A couple of people have asked and yes I’m still going to be on Channel 4 (WTMJ) today to talk about the new Hoyt Park pool and the Tosa Challenge capital campaign that is being started to raise the funds to meet the $4 million challenge grant the Friends of Hoyt Park Pool have been given.
The segment will start around 11:08 and will last a few minutes at least. I’ll try to see if I can find a video link or something afterwards to post on my website!
Wisconsin Republicans have made it clear who they’re looking out for in their proposed budget for the next two years. Gold bullion dealers, venture capitalist investors, and clay pigeon manufacturers(?) are all the recipients of tax cuts or increases in funding from the Republican Assembly.
Working mothers, HIV/AIDs patients, and the elderly who rely on health care programs like Badgercare are on the receiving end of funding cuts or the all out cancellation of programs.
If “Robin Hood” – the mythical hero who took from the rich to give to the poor – had an alter-ego, it would be Wisconsin State Assembly Republicans.
Cutting elderly health care funding so gold bullion dealers can get tax breaks. I can’t wait for the 2008 election cycle to make that point over and over again.
And for the record this isn’t an issue that is going to fade away because the citizens of Wisconsin deserve to know who’s looking out for their interests. Trust me when I say they’re going to know who stands on either side of the issue of funding programs that benefit the poor, our children, and the elderly here in Wisconsin.
About time:
Forcing his Republican colleagues to put up or shut up on the notion of an up-or-down vote, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago announced that he will immediately file a cloture motion on the Reed-Levin troop redeployment bill and, if Republicans follow through with a filibuster, will place the Senate in a prolonged all-night session Tuesday to force a true continuation of debate.
“Now, Republicans are using a filibuster to block us from even voting on an amendment that could bring the war to a responsible end,” said Reid. “They are protecting the President rather than protecting our troops. They are denying us an up or down – yes or no – vote on the most important issue our country faces.” – bobgeiger.blogsot.com
Funny how you never hear Republicans demanding “UP OR DOWN VOTES” now that they’re so busy threatening to filibuster everything and anything they don’t agree with.
While the right-wing-o-sphere will try to play this off as something that the “anti-war left” is demanding of Congressional Democrats, the reality is an overwhelming majority of Americans from all across the political spectrum have had enough and want our troops to come home.
Good for Senate Democrats.
Set those DVR’s to record at 11am next Wednesday! I’ll be on channel 4′s mid-day show to talk about the exciting news regarding the Hoyt Park Pool and upcoming events that will allow us to re-open a County pool with a great history that thousands of people have fond memories of from their childhood.
Unfortunately it’s been closed for the last five years due to inaction and a lack of leadership from certain elected members of Milwaukee County government. But due to the hard work from a committed group of individuals, that’s about to change.
More details soon.
I’ve come up for a name to describe the proposed budget by Wisconsin Assembly Republicans: The Scorched Earth Budget. When their plan isn’t cutting taxes for people like venture capitalists, it’s cutting programs that Wisconsin residents care about and rely on. There just doesn’t seem to be any thought about the repercussions of cutting some of the progams they’re suggesting, or maybe they just don’t care. Maybe both, who knows?
Not only does it wipe out funding for public radio, and TV as reported this morning (finally), here are some other things it wipes out funding for: foster care, veterans education programs, tuition plans that help low income kids go to college, domestic violence programs, and on and on and on.
It completely removes funding for breast cancer screening and infant mortality screening.
Contrast that to the Democratic Senate plan that increases funding for higher education, has property tax relief for homeowners, and gives every Wisconsin resident affordable high quality health care.
One political party in Wisconsin is hell-bent on taking things away from Wisconsin, the other is working to give back to those who call Wisconsin home.
So while Assembly Republicans may be pleasing the 10%-15% of residents who make up their “base”, and the rabid “ANTI-TAX!#@” crowd on the Internet that thinks legislators should sign “ANTI-TAX!@# pledges”, the rest of the state is shaking their heads in disbelief at the gall it takes to slash and burn programs that benefit so many.
Not only is “Public Enemy #1″ not “on the run” as President Bush likes to claim, but they’re back to the same capacity they were before we went to war with them in Afghanistan. This is terrible news for the security of our Country and a huge embarrassment to boot:
U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned. – AP
al-Qaida is the real continuing threat to American security and instead of wiping them out by keeping the FULL pressure of the U.S. military on them in Afghanistan, we took our eye off the ball, pulled our forces out and put them into fighting an unjust immoral war in Iraq.
Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that the director of the agency we’ve dumped billions and billions of dollars is so inept that his “gut feeling” has now replaced the official color coded alert system designed to scare the crap out of us or warn us of impending attack.
This entire administration is just falling apart on a daily basis. It’s revealing the fact that it’s not that it’s someone terribly incompetent or inherently evil behind the curtain pulling the levers and pushing the buttons that are running our country into the ground, it’s that there’s just no one behind the curtain running the show period. Which is scarier?
After learning that the “test area” of the Milwaukee Wireless Initiative project had been successfully implemented as of last Saturday, the 7th of July, I decided to see for myself this afternoon just how good the coverage in the area was.
As you may know, the “test area” of the project is basically a rectangle that is bound by I-43 on the East, highway 45 on the West, Vliet St on the North, and Wisconsin Ave. on the South. This area is to serve as a testing area to presumably work out the bugs in the system while the rest of the city is outfitted with the infrastructure that will enable true city-wide wireless Internet connectivity.
On today’s drive home from work (East side to West side of Milwaukee) I thought I’d see for myself how good the coverage of the test area was. I flipped open my MacBook Pro and took my normal route home on Highland Ave, which runs East to West and almost right down the middle of the “test area”, stopping in the middle of every block from I-43 (13th Street) to 40th Street. While unscientific in nature, at every stop I shut down the airport on my laptop, enabled it, and would wait at least 10 seconds for it to find a signal before moving on.
I’m sad and dismayed to report that only once along that route – the first stop on 13th and Highland – and among those 25+ stops was I able to even get a signal from the “Milwaukee Wi-Fi” wireless network. When I tried to connect to the network, I was presented with an error message that there was a problem in connecting to the network.
There were plenty of other wireless networks to join along Highland Ave., most of them baring the default names like “linksys” and “belkin”, but I couldn’t get another signal on my Macbook Pro for the Milwaukee Wireless Initiative test area, which the company charged with building out has claimed to be “complete”, anywhere on Highland Ave. from 14th Street to 40th – basically the middle of the test area.
My primary concern here is that Midwest Fiber Networks still hasn’t completed the build out of the test area for the Milwaukee Wireless Initiative which they were given an extension to complete by last Saturday, July 7th. If that were the case, and they were publicly stating they were in compliance with the terms of their contract when in fact they aren’t, that would be a very serious matter.
I’d love to be wrong. I’d love to find out that the “test area” network was in fact shut down for some reason today. I’d love to be told I’m mistaken and some technical glitch prevented my otherwise fully functional laptop from finding a network signal. I have to accept however, that nothing was wrong and the test area network either isn’t fully completed or isn’t fully functional. Either way, that’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed before this project is allowed to proceed.
I plan on doing a similar test tomorrow going towards downtown along Wisconsin Ave. to see if the problems I ran into were limited to Highland Ave or perhaps the time of day. But if someone with a top of the line laptop can’t get a signal from this network in the middle of each of 25+ blocks in the middle of the test area – where the signal should be strongest – then I don’t know how those citizens who don’t have top of the line equipment are supposed to access a resource that’s being built for their benefit.
I’ll have more tomorrow.
As the President tries once again to convince American’s that his Iraq adventure is really going well and all it needs is “more time” and he’s got a “New Way Forward” let’s not forget the Old New Way Forward that was hyped as the answer to all Iraqi problems just a short 6 months ago:
The President’s New Iraq Strategy Is Rooted In Six Fundamental Elements:
1. Let the Iraqis lead;
2. Help Iraqis protect the population;
3. Isolate extremists;
4. Create space for political progress;
5. Diversify political and economic efforts; and
6. Situate the strategy in a regional approach.
- “The New Way Forward In Iraq, January 2007″
Which of course was preceded by the old old New Way Forward (For Victory!) which seems to have been forgotten about too:
OUR NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ:
Helping the Iraqi People Defeat the Terrorists and Build an Inclusive Democratic State – “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, November 2005″
How we could develop such a great looking book cover and still have not achieved “victory” is beyond me.
Sadly, in another 6-9 months, we’ll hear about the next “New Way Forward (FOR SURE THIS TIME!)” from the President and it will be just as hollow and vapid as it’s predecessors.
The extension of the deadline for completion of the “testing area” of the Milwaukee Wireless Inititiative passed last March (more here) has now come and gone without fanfare.
The official update site for the project from the City still has the 120 day extension as the most recent news item as well.
There was a short article in last Saturday’s edition of the MJS which doesn’t provide much new information other than the admission from Midwest Fiber Networks (the company building out the network) that on-time completion of the entire project due next March is “not a feasible option”.
For those who’ve been following this story for the past two and a half years, this is hardly a surprise as the project has been stymied by delays and missed benchmarks from the beginning. And while the completion of the testing area, which hasn’t yet been confirmed, is an important milestone in this project, it’s unfortunate that the goalposts for completion of this potentially exciting project keep getting moved back.
The next update I assume we’ll receive will be at next Wednesday’s Public Works Committee meeting. There’s no agenda available as yet for the meeting, but one can only assume that Midwest Fiber Networks will be appearing to give an update on their progress regarding the testing area and the overall buildout of the entire city-wide network. I plan on being there and will provide more information as I find it.
Apparently President Bush is afraid of having more of his aides tell the truth because it means he’ll just have to commute their sentance – which no doubt, will have been “excessive” – in the end.
President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from former White House aides Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers. …
In a letter to the heads of the House and Senate Judiciary panels, White House counsel Fred Fielding insisted that Bush was acting in good faith and refused lawmakers’ demand that the president explain the basis for invoking the privilege. -AP
Translation: Now not only does President Bush think he’s untouchable and unaccountable to Congressional oversight, he’s not even going to explain why – classic five year old behavior.
Remember folks, this was the administration that is bringing “honor and integrity” back to the White House!
Here’s the link to the pictures we took from this year’s 4th of July vacation in Big Falls, Minnesota.
A couple favorites:
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.
I'm the President of The Park People of Milwaukee County, President-elect of the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association, an elected official of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, a union leader, community organizer and transit advocate who is working to make Milwaukee great again. I've been writing this weblog for nearly ten years ... read more...
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