R.I.P.

Farewell, sweet Escort. You served me well....

Great Letter in Today's OshNW:

Editorial: Highway workers deserve respect for work, not immature scorn

I'd like to respond to Mr. Ken McGuire's extremely immature letter to the editor dated Feb. 8.

I am the wife of a county highway employee and would like to comment on a few things myself. We have two very young children at home that have seen very little of their father this winter because he has been making sure that your highway and county roads are safe for you and your family to travel on. They recently lost two of their peers due to the dangers of their job and I am disappointed that an individual would feel the need to make public issue with seven of them receiving compensation for hours unpaid that spanned over a year and a half worth of time.

So in the future, consider who takes care of your roads when it's 95 degrees and they are laying asphalt or 15 below and 2 a.m. when the roads are blown shut. These are honest, hard-working individuals that are trying to do the same thing that I am sure you are - provide for their family.

Lisa Averkamp Hilbert

More troubles with electronic voting - in Winnebago County

Some residents were unable to vote in Tuesday's presidential primary after they mistakenly selected the nonpartisan designation on the electronic voting machines and submitted their ballots without correcting the error.

City Clerk Patty Sturn said some voters didn't realize that they were required to select a party designation if they wished to vote in the presidential race.

Presidential primaries are party races and there are no nonpartisan presidential candidates. If voters did not select a party designation, they were able to vote only for the school board.

What does the military feel about the Bush administration?

• 60 percent of the officers surveyed say the military is weaker today than five years ago, largely because of Iraq, Afghanistan and the punishing rate of troop deployments.
• More than half say the military is weaker than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
• Some 88 percent say the demands of the Iraq war have stretched the military "dangerously thin."
• The officers rate their confidence in Mr. Bush ? who was hugely popular with the military in the 2000 election ? at a mere 5.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.

...

• More than 80 percent of the officers say it would be "unreasonable" to ask the military to wage another major war today.
• When asked how prepared the United States is to execute a military mission against Iran or North Korea, both of whose nuclear programs are a cause of great concern in Washington, officers put both below 5 on a 1 to 10 scale.
• When asked to judge the readiness of the military services to fight, the Army, which has shouldered the bulk of the Iraq war, rated the worst score - 4.7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

It's all here

Is Oshkosh the Center of the World?

From the Dallas Morning News:

"Welcome to the center of the world," joked Jef Hall, a Winnebago County supervisor and chairman of the county Democratic Party. "Oshkosh is a great barometer for national politics – we're a 50-50 city in a 50-50 county in a 50-50 state. As goes Oshkosh, so goes the world."

A Reason to Vote for Obama (also from the OshNW pic gallery)

Hasn't the Republican Party made it hard enough for her future?

Pictures from the Obama Rally in Oshkosh

Click here for my gallery.

Why not to vote for McCain...

This OshNW picture from the McCain rally says it all:

Get Involved in a Presidential Campaign This Weekend!

There are a number of ways to get involved in either the Obama or Clinton Campaigns this weekend!

1. Sen Barack Obama will be rallying at the Kolf Sports Center on the UW-Oshkosh Campus on Friday, Feb 15th.

The rally will start at noon, with Sen Obama making remarks about 2:00 PM. If you have questions, contact Ian Jungbacker at ijungbacker@hotmail.com or 202-487-9467.

2. Founders Day Celebration is sold out, but there are discounted overflow tickets still available!

Both Sen Clinton and Sen Obama will be in attendance. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here: www.wisdems.org – 6:00PM - February 16, 2008 - Midwest Airlines Center - Milwaukee, WI

3. Sen Hillary Clinton coming to Oshkosh!
We do not yet have the details, but we have been told that she should have an event here on Monday. More info to follow as it becomes available.

4. Volunteer with either campaign to get out the vote.

Volunteer for the Clinton Campaign: contact Audrey Duncan – aduncan@hillaryclinton.com or 651.245.7333. There will be phone banks and other activities out of the Labor Council - 2211 Oregon St. #A3, Oshkosh.

Volunteer for the Obama Campaign: contact Ian Jungbacker - ijungbacker@hotmail.com or 202.487.9467. There will be phone banks and other activities out of the Oshkosh HQ – 462 N Main, Oshkosh.

As always, the best way to get involved is to join your local party at www.winnebagodems.com – click on “Click here to join!”

Thanks for your interest!

Upcoming Democratic Primary Events in Winnebago County

Here's an email I just sent out to membership:


Members and Friends of the Winnebago County Democratic Party!

Here are a few ways to get involved in our primary!

1. Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson will appear at UW-Oshkosh tomorrow to rally support for Sen Hillary Clinton.

As posted in the Oshkosh Northwestern’s announcement:

Wilson was the author of a report debunking claims that Saddam Hussein had attempted to buy yellow cake uranium in Niger. His wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, was subsequently the focus of a probe into a leak that made her identity public.

Ambassador Wilson will speak in the Reeve Memorial Union at noon, Wed Feb 13th. If you will be attending, or have any other questions about the Clinton campaign, please contact Audrey Duncan, her email is aduncan@hillaryclinton.com, or phone 651-245-7333

2. Both Sen Clinton’s and Sen Obama’s campaigns will have representatives at our Winnebago County Democratic Party monthly meeting tomorrow (Feb 13th).

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at the Delta Family Restaurant – 515 N Sawyer St, Oshkosh. We will also receive training from the DPW staff about the process of becoming a delegate to the DNC national convention.

3. Sen Barack Obama will be rallying at the Kolf Sports Center on the UW-Oshkosh Campus on Friday, Feb 15th.

The rally will start at noon, with Sen Obama making remark about 2:00 PM. If you have questions, contact Ian Jungbacker at ijungbacker@hotmail.com or 202-487-9467.

As always, the best way to get involved is to join your local party at http://www.winnebagodems.com/ – click on “Click here to join!”

Contact me at anytime with questions as well!

Thanks!

-jef-

Barack Obama Organizing Event with Gov Doyle:

Barack Obama Organizing Event with Gov Doyle:

6:00 PM Wednesday, Feb 6^th

Reeve Memorial Union, Room 227 6pm

Contact Anthea Watson - 617-216-4526 or anthea.watson@gmail.com with questions.

Also contact Anthea if you are able to house any staff or volunteers for the Obama campaign.

Great Column on Purchasing Locally

From OshNW Community Columnist Steve Volkert

Commentary: Supporting community commerce more important than lowest price

Case in point is Wal-Mart with their philosophy that sold so many over the holiday season. "Save money, live better." Did they say, "Shop locally, save jobs?" No. Did they say, "Better service means better satisfaction?" No. Did they say, "Buy from those you know?" No. They said, "Save money, live better." Because after all, if we can save money on what we want, we will have a better life and it doesn't matter what it means for anone else. Is this what we as a society have gotten to? It's all about me?
...
Let me give you an example. I bought my vehicles from Don. Jerry keeps them safe for me to drive. My grocer is Jim and my garbage hauler is Dave. I have fish at Sandy's and sit down for a beer at Pat's. Dan takes care of my mortgage and Kristi takes care of my checking and savings. This spring I'm having Bill put in windows that I'm buying from Eric. Ken is my pharmacist and Jack is my family's doctor. When I die, Steve and Denise will take care of my family and me and make sure everything goes as planned.

Does price really matter to me? No. And not because I have an incredible wealth, but because these are my friends and I know I can trust them with my hard-earned money. If I have problems with their products or services I can talk to them; if I need something I can request it. And because they're friends, I know my voice will be heard. Not only do I buy from them, I also eat with them, go to ball games with them, coach with them and worship with them. They serve my community and are a part of my community. These are local business owners and their friendship means more than price. They are the people I can buy from, I can trust, I can sit down and talk with over a cold beer. And you know what, I've never had a beer with Sam Walton. Please, shop your locally owned independent businesses whenever possible.

Read it all here.

When do you need name people in a newspaper story?

The question arises from this OshNW story:

2 Oshkosh residents hurt in Highway 41 crash
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

Two people were injured Friday in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 41 near Lone Elm Road north of Fond du Lac.

At about 7 a.m., a pickup truck driven by a 35-year-old Oshkosh man was headed north on Highway 41 in the town of Eldorado when the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a pickup truck driven by Amanda Lancour, 17, of Oshkosh, said Lt. Nick Scorcio of the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Lancour’s vehicle entered the median, striking the median cables, which prevented it from entering southbound traffic, Scorcio said.

Lancour suffered minor injuries and was transported to Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh for treatment, Scorcio said. She was wearing a seat belt.

After impact, the Oshkosh man’s pickup truck spun out of control and entered the west ditch of Highway 41, overturning several times. The driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac.

The Oshkosh man will be cited for operating while intoxicated causing injury (third offense), operating while suspended causing injury, and reckless driving, Scorcio said.

As a result of the accident, the road was not closed, but traffic was backed up for a short time. Road conditions were icy at the time, Scorcio said.

Alcohol was a factor in the initial cause of the accident, he said.

The State Patrol is continuing its investigation of the incident. The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department, North Fond du Lac ambulance and first responders assisted at the crash scene.

Why would the 17 year old injured girl be named, but not the 35 year old intoxicated man who caused the accident ans was not injured be anonymous?

Greg Palast on Bush's State of the Union Numbers

His website is here.

In his State of the Union, the President asked Congress for $300 million for poor kids in the inner city. As there are, officially, 15 million children in America living in poverty, how much is that per child? Correct! $20.

Here’s your second question. The President also demanded that Congress extend his tax cuts. The cost: $4.3 trillion over ten years. The big recipients are millionaires. And the number of millionaires happens, not coincidentally, to equal the number of poor kids, roughly 15 million of them. OK class: what is the cost of the tax cut per millionaire? That’s right, Richie, $287,000 apiece.

Mr. Bush said, “In neighborhoods across our country, there are boys and girls with dreams. And a decent education is their only hope of achieving them.”

So how much educational dreaming will $20 buy?

-George Bush’s alma mater, Phillips Andover Academy, tells us their annual tuition is $37,200. The $20 “Pell Grant for Kids,” as the White House calls it, will buy a poor kid about 35 minutes of this educational dream. So they’ll have to wake up quickly.

Ross Perot Believes Everything He Reads on the Internets...

When I asked about Barack Obama, Perot said he admired his eloquence but thought it "a little odd that we would be less concerned about his background than being a Mormon." Perot was pleasantly surprised when I told him that Obama was a Christian, not a Muslim, and relieved when I informed him that the e-mail Perot (and untold others) received about Obama not respecting the Pledge of Allegiance was a fraud.

Rep Lasee in right! Fully fund Medicare dental:

He is wrong throughout the article, but gets it right in the end:

This problem needs to be addressed by paying market rates, not by adding more people. It isonly right and fair that our government pays market rates for goods and services. What we do now is dishonest and hurtful to those who are least able to afford medical care.

Great, Rep Lasee, let's raise the funds to make it happen.

MLK in Green Lake

Playing catch up on some posts...

Sen Robson quoted from a speach Martin Luther King Jr. made in Green Lake, WI:

In the fall of 1956, King spoke in Wisconsin at a conference of the American Baptist Assembly and American Home Mission Agencies near Green Lake. He asked the people to consider what the Apostle Paul might tell them today.

Paul might point out the success of capitalism in making America the richest nation in the world, and the failure of capitalism to lift all boats.

"God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty," King said. "God intends for all of his children to have the basic necessities of life, and he has left in this universe 'enough and to spare' for that purpose. So I call upon you to bridge the gulf between abject poverty and superfluous wealth."

Why 'Reaching Across the Aisle' Doesn't Work

Charles Pierce in Media Matters/Altercation:

Take the list of Republican congresscritters, House and Senate. Make me a list of 10 of them with whom you think you can work to achieve anything close to the progressive goals you have said you want to achieve. Give me an honest run, and I guarantee you that you can't do it. You may get "something done" but it's not going to have anything to do with anything resembling the values of the party you seek to represent. This is a party that has to be forcibly disenthralled from its lunatic base.

OshNW - Letter to the Editor: Olsen's Ethanol Conflict

Letter: Sen. Olsen has conflict on ethanol bill
State senate bill 380 is back and once again they are trying to force everyone to use ethanol-tainted gasoline. If ethanol were such a superior product, why would it need government to force us to use it? Ethanol has been proven to be an actual cause of more pollution not less because you need to burn more if it to get the same result as gasoline. But what is really interesting is whose name is listed as a co-sponsor of this corporate welfare and that is Senator Luther Olsen (R)-Ripon. Senator Olsen is part owner of feed and milling companies and his brother (Paul) operates Utica Energy, LLC that owns an ethanol plant in Oshkosh.

Senator Olsen in the past had decided to recuse himself from voting on pending ethanol bills due to business ties, so what has changed in the senators life that has eliminated his blatant conflict of interest? Is it now acceptable to have our elected officials pass laws designed to line their own and their families pockets? Senator Olsen is an embarrassment to the Republican Party and should resign.

Eric Destiche Appleton

Here is a summary of the bill.

Stew's Right, Again

Credit where credit is due, this is a great column:

Stew Rieckman column: Reply to all: Get past superficial to find real Oshkosh
...
The subject line of the e-mail is: "You know you're from Oshkosh when
…."
...
You can visit three world-class museums for pocket change.

You can wile away a Saturday morning browsing the collections at a great municipal library

You can enjoy the Thursday night summer music festival at a river front amphitheater, walk two blocks to your car and be home in five minutes.

You can choose from one of two excellent YMCA and watch your children enjoy indoor soccer, ice-skating, rock climbing, swimming and other activities in a wholesome environment.

You can go downtown to find a "thing-a-ma-gig" for your weekend project and get knowledgeable, friendly assistance from a clerk at Kitz and Pfeil.

You can stroll the Gallery Walk in downtown, explore the unique variety of shops and develop an appreciation for the eclectic art community in Oshkosh.

He has a bunch more here.

It is nice to see an appreciation of what Oshkosh has to offer. He also challenges people to add their own. Go here to do that.

Class War?

Who is fighting in Iraq?

Music - Black 47 & UFO

Black 47 - (here for MySpace) joins other Irish acts on UFO - check out the next album coming:

The band will be releasing its twelfth album (and first for UFO) titled Iraq on March 4, 2008. Inspired by friends and fans of the band that have served in Iraq and shared their thoughts and experiences, the album includes a batch of new songs along with several composed by Larry Kirwan over the course of the war. The album overall strives to capture the war through the eyes of the U.S. soldiers serving in it.

Also:

NEW YORK CITY, NY – Steadfast in its opposition to the war since before the invasion, Black 47 presents a dry-eyed view of life in combat on IRAQ its debut for new model indie, United For Opportunity (release date: March 4, 2008). The band hits the campaign trail in February performing across the U.S. and culminating with a St. Patrick's Day release party on their home turf, New York City, at BB Kings.

Recorded at Coney Island's Cyclone Sound in July 2007, IRAQ includes a batch of new songs along with several composed by Larry Kirwan over the course of the war. Inspiration for the characters and stories are very personal, many coming from the point-of-view of fans that served in Iraq and shared their experiences with the band.

Black 47 rarely plays to the converted and their shows have often seethed over the last five years. “Because of our background, we've always had as strong a fan base of right wing cops, firemen and conservatives, as of left wing students, radicals, and the working disaffected; neither side has been afraid to vent its views,” Kirwan dryly notes. “We also take pride in keeping in touch with our fans, many of whom traditionally join the Service as a way to fund their college education or mortgage. Add to that the many who enlisted in response to 9/11, and it's easy to see why we have had no shortage of information from those actually doing the fighting in Iraq.”

Great Romney Double-Talk

Romney, in a FL add:

"My plan will make our economy strong," he continues. "We need to invest in people and businesses with tax cuts that will get us moving again. Washington is broken, but we can fix it with real conservative change."

(emphasis mine)

According to Miriam-Webster:

conservative: "tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions "

conservatism: "disposition in politics to preserve what is established" or "the tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change"

Giuliani, at campaign stop, refuses to sign Packers hat

It is all here:

At a campaign stop in this southwest Florida town on Monday, the Republican presidential candidate refused to autograph a white Green Bay Packers cap. The New York Giants face the Packers in the NFC championship game this weekend.

"No, I won't sign that," the former New York City mayor says as he scribbles his name on a series of placards and papers. He has been spending almost every day here before Florida's Jan. 29 primary as it's his best chance to win a state before the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests.

Quote of the Day: “It’s tough for people who don’t know their frogs"

It's here, another namesake...

“It’s tough for people who don’t know their frogs,” Commission herpetologist Jeff Hall says.

So Hall and his fellow herpetologists are conducting free frog-call identification workshops to train volunteers, a sort of amphibian prep course.

American Healthcare System Kills 100,000 People Yearly

EDITORIAL: Lack of health plan kills 100,000 a year

A report released last week on the quality of health care in the industrialized world attached numbers to a problem we already recognized.

America's health care system is killing us -- at least 100,000 of us every year.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reviewed records on preventable deaths from 19 industrial nations and found our health care system to be the worst of the bunch -- well behind countries such as France, Japan and Australia that have universal health care policies.

It's not the quality of American care itself that causes 100,000 unnecessary deaths every year, researcher Ellen Nolte said. It's the inability of patients to get that care.

"I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking handed to the United States) is a condemnation because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access," she said. "But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?"

Read the rest here.

Huckabee Quote - Change the Constitution to Add More God:

It's here:

"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Owens Leaves Assembly...

From the MJS:

Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh) announced today on the floor of the Assembly she won't seek re-election.
...
"If I hurt your feelings, I apologize, even if you had it coming," Owens said before reciting lines from "My Way," the song popularized by Frank Sinatra.

Question: Did she do the Frank Sinatra or the Sid Vicious version?



She did it her way!

More on Vegas - Worker's Paradise

I started a thought here. Some more below (hat tip to the Chief):

According to "The Coffee Pot Wars," an essay by Annette Bernhardt, Laura Dresser and Eric Hatton in the new Russell Sage Foundation study of low-wage work, the median hourly wage of the American hotel dishwasher in 2000 was $7.45 -- a little better than the housekeeper's $7.09. Even luxury hotels seldom pay their low-end employees much more than the minimum wage. And while wages have stagnated, hours have declined, from 40 a week for low-end hotel workers in 1960 to 31 in 2000. At one hotel they studied, the authors concluded that 60 percent of the kitchen staff held down two jobs.

Garcia holds just one, but his hourly wage at the Luxor is $11.86 -- $4 higher than the industry average. He is paid for 40 hours every week, even if the company actually needs him for fewer. He has family health insurance paid for entirely by his employer. He has a defined-benefit pension. He has three weeks of vacation every year, which he likes to spend hunting in Canada.

Far from a life of quiet desperation, Garcia's seems full of noisy exaltation. On the evening I visit him, three grandchildren are careening around his house, a six-bedroom home built in 1988. Garcia's next-door neighbors are an attorney, a minister and, over the back fence, an air-conditioning mechanic. A legion of his fellow hotel workers inhabits the surrounding blocks.

How did this happen?

Something is right with this picture, so right that in an America where Wal-Mart and a thousand other unnatural shocks drive working-class living standards downward, we can scarcely account for it. The picture is incomprehensible unless you understand the role that a union -- Culinary Workers Local 226, the Las Vegas local of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) -- has played in the lives of its 48,000 members, their families and the city as a whole.

Local 226 is probably the largest -- and surely the most remarkable -- local union in the United States. While most unions have been shrinking or struggling to hold their own over the past several decades, and while hotel union membership has declined from 16 percent of the hotel workforce in 1983 to 12 percent in 2000, Local 226 has grown by 30,000 members since its low point in 1988. It has done that by organizing virtually every hotel on the Vegas Strip, so that roughly 90 percent of the jobs in the city's major hotels are unionized. Considering that Nevada is a right-to-work state where employees can work in unionized workplaces without joining the union, this is a breathtaking achievement.

The key is "union density" -- the unionized share of total jobs in a local occupation or industry. The authors of the Russell Sage study conclude that hourly wages in the hotel industry are $3 higher in cities with high union density than they are in ones where it's low. Even in unionized cities, however, the authors write that the union effect is minimal on work schedules or career ladders for such dead-end jobs as housekeeping. "This industry doesn't focus on mobility," one hotel executive told Bernhardt, Dresser and Hatton. "We've done a really poor job of recognizing talent and building our own."

Anyway, read it all.

UW Osh Economics Prof McGee: Universal Healthcare Needed

The entire column is here:

It's this simple – we need some system of universal, mandatory health coverage.

It could be a government run system like in Canada or England, or it could be a mandatory private insurance system like in Massachusetts or Switzerland. But staying with our current hodgepodge makes no sense at all.