Fein Tunes

Sometimes when a politician attempts to look cool, they look like an idiot.  For example, do I really care what Senator Feingold likes to listen to on his iPod?  Let’s see, he voted for a ridiculous health care bill that is full of pork and would be incredibly destructive to our country.  His signature legislation restricting our freedom to speak during elections has been ruled largely unconstitutional.  He voted for massive deficits, tremendous spending, and tax hikes.  And I’m supposed to like him more because he digs Van Morrison? 

Um, no. 

Third District Candidates Profiled

It’s a fairly sharp contrast.  On one side, you have this:

“The biggest thing I’m bringing is leadership,” Duquaine said, pointing to his 20-plus years as a business owner. “I’ve balanced budgets for years, I’ve grown a business. I’d like to bring that experience to the city.”

[...]

  Duquaine said two issues made him decide to run for the Common Council. “The unacceptable unemployment rate in this city. That’s a huge concern for me.”

  He also believes the city can do a better job attracting and retaining businesses by creating a friendlier business climate. “If you do that it will lower the unemployment,” he said.

  As the owner of a masonry company that works on commercial properties around southeast Wisconsin, Duquaine said he has seen what other communities do to encourage development and would like West Bend to consider some of those ideas.

  “I would do whatever we can to promote our city and develop our city,” he said, “not only bringing in new business but do a better job maintaining the businesses we have here.”

On the other side you have this:

“I’m a totally independent candidate,” Salmon said. “I feel I can look at each issue facing the council, research information on that issue and make a decision independent of any outside agenda. I will make decisions that best represent the citizens of the third district and the citizens of West Bend.”

[...]

  Salmon said it is important to continue to improve taxpayers’ understanding of city issues. “I would work harder to keep citizens informed on how their govenment [sic] was working for them,” she said. “The city recently began streaming the council meetings over the Internet and I think that is a great start.”

Let’s see… business owner looking to improve the business climate and attract businesses against an “independent” candidate who wants to improve my understanding of city issues. 

Yeah, I’d vote for Duquaine.

Pulp Fiction

I just saw an advert on AMC that they will be airing Pulp Fiction at some point in the future (see how much I pay attention?).  I like Pulp Fiction.  It’s a good flick.  I can’t, however, see how it can be viewed on normal television.  Given the extent of violence, cussing, and other no-nos in the movie, how can it be viewed with any justice on normal TV?  It would be like watching Blazing Saddles on regular TV nowadays.  The entrails are left in a pile in the woods and all that is left if a lifeless carcass of its former self. 

Can’t Fix A Law that Isn’t a Law

So much for that idea.

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.

BBC Looks at Open Carry in Wisconsin

Frequent commenter and rights defender, Nik Clark, is now internationally infamous (it’s BETTER than famous). 

Wisconsin Open Carry. Groups like this have been springing up all over the States in the last year and they’ve been making an impact in the last week or so, getting Starbucks in California to agree people should be allowed into their coffee shops carrying guns. The groups are made up of people who want to make a point about the Second Amendment right in the Constitution to bear arms, by bearing them openly. Some want to make a point and test whether or not private firms like shops and restaurants recognise that right.

The movement is slightly different in the state of Wisconsin where concealed guns are banned. Nick says wearing a gun in a visible holster is the only way he can carry a weapon legally and he wants others to be aware of their rights: he doesn’t want to confront but to convert.

“You have a right to self defence and open carry is a great deterrent. It’s about personal protection,” he says.

He’s a beefy guy, with bulging muscles, so I ask: Isn’t he rather intimidating when he’s armed as well?

“I’ve been open carrying for about a year and most people don’t notice, or some might make a comment. It’s a demonstration I am a law-abiding citizen, you have nothing to hide. Criminals never open carry.”

He says that his group respects property rights and if a shop doesn’t want their custom and they are asked to leave they are happy to do so: they don’t want to patronise that business. But he says most big companies know the law and have a policy that allows them to shop armed.

Kim says for her it is all about self protection: “I can guarantee if I am going to my car late at night and someone sees me carrying a gun they won’t make me a victim.”

But Nick says he is also making a point: “I want people to see me and have a level of comfort, to know that if they are out walking their dog it is OK to carry a gun, if they are walking to their car after work it is legal to carry a firearm.”

Earmark King Puts Restriction on Earmarks

Color me unimpressed.

U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, announced today that the House Appropriations Committee will no longer approve earmarks directed to for-profit entities.

Obey, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, joined with incoming Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks, D-Wash., in announcing the plan. The lawmakers say the rule would have prevented 1,000 earmarks last year. In addition, the Appropriations Committee will now require an audit of at least 5 percent of non-profit earmarks to “ensure that earmarks go to their intended purposes and to prevent for-profits from masquerading as non-profits.”

Greece Gives Preview of America’s Future?

Could be.

Many of the same risky financial practices that now imperil the Greeks were at the center of the all-too-recent U.S. meltdown.

As with Greece, America’s national debt has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade, to the point where it threatens to swamp overall economic output. And in the U.S., as in Greece, a large portion of that debt is owed to foreign investors.

Not good, if these debt holders begin to wonder if they’ll be paid back. A foreign flight from U.S. Treasury securities could sow financial chaos in the United States, as happened when many investors lost faith in Greek bonds.

It’s something that could affect all Americans. The U.S. has never defaulted on a debt, and even the hint of such a possibility could send interest rates soaring and choke off a fragile recovery.

Kewaskum School Staff Not Happy With Custodial Staff

Do you know what’s great about this?

Concerns about the Kewaskum School District’s decision to outsource cleaning services for the community’s schools about a year and a half ago resurfaced when the School Board met Monday night.

  About 80 teachers and staff are estimated to have attended the meeting, where the members of the Kewaskum Auxiliary Personnel asked the board to revisit the subject.

  Among those at the meeting were Steve Backhaus, lead custodian at Kewaskum Middle School.

  Backhaus said members of the auxiliary decided to make a statement at Monday night’s meeting because a letter sent to the School Board and district administration in October about quality, safety, and other concerns related to the subcontracted custodial services was ignored.

  The seven-page letter identified “concerns relating to the quality of services provided by the subcontractor and the condition of equipment used by the subcontractor.”

  “We don’t mean to belittle the people who do the work,” Backhaus said. “It’s just not getting done right or it’s not done at all.”

If the services truly are that poor, they can fire the service and get another one.  Somehow, though, I’m a bit skeptical that it’s that bad. 

Kansas City Closing Schools

This is a good insight into how hard it is for government to cut things.

Superintendent John Covington called for the closing or consolidation of almost half of the schools in the Kansas City, Missouri, school district, and a school board voted Wednesday to approve the downsizing.

Covington calls it the “right-size” plan,” but many residents say it’s plain wrong.

A packed room of people watched the board make its historic move after weeks of debate and years of declining enrollment. Some parents voiced their anger, while some students cried.

Yeah, it sucks to close schools, but look at the facts:

Covington said the closures were the first phase of “right-sizing” a district where enrollments have plummeted from more than 35,000 in the 1999-2000 school year to about 17,000 in 2009-10.

They are at less than HALF of enrollment.  How can anyone justify keeping open the same number of school buildings except with emotional arguments?  They can’t.  While I appreciate a school board that is willing to make some hard choices here, the public needs to get a grip and realize that it makes absolutely no sense to maintain the same infrastructure for half of the student population. 

Birds of a Feather

Huh.

A federal judge has denied ex-Detroit councilwoman Monica Conyers’ request to withdraw her guilty plea in a corruption case and sentenced her to three years and one month in prison.

As guards cleared the courtroom Wednesday, Conyers yelled that she planned to appeal.

Turn On Your Lights

For cripes sake, people.  When it’s foggy and you can’t see more than a hundred yards, TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS! 

Morons… 

Poo-Eating Plant

Huh.

The largest meat-eating plant in the world is designed not to eat small animals, but small animal poo.

Botanists have discovered that the giant montane pitcher plant of Borneo has a pitcher the exact same size as a tree shrew’s body.

But it is not this big to swallow up mammals such as tree shrews or rats.

Instead, the pitcher uses tasty nectar to attract tree shrews, then ensures its pitcher is big enough to collect the feeding mammal’s droppings.

Details of the discovery are published in the journal New Phytologist.

Airlines Will Cancel Flights Rather Than Risk Fines

Yup.

Passengers may soon be seeing more cancellations on airport departure boards.

Several airlines, including Fort Worth-based American and Houston-based Continental, say they will cancel flights rather than risk paying stiff penalties for delaying passengers on the runway.

Continental’s CEO told investors Tuesday that the airline will opt to cancel flights rather than chance being fined.

Aviation consultant Denny Kelly expects other airlines to follow suit.

“I think all of them will cancel flights,” he said. “They’ll do it partially because they think they are going to punish passengers, and if they punish them, someone will get this legislation removed.”

Under new federal guidelines that take effect next month, airlines can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger if a plane is stuck on the tarmac for longer than three hours.

Gee, who could have predicted this?

Delays throughout the airport are several hours long.  The airlines don’t want to risk anyone staying out there too long, so they just cancel the flights

Sexual Predator Bill Up for Hearing Tomorrow

This isn’t cool.

Suburban Milwaukee leaders are mobilizing against a bill that would outlaw local ordinances that restrict where sex offenders can live.

A hearing on Assembly Bill 759 is set for Thursday before the state Assembly Committee on Corrections and the Courts.

Franklin Ald. Steve Olson said Tuesday that elected officials from Franklin, Greenfield, Cudahy and possibly other suburbs plan to attend the hearing.

Olson said he thinks the bill would result in Milwaukee sex offenders being released from prison and allowed to live in the suburbs.

“It’s an effort by some Milwaukee legislators to again pass something quickly, when nobody sees it, and put their problems on to other communities,” Olson said.

“Why should we accept Milwaukee’s, why should Milwaukee accept Franklin’s (sex offenders)?” he said. “It’s a matter of simple logic and fairness - take your own back.”

Franklin is among municipalities that restrict sex offenders from living in certain areas, such as a prescribed distance from schools.

The bill would prevent those municipalities from enforcing such ordinances and would prohibit any more such ordinances from being enacted.

Once again we have the state wanting to impose a blanket rule instead of letting different municipalities manage these things according to their own values.  It’s disappointing to see so many Republicans co-sponsoring this.  Local control, folks… dig it. 

Different Format for March 22nd School Board Meeting

Hmmmm…. where have I seen something like this before?

The third presentation of the 2010-11 proposed budget recommendations will be at the March 22 board meeting. District administrators and school board members have indicated they would like to see a large audience.

  The purpose of the School Board meeting, according to Ted Neitzke,, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, is to increase the community’s awareness of the school district’s budget — past, present and future — and to collect community feedback.

  Because the focus of the meeting is on collecting feedback, the format will be different than a typical board meeting, Neitzke said.

  The evening will begin with a budget presentation by Neitzke. After the presentation, community members will be split into large groups and put into classrooms. The size of the groups, Neitzke said, would depend upon attendance.

  If 300 people attended the meeting, for example, they would be divided into groups of 30 in 10 classrooms.

  Within the classrooms, people will be further divided into groups of five to six people Neitzke said.

  The small “focus” groups would be asked to provide feedback on a number of budget related issues. Feedback would then be collected by a facilitator and brought back to the school board.

  “The changed format will give the most people the most opportunities to have their voices heard,” Neitzke said. “Our district is very unique. There is no other school board in the state that is going out this early to ensure that the community understands the budget.”

Ah yes, I remember now.  It’s a variation of the Delphi Technique used by liberal activists for decades to build faux consensus.  I don’t like this format for a variety of reasons.  First, there is the opening for manipulation of the results.  If all of the groups are divided up and the administrator comes back and says “the majority did not want to cut X from the budget,” who can dispute it?  If your group was OK with cutting X, how do you know what the other groups thought about it?  How can you verify the administrator’s statement?  You can’t. 

Second, it is a process designed to exclude all but the most committed.  If it were a regular board meeting, then I could go and listen to the budget presentation, perhaps say my piece, and then leave if I have other commitments.  This format forces all attendees to commit to the evening.  That means that the passively interested won’t bother to attend because they don’t want to commit to the time and the folks with the most to lose or gain will dominate the process.  Who will be the most likely to take an entire evening to attend?  Take a guess. 

Third, this process filters the ideas that will boil up for the board to hear, and the filter will be applied by the school administration.  For example, if someone in Group #6 has a great idea that nobody else thought of, the board may never hear it because it didn’t develop into a “theme.”  Or if a theme develops of people saying “cut 10% of administration” and the administration considers that “unworkable,” then the input may be excluded from the final results. 

This method is a tried and true method to give the facilitators maximum control over the flow of information.  How they use that control should be of great concern to the citizens in this school district.

One more thing… the Superintendent is up for review this month.  Odds are about 20,000 to 1 that she will receive a raise.