February 2009 Archives

“We know that corporate anti-worker groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Brad Schwanda of UAW Region 4. “We need to be ready to talk to fellow workers, our congressional delegation and the media about this legislation.”

On Tuesday union affiliates and community allies from around the state gathered in Milwaukee to get the facts about the Employee Free Choice Act. The 65 attendees at this all day training session left prepared to combat misinformation about the bill.

“It is up to us to spread the truth,” said Mike Goebel of CWA Local 4611. “The Employee Free Choice Act does NOT eliminate secret ballot elections. It simply allows workers to choose between the two existing methods of forming a union.”

Unions and community allies participating the training included AFM, AFSCME, AFT, America Votes, BAC, CWA, IAMIA, IBEW, GCC/IBT, Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, IUOE, LIUNA, NALC, School for Workers at UW Madison, SEIU, UAW, UFCW, Alliance for Retired Americans, and Working America.

For pictures from the training sessions, click here to visit our flickr account. 

Workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain will be critical to rebuilding a strong economy, says a new report that examines the effect of unions on wages and Wisconsin’s economy.

Unions Are Good for the Wisconsin Economy, written by researchers Karla Walter and David Madland for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, says that increasing union rates would put more money in workers’ pockets, reversing the sharp growth in income inequality that has undermined our economy.  In fact, if union membership was as high as it was in 1983, Walter and Madland suggest, Wisconsin workers would earn an estimated $503 million more in wages and salaries.

Walter and Madland contend that we must make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain for a fair share of the value they create:

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act and making it harder for management to threaten workers seeking to unionize would be good for American workers. It would help boost workers’ wages and benefits. And putting more money in workers’ pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy. Increasing unionization is a good way to get out of our current economic troubles.

Workers and community members held a roundtable discussion of the report at the Capitol Building in Madison on February 18th.  The event was moderated by Jim Cavanaugh, President of the South Central Federation of Labor.  Participants included Representative Tammy Baldwin, Director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy Joel Rogers, and Director of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin Rabbi Renee Bauer.

Visit http://employeefreechoice.typepad.com/wi/2009/02/new-report-calls-for-employee-free-choice-workers-in-madison-agree.html for photos and video clips from the worker roundtable.  

Some of the most memorable moments from the roundtable were provided by Ryan Wolfe and Dan Kortte, both of whom are assembly workers at Sub-Zero Freezer Company.  As current members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 565, both men were able to compare their current unionized jobs with prior nonunion work experiences.

“I have worked in nonunion workplaces before,” said Kortte.  “Now that I am a union member I can testify that my benefits have improved and my wages are much better.  Union contracts are the way to build a strong middle class.”

“Every employee should have the right to do what I have done,” said Wolff, Bargaining Committee Member and Trustee of SMWIA Local 565.  “Through my union I have been able to negotiate with my employer for things that have made my family better off.  The Employee Free Choice Act will extend that opportunity to more Wisconsin workers.” 

Click here to watch the entire workers' roundtable as recorded by Wisconsin Eye Television. 

The answer sadly appears to be, depends.

Whether Belling will say something stupid or offensive or both appears to be a question in the same vein as, "Well, is it a day of the week that has vowels in it?"

This one is a doozy, even for him.

Another headshaker from the Assembly Republican braintrust -- this time bringing the same budget shackles to Wisconsin which helped drive California into its near economic collapse and nearly killed a bipartisan solution to their woes.

Leah Vukmir and Rich Zipperer, who apparently have created their own Assembly Bad Ideas Caucus, are now pushing for a required two-thirds "supermajority" for any bill that raises some kind of tax.

If this wasn't such a monumentally bad idea, it would be laughable. After all, this is the Assembly GOP cadre which was a part of 14 years of iron-fisted rule, where Republicans rammed through whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

I've been trying to determine the causes of this mess in our country because, listening to the wise men and women on CNBC and CNN and the other mainstream outlets, I've really gotten confused. See, I thought that our problems were the result of serious greed, lack of adequate regulation, unrestricted lobbying of our government representatives (I use that term lightly), corporate irresponsibility and downright criminal behavior, a war that spends billions every week, with no end in sight while the terrorists who attacked our country run free in a country we abandoned (again) and a lock-step political party that prevented any change to those problems. I thought the trillion dollars in debt had something to do with this!! I thought the impending depression was traceable to the behavior above!

Apparently, I missed the boat by a mile. According to a conservative friend of mine, this mess we're in, is attributable to liberal lawyers and their liberal biased interpretations and manipulation of the Constitution. Now see, this train of analysis had eluded me so I thought I'd go research it. Since I know a bunch of these scoundrels, I decided to call them up and confront them. No pussyfootin' around when my country is in dire straits. .


-"Hello".
-"Hi, Bill, this is Tom. We worked together on those cases where the cops beat those confessions out of those kids? Well, I was just told that you are responsible for this mess that we're in in this country. What are you gonna do about it?"
-Huh?!?
-Listen, I've heard you've been manipulating the Constitution! I'm guessing it resulted in derivatives that were worthless. What have you got to say for yourself?"
-"Tom, have you been smoking something funny? And what the hell is a derivative? It's like, Latin, isn't it?
-"Never mind." Click.

-"Hello"
-"Hi, Fred, this is Tom. Remember we worked together on those cases that forced those corporations to reimburse those kids for their scrambled brains from the toxic substances?"
-"Oh Yeah - Hi Tom."
-"Well, while we've been out of touch, apparently you've been working to bring this country down into the mess it's in. Have you been working secretly for the banks?"
-"Uh, no. What are you talking about?"
-"Very clever,but you're stonewalling! I have it on good information from a friend that liberal lawyers have gotten us in this mess. And you're one of the really liberal ones. Did you find some liberal interpretation of the Constitution that allowed for lenders to loan mortgage money to people who couldn't pay and then package it in ways that could be sold to the rest of the world as something of value? And how about those billions of dollars of bonuses - did you screw around with the Commerce Clause too?"
-"Tom - I'm gonna hang up now. I know a really good therapist".click.

-"Hello"
-"Hi Jim. This is Tom. We worked on a ummyou know, a case to help.".
-"Sure, I remember, Tom. The long-term isolation of those mental pat"
-"SSssshhhh! Someone may be recording this so speak generally, OK?"
-"Recording it?"
-"Yeah - listen- I've been pursuing some inside information about how liberal lawyers have put this country on the brink of collapse and I was wondering what you know about that?"
-"Huh?"
-"Well you remember when we worked on that research for the professor who was trying to ascertain the legality of declaring war on and invading a foreign country because some lunatic fringe element thought they might harm us in 3003?"
-"Uh hunh."
-"Well apparently that research was so liberal it's been used to bring the nation to the brink of collapse, destroy the economy, free all the prisoners, and totally undercut our ability to willy-nilly invade those commies in Canada. I've been questioning liberal lawyers to see if I can get to the bottom of this."
-"I see. Tom have you gone off your medication?"
-"Hmmmm - you too.."
-"Well, I've got to run. I have a client coming in."
-"Does this client need a liberal interpretation of the constitution by any chance? I suppose this doesn't have anything to do with fixing the health system through some nutty interpretation " click.

There you go. The cover-up is obviously well under way. But I'm on it. I know it must be true because it was in my e-mail. Stay tuned.

The Patriot

Disenchanted with the continued immoral and illegal occupation of Iraq, a local serviceman has refused a return to active duty. Specialist Kristoffer Walker of Green Bay recently notified his superiors that he would not rejoin his unit in Iraq, a stance that could land the veteran in federal prison. Yet despite the possible ramifications, Walker stands by his convictions and refuses the myriad of cop-outs that would otherwise excuse his absence.

That's right: Kristoffer Walker is not a conscientious objector, or at least as defined by the U.S. Army. On the contrary, he believes that war is - at times - necessary, unlike a true objector like, say, a Quaker. Walker believes in defending the U.S. and her Constitution against immediate, external threats. What he doesn't believe in is the murder of one million Iraqi civilians and the displacement of millions more. He doesn't believe in the destruction of a once-vibrant culture and the seizure of Iraqi oil by U.S. and British transnationals. And, he certainly doesn't believe in continuing this "illegitimate, unnecessary campaign."

Thus, the anti-war movement has a new hero - and a true American hero at that. In joining the chorus of anti-war Iraq veterans, Walker defies the right-wingers - civilian right-wingers, usually - who implore us to 'support our troops.' Well, I for one do support our troops, as I'm sure we all do regardless of political affiliation. Soldiers like Spc. Walker, as well as the tens of thousands who haven't taken such a brave stand, deserve our utmost respect and reverence. That much is certain.

But what they don't deserve is to be put in harm's way so that our administration can spread this neoconservative market ideology that has already crippled the global economy. I know that I support the troops. But, I have to ask: if our government can justify sending young men to their death on a series of lies and can threaten imprisonment for those same young men who stand up for their principles, do they?

Among the many head-shaking claims made by conservatives is that of the "liberal" media bias.

As we know, the vast majority of American media: radio, TV, music, books, magazines, newspapers -- is owned by six corporations. That number was 50 in 1983.

Basic common sense says the biggest corporations in the world use their media outlets to promote a pro-corporate, conservative economic message. For instance, ask yourself this: how many newspapers have a Business Section? Now, how many of those have a Labor Section?

Soviet defectors, however, insisted upon them.' 'They were incriminating, face off then?' They had to be to some degree. Generally in the hansen s disease area of who was manipulated. Embarrassment is always to be titan peeler avoided; careers are destroyed by embarrassment. But then, I don't leanne marshall have to tell you that. You've used the technique brilliantly.' ' fsn pittsburgh Seventy-one streets in the jungle...' said Carlos, reading from the obama tax cut paper in his hand, an ice-like calm imposed on his oyster fest atlanta whisper.' A jungle as dense as Tarn Quan.... This time korto momolu the execution will take place as scheduled. Jason Bourne will rihanna domestic violence photo not leave this Tarn Quan alive. By any other name, rihanna breaks her silence Cain will be dead, and Delta will die for what alien apocalypse he's done. Angelique! You have my word!' The incantation stopped, alexander mcqueen wedding dress the assassin's mind racing to the practical. 'Did Villiers have kellogg arena any idea when Bourne left his house?' 'He didn't know. I festus missouri told you, he was barely lucid, in as much a conan o brien last show state of shock as with his telephone call.' 'It doesn't matter. minneapolis snow emergency The first flights to the United States began within the fired up soundtrack past hour. He'll be on one. I'll be in New butler basketball York with him, and I won't miss this time... My wisconsin road conditions knife will be waiting, its blade a razor. I'll peel franklin county auditor his face away; the Americans will have their Cain without festus mo a face! They can give this Bourne, this Delta, whatever joe crede name they care to.' The blue-striped telephone rang on Alexander Conklin's maryland lacrosse desk. Its bell was quiet, the understated sound lending an torchmate eerie emphasis.

Also, I know dollhouse episode 2 this individual--- and so do you. Smith started. Excuse me, sir? The real time with bill maher man you are going to meet and bring out is mfc 20 results Yuri Danko. Danko... In his mind's eye Smith saw a bearlike man, atl movie a few years older than he, with a gentle moon zig zag movie face pockmarked by childhood acne. Yuri Danko, the son of curt sleeper a Dobnets coal miner, born with a defective leg, had derek fisher gone on to become a full colonel in the Russian dolly parton army's Medical Intelligence Division. Smith couldn't shake his surprise. Smith knew fresno state baseball that before signing the security agreement that had made him katherine ross part of Covert-One, Klein had put his entire life under art bell a microscope. That meant Klein was aware that Smith knew byron scott Danko. But never in all the briefings had Klein ever fup hinted that he had a relationship with the Russian. Is Danko james posey part of---? Covert-One? No. And you are not to mention the drumline fact that you are. As far as Danko is concerned, don rickles I'm sending a friendly face to bring him out. That's gordon northcott all. Smith doubted that. There was always more to Klein than alvin york met the eye. But one thing he was sure of: the graduate film Klein would never place an operative in harm's way by lsu baseball not telling him everything he needed to know. The last time dell curry Danko and I met, Klein was saying, we established a bill maher ann coulter simple code that would be.

Much to the chagrin of the corporate honchos at WMC, strong unions ARE actually good for the economy, according to a new report by the Center for American Progress. Better yet, unions are good for the Wisconsin economy.  But perhaps most importantly, unions can actually help Wisconsin businesses weather this economic storm.

Of course, those of you still under the hypnosis of WMC’s never-ending stream of anti-union, anti-worker rhetoric and stances over the years (see here, here, here, here, and here), will no doubt crow that somehow workers getting a fair share of the wealth they helped create is a bad thing. “Bad for business” WMC and the conservo-bots will say. “Businesses will leave in droves” they’ll cry. But that’s just not the case. But what WMC really means is “The Corporate CEOs we represent deserve all the wealth. Forget the little guys and gals.”

Earth to WMC: if people have no money to spend, no one can buy your goods. After all, there’s only so many ultra-rich CEO’s you can sell stuff to, and not all of you manufacture private planes or gold-plated toilets. You need to expand your market—to the common folk. And what do unions do best? Help the workers to paid fairly, which means more cash to buy stuff--you know, the American way. Consumer spending drives 70% of the economy, and stronger unions mean more consumer spending, period. In Wisconsin between 2004 and 2007, union workers are paid, on average, 11.9% higher than their non-union counterparts. But union memberships are down dramatically: according to the CFAP study, unionization is down 50% since 1983. I wonder what parallels we can draw…who was in charge for the majority of that time in Wisconsin? Conservative corporatists at the Capitol and WMC.  

Unionization numbers aren’t just declining because less people want to join. According to a Peter Hart Research Associates poll, 3 in 5 people would join a union if they could. Thanks largely to the scare tactics of WMC and groups like it (Club for Growth, Wisconsin Institute for Leadership, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce etc.), it’s harder today to join a union. And as I mentioned before, WMC’s lobbyists are busy as ever this session, working hard to block good pro-worker legislation. (here, here, and here).

That’s why legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act is so important. It will protect Wisconsin workers already in unions, and make it harder for employers to intimidate workers and prevent unionization. You can read more about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) here, and as always, you can use OWN’s tools to contact your state and federal legislators and let them know how important EFCA is to Wisconsin, and to America.

Have you heard the right wing spinners lately? If you're like me, you may not have. I can't afford the cost of a new TV every week and my Irish temper simply can't handle the lies, distortions, and outright slanders. Thanks, however, to Olberman, Thomm Hartman and the few other intelligent promoters of facts, history and the American way, I've been exposed to the new right wing talking points. I thought for a minute I was having flash-backs again. Not to Viet Nam this time but to the 1950's.

"Socialism" is mandatory in virtually every sentence of the right wing blabbers. Their troops have been advised to call the liberal stations (if they can find one in this country) and begin by saying "Hi Comrade". (Very clever these people). They now paint a picture of Nazism and hero worship and brown shirts as evidenced by the hope of a new, honest, and revitalized United States under the Obama administration. That dirty word "government" rears its ugly head once again. "It" is going to take away "your doctor" (if you're so lucky as to have one, and then can get an appointment), fund crazy things like wind and sun (if we can still see it by the time these morons quit burning every inch of fossil fuel known to man), "nationalize your banks" (so instead of getting none of your money back when they fail, you and the treasury might get repaid). Worse, "It" is going to spend your children's and your grandchildren's future security by these huge deficits Obama and the Democrats are creating.

The strength of the right wing media in this country, unchallenged and often aided and abetted by the mainstream media (indeed, at least on radio, they're one and the same), is that they capture the terms of the debate. And they're not stupid about it. They use the very terms that would accurately describe themselves and apply them to those who would dare oppose them. (Nuremburg, Socialists, cowards, pansies). They take the terms to which people emotionally respond (Defeat, clear skies, "your" property, income, money, choice, freedoms) and hijack them before Democrats and Liberals can finish the complex sentences of which we're so fond.

It doesn't have to be so. The "warmongers" "lied" us into an "illegal war" through "deception" and the "distortion" of the information available to them. They "treasonously exposed" and silenced intelligence agents who gave them information they didn't want to hear. This war is still "killing" our "sons and daughters". It is "costing us our future". It will, "according to some economists, cost us over $5 TRILLION dollars before we're through. While the banks fail based on "greed and fraud", and the housing markets do the same, while "millions of unemployed" "line up" looking for work, thanks to the "greedy and unregulated, wealthy financiers" brought about by Reaganism and the last 8 years, we need "bold and positive action" to "fight the Bush Republican Depression". The "lock-step Republican Congress" the "architects" of "war, financial disaster, denial of global climate change, destruction of the middle class, a health care system that is bad for business and good for the rich, the destruction of the environment, and HUGE deficits, and the defeat of every measure that might have addressed some of these disasters", "now piously proclaim their adherence to fiscal responsibility".

Now, take all the words in italics above and write them on a convenient piece of paper or envelope. Put it in your pocket. No matter what the silly terms the media or the right throw at you, respond with these terms. You see, the use and abuse of words by the right is stealing our democracy. Fight back. The words in the above paragraph are both accurate and direct in describing the actions, failures, and continued deceptions of the right and their media cohorts. Don't buy it. Let's debate according to our terms for a change.

Dan Kenney has a message for Blackwater, the controversial private security firm that just changed its name to try to escape its bloody past:

"Blackwater's new name is Xe, the symbol for an odorless, colorless gas. But the smell from its actions won't go away, and the company will never be invisible," said Kenney, who will speak in Milwaukee on Friday, Feb. 20.

Kenney is the director of Clearwater, a DeKalb, Illinois-based organization opposing Blackwater's operations and the privatization of US security.

Blackwater announced last week that it was changing its name and logo from Blackwater to Xe (Pronounced "z") in hopes of escaping from its bloody past.


"The renaming of Blackwater's 26 companies under the Xe banner is part of their rebranding campaign launched a year and a half ago when Blackwater contractors were involved in the shooting of 17 innocent Iraqi citizens in a busy Baghdad square. As it was then that they first changed their name from Blackwater USA to Blackwater Worldwide, now to Xe," Kenney said.

The Associated press reported that Blackwater officials acknowledged the need for the company to shake its past in Iraq. "Its not a direct result of a loss of contract, but certainly that is an aspect of our work we feel we were defined by," said spokesperson Anne Tyrrell.

Several times since September of 2007 Erik Prince, Blackwater's owner, has said that security is one part of their business; they hope to become a "one stop shop" for the Pentagon. They are still involved in Mexican Border patrol, their intelligence division is still providing CIA type services to Fortune 500 corporations, and they are seeking contracts to provide security to ships against so called "pirates." They are also heavily involved in training both military and civilian personnel, such as municipal police

In the periodic table of the elements, Xe represents an odorless, colorless gas. So, it's a perfect name for a group that is trying to hide from public scrutiny. But Blackwater cannot hide their odor and their crimes from an awakened citizenry. Clearwater will follow Blackwater and the Prince private army, maritime division, air force, and CIA wherever they go, no matter how many names they try to use. Because no matter what they call themselves they will continue to be a threat to democracy everywhere they go. They may take the name Xe, but they will never be invisible.

Kenney will speak at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in Room 001, Cudahy Hall, 1313 W Wisconsin Ave., on the Marquette University campus.

His talk is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Iraq Moratorium, Peace Action-Wisconsin, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Progressive Students of Milwaukee, U.S. Labor Against the War, and the Marquette Center for Peacemaking. The event is free and open to the public.

What is it with Bucyrus in Milwaukee that attracts the worst of the worst on the right? It was only a short time ago that epic failure of a candidate John McCain visited the plant to tell us all “the fundamentals of the economy are strong.” That worked out well.

Now Scott Walker, literally and figuratively following in McCain’s footsteps, gave his “State of the County” speech Monday night at the same Bucyrus International plant. Given the implosion of the economy brought on by conservatives like Bush, McCain, and McCain right-hand-economic-man Phil Gramm, one would think Walker might want to distance himself from the failed policies of the Bush years and the McCain campaign. Think again. Walker trotted out the same old conservative talking points about “tax-cuts,” firmly toeing the Bush line.

“History shows that tax cuts lead to prosperity,” Walker said. What history is that? The last eight years, when Bush handed out billions to the wealthy and corporations while the economy went to garbage? Tax cuts for the rich in a time of war? Walker must be getting the official Bush Administration History Revision report. What about the history of the Great Depression and the New Deal which proved beyond any doubt that the type of stimulus Obama’s pushing, that is government spending and infrastructure construction, will work?

WMC is always against corporations paying their fair share in taxes. Now, they’re using the economic downturn to try and frighten all of us into laying down while WMC rams its radical pro-corporate agenda down our throats.

In a new radio ad out this week, WMC is subjecting  hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens who are paying their fair share to their audio propaganda sledgehammer. It seems the bottom dwellers at WMC are doing their darndest to capitalize on the fear many of us are feeling about the economy.Here's a sampling of the radio ad script:

“More than $200 million in new taxes on employers.
In a recession? That’s going to make things worse.
Wisconsin will be less competitive.
Our families will have fewer jos.
{With fewer jobs, our communities have fewer resources for schools, and parks, and
roads.}
When business taxes go up, businesses may not move here.”

Scared yet? Don't worry, the horror show continues.

C-SPAN’s Survey of Presidential Leadership is now out, take a look.

Last year, financial industry Banksters jetted into DC and made off with $700 billion aided by the likes of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). But this week, when millions of Americans looked forward to a stimulus package of their own, Cornyn was surprisingly absent.
 
Where was he, you ask?
 
PARTYING AT A COCKTAIL PARTY WITH WALL STREET GOP DONORS OF COURSE! (hear a MoveOn ad here)

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A story in the Wisconsin State Journal today inexplicably gives a forum to some blow-hard from Dallas named Barry Asmus who spent the better part of his speaking engagement at the WMC annual Business Day in Madison railing against making the super-rich and gigantic corporations actually pay their fair share for the services they so willingly use. He didn’t even beat around the bush. “Don’t raise taxes on corporations or wealthy people” reads the leed.

Not surprisingly, this dolt sang HIGH the praises of Ronald Reagan throughout. But Asmus’ suckling of Reagan would make even Grover Norquist blush. According to Asmus, Reagan’s tax cuts for the wealthy ended 50 years of a “lousy” U.S. economy spanning the Great Depression up until 1983. Sorry, idiot says what? So one of the biggest explosions in the history of the world economy, after the New Deal and WWII, was “lousy?” Or the years of prosperity under Clinton? But his revisionist history and outright lies don’t stop there. Oh no.

Asmus then goes on to claim, in very Reagan-esque fashion, that thousands of “teenage boys” each own two to 15 homes, thanks to the “government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” And his proof of this is?? Much like the welfare queens in Cadillacs, this sort of claim is nothing more than a neocon scare tactic these trolls use to attack the middle and lower class—making US to appear irresponsible, dumb, and unable to make informed decisions for ourselves. What about the banker’s who GAVE these people huge loans, knowing they couldn’t pay them back? I’m not about to claim that those who took big loans shouldn’t share some responsibility, but those mortgage lenders were preying on innocent people to steal their money and take their houses.

That this mouthpiece for the wealthy was even invited to speak in Wisconsin is a disgrace. Then again, look at who brought him here—none other than the CEO’s Only Club, aka WMC. Is this the kind of dangerous and ridiculous rhetoric that WMC is planning on pushing this budget cycle? Sorry you money-grubbers, but guess what? We’ve ALL got to make sacrifices in this bad economy that you free-marketers helped to create (thanks a lot!), and that means YOU TOO.

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But if you connected these points in a metaphysical way, maybe clarence king the shape made sense. I mean, what was the common maxine waters element of these five points? Maybe there wasn't any; but stewart parnell somehow they seemed connected, they seemed to share something. What? I roberto alomar thought about whatever it was that had pinged in my citizens bank park seating chart head on Plum Island. History. Archaeology. That was it. What brett favre was it? I asked Ms. Whitestone, Do you know any of 22 dogs in car the people who work on Plum Island? She thought a moment, lone grove ok then replied, Not really. A few of my customers work ilya dall there. Other than Tom and Judy, I don't know any emma sophina of the scientists and none of them belong to the stump historical society. She added, They're a close-knit group. Keep to forever stamps themselves. Do you know anything about the proposed digs on Plum robbie alomar Island? Only that Tom Gordon had promised the historical society a northern calloway chance to root around on the island. You're not into archaeology? Not emma sofina really. I prefer archive work. I have a degree in westminster dog show winners archival science. Columbia University. Is that so? I teach at John selma hayek breastfeeding Jay, which is actually about fifty blocks due south of sussex spaniel Columbia. Finally, we had something in common. What do you teach? alomar aids she asked. Criminal science and ceramics. She smiled. Her toes wiggled. She grass paint recrossed her legs. Beige. The panties were beige like the chuck schumer dress. I was at a point where I almost had map of oklahoma to cross my legs lest Ms. Whitestone notice that Lord oklahoma tornado Pudly was stirring from his nap. Keep your fee-pee in stump westminster the teepee. I said, Archival science. Fascinating. It can be. I worked teachers win lottery at Stony Brook for a while, then got a job academy of country music out here in the Cutchogue Free Library. Founded in 1841, sirius bankruptcy and they still pay the same salary.

The Alliance for Animals (www.allanimals.org) is having a fundraiser on Sat. Feb 14th with featured guest Karen Dawn, author of, "Thanking the Monkey - Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals." This book was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the best books of 2008.

Karen's book has been widely acclaimed, earning her rave reviews from a broad array of influential people including Gloria Steinem, Bill Maher and JM Coetzee, among many, many others. Karen has made appearances on MTV, Access Hollywood and national news network affiliates across the country and has hosted her own radio shows. Her opinion pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, New York's Newsday and the UK Guardian.

Bill Lueders recently wrote a column about the book, in the Isthmus, which does an excellent job in combating the stereotype that animal activists are all extremists. He writes, "Now and then, a writer comes along who confounds people's ability to maintain popular stereotypes about animal advocates, " and "Thanking the Monkey is thoughtful and measured. For instance, while Dawn exposes the folly of some forms of animal testing, she affirms that some level of speciesism is inevitable and appropriate. Yes, she thinks it's wrong to put rabbits in stocks and dump chemicals into their eyes to test cosmetics, subjecting them to pain so excruciating that some break their necks trying to escape, when there are alternative methods that happen to be more reliable. But Dawn believes that using animals for nonlethal medical research could be seen as morally acceptable if it is indeed essential -- admittedly, in her view, a big if."

To read the article: http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=25019

For more information on the book: http://www.thankingthemonkey.com/

Meet author Karen Dawn by attending the Alliance for Animals fundraiser:
Saturday, February 14, 2009 6:00 to 10:30 p.m.
West Side Club 437 County Road M.
Madison Tickets: $30

or catch her for a book reading and signing at:

A Room of One's Own
307 W. Johnson St.
Madison, WI 53703
Sunday, February 15th 2pm

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A critical piece of legislation that would protect workers all across the state is up for a vote in the WI State Senate, and we need your help.

The Employee Wage Protection Act, Senate Bill 2, would put workers first in the event a business closes or goes bankrupt. In these tough times, it’s more important than ever we stand up for the working people of Wisconsin. Without good bills like the Employee Wage Protection Act, it’s going to be the regular folks of Wisconsin who are going to have it the worst.

Look at the case OWN examined last month—the Virnich and Moores case—that’s currently being heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Basically, a couple of business owners paid themselves out millions of dollars while they ran the business into the ground, and then refused to make good on their union contracts and required compensation for the workers  of Communications Products Cororation (CPC). BTW, you can read learn about Virnich and Moores here and here.

If the Wage Protection Act was in place, those workers could rest assured their earned compensation would be the first priority when a business goes under, rather than big banks who come first under current law.

In all the hubbub surrounding the landing of Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, there's one consistent and serious omission in nearly all of the reporting: U.S. Airways pilot Chelsea Sullenberger is union-trained.

For all of the attacks unions have sustained over the years from the rabid right, the benefits unions have brought to ALL of us--the 40-hour work week, child labor laws, and now union training (among many, many others) too often go overlooked.

Despite all of the great advances we've acheived thanks to the labor movement, right-wing crazies like Rush Limbaugh and our "representatives," both state and federal who so blindly follow him have been scape-goating organized wokers for years. 

It's time we all recognize the good unions do for us--bring back a "labor" section in the paper already!--and cheer these heroes for what they are: union-trained heroes. 

Remember last year when Sheldon Wasserman got called out by Alberta Darling for reneging on Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform "No New Taxes" pledge and everyone was like “Duh, Sheldon, you shouldn’t have signed that stupid P.O.S. pledge in the first place!”?

Thankfully some people, like Gov. Doyle, aren’t insane enough to put their signature next to anything masterminded by Mr. Norquist. Especially when that “thing” is designating Feb. 6 Ronald Reagan Day.

As an organization that believes everybody has a right to their day in court, One Wisconsin Now is keenly aware that Wisconsin conservatives have championed the smearing of defense attorneys and the erosion of the rights of the accused.

Ask former Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, the subject of millions of dollars worth of attacks on his work as a public defender. All operating cylinders of the right-wing machine - from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, to talk radio, to conservative bloggers - pounded Butler, calling him unfit because of his criminal defense work.

The Courage Campaign, a California organization with a similar mission as One Wisconsin Now, has produced a powerful video about efforts to overturn more than 18,000 previously-legal same sex marriages in the Golden State.

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce

Despite some great gains for progressives in the last two years, one of the most distressing setbacks has been the continuing rejection of simple, equal rights for gays and lesbians.

They're both regularly overturned.

Koschnick at an alarming rate if you look at judges across Wisconsin. Koschnick, the Jefferson County Circuit Court judge whose ineffective leadership is causing one senior judge to retire rather than deal with him, distinguished him as a below-average jurist, according to statistics released by the Wisconsin Law Journal.

Turns out since 2000, Koschnick has been overturned by higher courts at a rate that puts him in the bottom third of all circuit court judges in Wisconsin.

Ironically, I finished reading the Wispolitics.com weekly report today at 4:20, because a couple of the items led me to believe something wafting in the air over there is contributing to the report's most recent odd pronoucement.

In sum: the weekly "rising" segment led off with the GOP as a winner this week. Yes, that GOP. The Wisconsin Grand Old Party. The are movin' on up, according to wispo.

Why, you ask?

Headlining the local section of today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a story basically about how Scott Walker is so horrible at his job as Milwaukee Co. Executive that the state of Wisconsin is going to take over aid programs in the county.

Read the consequences of Walker’s inaptitude here (bottom of the article).

Interesting item by Dan Bice today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...

Ready, fire, aim

It's still not clear who was behind a push poll against School Board President Peter Blewett.

Blewett put out a statement saying the poll by the Parker Group of Birmingham, Ala., suggested that he authorized fellow board member Charlene Hardin's infamous trip to Philadelphia. In fact, he did not sign off on her junket.

But this much we do know:

The poll didn't always hit its intended target.

Thad Nation, the Democratic campaign strategist, said he received the push-poll call about Blewett's race.

But Nation said he can't figure out why.

"I live in Shorewood," he said, meaning he can't cast a ballot for or against the Milwaukee official.

Nowhere during the poll, Nation said, did the Parker Group ask if he was eligible to vote in the contest.

After the first Supreme Court debate, Randy Koschnick's right-hand-sleaze-man Seamus Flaherty set the tone for the coming public debate on the Supreme Court: more lies, more mistruths, more distortions.

During the debate, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson pointed out the Judge Koschnick was incorrect in stating the Wisconsin was the only state in which a decision similar to Knapp, a.k.a 'the Bloody Shoes' case. When asked about the campaign's misinformation, Seamus Flaherty decided instead to continue to mislead the public about the Knapp case. 

I was at the debate on Thursday, and if his statements are any indication, Seamus Flaherty might have been in attendance at the debate, but he sure wasn't listening. His claim that Wisconsin is the only state where a ruling like Knapp was applied is totally false.

Justice Abrahamson cited during the debate at least four other states where the Supreme Court there made similar rulings in cases related to Knaap -- Oregon, Vermont, Ohio and Massachusetts.

Abrahamson pointed out quite clearly to Koschnick that his campaign literature that used the "only in Wisconsin" state language was either incorrectly and incompletely researched or an out right lie. Yet Koschnick's right-had man, Seamus Flaherty is out there right after the debate, pushing the same absolutely false claim. And either way, it shows a carelessness by Flaherty and Koschnick towards elevating this important debate.

Seamus really is shameless; But then again, if past years are any model, I guess I should be gearing up to hear more falsehoods and slime from the Flaherty and Koschnick.