 percent expressing approval of the way he is handling his job as president. But a majority say they have a negative opinion of Clinton as a person. One reason for Clinton's high approval rating is that 71 percent say the economy is the best it has been in their lifetimes.

Do your soul a favor...

...and read this about refugee soccer in Atlanta.

Why Does Nate Still Hate Bob La Follete? (Another History Lesson)

As I have discussed before, our buddy Nate is slowly trying to tear down Bob La Follette's Legacy.

First he went after the open primary system, and now he is trying to shoot down the Council-Manager form of governmtnet in this comment on Babblemur.

nate wrote:
I am confused, what the hell is a city manager. Is that something akin to a Mayor in a democracy. Is that something leftover from the mining days.
Posted on 19-Jan-07 at 5:28 am

Well, Nate - here's a history lesson, the Council-Manager form of government is a major reform of the Progressive Era lead by La Follette:

Wikipedia:

Many progressives hoped to make American governments better able to serve the people's needs by making governmental operations and services more efficient and rational. Reforms included:

Professional administrators

Many progressives argued that governments would function better if they were placed under the direction of trained, professional administrators. One example of progressive reform was the rise of the city manager system, in which paid, professional administrators ran the day-to-day affairs of city governments under guidelines established by elected city councils.

Regents US History:

Progressive reform began at the local or city level because it was easier to implement than at the vast state or national level. Urban corruption from political machines was a major focus, resulting in the reorganization of local government using the commissioner-and city-manager-styles of management.
City Reforms
CityCommissioner Plan
Cities hired experts in different fields to run a single aspect of city government. For example, the sanitation commissioner would be in charge of garbage and sewage removal.
City ManagerPlan
A professional city manager is hired to run each department of the city and report directly to the city council.

Encyclopeadia Britannica:

Despite initial differences among urban reformers, by the early 1900s the vast majority of them were fighting for and winning much the same objectives—more equitable taxation of railroad and corporate property, tenement house reform, better schools, and expanded social services for the poor. Even big-city machines like Tammany Hall became increasingly sensitive to the social and economic needs of their constituents. Reformers also devised new forms of city government to replace the old mayor–city-council arrangement that had proved to be so susceptible to corrupt influences. One was the commission form, which vested all responsibility in a small group of commissioners, each responsible for a single department; another was the city-manager form, which provided administration by a professionally trained expert, responsible to a popularly elected council (these two forms were in widespread use in small and medium-sized cities by 1920).

University of Arizona:

One of the key factors in good governance at the local level, advocated so successfully one hundred years ago in the Progressive Movement, is the professional public manager.(1) Professional public management, embodied in the council-manager form of government for municipalities and in the board-manager form of government for counties, requires an elected governing body to hire a professionally-trained public manager with broad authority to hire and fire department heads and to establish merit systems, competitive bidding procedures, and standardized accounting and auditing practices.

Nate, why are you trying to tear down Fightin' Bob LaFollette?

Approve - 35% Disapprove - 60%

Those are Bush's current numbers.

(I suppose it is far to late for 'We told you so'?)

Some highlights from the poll:

When President Bush delivers his next-to-last State of the Union address Tuesday night, he will confront this reality, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans appear to have given up on success in Iraq and also on his presidency.

In addition, the poll finds that nearly another two-thirds believe he shouldn’t move ahead with his troop increase to Iraq, if Congress passes a non-binding resolution opposing it. And it shows that just two in 10 want Bush taking the lead role in setting policy for the country.
...
Perhaps more significant, a whopping 65 percent believe that Bush is facing a longer-term setback from which he’s unlikely to recover. That’s compared with 25 percent who think he’s facing just a short-term setback, and 7 percent who believe he’s facing no setback at all.

What’s more, only 22 percent say they want the president taking the lead in setting policy for the nation. Fifty-seven percent say they would prefer the Democratic-controlled Congress holding the reins.

I don't know if anyone is watching C-SPAN...

... but Rep. Tammy Baldwin is acting chair of the House right now.

It is awesome.

The Best Legislation of the New Legislature...

...has all ready been introduced.

I don't care how much teeth they put in ethics reform, it cannot top this:

Just a Bill: Phone numbers

Madison -- It's a common frustration: You finally find that Web site you're looking for, and then you can't find a phone number.Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) wants to change that, at least for state agencies. Under AB-7, each state agency would have to feature at least one phone number -- in bold -- on the main page of its Web site. There must also be a link to phone numbers for other units of the agency, the bill says.

If only they could make it for the entire web...

Thanks, Marlin!

Outrage and a Disturbing Comparison

As all of Oshkosh, I found myself unable to believe the headlines this morning:

Couple charged with locking girl in bedroom for nearly two years

Girl spent 22 hours a day in a room for almost 2 years

The complaint states the girl was locked in a small bedroom for 22 hours a day for nearly two years. The bedroom was secured with a dead bolt accessible only from the outside and an alarm system that went off if the door was opened. There was a camera in the room that recorded what the girl was doing during at all hours of the day and night and the only furnishings in the room was a urine soaked mattress, a blanket, a pillow and an empty dresser.

The description of her mistreatment continued:

..the room were the girl was confined had no toys, books or other things associated with a child, the complaint states. Detectives also noted the room contained a single light bulb..

..(she) was not allowed to read any books, including the Bible..

And as a result:

Officers from the Oshkosh Police Department were called on Jan. 12 to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Appleton, where the 13-year-old girl had been brought because she was hearing voices.

As horrible as this is, my mind kept wandering to other things I have read recently:

The accused was held in extreme isolation for 1,307 days. Held in a nine-by-seven-foot cell. The only window blacked out. He was the lone prisoner on the two-tier cellblock. He was given food through a slot in the door. He slept on a steel mattress. No reading material. No calendar. No clock. Nothing to connect him to the outside world.

According to court papers filed by Padilla's lawyers, for the first two years of his confinement, Padilla was held in total isolation. He heard no voice except his interrogator's. His 9-by-7 foot cell had nothing in it: no window even to the corridor, no clock or watch to orient him in time.

Sometimes it was very cold, sometimes hot. He had nothing to read or to look at. Even a mirror was taken away.

The isolation was so extreme that, according to court papers, even military personnel at the prison expressed great concern about Padilla's mental status.

The Oshkosh parents that decided to treat their child with such cruelty deserve to have the full weight of the law brought down on them. They are monsters. I hope for their convictions and the daughter's recovery.

That said, we cannot from one side of our mouth condemn the actions of this couple while accepting the same from our government.

Both are wrong.

I Owe the Winnebago County Democratic Party $50...

During a discussion at this months meeting, I announced that if Rep. Petri voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, I would donate $50 to the party.

I was so sure he would be against it.

But, to give credit where credit is due. He did....

4 years too late, but still a good move.

Joke of the Day...

I get the Comedy Central Joke of the Day email.

This was yesterdays:

A man wearing a Democratic pin walks into a bar and sees a picture of President Bush hanging behind the bartender. He calls the bartender over and says, "You should take that picture down. George Bush is a blight upon this nation. He should be impeached."

The bartender, a life-long Republican, is completely offended. "Why you liberal piece of garbage. How dare you come into my bar and tell me how to run my business!"

"Listen, I'm the customer, so I'm always right." the man says. "That picture offends me, so I want you to take it down."

"That tears it," the bartender says, "How would you like it if I came into your bar and told you what to do?"

"Well, you'd be the customer, so you'd be right," the man says.

"Fine, then let's switch places," the bartender says.

So, they do. The man takes the bartender's place behind the bar, and the bartender walks outside, waits a moment, and then comes back inside. The bartender sits at the bar and says to the bar, "You should take that pin off. The Democrats are destroying our country with their liberal agenda."

"Sorry," the man says, "but we don't serve Republicans here."

Why Does Nate Hate Bob La Follette? (A History Lesson)

In a post on his blog, Nate of the Nate Report said:

There is no excuse for the amount of money spent locally and by political parties on unneeded primaries. Now, if the Democratic or Republican parties want a primary that’s just fine with me, but it should not be done on the public dole.

Nathan, Nathan, Nathan....

This is one of the lasting reforms ann legacies of La Follette and the Wiscosnin Idea. Why do you want to ruin our legacy?

From Fightin' Bob:

Declaring that "the spirit of democracy is abroad in the land," La Follette successfully pushed the legislature to double taxes on the railroads, to break up monopolies, to preserve the state's forests, to protect labor rights, to defend the interests of small farmers, to regulate lobbying, to end patronage politics, and to weaken the grip of political bosses by creating an open-primary system.

Wikipedia:

La Follette returned to Wisconsin where he refused a bribe offered by a powerful Wisconsin Republican, Philetus Sawyer, to influence a judge. Outraged by the bribery attempt, he became a vocal critic of machine politics and a leader of the "Progressive" faction of the Republican Party then vying for power with the "Stalwart" party establishment. He returned to office as Governor in 1900, after two unsuccessful attempts, by campaigning for direct election of nominees in party primaries.

From MIT:

Outside the South, primary elections were the cornerstone of progressive reforms. States that adopted the direct primary early, such as Wisconsin, California, and North Dakota, were strongholds of the Progressive movement within the Republican Party.11 (The package of political reforms called the "Wisconsin idea," including the direct primary, was the handiwork of progressive Republican senator Robert M. LaFollette.) The direct primary, its advocates argued, promised to turn out of o±ce politicians long out of touch with the typical voter and to renew the Republican Party with a healthy dose of competition. In the South too,
progressives called for direct primaries as a means of weakening the hold of particular factions or organizations over state politics. Where the target of reform in the North was the business plutocracy and immigrant machines, in the South the target was courthouse cliques and plantation bosses.

Come on, Nate. Don't ruin our legacy. Candidates should not be decided in back rooms, they should be decided in the light of election.

I know you love your IRV, but don't let that blind you.