Recall McGee, a point needing to be made.

I have added the Recall McGee website to the blogroll.

Ya know, it is funny this came up this week as I had been thinking about Alderman Jackson McGee (D) and how his antics were completely ignored by (D) leadership, and (D) pundits in this area.

While at the same time (D)s everywhere are demanding (R) be held accountable and thrown out of office for their (R) activities why doesn't (D) hold (D) to the same standard?

I mean consider the list of McGee Jackson's (D) activities:

• Using gay bashing slurs against teens.
• Lied under oath.
• Threatened to kill the mother of his unborn child.
• Cheated on his wife.
• Disorderly conduct against police.
• Terrorizing defenseless Blockbuster employees then playing the race card even though said employees were also African-American.
• Writing to communista Hugo Chavez under the head Dear Fellow Revolutionary.
• Dual Social Security Cards
• Drivers License fraud
• Likely Insurance Fraud.
• Resisting arrest.
• A McGee aide arrested for possession of guns, drugs, and open alcohol.
• Yadda yadda yadda

Michael McGee Jackson Jr (D) is an embarrassment to this community. Why do area (D)s ignore him? Why do not they hold their own accountable as they demand (R) hold their own accountable?

In other words, should not (D) remove the plank in their eye before they tell (R) to remove the speck of sawdust in theirs?

I am not making the point here that one party is any cleaner than the other. I mentioned this in an email to a reader yesterday that in the book of Romans, Paul teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Man then is inherently evil, we all have the capacity to do bad things. As you apply this to the body politic I wish both parties were as worried about their own as they were about the other guys.

I bring up McGee Jackson Jr (D) as a huge and hypocritical example of how some people are held to incredibly stringent standards (golly gee Bill McReynolds made $13 worth of phone calls, that he paid back to the county), while others like McGee escape any real consequence to their actions at all.

At least from their own parties.

Yes, McGee Jackson Jr (D) is facing a recall. A recall from someone who wants his job. You really can not say that is pressure from the party or from party leadership. That has been at best, absent.

The final Wisconsin Gubernatorial Debate.

Again, I can not type as fast as these guys can talk so much of this will be paraphrased and I'll clean it up later.

Over the first two debates Green was in my opinion the winner by pointing out what he would do and how Doyle would blame others for his administrations failures.

Neither candidate has done well on style points, what I want to see tonight is passion and energy and for the candidates to tell us about themselves, not their opponents. In addition if they could stick to responsibility and away from blame that would be just spiffy.

I was talking with a rather well placed operative this afternoon who put it well. It seemed both of them were trying not to lose.

One more point, these debate are supposed to be the big opportunity for the undecided to compare. I am more convinced than ever before that primarily extreme poliwonks are the only ones who watch these things.

Now on with the show.... (in 15 minutes).

The questions will come from the audience again and are supposed to be on quality of life issues from the crowd.

1st question. What will you do as Guv to reduce the cost of health care?

Green. Health care costs in Wisconsin are rising faster than the national avg. My plan at votemarkgreen.com is laid out, tax credits for businesses, wellness programs and I am offering a tax credit for long term care insurance.

Doyle. Right out of the gate pot shot on congress & the president. Now touting his illegal program to encourage people to buy Canadian drugs. I want all health bucks to be tax deductible. Get all kids insured, and create a big pool of buying power.

Open debate on the issue. Green, Doyle is pointing fingers at everyone else, he is the leader and the number of uninsured in the state are going up under his leadership and SE Wisc has the highest health care costs in the country. Talking about how HSA's have helped small business.

Doyle, it is really amazing for a member of congress.... Trying to tie all of congress to Green again. HSA's are fine, they take care of 1% of the population.

2nd Question. Everyone says that education is important until it is time to fund it.

Doyle. Everyone who knows me knows education is my #1 priority. I have had to stand up to fund education when Republicans sent the last budget it had a $400 million cut (LIE)... Doyle is lying about education cuts in the last budget again, I do hope Green nails him on this. I have stood against powerful forces.

Green, He is pointing fingers at everyone else again. The truth of the matter is since I have been in office education spending is up 150%, that is not a cut. I want to see .70 cents towards building and kids. I want merit pay, I want good teachers paid more.

Follow-up, DOYLE. 2/3 funding I struggled mightily, the legislature rejected my proposal to help

Green. Slowing down growth is not a cut (THANK YOU, FINALLY!) Doyle broke his promise on school funding formulas.

3rd Question. The Dept of Corrections has a huge budget, crime rate on the rise, is it a problem.

Green. We need to spend whatever it takes to keep our population safe. We need to spend enough money to keep the people who work at corrections safe. With regards to penalties etc, I am a biog believer in tough on crime penalties.

Doyle. I want to talk about education again, the biggest problem I had was the lowest spending school districts were spending 7,000 per kid, now that number is up to 8,600. I believe that our first priority is to keep our people safe. But we have made some big changes in drug rehab and work programs. We need to continue to get better at this. We have worked hard.

Follow Up. Do you see this as a problem. We have a lot of people incarcerated, people seem to keep going back something does not seem right to me.

Green. Is rising crime a problem? Absolutely. I have worked on this. Where we disagree, I will not appoint people on the parole board or release sexual predators without notifying the public. the most violent must stay in prison.

Doyle. Prevention is vital. I have fought to hold up the sex predator law. Wisconsin is the only state that has received an a grade on our controls on sexual predators. I hope this question is about what we do with kids.

4th Question. What is your plan to strengthen ethics over partisanship.

Doyle. I hold myself to highest standards of ethics, as well as those around me. (HAHAHAHAHAHA) The Republican leadership killed the ethics bill...

Sorry phone rang.

Green. Lets remember how we got to where we are right now. 4 yrs ago when Governor Doyle was running for guv he argues forcefully against gaming expansion. One election and millions fo dollars later we have huge expansions. I do not believe any governor should solicit money from the very people that they regulate.

HUGE GREEN VICTORY.

Doyle. We have just heard some far out accusations again that are not true. Green has got special interest money from DC from people not registered in Wisconsin. There should not be a loophole to allow Green to use money that no one else can take.

Green. It was not a loophole when Tom Barret did it. Doyle and his election board changed the rules and applied them retroactively. What I told about Doyle was absolutely true, he suddenly did a 180.

ANOTHER HUGE VICTORY.

Next question. What would you do to improve access to health care in Wisconsin.

Green. You have pointed to one of the serious problems in our state. Under Doyle's watch the number of uninsureds has gone up. One way to increase care is to increase consumer based care. HSA's are not more prevalent because people like Doyle are blocking HSA's becoming tax deductible.

Doyle. We have seen a huge cut from Congress to Medicaid. We have lost several million dollars due to Congress we are one of the few states that has not cut benefits or access. We can now expand coverage and allow families to purchase badger care, and will continue to work on long term care.

6th Question. Recent studies have shown in the the area of the achievement gap, what will you do to relieve racial disparities.

Doyle. I'm a basic guy about education. It is about getting kids off to a a good early start. we have expanded 4 yr old kindergarten to 65% of the districts. We need small class sizes, the racial gaps are less because we have focused on small class sizes. Getting kids a good breakfast, we need to feed kids. (what did any of that have to do with race?)

Green. The achievement gap is nothing short of an outrage. The current programs are writing off a generation of young people. We all have to be on these kids side. I am a huge supporter of choice schools, I would get rid of the cap, I support an expansion of charter schools, and we need more money in the classes (wrong)

Follow-up, how do you close the gap at the secondary level.

Doyle. The Wisconsin covenant, at the end of eighth grade we will ask kids to sign a promise that if the kids do well and make their promises, they will be able to go to college at the UW system.

Green. We have had a Wisconsin covenant for year. If you play by the rules you get a crack at WI schools. Under Doyle tuition is up 50% in 4 years. Doyle has given breaks to illegal immigrants...

Question. Wisconsin need for energy continues to grow. Do you support lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy?

Green. Energy is hurting families in a very real way. We need to follow the leads of Wis companies for alternative. I think nuclear energy should be on the table. The moratorium should be lifted. A few years ago were among the lowest in the nation, now we are among the highest in the Midwest.

Doyle. You know who made all that money, the ones who Green gave tax breaks to. (the ? Was about nuclear energy) Renewable, renewables, renewables. He is not answering the question about nuclear power. (I guess Guv Doyle does not want to tell us his position on nuclear energy, that would be a NO folks.)

Question. What would you do to enhance the quality of our health care.

Doyle. We are building an electronic medical records system, we have the capacity to do it. We have large providers and we can put together a system that reduces medical errors. ( I didn't know about this, sounds cool). We want metrics (for Doctors, not teachers apparently)

Green. We agree on a great deal here, we need more transparency. We need to give people the tools to succeed in this effort. When we have high liability costs that hurts the likelihood of professionals sharing.

Question. What is your position regarding tort law reform and how your position would impact consumers.

Green. I feel strongly about this. Doyle has opposed just about every liability reform that crossed his desk. Liability reform is a disaster and needs to be addressed. When liability costs rises, you pay. Go ask a Physician, they pass the problems on to you providing increased medical costs.

Doyle. A big difference between being a Governor and a Congressman. I signed liability reform. We worked in a reasonable way.

(my fingers hurt)

Closing Statements...

Doyle. Thanks... I am priveledged to be Governor if this great state, yes DC has failed us but we have looked out for Wisconsin citizens. I support embryonic stem cell research. I am so proud that we started this research (that has done nothing yet). Attacking Green on this now....

Green. Gov Doyle is wrong, I support it. In the next couple of weeks you will be shaping this states future. You have to ask yourself are you satisfied with the current path. That taxes are taking more out of your pocket, Uw tuition up, health care rising faster here than nationally. If you are satisfied then Doyle is your guy. If we can do better, I am your guy. We do not have a people problem we have a leadership problem. I'm asking for your help, I'm asking for your vote, let's make Wisconsin great again.

Thank you, good night.

Also Live blogging: Owen, Fraley, Kathy, Mary.

Where'd I put that thing..... Oh there it is.

Hang on to your hats kiddies the next one is a doosie.

Take the quiz.

The Milwaukee Gerbil has a quiz up on Doyle vs Green.

My results:

You agreed with Mark Green on 15 of 15 issues.

Take it here...

Pelosi no shoo-in for job as speaker

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
October 20, 2006

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's prospects for becoming the nation's first female House speaker depend not only on a Democratic victory in November but also on her ability to prevent any Democrats from voting against her -- primarily centrists opposed to her liberal stances.

At least one Democratic House candidate has pledged not to support Mrs. Pelosi, and others in conservative districts have refused to commit their support -- potentially leaving Mrs. Pelosi shy of the 218 votes required for the chamber's top post.

The rest...

5 shootings in Racine over night.

One resulted in a death at the Martin Luther King community center.

Things got so bad last night that the police department ran out of officers to dispatch.

I think it is time for someone to ask Mayor Gary Becker if this community is in crisis. And in addition, why was the Mayor more worried about getting rid of the police chief instead instead of putting his own personal issue with the police chief aside.

They should have been more worried about crime in Racine than the mayor's bruised ego.

The complete devaluation of human life.

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Woman Who Killed Her Unborn Child

By LILLIAN RUIZ and LARA SETRAKIAN, ABC Law & Justice Unit

Oct. 19, 2006 — A Virginia judge has dismissed charges today against a young woman who shot herself in order to kill her unborn child in a case that has angered anti-abortion activists.

Tammy Skinner was a poor, desperate 22-year-old with two young children and another one on the way.

She said her boyfriend wouldn't pay for an abortion, so she carried her pregnancy to term.
Then she did the unthinkable.

Prosecutors say that on the morning she was scheduled to give birth, Skinner drove to an auto dealer's parking lot, took a gun, and shot herself in the belly, killing the fetus in an act of self-abortion. Skinner was charged with carrying out an illegal abortion.

Is Skinner a criminal?

Today, a Virginia judge said no.

THIS JUDGE SHOULD BE RECALLED AND THIS MURDERER SENT TO JAIL FOR A VERY LONG TIME!

REA shake up

Dennis Wiser, the executive director of the Racine Education Association, was given his walking papers earlier this month. The big question is why. I realize that the ousting of a local union head is not a big story, but hear the grumblings as to what happened and then extrapolate that notion to a broader scale.

Under the direction of Dennis Wiser, teachers received nice pay increases along with small concessions in the benefits area each time negotiations came around. The most recent negotiation resulted in both of the aforementioned aspects plus a contract through the the end of the 2008-2009 school year. As near to peace and harmony as two sides in a labor dispute setting can be, I would think. Yet Wiser still lost his job.

Union lemmings, and those within the administration levels of the union, felt Dennis Wiser was developing a rapport with Dr. Hicks and other central office administrators. This was his big crime. A top union official became chummy with a top administration official. In fact, after his dismissal, Wiser headed directly to central office to say his good-byes.

The big question I gather from this scenario is this...Do the unions want an adversarial relationship with management?

In my opinion, the answer is YES. I can understand a relationship between the two resulting in poor negotiations, but the union seemed to come out fairly well under Wiser's tenure. Now I hear for people calling for another Jim Ennis. For those outside of the loop, Jim Ennis was a hellraiser every second he was on the job. He incited "blue flu" and other job actions and picked fights with RUSD over tiny issues. He is a big reason teachers get nothing but bad press in the local paper. We don't need that.

So I ask you readers, do unions want, perhaps demand, adversarial relationships?

What is 16.08%?

Go on, take a guess.

Question...

Should I live blog the final Doyle/Green debate again?

Self-esteem doesn't make the honor roll

From the Well, duh department, findings point out that positive self-esteem doesn't result in high achievement. All the touchy-feely tactics used to make children feel good about themselves do not result in success.

In many of my undergrad courses and even somewhat in grad school, I keep hearing this crap about boosting self-esteem. That's putting the cart before the horse. Pride and a sense of accomplishment comes with doing well, which in turn provides motivation to continue to do well.

If I shower a student with praise despite success, where's the hunger for gratification? The student thinks, why try harder if the teacher already thinks I'm doing well? That said, I do offer encouragement and constructive criticism. I also give praise when it's due, but I never bought into the notion of building self-esteem upon little or no effort. Self-esteem is developed, not bestowed.

What it means to be liberal

4. Liberals believe "we the people" are the governors and not the subjects of government, and that government must treat each person with that in mind. It is liberals who have defended and continue to defend the freedom of the press to investigate and challenge the government, the protection of individual privacy from overbearing government monitoring, and the right of individuals to reproductive freedom. (Note that libertarians, often thought of as "conservatives," share this value with liberals.)

Marriage Tip

I subscribe to a webservice that provides marriage tips on a daily basis from a Christian perspective. This one is so good, I thought I would share it with you.

My wife and I have joked around about how many points I got for doing something and how many she earned for something else. The problem is that if you start counting, you are in for disappointment. Partly it is because women and men don't value various acts of love the same and specifically, your wife won't use the same value as you will. But also, it starts to create an environment of performance based acceptance. I would suggest you just forget about points. Keep doing the nice things that might earn a few, but find your joy in the giving and serving and don't look to the future for some payback. Enjoy the smile you get from her and treasure any appreciation you receive as your just desserts. That way, when she does something extra special for you, you can accept it as a free gift and not as an obligation. So ditch the point system - it only works in sports, not in marriage.

If you would like more information check out the Generous Wife, or the Generous Husband.

Here we go again.

FBI Questions Someone in NFL Threat
Oct 19 10:58 AM US/Eastern

The FBI interviewed a Milwaukee resident Thursday who officials believe was involved in posting Internet threats about dirty bomb attacks on NFL football stadiums this weekend. The threats appeared to be phony.

The person, described only as a young adult, did not appear to have any ties to terrorist groups, according to a Washington law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

In Milwaukee, FBI spokesman Richard K. Ruminski said the "individual has come forward and provided information about the posting of the threat against the NFL stadiums. The U.S. government still believes this threat is non-credible."

"As this is an ongoing matter, we will not provide any additional information at this time," Ruminski said in a statement.

Why is it always Milwaukee????? Hello, Mr. Mayor? Has anyone seen the Mayor?

More secret memo thoughts.

On page 13 of the much discussed memo from the State Senate Dems we see the following, Research from the '04 cycle (Planned Parenthood - Celinda Lake) has shown that the amendment itself did not massively drive or increase turnout in 2004.

This is in the FAIR Wisconsin section of allies. You remember FAIR don't you? They are the pro gay marraige group that claims to be non-partisan. (where I come from we call that getting caught in a lie)

We are also hearing from every Dem who can flap their gums that this amendment is just a dirty trick from rightie to drive turnout. However, their own campaign strategy shows they know that is not the case.

So is this just one more example of how Democrats will tell you what they want you to believe rather than what they know to be true?

Yes, that is exactly what it is.

Here is the complete list of allies:

AFSCME
SEIU
AFL-CIO
Planned Parenthood
NARAL
AFT
Progressive Majority Wisocnsin
FAIR Wisconsin

I need to look into the tax status of these groups, but if any of them are 527 PACS or 501 (c)(3) charitables, they have some explainin' to do.

I'll be doing that research later.

Group lists 10 most polluted places on Earth

...The group researched 300 sites to come up with its list. The sites were not ranked because health records in some developing countries were not available....

Several cities with industrial operations like coal and metal mining dominated the list.

"Norilsk in Russia is also just a horror story," Fuller said about an industrial city founded as a slave labor camp in 1935. "Smelters with no pollution control: nickel, copper, lead, cadmium. No pollution control. Just an awful place."

In Kabwe, Zambia, one of six towns around the country's copper belt, soil contamination levels of heavy metals are higher than those recommended by the
World Health Organization

No U.S. sites were listed in the group's top 10

You would not know that by listening to the environmental lobby.

Breaking News! Candidate Thomas changes war stance.

Dr Jeff Thomas, the perennial 1st CD congressional candidate (is this the seventh or eighth time?) has changed his stance on Iraq and our troops.

Pre-primary his stance on the war was, support the troops let them finish their job then bring them home.

Well, that has not sat well with the local anti-war crowd and they threatened to run an anti war candidate in a write-in campaign.

So Dr. Thomas has changed his stance to a complete pull out and bring them home immediately.

If he came to that conclusion independently, fine.

However, the only reason Thomas changed his mind was to avoid this write-in challenge to his already hopeless campaign, that is pathetic.

No wonder nobody takes this guy seriously. The area Dems had a perfectly serious guy in Steve Herr and they blew it. I guess they deserve the candidate they got.

Hicks under fire?

It may be so. Elementary school teachers around the district are being asked to provide their reading and math groupings based on Hicks' Continuous Progress (CP) plan side by side with testing data. Before you click away saying "So what?" Read why this is being done.

Supernintendo Hicks' contract is up for renewal soon. What happened this passed summer was just a recommendation for renewal. School board members and others within the community keep asking where is the evidence showing the improvement that Hicks brags about often. Hicks' response, look at the data. Sorry Tommy boy, the data ain't going to help you.

After five plus years of consultants and pedagogically unsound strategies, the data will show decline in student achievement. The achievement gap has widened since the implementation of CP. Approximately, 20-25% of students are reading one or more years below grade level currently, before CP it was much less. Unmanipulated data shows what the teachers always suspected, CP lowered the bar and the students fell behind as a result.

Hicks does have a defense for this issue. He points the finger in the classroom and states that the teachers were given the tools for success and failed to use them properly. From my perspective as an elementary teacher, I was given a spatula and asked to build a house. The tool was not the right one for the job.

BREAKING NEWS!!!! Wisconsin Dems break election law & Lehman caught in a lie!

Someone left a copy of the Democrats Wisconsin Campaign strategy on a state capital copier.

This being a campaign document, what are they doing using state resources to make copies, that is illegal!

I have a copy of this document and will be dissecting it, but it would appear there are many facets of this campaign that could be illegal.

At a minimum here in Racine John Lehman has been caught in a complete and total lie.

An attack website, Progressive Majority Wisconsin has been openly searching for any small item they can use to try and slime Bill McReynolds.

John Lehman has said publicly that he had no knowledge on Progressive Majority Wisconsin's activities into investigating McReynolds. However this campaign strategy document from the State Senate Democratic committee clearly lays out the relationship with PMW and even how much money shall flow from the state party to Lehman ($100,000).

A release from the McReynolds campaign says "A hand-written note in the margin of the document even appears to acknowledge it would be damaging to the SSDC if its partnership with PMW were ever made public. The note suggests that references to PMW be removed from future drafts of the document and that PMW be a silent partner. ".

Well it is public now. John Lehman has been lying about PMW, what else is he lying about?

This document clearly states that Progressive Majority Wisconsin would hire a professional researcher to dig through documents to try and use as ammunition against their opponents.

Nothing illegal about that, but to not disclose the relationship and for Lehman to deny all knowledge of the research is a lie.

Will the Journal Times cover this? I doubt it. There is much more to come on this.

UPDATE: Owen has the document posted here.

Peter has more details.

Refund for PAC dues

To any WEAC members out there. Don't forget to request a refund of your Political Action Committee dues. Write a letter, polite but to the point, to:

WEAC President Stan Johnson
P.O. Box 8003
Madison, WI 53708

You will receive a rebate of $19.99 and your local president will receive notification of your request. I guess that puts you on the naughty list. The elephant in the room no one is talking about is...They can buy off Doyle with only 20 bucks per member? I doubt it!

Why Air America will still fail.

Ego.

When Air America started up they hired a bunch of people who had never been in radio before, the biggest qualification to get on the air was the ability to bash rightie and having gotten some attention in the past for doing exactly that.

With the exception of Randi Rhodes, no one had radio cred, no one.

Then they went and paid themselves huge six figure salaries, why? Ego. You see their opinion was just as valid as Limbaugh's, or those of his ilk, so they must be worth big money just like he was. What they failed to understand (then and now) is Limbaugh does not make huge bucks because of his opinion, he gets the big bucks for building something and having talent.

When Limbaugh started his political talk show he took no money, he took ownership and built something out of it. For that he has been rewarded, that is called entrepreneurship.

Air America did not operate on that premise, to them fairness was more important. They had no stations, and leased where they could to get on the air.

Look at the liberal bastion and huge union town of Chicago, they even screwed that up. They leased a station and did not pay the owner, who pulled their signal. How can you build a nationwide radio network without Chicago? If ever there was a town this should have worked in, it was Chicago.

The main reason why Air America failed was liberalism itself. They ran it how they thought it should be out of some self-important sense of fairness. Business is not fair, Air America applied liberal sociological theory into the business world and it was a dismal failure.

Bankruptcy is not business death, Air America can come back. If they want to be successful they should look long and hard for entertaining liberals who can do more than just bash rightie. They need to make their shows fun to listen to and provide above all ORIGINAL THOUGHT, new ideas, not just bashing.

I like talk radio, I tried to like Air America, they made it impossible. If Air America wants to figure this out they should look at Rush Limbaugh and do it the way he did it. Slowly, with integrity, passion, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Sooner or later rich liberals are going to get tired of throwing money down the black hole that is their balance sheet and they are going to have to stand up on their own.

I wish them well, but if they keep doing business the same way they will never succeed.

Bush caused the Hawaii earth quake.

No really he did...

Feldstein recently made fun of "The twisty depths of conservative logic can sometimes be truly breathtaking" recently.

Well here is an example of the twisty depths of liberal logic.

From The Daily Kos: (where else?)

Bush caused the earthquake

North Korea’s recent nuke test is responsible

Whenever you blow up stuff deep underground, you run the risk of forcing the tectonic plates to shift.http://geology.er.usgs.gov/…

Recall how there were no nukes in North Korea under Clinton, when the adults were in charge of foreign policy. I hope that Hawaii residents can put two and two together and vote Democratic because the GOP’s idiotic mishandling of North Korea is a clear and pleasant danger. Heh, the smoking gun just fired, Dee-dee-dees!http://www.cnn.com/…

GWB’s hard-on for more war and instability in the Middle East (the successful results of his conscious actions and inaction) have led to a world that is less safe in myriad ways. I cannot understand how any Jew or Jewish sympathiser, or Arab or Arab sympathiser, could possibly vote to keep George Bush’s regime in power. Congress’ lack of accountability, including not trying to stop Bush from sending our men and women to a senseless war that only benefits the defense industry and oil moguls, is what we should all be hammering on this election season. The Republican Congress has failed to put a check on Emporer Nero — sorry, President Bush — and they should all be thrown out on their respective ***** for letting that ****** destroy our Republic.

(I edited out the naughty words)

This idiotic writer completely ignores the FACT of how Clinton and his administration helped North Korea's nuclear program along. Clinton helped them along and Bush didn't stop them... Nice logic.

You know it is this kind of idiotic stupid political hackery that is turning off people to the process.
Everyone knows the Hawaii earthquake was caused by global warming anyway. You see melting ice bergs created an increase in water mass which put too much pressure on a plate that caused an imbalance of Al Gore's brain.

10/16: Sheriff's department uses Google Earth to pinpoint marijuana fields

This is cool...

By Janine Anderson
Journal Times
DOVER

— The Racine County Sheriff’s Department used Google Earth — an online mapping program — last week to pinpoint marijuana fields in Mount Pleasant and bust a Racine man for harvesting pot. The investigation began Friday after Racine County Sheriff’s deputies pulled over Dean Brown, 37, of Racine, near highways 75 and 20, according to a criminal complaint. A deputy smelled marijuana as he approached the car, and discovered 18 pounds of freshly harvested marijuana in the car’s cargo area.

The marijuana, stuffed in two large garbage bags with heavy stems poking through the plastic, was worth between $63,000 and $140,000. Brown was arrested for felony drug possession, but that was just the beginning of the investigation. Deputies found a GPS unit around Brown’s neck with coordinates to areas throughout Racine County, the complaint said.

On Saturday, Metro Drug agents plugged coordinates saved in Brown’s GPS unit into Google Earth, a searchable compilation of satellite images available through the Internet. By entering the coordinates, agents were able to find the locations in Racine County programmed into the GPS unit. Members of the Metro Drug Unit went to two sites off Dover Line Road, near where Brown was arrested.

They first found six plants tied to corn stalks with string to hold them up. The roots had vermiculite around them, which is often used to start plants at home before transplanting them elsewhere. The next site had two plants growing in a field. Authorities confiscated the plants, bagged them in burlap and locked them away to dry.

On Sunday, agents entered additional coordinates into Google Earth and found a grow site in Mount Pleasant, between Highway C, Kraut Road and Interstate 94. They found two plots in a very large cornfield, and pulled out three plants. Brown faces six criminal charges: possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, and four counts of manufacturing marijuana.

Brown has been charged as a repeat drug offender, which increases his possible prison time for felony charges by four years. If convicted on all charges, he could face a maximum penalty of $90,500 in fines and 59 years in prison.

What it means to be a liberal

I find it interesting that while this is being presented as a scholarly work, it is attacked here because of the source...

Oh well, on with the list.

3. Liberals believe individuals have a right and a responsibility to participate in public debate. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion expansion of the franchise; the elimination of obstacles to voting; "one person, one vote;" limits on partisan gerrymandering; campaign-finance reform; and a more vibrant freedom of speech. They believe, with Justice Louis Brandeis, that "the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people."

I love this one. Liberals are shouting down or attempting to shout down speakers all over this country. It would seem to me they do not want a certain type of speech allowed.

Liberals these days forget that a right to speak should not infringe on someone else's right to be heard.

Where I come from that is called being polite. No room in liberalism for that these days.

Da' Bears

6 Turnovers, no offensive touchdowns, a twenty point second half defecit and they win?!?!

I'm starting to believe all this destiny talk.

Rare meteorite found in Kansas field

GREENSBURG, Kan. - Scientists located a rare meteorite in a Kansas wheat field thanks to new ground-penetrating radar technology that someday might be used on Mars.

The dig Monday was likely the most documented excavation yet of a meteorite find, with researchers painstakingly using brushes and hand tools to preserve evidence of the impact trail and to date the event of the meteorite strike. Soil samples also were bagged and tagged and organic material preserved for dating purposes.

Hmm?!?

Chris makes a brilliant point...

Doyle votes with WEAC and the Indian Casinos 100% of the time...

Does anyone think we will ever see that head line in the MJS?

Polling Info.

From RNC Chair Ken Mehlman:

The generic poll numbers in the past few weeks have major errors. a) the polls have sampled a significantly higher proportion of Democrats than actual turnout has shown over the past 25 years. b) the Democratic voters and the Democratic-leaning districts are "less efficiently allocated" than Republican ones, so that whereas the Dems have a big edge in already-Democratic districts, the race in the battleground GOP-held districts is 50-50 -- and that's even with the mis-sampling. c) Despite the polls, actual turnout in primaries has belied the idea that Dems are more motivated. In 39 contested Demo primaries this year, the turnout was below 30-year averages in 36 of them. But GOP turnout hasn't been significantly lower than usual.

Interesting...

Making it up to fit their view?

This morning the New York Times (ever a bastion of objective journalism) shared the following:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 — Senior Republican leaders have concluded that Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a pivotal state in this year’s fierce midterm election battles, is likely to be heading for defeat and are moving to reduce financial support for his race and divert party money to other embattled Republican senators, party officials said.

More anonymous sources...

From the RNC this morning:

Today’s New York Times falsely states that the RNC has conceded the Ohio Senate race. As anyone who reads our FEC reports can see, the RNC has spent more money on Ohio than any other state. That level of spending will continue.

The notion that the RNC is pulling out of Ohio is just dead wrong.

So who should we believe? The New York Times, or the word straight from the elephants mouth?

We are three weeks out from the election, it is time for some pontification.

The media is hyperventalating over a change in power. In doing so they have forgotten one thing, election day is actually November 7th. This is the same media that saw a change in power in 2002 & 2004. They were wrong then, they are wrong now.

Our Democratic party is no different. They have been making Speaker Pelosi slips for months, they think they have already won.

However, all the opposition party has really done or run on is to be the opposition party. They are slinging insults while trying to ride the slime train attempting to associate every unethical individual lapse they can find with the entire party. At the same time, we are supposed to ignore the individual ethical lapses on their side.

In my view the Democrats will make gains, but they will take control of precisely neither of the houses of congress. Their projections are unrealistic. They count seats they think they can pick up while ignoring seats they are likely to lose. (Kerry syndrome... we keep the Gore states and add...).

The liberal media is fueling that desire. To see the hundreds of stories on Foley while they have ignored the AP story on Reid is all the proof any logical individual should need on that point.

When it comes down to it, this election is going to boil down to turnout like every election does.

I hate to clue in the New York Times and the Democratic party, but this thing ain't over yet.

Fantasy Football Update.

The bye week hit The Debate Team extra hard this week, that and 3 TD's from Torry Holt.

Our first loss, well if the Cardinals shut down the Bears running game and score about 74 points with out any turnovers we could still eek out a victory...

Never gonna' happen.

Time to focus on Boots and Sabers... Look out Owen, wounded animals are dangerous.

Why has Air America been such a dismal failure?

Have you ever listened?

Yuckity yuck yuck yuck.

Thought of the week.

A day without sunshine is like, well, night.

Monday Random Quotes

The Big Word Award....

Henrik Svensmark has hypothesized that cosmic radiation influences the development of low level cloud formation here on mother earth. Chris.

Special Drinking Right Field Quote..

Belling can die in a fire... Josh.

Caught with his hand in the cookie jar... Kathy

How can we miss you if you won’t go away? Peter

Boo! Jay.

What's next? The driest rainfall? Jib.

it really is about the drinking. Casper.

She also doesn't remember how she woke up with so many beads after Mardi Gras a couple years ago. Dennis York.

“I’m confused.” Babblemur

Am I crazy here? Nick. (yep)

Happy Birthday... Ben.

Happy Birthday... Dan.

Heh. Dad29

What is it with Democrats and real estate? Wiggy.

Shouldn’t the “ethics” board be concerned with more than the law? Owen.

He has a point.

ethics [eth-iks] (usually used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark! Patrick.

I’m ostensibly the perfect target audience for Air America, and I can’t frigging stand it. Shakespeare's Sister.

Wait a minute... Aaron.

This ad is so good, it almost makes you forget that the candidate is a buffoon. Pugnacious J.

blah blah... Bubbi.

South Park is so good at showing how stupid people are... Marcus

I’ve got more faith in my ability to pick the winner of the Ravens/Broncos game... Asian Badger.

Need a room for the night? Good luck.... Joey.

Which may then send Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl. Nicole

the chief whack-job looks a like the Pride of the Badgers... Sykes.

I'd say he was sincere but dubious, and then became intimidated and slightly pissed. Althouse.

Then I got to meet Real Debate's owner, Fred, in person for the first time. His tie was outrageously loud, ( I told him I was going to post that). Kay. (I get more compliments on that tie)

From the leftie Racine Journal Times.

Your vote for Governor will go to ...

312 (37%) Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle

387 (46%) Republican challenger Mark Green

12 (1%) Green Party candidate Nelson Eisman

127 (15%) Donald Duck

68 (8%) Not one of them deserves my vote - even Donald Duck

Taking Journal Times staff out of the poll, Doyle dropped to 156 votes...

McReynolds Ad.

I just saw the Bill McReynolds ad with the moving house. This is being run by a 527 PAC.

The ad tells us to call McReynolds and tell him to keep up the good work by keeping our taxes low.

Mac, I know you read the blog if you have any influence over this group please tell them our taxes are not low...

That kind of goes with your ad with John Lehman telling us he does not believe that Wisconsin taxes are universally high, that is a myth. This ad makes the same point, but in a different way.

I get the fact that the 527 put out that ad, please call them and tell them to pull it.

Our taxes are too freaking high, period. Any ad that says our taxes are low is full of crap.

Mac, I appreciate the fact that you have held the line on property tax increases on the County level, for that you deserve praise.

However, what we need is not a level tax, we need a decrease.

Put more money back into the local economy, that is the quickest way to economic prosperity.

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