Something Said's Been Said Before

This is Brilliant!

2006-06-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

Who needs that socialised medicine crap anyways?

2006-05-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world

Roll Call

2006-04-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

General Van Riper

General Swannack

General Newbold

General Eaton

General Zinni

General Batiste

General Riggs

General Clark

Why do these Generals HATE our troops and our country?

Mike's Daddy Warbucks?

2006-04-19T22:30:00.000-05:00

In the past ten yeas the City of Milwaukee has never used any TIF money for downtown area residential developments. Now Barry Mandel and his Pfister & Vogel development just east of of the Park East TIF area are seeking just that -- an extention of that TIF or the creation of a new one. For once I agree with the Business Journal and their position that the project doesn't fit the city guideliness for assistance. TIF's should only be used where private development would not happen but for the public assistance. Why change the standard now? And why for a project that is in a corridor along the river that is just booming with condo development, a sign that the private market is surely working? What does the district alderman, Mike D'Amato, think?

"Pfister & Vogel is a unique circumstance that may warrant public financing" 3/24/06

"The question is not whether or not we should participate...The question is, at what level." 4/15/06

Now don't get me wrong, I like Mike. He's been relatively responsive to my neighborhood's concerns, and he seems like a decent guy. But this just makes you wonder... If you were a guy who may have future political ambitions, it would be very nice to have a big developer with deep pockets on your side, dont'cha think?

Milwaukee's Loss, Cleveland's Gain

2006-04-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

How Milwaukee can optimize its valley investment

--Brian Reilly is Cleveland's economic development director. Until last week, he was manager of Menomonee Valley Redevelopment for the Milwaukee Department of City Development.

A must read from this past Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Crossroads section. We need more folks like Brian Reilly in Milwaukee city government. His new opportunity is our loss. I can only hope the vision he had for the valley doesn't fizzle away. We need Milwaukee to work on ECONOMIC development, not just land development. More cake, less icing!

"Ryan's Kingdom is not as wild now"

2006-04-14T10:14:00.000-05:00

You will be missed Ryan. I hope you find peace.

In Memoriam

With you a part of me hath passed away;

For in the peopled forest of my mind

A tree made leafless by this wintry wind

Shall never don again its green array.

Chapel and fireside, country road and bay,

Have something of their friendliness resigned;

Another, if I would, I could not find,

And I am grown much older in a day.

But yet I treasure in my memory

Your gift of charity, and young hearts ease,

And the dear honour of your amity;

For these once mine, my life is rich with these.

And I scarce know which part may greater be,--

What I keep of you, or you rob from me.

--George Santayana

Let Us Ponder

2006-04-12T17:09:00.000-05:00

Think back to 2004. Remember how often the terrorist threat level was changed? It was orange, two weeks later it's back to yellow, then 2 months later it's orange again.

Bring yourself back to the present. Can you even recall when the last time the threat level was changed? Can you recall when the last election was?

There are good lies and bad lies...

2006-04-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

The administration and its apologists have gone to great lengths to spin everything this administration does that is questionable. (And as time goes on there is nothing that isn't!). After taking a tough stance on leaks in his administration, we then find out that it was the Commander in Chief who leaked information in the Plame affair -- for the public good, of course. The liar in chief and his cohorts and supporters spin it all as "Well, there are good leaks and bad leaks. Of course, this was a good leak." The article in today's Washington Post will no doubt lead to another defense of the indefensible -- "There are good lies and bad lies....."

Lacking Biolabs, Trailers Carried Case for War
Administration Pushed Notion of Banned Iraqi Weapons Despite Evidence to Contrary

On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.

The three-page field report and a 122-page final report three weeks later were stamped "secret" and shelved. Meanwhile, for nearly a year, administration and intelligence officials continued to publicly assert that the trailers were weapons factories.

Innie Meanie Minie Moe...

2006-04-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

...catch a liar by his toe.

So now, is it Bush, Cheney, or Libby? Is Libby lying to cover his ass? Did Cheney lie to Libby to get his way? Or is Bush lying to us all about not knowing about the leak? Hmmm....

Defendant testified that the Vice President later advised him that the President had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE. Defendant testified that he also spoke to David Addington, then Counsel to the Vice President, whom defendant considered to be an expert in national security law, and Mr. Addington opined that Presidential authorization to publicly disclose a document amounted to a declassification of the document

Good thing the administration restored integrity to the White House. (sic)

Looks like we're ALL wearing the blue dress now, eh?

Sonno L'Italiano Americano

2006-04-04T14:25:00.000-05:00

An interesting thought from Julian Sanchez at Reason:

...a little thought experiment: Imagine you've got a community of proud Americans living abroad for whatever reason, say in England. And suppose that even if they're perfectly happy there and doing what they can to fit in to their adopted society, their identities as Americans remain important to them. Now imagine—and this shouldn't be a stretch—that they begin to feel as though they're under attack as Americans, that the prevailing attitude in the country has become anti-American. They respond by staging a rally at which they wave lots of American flags, asserting their pride in who they are and where they've come from. Do the people who're livid over the Mexican flags find any part of this offensive?

To the 3 of you who visit every so often - discuss.

On a side note, I've an Italian flag hanging in my office. I don't have an American flag. My father, an immigrant, has several American flags in/on his car. Hmm...

Spring - but it ain't just birds singing!

2006-03-31T10:55:00.000-06:00

Ex-DeLay Aide Pleads Guilty

A former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and promised to cooperate with the government's investigation of lobbying fraud on Capitol Hill.

I wonder if the spring weather just made Tom Delay a little warmer.

Straight Talk Express Derails

2006-03-28T10:15:00.000-06:00

John McCain once called Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance." He is now going to be the graduation speaker at Jerry's Liberty University.

While Sen. McCain and Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell have had their share of political differences through the years, the two men share a common respect for each other and have become good friends in their efforts to preserve what they see as common values. This will mark his first ever appearance at Liberty University

I guess when one wants to be president bad enough, what was once straight can become crooked. Or vice versa.

hat tip to Josh Marshall

Where's Tom? Where's Milwaukee's Economic Development Plan?

2006-03-24T09:26:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to talk about the the interest of BuySeasons relocating their distribution warehouse to the Menomonee Valley. There are many reasons this is just bad, and I'm glad our Congresswoman has brought some to light. Our underemployed central city work force needs REAL jobs with a living-wage, not part-time work in a warehouse without benefits. It's also important to remember that the city spent millions of dollars redeveloping the brownfields in the valley for a specific purpose -- light industrial and manufacturing. We need a real economic development strategy for valley, and the city, that creates QUALITY jobs. Jobs that produce export oriented goods, not just service work. This is the only way to bring new money into the region (thus growth), rather than just circulating existing money.

I've got much more to say, but have just been swamped with 'life' recently. I'm making the biggest purchase of my life, and it's certainly keeping me busy.

Kudos to those of you who are able to constantly keep your blog on top of things. I'm envious. Unless of course you don't leave the house to truly live life... but I digress....

More soon.

Have we been here before?

2006-03-17T09:15:00.000-06:00

Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving - guilty of violating Virginia's ban on interacial marriage and ordered to leave the state.

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

-- Judge Leon Bazile, Circuit Court of Caroline County, Commonwealth of Virginia

Mr. RODDENBERY. ( ... ) The resolution to which I make reference is one already introduced by me, providing for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, with the usual resolving clause, and the article is as follows:

That intermarriage between negroes or persons of color and Caucasians or any other character of persons within the United States or any territory under their jurisdiction, is forever prohibited; and the term "negro or person of color," as here employed, shall be held to mean any and all persons of African descent or having any trace of African or negro blood.

Nothing will contribute more to the popular development and wise administration of a republican government than for the people in their legislatures to have an opportunity, by the adoption of this resolution, to provide that forever hereafter it shall be contrary to the fundamental law of the Republic for a negro or a part negro or an African or a part African to intermarry with a white person, a Caucasian, or any person of like description. The object of this resolution is to submit to the States a constitutional amendment for this purpose.... "

Congressional Record, 62nd Cong., 3rd sess., Dec. 11, 1912. Vol 49, p. 502

DON'T go backwards Wisconsin!

Go "FORWARD"

Punish the guilty ?

2006-03-14T08:12:00.000-06:00

"I'd have signed it," said Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) to Newsweek about the South Dakota bill banning abortion "Rape and incest are horrible crimes, but why punish the innocent child?"

Indeed Sammy B. Let's save the punishment for the evil whore of a woman who let herself be raped!

Long Live Helen Thomas...

2006-03-13T22:50:00.000-06:00

May whomever stands behind that podium feel the wrath of Helen for a long time to come.

In this piece,Lap Dogs of the Press, Helen states that nothing "is more troubling to me than the obsequious press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq," and calls on the White House press corps to ask the hard questions.

Does it depend on what the definitions of is is?

2006-03-03T14:46:00.000-06:00

"We do not torture."
President George W. Bush Nov. 7, 2005

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Cites Exception in Torture Ban
McCain Law May Not Apply to Cuba Prison
[washington post 3.2.06]

Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

Clearly, this President's statements should come with footnotes

Sigur Rós !

2006-03-03T13:29:00.000-06:00

Sigur Rós will be playing The Riverside on May 10th! Do yourself a favor and check them out -- It's a magical experience! Pre-sale tickets available now!

MXP will see you there

The Plan for Victory

2006-02-24T23:18:00.000-06:00

I think we’ll look back several years from now and see that 2005 was really a turning point, in the sense the progress we made…in terms of training Iraqi forces, because we’ve now got a large number of Iraqis taking the lead various places around the country from a security and military standpoint.
-- VP Dick Cheney, PBS Newshour, 2/7/06

compare and contrast

Pentagon: Iraqi troops downgraded
No Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.

Now, in all fairness, Dick did say 2005.

That's it! This is getting out of hand!

2006-02-24T23:00:00.000-06:00

C'mon now. Morrissey? The man who sang that Meat is Murder? Mr. Everyday is Like Sunday and so so sad and celibate? Have we nothing better to do? Is Johnny Marr behind this? Where will it end?

Morrissey questioned by agents
LONDON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- British rocker Morrissey says agents from the FBI and Britain's Special Branch picked him up for questioning after he labeled President Bush a "terrorist."

"They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government, and similarly in England," Morrissey told Sky News Friday. "But it didn't take them very long to realize that I'm not."

Morrissey said he was surprised at the interest since he does not subscribe to any political group and doesn't "really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I don't even demonstrate in public."

He said his experience proves freedom of speech is an illusion.

"My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies," he said. "You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."

Compassionate Conservatism In Action

2006-02-10T14:55:00.000-06:00

We should all ask ourselves What Would Jesus Cut for those tax cuts for the rich?

Bush's Budget Cuts Elderly Nutrition Plan

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The boxes arrive every month at churches, senior citizen centers and other sites for distribution to nearly a half-million poor elderly people. Each is stocked with a mix of nutritious foods such as cereal, peanut butter, fruit, vegetables and pasta. Sometimes volunteers deliver them right to people's homes.

Now President Bush wants to eliminate the program, one of 141 federal initiatives that his proposed new budget would scrap or cut dramatically.

Say YES For Equality

2006-02-09T16:30:00.000-06:00

Today the Wisconsin State Journal came out against institutionalizing inequality in our state constitution. Rightly so. It's not about "special rights" or being able to marry your brother, or four others, or your car or dog. It's about EQUAL TREATMENT FOR ALL. It's very simple.

So if you haven't contacted your State Assemplyperson, who may have been married a few times with full legal benefits and rights in each marriage, be sure to do so today.

If I was a reporter at the WH press briefing today....

2006-01-19T12:14:00.000-06:00

Reporter mXp: Scott, another tape that is purported to be Bin Laden has just been released. He states that he is working on another attack on American soil. In light of today's revelation, I wonder if the President's position about Osama Bin Laden has changed from March 13, 2002, when he stated: “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him. … And, again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”

And your answer Scottie would be.....?

Some milk or corruption with your White House Coffee?

2006-01-18T22:26:00.000-06:00

During the oh so scandalous years of the Clinton White House we knew who attended the fundraising "Coffee with Bill" meetings. We even knew what brand of underwear they were wearing. The media demanded it.

Here we have a White House that is stonewalling and won't answer some very relevant and important questions: When was Jack Abramoff in the WH and who did he meet with?

Earlier this month Scottie Mc promised to look into it, but then proceeded to change his mind saying Abramoff met with staff -- but we don't discuss staff-level meetings. Questions from the press kept coming and Scottie kept stonewalling, despite the fact that he indeed has previously discussed "staff-level meetings."

Why the secrecy Scottie? You tell us that Jackie A came for a few Hanukkah receptions. You even corrected yourself, saying he's only been to two and not three, as previously stated. But you won't tell us why Jackie was in the WH and with who?

In a Knight-Ridder article Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, says:

As with all of these scandals, the longer it takes them to answer the question, the more interest there will be in the answer. Answer the question and put the questions to rest."

Indeed!

This makes me think back fondly of The Breakfast Club, when Claire wouldn't tell the others if she was or was not a virgin....

BENDER: Well if you'd just answer the question...
BRIAN: Why don't you just answer the question?
ANDREW: Be honest...
BENDER: No big deal...
BRIAN: Yeah, answer it!
ANDREW: Answer the question, Claire!
BENDER : Talk to us!
ANDREW & BRIAN: Come on, answer the question!
BENDER: It's easy, it's only one question!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1929 - 1968

2006-01-16T11:07:00.000-06:00

"We are tired of working our hands off and laboring every day and not even making a wage adequate with daily basic necessities of life"
3/18/68

"A living wage should be the right of all working Americans"
3/18/66

Let us not forget all of Dr. King's messages.