One of the greatest college football fight songs, "On Wisconsin" celebrates its 100^th anniversary this year. The UW Marching Band website says:


“The melody of this famous song was composed in 1909 by W.T. Purdy, a corporation clerk who prior to that time had never set foot in Wisconsin. The words were supplied by Carl Beck, a former University of Wisconsin student. In the parlor of a Chicago boarding house, it took them only several evenings to compose. The pair (who worked for $10 per day each) couldn't scare up the $50 it took to publish the tune. They got a $10 credit from a firm of music plate engravers, used the credit for reference at the printers, and had 500 copies hastily printed.

Written accounts of the earliest performances of On Wisconsin reveal that the first performance occurred on November 10, 1909, when it was sung by the ‘Glee Club’."

 

That was then....this is now.


GO BADGERS!


 

On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Plunge right through that line!
Run the ball clear down the field,
A touchdown sure this time. (U rah rah)
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Fight on for her fame
Fight! Fellows! - fight, fight, fight!
We'll win this game.

On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Stand up, Badgers, sing!
"Forward" is our driving spirit,
Loyal voices ring.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Raise her glowing flame
Stand, Fellows, let us now
Salute her name! 
 

First, some background on a recent court battle that should be of great interest to bloggers.





?





began writing a blog in August 2008 about...





That's model Liskula Cohen.






?






wrote a blog called, "Skanks in NYC." The sole purpose of the anonymous blog was to trash Cohen with unflattering pictures and a litany of name-calling, including, "a psychotic, lying, whoring . . . skank."

Cohen sued





?





and Google, the host of the anonymously written blog. Cohen sought to learn the identity of the individual sliming her. 


A Manhattan judge ruled in Cohen's favor, and the trash-talking blogger was unmasked as.....


 


29-year old Michelle Port.

Port claimed she went after Cohen because Cohen said nasty things about Port to her boyfriend.

There's more to the story that you can read here.

A larger issue is at play: the danger of anonymity on the Internet.

Not everyone who writes or comments anonymously on blogs or chat sites is irresponsible. However, given the opportunity to hide behind a fake name, a writer feels the incentive to engage in outrageous, negative, hostile, even false or libelous commentary. As columnist Dennis Prager once wrote:

“It is the very rare individual who sends a hate-filled, obscenity-laced e-mail that includes his name. As the recipient of such e-mails, I know firsthand how rarely people identify themselves when sending hate-filled mail. It is so rare, in fact, that I usually respond to hate mail that includes the writer's name just to commend him for attaching his name to something so embarrassing.

The Internet practice of giving everyone the ability to express himself anonymously for millions to read has debased public discourse. Cursing, ad hominem attacks and/or the utter absence of logic characterize a large percentage of many websites' ‘comments’ sections. And because people tend to do what society says it is OK to do, many people, especially younger people, are coming to view such primitive forms of self-expression as acceptable.

Some might argue that anonymity enables people to more freely express their thoughts. But this is not true. Anonymity only enables people to more freely express their feelings. Anonymity values feelings over thought, and immediate expression over thoughtful reflection.”

I call these people cowards. Ironically, liberal columnist Maureen Dowd used the same term in writing about the Cohen/Port case.

Reckless blogging is like a cancer, permeating the Internet. Sometimes, in the never-ending quest to make waves, the blogger can go too far.

One local writer cavalierly told me last year that he can write anything he wants to because he’s a blogger. When I raised the issues of credibility and reputation, I was told again that it didn’t matter because he’s a blogger, not a journalist. Still another local blogger’s body of work is marked, or should I say, marred by entries based on assumptions, rumors, unfounded accusations, and wild conspiracy theories. Not only that, his grammar and spelling would make his high school English teacher jump off the Hoan Bridge.

On these very blog pages, individuals have written using false names and stories, pretending to be people they’re not. Some in our community are well aware of the despicable specifics.

There are local bloggers who, like Michelle Port, have no intention of providing important information or discourse. Their sole purpose is to smear. Knowing they couldn’t face their targets or engage them in meaningful debate, fearing the very thought, they cowardly hide behind phony names or titles.

In a perfect world, everyone who writes a blog would have to divulge his/her identity and affiliation. Ditto for people who “comment.” Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen, and the irresponsibility will continue.


RELATED READING:


Is lying on the Internet now a crime?


Internet anonymity is as bad as Internet porn


Anonymity kills

And might I say to my good friend Brandon Scholz at the Wisconsin Grocers Association, you made a very worthy choice.

On Monday, August 31st, 2009 Brandon Scholz, president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association presented owners Ted, Nick & Patrick Balistreri & Margaret Harris with the 2009 Grocers of the Year Award.

Mark Schaaf of FranklinNOW recently covered the Franklin School Board’s annual meeting, and you’ve got to feel sorry for Schaaf. He can’t report what a sham of a process this meeting truly is.

Someone should film this annual affair and post it for all the world to see to show how not to run a local government meeting. This is clearly democracy NOT in action.

Let’s begin with the headline that tops Schaaf’s story on this very website:

Voters approve 3.9 hike in school levy

Now, reporters will often argue, and they’re absolutely right that they have zero input on how the headline is written for their stories. Headline writers will, on the other hand, counter that they’re limited by space and the fact that they weren’t at the event in question and don’t know all the details.

Schaaf writes that, and I quote, that, “Franklin School District voters at the annual meeting approved the 2009-10 budget that includes a property tax levy increase of an estimated 3.9 percent. About 25 district residents approved the $30.6 million levy. Because some factors have not yet been determined, the budget could change between now and when it becomes official later this fall.”

That is Schaaf’s reporting. Let’s just say that I have a different perspective on what actually is the truth here, based on over 30 years of covering local government and having attended this farce of an annual meeting in Franklin in the past.

Again, here is the dubious headline:

Voters approve 3.9 hike in school levy

Sorry, folks. Voters didn’t approve crapola.

A small band of merrily frolicking members of the School District machine (all 25 of them) raised their hands like blind sheep, like lemmings at the annual meeting and basically told the Jesse James Gang, i.e. the Franklin School Board, please ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, we’re bending over quite a bit. Please tax us some more.

Voters? Are you kidding me?

The voters were home after working hard all day to pay the ridiculous Franklin taxes, spending time with their loved ones. Attend the annual meeting in the middle of August? Most, if not all, had no idea it was happening! And even if they did, why bother showing up and trying to talk common sense to this tax/spend happy bunch? Their minds are made up. They will tax you to death because, as I’ve mentioned so many time, they don’t care.

Recession? Who the hell cares?

Voters? How in the hell do we know if the 25 people who attended that meeting and nodded their heads like mindless robots when the question was asked about a levy increase were actual voters?

 Did they check ID’s at the door?

Did they cross check against actual voter lists and Franklin addresses?

Voters?

You want voters?

How about the turnout (actual registered voters) during the spring April 2007 election in Franklin that voted on two school referenda, including a tax increase of over $78-million?

In case anyone forgot, let me remind you of what the taxpaying voters of Franklin decided with a loud and clear message in April of 2007 on TWO referenda.

(Are you paying attention, Franklin School Board members?):

QUESTION #1 (GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS)

YES     2,495 (39.57%)

NO       3,811 (60.43%)


QUESTION #2 (Exceed revenue limits)

YES     2,365 (38.05%)

NO       3,851 (62.95%)

NOW THIS IS CLEARLY A STORY OF VOTERS DECIDING AN ISSUE, NOT A COUPLE DOZEN FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS OF SCHOOL DISTRICT PEOPLE TURNING OUT AT A WHO CARES MEETING IN SUMMER, ATTEMPTING TO SPEAK FOR OVER 30,000 CITIZENS.

Want to know what really happens at this charade of a meeting?

The voters in reality have nothing to say about it.

Franklin School District Business Manager Jim Milzer (A true crook who, as reported accurately on this blog informed Franklin School Board members in the past they’d be voting on a 5 percent tax increase when it turned out to be just under 12 percent) tells the School Board members in advance of the cattle call of lemmings at the annual meeting what he deems the school property tax levy increase should be.

The School Board members react by nodding in near unison (One board member, Janet Evans, would spit out the Kool-Aid and vote NO) yes, yes, yes, there must be a school property tax increase. The recession be damned. Pink slips in the private sector be damned. School taxes up! YES!!!!!!!!!)

So the brain dead school board, and that’s exactly what they are, refusing to question or debate the potential tax and spend increase before them, simply goes along and like Nights of the Living Dead rubber stamps a big tax increase.

Am I going too fast, Franklin taxpayer?

Shyster Jim Milzer comes up with a tax increase figure. The brain dead, afraid to raise a peep Franklin School Board nods like mummies in approval.

The same walking dead School Board goes to the farce of an annual meeting. Before the meeting starts, brain dead sheep are asked to take index cards and when called upon at the meeting, read them out loud:

“I move that the annual school property tax levy increase be set at 3.9%.”

The person reading, with all, due respect, has no idea what it means. All the person knows, or has been told, is that it’s for the children.

And by the way, anyone who wants to take issue and debate that this garbage isn’t orchestrated and used to pull one over on the taxpayers, save your breath and don’t insult my intelligence. The annual meeting is a total disregard for democracy and the wishes of the majority of taxpayers.

So, the 25 potted plants at the annual meeting nod proclaiming, of course we want our taxes to go sky high, and the School Board votes yes, and then the School Board votes yes again in the fall and taxpayers open their bills in November wondering what the hell happened.

That’s how your school tax increase is approved.

Voters approving a big school tax increase?

Not on your life, Mark Schaaf, or Franklin taxpayers.

Voters did nothing at that ridiculous annual meeting. If voters knew, and actually cared enough, taxes might be reasonable.

Shame on school board member David Works who told me personally he hates the taxing and spending for schools. Works also tried to assure me that Linda Witkowski really cared about cutting taxing and spending. Both are voting for big school tax increases.

The last pair of school board elections meant nothing. Most of the current batch of school board members, if not all, must go.

Investigative reporter John Conroy’s life changed dramatically last year when he attempted to bicycle his way through Chicago’s West Side following a meeting.

Conroy was the victim of an ambush he never saw coming. He regained consciousness after being beaten, aided by two Good Samaritans and has been wrestling with his views on race ever since. Conroy writes in the new edition of Chicago Magazine:

“I think of myself as a tolerant man, but that tolerance has been taxed by the pain and the consequence to my body and my life. At a moment when millions of Americans set race aside to vote for an African American presidential candidate, I’ve been forced by juveniles to look it square in the face. Last February, Attorney General Eric Holder said that we are a nation of cowards when it comes to addressing race. I plead guilty. There is no joy in writing this.”

Shortly after the beating, as Conroy recovered at a local hospital, he got word that a teenager had been arrested and would face charges. Conroy desperately wanted to know why a group of six teens would attack him and then not rob him.

Blacks and whites told him the beating was clearly a hate crime.

Three days after the incident, Conroy writes that he stopped by the police station to thank the officers who gave him assistance at the scene.

“Looking for help in finding them, I asked for an acquaintance, T. C. McCoy, an African American officer who lives in the district and has worked there for 24 years. When he heard my story, he said, ‘It’s a hate crime.’

I wasn’t taking notes at the time, so I asked him recently to recall his reasoning. ‘When I looked at your face, I could see there was some serious thought behind doing this,’ he said."

'It ain’t like he just knocked you off your bike. He performed some very serious damage.’  There was no provocation, no robbery, no familiarity between attacker and attacked. McCoy argued that it would be far more foolhardy to randomly attack a black man, because ‘you hit the wrong guy and it might be somebody’s dad or uncle or it might even be the chief who is riding a bike, and ain’t no police bein’ called. It’s an ambulance being called for your ass. It’s a bitter pill, but I’m gonna tell you. It was all racial.’”


Conroy’s lengthy piece in Chicago Magazine is worth the read. He encounters a bureaucratic nightmare trying to sift through the system juvenile justice system. Finally, he meets his assailant and his mother at a face to face meeting Conroy worked hard to arrange. Care to guess if Conroy achieves satisfaction from the encounter?

It’s a revealing piece about the victimization of crime victims and the total disregard for fellow humans.  Long, but recommended.

I'll have the details Thursday.

As the proud father of a beautiful five-month baby girl, I’ve taken a greater interest in issues surrounding the growth of young girls, and the cultural surroundings that can have a negative impact on their development.

I’m concerned about an attitude that permeates our school system that sex is okay, as long as so-called “protection” is involved. At one time, a parent only had to fear Madonna pushing the wrong buttons. Now, educators are also proliferating the harmful message of no limits, no boundaries. Sheer innocence is lost when using sexuality to advance is deemed acceptable behavior.

I will refuse to send my little girl to any school that pushes sexual power as a virtue to ascribe to. And those schools are out there.

A new book by Dr. Miriam Grossman entitled, "You're Teaching My Child What?" how schools today support and forward a free sex mentality. You’d think it was 1967 all over again, but this is worse.






 

The inside flap of the book reads:

"If you think sex education is still about the birds and the bees, you're wrong. And it's not about science either. If you're a parent with children in the public school system, you need to know what's really going on.

In You're Teaching My Child What? Dr. Miriam Grossman rips back the curtain on sex education today, exposing a sordid truth. Instead of teaching our children the facts of life, sex educators are lying to them, ignoring medical fact in favor of politicized, and dangerous, propaganda that could ruin your child's life forever.

In You're Teaching My Child What? you'll learn what sex educators don't want you to know:

* Why the discredited founder of "sexology"--dead for half a century--has more influence on sex education than today's most eminent neurobiologists

* How information your child gets about common infections like herpes, warts, and Chlamydia is whitewashed

* When "safe sex" isn't safe: why condoms won't protect your teens from some of the most serious sexually transmitted diseases

* How sex educators try to normalize fringe behaviors--ignoring the health risks to your children

The sex education establishment would like to lull you into thinking that they know best--but the epidemic of sexually transmitted infections in young people today is testimony to a system that's gone mad.

Parents need to arm themselves and their children with the facts--the real facts of life. In You're Teaching My Child What? Dr. Miriam Grossman does just that, in an essential book to inform yourself and protect your children."

This might be worth a trip to Barnes and Noble, or your local library.

I learned about this book from a column by Rebecca Hagelin who has quickly become a must-read columnist for me. Hagelin writes:

“We are at a crossroads in our nation and the pawn being used by those who seek to check-mate the family - the sacred and basic building block of all civil societies - is a little girl. She will be used and abused and then cast aside as the next little girls are born and brainwashed with ever increasing dangerous messages.”

That should be a wake-up call for parents.

Read more from Hagelin's book review here.

I close with this, an item that should be required reading in just about every school in America.

Hmmmm.

There are two elements to this particular story. Let’s start with the Obamessiah.

On September 8th (the first day of classes for many school kids) President Obama will speak to students all across America about the importance of education.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a direct order to school administrators that dictated the following:

“This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation’s school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and begin the school year strong. I encourage you, your teachers, and students to join me in watching the President deliver this address on Tuesday, September 8, 2009.”

There’s more.

That same DOE (Department of Education) is instructing (ordering) teachers in Grades 7 to 12 to ask their students: Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us?

Once the Great Obama has spoken, teachers of younger students, KG to Grade 6 are supposed to have them write letters to themselves about what they can do to help his Holiness (That would be the Obamessiah).  

From the DOE website:

Fact sheet, Activities for Grades PreK-6, and Activities for Grades 7-12 

Can you imagine if George W. Bush had sent a similar directive ordering all schools to listen to his message?  There would have been shouts of indoctrination, propaganda, and brainwashing!!

And those outcries would have been correct!

Why is Obama reaching out to school kids? To indoctrinate and brainwash, for sure. But he also is using the kids to get to their parents.

To be Barack Hussein Obama is to be cool.

To be Barack Hussein Obama is to be worshipped and adored.

Not lately.

So, the Egomaniac-in -Chief has to get his groove back. To do so, he will use persuasive force, a teleprompter (so he doesn't **** up), and kids. And chew up valuable teaching time as well.

Now for the second element of our story, the Franklin School District.

Here is a sizeable excerpt from my blog of December  28, 2007: The Top Ten Franklin Stories of 2007, #4:


"On April 2, 2007, the day before Franklin voters went to the polls to decide on two school referenda totaling $78-million, my blog had the following headline:

Franklin school officials sink to sleazy new low to get votes

The Friday before Election Day, during school time, hundreds of Franklin High School seniors of voting age were taken to an Assembly and then drilled by school personnel about why they should vote for the referenda.

Doors to the Assembly reportedly were locked so no one could leave and no one could enter to see and hear what was going on.

I wrote the following:

The impropriety of this action by Franklin school officials is clear. The surprise Assembly on the Friday before the election should never have taken place. I’m not sure if the Assembly was illegal, but it certainly was extremely unethical.

It smacks of a desperate, underhanded, sleazy maneuver by folks who must be very worried about the outcome of the election. On principle alone, these referenda need to be resoundingly rejected.

Shame on the Franklin School District for this disgusting and despicable tactic!

Later on April 2, I blogged an e-mail I received from a Franklin parent:

Now that the school district has given the senior class a civics lesson and is encouraging them to exercise their right and privilege to vote(many for the first time):

1. Will they be excused from school to vote?
2. Will the students get a lesson in how to register to vote; how to determine what district they live in; and where their polling place is located?
3. Will they provide transportation to the polls?
4. Will they earn a grade for voting---how are the students going to be assessed following this civics lesson? Will they have to wear the I Voted sticker as proof of voting?
5. Will they tack on an additional 2 hours to the make up school days since the students missed first/second hour to attend this civic lesson?

I have more questions to add but the most important one is:

When will the investigation into the legality of this action begin? Who will be held accountable?

The referenda failed miserably.

Not long after the election, the District Attorney’s office began to investigate and wanted answers from outgoing Superintendent Bill Szakacs.

No charges were filed, but the DA’s office is still reviewing other options.

Again, the “Assembly” was extremely unethical. Supposedly learned officials should have known better. They thought they could get away with it, and that’s why they did it.

School officials who objected at the time weren’t loud, persistent, aggressive, or effective enough.

The Franklin school district is the victim of inept management.

Students, their parents, and taxpayers deserve much better."
-----December 28, 2007 (This Just In, FranklinNOW.com)


There you have the two elements of this story.

Have you figured it out?

What do President Obama and the Franklin School District have in common?

That's easy.

They both love captive audiences.

The details...

Students are back in class on the heels of a devastating analysis of the curricula at America’s best colleges and universities. In a nutshell, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) prepared a comprehensive report to determine the answer to a simple question: What will they learn?

“Specifically, will they gain the knowledge and skills they need to compete in the global marketplace, lead our nation thoughtfully, and be lifelong learners? Many college guides and ranking systems measure institutions’ prestige and reputation, but no guide has looked at what students are actually required to learn,” ACTA writes in its report.

ACTA examined the top 20 National Universities and the top 20 Liberal Arts Colleges as reported in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges rankings. The report also looked at major public universities from all 50 states.

Even before ACTA embarked on this endeavor, the climate surrounding higher education was grim. ACTA reports, “According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, only 31 percent of college graduates can read and understand a complex book. Employers are increasingly complaining that graduates of four-year colleges lack the writing and analytical skills necessary to succeed in the workplace: In a 2006 survey, for example, only 24 percent thought graduates of four-year colleges were ‘excellently prepared’ for entry-level positions. College seniors perennially fail tests of their civic and historical knowledge. And rates of leisure reading have taken a nosedive.”

ACTA’s findings are alarming, and should be, especially to parents who are dishing out exorbitant amounts of money to schools that are failing to meet those bold promises splashed all over their fancy brochures.

Of the schools ACTA studied, “almost half do not require a genuine, college-level math course;

almost 90 percent do not require students to take a survey course in American government or history; and only two require students to take a basic course in economics.”

The report focused on the core curriculum, seven courses of general education needed by students to prepare them for life after college: Composition, Literature, Foreign Language,

U.S. Government or History, Economics, Mathematics, and Natural or Physical Science.

Today’s colleges and universities have become loose with core curriculum requirements, allowing students to choose from dozens and dozens of less important subjects. As ACTA succinctly puts it, “Anything goes.”

Former Marquette coach Al McGuire once told Sports Illustrated that his players took Shop and Advanced Shop. In Shop, players learned how to make a chair. In Advanced Shop, players painted it. McGuire was joking, of course, but that scenario isn’t all that farfetched today, not with courses being offered like, “The Psychology of Reading,” “Physics for Future Presidents,”  “Everyday

Forms of Resistance” and “Oral Histories and the Portland Brownstone Quarry.” Students can substitute these cakewalk courses for tougher classes and still meet curriculum requirements.

ACTA’s findings:

“Out of the 100 institutions we examined, 25 received an F for their core curricula, 17 got Ds, and 20 got Cs. Only 33 out of the 100 earned Bs, and only 5 out of the entire group earned an A (The University of Wisconsin received a ‘D’).  Rather than offering a true liberal education designed to liberate the mind, these schools are in effect leaving it up to students to figure out what they will need—and families are paying dearly for the privilege of a do-it-yourself curriculum.”

Here is the ACTA report, “What Will They Learn?”


RELATED READING


In a recession, is college worth it?


Herman's Hermits sang it over 40 years ago, still true today: Don't know much about history...

Joining the InterCHANGE panel as a regular this week will be good friend, former WTMJ-TV anchor/reporter Denise Callaway. Callaway has guest-hosted the program in the past.

Here are the topics we discuss Friday night at 6:30 with a repeat Sunday morning at 11:00 on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10:


1 – MPS.

The rhetoric is heating up as Mayor Barrett and Governor Doyle make it very clear that they are not going to back down in their effort to allow a mayoral “takeover” of control of the Milwaukee Public Schools.  Doyle is expected to introduce legislation soon that would allow the mechanisms to be put in place so that this could happen.  Will state lawmakers support such a proposal if Milwaukee lawmakers are against it?  Is this all about getting more money from the federal government?  Can Doyle accomplish this as a lame duck governor?  If this is so important to Barrett, why didn’t he push for it years ago?  In the end, will there be some sort of compromise?


2 – Mercury Marine.

Mercury Marine is now voting for a third time on a proposed contract that contains a seven-year-long wage freeze and a variety of other concessions.  Most expect that it will pass.  Even the governor has stepped in and is saying approval would mean lots more jobs in Fond du Lac.  After overwhelmingly rejecting the contract the first time, union members are now acting like they’ve been buzzed by a taser gun.  Is this the new reality: “Give us what we want or we’ll move our company somewhere else.”  Did the union do the right thing by allowing a 3^rd vote?  If you were a Mercury union worker, how would you vote?  Have the days of union bosses bullying a company given way to companies bullying the workers, or is this just financial reality in tough economic times? 


3 – Diane Sawyer.

Years ago it was huge news when a major network made an evening news switch.  Is it a big deal anymore?  Why, or why not?  Has cable diluted the relevance and importance of the evening news?  Is the only audience the evening news tries to attract now the female audience?  How else would you explain two of the three major anchors being female?  TV is always accused of courting a young audience.  If that’s the case, why would ABC name sawyer their top anchor when she’ll be 64-years-old at the end of the year when she takes over that desk?  Has the evening news given up on attracting young viewers?

Whoever was responsible for this should have been included in last Saturday’s Week-ends.

A poster inside a local bank claims there’s now a $2,000 reward for information about the crime.

The Wall Street Journal provides the answer.

I am always on the lookout for sharp, young, talented writers. As I have blogged recently, these young folk must meet certain standards.

They must have a strong ability to write well.

Their efforts must be provocative and insightful.

They should have strong opinions and beliefs that are fact-based.

Their work should be grammatically correct, and they must not regularly and repeatedly flunk spell-check. Doing so would demonstrate a lack of pride and self-respect, not to mention a clear ineptness.

And there must be a consistency of excellence to their product. They wouldn’t dream of posting anything slightly embarrassing that would ruin their credibility in a heartbeat.

I am announcing special young writers of recognition who will be members of the Kevin Fischer “Whippersnapper Hall of Fame.” By the strictest definition, “whippersnapper” may not be the most positive term. However, I can assure you that in this context, “whippersnapper” should be considered in the most complimentary, respectful sense. These young individuals are refreshing.

Any young person with a computer can spit out foolish, naïve, fact-devoid, wild, unsubstantiated junk and call it a blog or creative writing. It takes intelligence, insight, and skill to compose a quality product that is noteworthy. My goal is to showcase these young writers who, by their true ability give us superb confidence that the future of our great country is in very capable hands.

I am announcing the first four inductees of the Kevin Fischer “Whippersnapper Hall of Fame.” I have written about the first three previously. The fourth inductee is someone new.

1) The Conservative Casanova. This young man from Greenfield is attending the University of Minnesota, and interned with the Republican National Committee at the Republican national convention in 2008.

2) American Sweetheart. Her bio reads, "I am a 26 year old mother of one. I currently work in the banking industry while pursuing a carrer in professional writing and US history. After school, I plan to pursue a career in journalism.as well as write children's history books. My main goal after school is to start a non-profit organization that will aid our troops."

3) Eva Lorraine Molina is a junior at Amherst and a summer intern for the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.

4) Matt Kallerud of Milwaukee, currently attending the Milwaukee School of Engineering and interning at NASA.

These young stars are the real deal, bona fide talents. In reality, they are in a category far beyond "whippersnapper." I salute and congratulate them for putting their talents to such constructive use.

I will be updating the Hall of Fame when new talent comes to my attention. Readers are invited to nominate inductees by e-mailing me their suggestions. The following types of young individuals are ineligible:


Crybabies

Whiners

General losers

Anyone ashamed of publicly disclosing what they do for a living

Anyone who can’t spell at an 8^th grade level, and/or with grammatical skills to match

Anyone who adores dramatic tax increases but pays no taxes because he/she sponges off at home

Anyone who doesn’t understand that nothing in life comes easy and that hard work is the key to a fulfilling life, not the government


THE KEVIN FISCHER "WHIPPERSNAPPER HALL OF FAME"

1) The Conservative Casanova

2) American Sweetheart

3) Eva Lorraine Molina

4) Matt Kallerud

The Franklin Common Council found itself in a somewhat unusual situation at its meeting Tuesday night as it decided what local projects would receive the city’s allotted Community Development Block Grant funding.

In the running for funding was the group, Franklin Senior Citizens, headed by 2007 Franklin Person of Year and a 2007 inductee in the Milwaukee County Senior Hall of Fame, Casper Green, and the Interfaith program.

Discussion about how to administer the funding included plans by Green’s group to hold caterd parties for senior citizens complete with fancy decorations at Brenwood Park. Certainly nothing wrong with throwing a blowout for seniors, except that the Interfaith program helps needy seniors by mowing their lawns, shoveling snow, providing rides to the doctor and home visits. Spreading the grant money out over a longer period of time where it would do the most good seemed to make sense.

I was told by Alderman Kristin Wilhelm the feeling was that rather than spend the money on wants, it should go for needs. There was debate about splitting part of the grant money between the two senior efforts, but in the end, a motion was made to give less money to the Franklin Senior Citizens and more to fund the Interfaith program. It carried on a vote of 5-1.

Care to guess which Franklin alderman voted against giving block grant money to the Interfaith program? That would be the alderman who always seems to find a way to fumble, bumble, and stumble: Steve Taylor.

Taylor’s vote was calculated. The worst kept secret in town is that he wants to be mayor. So he votes against Interfaith so he can cozy up to the highly influential Casper Green later to try to secure senior votes. Taylor was thinking of himself and put his political ambitions ahead of senior citizens who can’t shovel their walks or get to the doctor by themselves.

No one denies the wonderful job Casper Green does on behalf of senior citizens. In this case, most of the Franklin Common Council got it right. Steve Taylor, once again, managed to step in it.




Steve Taylor photo: WAG THE DOG

And they will lose to Nebraska, 28-27.

That’s the prediction of whatifsports.com that has projections on every single college football bowl game.

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!

We'll be here, starting tonight with our Friday night Goodnight musical feature. Yes, there's a theme to it this week. Hope it works.

Saturday morning, wake up early for The Barking Lot followed by our week in review, Week-ends. This guy gets a mention....


 

Also Saturday, we'll post Culinary no-no one day early, and Recommended Reading.

Sunday, our most popular blogs for the week, The MJS Scorecard, and Photos of the Week. Here's a picture that made the cut....





Wow, that is some weird stuff.

We know it's busy and a holiday and all, so we appreciate you visiting This Just In this weekend.

It's Friday night. Time to unwind with our regular Friday night feature on This Just In.

The weekend has finally arrived.

The sun has set.

The evening sky has erupted. 

Let's put controversy and provocative blogs aside for the rest of this work week and smooth our way into Saturday and Sunday….and this week, Monday.

Tonight, some work-related music to segue into the holiday weekend.

Let’s jump right into it with an old instrumental classic by a very popular artist. The theme is familiar and catchy. You might be old enough to remember that Channel 12 used it as their intro to Packer Preview on Sunday afternoons before every Packer game.

It’s “The Work Song.”

Alpert has sold over 75 million records and has won seven Grammy Awards, but there's more to this musical success story.

He paints. Alpert's work has been showcased in galleries and museums around the globe. He's also a sculptor and Broadway producer.

The man obviously works very hard.

Hit recordings, TV specials, Broadway shows, painting, sculpting.

Wow. That's very exciting.

Nice work........

That is...

If you can get it.








This next act is heard only two times during the year:

1) On the radio at Christmas

2) On this blog.

Created as a studio band by Capitol Records in the 60’s, The Hollyridge Strings actually were very popular doing their renditions of songs by one very popular group in particular.






 

That's it for tonight.

We close by turning it up a notch with a number by this star...








The lovely Vanessa Williams gives her take on a 70's hit by this group...

Goodnight.

Sleep well.

Enjoy the three day weekend. 

 

The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of this just in…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me.  It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!


THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors. 

TODAY:  Sunny. High of 72.  "A"

SUNDAY: Sunny. High of 76. "A"

LABOR DAY MONDAY:  Partly cloudy. High of 76.   "A"


Here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog:

A few years ago I had an extra part-time job in a retail store.  One Sunday afternoon a lady walked in our store with a parrot on her shoulder.  “Hey, lady… you know you got a bird on your shoulder?”  No, this is not the beginning of a bad joke.  I am serious!  She walked in with her avian friend like it was the most NORMAL thing in the entire world. 

Trust me, I’d seen stranger sights than that come in our store.  Quite honestly, while it made me pause, I didn’t really think it would be all that troublesome.  My coworker thought otherwise.  She made a bee-line for the back room where she could hide from said bird.  And she refused to come out until bird and owner were both gone from the store.

I thought her reaction was a bit extreme until she told me about a very horrifying experience she had as a little girl.  She was actually attacked by a bird and has a very nasty scar above her eye to prove it.  I will never forget that story, or that day.  I must admit I felt bad that I didn’t take Kim’s truly frightened reaction more seriously.  Once she told me about her bird incident I could see that her fear of birds was no laughing matter.  I have a lot of sympathy for anyone with any kind of phobia.

While I find it almost completely unbelievable that anyone could be afraid of a gorgeous black Lab, I saw a similar reaction of another coworker (different job, however) Kristen.  She nearly had a heart attack when a third coworker, Jeff, brought his dog into our office for a couple of hours.  Obviously I was thrilled to meet his canine companion and we made friends immediately.  Kristen just about locked herself in her office.  While she didn’t suffer a story similar to Kim, she has a heightened fear of dogs.  

When I see someone with a service dog, I must admit my reaction is the same as many people:  YOU view it as a pet who is just begging for some attention.  The dog’s OWNER knows it is a dog, yes.  But it is a working animal, there for a reason and a duty.  Fortunately I know enough not to even attempt to pet the dog.  Usually they wear a vest of some sort that says something like “Please don’t pet me, I am working” to let people know a Look-But-Don’t-Touch order is in effect.  Of course the other part of the equation is the owner who has a disability.  They don’t want or need the extra attention, they have enough to deal with.  An admiring glance and smile to both dog and owner is one thing.  Fawning all over the golden retriever and not really paying attention to the fact that it’s owner is blind is quite another.

My point is that a service dog assisting a disabled person is incredibly different than a tea cup Yorkie stuffed in a handbag of a “mommy” who couldn’t bear to leave her “baby” in the car or tied up outside while she shops.  

I love dogs.  I really do.  I don’t even have to tell you that.  However, I’m not so silly as to think that everyone else shares my fondness for all things canine.  I completely respect people’s desire and right to shop in dog-free stores with exception, of course, to the aforementioned service dog.  There are people with phobias and people with allergies.  There are some people who have neither and simply wish to shop in a store that is fur free and poop free. I respect that, too (Not to mention there are plenty of stores out there that are carpeted...like our fine Sendik’s on 51^st and Rawson. 
Gives a new and tougher meaning to “Clean up in Aisle 5!”).

I shared many of these sentiments in my Barking Lot edition last December 20^th.  But now that a community in Portland, Oregon is facing challenges with it’s overly dog-friendly attitude I am thinking about the arguments on both sides all over again. The New York Times offers this. 

I’m sure Fido, Max, and the others wait with (beef-scented) baited breath to see what comes of this… as do their owners (Though not necessarily the beef-scented part).
---Jennifer Fischer


Thank you, Jennifer. Nice job as always!

Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.


South Korean wages visual campaign against dog eating.


Controversy in the UK: German shepherds put down. 


The greatest dog breeds you only think you know....


Chanel dies.


Groups save dogs on brink of euthanasia.


Veterinarian unearths reminder of first dog euthanasia.


Barking Lot update: Bosco is recovering.


We always love to post positive stories about the wondrous things dogs do. We have a few this week. Service dogs heal hidden wounds.  Trained canines help traumatized veterans.Dogs will be paired in study with vets suffering from PTSD.


Dog cloning in South Korea.


Bulldogs competed last week in Charlestown.


First day jitters at doggie kindergarten.


Pets are the portable parts of a tennis player's entourage.


Final dog stories from the Ted Kennedy funeral.


First dog has a new leash.


It's the messiest pet contest.


Dog puts a bite on deputy's tires.


That's it for this week. Thanks for stopping by.

Our closing video: To the rescue!


 

Yeh, yeh, yeh!

This news is cool!

A look back at the people and events that made news the past week.
Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...


HEROES OF THE WEEK


Donald Hogan


Tim James


Chris Fitzmaurice


Local school districts say Nobama


Over 9,000 activists


The San Diego Chargers and their special guests


Roger Owens



VILLAINS OF THE WEEK


Latasha Jackson


Wisconsin Shares program


Michael Wey


Mother at Lake Michigan


15 young people in rural south-central Wisconsin


Health care reform activist


Roger Stephens


Utah prinicipal


Van Jones


LeGarrette Blount


Arkansas police


Amerijet


Solitaire-playing legislators


PETA



QUOTES OF THE WEEK


"I think it's going to help us."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), answering the question, "How will U.S. Sen. (Edward) Kennedy's death affect things?" The warm, compassionate, left.


"Today there's a growing consensus: The Recovery Act is, in fact, working."
Vice-President Joe Biden, one day before the Labor Department reported that nearly 15 million Americans are unemployed, the unemployment rate climbed to 9.7 percent in August, and the nation's payrolls shed 216,000 jobs.


"We should not be using health care reform to provide government access to abortion. ... I would hope that people from whatever party don't try to go down that road."
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) agreeing to work with an abortion opponent at a Marquette Law School forum. Kohl said he didn’t want such a controversial issue snuck into the bill at the last minute.


"I think the odds are they'll probably have the chance to pass this. This majority is very good at exercising discipline within its ranks and passing controversial legislation."
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) predicting passage of the health care bill.


"Hundreds of employees expressed a desire to voice their true feelings, and that's something we can't ignore."
Mercury Marine President Mark Schwabero explaining why the company extended the deadline for approving a concession package to keep jobs in Fond du Lac. Union members accepted concessions in a third vote taken Friday.


"The company (Mercury Marine) will accept the outcome of the vote. It is a real vote."
Mike King of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.


"My treatments will have a minimal effect on my duties of serving the people of the Fifth Congressional District. I intend on maintaining my active schedule, both in Washington and in the District, and will still hold the numerous town-hall meetings that have been scheduled."
Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) announcing he'll start treatment for early state prostate cancer. 



OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK


"Since Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden took office, the economy has shed 3 million jobs."



MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK


Conservatives outnumber liberals in all 50 states



MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK


Brett Favre's block. Maybe Eugene Wilson should put on a dress. 



STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK


Now I lay me down to have sex...


Madison's flamingos made in Illinois.


REMEMBER: Your suggestions/nominations for any of these categories every week are welcome, especially for HEROES OF THE WEEK. If you know of anyone in the community deserving of recognition, please e-mail me.

Here is one of the photos I included in last Sunday's Photos of the Week:



U.S. Marine Cpl. Russell pays his respects to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard during a memorial service at a forward operating base with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 2nd MEB, 3rd MEF, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, in Now Zad in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Bernard was mortally wounded during a Taliban ambush on Aug. 14. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)


This candid, touching photo is now causing controversy over whether it should have been taken or published at all.

In honor of the Labor Day holiday and for many what could be the final grilling weekend of the season, Culinary no-no appears one day earlier this week.

I can’t quite understand the problems people have grilling, but they do. Bon Appétit has compiled a list of 10 Most Common Grilling Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them).

I concur with Bon Appétit except for their suggestion that the lid be open during direct grilling. That defeats the whole purpose of the cover that provides even cooking when closed.  Put that baby down when preparing items directly over the coals.


CULINARY NO-NO BONUS

This will probably make an appearance at the 2010 Wisconsin State Fair.


ANOTHER CULINARY NO-NO BONUS

Yikes!


AND ONE MORE BONUS

Hubby Hubby

Here are, in my view, interesting, noteworthy columns and articles from the past week that I highly recommend (You will note that on occasion, I do not endorse the opinions of the author and may point that out. Despite my disagreements, I still feel the piece is worth a read).


What I learned from “The Mob”

“I spoke with thousands of voters at town-hall meetings this summer. What I gathered from them is that it's not just the proposed overhaul of health care that has them upset. Many also expressed a sense of betrayal. In spite of their hope for change, it still appears that the government in Washington is run for its own benefit and the benefit of special interests—not for the benefit of the American people. The folks I met with also don't trust politicians in Washington to address mounting long-term challenges to our economy.”


Abusing school kids with pro-Obama propaganda

“For those who consider this an appropriate use of classroom time at the very beginning of the school year, ask yourself the question: how would you respond had President Bush ordered teachers to get students to write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president?”


The Obama slide

“Obama’s challenge was to push his agenda through a Democratic-controlled government while retaining the affection of the 39 percent of Americans in the middle. The administration hasn’t been able to pull it off.”


Trouble in liberal land

"Despite their control of all three branches of government, this has not been a good summer for liberal Democrats.”


Senator High and Mighty

“There had always been a tradition of noblesse oblige among America's blue-blood liberals. But Ted Kennedy redefined the notion of the aristocracy simply helping the poor, and took it to cynical ends in the manner of a Roman tribune. He assumed that almost none of his own humanitarian rhetoric applied to himself, almost as if godly intentions gave him a sort of exemption from moral behavior.”


The Reagans and the Kennedys

“And this is what Ronald Reagan said of John F. Kennedy, on a warm dark night in the floodlit garden of Ted Kennedy's home in McLean, Va:……”


Brett Favre: The John Kerry of the NFL

“Non-aficionados of football may not fully appreciate the significance of Favre's act of betrayal, and the drama it has produced. To put it in political terms, Favre's going to the Vikings is worse than, say, Arlen Specter becoming a Democrat.”


Why your coach votes Republican

“There's no evidence that coaches with a conservative bent are better coaches or more likely to get jobs. Football coaches aren't the most diverse group, which may help explain their political similarities. Still, could it be that football coaches, just by the nature of the job, are more comfortable on the right end of the political spectrum?”


Gay Ice Cream?

“It’s hard to make a pint of Ben & Jerry’s unappetizing, but even I can resist peanut butter and chocolate when the carton sports two men on top of a wedding cake.”

Blue chip, white cotton

“For one answer to the nation's most pressing economic question -- when will the recession end? -- just take a peek inside the American man's underwear drawer.”

Yes, I took a substantial risk just by leaving the house today. How incredibly stupid to venture outdoors on a late summer day with such abundant sunshine and barely a cloud in the sky and such crisp, clear, fresh air.

What in the world was I thinking, scoffing at and ignoring the all-knowing, omnipotent Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Rather than seek refuge behind the locked doors of the confines of my humble Franklin abode, I foolishly risked life and limb by GASP heading outside in my shorts, sandals, and Reyn Spooner Elvis shirt.

6:30 this morning: This shouldn’t hurt. I’ll be as quick as possible. After all, there’s all that soot and microscopic dust and liquid droplets and smoke particles everywhere. Far more dangerous than those nasty yellow jackets swarming all over my garden. That rising sun? Probably just a UFO.

And so I made a mad dash for it. I held my breath so as not to take in any hazardous junk. I grabbed my thin as hell Saturday Journal Sentinel and managed to get back into the house before collapsing.

I watched outside my window this morning as joggers ran down my street, as usual, sans water bottles. Elderly men and women walked hand in hand. Others walked their dogs. And I said to myself, hmmmmmmmm. Look at those daredevils. They’re not huffing or puffing or in any discomfort.

I can do this, I told myself. Yes I can, can, can. There is….

HOPE for me on this sunny 70-plus degree day.

Dear God, I’m going to make it!

First I went to the bank. Not the best idea because the seniors who had all week to do their banking always do it on a Saturday morning.

Not today, I thought. They heard the warning. No doubt they’re home hiding under the mattress.

Wrong.

How the hell did they manage to get here! Why aren’t they gasping for air???!!

After waiting 10 minutes in line so I could make my 30-second transaction, I left the bank to go to a high school football game.

Kevin Fischer, are you mad????? A football game??? Outside???  Are you not cognizant of the great powerful DNR’s warning???

Young kids played football, in broad daylight without water breaks. Cheerleaders danced and exerted themselves during strenuous routines. Bell Ambulance had to be summoned, but not because of soot or droplets or particles. A player sustained a neck injury (He’s going to be fine, BTW).

The game ended and foolish me, I went home and lit up the outdoor grill, charcoal briquette smoke and all.  What’s the harm, I figured. On the drive home, I passed people of all ages, playing ball, sitting on their porches, out for walks. It was almost as if there was this loud, strong, collective voice:

THE HELL WITH YOU, DNR!

And I turned on the TV and watched as over 70,000 people jammed into Camp Randall Stadium to rub the DNR’s face in it. What could possibly have been going through their minds? Do they want to die???

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning, I fully intend to be a rebel once more. I will chance scooting out to grab my morning paper. Gotta check how liberal the Crossroads section is. Then beautiful wife, baby and I will go to church. Yes, I am a God-awful rotten human being, subjecting my family to the danger the DNR tried so desperately to warn me about.

I just may grill outside again. Sunday is supposed to bring ugly, unhealthy weather again: Over 70 and sunshine galore. It’ll be rough, but I think I’ll chance it again.

Even though the DNR’s warning extends until Tuesday night, I’m picking up my 80-plus year-old mother and taking her to may brother’s place for a Labor Day cookout. Boy, I am an absolute, cruel SOB.

Dear Lord, I wasn’t very bright today. I dodged a bullet.

Thank you for seeing me through this terrible ordeal.

As I post every Sunday, here are the five most read blog entries of mine from the previous week. NOTE: some entries may have been posted prior to the past week.

1) This Just In Truth Squad: Franklin voters approve school levy

2) Cowards on the Internet

3) What do President Obama and the FranklinSchool District have in common?

4) Kevin Fischer's "Whippersnapper Hall of Fame"

5) Daughters in danger

EVERY SUNDAY I REVIEW THE MOST COVETED EDITORIAL PAGES OF THE WEEK  BY OPINION-MAKERS AS WELL AS THE MOST WIDELY-READ, THE SUNDAY “CROSSROADS” SECTION OF THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. I WILL KEEP TRACK OF THE CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL PIECES CONTRIBUTED BY NON-JOURNAL SENTINEL WRITERS AND KEEP A RUNNING SCORE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.


It should also be noted that this exercise is a categorization. Most, if not all of these articles submitted to, or solicited by the Crossroads staff are well-written, thoughtful, and provocative. I enjoy reading them as I have every Sunday for as long as I can remember. This weekly compilation is an ideological scorecard, not a writing critique.


TODAY'S LIBERAL PIECES

William G. Andrekopoulos: MPS has challenges, but they're not about accounting  

"We know what the financial problems are."

LOL

Jon Geenen: Debate not exactly Rockwellian  

"Contrast Rockwell's optimistic America with the sad state of civil and political discourse today, when intentional saboteurs - fueled by the agendas of political zealots - make it next to impossible to have a meaningful discussion about a pressing American problem."

"Opponents of meaningful health care reform have cleverly adopted the tactics and vocabulary of McCarthyism...."

Now if you oppose Obama's socialistic takeover of health care, you are McCarthy-like. Where's the balance with an opposing view, Ricardo? I know. Are you nuts, Kevin?


TODAY'S CONSERVATIVE PIECES

Tom Petri: Health care reform must be done right, not rushed through


NEITHER LIBERAL NOR CONSERVATIVE

John Gurda: Labor Day is about rights hard fought and won  

Ralph Gundrum: Disclosure is an obstacle to foster care  

Jennifer L.W. Fink: Co-sleeping: It's beneficial when done safely  


MJS SCORECARD:

TODAY: Liberal-2, Conservative-1

YEAR TO DATE: Liberal-82, Conservative-69


NOTE: It's starting to get lopsided after 8 months of relative fairness. Surprised?

Van Jones, a controversial administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs," is seen at the National Summit in Detroit, in this June 16, 2009 file photo. The White House issued a statement early Sunday Sept. 6, 2009 saying Jones had quit the administration. AP photo






Union business representative Russell Krings announces Friday that union members ratified a contract to ensure Mercury Marine stays in Fond du Lac. Members had voted down the same contract Aug. 23. AP photo






An unidentified Contra Costa County worker closes off a new fence in front of a home in Antioch, Calif., Monday, Aug. 31, 2009, where authorities say kidnapped victim Jaycee Lee Dugard lived. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)






Lal Mohammad, 40, whose nose and ears were cut off by the Taliban on the Afghan presidential and provincial council election day, is seen in a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. Taliban cut off Lal Mohammad's nose and ears after finding a voting card with him on his way to a polling station. Lal Mohammad is from Shiran village of Daykundi a province in central Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Farzana Wahidy)


 

A deer escapes a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger picks up a dumbbell in a burned out home while touring a neighborbood destroyed by wildfires in Big Tujunga Canyon in Tujunga, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/LM Otero)






Tiffany Brain stands in the ruins of the home of her uncle, Ken Gray, destroyed in the Station fire in an area known as Stonyvale in Big Tujunga Canyon in the Angeles National Forest northwest of the city of Los Angeles, seen Tuesday morning, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)


 

Avianna Veneto, an employee of Lew Johnson, surveys the hot tub in which two men and a dog took refuge as flames from Station wildfire overran the area, as they returns to Johnson's destroyed home on Stonyvale Road in Big Tujunga Canyon in the Angeles National Forest, just outside the Sundland area of Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. All survived but the men were badly burned. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

In this photo taken Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, Somalis displaced by fighting between the Somali government and Islamist insurgents are seen in a makeshift home at a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. An international aid agency said Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009 that hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees are living in camps that are "barely fit for humans." (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)






British former evacuees, wearing their handwritten badges with information about their names, their hometowns and the towns they were evacuated to, during World War II, pose for pictures following a church service at St. Paul's Cathedral, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first children to be evacuated, in central London, Tuesday Sept. 1, 2009. Organized by the Evacuation Reunion Association (ERA), hundreds of people gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of three million children in Britain ahead of the Second World War. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)


 

A young girl dressed as a refugee walks past The Winton Train at Liverpool Street Station, London, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009 in a reenactment of the arrival of one of the eight trains that carried mostly Jewish children through Germany to Britain in the months before the outbreak of World War II. The vintage train carrying Holocaust survivors pulled into London on Friday, ending a three-day trip across Europe that marked the 70th anniversary of their extraordinary rescue by a young British stockbroker. Waiting to greet them at London's Liverpool Street Station was Nicholas Winton, age 100, who organized the rail "kindertransports" that carried hundreds of mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to safety in 1939. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)


 

Sir Nicholas Winton (2L) stands infront of the Tornado steam train that brought evacuees to Liverpool Street railway station on September 4, 2009 in London, England. Between March and August 1939 Briton Sir Nicholas Winton organised eight trains that carried 669 children to the safety of England from war torn Czechoslovakia. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)






An evacuee greets Sir Nicholas Winton at Liverpool Street railway station on September 4, 2009 in London, England.  (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)






A man wrapped in Union Jack flags looks at tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales placed on the gates of Kensington Palace on August 31, 2009 in London, England. Fans gathered to remember Diana, Princess of Wales who died in a Paris car crash 12 years ago today. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)


 

Nuns of Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, her portrait seen, participate in a special mass observing the Mother's 12th death anniversary in Calcutta, India, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. Albanian-born Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She died in 1997 in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, where she worked with the city's poor. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)






Flight engineer Nicole Stott of the space shuttle Discovery works during a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk performed overnight between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning September 1, 2009. Stott and mission specialist John "Danny" Olivas (not pictured) removed an empty ammonia tank from the station's truss and will replace it with a new module during a follow-up spacewalk later in the week. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)






U.S. President Barack Obama works at his desk as his daughter Sasha hides behind the sofa in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009. Obama may offer more detailed, "prescriptive" proposals as he begins a new offensive to overcome opposition to his efforts to overhaul the U.S. health-care system, a senior adviser said. Photographer: Pete Souza/White House via Bloomberg 


 

Sharyn Epling, 5, being held by her grandmother, Sharon Alvarez, reacts to receiving a flu shot from Maria Bucio, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner - Certified, at the MinuteClinic in a CVS/pharmacy store on September 2, 2009 in Kendall, Florida. As the seasonal flu season arrives many people get an Influenza flu vaccination in the hopes of not catching the flu. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)



 

Three-month-old Sophia Marmarinos lies on the leaf of a giant water lily (Victoria Amazonica) under the watchful eye of Hans Kuyten, employee of the botanical garden, left, at Diergaarde Blijdorp, also known as Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009. The zoo organized the event for parents to take picture of their children. The leaves can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) in diameter and can easily support a weight of 15 kilograms (33 pounds). (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)









Climate change protesters march through central London from British Petroleum headquarters to the Shell Centre on September 1, 2009 in London, England. Climate campaigners have also been staging a week long protest camp in Blackheath south London. (Photos:Getty Images)






Small ice figures are seen on the stairs of Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, as part of an art project by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). One thousand ice figures by Brasilian artist Nele Azevedo were melting within 30 minutes symbolizing the effect of global warming. (AP Photo/Maya Hitij)






An activist from the People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), wearing a full-length gown made of lettuce leaves, stages a rally outside a shopping mall in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009. PETA asks people to turn over a new leaf and go vegetarian. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)






During a training exercise Wednesday, members of the Milwaukee County sheriff’s SWAT team move into a hallway leading to an unsecured dorm at the House of Correction, where members of the team act as hostages being held by others portraying inmates. Journal Sentinel: Rick Wood






Terminally ill hospice resident Magdalene Ginsburg (R) reaches out to Pisco, a 13-year-old therapy llama, at the Hospice of Saint John on Sept.1, 2009 in Lakewood, Colorado. The llama visits the hospice each month as part of an animal therapy program designed to increase happiness, decrease loniliness and calm terminally ill patients during the last stage of life. The non-profit hospice, which serves on average 200 people at a time, is the second oldest hospice in the United States. The hospice accepts patients regardless of their ability to pay, although most are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. End of life care has become a contentious issue in the current national debate on health care reform. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)



 

A racing camel and her jockey stands in front of Tower Bridge on September 3, 2009 in London, England. The camels are the new mascots of Saracens Rugby Club and will race during half time at their matches in Wembley Stadium this season. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)


 

A veterinary physiotherapist works with a dog on the water walker at the new purpose built Links Vet Animal Hospital and Lothian Canine Rehabilitation Centre on September 1, 2009 in Haddington, Scotland. The vet group has opened the state of the art centre, Scotland's first fully vet staffed animal hospital and rehabilitation centre in the one complex. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)






Terry Zittle of Cocoa Beach, Fla., reads his paper near the Cocoa Beach Pier after feeding the birds, Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Michael R. Brown) 


 

Sleepy snow leopard cub Yukichi, two-month-old, toddles during his first public appearance at the Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)






Franklin's Jake Prochnow and teammates celebrate Prochnow's interception against Marquette Friday night. Franklin led at the half, 17-16, then got shutout the rest of the way, losing 46-17. Journal Sentinel photo: Tom Lynn






The University of Wisconsin Marching Band, led by drum major Alex Waskawic, takes the field Saturday before the start of the Badgers’ season-opener against Northern Illinois University at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin beat Northern Illinois, 28-20. Journal Sentinel photo: Tom Lynn






John Clay dives over the top for a touchdown for Wisconsin in their win over Northern Illinois Saturday night, 28-20. Journal Semtinel: Tom Lynn.






Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark's (17) helmet flies off as he is tackled by Akron defender Sean Fobbs during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State won 31-7. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)






The Chula Vista, Calif., team celebrates winning the Little League World Series Championship baseball game 6-3 over Taoyuan, Taiwan, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)






Euskaltel Euskadi rider Aitor Hernandez of Spain rides over the Assut d'Or bridge designed by architect Santiago Calatrava during the seventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, a 30-kilometer (18.6 miles) individual time trial in Valencia, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009.(AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)






Members of the Milwaukee chapter of the Harley Owners Group prepare to take off Thursday from the War Memorial Center in Milwaukee as part of the kickoff for the 2009 Milwaukee Rally. Events that are part of the 2009 Milwaukee Rally take start on Thursday and run through Sunday. Journal Sentinel photo: Michael Sears






Actors/puppeteers David Rudman (L) with 'Cookie Monster' and Fran Brill with 'Zoe' accept the Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at The Orpheum Theatre on August 30, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Cookie Monster caused a stir at the Daytime Emmy Awards when he tried to eat Sesame Street's Lifetime Achievement Award. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for ATI)






David Watts of Phoenix, a member of the Diablos, wears a jersey showing his support for another team member.The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance World Series was held at Wirth Park in Brookfield. More than 2,500 ballplayers on 127 teams came to the Milwaukee area for the softball tournament. "The Softball World Series is about friendships being made, getting together once a year to celebrate the gay culture and appreciating the athleticism of the game,” said one organizer. Journal Sentinel photo: Rick Wood






Crowds wait to get into the Arena to see the Beatles on September 4, 1964. Nearly 12,000 people attended the concert.






Fans at the Milwaukee airport hope to catch a glimpse of the Beatles in 1964.






After hearing that the Beatles were staying at the Coach House Motor Inn, 1926 W. Wisconsin Ave., four young women wait to catch a glimpse. The site is now a Marquette University dorm.

The Beatles hold a news conference during their stop in Milwaukee. George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney meet with reporters. John Lennon missed the conference because of a sore throat.



 

The Beatles in concert at the Milwaukee Arena, and their screaming fans, 09/64/09. Above Beatlemania pictures: Milwaukee Journal file photos

Consider the plight of this woman.

She’s 61 years old.

She has brain cancer.

She is paralyzed over 85% of her body.

She had one of her legs amputated.

She is dying.

The woman has spent the last 40 years in prison for a life sentence and wants to be issued a “compassionate release” so that she can live out her remaining time with family instead of behind bars.




What would be the harm? Why not just let her go?

The woman is 61-year old Susan Atkins.




Atkins was a member of Charles Manson's "family" that committed savage, brutal mass murders.






You may have missed the story last week that once again, Atkins’ request for release was denied by the California Parole Board, just as it was a dozen times before. Atkins slept on a gurney for almost four hours during the hearing.







During a two-night killing spree that Manson called, “Helter Skelter,” his disciples at his command committed seven grisly murders.

On August 9, 1969, Manson’s most devout follower, Atkins, broke into the home of 26-year old actress Sharon Tate.

Tate, whose husband, Hollywood director Roman Polanski was not home at the time, was 8 1/2 months pregnant.

Atkins admitted bludgeoning the innocent Tate.

She stabbed Tate once.


And again.


And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.


And Atkins stabbed Tate 10 more times after that.

At a 1993 parole board hearing, Atkins said Tate "asked me to let her baby live. ... I told her I didn't have any mercy on her."

Ironic, isn’t it. Atkins, begging for mercy, over and over and over and over again, for the past 40 years. Each time, the answer was “no” just as Atkins’ answer was for Tate who pleaded, not for her life, but for that of her unborn child (We understand that pro-abortionists wouldn’t care or understand).

The fact is Atkins is fortunate to be 61 and suffering. In 1972, after Manson and all of his sadistic killers had been sentenced to death, the California Supreme Court did away with capital punishment. Atkins was spared.

She had the gall to demand a second chance a second time, no, actually more than a dozen times. She gave Tate and Tate’s baby no chance.

I shed no tears for Atkins. She was reportedly described as terminally ill duirng a June 2008 parole hearing, but is still alive today. Bravo to the California Parole Board. Let Atkins die in prison after serving out a meaningful sentence, that is, life means life.

If you need any more evidence why Atkins should remain behind bars to pay for what she did, all you need do is check out the graphic crime scenes of Tate’s murder at this website. 

Monday night, the History Channel premieres, "Manson," A two-hour docu-drama about the Manson murders.

Here's a preview.

*CAUTION: THIS BLOG CONTAINS LANGUAGE USED BY A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE BY SOME THIS JUST IN READERS*


In February of this year, former White House “green jobs” czar Van Jones (who resigned abruptly early this morning) was asked by a woman at an energy lecture in Fruits and Nutsville (Berkeley, California) why President Obama and congressional Democrats were having trouble moving legislation -- even though Republicans, with a smaller majority, didn't have as much trouble earlier in the Bush administration. 

Jones’ response:

"Well, the answer to that is, they're assholes. That's a technical, political science term.  And Barack Obama's not an asshole. I will say this, I can be an asshole. And some of us who are not Barack Hussein Obama are gonna have to start getting a little bit uppity.”

Yet another classy comment by the Democrats in power.

One of my favorite columnists, Doug Giles pounced on the Jones controversy before Jones’ sudden resignation with a piece written Saturday. Here’s an excerpt:

“What has happened to all of the post-partisanship, ‘I love you, you love me’ rose petals O-Town and his boys were going to spread in DC and beyond? This adversarial administration has parted this nation more severely than Willard Scott’s bald patch has the hair on his liver spot bespeckled head. Heck, Barry is losing the ones he formally won in droves.”

As usual, Giles in his hilarious, irreverent style, is right on the money. Check out the rest of his column, especially the final sentence. It’s QUOTE OF THE YEAR material.

It’s a big day today for union members. They are using the holiday to continue their push for the very unpopular government takeover of the health care industry.

Columnist James Sherk makes the case that this isn’t because union members have developed a sudden sense of altruism. It’s a matter of self-interest. Unions stand to gain billions if ObamaCare is approved.

Sherk has written two fine articles on this issue:

Labor unions on health care: Their true motives

Why Organized Labor Supports Government Health Care

Jerry Agar of the Illinois Policy Institute asks, "what are we celebrating?"

A Labor Day edition of  DOGS IN THE NEWS.

 

Franklin Police Chief Richard Oliva issued the following about the arrest of a Milwaukee serial killer:

As some, if not all of you, know by now a serial murder suspect was arrested at the Park Motel on South 27^th Street in Franklin on Saturday morning.  The suspect’s car was found by Franklin Police Officer Jason Fincel.  The Franklin SWAT team, along with the Milwaukee Police SWAT team arrested the suspect in his motel room after a significant struggle.  Attached are communications from the Milwaukee Police Department’s Public Information Office regarding this case.

Chief Oliva

CITY OF MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE
Edward A. Flynn, Chief of Police

DATE:  SEPTEMBER 7, 2009                                    CONTACT:ANNE E. SCHWARTZ

NEWS RELEASE #   09-24                                        414-935-7209         

       

MILWAUKEE POLICE, DA ANNOUNCE SERIAL KILLER ARREST

A man whose DNA is linked to nine unsolved homicides of females over a 21-year period has been arrested by Milwaukee Police, Chief Edward A. Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced Monday, September 7, 2009.

The DNA belonging to Walter E. Ellis, 49, of Milwaukee, was found on the bodies of nine women; eight prostitutes and one female who was a runaway who was involved in the drug trade. The homicides occurred between 1986 and 2007 on Milwaukee’s north side.

“This case was solved with shoe leather and science,” said Chief Flynn. “Continuing advances in DNA technology have enabled us to link these homicide cases, and it was good police work pursuing numerous leads that led to the arrest of a suspect.”

The Milwaukee Police Department’s Homicide Task Force Cold Case Unit was formed in May of this year but the MPD never forgot the victims whose brutal murders spanned 21 years. Many tools were used to develop suspects including resources from the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The analysts sifted through years of evidence samples resubmitted by the Task Force. As the technology evolved, the results improved.

As evidence that Milwaukee Police have submitted and resubmitted to the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab continues to be returned, the Task Force may be linking additional homicides to this DNA profile.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office already has charged two cold cases unrelated to the Ellis case and one awaits charging due to the work of the Task Force.

By the numbers, evidence reviewed by the Milwaukee Task Force includes:

• More than 700 names that were contained in the nine homicide files;
• Researching 15,000 sexual assault investigations spanning 23 years;
• Reviewed about 6,000 prostitution-related investigations and arrests
• 2,000 arrests in the geographic areas where the bodies were discovered were queried over a 15-year period
• 1,000 names queried through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections
• Searched the state DNA databank of 125,000 people; 6 million in the national DNA databank

#  # 
Police Administration Building, 749 West State Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53201-0531  (414) 933-4444

AGENCIES ASSISTING MILWAUKEE POLICE

Congratulations to all involved for your outstanding work!

Not really.

The majority of the American public caught on to this charade some time ago. They fully comprehend this was a massive orchestrated attempt to curry favor with voters by using their children after the president’s poll numbers dropped like a tennis ball off a poker table.

Parents aren’t dunces. Their reaction to news that the president was going to invade classrooms to speak didn’t sit well, no matter how laudable the exercise. Schools are not bully pulpits or political platforms. Moms and Dads were correct to be concerned about this particular ploy by this particular president. He seems less concerned about the imparting of information in school, unless, of course, it’s about the kind of school his own children attend, than he is about his top priority, the complete transformation of American society.

Can you blame these parents? Not after the Department of Education issues suggested post-Obama indoctrination guidelines to teachers: Have Johnny and Susie write letters to President Obama about what they can do to assist him. Not after a Utah principal apologizes, admitting she was wrong to show a video to students showing Hollywood celebrities saying, among other questionable pledges, that they promise to serve President Obama…so what’s your pledge?

Help and serve the president? The president is supposed to serve us, American citizens. The sheer verbiage, not to mention the mere idea of serving the president is enough to stir outrage.

The value of edcuation can and should be preached, not by the Commander-in-Chief, not by any level of government, but first and foremost by a youngster's parents or guardians.

To suggest that evil, right wing extremists, like those 1^st Amendment-wielding free speech non-Socialist talkers on radio stations across the country influenced the wave of protest is absurd. Moms and Dads have minds of their own. The folks they complained to who have had second thoughts about this entire speechmaking scheme during school time, i.e. school administrators and school board members are hardly right-wingers. And if conservative talk show hosts had that much power and influence, John McCain would be holding White House press conferences, the First Lady would actually dress the part, and Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t be House Loudmouth.

Since the flurry of opposition, the Department of Education has scaled back on its proposed homework assignments calling for students to worship the president. We’ll never know if President Obama altered his speech in any form or fashion due to the parental uprising.

We do know that in the past, presidents have asked to speak to students without a peep of unrest. This teleprompting president shook America’s nerves, making parents from Maine to California uneasy. What does it say about this president when American parents are not confident enough to let him talk to their sons and daughters for 15 lousy minutes?

Obama may have pasteurized his originally planned delivery. We’ll never know. It doesn’t matter. America is wise to his egotistical shenanigans. Ironic that education is supposed to be so critical. Why, then, is he interrupting valuable school time? Have test scores gone through the ceiling? Are dropout rates not as serious? Are the vast majority of students skillfully proficient at reading, math and American history?

The president will speak, and ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, and every major newspaper in America will gush. It doesn’t matter. The people that matter the most, the American public, have seen through and called the president on this phoniness.


UPDATE on 9/08/09: Planet Moron obtained the original Obama speech. HT: Dad29

This is good stuff, from All American Blogger:

“With the overwhelming amount of chatter coming from the Democrats about the uproar Americans are causing at town hall meetings, I thought it would be important to take a look at the people who were behind this attitude, this belief that the people should come before those in government and demand they listen.”

Read…

Last Friday, I heard from a reliable source that my good friend, Phil Cianciola had been let go by WTMJ-AM.  I didn’t have any details so I refrained from blogging.

Phil has confirmed that he is no longer employed at WTMJ. I am extremely sorry to hear this news and quite frankly, don’t understand this decision.

I’ve known Phil for 31 years since we started working together at WUWM.  I was part of the decision to hire Phil at WTMJ when management (myself included at the time) was putting together the current afternoon drive format. We chose Phil Cianciola to do the news and Len Kasper, now the Chicago Cubs TV play-by-play announcer, to provide sports.

Phil is very talented and a super guy. Like many other former WTMJ on-air personalities who were informed loyalty and hard work meant nothing, Phil will find there is, indeed, life after E. Capitol Drive.

I wish my friend, Phil, the very best and a quick return to the airwaves.

A reminder from Alderman Kristen Wilhelm:

TODAY AT FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL

"The City of Franklin has planned an information gathering session for September 8, 2009 at the Franklin High School Library from 4 to 6 p.m. for the planned S. 51st Street Reconstruction project."

Our outgoing (but not fast enough) tax and spend liberal governor today announced details of his plan for the KRM commuter service and bus and rail service in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine. Doyle’s plan includes a 0.05% sales tax for Milwaukee County.

He never, ever stops.

They really mean it.

This headline is priceless.

According to analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau:

"Under current law, there are five income tax brackets for single individuals, certain fiduciaries, heads of households, and married persons. The brackets are indexed for inflation. The rate of taxation under current law for the lowest bracket for single individuals, certain fiduciaries, heads of households, and married persons is 4.6 percent of taxable income; the rate for the second bracket is 6.15 percent; the rate for the third bracket is 6.5 percent; the rate for the fourth bracket is 6.75 percent; and the rate for the highest bracket, which was created in the budget bill, 2009 Wisconsin Act 28, is 7.75 percent.

Currently, the highest bracket applies to taxable income exceeding $225,000 for single individuals, certain fiduciaries, and heads of households. For married persons, the highest current bracket applies to taxable income exceeding $300,000 for joint filers and $150,000 for separate filers.

This bill creates a sixth bracket with a taxation rate of 8.75 percent. For single individuals, certain fiduciaries, and heads of households, this bracket applies to taxable income exceeding $750,000. For married persons, this bracket applies to taxable income exceeding $1,000,000 for joint filers and $500,000 for separate filers. This bracket is indexed for inflation starting with taxable year 2010, and first applies to taxable years beginning on January 1, 2009"

The public sector doesn't create private sector jobs. It kills them, by raising taxes.The Tax Foundation writes:

"Taxes matter to business. Business taxes affect business decisions, job creation and retention, plant location, competitiveness, the transparency of the tax system, and the long-term health of a state's economy. Most importantly, taxes diminish profits. If taxes take a larger portion of profits, that cost is passed along to either consumers (through higher prices), workers (through lower wages or fewer jobs), or shareholders (through lower dividends or share value). Thus a state with lower tax costs will be more attractive to business investment, and more likely to experience economic growth.

States do not enact tax changes (increases or cuts) in a vacuum. Every tax law will in some way change a state's competitive position relative to its immediate neighbors, its geographic region, and even globally. Ultimately it will affect the state's national standing as a place to live and to do business. Entrepreneurial states can take advantage of the tax increases of their neighbors to lure businesses out of high-tax states."

It might just be the most ridiculous news article of the year.

Newsweek goes to great lengths to suggest that babies can be and are racist. In fact, the magazine claims babies as young as 6 months old discriminate. As the father of a 5 ½ month old, I find such an assertion preposterous.

Just read this garbage:

“Within the past decade or so, developmental psychologists have begun a handful of longitudinal studies to determine exactly when children develop bias. Phyllis Katz, then a professor at the University of Colorado, led one such study—following 100 black children and 100 white children for their first six years. She tested these children and their parents nine times during those six years, with the first test at 6 months old.

How do researchers test a 6-month-old? They show babies photographs of faces. Katz found that babies will stare significantly longer at photographs of faces that are a different race from their parents, indicating they find the face out of the ordinary. Race itself has no ethnic meaning per se—but children's brains are noticing skin-color differences and trying to understand their meaning.”

And that constitutes discrimination?

Newsweek cites for evidence that children develop stereotypes at a very young age just about everything save ink blots. One study referenced interviewed only Caucasians. Yeh, that seems fair. Children ages 5-7 are asked how many “white” and how many “black” people are “curious” and “snobby.”  I’m wondering how many 5-year olds today actually know the meaning of those words.

Yes, I'm sure millions of little white children can't stand this television star:



Roscoe Orman as Gordon on Sesame Street (1974-present).


And how many little white children will be turned off by this movie:

As ludicrous as this may sound, the article’s authors, a pair of sociologists, begrudgingly admit that diversity in schools has failed.

“The unfortunate twist of diverse schools is that they don't necessarily lead to more cross-race relationships. Often it's the opposite. Duke University's James Moody—an expert on how adolescents form and maintain social networks—analyzed data on more than 90,000 teenagers at 112 different schools from every region of the country. The students had been asked to name their five best male friends and their five best female friends. Moody matched the ethnicity of the student with the race of each named friend, then compared the number of each student's cross-racial friendships with the school's overall diversity.

Moody found that the more diverse the school, the more the kids self-segregate by race and ethnicity within the school, and thus the likelihood that any two kids of different races have a friendship goes down.

Moody included statistical controls for activities, sports, academic tracking, and other school-structural conditions that tend to desegregate (or segregate) students within the school. The rule still holds true: more diversity translates into more division among students. Those increased opportunities to interact are also, effectively, increased opportunities to reject each other. And that is what's happening.”

The writers call the fact that far more kids just like to hang with their own, “tragic.” I call the use of that adjective, “hyperbole.”  That kids want to pal around with similar kids is natural.

“All told, the odds of a white high-schooler in America having a best friend of another race is only 8 percent. Those odds barely improve for the second-best friend, or the third-best, or the fifth. For blacks, the odds aren't much better: 85 percent of black kids' best friends are also black.”

So much for the liberal view for decades that we can mandate, force, and legislate integration.

This could be the biggest laugher of this absurd piece:

“To be effective, researchers have found, conversations about race have to be explicit, in unmistakable terms that children understand. A friend of mine repeatedly told her 5-year-old son, ‘Remember, everybody's equal.’ She thought she was getting the message across. Finally, after seven months of this, her boy asked, "Mommy, what's 'equal' mean?"

A Pulitzer Prize winner, it’s not.

I hate when sports teams pour it on, especially at the high school level.  There is no excuse for it

For the past 32 years, I have been the public address announcer at historic South Stadium. I have witnessed, in person over the past 44 years, well over 500 high school football games. Nothing makes me more angry then when a superior team rubs the faces of their opponents in it by attempting to make the scoreboard TILT.

This season, I’ve worked three ballgames, and already in two of them, I’ve seen questionable sportsmanship.

Remember fans, this is HIGH SCHOOL we’re talking about. It’s not college where you’re trying score to impress pollsters so you can play in a bowl game AFTER January 1. This isn’t pro football where a tiebreaker for a playoff spot might come down to total points scored. This is amateur ball with a capital “A.”


POOR SPORTSMANSHIP EXAMPLE #1
AUGUST 28, 2009, MILWAUKEE SOUTH DIVISION VS. RACINE PARK

This contest was over before Park even got off their bus. Everyone knew it.

When the halftime whistles on the field blew, Park led South 35-0. Under a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) rule, when the point differential in the 2^nd half between the two teams reaches 35 points or greater, there’s a running clock that can only stop if there’s a score, a charged timeout, a severe injury, or the end of the 3^rd quarter. This is a bad rule, but I’ll get into that later.

The running clock in the 2^nd half of this game served its purpose. In all those 500-plus high school games I’ve seen over 44 years, I can tell you how many times I’ve seen a team that was down 35 points in the 2^nd half come back to win: ZERO. This isn’t ESPN Sportscenter stuff, folks.

Park did score again making it 42-0 and had the ball near the South 10-yard line with just under two minutes to play. It was 4^th down and South took a timeout to talk to the defense so they’d be prepared to make a stop and prevent further damage.

On the other sideline, I know what Park should have been discussing with its offense, plain and simple. We’re up 42-0. There’s less than 2 minutes to play. No need for another score. When the ball is snapped, the quarterback should……and here is a phrase I swear there isn’t a single high school football coach in southeastern Wisconsin knows, understands, or ever cares to call:

TAKE A F***** KNEE!

What do you think happened?

Did the Park QB take a knee?

Are you nuts?

There was a handoff up the middle.  Granted, that’s almost like taking a knee, but not quite.
There’s every chance the running back squirts into the end zone and now it's 48-0.

Why? Where are you going with that? A 42-0 victory isn’t good enough for you?

South did stop the Park runner after a short gain, however, the wrong call was made by Park during the timeout. The proper call:

TAKE A F***** KNEE!

Not the most blatant example of poring it on by any stretch of the imagination. But read the title of this blog again.


POOR SPORTSMANSHIP EXAMPLE #2
SEPTEMBER 5, MILWAUKEE BRADLEY TECH VS. MILWAUKEE NORTH DIVISION

Shame on the schedulers. This one should have never been booked.

Tech has a pretty decent team, as long as they don’t play anyone outside the City Conference. North is lucky to have a team.

When the North bus pulled up to historic South Stadium, out came the Blue Devil squad………all 15 of them.

Tech scored first to make it 7-0. But a highly over-matched North team came right back to make it 7-6.

And then, as expected, came the avalanche.

With two minutes to go in the first quarter, North’s QB Jabari Hill who was now playing defense got hit backwards by three Tech linemen during a simple run up the middle. Hill went down, landed flat on his back, and didn’t move. The call was made to 9-1-1, and Hill’s day was over. He suffered a neck injury, and will be fine. But now North was down to 14 players without Hill who was their everything. He could throw, he could run, he could kick, he could play defense. Suddenly, just 10 minutes into the game, he was on his way to the hospital.

Not that Tech was ever in any danger, but they went on a scoring spree. Hill’s replacement at QB for North couldn’t even take a snap properly and North was in reverse the rest of the afternoon.Tech led at halftime 51-6. Cue the running clock.

If common sense ruled high school football instead of the WIAA and macho high school coaches who have watched too much Sunday football on TV, the game would have been over. Good afternoon, everyone. Sayonara. Buenos Dias.

But the game continues with a deflated North team that has given up and a Tech team with its starters still playing, trying to score more.

We're now in the 3^rd quarter, and Tech coaches with headsets sitting next to me and the official timer (and believe me, despite what I’m about to say, the coaches are not bad guys) are absolutely giddy as the scoreboard reads 64-6.

One of them looks over at us and says, grinning from ear to ear, “Do you think we could score 100?”

I was not smiling. He asked. I answered with my own question.

“You can't be serious, are you?”

The coach was incredulous.

“Well what are we supposed to do? Take a bunch of knees?"

Before I could say,




YES!




YES!




YES!




My partner in the press box, the official timer, Bob Wanek who has worked as the official timer for the Milwaukee Bucks for decades said, ”Well, now that you mention it, sounds like a great idea.”

Of course, this sensible idea is fapparently foreign to any high school football coach in our area.

At the start of the 4^th quarter, at the request of the North coach, the clock was not to stop FOR ANY REASON.

Had I been the North coach, here’s what I would have done at the halftime whistle. I would have run across the field and encountered the Tech coach and challenged him right there on the spot.

“Look Coach. At the start of the 2^nd half, if I see so much as one of your starters in the game on offense, I am pulling my team off the field and we are out of here and we are not coming back."

I would have told the referees the same thing. What is MPS going to do? Fine the guy. There was no need on a sunny, hot afternoon to call 9-1-1 again.

This confrontation, of course, didn’t take place. Tech won 70-6 (hope they were proud of themselves). In 44 years of watching football at historic South Stadium, including phenomenal Tech teams in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, I never saw a team score 70 points until this past Saturday.

Thankfully, there were no more calls to Bell Ambulance and no fisticuffs on the gridiron.

Now, in spite of all of this, why do I say the running clock rule is a bad one? Because it’s shortsighted.

The running clock doesn’t come into play until the 2^nd half. It should be enforced no matter when the point spread becomes 35 points or more, whether it be the first or second quarter. Why wait till the 2^nd half. Believe me, that ballgame is history.

Unfortunately, the WIAA in its lack of wisdom will take years to figure this one out.

From the MacIver Institute:

For Immediate Release              For further information, contact: Brian Fraley
September 9, 2008                    414-339-4368

Congressman Sensenbrenner Previews Obama’s Congressional Address:

Wonders if President “has already lost the debate with the American People”

[Brookfield, Wisc…] Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner says President Obama’s audience choice for tonight’s address on health care is quite revealing.

“He decided to address Congress rather than addressing the American people from the Oval Office and maybe that’s because his handlers have decided he has already lost the debate with the American people,” Sensenbrenner (R-WI 05) says in an online video interview with the MacIver Institute.

In the four-minute video, available online at www.MacIverInstitute.com, the 16-term Republican member of Congress previews tonight’s Presidential Address and says the health care bill was sidetracked because it was drafted by and for the most liberal elements of Congress.

“It was kind of like Barack Obama signing a blank check to the ultra liberal Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives and now that check is coming up NSF,” Sensenbrenner says.

Sensenbrenner believes the August recess may have helped derail the original proposal.

“The fact is, is that because (Speaker of the House) Pelosi was not able to jam the Obama health plan through the Congress before the August recess, this is the first major bill this year that the people have a chance to read and understand—and they don’t like it,” Sensenbrenner says.

The Congressman says the more people find out about the details of what he calls Obamacare, the less attractive the plan becomes.

“The first big cut they’ve proposed is absolutely decimating Medicare Advantage programs,” Sensenbrenner warns Seniors. “I hope they are paying attention.”

The interview, conducted in Sensenbrenner’s district office in Brookfield, is available for free use by media outlets, bloggers and the general public.

Ann Compton has covered the White House for ABC News for many, many years.

Tonight, while driving home from a soccer game, I flipped on WTMJ to hear the president's speech to Congress just in time to hear Compton reporting for ABC Radio News (on the radio, right where she belongs, I might add) in almost breathless tones about Obama's "power red tie."

Compton then made the observation that in bipartisan fashion, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader John Boehner were escorting the president. The two are staunch opponents of ObamaCare.

"What must the world be thinking as they see these two men, who are trying to kill the president's plan, walking elbow to elbow with him," said Compton, almost on the verge of tears.

My God, woman. Get a grip, will ya!

Here's why.

September 9, 2009 • Vol. VI, No. 37

Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin
1126 South 70th Street | Suite S219A | Milwaukee | WI | 53146

© 2009 AFP-Wisconsin

By Jennifer Fischer, mother of little angel, Kyla

In the days following Kyla’s birth, Kevin and I relived and retold her story countless times.  Fortunately for us, we had many people who wanted to hear everything that happened from the moment we entered the hospital.  We never tired of talking about those special hours.

I really did have an incredibly easy pregnancy…  No cravings.  No aversions.  No morning sickness.  No preeclampsia.  No gestational diabetes.  No edema.  Just nine sweet months of anticipation and a growing belly.  I just couldn’t wait to meet this precious face:


 

 


As incredibly easy as my pregnancy was, that’s how easy my delivery was.  (Yes, I was induced so that took a lot of the worry and guesswork out of things for a first-time mom.)  I will admit there was constant discomfort with the automated blood pressure cuff.  Actually I think that thing hurt as much as the labor pains.  They blew out my vein on my left arm when they started my IV, needed to remove it and replace it in my right arm.  Eventually, I knew I would have an epidural.  So while the labor pains did get intense for a short time, there was blessed light at the end of the tunnel as soon as the OB anesthesiologist entered the room.  Honestly in the blink of an eye I was holding our precious daughter, kissing my husband, and having him call our family to share the good news.

In every recount of that blessed March 25^th, I would always say that if I could guarantee that each subsequent pregnancy and delivery would match the perfection of having Kyla, I would gladly have twelve more children.  (If Kevin was in earshot that would be the time he would either gasp or make some crazy comment.)

The first month of adjusting to parenthood is almost a complete sleepless blur.  I remember the utter exhaustion.  I remember thinking to myself, “Kevin and I will never EVER have another uninterrupted meal together.”  I remember many days when my morning shower was taken around 3:00 pm.  I also remember my foolish desire to have twins.  

Quite often I would wonder how do parents of many children “survive?”  The only side effect, if you will, of my pregnancy was extreme exhaustion during my first and third trimesters.  I would come home from work, take a nap, eat dinner and go to bed.  I couldn’t help but wonder what I would do if I had a toddler and school-ager to take care of at the same time.  I had the pure luxury of just being able to go to bed whenever I wanted. 

So, this whole concept of pregnancy addiction, or being a Bumpaholic, seemed pretty extreme to me.  While I am only a mother of one child, my thoughts and feelings are much more aligned with Meagan Francis and Robin Elise Weiss.  

Gee, I guess all those wonderful families I see every Sunday at St. Anthony’s are just addicts…  replacing having children for other vices like drugs, alcohol, or gambling.  Yep, those kids just fill a void.  They aren’t wanted or planned for or welcomed or loved.  If I’d ask any mom of any of those large families how they feel about the concept of “bumpaholism” I can only begin to imagine their responses!

From the National Right to Life Committee:

For immediate release:                                         For more information:

Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 9:30pm             Derrick Jones (202) 423-339 (mobile)

                                                                                    mediarelations@nrlc.org

OBAMA PERPETUATES ABORTION FUNDING MYTH

IN JOINT SESSION ADDRESS

WASHINGTON - In his address to a joint session of Congress tonight, President Obama said, "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions."

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, commented: "Barack Obama needs to learn that the mere repetition of a verbal formula does not change reality.  The reality is that the Obama-backed House bill would explicitly authorize the federal government insurance plan to pay for elective abortions and would explicitly authorize subsidies for private abortion insurance -- and all with federal dollars, which are the only kind of dollars that the federal government can spend."

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) last week released definitive memoranda that demonstrate that (1) the "Hyde Amendment" would not apply to the new programs that would be created by the Obama-backed health bill, H.R. 3200, and (2) that all of the funds that would be spent on elective abortions under the bill, and all of the funds that would be spent to subsidize private insurance plans that cover abortion, would be "federal funds" in both the legal sense and in the sense in which those terms are used throughout the government. 

"The claim that a federal agency would be spending private funds on abortion, not federal funds, is absurd on its face, a political hoax," Johnson said.

To read a September 8 NRLC media advisory that summarizes these issues, click here.  The advisory contains links to the detailed memoranda that disprove the "Hyde Amendment myth" and the "government will spend private funds on abortions myth."

The National Right to Life Committee, the nation's largest pro-life group is a federation of affiliates in all 50 states and 3,000 local chapters nationwide. 

Congressman Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) was absolutely right Wednesday night...

But he was still out of line.
 

The spin from the left regarding this week’s mega-photo op by the president as he interrupted classrooms of valuable school time to tell students school time is important is that the speech was harmless. What could possibly go wrong with our trusted educators in charge, overseeing the event and subsequent discussion?

A This Just In reader who has a child in one of the Brookfield high schools informs me that proceedings weren’t quite so smooth Tuesday, giving credence to the pre-speech jitters many parents felt all across the country.

In the case of the Brookfield school that did not air the president’s speech, my reader’s child had discussions about the president’s message in two classes.

During one of the classes, a teacher got upset and tore into a student who said that “Obama over-promises” in his speeches. Never mind that he student’s observation happened to be true, one shared by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. The teacher went off on the poor young man, making the class rather uncomfortable for everyone.

In the second class, my reader’s child gave the view that the speech was appropriately excluded from the day’s calendar because the Elmbrook School District’s schedule of learning did not allow for such class-time interruption.

Another student, who happens to be black, immediately objected to that opinion. He pulled out the quick and easy debate card, calling his fellow student a racist. “White folks,” he asserted simply can’t stand having a black man as president.

No teacher intervention or outrage here. No attempt to reprimand the student’s name-calling, no call for an apology.

Your public schools in action.

Worry about the president speaking to our kids? Nonsense. What could possibly go wrong?

Republican Joe Wilson heckled President Obama last night.

He was wrong.

He knows it.

He apologized.

That's not enough for the warm, fuzzy, compassionate lefties. They probably won't be happy until Wilson gives up his first-born.

Hot Air points out apoplectic Democrats have nothing to get bent out of shape about.

And when it comes to lack of decorum, I could elaborate about the antics of Tim Carpenter and Gwen Moore on the floor of the Wisconsin Senate. But I won't.

To Fox.

He will have a weekly program on business, consumer, and libertarian issues and will appear regularly on Fox News.

The award-winning Stossel spent 28 years at ABC. Here is one of my favorite Stossel pieces.

From Americans For Prosperity:


Last night from our Americans for Prosperity "Hands Off My Health Care" town hall meeting at the Raleigh fairgrounds, I watched along with 1,100 activists as the President declared he has basically saved our economy since coming into office in January.

By "saved," the President means passing the $1-trillion "stimulus" bill in the spring that drove our debt through the roof while wasting money on boondoggles across the nation.

The President's self-congratulatory rhetoric was stunning when our unemployment is creeping toward 10%, budget deficits are the biggest in American history and our national debt is through the roof.

Sadly, the President then went on to repeat many of the same falsehoods that he has used for months in the health care debate. First, he declared that the Washington health care takeover will not change in any way the health care coverage of the 85% of Americans who currently like their health care. Most Americans know better.

Then, he once again attacked the millions of Americans like you and me who have attended town hall meetings, rallies, and tea parties to defend their health care and oppose the Washington takeover.

AFP activists telling President Obama Hands Off My Health Care

Next, the President stated - with a straight face - that his health care takeover will not increase the budget deficit a single penny! The crowd in Raleigh literally roared with laughter at this line, and I suspect most Americans know the truth - that's one reason we're winning.

President Obama said businesses would be required to "chip in to help cover the cost of their workers," a clever way of saying he supports a punitive payroll tax for health care.  Does that mean he supports the 8 percent payroll tax included in H.R. 3200?  That's a huge job-killer at a time our economy can least afford it.

The President stated that his "public option" - aka the government-run insurance plan - will not harm the private insurance that literally tens of millions of Americans enjoy. But we have seen him on video giving speeches where he details his vision of everyone relying on government health insurance. Click HERE for video.

The President did acknowledge the need for tort reform to get rid of frivolous lawsuits. However instead of putting this reform in the health care bill President Obama placed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius - a former lobbyist for trial lawyers - in charge of such reforms.

There's so much more, but you get the idea.

I've got a request for you. The President and his friends are counting on this speech being a game changer. It's not. But TODAY, you need to tell your member of Congress that the President's speech has not changed your mind. Act now.

The bottom line is this: despite a rousing summer when your grassroots activism captured the imagination of the American people and slowed the momentum for the Washington health care takeover, we face a September, October and potentially November where the future of our health care is in doubt.

President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and the entire big government side is counting on you and me losing interest or growing weary of the fight.

We can't let that happen. This Saturday's 9/12 "Taxpayer March on Washington" is crucial and I hope to see you there. We'll have both our Patients First "Hands Off My Health Care" buses cruising the streets around the Capitol.

Then, we've got to keep the pressure on these Senators and Representatives throughout the fall.

At our rally in Goldsboro yesterday afternoon (just before the big town hall in Raleigh), a lady named Janet walked up to me. Her son is a special needs child and she told me their family's story of struggle and achievement - it was inspiring. But, Janet knows what is at stake for her precious child if we lose this battle over health care, and that's why she took time from a busy day to attend the rally and fight the good fight.

In the decisive weeks and months to come, let's make the same commitment.

Sincerely,
 

Tim Phillips

PS: Please let your Senator or member of Congress know that President Obama's speech has not changed your position one bit. Today please call or e-mail because it's important for Washington to get the message--the President's speech changes nothing.

Here are the topics we discuss Friday night at 6:30 with a repeat Sunday morning at 11:00 on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10:
 

1 – OBAMA HEALTH CARE SPEECH.


In his speech to congress, did Obama gain any ground in his effort to come up with some sort of a universal health plan?  Was he able to persuade lawmakers?  The public?  Or, was it just one big hour long public relations effort?  Did he help his image and his presidency?  How about the outburst by the South Carolina congressman who shouted “You lie” during the speech?  Was it an honest outburst by an emotional individual, or an incredibly juvenile reaction from someone showing a complete lack of respect for protocol and the office of the presidency? 


2 – 9-11 ANNIVERSARY.


Does it seem like eight years have passed since the attack on America?  Has it changed this country?  Has it changed you?  For the better or for the worse? 

3 – SERIAL KILLER.


Some tremendous police work and forensic technology leads to the arrest of a guy suspected of being connected to the murders of at least nine women over a twenty year period?  Is it just as amazing that he could go this long without being caught?  Is the fact that most of the women were drug addicts or prostitutes make you wonder if the department was lax in investigating these cases over the years?


4 – MERCURY MARINE TAX.


Now that all is said and done, did everything turn out well for both Mercury Marine and Fond du Lac?  Did Mercury get everything it wanted, and then some?  Is it right for Fond du Lac to lend/give Mercury Marine tens of millions of dollars, and to use a sales tax to fund the loan/gift?  Was this additional tax a done deal without any input from the taxpayers?  Is Wisconsin finally starting to look “pro-business.”  Is it a dangerous precedent to increase taxes just to help one single company?  What if Harley-Davidson or the Miller Brewing Company requested the same thing?  Because Mercury will move so many jobs here from Oklahoma, in the end will it all be worth it?

Some people actually want us to. We can never allow that to happen.

Here’s my blog on the subject from 2007, still timely today.

It’s a shame John Wayne isn’t alive today to portray Rick Rescorla, one of the remarkable heroes of 9/11.

On September 11, 2007, I filled in for Vicki McKenna on WISN and read portions of an outstanding column about Rescorla.

This site has the column in its entirety. It is a lengthy, but incredible piece, and highly recommended reading.

Architect Minoru Yamasaki said of his best-known creation, "The World Trade Center should, because of its importance, become a living representation of man's belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his belief in the cooperation of men, and through this cooperation his ability to find greatness." Photo: Marvin Newman/Woodfin Camp & Associates



September 11, 2001

The South Tower Collapses
In a 2,000-degree inferno, the tower crumples and crashes to the ground at 9:55 am. Minutes later, at 10:29 am, the north tower collapses.





On the Run
Downtown office workers flee the clouds of smoke that swirled through the streets of lower Manhattan when the towers crumbled.

 

Eyes were on the downtown skyline all day. The scene above was shot from New Jersey.

All photos: AP

The extended version.....


 

Someone at the state Capitol thought it was a great idea to test the government building’s fire alarms. Today, of course, is the 8^th anniversary of 9/11.

The tests were conducted on and off between 6:30 and 7:00 this morning when most, but not all employees had still not arrived for work. I’m told one agency female worker was on the Capitol lawn in tears, fearful of an impending disaster.

Whoever made this call will, no doubt, get a promotion.

From the, “I kid you not” file…

State Representatives Gary Hebl and Amy Sue Vruwink, both Democrats, have sent the following out to all legislators asking for support of legislation they intend to introduce:


“This bill honors Wisconsin’s tradition of dairy production while promoting Wisconsin as a biotechnology hub by establishing Lactococcus lactis as the State Microbe of Wisconsin.  It will make Wisconsin the first state in the nation to adopt a state microbe and will bring needed attention and publicity to two important Wisconsin industries: dairy production and biotechnology.  This bill will help define Wisconsin as a center for biotechnology, will focus attention on the extensive research conducted in our state to improve our economic future in agriculture, biological sciences, and manufacturing, and best of all, it will do so with no cost to taxpayers.  This bill offers a creative way to promote Wisconsin at a time when all budgets, both private and public, are tight. 

L. lactis is the microbe chiefly responsible for the production of Cheddar and Colby cheeses as well as various other dairy products. The use of this microbe as the principal starter culture by Wisconsin’s cheese industry arguably makes L. lactis the most vital organism for our state’s economy contributing upwards of $18 billion annually. Through new research into alternative uses of this microbe conducted locally at our state universities, L. lactis has also shown potential for producing new vaccine delivery methods putting Wisconsin once again at the forefront of biotechnological research.

Additionally, adding a State Microbe to the list of official state symbols will create an educational opportunity for youths to be exposed to the importance of biotechnology in our state, further encouraging our students to pursue degrees in high-demand, high-tech fields.”

Gotta love those high priorities.

The shortened work week made the rest fly by, didn't it?

Beautiful weather. Footballs are flying. Baseball races are getting very interesting. And This Just in is about to luanch another series of weekend features.

It all starts tonight as we present our musical Goodnight segment.With days getting shorter, we'll get into our smooth stuff a little earlier. Tonight, it's an absolute festival.

Wake up to The Barking Lot Saturday. Our DOGS IN THE NEWS portion will feature these beauties:

And these beauties, too...






The story involving the young ladies just might be my favorite in DOGS IN THE NEWS, and honestly, it has nothing to do with what they are or aren't wearing.



LOOK OUT!


INCOMING!



Uhh, Jennifer, I think you dropped your flower pot.

Then it's Week-ends, our weekly week in review.

This gentleman will get a mention....





But in which category?


And what's this woman's story?






Don't forget Recommended Reading on Saturday, great op-ed's and articles from the past week.

Sunday, it's the MJS Scorecard. The Crossroads page at the MJS has gotten out of hand, trending far to the left (Shocker, I know). Let's see if the pattern continues.

Also Sunday, My most popular blogs, Culinary no-no, and Photos of the Week. Here's a shot that did NOT hit the editing floor:






I will refrain from further comment and just say thanks for stopping by this weekend!

It's Friday night. Time to unwind with our regular Friday night feature on This Just In.

The weekend has finally arrived.

The sun has set.

The evening sky has erupted. 

Let's put controversy and provocative blogs aside for the rest of this work week and smooth our way into Saturday and Sunday….and this week, Monday.

Tonight, it's festival time.

One of the best annual musical events in our area is taking place right now in West Bend.

Back in 1998, some West Bend Rotarians were sitting around a fireplace and came up with the idea of holding an outdoor, high quality jazz festival with nationally known artists somewhere in West Bend's park system. Later that year, on September 11 and 12, the Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival debuted and has returned every year, including this weekend at Riverside Park.

Proceeds go to charity. The festival has generated nearly $335,000 to charitable groups in southeastern Wisconsin.

If you're not fortunate enough to have tickets, not to worry. We'll highlight some of the festival headliners. Our first artist appeared at the very first Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival and is a fascinating story.

As a young boy, Craig Chaquico’s dream was to be an entertainer: a singing cowboy. When he was 10, he started playing acoustic guitar.  That instrument would shape his life and career.

At the age of 12, while out on a drive with his family, the car was struck by a drunk driver. Chaquico and his parents survived but Craig incurred two broken wrists, a broken thumb, a triple fracture of one leg, and a cerebral hemorrhage that left the young boy unconscious for three days.

Because he couldn’t return to school for three months, Chaquico, having to deal with wheelchairs, crutches and corrective shoes, turned to the guitar to get through his rough days. His doctor welcomed the strumming as a form of therapy.

With his arms in casts, Chaquico wrote his first composition at the age of 12, “"E-lizabeth's Song," named after a helpful doctor. When he fully recovered, Chaquico’s father gave him a gift of an electric guitar.

Incredibly, after completing high school, Chaquico, who played professionally in a San Francisco band at age 14, and joined in a professional studio session at age 16, would join a super band.








Chaquico stayed with the group through its name change to Starship all the way to 1990 when the band dissolved, 13 gold and platinum albums later.







A solo career was next. Chaquico is still recording and touring, and is heavily involved with the National Association of Music Therapy.

Listen to his popular,"Cafe Carnival."

 

 


Our next artist was born in Canada, and like many other entertainers, got bit by the music bug very young. He began studying the guitar at age 7, influenced by Led Zeppelin, Rush, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. He then turned to the saxophone at age 12 and decided to drop his dream of being a heavy rock star.

He had to give up the saxophone for a year in college in order to keep up his studies and grades, being a physics student at the University of Toronto. Realizing music and not physics was his desire in life, he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.  During his graduation performance, he was approached by record producer Russ Titleman who asked him to perform on a Chaka Khan record. Natalie Cole had him serve as her opening act on her 40-city “Unforgettable Tour” in 1991.

Warren Hill has been a smooth jazz star for years. He, too, is at the festival tonight. I’m sure he'll perform this one…. 

 

 






The headliner at tonight’s festival: The Rippingtons. They’ve been around since 1986 and have featured such stars in the band as Kenny G, David Benoit, and Gregg Karukas. Their album, “moonlighting” was judged by Jazziz magazine to be the #1 Most Influential Contemporary Jazz Album of all time.

If you’ve never heard The Rippingtons, think Spyro Gyra.


 

Saturday at the Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival: Davina and the Vagabonds, Najee, Joyce Cooling, and Walter Beasley.

That’s it for tonight.

Sleep well.

Have a great weekend.

We close with one of the festival performers from Saturday, Joyce Cooling (video shot in San Francisco).

 

The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of this just in…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me.  It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!


THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors. 

TODAY:  Dense fog advisory until 9 a.m., then lots of sunshine.  High of 75.  "A"

SUNDAY:  Mainly sunny skies. High of 77.  "A"

Here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog:


Kevin often says that stupidity is not illegal and if it were, the jails would be overflowing.  I can’t help but agree, especially when it comes to pet owners and parents of children, not necessarily in that order.

I honestly don’t know what happens to some people when they adopt a pet or have a child.  They just lose the grey matter in between their ears.  (A similar phenomenon occurs when people go on vacation, especially to Disney.  But that is for another blog.)

A remarkable and appalling example of glaring ignorance is any legislation mandating day care vans install sirens to warm them of children on board. 

This campaign could come in as a close second in the Moron Hall of Fame.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I don’t want to see a helpless dog die in a hot car any more than I want to see a day care driver leave a child in a van.  It just sickens and saddens me to think we actually need to REMIND people that it’s not a good idea to leave dogs and babies in hot, closed vehicles.

Quite frankly if I had my way there would be one, and only one, punishment for either crime.  The thoughtless boob would be sentenced to spend the same amount of time in a vehicle under the same exact conditions.  Case closed.
---Jennifer Fischer


Thanks, Jennifer. If they're going to engage in this kind of campaign, I'd love to see a similar effort for small children and the idiots who have no business being entrusted with their care if they can't remember their precious cargo in the back seat.

Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.


Here's a related story to Jennifer's above blog.  A police dog handler couldn't show up for his court appearance after he left two German shepherds in a car to die. Here's why.


Dognappings in San Francisco...


Deputy shoots two pit bulls after they kill his terrier.


The recession bites: More stray dogs.


A New York school has banned a diabetic's service dog.


Poor Heidi Fleiss. All she wants to do is take care of dogs.


Let's say your dog gets lost. You put out a reward. Then someone finds your dog and returns it. Now you refuse to pay. What in this day and age do you think is going to happen?


Loud dogs may draw fines in Chicago.


Are dog strollers cool or not?


Singer provides this defense for dyeing her dog.


Let's get to the good news! We remember the rescue dogs at the World Trade Center and Pentagon.


After an 8-year delay, VA looks to begin service dog program. 


Let's visit the Wounded Warriors barracks.


Dogs can assist those with PTSD.


Three related stories: A police dog must re-train its nose.  Max has a nose for health. And her nose makes Porsche a hero.


There's new hope in the war against dog cancer.


Make way. Here comes the Rescue Waggin'.


Mambo is a miracle dog. This survivor will now meet the people who tried to torture him in court (NOTE: Article contains graphic photo).


Barking Lot update: Bosco.


Child goes after dog, child gets lost, child gets found. What happened to the dog?



The "Dog Whisperer" is launching a new magazine.


This blogger has data on how much your pet actually costs. Before you click the link, try to guess what your dog or cat is setting you back.


Meet the world's most expensive dog.


Wow. Dog abuser Michael Vick tells students not to run with the wrong crowd.


And this could be my favorite dog story of the week.


Actually it gets even better.

 

In an ad in the Washington Post, Main Line Animal Rescue pledges five bags of dog food donated to shelters for every tackle of Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.
 
I love it! 

Sack Vick's a***!!!!

Thank you for stopping by The Barking Lot this week.

We finish with our closing video: A blind dog gets rescued from a cave.

"Defendant was offended by the manner of Mr. Pouillon's message," said Shiawasee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry. "It seemed to bother him he was outside with his signs in front of the children."

The story...

I received more details in an e-mail from the Missionaries to the Preborn:


Missionaries to the Preborn

 

September 11th, 2009

We have learned that Jim Pouillon was actually holding a LIFE sign (see picture below) when he was gunned down.  That picture is actually of my son Jeremiah when he was only four weeks old.  It was taken back in February of 1993.  The picture has been used around the world by pro-lifers.

Below also we have a picture of the crime scene.  You can see Jim's oxygen tank laying on the ground.

News story below.


http://detnews.com/article/20090911/METRO/909110400/Police-seek-search-warrants-for-Owosso-shooting-suspect

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/antiabortion_activist_shot_in.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/owosso_antiabortion_activists.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/neighbors_lament_death_of_anti.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/homicide_victim_james_pouillon.html

 Jim was 63.  Please pray for his family.

The sign Jim was holding outside the high school.

The crime scene. You can see Jim's oxygen tank and the sign on the ground. Pastor Matt Trewhella Missionaries to the Preborn defendbabies@missionariestopreborn.com phone 414-462-3399  http://www.MissionariestothePreborn.com

A look back at the people and events that made news the past week.
Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...


HEROES OF THE WEEK


Franklin Police Officer Jason Fincel


9/11 volunteers


Phil Kelly


Ron Stout


Pamela Burnett


Tammy Duckworth

VILLAINS OF THE WEEK


The Coast Guard


Harlan Drake


ACORN


Local day care operators


Wisconsin unemployment phone line


French teacher



QUOTES OF THE WEEK


“You lie!”
South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouting at President Obama during his speech to a joint session of Congress.

"He is a very even-keel and calm person. My dad never gets upset. Dad's emotions got the better of him. ... I'm proud of my father for apologizing for the venue he voiced his opposition. I'm also proud of him for calling the president out.”
Joe Wilson’s eldest son, Alan Wilson

“Really? If this is the worst Wilson's ever done, he's a saint amongst the members of Congress.
Move along, folks. We have much more important things to do than worry about 1/435th of Congress being a loud mouth. Priorities, people.”
A comment left on a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political blog

"I think the President achieved what he wanted to achieve, which is to stop the bleeding from the Democratic conference and make sure he doesn't lose any more votes after people got an earful from their constituents in August. I think the President stopped the bleeding from his caucus because, as we came back from August, there was talk of a lot of Democrats really bailing from this plan, and I think the President did a good job in really shoring up his caucus. That's why this speech was more partisan, more intended to speak to Democrats in Congress than to reaching out to Republicans."
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s reaction to the president’s speech on health care

“I was incredibly disappointed in the tone of his speech. At times, I found his tone to be overly combative and believe he behaved in a manner beneath the dignity of the office.  I fear his speech tonight has made it more difficult — not less — to find common ground. He appeared to be angry at his critics and disappointed the American people were not buying the proposals he has been selling. ... If the Obama administration and congressional Democrats go down this path and push a bill on the American people they do not want, it could be the beginning of the end of the Obama presidency."
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

“If we can't do this with Democrats in the majority of both houses and a Democratic governor, I have to say we don't have the right to be in the majority in either house.”
State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee) on legislation calling for  public financing of Supreme Court campaigns

“Rather than spending $50 million on new trains, Governor Doyle should have placed a higher priority on Milwaukee transit to avoid this new tax.”
State Representative Robin Vos (R-Caledonia) saying that the sales tax increase proposal to fund transit is unaffordable for families.

“After weeks of intense discussions and completion of the voting process, we accept the union’s ratification of our contract proposal.”
Mark Schwabero, president of Mercury Marine, after the union workers at the company's Fond du Lac plant voted for a third time on contract concessions and approved the company's offer.

“If we can't match their courage by taking action to support the entire community, there will be cheering in Stillwater. I don't know if you can live with that -- I can't.”
Fond du Lac County Supervisor Judy Goldsmith commending Mercury union members before a vote to establish a first-ever county sales tax to support a $50 million low-interest loan to the company. Mercury Marine officials have indicated their plans to close the Stillwater plant and move jobs to Fond du Lac



OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK


The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gives a nutjob exposure and publicity one day after the eighth anniversary of 9/11.



MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK


GOP alternative health care plans ignored



MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK






STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK


Baby born to the nines.


A new way to get out of traffic tickets


Robber returns to ask victim a question.


Cricket spitting event in Wisconsin a hit.


Runner rumored to have internal male sex organs.


REMEMBER: Your suggestions/nominations for any of these categories every week are welcome, especially for HEROES OF THE WEEK. If you know of anyone in the community deserving of recognition, please e-mail me.

Worse than that state microbe nonsense?

Oh, yes, believe me.

State Representatives Phil Garthwaite and Amy Sue Vruwink, both Democrats have sent the following notice out to their colleagues, seeking support for their legislation:

“As we enter this year’s annual flu season we face a pandemic threat from the novel H1N1 flu virus.  This virus has commonly been referred to as ‘Swine Flu’.  This label wrongly links a potentially deadly illness with pork products.  The National Centers for Disease Control, as well as several other national and international organizations have acknowledged that transmission of the H1N1 virus is unrelated to pork production, the preparation pf pork products, or consumption of pork.  The continued use of this misleading term represents a danger to a key component of Wisconsin’s agricultural base.  Wisconsin’s pork industry is already under severe strain from recent upheavals in agricultural markets first sparked by rapidly rising fuel costs, then compounded by the current economic downturn.   The industry can ill afford a fall in consumer demand for pork based upon a misleading label.


This Assembly Joint Resolution calls on state agencies, their representatives, and all private media outlets to cease using the term ‘Swine Flu’ and further urges them to use the term ‘2009 H1N1 Influenza’ in its place.  The language used in this resolution mirrors public statements issued by several governmental and non-governmental organizations including the CDC and the World Health Organization. I hope that by passing this AJR we can raise awareness as to the real dangers of this year’s seasonal flu, and at the same time protect our state’s agricultural base.


I would ask all Representatives and Senators to please consider co-sponsoring this resolution. I anticipate that it will be before the entire Assembly for a vote on passage as soon as Thursday September 17, 2009.  Please call my office at 608-266-1170 if you wish to support this effort. 

Thank you in advance for your help in protecting a vital Wisconsin industry.”

Rep. Phil Garthwaite
49th Assembly District
(608) 266-1170
(888) 872-0049


That’s your state Democrat Party in power, folks.

Here are, in my view, interesting, noteworthy columns and articles from the past week that I highly recommend (You will note that on occasion, I do not endorse the opinions of the author and may point that out. Despite my disagreements, I still feel the piece is worth a read).


In defense of Joe Wilson

“The notion that dissent, temperately voiced, was in principle out of place seems to me odd. This wasn’t a church service. It wasn’t a ceremonial occasion to celebrate some event inspiring or requiring national unity. It was a highly political address about a passionately contentious topic.”


New York Times Is Wrong, Wilson Right on Illegal Immigrants

“The national media omits two important details:  1) that a non-partisan study earlier this year backed up Wilson’s conclusion hat the Obama health care measure (H.R. 3200) does, in fact, cover  illegal immigrants, and 2) that Wilson was correct when he told HUMAN EVENTS a day after his outburst that Republican attempts to amend the measure to deny benefits for illegal immigrants were thwarted in two key House committees.”


An unnecessary operation

“More than 270 million Americans (I'm including kids) are reasonably happy with the system of medical care in this country. One reason is the availability of first-rate care almost everywhere, day or night. But there's a more important reason: If you have a serious ailment, your chances of survival are better when treated in America than anywhere else in the world.”


Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care

“Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals ‘will provide more stability and security to every American’."


Liberals Drunken Joy Ride and America’s Moment of Clarity

“Good government is like a good boyfriend/girlfriend, good acting, good management, even good clowning - it’s easy to take for granted… unless you’ve had the bad version.  If your head is full of goo- goo fantasies, reality has trouble competing. Sometimes trial and error is necessary. The sexy James Dean type who sits in front of you in history class might prove a distraction until you actually go out with him and find out his biggest ambition is to go to Amsterdam for the Hemp fest, or he’s a flake, or generally just not as interesting as he seemed…”

Is America coming apart?

“Obama’s actual speech proved about as controversial as a Nancy Reagan appeal to eighth-graders to ‘Just say no!’ to drugs. Yet, the episode reveals the poisoned character of our politics.


When Should "a Thousand Words" Give Way to Silence?

“Incidents such as this, where the media puts its own agenda (be it personal, professional or political) ahead of the respectful treatment each of us would expect if this was a member of our family, are why so many of us are skeptical of what is reported in newspapers, online and on television.”


Higher taxes are coming. Are you prepared?

“Taxes are going up. The only questions are when, how much, and for whom?”


Demasculation of America’s boys

“Last week I heard from a dad, Bill, who echoes the sentiments of many: ‘The boys are getting emasculated and wimpy/passive as they're now intimidated by girls due to fear of sex harassment charges and pro-female/anti male societal/educational tilts.’

Sadly, he's right.”

Many odd things have happened in sports the past 18 years

“It doesn't sound as if Jaycee Dugard got to see a sports page…..So, Jaycee, whenever you're ready, here's what you've missed.”

(THIS SPORTS COLUMN RECEIVED A LOT OF READER ATTENTION, NOT ALL OF IT POSITIVE, LEADING THE WRITER TO APOLOGIZE. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT HE WAS MERELY TRYING TO ILLUSTRATE ALL THAT’S OCCURRED IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS IN THE PAST 18 YEARS. MANY, THOUGH, WERE OFFENDED)


And finally,

Charlie Sykes' E-MAIL OF THE DAY.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, yes it's that time.....

Time once again for the This Just In version of …

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FINAL JEOPARDY!




Let’s play!




Today’s Final Jeopardy category is:




THE BEATLES




Now, you know how this works.




In a moment, I’ll give you the Final Jeopardy clue.




You will have 30 seconds (if you play fair, that will be when the music runs out) to come up with an answer and remember, players……… your answer must be in the form of a question.




Ready.




Here’s your clue.



ACCORDING TO THE STAFF OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, ON THE LIST OF BEST BEATLES SONGS FROM #1 TO #25, THIS SONG RANKS #1.




Good luck.

Alright players, time's up.

Again, today’s Final Jeopardy category is:

THE BEATLES

The Final Jeopardy answer was:




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ACCORDING TO THE STAFF OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, ON THE LIST OF BEST BEATLES SONGS FROM #1 TO #25, THIS SONG RANKS #1.


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The correct question is:

What is...................

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A HARD DAY'S NIGHT.

Beatle fans might want to hold on to this link for some very good stuff.

To: Grandma Fischer



From:










 

Kyla Audrey



With much love!

As I post every Sunday, here are the five most read blog entries of mine from the previous week. NOTE: some entries may have been posted prior to the past week.

1) Best wishes to a good friend, Phil Cianciola

2) Teaching moments lost at high school football games

3) Franklin assists in capture of suspected serial killer

4) Does it matter if the if the presdient gives a good speech to American students?

5) The Barking Lot (09/12/09) 

 




A rain-soaked American flag flies at half-staff on Sept. 11, 2009, at the Pentagon Memorial to honor the 125 people who were killed in the 2001 terror attacks when the highjacked American Airlines flight 125 was flown into the headquarters of America's military, in Arlington, Va., just outside Washington.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)



 

U.S. President Barack Obama lays a wreath marking the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, at the Pentagon near Washington, September 11, 2009. Photo: Reuters






President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stand with White House staff members during the playing of Taps after they participated in a moment of silence marking the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, on South Lawn of the White House in Washington.Photo: AP







Family members of victims carry a flag and walk to the reflecting pool as people gather at Ground Zero during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on September 11, 2009 in New York City. Family of the victims, government officials and others gathered at the annual ceremony to remember the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the crash at the Pentagon and United 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. (Photo by John Angelillo-Pool/Getty Images)






Firefighters and police officers gather at the reflecting pool as they pay their respects at Ground Zero during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on September 11, 2009 in New York City. Family of the victims, government officials and others gathered at the annual ceremony to remember the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the crash at the Pentagon and United 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. (Photo by David Handschuh-Pool/Getty Images)






Diane Massaroli of Staten Island, New York holds up a picture of her late husband, Michael Massaroli, who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center, as his name is read as they pay their respects at Ground Zero during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on September 11, 2009 in New York City. Family of the victims, government officials and others gathered at the annual ceremony to remember the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the crash at the Pentagon and United 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)






U.S. soldier salute during a ceremony during a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of September 11, 2001, at the main U.S. base, September 11, 2009 in Bagram, Afghanistan. The soldiers marked the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the crash at the Pentagon and United 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. (Photo by Musadeq Sadeq-Pool/Getty Images)






The Coast Guard was conducting a training exercise in the Potomac River moments before President Obama crossed a nearby bridge for a Sept. 11 commemoration. AP photo

 

Thousands of wooden crosses adorn a hillside at a roadside memorial to the troops killed in Iraq September 11, 2009 in Lafayette, California. As the war in Iraq continues, memorials are being held across the country on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. that killed more than 2,700 people. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Two women pose with a poster demanding information about the 9/11 terror attacks, Friday Sept. 11, 2009, as a group of people demonstrate outside the U.S. Embassy in Brussels to remember the September 11, 2001, attacks. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)






A protester wears an American Revolution era flag and an Obama picture during the Tea Party Express rally on September 12, 2009 in Washington, DC. Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington to march to the Capitol Hill to protest high spending, higher taxes and the growth of the federal government. Photo: Getty Images






A demonstrator stands on a statue holding an American flag as another holds a sign as they join thousands of demonstrators gathered on the plaza near the U.S. Capitol, to participate in a "Taxpayer March on DC", protesting President Obama's fiscal and economic policies, including the administration's health care reform plans, in Washington, September 12, 2009. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators walk on Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, during a taxpayer rally. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)






Lori Rentz protests wears a Statue of Liberty costume during a tea party protest at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo, Statesman Journal, Matt Gillis)

AP photo
 

US President Barack Obama's high-stakes health care speech drew frequent eyerolls and scoffs from his Republican critics, but sharpest was a single shouted charge: "You lie" from Republican Joe Wilson of South Carolina (C) during a joint session of the US Congress in Washington, DC. Photo: Getty Images






"Tea Party" conservatives joined doctors and other medical professionals to protest against Congress' and President Barack Obama's health care reform efforts during a rally at the U.S. Captiol September 10, 2009 in Washington, DC. Organized by The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the rally drew about 150 people in lab coats and surgical scrubs. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)









Doctors and other medical professionals protest against Congress' and President Barack Obama's health care reform efforts during a rally at the U.S. Captiol September 10, 2009 in Washington, DC. Organized by The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the rally drew about 150 people in lab coats and surgical scrubs. Photos: Getty Images






Supporters of U.S. President Barack Obama respond during his speech at the annual AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic at Coney Island September 7, 2009 in Cincinnati Ohio. President Obama spoke to union members about his administration's recovery plan and proposed health care reform. (Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images)






US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (touching plaque) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (L) unveil a plaque dedicated to United Airlines Flight 93 at the East Front Lobby of the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2009.






From left, Eduardo Balvino, Christal Gale, and Justin Fortney, sixth grade students at Anne Fox Elementary School listen to President Barack Obama's televised speech on education, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 in Hanover Park, Ill.






Security personnel stand guard on the roof of the U.S. Supreme Court as President Barack Obama attends the investiture ceremony for Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor September 8, 2009 in Washington, DC. Sotomayor is the 111th justice who serves at the Supreme Court. Photo: Getty Images.






Owosso Police Department Det. Sgt. Thomas Holcomb adjusts bullet trajectory posts in a sign which belonged to anti-abortion activist Jim Pouillon Friday, Sept. 11, 2009 in Owosso, Mich. An unidentified man fatally shot Pouillon, 63, across the street from Owosso High School as horrified parents and students watched, authorities said. When police arrested the man, the gunman said he was involved in the killing of a gravel pit owner earlier that day. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)