This Just In...

I’ve written about how impressed I am with young blogger, the Conservative Casanova, a 21-year old college student from Greenfield attending school ay the University of Minnesota: smart, good thinker, writer.

Here’s another fine young blogger: GOP3.com.

After some clever research, he’s written a terrific blog this week.

First, he took this map from the New York Times. Take a good look, especially at the states with circles.

Now compare that to the map GOP3.com shows in his blog comparing how the states went on Election Day compared to their state budgets.

Interesting. The bluer (Democrat) the state, the more fiscal trouble the state is experiencing.

Super job, GOP3.com!  How refreshing! You really and truly are a fine young blogger!

For once and for all, let's lose the N-word

There is no place for the incredibly offensive racial slur……..anywhere. I’m saying that, not Kane.

Now I’m just a dumb old white guy but I have the same question a lot of other dumb old white guys have: Why is it ok for blacks to call each other the “N” word?

Kane tackled the question in a column two years ago:


“Why is it so wrong for a white guy to use the N-word when so many black comedians and rappers throw it around with impunity?

It's a topic I've addressed for years, including regular conversations with teachers in Milwaukee and elsewhere who express their dismay at hearing the N-word used so frequently by African-American students in the hallways and on the fields and playgrounds.

My standard answer is to acknowledge the word's awesome power to demean and dehumanize when uttered by white folks but also to attempt to explain that for many blacks of my generation and younger, it's never been considered an insult when a black person uses it in greeting or even with affection.

By way of comparison, Jeff Foxworthy, a white comedian from the South, has made millions making fun of ‘redneck’ whites. A black comedian could not release a ‘You Might Be a Redneck If . . . ‘ album without controversy.

Some readers don't buy that; they insist if the N-word is offensive, it should be offensive for everybody.”


I’d have to agree with them, Eugene. Seems as though the insult is just as inflammatory, maybe even more so coming from one black against another. Kane just can’t come out and tell all blacks to stop using the word.

Eugene Kane says it’s time to lose the “N” word, once for and for all. I concur, but would add that should include everyone.


RELATED READING: The "N"  word

$2 billion? Nope.

$4 billion? Nahh.

$5 billion? Not quite.

Governor Doyle announced this afternoon the state budget deficit is $5.4 BILLION. Democrats quoted by the Journal Sentinel are “stunned” by the numbers. Had they listened to fiscally conservative republicans for the past umpteen years who warned about exorbitant taxing and spending, maybe they would have realized that you can’t keep using the Visa card over and over and over and over again.

Now come the silly ideas on how to fix this chaos. Governor Doyle plans to resurrect one of them: his proposed tax on oil companies. There are a couple of problems with what, to some, might sound peachy keen on the surface:

1) Any tax imposed on oil companies will simply be passed on to consumers in the form of increased prices, and/or oil companies will stop doing a fair amount of business in our state.

2) This minor triviality: the idea may be unconstitutional.

Time to review why this is a horrible plan.

Take a few minutes to read the truth about so-called Big Oil, and why you shouldn’t be mad at Big Oil.

Today is the Great American Smokeout.

I don’t smoke, never have. I’m not crazy about being around smoke. Do I wish more people didn’t smoke? Of course. But I realize, understand, and accept that smoking is legal. It’s stupid, but legal.

I don’t like the behavior, but I don’t have anything against smokers, unlike so many today who literally hate, not just the smoke, but the smoker.

The pattern of and direction of our worries about smoking have extrapolated over time. First, it was the cigarette that was horrible. We put warnings on packs, but still advertised, and had actors and actresses puffing away on TV and on the silver screen.

Then we banned the advertising. First Amendment be damned.

Next, no smoking areas. I love the ones in restaurants, with a no smoking table right next to a smoking allowed section.

What if you didn’t smoke? Didn’t matter. You were going to die, too. Scientists discovered Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), a general term for any smoke that non-smokers are exposed to.

Now we have mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke to worry about.  What’s the difference you ask? Mainstream smoke refers specifically to the smoke that a smoker inhales and then exhales. Side-stream smoke refers to the smoke that wafts off the end of a lit cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Side-stream smoke accounts for 85 percent of the ETS in a smoky room, so while no worse for you than mainstream smoke, it makes up the bulk of smoke that non-smokers may encounter.

So if you walk into a bar, or smoking section and there’s smoke, is it:

A) Secondhand smoke?

B) Mainstream smoke?

C) Sidestream smoke?

And how concerned should you be? Just how dangerous is that smoke?  If it’s mainstream smoke, can you hang around, but if it’s sidestream, should you run for your life?

Cigarette taxes? They’ve become a quick, easy fix to budget problems.

Bans on smoking? The smoking Nazi’s won’t be satisfied until you can’t light up on your own property, in your own home.

The annual Great American Smokeout? Not anymore.

We’ve gone from a once-a-year to a daily nagging.

State agencies, told to cut their budgets?  In Tax Hell, USA?

Is it any wonder they say they can’t do it?

THEY’VE NEVER HAD TO!

They’ve been on the tax and spend gravy train for the longest time. Here’s the deal. Go back to your offices, and chop, chop, chop until, like budgeting families all across the state, you get the job done right.

All around the state, local municipalities are buzzing, excited about implementing an ordinance similar to those already in effect in Franklin that limit where released sex offenders can live or congregate. Over 30 have either passed or are seriously considering adopting the common sense, child protection measure that has passed constitutional muster.

And then….







There’s……







The southeastern Wisconsin city of…..







Greenfield.







Just imagine….







A character from Winnie the Pooh….





















Slowly…










Slowly….








Slowly….







Plodding along…..







FRANKLIN HAS PASSED TWO ORDINANCES!







Slowly…







Slowly….







THE COURTS HAVE UPHELD FRANKLIN’S ORDINANCES!







Slowly…..







Slowly….







GREENDALE HAS PASSED AN ORDINANCE!







Slowly….







Slowly….







Greenfield’s reaction:







BUT ISN’T THIS UNFAIR TO THE SEX OFFENDER??????







Let’s think……







And think……







And think about it some more….







One of the Greenfield aldermen doesn’t like the idea.







He makes all kinds of public statements in support of sex offenders as opposed to Greenfield children and their parents.







And then what does that alderman do?







HE ANNOUNCES HE’S RUNNING FOR MAYOR!!!





Hello, I’m Tom “let the pervert live where he wants to live" Pietrowski. I’m running on the pro-sex offender platform and I want to be in charge of the entire city. Please vote for me and take a sex offender out to lunch. And have a nice day.










Slowly…..







Slowly…..







Slowly…..







Whenever this ludicrous idea of trying to make your community’s most vulnerable citizens, its children, safe from sex offenders comes up, you can always count on opposition from the following: state bureaucrats. They sit at a desk in Madison, miles away from the community they’re dictating to.

I’ve seen it before. The Department of Corrections says this can’t be done because there are no guarantees, etc, etc. And sometimes, the locally elected officials nod like lemmings and think, oh my God, if some Colorado professor who wrote a study doesn’t like this, why should I?

These are the same state bureaucrats who insanely argued at the state Capitol against GPS legislation, legislation that had overwhelming support from the public and ultimately, from the entire Legislature, save one or two votes. (The truth is, the bureaucrats oppose measures like GPS because they don’t want to create additional work or responsibilities on their lazy bureaucracy).

Consider this, sleepytown Greenfield. The bureaucrats rode into Muskego and gave the same “It won’t work” song and dance." 

But the locals in charge of Muskego, and good for them, decided to do what’s best for their community, and refused to be lectured by the bureaucrats and passed a restrictive sex offender ordinance.

Now the bureaucracy road show traveled to Greenfield. They’re thinking of making it tougher on sex offenders? We can’t have that!  And testify in Greenfield they did. See Paragraph 10.

And the Greenfield reaction was to go…..







Into….










Slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww...







Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooootion.







Have some guts? Show some courage? Do what you were elected to do? Take a vote? Make a decision on an issue?







Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.







Greenfield decided to……..







Move………………………







Ever so…..







Sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwly.







The Common Council decided to………………







Are you ready for this?







Have a public hearing.








Excuse me?







I repeat.







They decided to……







Am I going too fast?







Have a public hearing.







THEY’VE ALREADY HAD PUBLIC HEARINGS!







I PERSONALLY HAVE ATTENDED A COUPLE!







AND YOU KNOW WHAT?







NO ONE…







AM I TALKING TOO FAST ALDERMAN TOM “I CARE MORE ABOUT THE OFFENDERS THAN THE CHILDREN” PIETROWSKI”……







NO ONE SPOKE AGAINST THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE.







EVERYONE SPOKE IN FAVOR!!!!




So, Greenfield parents, Greenfield boys and girls, you have to wait.

You have to wait a little longer.

You know why?

Because your safety and well-being apparently isn’t as important as that of the released sex offenders.

Yes, let’s talk and talk and talk and talk about this some more. Let’s not make a decision. What do we care?  Kids can’t vote anyway, right?

What's next in Greenfield? The formation of a  special task force?

OK, take a look at these. Who makes the best? 

Oh, c'mon.....


Just one more.....

 Is the answer:


A) Baker's Square

B) Pick 'n' Save

C) Sendik's

D) Mom

E) Or this guy......

May I make a suggestion for Photos of the Week?

Signed,

An adoring fan who thinks you're the greatest legislative aide/TV pundit/radio talk show host/blogger/married guy on the planet

OK. At least the question was legitimate.

The answer is YES!

I get suggestions about blogs more often than you might think. Please, your suggestions about Photos of the Week, or any of the categories on Week-ends are always welcome. I've also had ideas sent to me about Culinary no-no. I appreciate your patronage and your thoughts and ideas. Keep them coming.

Wisconsin's economy is in pretty rough shape. Before the end of the week, we'll have a better grip on how close Governor Doyle is to his predicition that the state budget defciit is around $5 billion.

Tax and fee increases are NOT the way to fix our budget crisis or our economy. The Wisconsin Institute for Leadership has issued the following news release that outlines some solid suggestions on how to get Wisconsin back on its economic feet again:

One would think that if a particular political party was in control of the governor’s mansion, the state Senate, and the state Assembly, that their members wouldn’t squabble. But we’re talking about Wisconsin Democrats.

Years ago, when Chuck Chvala ran the state Senate, he got into some legendary and public verbal fisticuffs with state Senator Gary George of Milwaukee. What’s happening now isn’t nearly as dysfunctional, but it’s noteworthy.

Let’s start with the Assembly. No Milwaukee Democrat was elected by his peers to a leadership position in the lower house of the Legislature. Democrats have already selected their scapegoat, Pedro Colon of Milwaukee, and they’re talking about it. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice has the details in the second item of his latest piece.

Over in the state Senate, Democrats, apparently clueless as to the struggling economy and Wisconsin’s looming multi-billion dollar state budget deficit, are adamant about reintroducing their $15.2 billion government health care program, the largest tax increase in the history of America. They stubbornly plan to do so even though their own governor opposes the outlandishly expensive plan.

And then there’s the latest dustup involving state Senator Fred Risser. No one has been a state lawmaker in America longer than Risser. No matter your politics, you’ve got to have a soft spot for the Madison octogenarian. He deserves respect, and yet he’s being dissed by his own party.

Risser has been a fixture on the State Building Commission. He even has the state judicial building across the street from the state capitol named after him. Risser wants to remain on the Building Commission.

He may have been around longer than anyone else, but Risser is not the Senate Majority Leader. Russ Decker is. Decker decides who serves where, and Decker has decided the kindly old senator is off the Building Commission. Risser isn’t happy.

Seems Risser wants to push once again for a statewide smoking ban, an idea that Decker opposes. This isn’t tough stuff to figure out. Decker’s spin is that there should be a younger senator placed on the Building Commission to gain valuable knowledge. Using that flawed logic, Risser shouldn’t have been Senate President as often as he has.

Here’s the story.

No, I’m not happy with the lay of the land in the Legislature. But those wacky Democrats will certainly provide me lots of material.

You, the consumer, that's who.

Another weapon against the bad guys.

You can't make this stuff up.

While filling in for Charlie Sykes in the 90’s when I was working at WTMJ, the topic was tickets issued by law enforcement.

A caller identifying himself as a sheriff’s deputy from an unnamed jurisdiction was adamant that officers had no quota system and that any such suggestion was ridiculous. A later caller who also identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy couldn’t contain his laughter, ridiculing the previous officer and asserting that, of course there are quota systems with deputies out on the roadways given clear instructions not to return without X amount of tickets issued.

One would expect any self-respecting chief or sheriff to deny quotas exist, even if the claim is met with side-busting guffaws. Monona Mayor Robb Kahl isn’t about to hide anything. He WANTS to add an additional police officer to go out and ticket, and ticket, and ticket, and ticket some more, with the extra officer paid for by the volume of additional speeding tickets,

Remember, times are tight. Responsible locla units of government may wnat to hold back on tax increases. So revenue has to come from somewhere.

This is a horrible misuse of manpower. Hizzoner ought to be ashamed of himself for his brazen attitude. And Monona motorists, please slow down. Make the mayor and the city budget appropriately.

In some communities, the value of homes went down, but property taxes went UP.

We are messed up.