This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
The Barking Lot (08/01/09)
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: Showers early, then scattered showers throughout the day. High of 78. "B"
SUNDAY: Sunny and nice. High of 82. "A"
Here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog:
Week-ends (08/01/09)
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
Lexi Haas
Paul McCarthy
Deloris Nissen
Tim McGraw
The Franklin Sabers who, under head coach Jim Hughes, made it to the semifinals of the state summer baseball tournament.
The Franklin National All-Stars who made it to the semifinals of the Wisconsin Little League Tournament.
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Otty Sanchez (CAUTION: Contains graphic information)
Philadelphia sports fans
Two police chiefs
Allen Stanford
Constance Trahan
Joseph Cohen
11-year old robber
Kenneth Anthony Repke
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“This is a president who needs a vacation. His job rating is … certainly an acceptable mark. But if you look at it over time, it has [gone] south without a doubt.”
Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart on President Obama's falling poll numbers.
"What you had today was two gentlemen [who] agreed to disagree on a particular issue. I don't think we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time talking about the future."
"As a member of Congress, I have a very good health care plan. My health care plan allows me to get paid an annual physical. Because of annual physical, I was able to detect this prostate cancer very early. . . . The benefit of being in Congress isn’t available to everyone.”
U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) announcing he has prostate cancer.
“You folks keep looking for the news and there ain’t no news.”
Republican Senator Charles Grassley, one of the negotiators on health care reform, saying that part of the problem is that journalists are too hungry to report on what’s going on behind the closed doors of the meeting room.
"We all want to fix what’s broken in health care, but we need to get it right."
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan
"We're not going to be out of this for another two budgets."
State Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston) about
"It's like a kid who rushes and turns his homework in on time and expects to get a few points for that, even though the whole page is incorrect. I would have sat in that conference committee until November if it meant whittling away at a $5 billion tax increase."
Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) reacting to Senator Decker's defense of the state budget.
"The people of
"It appears majority Democrats decided on their own that the people’s vote was wrong and refused to be bound by it. The Wisconsin Supreme Court should slap the legislators, hard, and remind them that the democratic process — small 'd'— cannot be overridden by politicians who disagree with their bosses, the people."
From a
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
The sentencing of Carolyn Lockett
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
WISTAX uncovers new budget gimmick used by Governor Doyle. Journal/Sentinel? Wisconsin State Journal? Channels 4, 6, 12, 58?
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
The photo-op flop, Obama's teaching moment, the Beer Summit.
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
Harvard professor is related to officer who arrested him.
He's not that Neil Armstrong.
Here's a new approach at getting the attention of a pro team owner.
These are not your average librarians.
I thought no woman would ever dream of doing this.
Boy, he must really hate church.
Texting while driving......not a good idea.
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.
Recommended reading (08/01/09)
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).
Too few Medals of Honor for
“Eight years of war in
The God Who Bleeds
“Oprah promised Obama would help us ‘evolve to a higher plane.’ Deepak Chopra said Obama's presidency represented ‘a quantum leap in American consciousness.’ Last month, Newsweek editor Evan Thomas proclaimed that Obama stood ‘above the country, above -- above the world, he's sort of God.’
Well, now he's the god who bleeds, and once you're the god who bleeds, it's hard to get the divinity back in the tube, as it were.”
Disaster in the making
“Many people are rightly worried about what this administration's reckless spending will do to the economy in our time and to our children and grandchildren, to whom a staggering national debt will be passed on. But if the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief.”
How About a National Conversation on Race Hoaxes?
“We wouldn't have known about this case at all if the professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., hadn't blast e-mailed the universe that he was harassed by racist cops. Gates thought it would be a feather in his cap, not realizing there are huge areas of the country where people don't think it's heroic to browbeat cops checking on you after you break into your own house, such as 99 percent of the country outside of
Not
“Reforming the health care system is dead. Cause of death? Blunt trauma administered not by Republicans, not even by Blue Dog Democrats, but by the green eyeshades at the Congressional Budget Office.”
“We all want to fix what’s broken in health care, but we need to get it right. With Congress out of session next month, August represents a unique opportunity for the American people to truly engage in this critical debate.”
The sovereignty of the people
“Even in
Down with dog killer Michael Vick
“Some people just cannot wait for dog killer Michael Vick to return to professional football. The only thing this inter-species sadist deserves is universal derision.”
Liberals Save Everything But the Unborn
“The hypocrisy of many left-wing zealots would be amusing if it weren’t so tragic. These folks love to advertise their philanthropic exploits by ‘saving’ things, none of which is unborn children. Sometimes I think they try to out-empathize one another until one or the other cries ‘uncle,’ and the loser agrees to cry in their latte until whatever needs saving is either extinct or added to the endangered species list.”
“Twas 147 shopping days before Christmas…
“Holly Linskie was taken aback this week when confronted with a Christmas display in a Dallas-area Sears store as she was shopping for sneakers with her 7-year-old grandson. ‘It's ridiculous,’ she said, as the boy ogled an old-fashioned police-car collectible featured in the display. ‘Let's get past Halloween first’."
Michelle Obama, the prima donna
Over at The Right View
“There has never been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life.”
It’s obscene.
Read the details.
Government health care's dangerous assault on the elderly
From the American Family Association:
Senator Fred Thompson on the Obama Health Care bill
If you want to know how the elderly would be treated under the Obama Health Care bill
July 25, 2009
Listen to former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson as he interviews someone who has read the Obama Health Care bill.
Click here to listen. (MP3 / M3U format)
Obama’s plan would deny medical care for the elderly. This interview is 8 minutes long. Please listen and then forward it to friends and family.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
My most popular blogs (08/02/09)
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) Kyla's Korner-Musings of a Mother
2) TIE: Some final thoughts on the Franklin Little League
2) TIE:
3) Taxpayer Tea Parties are working
4) Great news from the state Little League Tournament!
5) Results from Day 2 at Wisconsin Little league Tournament
Photos of the Week (08/02/09)
President Barack Obama (right) and Vice President Joe Biden (left) had a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. (second from left) and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley Thursday afternoon in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Photo: Alex Brandon
Vice President Joe Biden, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley and President Barack Obama drink beer and talk in the Rose Garden at the White House July 30, 2009 in Washington, DC. Crowley arrested Gates, a preeminent scholar of African-American history, in his own home July 16 for disorderly conduct. The issue reached national attention last week when, during a televised news conference Obama said the officer acted stupidly. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama holds a town hall on health care reform, Wednesday, July 29, 2009, at Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
An activist who wears a mock bottom and a hospital gown holds signs on Capitol Hill after a rally on healthcare July 30, 2009 in Washington, DC. Activists gathered to rally lawmakers on the Hill for a single payer model healthcare reform and celebrate the 44th birthday of Medicare. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
From michellemalkin.com. Reader Matt S. emailed Malkin to inform her that several hundred activists turned out for an Obamacare protest in Indianapolis outside Democrat Sen. Bayh’s office.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Staff Assitant Caitlin Haberman looks through boxes of amendments to the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 on Capitol Hill July 31, 2009 in Washington, DC. Liberal and conservative Democrats moved through an impasse by letting the bill pass the committee before the summer recess but not go up for a vote in the full House until September. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Daniel Winfee, left, administers the oath of office for governor to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, second left as his wife Sandy holds the Bible and Gov. Sarah Palin, back center, holding her daughter Piper, and husband Todd Palin, watch in
Henry Allingham's great-grandson, Michael Gray, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, left, and great-grandson, Brent Gray, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class, second left, follow the coffin of WWI veteran, Henry Allingham into St Nicholas' Church in Brighton, England, for a funeral service, Thursday, July 30, 2009. Politicians, military chiefs, relatives and hundreds of strangers bade farewell Thursday to Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of Britain's last survivors of World War I. Allingham was the last founding member of the Royal Air Force and one of only a handful of World War I veterans left in the world when he passed away at 113 on July 18. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Friday July 31, 2009. Endeavour's seven member crew are returning from a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, Pool)
Demonstrators protest in front of City Hall in favor of jobs they hope will be created by the construction of a Walmart store on Chicago's Southside July 29, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. Walmart has been fighting to build another store in the city since 2004 but has failed to win approval from the City Council. There is currently only one Walmart within the Chicago city limits. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The MJS Scorecard (08/02/09)
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
Michael Rosen: No lakefront space for private profit
Mary Joe Layden And Donna Rongholt-Migan: Where should the homeless go?
Paul Krugman: Don't fall for right-wing fright
TODAY'S CONSERVATIVE PIECES
Richard Schilffarth: Embrace tools to draw in capital
NEITHER LIBERAL NOR CONSERVATIVE
John Gurda: Our reachable up north
Richard A. Meeusen and Tom Barrett: Lure business with Milwaukee water
MJS SCORECARD:
TODAY: Liberal-3, Conservative-1
YEAR TO DATE: Liberal-66, Conservative-61
Culinary no-no #124
*NOTE: THIS SEGMENT OF CULINARY NO-NO CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT SOME READERS MIGHT CONSIDER RUDE OR OFFENSIVE.*
Some folks just aren’t wise enough to learn a valuable lesson from a cartoon frog.
The year is 1994. The place is Rose City, Michigan where James Wauldron is operating a T-shirt shop. Many of the designs featured wild animals, but Wauldron's officemates weren't impressed with the company's wimpy frog. So Wauldron went back to the drawing board, coming up with a picture of a frog that had what I’ll call an attitude. It was gesturing in an unfriendly manner.
More than a few of Wauldron’s customers told him the rude amphibian looked like a beer label. Wauldron wanted to sell shirts, but suddenly his patrons were demanding a beer that had the naughty frog on the bottle.
Bad Frog Beer was born garnering sales in over 20 states winning numerous awards, including the bronze medal at the 1995 World Beer Championship in
No one seemed to mind the brew’s in-your-face trademark:
President Obama isn't a doctor...
But he plays one on TV.
John Boehner, the Republican Minority Leader in the House released this video today.
Obama lied
C’mon,
You can't be surprised by any of this:
“Barack Obama will highlight his middle-class tax cuts during an event today in
Cheeseheads in Illinois state government?
It’s vintage
Keshet, a Chicago-based Jewish organization undoubtedly provides wonderful programs and services for developmentally disabled youngsters. Last month, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the state’s capital budget into law that includes spending $150,000 to build a log cabin for a Keshet camp.
Problem. The camp is C
That’s right.
Of course, there is opposition, led by Rob Sherman.
The benefits of Keshet notwithstanding, how would you feel, Wisconsin taxpayer, if your tax dollars were being spent on a new building in
Here’s the story.
The left gets a dose of its own medicine
Lefty bloggers, incapable of engaging in intellectual debate, often resort to the sophomoric tactic of taking a picture of someone they despise and tossing childish insults. Another stupid ploy is taking another blogger’s title and distorting it with some feeble attempt at humor.
That’s why I’m glad to see this popping up all over
Obama the biggest liar to ever serve as president
John Hawkins has the goods.
More cuts at the MJS
I'm not sure how this continues to maintain the high quality local news focus of the newspaper as suggested by Elizabeth (Betsy) Brenner, President and Publisher of Journal Sentinel.
The Joke is on the hateful left this time
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson says, “Depicting the president as demonic and a socialist goes beyond political spoofery, it is mean-spirited and dangerous."
Mean-spirited and dangerous? Where was
"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama,” said Hutchinson.
I also am curious who this individual is because I want to make him/her one of my HEROES OF THE WEEK.
The blogosphere is also abuzz with news that in 2008, Vanity Fair depicted President Bush as The Joker.
No outcries from the hypocritical left back then!
Love it!
Hey Big Spender!
CBS News, not FOX, CBS News reports:
“So rapid is the pace of deficit spending by the federal government, that the National Debt has increased over a trillion dollars since President Obama took office.”
Yeh, so. George W. Bush was a big spender, too wasn’t he?
Oh yes he was. But as CBS emphasizes:
“During the last administration, it took over 2 ½ years for the National Debt to increase a trillion dollars.”
Read Mark Knoller’s blog.
Prince Fielder needs to grow up
Prince Fielder’s temper tantrum following last night’s 17-4 shellacking by the Dodgers in
Upset because Dodger reliever (and former Fielder teammate) Guillermo Mota drilled him with a pitch in the ninth inning, an angry Fielder attempted to barge his way into the Dodger clubhouse after the game to go after Mota.
Mota hit Fielder after Brewer reliever Chris Smith nailed Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez with a pitch in the seventh inning. Fielder is either too stupid, too immature, or both to realize that as long as baseball has been around, if your pitcher hits one of their guys, one of their pitchers will retaliate.
Though Mota’s action was intentional, he hit Fielder in one of his large legs where damage would be just a few smarts. It certainly was not as dangerous as throwing at Fielder’s head.
You never, ever try to go into the other team’s clubhouse seeking revenge. Brewer players were seen right there with Fielder along with manager Ken Macha. It appeared some players weren’t even making an attempt to restrain Fielder. Nice leadership by the manager.
And speaking of the manager, why does he even have Fielder in the game in the ninth inning of a 17-4 embarrassment?
This isn’t the first time Fielder has gone crazy.
Major League Baseball is investigating. That means fines and/or suspensions. Fielder, who is having a nice season, wasn’t thinking about his teammates when he went berserk. He deserves punishment.
How dare angry constituents get angry!
Now we know why liberal (Socialist) Congressional Democrats so desperately wanted to pass government health care before:
A) Anyone read the bill
B) The August recess
They did not want to face the wrath of the voters, the people they work for. They’re hearing an absolute earful from constituents back home at their “listening sessions.” The left is stunned that Democrats pushing a complete overhaul of America’s health care system actually are supposed to “listen” at “listening sessions,” especially if it means hearing what they don’t want to hear.
Americans who hate seeing the
Yes, they’re angry. Yes, they’re mad. Imagine that.
To be sure, there has been some hollering and yelling. How dare constituents speak their minds to their Congressmen! How dare they stand up against a complete government takeover of health care! How dare these people who actually like their health care plans and want to keep them talk that way to a United States Congressman!
Lefties just can’t come to grips with the fact that not everyone genuflects at the thought of more government control. Not everyone has sipped the Obama Kool-Aid.
Obviously, these “mobs” of people with day jobs who pay taxes on top of taxes who have the audacity to show up at “listening sessions” and not treat them like ice cream socials have all been orchestrated or affected by:
Talk radio
The right wing conspiracy
Ronald Reagan
El Nino
The left apparently has forgotten that the Community organizer-in-Chief that they worship told supporters in Elko, Nevada last year the following:
“I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face.”
Get in their face.
Argue with them.
Get in their face.
Guerilla warfare is fine as long as it’s the flaky wackos on the left tossing the bombs.
What do these Democrats think, that constituents are going to show up at these sessions like lemmings, quietly nod their heads, and blindly accept anything fed to them?
High tea it ain’t. Thank goodness.
Give ‘em hell!
Earth to Franklin City Hall: HELLO, we've got a great big budget shortfall!
I recently blogged that there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency at Franklin City Hall about the $1.8 million budget shortfall announced by Mayor Tom Taylor in June.
Here’s what has happened since then:
1) The budget shortfall for this year in the city of
2) Even so, there still isn’t any sense of urgency at City Hall.
Case in point: This week’s Franklin Common Council meeting.
FranklinNOW reports that the meeting had some debate about replacing an eight-year-old ambulance that has an odometer reading of 99,000 miles.
Aldermen Steve Olson, Lyle Sohns and Ken Skowronski, according to FranklinNOW “said while they are strong supporters of the police and fire departments, the city should try to get more mileage out of the ambulance due to the tough economic times. ‘At some point you have to say no’ to more spending, Olson said.”
Everyone acknowledges the importance of ambulances. But when you’re $2.5 million in the hole right now and another $1.4 million in the hole projected for next year, you, as the Rolling Stones professed, can’t always get what you want.
Olson, Sohns, and Skowronski made the right move, voting against purchasing a new ambulance. Aldermen Steve (I am so a conservative, really I am!) Taylor, Kristen Wilhelm, and Tim Solomon voted for the purchase. Apparently the attitude is, we’ll buy now and worry about it, and our deficit, later.
NO SENSE OF URGENCY.
NONE.
Mayor Tom Taylor broke the 3-3 tie and voted in favor of buying the ambulance.
Our city leaders voted to INCREASE SPENDING when the budget shortfall for a $20-million city budget is $2.5 million.
Is it any wonder
When personnel, i.e., real living, breathing city workers have to be told they’re losing their jobs, how important will that new ambulance look to those folks?
Friday is Purple Heart Day in Wisconsin
Every August 7 is Purple Heart Day in Wisconsin.
So many brave men and women have been awarded the Purple Heart. Meet one of them, John Kriesel.
Yes, the picture does say it all
A few days ago on The Right View
Charlie Sykes has now posted a similar entry.
Amy’s blog is worth a look.
Remember Sam?
From Photos of the Week, 2/15/09:
Local CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian Koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. Suspicions that the worst wildfires ever to strike Australia were deliberately set led police to declare crime scenes Monday in towns incinerated by blazes, while investigators moving into the charred landscape discovered more bodies. The death toll stood at 181.(AP Photo/Mark Pardew)
Friday night, it's InterCHANGE
Here are the topics the panel discusses Friday night at 6:30 on Milwaukee Public Television’s InterCHANGE on Channel 10 with a repeat broadcast Sunday morning at 11:00:
They're coming, and this time, they're coming after you
"First they tried to vilify Talk Radio. That didn't work.
Then they tried to vilify Fox News. That didn't work.
Then they tried to ridicule the Conservative Blogosphere. That didn't work.
Now, they are coming after any private citizen who opposes them."
Read the rest of this blog, and make sure you read right up to those very last sentences.
You and I are under attack
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