This is a reprint from an email sent to me. I do not know the original sources.
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To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories.

Except Utah, which she does not fancy.

Your new Prime Minister (The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up “revocation” in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up “aluminium.” Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘favour’ and ‘neighbour’; skipping the letter ‘U’ is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters.

You will end your love affair with the letter ‘Z’ (pronounced ‘zed’ not ‘zee’) and the suffix “ize” will be replaced by the suffix “ise.”

You will learn that the suffix ‘burgh’ is pronounced ‘burra’ e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to re-spell Pittsburgh as ‘Pittsberg’ if you can’t cope with correct pronunciation.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up “vocabulary.” Using the same thirty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as “uhh”, “like”, and “you know” is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

Look up “interspersed.”

There will be no more ‘bleeps’ in the Jerry Springer show. If you’re not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn’t have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary, then you won’t have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as “US English.” We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter ‘u’ and the elimination of “-ize.”

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn’t that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).

You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents — Scottish dramas such as “Taggart” will no longer be broadcast with subtitles.

While we’re talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is “Devon.” If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become “shires” e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.

British sit-coms such as “Men Behaving Badly” or “Red Dwarf” will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can’t cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness. Popular British films such as the Italian Job and the Wicker Man should never be remade.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, “God Save The Queen”, but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American “football.” There are other types of football such as Rugby, Aussie Rules & Gaelic football. However proper football - which will no longer be known as soccer, is the best known, most loved and most popular. What you refer to as American “football” is not a very good game.

The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays “American” football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football.

Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American “football”, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies).

We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2010.

You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the ‘World Series’ for a game which is not played outside of North America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls’ game called “rounders,” which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don’t believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. The 4th of July is no longer a public holiday. The 2nd of November will be a new national holiday, but only in Britain. It will be called “Indecisive Day.”

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap, and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call ‘French fries’ are not real chips. Fries aren’t even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called “crisps.” Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.

Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling “beer” is not actually beer at all, it is lager . From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as “beer,” and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as “Lager.” The substances formerly known as “American Beer” will henceforth be referred to as “Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine,” with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as “Weak Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine.” This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in the Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From the 10th of November the UK will harmonise petrol (or “gasoline,” as you will be permitted to keep calling it until the 1st of April) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon — get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you’re not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you’re not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us crazy.

16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation.
Contact Info Website: www.fco.gov.uk
Office: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Street: King James Street
City/Town: London

It’s a sad commentary but the current County Board Chairman, Lee Holloway, won re-election from his collegues on the County Board largely based on the politics of race.

Holloway managed to get all African-American supervisors as well as the one Latino supervisor to vote for him lock-step. It took over 30 rounds of voting from the 10 member board to wear out his opponents but Holloway was victorious in the end. In his last two elections to the leadership position, Holloway pledged to take more of a hands-on approach to governing. Unfortunately Holloway did not live up to his hands-on promise for much of his last term and when it comes to standing up against neo-conservative County Executive Scott Walker, Holloway has been meek.

What the County Board needs is a reform that requires elimination rounds in their elections for Chairman. Had this been the case, the several mini coalitions that refused to condense under the top two candidate would have been forced to choose between the two that had the most impressive numbers on their side.

Clearly Holloway would have been one of the finalists in a race under these reforms and he probably would have won anyway, but at least the board wouldn’t have felt forced into voting for a candidate the majority wouldn’t have wanted.

But there are other nuances in this recent race that are noteworthy. One of the candidates for Chairman, Gerry Broderick decided last minute that he would make for a great Chairman. While I won’t make any judgment on his abilities or qualifications, it’s out of the ordinary and difficult when others who were established candidates find someone like Broderick who appears to be out to win this for himself rather than to provide a voice in contrast to Walker.

Essentially, Broderick’s late entry into the race meant there were 5 candidates vying to chair the 19 member board. Of these candidates, Holloway had 8 of the 19 votes locked up due more to ethnic and racial loyalty rather than commitment to leadership. Another vote, freshman Supervisor Theo Lipscomb, was not going to vote against Holloway because he represents a primarily African American district and he believes he should vote the will of his district.

The other Supervisors, not bound by racial loyalty, were fractured not only with their votes, but with their own personal ideologies. Conservatives didn’t feel they could vote for a liberal and Supervisor Jim “Luigi” Schmidt, who would have been palatable to the conservatives, has the reputation for supporting most of Walker’s policies so the liberals couldn’t vote for him.

With the race coming down to Holloway or Schmidt, Broderick (who in the end succumbed), supported Holloway and was rewarded for his loyalty and is now the Chairman of the Parks committee. Almost all Supervisors who supported Holloway have now been rewarded by leadership positions on the County Board.

None of this is to say that Holloway is incapable. To the contrary, he is one of the most politically savvy members of the board and if he were to actually lead in this next term he would be a force to be reakoned with. Unfortunately his track record doesn’t leave voters with much hope.

It’s voting day. Please vote.

Here are our recommendations:

Louis Butler for Supreme Court. Butler is a common sense kind of guy whose opponent has been universally called to the carpet for lying and exaggerating in this race. If there’s one thing that both the left and the right can agree on, it is that Butler is the more honest candidate. That’s a trait we should look for in our Supreme Court Justices.

Tom Barrett has shown great leadership as the Mayor of Milwaukee. His commitment to transportation while serving in Congress made it possible for the Marquette Interchange to be rebuilt. His commitment to quality of life made it possible for the flood control projects which were desperately needed throughout Milwaukee, to be carried out. Barrett has more than earned a right to stay in the position. We only wonder what else Barrett can accomplish in the next four years.

Despite her snowballs chance in hell odds, Lena Taylor was the only candidate that chose to take on the current County Exec. She’s certainly not the perfect candidate but she would be way, way better than the bumbling, deficit loving, parks hating, transit despising silver spoon fed college dropout that is in the seat now.

Pedro Colón has been a leader in the State Assembly and would make a fine City Attorney. While it will be sad to lose his leadership in Madison, he would be an asset to the city of Milwaukee.

County Supervisor races and Aldermanic races are held today.

On the South Side, Chris Larson is the best choice in the 14th Supervisory District.

On the West Side, Lynne DeBruin is the more qualified candidate for the Supervisory seat she current holds.

In West Allis, John Weishan is exceptionally qualified and if re-elected, the board would be well served if they were to draft him as their new Chairman. (Also in West Allis, Dan Devine should be elected Mayor.)

On the Southeast Side, Marina Dimitrijevic who has established herself as one of the county board work horses, deserves to be returned to office for as long as she’s willing to settle for the pitiful salary which woefully undervalues the benefit she brings to her district and her constituents. Once Dimitrijevic is re-elected, the board would be wise to make her a Chairman of one of their key committees. When I first met Dimitrijevic four years ago, I could tell she had potential to be one of the board’s brightest stars. She has not disappointed.

On the North Side / Glendale district 1st Supervisory there is no one on the ballot but don’t confuse this to mean that there is no one running. The choices are poor if you look at just those running as write ins. An incompetent, self-indulgent incumbent who didn’t bother to file nomination papers and whose views rival Clarence Thomas, and an unknown are running.

On the East Side, Patrick Flaherty earns our nod for Alderman.

It started out as a whimsical idea — buy a high definition flat screen TV’s so I could watch all my favorite action movies on a significantly bigger screen.

I called Time Warner to get an upgrade to the HD service and DVR. I was sold on their “all the best” package. That’s when the problems started.

I had “blocking” on the TV which means the picture is made up of large, slow changing blocks instead of pixels. The phone wouldn’t work which was especially distressing since I dumped Vonage because Time Warner had such a great price and aside from losing the feature of voicemail sent to my email box, I didn’t anticipate losing functionality. What I wasn’t expecting was that I would have to spend multiple hours on my cell phone (since the “All the Best” phone wasn’t working) to get their reps out to fix the problems.

Then it got worse.

A service rep was dispatched to my house to fix the phone. Without asking, he drilled right through my new $12,000 vinyl siding job which I had just had installed this fall. Apparently it’s a Time Warner requirement that there’s a box mounted to the outside of the house. Having dealt with Vonage for a year without any such box, I was irritated. Be forewarned if you’re going to make the mistake of going with Time Warner’s “All the Best” package, you should watch the rep while he’s doing the install and stop him if he pulls out a drill unless you’re ok with drilling holes where he’s going to drill those holes.

The installation guy could have asked. There were several places the box could have been placed that would not have been out in the open.

I called Time Warner to complain. What could be done? Well let’s face it — pretty much nothing at that point. The damage had been done. I have to live with Time Warner’s screw up and every time I pass that stupid little box on the outside of my house that could have been discreetly tucked away, I shake my head.

Idiots.

So what did Time Warner do? They sent out a guy to look at the box. It was one of their subcontractors — Prince something or other. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of their visit was.

A week later I get a letter from Prince whatever-their-name-is. “We deny your claim” they said. What claim? I didn’t file a claim requesting anything. What did they think I was asking for? I wasn’t asking for anything and didn’t even know why they were sending out a person to look at the siding.

This is the epitome of poor customer service. They denied a claim that I never filed.

Idiots.

I can’t say that I’m a customer that could have been thrilled after they drilled through my $12,000 siding. What they could have done is make it so I wasn’t fire-spitting mad. I don’t treat my customers like that and I expect the same level of service that I provide. When I see problems, I look for solutions. Time Warner chose another path — they followed up inferior product service with inferior customer service.

Shame on Time-Warner.

Within ten years, if we continue on the same path as we are now on, we will not be a superpower.

I prefer to write about all things local but every once in a while I find the urge to delve into national issues. Today is such a time.

Our dollar is sinking. The national debt is skyrocketing and our budget deficit is pushing us toward a crippled economy. The limited value on the dollar that we have left is being spent recklessly on a war which cannot be won in a land where the people do not want us. A majority of our durable goods and nearly all of our electronics are now being made in other countries.

Our governments answer to this crisis?

Send everyone a check. Now mind you, this isn’t a check from some large national surplus. This is a check that is from money borrowed. The idea behind this is that people will take that check, which remember is borrowed money, and they’ll use it to buy electronics and durable goods. Remember where those goods are made?

This economic stimulus package will be more helpful to foreign countries. This economic stimulus package will be a huge boost for the Chinese economy. As for the American economy?

Well, not so much.

Milwaukee Alderman James Witkowiak is shocked, shocked, that escort services are advertising in the yellow pages and he wants to make sure that if they’re doing business, they’re licensed.

Complaining about them operating without a license in the City of Milwaukee is both silly and ridiculous. To then hold a press conference where he said, “I put provisions in place that should any application be made for an escort service in the city of Milwaukee, ah, there will be notifications sent out to ah, all the neighbors giving them a chance to respond. Ah, I’m sure there’s not too many people in the city of Milwaukee that would want that sort of business run in their neighborhood or next door to them”.

In the interview, Witkowski is flanked by a smiling elderly man whose virility is likely just a distant memory.

Am I the only one that sees this for what it is — a pre-election stunt by a politician right before the election who wants a little face time in front of the camera? The election is just two weeks away. Witkowiak has never been high profile. In fact, I can’t think of a time he has ever been on the televised news. So who bites on something like this two weeks before an election? What kind of a news room actually thinks this is newsworthy? What kind of news room would consider this so important that they would make it their “top story”? Well Fox “news” of course.

I always appreciate when politicians actually do something newsworthy but here’s a politician who is decrying the lack of businesses having licenses on one hand and with the other hand saying that when they apply, he’s going to make sure they don’t get one. Now how bright is that? Is it newsworthy? Come on now people, you can do better than that. I know there’s real news out there. I’ve seen it in the making and there weren’t any reporters willing to cover it.

We all know why Fox is covering this non-story; it’s because of the sex. If County Supervisors had a hottie do a pole dance amidst a real issue that affects real people, perhaps they could get coverage for some of the things they might do that is in the public interest. And if that doesn’t do it, maybe the Supervisors themselves would join in — although I fear that might scare off some.

This is really a non-issue. If it were a real issue, Witkowiak would be going after all of the retailers and home improvement companies in the big yellow book that are operating without a license. I would venture that it’s a majority.

But back to the hookers — I mean the escorts. What makes Witkowiak think that these escorts are bringing people back to their own homes for a little hibbidy-dibbidy? C’mon Alderman, you know that’s not how it works. Any adult male knows these escorts do their business and return to their own homes at the end of the night. It’s really in-home sales like vacuum cleaner sales only with more… well let’s not go there.

But just to recap for those of who aren’t quite understanding why Fox considered this little pre-election publicity stunt news, keeping in mind that the Alderman hopes to glide right in to his seat in two weeks, Witkowiak is upset that these businesses aren’t licensed but if they do try to get a license, he will oppose them.

Whew, I’m glad that one’s all cleared up.

Wow.

Listening to Channel 12 reporter Nick Bohr “report” on Scott Walker you would think it was a paid television ad. Bohr not only let Walker get away with deceiving news watchers about the fiscal health of Milwaukee County, but he failed to call Walker to the carpet for the destruction of the infrastructure and overall health of the county. Bohr then proceeded to let Walker take ridiculous and deceptive pot shots at challenger and State Senator Lena Taylor.

Bohr contacted Taylor to get her response while the State Senate was in session. Effectively, if she wanted to answer Bohr’s questions on his schedule, she would have had to leave the floor of the Senate during debates (in other words, not do the job she was elected to do) and work around a reporters schedule.

You’re probably wondering, is Bohr an idiot? Clearly the answer is yes.

As a citizen journalist, I know that politicians are always going to be self serving and that’s ok — journalists should expect politicians to defend their positions and advocate their agendas. After all, that is what they were elected to do. The problem with some journalists, and yesterday Bohr was a shimmering example of this, is that they take what the politician says and report it as fact without ever doing any research.

But what ever happened to looking at all of the facts?

Without doing any in depth research, we know a few things about Milwaukee County that are in the recent new which Bohr should have pressed Walker on had he been doing journalistic due diligence.

Here are just a few questions that Bohr, or any other reporter, could have expanded on and I’ll premise this by saying, “Executive Walker, you said that there is a surplus in this years budget yet”…
1) The bus system which used to be the top rated bus system in the nation for farebox recovery has suffered from large fare hikes and route cuts and consequently now has one of the lowest ridership rates in the country despite historically high gas prices.
2) Milwaukee County Parks, once known as a crown jewel of the county, has been allowed to decay as staff that has historically maintained the parks have been cut. Infrastructure continues to fair. How do you reconcile the neglect of the parks with your claims of strong and responsible management of the county?
3) Half of the staff has left the Medical Examiners office whose budget and consequently the salaries of the employees, which you have cut. Autopsies and crime lab backups are a major problem in your County which have resulted in jail overcrowding which in turn leads to increased overtime costs at the jail and House of Corrections. Now after half of the staff is already gone, you’re suggesting increasing the salaries in the Medical Examiners office to make them competitive so the County can keep its needed employees. Isn’t it a bit too late for that?
4) Forced overtime at the House of Corrections is out of control. Employee morale is at an all time low, yet you continue to resist hiring additional correctional officers despite overtime costs which could have paid for additional officers. While it is an election year and it is understandable that a politician is prone to bragging about their accomplishments, how does it make fiscal sense to understaff the HOC especially in light of the young man who recently died of a methadone overdose as an inmate where he clearly got his drugs when he was incarcerated?

Any of these questions could have been posed to Walker. Instead, reporter Nick Bohr and WISN 12 chose to run an ad for Walker, disguised as a report. This clearly calls into question both Bohr and WISN 12’s journalistic integrity.

While using the public airwaves on KICD Radio, King Steve of Iowa gave his take on the potential presidency of Democratic Senator Barack Obama. The King said, “I don’t want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name, whatever the religion of their father might have been,” just before doing just that as he continued. “I’ll just say this, that when you think about the optics (optics?) of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States, I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does this Look like to the world of Islam?” The King said that if Obama is elected president, “Al Qaida and the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th.”

Are you kidding me? Not only did this guy say it out loud, but he said it out loud on the public airwaves.

Does this monarch know something we don’t about Barack Obama? Is Obama planning to stop screening travelers, leaving our airplanes open to being used as missiles against us as they were under Bush? Has he announced Osama Bin Laden on his shortlist for Vice President? The answer to all of those questions is a resounding “No.” The open street discos will be the result of everyone knowing that Barack Obama has the middle name of Hussein as if to imply that electing Barack Obama would suddenly reincarnate Saddam Hussein in Obama’s body. Actually he’s not really saying that it would reincarnate Saddam. He’s saying that all of those terrible people that wish to harm the United States are dumb enough to believe that Saddam will be reincarnated in Barack Obama. I can’t figure out any reason what-so-ever why electing someone with a different name would make the haters of freedom celebrate so openly. Does King Steve think that people outside of his kingdom are that stupid?

So what is it that we should fear about them dancing in the streets anyway? Let’s assume they would start this outdoor dance fesitval. Would that be so bad? What does King Steve of Iowa care if people living on the other side of the Earth want to get down and boogie for a while?

What’s that you’re saying? He’s not THE King of Iowa? It’s just his name? So it’s actually Republican U.S. Representative Steve King of Iowa? But I thought…..

Well Mr. King, I imagine it would look no more odd to have a President Barack Hussein Obama than it would to have a “King” in Iowa.

You bonehead.

Cut cut cut. No no no. It’s a good thing that Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker isn’t in charge of childhood nutrition in our homes. All of our children would be dead of starvation.

Unfortunately Walker is in charge of funding for transportation and he’s deciding which routes are worthy of funding for a few more years and which ones are falling victim to his budget hacksaw. It’s been pretty difficult to get people to ride the bus if you’re eliminating the stops near their house or near their destination. If you want to make it tougher, and clearly Walker does, go ahead and raise fares to among the highest in the country.

You would think that there wouldn’t be much in the way of consequences when gas is at an all time high, right?

Wrong.

Bus ridership in Milwaukee has dropped to the lowest it has been in 33 years and there are further cuts in store for the ailing transit system which is the only mass transit option for County residents.

So what is the solution? The City of Milwaukee should take over mass transit. If voters in the suburbs want to continue to return Walker to the County Executive position, and it seems increasingly clear that they do, they have sent a message that they do not value mass transit. Why then, should City residents suffer under the clearly incompetant hands of Walker.

For all the naysaying that Walker’s allies on Republican run talk radio stations like WISN and WTMJ say, mass transit is viable in Milwaukee County. Just a few years ago, when democrats used to still run the county, Milwaukee County won awards for having the highest farebox recovery in the entire nation.

The entire nation.

But now, under Walker, whenever costs rise due to inflation he looks to make cuts to the core responsibilities of Milwaukee County — transit, parks, social services and criminal justice.

As transit routes are cut and fares are increased by Walker, ridership will continue to plunge. Walker’s answer? More cuts. Higher fares.

Simple economics eludes the man.

Today I’m sick. Runny nose, inability to sleep, some coughing.

I took some theraflu and called my doctor to see if I could get in to see a doctor. Their earliest appointment is 11am tomorrow morning.

It’s frustrating. Exceptionally frustrating.

When I hear of citizens in other countries just going to their clinics and being seen right away versus my sorry butt being sick today and with an inability to see a doctor, I’m more than a little frustrated.

It appears that the whole debate isn’t about healthcare, it’s about partisan fighting.

Michael Moore’s “Sicko” should be required watching for everyone in the medical field and for everyone who uses healthcare.

President George W. Bush announced that he will veto the bill that democrats are crafting that would renew the energy tax credit. That is the credit that homeowners get when they put in energy efficient windows, doors and/or insulation in their home. The credit was originally authorized back in 2006 but was reauthorized in 2007. Many homeowners are still wondering if it will be reauthorized this year.

Democrats want taxpayers who do the right thing to reduce energy consumption, to get a benefit from it and they’ve figured out how to pay for it by eliminating the tax credits that Republicans ushered through that give tax breaks to big oil companies like Exxon who recently announced their last quarterly profits were more than any other business has ever made in that same time period.

Republicans think big oil should have those tax credits made permanent — even if homeowners have to pay higher taxes and not get the benefit of saving from their investment in greener technologies which benefit us all.

Flip-flop…

John McCain said Monday that to win the White House he must convince a war-weary country that U.S. policy in Iraq is succeeding. If he can’t, “then I lose. I lose,” the Republican said.
He quickly backed off that remark.
“Let me not put it that stark,” the likely GOP nominee told reporters on his campaign bus. “Let me just put it this way: Americans will judge my candidacy first and foremost on how they believe I can lead the country both from our economy and for national security. Obviously, Iraq will play a role in their judgment of my ability to handle national security.”
“If I may, I’d like to retract ‘I’ll lose.’ But I don’t think there’s any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me, my support of the surge,” McCain added. “Clearly, I am tied to it to a large degree.”

Reported by Liz Sidoti AP Writer Rocky River, Ohio Feb. 25, 2008 speaking with reporters after a town hall meeting in Cleveland, Ohio

Flip-flop…

Yet earlier in that town hall-style meeting in Cleveland, in this same report, McCain accused Democrats of distorting his earlier comment when he said that he supported the U.S. staying in Iraq militarily for 100 years (this was after he was asked from a member of the audience if the U.S. might be staying in Iraq for 50 years.)

This time, he said “The war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes, although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years. But it will be handled by the Iraqis, not by us.”

Does any of that sound familiar? … perhaps an echo of comments made by Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz and others in the Bush Administration?

“Mission Accomplished”, “The war will be over in weeks, not months”, “The insurgency is in its last throes”, “The war will cost less than $50 Billion and most of it will be paid for by Iraqi oil revenues.” “We’re only going to stay as long as it takes to train the Iraqi troops to take over.”

We’ve heard this fiction before.

These are the same lies that are being repackaged for a hopeful but naïve public who believe that because John McCain has a war record (having been shot down and held in a Vietnamese prison camp, and tortured for years until he signed statements repudiating the U.S. for our involvement in the war.)

Flip-flop…

This is the same John McCain who spoke out against water boarding as real torture, until he wanted to get Mitt Romney’s endorsement, and then changed his position on it, claiming it really wasn’t torture anymore. Now, I don’t blame McCain for giving in to the Vietnamese torture, it was understandable that he would finally break, but he broke on the issue of water boarding as torture far faster and easier in order to get Mitt Romney’s endorsement. There’s nothing showing him standing up for any principles here.

Flip-flop…

This is the same John McCain, who has repeatedly spoken out against the Bush Administration policies and tactics in the war in Iraq, but in March 2006, retooled his campaign, building it out with members of the Bush circle, (and in exchange, McCain has thrown his support behind Bush’s policies). In addition, this retooling is basing McCain’s pitch on the notion that he is the only sensible, elect-able and competent commander who can take control of the war on terror. (This is the same argument that Hillary is trying to make – that she is the only one with the experience, is elect-able and can be commander in chief on day one. Obama says that he was the only one among them with the judgment to say that we shouldn’t go into Iraq and that we were going into Iraq for all the wrong reasons. You can decide who is leading us in the right direction.)

But how is supporting and continuing a war which is fast approaching
• 4,000 dead U.S. Servicemen and women, along with
• almost 30,000 wounded U.S. Servicemen and women, and 600,000 dead Iraqis,
• with a price tag to the American Taxpayer fast approaching $1Trillion dollars,
• with about one and a half times that amount in costs for continued medical care for our wounded veterans in the years to come, and the cost to rebuild our army and National Guard, as well as to replace all of the equipment that was destroyed in Iraq….

….How does that qualify McCain to be commander in chief?

With all of the economic problems that we are having here at home, with an economic outlook that even Fed Chief Ben Bernanke calls “grim”. (Bush still doesn’t have a clue, and hadn’t even heard analyst predictions of $4.00 a gallon gasoline by this spring. And, Friday March 1st, the stock market took another dump, dropping 315 points, the second time this year that the stock market took such a large hit.)

With the stock market continuing to tank; and with a home mortgage crisis causing millions of families to lose their homes; with all the jobs that are continuing to be shipped overseas; and corporations going offshore so that they don’t have to pay any U.S. taxes…

….and with John McCain himself admitting that he doesn’t know anything about economics…..

….how does John McCain, as the self-proclaimed, “best candidate to be commander in chief”, propose to pay for all of his continued war time spending over the next 100 years, when the current commander in chief has not paid for any of his $750 Billion from the past five years? Yes, that’s right, while it has been budgeted for and approved by Congress, (not in the actual annual federal budget, but as separate appropriations, so that it doesn’t show you what we are really racking up in Federal DEBT), it has not been paid for. According to George W. Bush, that is for future presidents and future generations to figure out and pay for. And that is what John McCain is proposing. Just MORE OF THE SAME.

Yes - John McCain – More of the Same; Just Like Bush, Only Older.

Our government just racks up more debt and prints out more worthless greenbacks to pay for things they don’t have any assets to pay for, so the value of the dollar continues to drop and consumer prices continue to increase.

To get a better idea of how the Iraq War is actually being fought and how it puts hundreds of billions of dollars of profits from no-bid contracts into Bush and Republican Party donors’ pockets, voters need to see the evidence of rigged war profiteering scams.

They need to see that, rather than there being any real effort to actually win this war, the collusion between corrupt politicians and greedy CEOs have turned the Iraq War into a feeding trough for them to drain the U.S. Treasury and keep U.S. Taxpayers in debt for the next several generations.

There is a documentary by Robert Greenwald, titled, “Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers”, which documents with interviews of former employees of Halliburton, KBR, Titan, CACI, Blackwater, and other right wing businesses who have profited by their sweetheart, no-bid contracts with the Bush Administration. These were people who were staunch Republicans, who supported the war and supported Republicans, until they saw what was really going on in Iraq. It also interviews soldiers who have witnessed fraudulent billing going on by companies who are ripping off U.S. taxpayers, and putting the lives of civilian contractors and our U.S. military at risk all in the name of the almighty dollar.

http://gobnf.org/i/ifs/ifs_quotes.jpg (Poster from Iraq for Sale with comments from movie reviewers.)

Not only does it document how a contractor billed the U.S. government for cleaning water to make it potable for use by our servicemen and women, but didn’t treat the water AT ALL, but it also showed how the rank and file servicemen and civilian contractors were repeatedly told to keep their mouths shut about it.

It also shows votes in the U.S. Congress where Democrats repeatedly attempted to hold military contractors accountable for their malfeasance, and fraudulent billing for services that they did not provide, but which Republicans in Congress REPEATEDLY BLOCKED. Even when Democrats reduced their demands to only prevent companies from being awarded contracts when they had been shown to over bill the U.S. Taxpayers by MORE THAN $100 Million Dollars, the Republican side VOTED AGAINST IT.

The war has been going on now for five years longer than what the Bush Administration told us it would take to “win” the war, and has cost 15 times more than what they told us it would cost, yet Republicans in Congress and even Bush supporters across the country refuse to question why?! They refuse to allow an investigation into the conduct of the war. They refuse to allow a proper investigation into the budget overages and the continued escalation in costs. They refuse to allow proper investigations into rampant fraud on the part of contractors and Pentagon officials and they refuse to allow proper investigations into whether or not contractors are actually supplying what they claim they are supplying.

If YOU were charged 15 times more than you were quoted, for a job that you asked to be done, and it took 5 years longer than what you were told it would take, wouldn’t you want to know why? Wouldn’t you want to know if there was a better way to do the job, so that it wouldn’t take so long, or cost so much? And wouldn’t you want to fire those responsible for their incompetence?

Obviously, the Republican members of Congress don’t want you to know, and are refusing to ask the questions.

Several of the Congressmen and Senators who were shown in the documentary, supporting the award of contracts to companies who massively over billed the U.S. Taxpayers, have since decided not to run for re-election.

You can see trailers from the film or buy the film online from:
store.bravenewfilms.org/ifsdvd06.php

I would encourage anyone who hasn’t see the film, particularly if you are a Republican who actually believes what the Bush Administration and McCain campaign are telling you, to see the film for yourself and then make up your own mind about what is happening.

Forget for once the differences between Democrats and Republicans. If you see this evidence - and it is damning, you should be furious as an AMERICAN.

Corporate lobbyists who control the quality and flow of goods and services which are vitally needed by our fighting men and women, are putting our military behind their profits, and clearly Republicans in Congress and in the Bush Administration are supporting the War Profiteers, not the troops.

Flip-flop…

Yet John McCain, this self-proclaimed “maverick”, who claims to be different and unaffected by lobbyists, has forty or fifty campaign staffers who are….lobbyists!

McCain has promised that he will continue this war in Iraq, and you can bet that with his new found appreciation for the Bush circle of friends who are supporting his campaign, that he and his lobbyist staffers will continue to show their appreciation, the way they always have, to their donors.

More information on the 5th CD DPW fundraiser and DVD distribution follows:

I would encourage activists to get as many copies of this film as possible into the hands of as many people as possible so that they can see for themselves what is happening.
Share this with your friends, neighbors and relatives. Organize large viewings and discussions of the film so that people can start to understand what is at stake and what they can do to take action.

The 5th Congressional District Democratic Party of Wisconsin Executive Committee is organizing a fundraising campaign, to purchase these DVDs in bulk lots and distribute them to anyone who wants them.

We will give them out to anyone for a minimum $12.00 donation or more, (plus shipping and handling if we have to mail it to you), and will have them available at:

the 5th Congressional District DPW Convention on April 13, (open only to delegates and alternates who have been elected at their County Delegate level to go on to the DPW State Convention.)

or 5th Congressional District DPW Delegate Caucuses on May 4, (open only to delegates and alternates who have been elected at their County Delegate Caucuses).

(If anyone is not going to attend either of these events, but knows someone who will and wants a copy, please tell them in advance, and have them contact us and send in checks or money orders with the number of DVDs requested, in advance so that we know how many units we’ll have to have available. If anyone is anticipating that they would like to order larger quantities please contact us and let us know in advance and we will provide you with directions on where to send checks or money orders to, and how you can get the DVDs if you won’t be able to attend either of the above events. For those who send checks, there will be a ten day wait for the check to clear before we can ship the DVD.

Or, if people won’t be able to attend these events but would still like to help in the fundraiser, or order copies of the DVDs:

Send inquiries to chair5thcddpw@gmail.com

You can also order them online directly from the link provided, or ask your County DPW Chair to organize bulk ordering so you can have them available for distribution and fundraising for your local events. Other organizations are welcome to do the same thing.)

Les Nakamoto

Chair 5th Congressional District Democratic Party of Wisconsin

You’ve probably seen the commercial recently, calling for people to call their members of the House of Representatives to vote in favor of reauthorizing the Surveillance Bill which supposedly protects us against Al Qaida plotting against us. It claims that we are unprotected against terrorists without this bill in place.

What some of you might recognize, is that the voice of many beer commercials, which was also the voice of many Anti-Democratic smears during the 2004 Presidential campaigns, is the same voice behind this commercial.

The name of the organization funding the commercial, implying itself to be a Pro-Democracy group (Defense of Democracies), is anything but that.

Recent investigative reports, as well as a Bush Administration official, have admitted that the only reason to pass this bill, is to hold harmless, the telecom industry from lawsuits that are bound to be filed against them because of the illegal, unConstitutional nature of these illegal wiretaps, for any actions which they have taken in the past, or which they might take in the future. (That last piece was based on Bush’s own statement.)

There is no danger of any Al Qaida plots being missed, (as a result of the wiretaps no longer being in place - which is what the commercial implies), because the telecoms have all reported that they are continuing to provide this service to the Bush Administration and your government funded intelligence services, (at taxpayer expense), in spite of the fact that the legislation has not been reauthorized.

The only reason for the push for the reauthorization of this bill is to protect the telecoms from being sued for illegal activities. PERIOD.

Keith Olbermann - MSNBC reported on February 28th, that Republicans are puzzled that they aren’t getting large campaign donations from…THE TELECOM INDUSTRY!

Puzzled? Olbermann explains it by saying that the Telecom industry might possibly be upset with the Republicans by being forced into this situation in the first place, by the Republicans.

Many homeowners have experienced ice dams here in Wisconsin so they have felt the personal pain of these unusual and excessive freeze and thaw cycles.

However, it’s not just homeowners who have been considering opening their wallets to remediate the problems — it’s also government from the feds all the way down to the villages.

When water gets inside of cracks in the road it’s not a big deal if it’s just draining away. But that’s not what happens when you have freeze and thaw cycles like we’ve been having. What happens is the dampness and the water that has not drained away freezes. As it freezes it expands and pops out pieces of concrete and asphalt.

You would be hard pressed not to have accidentally driven through one of those cavernous holes in the road in the past month. 4, 5 and even 6 inch holes have caused damage to cars and have made transportation a challenge.

The amount of heavy trucks on the road haven’t helped. As pavement has been pushed up in areas, heavy vehicles which drive over these areas which may otherwise only be temporarily heaved up, crack off chunks of pavement.

It would be a godsend if there was a better product for roads than aspalt or concrete but those are the two best cost effective alternatives out there right now.

Unfortunately the result will be that government will again be forced to ask the taxpayers to pony up some extra cash to solve the problem. This is especially frustrating for us northerners since it’s almost like it’s a special tax on us for living where we do.

UPDATE: Over a month later, the Journal-Sentinel finally published a story explaining, in part, the same thing I did.

I didn’t see this coming. Apparently a whole bunch of Republicanville (Waukesha) voters are rumored to be crossing over to vote for Hillary because they’re afraid of Obama.

We’ll see what tonight brings. I would love to see a breakdown of where the votes came from by county.

Rarely can you look at a ballot and say to yourself — wow, there’s a candidate I can really get behind, but today is one of those days.

There are a few good races for County Supervisor where there are good candidates. Dan Cody is, without a doubt, the best choice for west side voters. His progressive ideas and willingness to take on tough issues, even if they are in conflict with the County Exec, makes him ultimately more qualified than the others; including the incumbent.

South side voters get to choose one of several candidates, the best among them being Chris Larson and Jason Haas. If either of them emerges to the general, voters would be well served by either of them.

On the Presidential side, either Senator Barack Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton would be an impeccable choice to go against the anointed Republican candidate, John McCain, in the general election. It would be nice to see their primary fight continue to close to the time of convention and if Wisconsin goes to Obama and Ohio and Texas go to Clinton as is expected, this fight will continue. It may be a bit of a blood sport but after all, who wants to go to a boxing match where there’s a first round knockout?

Chalk this one up to clever nerds doing what they do but web surfers who think they’re about to go to the Wisconsin Democrats page get redirected to the Ron Paul for President site.

Visitors to Wisdems.com (the real site for the Democratic party of Wisconsin is wisdems.ORG) were surprised to find themselves shuffled over to the GOP candidates site ronpaul2008.com.

So who is behind this amusing redirect? GOP nerds. Apparently they’ve got better technogeeks than do the Dems. A simple lookup from who owns the page shows that the contact address is contact@wisgop.com

Here’s the info for wisdems.com:
Administrator:
Name– Scholtka, Corey
EMail-: (contact@wisgop.com)
tel –: -
org: -
PO Box 26661
Milwaukee, WI 53226,Milwaukee, WI 53226,- -

Technical Contactor:
Name– Scholtka, Corey
EMail-: (contact@wisgop.com)
tel –: -
org: -
PO Box 26661
Milwaukee, WI 53226,Milwaukee, WI 53226,- -

A widow goes into the hospital for a pacemaker procedure. During the procedure the doctor punctures the widow’s aorta causing her death. Can the doctor be held accountable? Can the family seek justice? You’d think so.

Well, not in Wisconsin.

Under current Wisconsin law adult children don’t have the right to seek justice if their single parent dies as a result of medical negligence. It’s the same story for the parents of single adult children.

So if an 18-year-old high school senior, single (as most of them are) and living at home, were to die due to a doctor’s negligence – the parents would be unable to seek justice for her death.

If you think something is wrong with that, you’re not the only one.

Most families faced with this unfortunate situation react with anger and disbelief. It is inconceivable to them that a death caused by medical negligence can go unpunished.

This is why the Wisconsin Association for Justice has been standing side by side with families from across the state fighting for the Family Justice Bill. The legislation would ensure all families have the right to seek justice when a loved one dies as a result of a doctor’s negligence. It’s a bill that helps real people facing real problems.

Sounds sensible enough right?

Thankfully, a majority of the State Senate agreed and voted in favor of the Family Justice Bill. Now it’s fate is in the hands of the State Assembly. This legislation should cross party lines because it recognizes the important relationship parents and children share regardless of age or marital status.

Everyone deserves to be treated equally in Wisconsin. Families should have the right to access the courts and seek justice when a loved one dies. The Family Justice Bill ensures that the courthouse doors are open to deserving individuals who want seek justice and accountability when a loved one dies as a result of medical negligence.
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This guest column is written by Christine Bremer Muggli who the President of the Wisconsin Association for Justice, Wisconsin’s largest statewide voluntary attorney organization defending the civil justice system.

The buzz of energy you might have felt in the air this morning wasn’t another snowstorm. Today the Barack Obama for president campaign swoops into Milwaukee for a big rally at the Midwest Express Center. The event is beginning to feel less and less like a campaign stop and more like a coronation for the 46-year-old senator from Chicago.

Obama will win Wisconsin, a state whose delegates went to John Edwards four years ago — and Wisconsinites are going to feel pretty damn good about it. So will we, here at Watchdog Milwaukee.

Americans don’t know what a president looks like until we elect one. Then, with sudden realization, we know. Talk about Barack Obama’s presidential chances began after his stirring speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. It was easy to shrug off then.

Many of us began looking for reasons why, despite the passion and inspiration he brought to that speech, he would not run for the presidency. Too soon. He hadn’t even begun his first term. America’s not yet ready for an African-American president. It was a pipedream. Looking back, these were all excuses that have since evaporated.

But then we looked back at one of the speakers from the 1988 Democratic convention – an impassioned governor from the state of Arkansas presented a 32-minute address to delegates. That man was Bill Clinton, and he not only won the presidency but he went on to win a second term. Sixteen years later, a young senator from Illinois took the podium and wow’ed us.

The comparisons between Obama and the former president don’t end there. Like Bill Clinton, who had the courage to tell displaced workers that their jobs were gone but he would fight for retraining money for new, better jobs, Obama recently said, “we need somebody who is going to tell the American people not just what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.” It is this courage and honesty that we need at a time when eight years of Republican reign have thrown us into the morass of war, to a crippling national debt and to the brink of recession.

To be president is to be a dream, and Obama is living a dream before our very eyes. He envisions a different America, where anyone can achieve anything if one puts the heart, mind and some shoulder grease into it. We remember this place — it’s the America we heard about when we were kids, before we knew that factories rust in the snow and jobs disappear overseas. It’s the place where a community organizer working in impoverished neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago can go to law school, get elected to the statehouse, win a U.S. Senate seat and lay claim to the presidency.

It’s a story of inspiration and fighting for one’s passion. Now is the time that America, that Americans, need that inspiration. Now is a time we all need that hope. We need change and we need someone willing to fight for change.

Obama says he wants a different debate, not the same old arguments about big government and the free economy that Democrats and Republicans have been having since the late 1960’s. He believes America is going to be a better place, a different place. We believe him more than other candidates because he exudes this vision.

Obama’s primary opponent, Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton, for all of her past work on health care, schools and womens’ issues, doesn’t bring the passion or the charisma that Obama exudes. While Clinton can legitimately argue that she has a better healthcare plan, she continues to be too hawkish on the war. We have no doubt that Clinton would make a great president, and Americans are fortunate to finally have a choice between two supremely qualified individuals. But it is Obama that sparks our imagination.

Factor in Obama’s surprising strong showing in Iowa and convincing win in Minnesota, and the choice is easy for Wisconsin. Democrats can’t win the presidency without flexing their muscles in the upper Midwest and in Mideast states like Pennsylvania, where the economy has long been the number one issue. Winning Ohio this time around would certainly help. It is in these states where Obama is proving strongest.

And why shouldn’t Obama succeed in the Midwest? He spent most of his working life in Chicago, the city of big shoulders, before its people sent him to the Illinois senate and to Washington as their representative. For Milwaukeeans and other denizens of the nation’s rust belt, Obama offers the rarest of presidential election opportunities: The chance to elect one of our own. It hasn’t happened in more than a century.

Imagine that.

For many years, and many Presidential elections, the decisions have been made far before Wisconsinites have ever had an opportunity to cast their votes, and the front runner has already been crowned the Nominee-to-be.

There are many Democrats and Independents who want to be Democrats this year (and even a few Republicans), and are even interested in getting involved in our Party process.

For those of you who are, you have an historic opportunity to get involved in selecting the Democratic nominee for our Presidential candidate.

Tuesday, February 19, will be Wisconsin’s Primary Elections.

Wisconsin does not require registration by Party. Individuals may register to vote up to 10 days in advance of any election. They may also register to vote at the polls with proof of at least 10 days of residency.

Wisconsin State Law mandates an open primary. However, voters may cast a ballot for one Party only, thereby eliminating crossover from one Party to another for specific races within an election.

Participation in Wisconsin’s delegate selection process, other than the February 19, 2008 primary, is open to all voters who wish to participate as Democrats who file a written declaration of Democratic Party preference with the Democratic State Party. (Rules 2.A. & 2.C & Reg. 4.3.)

No persons shall participate or vote in the nominating process for the Democratic presidential candidate who also participates in the nominating process of any other party for the corresponding elections. (Rule 2.E.)

No person shall vote in more than one meeting, which is the first meeting in the delegate selection process. (Rule 3.E. & Reg. 4.6.)

In addition to the primary caucuses and elections, each state has their own Delegate election process at different levels. Wisconsin is allowed a total of 48 district-level delegates and 8 district-level alternates. (Rule 8.C., Call, I.B. & I.I.)

You can be involved, but in order for you to do so, you have to start at the County level to first get elected as a delegate to go onto our 5th Congressional District Delegate Elections so that you can have a chance to be elected as a delegate to our National Convention in Denver this August.

County Delegate Elections are to be held on April 6, 2008. Registration starts at 12:00 PM CST and closes when the caucuses begin at 2:00 P.M CST.

Each county within the 5th CD is allowed the following number of delegates and an equal number of alternates within the 5th CD:

Ozaukee 30
Washington 34
Waukesha 98
Jefferson 4
Milwaukee 48 (Milwaukee has part of the city in the 5th CD, and part in the 1st CD, but the majority of the city is in the 4th CD)

If you live in these counties within the boundaries of the 5th Congressional District, and would like to get involved, but are not currently an active member of the Democratic Party, other than voting for Democratic candidates, contact your local County Democratic Party Chairs to find out where their meetings are being held and where and when their Delegate elections are being held.

If you are located in the 1st or 4th Congressional Districts, contact the County Chairs within those Districts for further information.

To contact your local County Democratic Party Chairs

Go to: http://www.wisdems.org/ht/d/Committees/committeeLevel/3/pid/734851

Then select the letter that the county you live in begins with (at the bottom of the page).

Scroll down the page until you find the name of your county, and you will see the contact information for your County Democratic Party Chair.

The Congressional District Delegate Elections are to be held on May 4. Registration starts at 12:00 PM CST and closes when the caucuses begin at 2:00 P.M CST.

The 5th CD Delegate election will elect from among the elected County Delegates, 3 males and 2 females for a total of 5 delegates to move onto the Democratic National Convention for nomination of our Democratic Presidential candidate. We are also allowed one alternate who, according to the formula in the DPW’s Delegate Selection Plan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, must be male.

To get more information about the convention, delegate election process and the timeline of events for our elections you can download the following .pdf documents. (You will need Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer in order to view them. You can download Adobe Acrobat for free from their website at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/ )

The Wisconsin party site about the convention:
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/d/sp/i/1019195/pid/1019195

The full state delegate selection plan (PDF):
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1117822

Timeline of events:
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1126793

For those of you who are also interested in becoming more active in the Democratic Party on a local, regional or national level, you can start by becoming a member of the Democratic Party. You can sign up online here: http://www.wisdems.org/ht/d/Join/pid/460648

It’s time for a change in our government and in politics as usual.

Become part of the wave that is making this historic change.

Les Nakamoto

Chair, 5th Congressional District Democratic Party of Wisconsin

Intel would like to keep their alleged theft of patent technology on the down-low but UW-Madison isn’t too pleased that Intel stole their technlogy to enrich the chip giant.

This isn’t the first time Intel has taken liberties. Recently they decided to settle out of court with Transmeta, a small players in the chip business. Transmeta, which trailblazed a microchip that runs faster at a cooler temperature, saw its stock tumble as it waged its David vs Goliath battle. $250 Million, the settlement amount, is a pittance compared to the profits Intel raked in and will now continue to rake in from the Transmeta technlogy.

But the case with UW is much different. That’s a case where Wisconsin taxpayers are ending up getting the shaft from Intel. Wisconsin taxpayers supplement the UW system and when breakthroughs are made that can make much needed money, those funds can offset what taxpayers have to put into the system.

Taxpayers should be enraged.

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This is a story we fully expect to be buried by the media.

At one time voting was impossible for those who wanted to vote abroad. Things have changed.

Want to see how? Click here

Normal, decent people, wouldn’t do this, but the folks from the inappropriately named Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) have put the names of people with issues of mental competency, paternity and guardianship on their website.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a sugar-coated story on their website. The story reads:

Milwaukee County officials mistakenly released numerous confidential court records for a citizens group’s Web site that detail payments for tests and other costs linked to mental competency, paternity and guardianship cases, officials acknowledged.

The records obtained by Citizens for Responsible Government Network were part of a county database of 188,000 purchasing invoices for 2006 and 2007. The group put the information on its Web site Tuesday morning.

Those test have names associated with them and many if not most of those names are from people who committed no crime. They are the mentally infirm, children whose paternity is in question and other children who are in need of guardians or guardians who are trying to do the right thing.

Zeal.

That’s the only thing that can explain CRG’s desire to get all of the information they could get their overly partisan hands on out into the public arena. But this time it wasn’t just democrats their actions were meant to hurt. When you go out into a crowd swinging a pick axe you should expect someone to get hurt and this time it was the mentally challenged, vulnerable children and those that are trying to care for those children.

This is an issue that speaks to ethics.

What kind of group would do this? Who is behind such a decision? who would be a part of such a group? We know some of the names.

It’s time to name them.

Chris Kleismet, the longtime spokesperson and mastermind behind the internet strategy of CRG. After helping get Scott Walker elected as Milwaukee County Executive, Kleismet attempted to get the favor returned in an attempt to get the county to buy into a program he’s a part of. There’s nothing like the hopes of a big fat county contract to motivate a person to help out their pal.

Orville Seymer, part of CRG from the onset and . Proud to boast he is a landlord and former head of the Apartment Association, Seymer has multiple cases against him on the State’s Circuit court web page including a judgment for money from the DePaul Rehabilitation Hospital which he finally paid. His recent claim to fame was a frivolous lawsuit threat where he was going to soak taxpayers for a million dollars because he wasn’t allowed to speak at a meeting at the county board. Apparently to Seymer, if the county doesn’t give him a microphone to spread his hate, taxpayers should be forced to pay.

Don Uebelacker, one of the founders of CRG who was rewarded by Walker with a nomination to the County Ethics Committee. The County Board shot down the nomination after it was learned that Uebelacker intentionally lied to the board about his continuing political activities. Uebelacker continues to reign as Vice-President for the Brown Deer Senior Citizens Club — a group dominated by Republican activists.

Joe Klucarich, one of the founders of CRG and current President of the Brown Deer Senior Citizens Club allows Republicans to speak to the group when they want to make attacks and accusations but when Democrats come to speak he has been known to deny them the use of the microphone so they can defend themselves.

These are the types of people that are running that organization.

Interestingly enough, CRG also attacks those that are critical of them. They have threatened a lawsuit when we published a screen capture of their website connecting CRG to the Republican party. They claimed in their threatening letter from the law firm of Foley and Lardner, that the image we posted was doctored. Clearly the person who spoke to the Foley attorney lied and Foley did not do their homework. Our response was to republish the image and point out that we were being threatened with the lawsuit. We weren’t about to bow to thuggery.

So what’s the lesson here? If you’re mentally infirm, if you’re a child whose paternity is in question, if you’re a child who is in need of a guardian, if you are a guardian who is trying to do the right thing, or if you expose CRG for being the types of people they are, don’t be shocked if CRG comes after you.

My wife’s Uncle Paul passed away yesterday. What was remarkable was that he said to his wife “I’m going to die today”. She wanted to rush him to the hospital and he said no. It was his preference to die comfortably in his easy chair. He called a few close friends and family then sat down and died. Before he died he told Aunt Arlene that God had told him in a dream that he would die that day.

I thought to myself, what a gift. And when I say a gift I refer to the knowledge that he was given in the dream that allowed him to live his last day knowing it was his last.

So why do I refer to something this personal to my family? It’s because that’s the way we should all live our lives — as though each day will be our last.

Dear Sheriff David Clarke,

I am a Deputy Sheriff and a proud wearer of the Police Officer badge. As I sit in the trenches day after day, I must deal with the uncertainty of what has become of my vocation, a burning passion, and my life.

As a member of law enforcement, like the military to a certain extent, we follow a chain of command. Here in Milwaukee County we look to you as our leader.

Day after day, I hear you being maligned by my co-workers, members of the press, and other members of the government, to name a few. I hear stories of corruption, self service, ego driven decisions, and double standards. I witness morale crumbling to the ground and I can see it in the eyes of my fellow officers that they are losing the faith. The flame is dwindling.

When I chose to be police officer, I was proud. Boy was I proud! I was proud that I chose a life of servitude for my fellow citizens. I looked up to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct, and I beamed with pride thinking of the many ways in which I would honor those principles and make the community a better place to live. I dreamt of earning a reputation as a fair, honest, disciplined and ethical individual who, even when I made mistakes, stood for everything that it’s right in this great country of ours.

These days, however, I find myself being embarrassed and deflated. I continually encounter walls placed there in an effort to make my job more difficult. I expected that, but I did not expect those walls to come from within my own Department. I’m no longer allowed to use discretion and all my powers to do the right thing have been slowly stripped away from me. I find myself being worried and sometimes scared of taking part, for fear of choosing a direction which will penalize me in the eyes of my superiors. I feel as though I am no longer a Police Officer. I now feel like a pawn in some sort of cruel political game that I do not understand. I find myself in the middle of stubborn fights between my leader and my brotherhood, and there seem to be no end in sight. I don’t even know who is right or wrong anymore. That ceased to matter a long time ago.

Dear Sir, I plead to you, enough with the games, contradictions, and reprehensible essays. Enough with the name calling, persecution, and partiality. We have an important job to do, and every day we seem to move farther away from accomplishing that job the way it was intended. I wish to be treated like you would like to be treated, I have earned that. I realize that there will always be a small percentage of us who will never live up to the standards, and who will always cut corners and find blame on everyone but themselves when things go wrong. I also believe that that group does not a majority make and I am insulted when I am talked to as part of that group. If in the process of exposing those who do not deserve to wear the badge, you alienate and disempowered those of us who do, then you have failed us all.

Dear Sheriff, and I address you by your title with all respect due your position, what can we do, together, so that once more I can be proud to represent the law and wear the badge that I chose to honor when a took my oath? I do not care about promotions, recognition, or awards. All the recognition I need I get from my fellow citizens when I have helped them in their hour of need. I get it from my family when they see me beam with pride as I leave for work every day. I get it from my peers when they recognize a job well done.

Sheriff, I need a leader. I need someone who will give me some direction and supply me with the tools I need to do the job efficiently and well. I need my leader to lead, by his behavior as well as words. I need a leader who remembers what it was to be a young Police Officer devoid of any cynicism and unethical thoughts. I need you, to remember the time when the only thing that mattered was the community’s well being and the well being of your people so that we could complete our task successfully. I need to know that you will deal with me swiftly when I don’t live up to my standards but will stand by me when I’ve being wronged.

I need you, Dear Sheriff, to come out from behind the mask from whence you’ve been hiding and develop into the leader that you showed us many years ago when you first joined our organization. I believe you can do that, I believe that deep down your ultimate goal is the betterment of the community, just like me. I need a leader.

With Regards,
A Deputy
“Attitude is Everything”

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Typically Watchdog Milwaukee is directly critical of Sheriff Clarke for the way he handles his job. For now, we’ll refrain from elaborating (that’s what the archives are for). The deputy who wrote this piece clearly isn’t to the point where he’s written Clarke off but we believe the decision as to whether that will happen or not is up to none other than the Sheriff. All the same, the Deputy does not want his name shared as he has seen what has happened to other Deputies that have dared to criticize Clarke. Since Clarke is capricious and has shown a pattern of vindictiveness, we do not share the names of officers who could lose their jobs or face demotions and disciplinary action for voicing their opinions. Before commenting on this story, reader are asked to read the updates to the comment policy available at the top of this page.

It’s the deep south and no one could have thought that Louisiana would even consider voting for a democrat since the south went red after the civil rights act was pushed through by Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson.

But tonight that all changed.

Numbers don’t lie. With 99% of the primary vote in, here’s the totals.
Obama 217,291
Clinton 134,765
Huckabee 67,685
McCain 65,066
Paul 8,237

Yes, Senator Barack Obama went away with the prize. In fact he swept all four states there was a primary/caucus on Saturday. But what the real news is that the top two candidates on the Republican side combined weren’t even able to muster the total of the second place candidate on the democratic side.

Incumbent Presidents have had a huge impact on the races of their successors. After signing the Civil Rights act, President Johnson said “We have just lost the South for a generation”. He was right and the south helped catapult Republican Richard Nixon into the Presidency. Fast forward to today and President George W. Bush who promised so much to Louisiana after being devastated by the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, is widely criticized for sitting on his hands and doing nothing as Louisiana residents have suffered.

With the electoral crucifixion that republicans took in Louisiana, the generation that Johnson offered his seer advice on has come and gone. This new generation has seen the results of Republican power. They have seen Republicans serve themselves heaping servings at the table while working southerners were thrown table scraps. While they have heard the Republican rhetoric of “fiscal conservatism”, they have seen the reality that there is no place setting for them in their time of need.

Tonight Louisianans said “enough is enough”. Tired of Republican rhetoric which resulted in only broken promises, Louisiana screamed a big loud Cajun YES to the Democratic candidates. Republicans accused Obama of being a “hopemonger” at a time when Louisianans were looking for hope. They rewarded him with 57% of the vote.

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Wisconsinites will vote on Tuesday, February 19th.

Candidate Barack Obama has inspired many people to vote for the first time in their lives.  This keynote address from the Democratic Convention four years ago makes it clear how Obama can reach out to inspire millions of Americans. 

YouTube Link

Part 2

YouTube Link  

Hat tip to the Brawler for finding this video on youtube. 

Here’s a scoop you’ll find amusing.

Taxpayers are having their money wasted on Internal Affairs cases being generated for Jail personnel’s legal signatures.

Sheriff Clarke wants to force his deputies to make their legal signatures legible, and anyone who they think is not legible is being referred to internal affairs. This is not a choice being given to the Captain’s, they have been ordered to find/start 5 cases every week.

One would think that Milwaukee County’s top ranked law enforcement officer would find better things do with with his time and with taxpayer money. Looking back on my days in catholic grade school, Sister Mary Agnes would have handled poor penmanship with a flick of the ruler. I guess this is Clarke’s very expensive version of the ruler.

How will his beloved Republican followers answer this colossal waste?

Dominated by whackos and malcontents, the Republican shill group CRG, inappropriately named Citizens for Responsible Government, now appears to have members who feel the need to get involved in the race to succeed Alderman Mike D’Amato.

Nik Kovak hosted an event where CRG mouthpiece Orville Seymer was in attendance. Dan Knauss of Riverwest Neighborhood Network has his take here.

Here’s a short excerpt from Knass’ website:

Now comes Orville Seymer, who resides in Franklin and usually donates to Republicans like State Sen. Glenn Grothman. Evidently Seymer is a Nik Kovac supporter now that Nik has hitched himself to the Bondars. Seymer is the “Network Field Operations Director” for the suburban Republican attack group “Citizens for Responsible Government,” and his history of activism has few rivals for attention grabbing eccentricity and ineffectiveness.

UPDATE: Kovak supporters are fairly upset about Knauss’ post. For the record, several members from Riverwest Currents, a respectable liberal website, are supporting Kovak.

I wasn’t happy when the total accumulated snowfall reached 18″ by my house. I had to snowblow the driveway three times.

But this isn’t about me — this is about the men and women who have to deal with the elements on a daily basis.

Please be sure to dig out your mailboxes, paper boxes, garbage cans and recycle bins. It would also help to dig out the fire hydrants near your house.

A few days have