Wouldn't you like to know

by folkbum

Which bloggers are on Daniel Schorr's enemies list?

He is 91 and still cranks out his National Public Radio commentaries on an IBM typewriter. He eschews the Internet, openly disdains some bloggers and dismisses the whole "citizen journalism" idea.

Fair Market

By 3rd Way

Journal Communication's dastardly duo has once again joined forces. This time they are taking aim at one of our planet's do-gooders. McIlheran and Sykes both linked to a piece that misrepresents Bill Gates as turning his back on capitalism. In reality Gates is putting his money where his mouth is by trying to create capitalists at the grass roots level. Through something he is labeling creative capitalism Gates vows to bring resources, education and market access to some of the poorest people on the planet. In the minds of the far right this somehow equates a rejection of capitalism.

This smear on the altruism of a great philanthropist reminds me of the claims continually made about Warren Buffett and his support for tax progressivity. Whenever the topic of tax progressivity is brought up the right counters by equating progressivity with unfairness and envy. In the case of Buffett they substitute envy for guilt. I will take Buffett's justification for progressivity by judging his own words:

"Ordinary people just drive on the highways; corporations send fleets of trucks. Ordinary people may get a bank loan for their mortgage; corporations borrow money to buy whole companies. Ordinary people rarely use the courts; most of the courts are used for corporate law and contract disputes. Corporations and their investors — those who have accumulated enough money beyond basic needs so they can invest — make much more use, compound use, of the empowering infrastructure provided by everybody's tax money.

The wealthy have made greater use of the common good—they have been empowered by it in creating their wealth—and thus they have a greater moral obligation to sustain it. They are merely paying their debt to society in arrears and investing in future empowerment.

This is the fundamental truth that motivates progressive taxation."

Gates and Buffett know more about wealth creation than any of us ever will. These two men have implemented strategies for asset allocation to wondrous effect. If they think we get the best bang for our buck by providing services for all and paying for it by requiring more from those with the most I will listen. I will take the suggestions of experts over ideologues every time.

The strategies Gates and Buffett advocate for are pragmatic and support an equitable society by bringing the most prosperity to the most people. I hope that someday it will be irrefutably proven what works best and all the world's economies will adopt a similar brand of capitalism. This approach is not going to be winner-take-all capitalism nor statist communism. I like to think of it as a third way.

For your calendar-marking pleasure

by folkbum

As some of you may suspect, I play folk music. [pause for gasps of surprise] You'll have two, maybe three, chances to see me perform in the coming months.

First, on Saturday, February 16, I will be one of eight finalists in the Coffee House's annual Midwinter Talent Contest. I have been a finalist twice before (25 more times and Katherine Heigl will make a movie about it), and lost twice before. Will history repeat? Will me thousands of adoring fans (as I'm sure you'll all come to the show) sway the judges in may favor? Will I crack up on stage and start sobbing like a little kid? Find out at the show! Starts at 8 PM, admission is a mere $3.50. Follow the links for directions and other information.

Also at the Coffee House--the only place that will have me?--is the annual New Song Concert featuring the Portage Road Songwriters Guild, which is the songwriting group I belong to. That's coming up on Saturday, May 10. (Saturday, May 3, is the showcase for the winners of the Talent Contest. If I win, place, or show on Feb. 16, I will be playing that night, as well.)

Will You Believe Me Now?

by capper

A MUCH OVERDUE UPDATE: Gretchen Schuldt has also posted her views on this matter. It is, as usual, much better written and more concise than my post. (Sorry for the delay, Gretchen.)

Sometimes, I get the feeling that outside of three or four people, as soon as they see my name at the top, they pass over what I write. Other times, not so much.

I know that I've been hitting Walker fast and often, especially in regards to the House of Correction and the myriad of problems that have been occurring there for the past year or so. Maybe I've been overdoing it, but I felt it was a strong concern for the county and the community, so I kept at it. And I am not the only one to have strong concerns about the correctional system in its current condition. Zachary has also been adding his valuable insight to the problems, having had the same work experience there as I did.

Even then, some curmudgeons, like Dad29, would dismiss us as a couple of whiny liberals.

Well, would you believe the feds? In this morning's MSJ, there is an article that outlines a federal report about the conditions of the House of Corrections and the Community Correctional Center. It is, in its entirety, a pretty damning report. Some of the highlights:

Among his key findings:

• Security at the House of Correction "is very bad. The problems are many and they are widespread and deep." However, administrators were oblivious to "glaring security weaknesses." The report excludes specifics to avoid contributing to security breaches at the House, but those details were issued in a confidential side letter to Malone.

• An Aug. 3 inmate escape through a supply closet window was blamed on "chronic failures" and the fault of supervisors rather than correctional officers. The escapee spent over three weeks working to break through a security screen on a window in the closet, creating noise that was ignored. Other inmates tried to warn staff of the impending escape effort, but those warnings were not acted on.

• "Exceptionally deficient" fire safety was listed as the worst problem, and that problem was more pronounced at the work-release center. The aging building at 1004 N. 10th St., with up to 400 inmates on five floors, could quickly go up in flames with stairwells likely engulfed in heat and smoke before upper-floor residents could evacuate. The alarm system there has been broken for years.

• The House lacks tactical capacity to deal with a hostage situation or other crisis.

• The armory at the House was "dirty and badly disorganized." Drawers contained parts as well as years-old unopened equipment still in boxes. The lack of "intermediate force" weapons, such as gas grenades and rubber bullets, leaves the institution without adequate means of dealing with a large inmate disturbance. It has since been cleaned.

The report also throws a harsh light on Walker's ill-advised plan to close the CCC and put the inmates on a GPS monitoring system. The report says that there has been no planning at all for this. Sort of like Bush and his fiasco in Iraq, and we've all seen how well that has worked out for him.

Walker's response to this? He tells HOC Superintendent Ron Malone to fix everything in 90 days or be fired. What a guy. He creates a disaster of epic proportions and tells his underling to clean it up or be fired. That should be the textbook example of poor leadership.

The MSJ article goes on to say that the County Board is finally getting around to do what should have been done months ago, and what Walker still hasn't figured out, or is trying to cover up. They are calling for Malone and Sheriff David Clarke to submit reports with the facts on how all of these things keep happening, comparing our lock ups to those of other similar communities, and how to fix the problems we are having.

To his credit, Malone has expressed a ready willingness to cooperate. Clarke is still trying to figure out if his over-sized ego will let him take a realistic look at his office and its operations.

Time for Mary Lazich to put her foot down

by folkbum

A whole lot of people who work for the gubmint do blogging, including partisan blogging and other kinds of stuff that just generally doesn't fall under the purview of their gubmint jobs. Most of us, though, take care not to do it on gubmint time with gubmint resources.

For all I know, Kevin Fischer (one of the NOW bloggers) is just as careful as I try to be about doing his blog. Fischer's day job--when he isn't filling in for the equally vacuous Mark Belling when Belling fills in for the equally bloviating Rush Limbaugh--is working for State Senator Mary Lazich. I don't want to suggest that aides can't blog on their own time or that Fischer is breaking the law by blogging on state time. And certainly I'm not suggesting that Fischer's "free speech" be impaired. On the contrary, the more a buffoon like Fischer does his antics, the more he discredits his side of the argument. (When a conservative has irritated both Wigderson and Dooley, you know there's something wrong with him. UPDATE: See the comments for discussion of this point.)

But I do believe it's time for Senator Lazich to either have a heart-to-heart with Fischer about his blogging or else cut him loose. My good friend and yours capper--occasionally known as The King of the Hate Left--has this run-down over at Whallah!

There's an entire world of bloggers on the NOW sites that I just don't tend to pay attention to. But it looks to me like the personal attacks, nasty language, vitriol, and general priggishness just in the works (mostly the comments) of Kevin Fischer far exceeds what you generally find in the conservative blogs here on the Blogger-WordPress axis. Fischer makes his living on my tax dollars in the office of a prominent local Republican who has shown herself to be opposed to such priggishness (h/t Linda Richter).

Again, I don't want to shut Fischer up--and if I were running a campaign against Lazich I would just love to plaster Fischer's own words on a mailer about his boss. But there is something to be said for maintaining some level of propriety among those whose blogging habits are at least partially enabled by my taxes.

Additional reading: Pundit Nation, Kay's Blue Racine.

Also: It's not vitriolic, but it seems to me that copying and pasting an entire article out of the New York Times poses its own ethical issues.

Walker's Catch And Release Program

by capper

Walker has been really pushing his plan for closing the Community Correctional Center and putting the inmates housed there on GPS monitors. In fact, the last time he pushed for something this much, it was the first time he tried to do the pension loan program, which turned out would have been a sweetheart deal for a financial and political backer, Nick Hurtgen, who worked for Bear Stearns and who has since been indicted in federal court for kickback schemes.

Anyway, Walker really, really wants this GPS thing to go through. However, it might not go as easy as he would hope. His first obstacle will be Sheriff David Clarke. In today's MSJ, there is an article in which Clarke expresses some of his concerns about the feasibility of this program:

Clarke said in an interview that serious unanswered questions about the GPS system remain. To be done properly, inmates considered for GPS monitoring should be carefully pre-screened, he said. All violent and drug offenders should be excluded, Clarke said.

A successful monitoring program also should have frequent drug testing, he said. And the program needs extra law enforcement help to round up inmates who set off alarms for straying from approved travel routes to school or jobs.

All those things cost money that hasn't been found yet, Clarke said.

Many of the inmates now housed at the work-release center would likely not make good candidates for the GPS monitoring, he said. The county already has a policy of excluding inmates sentenced for drugs, assaults, burglary or illegal possession of a gun from a different type of electronic monitoring now in use.

Abruptly shutting down the work-release center could create crowding problems if many inmates were placed at the House of Correction, rather than released on GPS monitors. Clarke suggested adding beds at the House of Correction to accommodate them.

*************************
Clarke said even with around-the-clock electronic monitoring, the inmates still could be dealing drugs or involved in other illegal activity without setting off an alarm. That's partly why he hasn't used it for jail inmates awaiting trial, Clarke said.

These are all valid concerns and do need be addressed before the County bulls its way along with this program. It also echoes some of my earlier concerns.

I would also like to know how this lame-brain scheme falls into Walker's campaign theme of Safety, Affordability and Pride. His plan would cost more, make people in the community less safe, and doesn't really give us any bragging rights. (What? Is he thinking, "Come to Milwaukee and see our criminals up close and personal. But don't worry, they're wearing bracelets."?)

Meanwhile, County Board Chairman wants to have psychological evaluations for all the inmates before they are put on the GPS system. This is so unrealistic, due to time issues, manpower and costs that it is not even worth discussing.

It is rather scary to think that of all of the current County leaders, Clarke is currently making the most sense. That should make more people want to consider supporting Senator Lena Taylor, so that we can get out of this chaos.

White House -- Home of the Whoppers

By Keith Schmitz

Often times when people accuse Bush of lying us into Iraq the right wing howls to the moon that we all are simply "obsessed" over this and we should just get over it.

Well, maybe over a couple or even a dozen lies, but 935?

According to two non-profit groups:

(T)he Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003," reads an overview of the examination, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and its affiliated group, the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

According to the study, Bush and seven top officials -- including Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years.

The study was based on a searchable database compiled of primary sources, such as official government transcripts and speeches, and secondary sources -- mainly quotes from major media organizations.

935 mis-statements? Okay boys. Defend this one.

TeamBush might have believed what they were ladling out to the American public, to be extremely charitable. But to drive us into this swamp and then go on to incompetently and corruptly run this operation would for other governments that have a level of class and character lead to resignation out of shame.

Not this gang.

And Then There Were Ten

by folkbum

Well, Fred Thompson exited stage right today, which leaves, if we don't count Alan Keyes--and, really, who does?--ten candidates. That takes the number of theoretical match-ups down to a mere 25, with maybe 6 really possible. However, an even five folks on each side means I can pair one D up with one R; so here are some general election match-ups I'd like to see:

• Hillary Clinton v. Rudy 9u11iani, wherein the voters can base their decision on who looks better in a dress;
  
• Mike Gravel v. Ron Paul, in what you might call the Abraham J. Simpson Memorial Coot-Off;
  
• Dennis Kucinich v. Willard "Mitt" Romney, so we can learn whether people would rather vote for someone who believes the Book of Mormon or someone who believes the books of Shirley MacLaine;
  
• John Edwards v. Mike Huckabee, in a contest that will remind us more of a "Hee-Haw" skit than an election, and which will propel America into a depression over the collective realization that we remember "Hee-Haw";
  
• Barack Obama v. John McCain, which will take on mythic, archetypal proportions, given that Obama is McCain's illegitimate son.

On another note, I want to ask the media to make an adjustment for the next Democratic debate. We know that the candidates are too nice to each other when they're sitting down, and they're too mean when they're standing up. So please, for the next debate, bar stools.

If anyone wants to predict the Dems in South Carolina this weekend, go ahead. My prediction is simply this: South Carolina doesn't matter. John Edwards will be third, and either of the two other candidates have good "so what if I lost" narratives that they can flog until February 5--when this thing will probably be decided.

Important MPS hearing tonight

by folkbum

This came through on the email this morning; you can get some background from the newspaper here.

Hello friends of MPS,

As you might have seen in the news, the MPS board took a needed step last week, the first step in a push back against No Child Left Behind's waste of our district resources. We voted not to hire a pack of overseers for the new federally-imposed DIFI bureaucracy until the federal government sent a check with dedicated funds to pay for these positions.

Not surprisingly, the money's been found and it's already in the district's pockets. (Ha!) An emergency meeting of the board's Finance and Personnel committee has been called for tomorrow night to approve the creation of this bureaucracy.

As a taxpayer and a mom who has invested a lot into the success of MPS and the children it serves, I'm sick of seeing our money go down the drain to meet increasingly more bizarre NCLB requirements. Because MPS has entered DIFI ("District Identified for Improvement") status, the feds are forcing the state to impose a series of interventions on us. Some of these interventions include creating a new bureaucracy to oversee the new mandated curriculum we'll be teaching during a new mandated school-day schedule.

Even if the feds were actually paying for these (and the many other) mandates -- which they're not -- it would still be wrong to approve these positions. NCLB is a distraction away from what really will help our children, like smaller class sizes and meaningful home/school connections.

If you can, please come tell the Finance and Personnel committee what you think:

Special Meeting of the Finance & Personnel Committee
Tuesday, Jan. 22nd at 6 p.m.
MPS Central Services * 5225 W. Vliet St.

Sorry for the late notice; I just found out about this this afternoon.

Jennifer Morales,
Member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors

Looking On The Bright Side

by capper

OK, OK, I know things around here have been pretty rough lately. The extremely cold temperatures followed by the white fluffy death; the economy going down the toilet; ever increasing numbers of foreclosures; gasoline prices through the roof and it's only going to go up; incessant political yammerings from every direction. And to top it off, it got so cold on Sunday, that Hell froze over and the Giants beat the Pack (thanks for nothing, Jay!).

But cheer up, buddy. There is something to be happy about today. Today is the first day of the last year of the Bush administration.

Let's hope we never get this fooled again.

Small Town News

by capper

When Grandpa capper retired in the mid-70s, he and Grandma capper moved up to their land in central Wisconsin. At that time, there was a weekly paper from the nearest town, Iola, called the Iola Herald. It was put out by the Little Wolf Publishing Corp. and was just about what you would expect from a small town paper.

I'll never forget how I thought it was really cool, yet at the same time, unbelievably dorky, that they would publish under a section of town events, something like, "Grandma and Grandpa got a visit last week from their grandson, Little capper. Grandpa capper took Little capper fishing at Lake Iola, where they caught a bucketful of bluegills and two trouts." I mean, you know you're talking small town, when visiting your grandparents makes the local paper.

As time went by, the paper was sold, and a couple, Trey and Mary Foerster, bought the Herald and the Manawa Advocate, another small town weekly. They made a lot of changes to the papers, including merging them for cost-savings purposes. They also cut out the little town news that made it so hokey and yet charming.

I still get the paper, just to keep up on local events, local ordinances, etc, that would be otherwise unavailable to me. For the most part, except for the few things that I have an interest in, the paper is useless to me. Out of the usual 24 pages or so in each issue, at least a third of it is dedicated to the local high school sports teams. The rest is advertising, a religious page, five pages of classifieds, and usually a couple of pages of "news stories" that are simply advertising for local businesses.

Sometimes they do have something interesting, like the events around that wild and wacky season, Potato Appreciation Month. I'm sorry, but I digress. My point is that even though the paper is not has quaint, it still has a small town feel about it.

Until this week.

As I sat down to peruse the paper, it was the subarctic temperatures that put a chill through me. It was the headline of the paper. It read:

Iola Herald purchased by Journal Communications Inc.

It is bad enough that the Journal owns the only daily paper here in Milwaukee, but also a TV station, and a radio station. They also own MKE, the CNI papers, and other publications and stations around the country. Now this. It keeps getting harder and harder to find accurate and unbiased news in this world.

Sheesh, with one of my last refuges from the chaos of the big city, I'll still have to put up with the likes of Patrick McIlheran.

Oh, how I sometimes really miss the good old days.

Taylor vs. Walker: The Debates

by capper

From JSOnline's political blog:

Candidate face-offs set in county exec race
By Steve Schultze
Monday,
Jan 21 2008, 03:57 PM

After a sluggish start to the campaign for Milwaukee County executive, a series of candidate debates and forums have been set.

The first formal debate between incumbent County Executive Scott Walker and challenger Lena Taylor scheduled so far will be 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St.

The debate is co-sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club and the Public Policy Forum and will be moderated by William Holahan, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Admission, which includes lunch and parking, is $40 for press club members and $50 for non-members.

The candidates also are scheduled to debate at 7 p.m. March 5 at the Jewish Community Center, 6255 N. Santa Monic Blvd., in Whitefish Bay; and at noon March 11 at the downtown Rotary Club meeting at the War Memorial Center.

Walker and Taylor also have agreed to appear at a forum at 6:30 p.m. March 6 at Faith United Church of Christ, 4240 N. 78th St., sponsored by the Capital West Neighborhood Association.

Walker said last week he wanted to debate Taylor as frequently as possible. Several additional appearances are also being planned, said Tim Russell, Walker's campaign chairman.

Walker, a 40-year-old former Republican Assembly member, was first elected county executive in 2002 and re-elected in 2004. Taylor, a 41-year-old Democratic state senator from Milwaukee, has served in the Legislature since 2003.

Good thing there's that liberal bias at MJS, otherwise one would wonder why they've ignored the Taylor campaign asking for debates for weeks.

(Now if I can only get Jay to give me some of his pimpin' money, maybe I could go.)

Mark and Charley’s Performance Review

By Keith Schmitz

Gentlemen come in, have a seat and oh by the way, please close the door.

We are going to take the rather unusual step of giving you a joint performance review. On top of that, you haven’t had one so it is about time.

To be honest with you, we have to be somewhat critical about your lack of contribution to our organization, in this case being the Milwaukee metro area. Maybe that was misstated. Make that no contribution.

As you know, or maybe you don’t, for any organization to succeed it has to work together as team. Metro Milwaukee has a lot going for it; a hard working and smart labor force, a great place to raise a family, a collection of leading universities, great cultural and entertainment attractions, and bunch of other attributes. Yeah things are not perfect. Poverty is a big problem, so is crime and we need more people to move here.

But one reason why we cannot get traction on any of these challenges is the team is not pulling together the way it should. You two guys have seemingly done all you can to create derision between our stakeholders.

A level of disagreement is essential to the dynamic of any organization and is healthy but there reaches a point where it is not. You have taken it way over the top and fanned rancor within our team. Like any business, while incompetence can get you dismissed, so can a profound inability to work well with others.

That includes an excessively high level of disrespect to our leadership team past and present including Dick Abdoo, Don Richards, Mike Cudahy, Tom Barrett, Marcus White and most recently Steve Jagler. Basically the position of management is when you have serious people doing serious things you don’t get in their way with petulant diatribes.

As well as throwing body blocks in the path of members of the organization trying to positive things, you lack an appreciation for forward-thinking ideas, from light rail to diversity programs to stem cell research. You fail to consider to consider alternatives to the health care crisis that has been detrimental to our organization. You have never offered up positive ideas for attacking our local problems.

In business, a sense of proportion is important and here you display extreme deficiency. Instances where you have wildly overstated the issues include alleging wide-spread voter fraud, the need for conceal and carry, Wisconsin as a tax hell and internationally advocating the invasion of Iraq and in so wasting valuable resources for no apparent reason. Your perception of situations is clouded by a wall of preconceived notions higher than the Hoover Dam.

In short, gentlemen you have failed to provide value to the organization.

On the positive side, you exhibit good personal grooming habits.

Though our policy precludes dismissal, a copy of this review will be in your file.

We hope this evaluation leads to some improvements in your performance.

Please close the door on the way out.

Yes, let's invest in the market

by folkbum

What could go wrong?

I love days like this

by folkbum

No waits at restaurants, quick lines at the grocery store. Sweet.

Oh. Go Pack. Or something.

Update: Kiss of death, I tell you, even in football. Go McCain!

Leave It To A Politician

by capper

I received this email today from a friend. At first, I thought it to be a joke, until I was able to confirm that it was for real. It is the world's longest and most verbose way of saying "Go Packers!":

WHEREAS, the Green Bay Packers thrilled a sellout crowd at Lambeau Field and a national television audience on Saturday, January 12, 2008 with their commanding and memorable 42-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks; and

WHEREAS, the win furthered the team’s playoff standing, giving fans reason to celebrate as the Green Bay Packers go on to face the New York Giants at Lambeau Field on Sunday, January 20, 2008 for the NFC Championship; and

WHEREAS, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy added to his impressive coaching success by winning 18 of the last 21 games, and quarterback Brett Favre to his enduring legacy as the all-time greatest team leader and player during this outstanding season; and

WHEREAS, the Green Bay Packers have established themselves through superior teamwork and immeasurable heart, and demonstrated that neither rain, wind, sleet, snow or Giants will keep them from their goal; now, therefore,

I, Scott Walker, County Executive of Milwaukee County, do hereby extend my enthusiastic congratulations to Green Bay Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, Coach Mike McCarthy, the team coaching, personnel and administrative staff, all the Green Bay Packers players, and declare Friday, January 18, 2008 to be

Green Bay Packers Pride Day

throughout Milwaukee County, and I encourage all Milwaukee County employees to wear the team’s Green and Gold to wish them success in the NFC Championship.

Scott Walker
Milwaukee County Executive

(If I can figure out how to link to the original pdf, I will provide that as well)

What's In Your Wallet?

By 3rd Way

Gretchen of Milwaukee Rising did a quick study on the decline of housing prices in aldermanic district 7.  This inspired me to run an analysis of the housing prices in my hood.  Here in Bay View, the better east side of Milwaukee, housing prices have not falling as much as I feared they might have, but they have fallen about 4% from their peak.

In the first part of the year I bought my house (2005) the average price on 271 sales was $167,302.  In the first part of 2007 the average price on 145 sales was $161,588.

Meanwhile inflation is surging at a pace not seen since before the last Democratic administration and the stock markets have all dropped more than 10% in the last 3 months.  In this economic atmosphere it would be hard to convince anyone that the status quo is the best we can do. 

The economic apologists of the current administration are going to be hard pressed to make the case that their policies have benefitted the middle class when we can review our net worth and judge the results for ourselves.  Fairly or not the months leading up to the election are the only ones that will weigh heavily on most voters minds.  We can look at our 401K statements, review the sales prices of our neighbor’s houses and check our groceries bills to prove that our cost of living is going up while the worth of our assets are going down.  There is no think tank study that McIlheran or anyone else can site to disprove that.

More Silliness From Walker

by capper

In the same email that he has his "Vote for me, I break promises" propoganda, Walker's campaign also included this little tidbit:

Milwaukee County Parks: Strong, Vibrant

In case you missed it, a recent MKE Online article highlighted the beauty of our parks throughout the seasons. While you may not read these positive stories in the news, the truth is that our parks are running strong and continue to be one of our best assets. County Executive Walker will continue to fight for innovative ways to maintain our park services without raising taxes.

This surprised me on two accounts. One, I didn't even know MKE was still in existence, much less that anyone actually read it.

Two was that the parks could be described as strong or vibrant. But then, as I researched this, I realized I was partially wrong. The parks are strong and vibrant--as long as they are in an area that also includes Walker's base.

Here are some pictures, courtesy of Gretchen Schuldt, contrasting the baseball diamonds in Washington Park in the heart of Milwaukee and McCarty Park in West Allis.














Washington Park


















McCarty Park























Washington Park























McCarty Park





















Washington Park





















McCarty Park


For other pictures of those Strong and Vibrant Parks you can find them on Gretchen's blogsite, Milwaukee Rising, here and here and here.

A Sure Sign That Your Campaign Is In Trouble

by capper

Scott Walker has sent out another email from his campaign. It reads:

Reason #1 to Vote for Scott Walker

While many politicians make promises about taxes during elections, Scott actually delivers on his promises. He said that he would not raise the property tax levy from the previous year, and he kept his word in each of his six county budgets. In fact, several of his budgets actually cut the tax levy.

To further his agenda of tax relief, Scott needs your help to elect more like-minded individuals to the County Board. With a few more Supervisors who are willing to look out for the taxpayer, Scott can have even greater success in 2008 and beyond - which means we all win as taxpayers.

Let's parse this out. "Scott actually delivers on his promises." Does that include his promise not to run for County Executive in 2008 or not to privatize? Apparently not. (Don't worry, I'll be doing more posts on his other broken promises later.)

And regarding the tax relief, well he might have been accurate on the syntax, but is slimy on the semantics. Walker has known all along that the County needs to raise taxes. After the last budget battle, with a 3% raise in taxes, he called it a "good budget." He has also repeatedly pushed for a regional parks authority and a regional transit authority, both of which would have the ability, and would exercise that ability, to raise the necessary taxes.

We have also seen how well his budgets have held up. There was the fiasco of closing the pools early during one of the hottest times of the year. There have been yearly budget blow-ups where the County had to scramble to find enough money and/or cut enough services to not go over budget. This past budget even set a record by blowing up before the ink was dried.

What good is a promise that is harmful?

And for the request for more supervisors that see his vision? Well, he tried that already. It didn't work for Chris Kujawa, and it's not going to work now. People are getting sick of his neglect of his duties. They sure aren't going to help him make it even worse.

Guiliani May Be Hazardous to Your Health

By Keith Schmitz

No wonder the Guiliani campaign is tanking.

Today the New York Times reported the findings of a study suggesting obsessing over terrorism can take a greater toll on one's health than terrorism itself:

After the attacks of Sept. 11, the scientists monitored people’s fears of terrorism over the next several years and found that the most fearful people were three to five times more likely than the rest to receive diagnoses of new cardiovascular ailments.

“It’s amazing how enduring these feelings of fear are, but look at what’s been going on,” said Alison Holman, a professor of nursing science at the University of California, Irvine, the lead author of the study. “I’d be surprised if those terrorist alerts didn’t contribute in some way to the ongoing worry about terrorism in our sample.”

Here's the payoff pitch:

After controlling for various factors (age, obesity, smoking, other ailments and stressful life events), the researchers found that the people who were acutely stressed after the 9/11 attacks and continued to worry about terrorism — about 6 percent of the sample — were at least three times more likely than the others in the study to be given diagnoses of new heart problems.

If you extrapolate that percentage to the adult population of America, it works out to more than 10 million people. No one knows what fraction of them might consequently die of a stroke or heart attack — plenty of other factors affect heart disease — but if it were merely 0.0003 percent, that would be higher than the 9/11 death toll.

The article talks about that these people will rationalize away the real risk against the imagined one because of the prospect (albeit slim) of masses of people dying at once. Sort of when someone has a fear of flying and will take to the road, despite the reality that a long trip in a car presents greater odds of dying in a crash than sitting in an airplane seat.

So it turns out constant mentioning of 9/11 can spark these fatal anxieties. Someone stop Guiliani before he kills again.