McIlheran Shorter

Via the Brawler:

People who "fret" about Death Panels base their paranoia not on a rightwing disinformation campaign but on a sophisticated reading of the international press.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day!



As an interesting programming note, make sure to email and/or call WTMJ and ask why Charlies Sykes, who is repeatedly bashing the unions, without whom there would be no Labor Day nor any weekends, is allowed to take today off.

Will Fischer Make Milwaukee Magazine Again?

Greg Kowalski at one of his many sites, wrote about Kevin Fischer's usual boorish commentary:

Lazich (or her aide) soon found out that her constituents didn't appreciate hearing that coming from her office. After a comment drought on her blog, so far 6 comments have appeared on that posting, 4 of which were aimed negatively toward her stance of federal dollars being spent for something like cutting the grass.

I think it goes to show that both Lazich and at least one member of her staff are truly out of touch with at least the constituency in Franklin. Perhaps when the State Legislature looks at redistricting the boundaries after the 2010 Census, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, and parts of Greenfield will be cut away from Lazich's hands. Personally, I've always remarked how the people of Franklin are a lot more open minded on issues and really don't tolerate much nonsense if they can do something to fix it.

This post caught the eye of Milwaukee Magaizine's Pressroom on Facebook, who took Kowalski's post and expanded on it:

He did do one piece of reporting, when he picked up the phone and actually asked School Board members tough questions about the budget. Oh, wait, no, those answers were made up. Presumably an attempt at irony.

Well, speaking of irony, Pressroom is capable of it as well. We note Fischer's
outrage at comprehensive sexuality education in schools -- which he blames for creating a "sexualized atmosphere."

This from the same person who gratuitously posted a well-endowed model's full-cleavage picture (an item about Internet anonymity).

If Fischer is trying to stir up the masses, we're not sure it's working. Comments seem rare to nonexistent in the blog entries we looked at.

One other item: Another correspondent observes Fischer isn't putting time stamps on his posts. Pressroom looked over the site and found they do, indeed, seem to have disappeared. The absence of time stamps reminded us of the controversy that we covered when Pressroom last wrote about Fischer, here.

I can't wait until I get next month's issue.

Help Us Save Transit, the Parks and EMS - Sign Our Petition

From Milwaukee County First, of which I am the Chair:

For many years, riders of the Milwaukee County Transit System has seen its routes get cut and the fares go up, as less and less money is available for it. Once a standard for the nation, it has been in steady decline. This year, it has been recommended by the current administration, contrary to all advice, to again slash routes by up to 40% and raise fares by charging a quarter for each transfer. This will have a devastating effect on the local economy, not just of Milwaukee County, but for the entire southeast region of Wisconsin.

Likewise, the Milwaukee County Parks System has seen cuts for each of the past 27 years. This year will be no different, except that it appears that the parks will suffer the most severe cuts yet. Some of the options being considered by the current administration is closing ALL of the outdoor swimming pools, closing both community centers, and cutting maintenance at the senior centers.

Also being threatened is the money that Milwaukee County puts towards the Emergency Medical System. Without this money being in the budget, there will be people in areas of Milwaukee County that will not receive paramedic services for medical emergencies.

Because of these growing concerns, the County Board repeatedly tried to get a referendum to the voters to see if they would approve of a sales tax increase to save these systems and give the voters relief on their property taxes. But each time, County Executive Scott Walker blocked the people from having the right to express themselves.

Finally, in November 2008, the Board was able to put the referendum on the ballot. The people spoke, and the referendum was approved. Unfortunately, despite the hard work of community-minded groups like Quality of Life Alliance and others, the proposed sales tax was distorted during the budget process, and ultimately vetoed by Governor Jim Doyle.

Without this dedicated funding source, the situation in Milwaukee County will quickly become untenable. That is why Milwaukee County First is asking you to join your voice to ours, and to the many others who also put Milwaukee County first, and are calling on Governor Doyle and the State Legislature to pass this sales tax, and to allow us to help ourselves before it is too late.

Please sign our petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Milwaukee-County-First

and let those in Madison know that we will not quietly stand by and allow Milwaukee County to fall apart before our very eyes. It will only take a few seconds to sign the petition, and we will do the rest.

After you have signed the petition, please pass the word to your family, your friends, your neighbors and your coworkers, and ask them to sign the petition as well. Again the link to the petition is:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Milwaukee-County-First

If we do this separately, we will be just whistling into the wind. Together, we will create a voice that those in Madison will have to hear.

Privatize The Fire Department

I do love me some good satire, don't you?



I wonder if Charlie Sykes or Patrick McIlheran will even get it.

It Doesn't Get Any Worse Than Rush Limbaugh

From Brewtown Gumshoe:

It really doesn’t get any worse than Rush Limbaugh. He’s a truly despicable and repulsive person (I use the noun ‘person’ loosely).

Go to the post to read why he says that.

The Clairvoyant Charlie Sykes

I didn't realize that Sykes could predict the future so adequately. The only thing he got wrong was the party.

Harris Kane explains.

McBride Takes The High Road

And of course, by high road, we really mean low road.

In her article in the Waukesha Freeman today, discussing the life and death of Senator Ted Kennedy, McBride states (emphasis mine):

I’m not going to be one of those tossing cheap ideological arrows at his casket, however. I didn’t always agree with his politics, but I recognize that he strived [sic] to make a difference in matters relating to the public interest. I am able to separate that from Chappaquiddick and recognize him for those actions, but I am not able to separate Chappaquiddick from the life story of the man. So, it’s not that the media should have mentioned only Chappaquiddick or trashed the man in death. But a little more restraint, a little less “lionization” was due.

That's a fair and honest approach for a conservative to take, right? I would say so.

The problem is, the above paragraph came after this one (again, emphasis mine):

There were many Ted Kennedys, certainly. He deserves, even in death, sadly, to be defined by his worst act, even if it was 40 years ago, because those are 40 years that Mary Jo Kopechne never got to live. However, he also deserves to be recognized for contributing something positive to the community as well, even as he bore what must have been an almost insurmountable family sorrow and even as his life was occasionally troubled in the years that followed. The Kennedy story has always been one of great highs and lows. To whom much is given, much is expected.

Something tells me that she didn't do the same thing for Reagan when he died.

PaddyMac: Who Cares If They're Miserable, They Have Low Taxes!

During all this hubbub about Mercenary Marine giving the shaft to their employees and to Fond du Lac, there has been a lot of whining from the right trying to blame it all on taxes. Never mind that even MM has never complained about the taxes.

But PaddyMac takes it one step farther. He basically tries to tell us that it doesn't matter that people in Oklahoma apparently can't afford to go out, they have low taxes! It doesn't matter that they have a substandard quality of life, they have low taxes! It doesn't matter that the entire state embraced an economic policy that put and has kept the nation in a deep recession, they have low taxes!

Something tells me that on Sundays, Paddy doesn't go to St. Mary's to pray. He does it outside the local M & I Bank.

Why BizTimes.com Beats JSOnline Hands Down

BizTimes.com has JSOnline beat hands down. Why?

Simple.

JSOnline has PaddyMac as one of their columnists, complete with his unearned smugness and easily discounted posts, which are full of falsehoods and propaganda.

BizTimes.com only publishes the best of the best as their guest columnists. (Yeah, that's me.)

Belling The Misogynist

Mark Belling is at again. If he is not making an ass out of himself with racist comments, he is doing it with misogynist comments.

This time, he is going after New Berlin blogger Linda Richter.

Belling's vulgarity goes like this, per MMT:

“Out in New Berlin the teachers union is starting a whispering campaign to trash the school superintendent. The person behind all of this is a person who is a former school board member who whored herself out to the teachers union when she was on the school board there. What’s her name: Linda Richter. They are sending out blanket mailings all over the community implying all sorts of wrong doing. It’s all coming from the teachers union that doesn’t like the fact that New Berlin keeps passing budgets that don’t include tax increases. ”

Ms. Richter was actually out of town seeing her son off to fight in the Middle East, when Belling chose to attack her like the coward he is. She's back now, and doesn't need Whallah! to back her up. She can give as good as she gets:

Whored herself out? What a vulgar and vile allegation! Sadly, denigrating women and using repugnant rhetoric is nothing new for Belling, who has been known to refer to breastfeeding mothers as sows.
Belling has a penchant for crude remarks. Is he also a conspiracy nut? A propagandist?
For the record: I am a nurse not a teacher. I’ve never been a member of the teachers union or any union. I am not employed by a teacher, teachers union, or New Berlin Public Schools. I am a district taxpayer. I know of no “blanket mailings all over the community implying wrong doing” being sent by the teachers union. Given that I can easily communicate information and my views publicly on a regular basis via the Internet on my blog Inside New Berlin (NOW/Journal Communications hosts it), it should be obvious to Belling and everyone else that I have no need to launch “whispering campaigns to trash the school superintendent.” My blog has addressed many topics, including the superintendent and his hefty salary/benefits increase approved recently by the school board. My blog posts are often displayed on the MetroMilwaukeeToday and Blognetnews Websites. Yes, I have served on the New Berlin School Board--from April 1999 until April 2002. Note that my school board term ended over 7 years ago! I did not solicit or accept campaign contributions from the teachers union. I was elected to office on a campaign platform of better communication and more accountability. While on the school board, I pushed NBPS/Board to comply with policy and laws which it had been disregarding for years, publish the minutes of school board meetings, televise and tape board meetings, etc. If Belling considers such efforts whoring for the teachers union, it wouldn't be hard to conclude that his blind hatred for and obsession with the teachers union has addled his brain.

Now, you may wonder, why is WISN and Clear Channel putting up with this noise? Well, if you go their website, it is obvious that the whole station management is a bunch of misogynist perverts. But that is not the real reason why they allow Belling to get away time after time with this sort of crap.

The real reason is that we let them.

UPS Pulls Advertising From Faux News

Off of Twitter (did you know that you can find Whallah! on twitter now?) is some good news. UPS has pulled all advertising from not only Glenn Beck, but from Faux News altogether:

Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, said today he has not only temporarily halted buying ads on the Glenn Beck Show but also on the Fox News Channel altogether as reported by AP Television writer David Bauder

Congratulations to Color of Change for a boycott that has successfully driven 33 companies away from the odious and racist rantings of Glenn Beck! Beck is returning from vacation to even fewer advertisers than when he left!

UPDATE: You can send UPS a thank you email at customer.service@ups.com
And while you're at it, please urge them to make this temporary move a permanent one!

Go Big Brown!

And Now For The Rest Of The Story

PaddyMac thinks that he is pulling a faster one on us.

He cites on his blog that a Canadian conservationist is talking about how polar bears were able to stay on the ice for two extra weeks to hunt seals. Paddy even included a little quote:

"The cooler-than-usual summer produced thicker ice on Hudson Bay, giving the area's polar bear population several extra days to feed on tasty ringed seals."

But if you go to the actual article and read it, like Paddy hopes you won't, you'll see this as well:

That's resulted in fatter, healthier bears this summer, Hedman said. He added, however, the development is not likely a long-term trend.

"It's probably a blip," Hedman said of the thicker ice and cooler temperatures.

And the paper thinks they will get people to pay to read this drivel on line? Good luck with that.

I Don't Think So, Scooter

A tweet from a twit:


Something tells me there is an intern in trouble somewhere in Walker World.

Does anyone else have a problem with their boss stalking them?

See also: Well, I Hope He's Taking Notes

That Bad Borad

Fischer really hates when I do this, which makes it all the more fun:

And then he tries to rip on other people for their spelling mishaps. Go figure.