Walker Caught In Another Lie

By Jeff Simpson

Capper covered the initial leak of the new #Walkerdocs very well, but I wanted to point your attention
to something else buried in there.

First let us take a trip down memory lane where Gov Walker was asked about the Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun:

 Walker said he and his two sons, Matt and Alex, all big Brewers' fans, were disappointed and angry "that he lied to us as fans."
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the GOP governor said that "it was bad enough that he broke the rules, but the fact that he didn't immediately fess up to it, that he dragged it all out...It's not just what he did, it's that he strung us out for so long."
The governor said forgiveness from fans wouldn't come quickly for Braun.
"I think it'll be a long time," Walker said.

Speaking of "not immediately fessing up to it".  In August of 2014, Scott Walker was asked outright if he helped Club for Growth raise any money:

Gov. Scott Walker said Saturday that he played no role in soliciting cash from a mining company for the Wisconsin Club for Growth during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections, adding that no one should be surprised that the pro-business governor backed legislation helpful to the firm.
 Asked whether he was aware that Gogebic Taconite secretly donated $700,000 to Wisconsin Club for Growth — a pro-business advocacy group directed by the governor's campaign adviser — Walker said, "Not to my knowledge."
 When asked if the previously undisclosed funds and subsequent legislation were part of some pay-to-play scheme, Walker said, "That's a ridiculous argument."

Now, thanks to the Guardian article, we know that he was absolutely lying and he "strung us out for so long".



All the positive and negative ads running were due to Scott Walker raising money through "the club".

I wonder how long it will be before the fans forgive Scott Walker for lying?

PS:  In case you are wondering you did read that email correctly.  R J Johnson sent it to Keith Gilkes to tell Scott Fitzgerald to stop whining about the recall and how much money they were giving him.   It is not cheap trying to keep many people happy and win your election.

Promises, Promises...Why Do We Believe?

By Jeff Simpson

Remember this?

"Under the administration of Gov. Scott Walker, northern Wisconsin’s mining economy is moving forward and more people are getting good, high-paying jobs."
— Americans for Prosperity on Friday, October 3rd, 2014 in a direct mail flier

Or this?

 Gogebic Taconite, a unit of Florida-based Cline Resource and Development, pushed for changes in mining laws shortly after representatives of the company announced their plans in 2011 for an iron ore mine in Ashland and Iron counties. The mine would operate for at least 35 years and run for about four miles. Gogebic says the mine would generate 700 jobs, but all told would create more than 2,800 jobs in trucking, housing and other industries

Or this?

"On behalf of the unemployed skilled workers in our state who will benefit from the thousands of mining-related jobs over the next few years, I say thank you," Walker said in a statement.

Or this even?

At stake are more than the 700 jobs at the mine itself. The proposed mine could lead to thousands of jobs statewide, many involved in the manufacture of equipment for the proposed mine.

Why does reality never match Republican talking points?

Meanwhile, the company has cut its workforce to a half-dozen employees who are trying to redesign plans in light of an unexpected proliferation of wetlands that were found on the site last year, 

For those of you mathematically challenged, half dozen = 6.  6 is less than 700.  6 is also less than thousands!

Is Chris Kline an idiot? He really paid $700,000 for this?

One last thing, shouldn't a legit news organization be obligated to mention that Bill Williams is wanted in Spain for crimes committed?

Koch's Desperately Mine

Great piece by Malcontends today:

 Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske—inclined to shoot his mouth off in service to favored litigants such as the GTac mining company—should read Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule [SCR 20:3.6  Trial publicity]:  "(a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

Now, I'm no attorney, but Lipske's statement made to Steven Verburg of the Wisconsin State Journal (July 17, 2013) sure seems to me like a "extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

State Journal headline reads: "Details of harassment incident at mine show a troubling threat, prosecutor says."

Here is Lipske's quote: '"The details on the [alleged criminal] incident (of Katie Kloth and a small group) help explain why the Gogebic Taconite mining company hired heavily armed security guards from Arizona who wore camouflage and masks, Lipske said."

It's not like she is an ecoterrorist, we know what that looks like!    

Tom Tiffany Endorses Killing Bald Eagles!

By Jeff Simpson



In a story that could not be any more symbolic,  a couple hard core republican donors were recently charged with poisoning bald eagles.   As JSonline reports:

Alvin C. Sowinski, 65, and Paul A. Sowinski, 46, of the Town of Sugar Camp in Oneida County, also face penalties of up to $100,000 each and up to a year in prison at their sentencing in May, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the western district in Madison.

According to documents filed by prosecutors, Alvin Sowinski used poisoned bait piles to try to kill predators such as coyotes and gray wolves.

There was no evidence that wolves, a federally protected animal at the time of the investigation, were poisoned.

The two men also permitted hunters and trappers to kill predators to improve hunting for penned pheasants, grouse and deer for the Sowinskis and friends.

One such hunter and trapper was an undercover officer of the state Department of Natural Resources, who was told by Alvin Sowinski how he used poison to target predators.

While poisoning of wildlife is known to occur throughout the state, prosecution of such cases are "extremely rare," according to U.S. Attorney John W. Vaudreuil, who said his office has prosecuted only one or two cases in the past 30 years.

Among the wildlife poisoned with pesticides by the Sowinskis between 2007 and 2010 were at least two bald eagles, a turkey vulture, nine coyotes, one bobcat, three ermine, crows, songbirds, squirrels, skunks and other unidentified animals.

Vaudreuil called the acts "incredibly selfish" for someone to "purposefully want to kill predators, and then they use this very horrible pesticide."

 

By my rough estimate  Tom Tiffany  has received approximately $3700 and Scott Walker $100 from the Poisoning Sowinski family and not a nickel has been returned.  While keeping the money from these POS is an endorsement of the terrible things they have done, I do not recommend giving the money back to them.  If they truly were disgusted by what the Sowinski's did, they would donate the money they gave them to organizations that work to undo the damage the Sowinski's did. 

Here are ten organizations that could use that money!   

However do not hold your breath that Mr. Tiffany or Mr. Walker will be doing the right thing.  Besides if you think what their good friends the Sowinski's have done to WI is bad, wait until you see what their friends Eco -Terrorist Bill Williams and Chris Cline do to the Wisconsin environment when they get the chance!  

To Gogebic Taconite (GTac), owned by the Florida-based Cline Resource and Development Company, it’s an opportunity to dig an unprecedentedly large hole in order to liberate nearly 300 million tons of taconite. Taconite— a low-grade iron trapped inside tons of unusable rock—is used to make steel. The Cline Company is new to iron mining and, until recently, was known mainly for its coal mines in West Virginia and Illinois. In 2011, GTac purchased a lease/option for the mineral rights to a 4.5–by–22-mile stretch of the Penokees. The company wants to dig a $1.5 billion open-pit mine that would extract billions of tons of rock over the next 35 years. The proposed mine would be the largest development project in the history of Wisconsin.

Chris Cline, a 55-year-old billionaire mining magnate, has recently appeared in the gossip rags thanks to his relationship with former model Elin Nordegrin—Tiger Woods’ ex-wife. Cline is viewed by many in the working-class Northwoods as an out-of-touch businessman, incapable of recognizing what this pristine area means to those who live here. (That he named his 164-foot yacht Mine Games isn’t helping his case.) The Chippewa sobriquet for GTac’s current president, Bill Williams, is “Dollar Bill.” De- Main puts it this way: “When big money comes into the room, spirituality and neighborliness exit.”

Bill Williams: International Man of Misery

Bill Williams, President of Gogebic Taconite (GTAC), is a very unpleasant fellow.  His disposition appears to be one of an assaultive nature.

He assaulted Wisconsin's democracy and legislative process by buying off State Representative Mark

Honadel and the other Teapublicans in order to get a mining bill, which is company wrote, passed despite the overwhelming opposition to it.  I would be remiss if I also did not bring up the matter of the armed mercernaries that Williams hired to threaten and intimidate Wisconsinites who might approach the area.  I should also remind the gentle reader that these Penokee Pinkertons were here illegally.

During the process, Williams is accused of assaulting an opponent to the mine:

An opponent of the proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) mine in Ashland and Iron counties has filed a report with City of Ashland Police, alleging he was assaulted by GTAC President Bill Williams on Thursday at the Ashland County Courthouse after the Ashland County Board overwhelmingly approved a pair of mining-related ordinances.

David Joe Bates, a Bad River Tribal member from Odanah, said Williams snatched a cellphone he was using to record a conversation between Williams and Ashland County Administrator Jeff Beirl following the meeting.

“Bill Williams was angry with the passage of the zoning ordinance and he took his rage out on me,” Bates said in an email to The Daily Press. “By the way, I have been diagnosed with a hyperextended shoulder as a direct result of this assault. I’ll be lawyering up!”

Bates asserted on a Facebook posting that Williams “ripped the cell phone right out of my hand.”

As it turns out, it appears that Wisconsin isn't the only place where Williams has wrought his mayhem.

In the past few days, it has come out that there is a great likelihood that Williams will be facing charges in Spain for damaging the ecology near a copper mine and injecting arsenic-rich water into the groundwater, as reported by Barbara With at Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative:

In breaking news yesterday, a federation of over 300 environmental groups in Spain called Ecologists in Action (EIA) announced that Gogebic Taconite (GTac) President Bill Williams is facing criminal trial in Spain for multiple environmental violations committed while he was director of the Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) copper mine in Seville Province. Charges include the illegal pumping of arsenic-contaminated water into the local aquifer and other criminal damage to public property. Also being charged are François Fleury and Paz Cosmen, also employees of CLC.

Williams previously denied any involvement with the environmental problems at Cobre Las Cruces, claiming that he left the mine before the damage was done. On July 19, 2011 Williams addressed a crowd at the Deep Water Grill (see video below), citing Cobre Las Cruces as an example of a successful application of the “dry stacking” technology GTac claims would eliminate toxic runoff from waste rock at its proposed Penokee Hills iron mine. The Spanish court case, however, makes it clear that operations at Cobre Las Cruces caused significant environmental damage and that this damage occurred on Williams’ watch.

According to an article in No A La Mina, in 2008 EIA requested an outside hydrologist be brought in to monitor the water management system of the Cobre Las Cruces mine. At that time they also requested that judicial proceedings be opened against CLC for alleged crimes against the environment.

I would strongly suggest that the gentle reader also read the reports by Tony Stella at Stella Reports, who feels that it is all but a matter of time before Williams gets charged. Stella also provides a concise summary of the situation:

The court has concluded a preliminary period of investigation which included written responses from Bill Williams and others. It was determined that sufficient evidence exists to proceed with charges against three of the defendants, including Mr. Williams. One defendant was found to have joined the company after the violations took place, and he was dismissed from the proceeding.

The defendants subsequently appealed. A panel of judges has denied that appeal, finding enough evidence or "reasonable suspicion" to proceed, and no further appeals are allowed at this stage, meaning the prosecutor and Ecologists in Action have the green light to proceed with the charging documents. The court is now merely awaiting the charging documents, similar to our "information" or "indictment," and a trial will take place based on those charging documents, according to the individual quoted above, who has been closely involved in the case.

Mr. Williams will be subpoenaed to appear at the trial, but extradition is not guaranteed in this case, and it is possible he could be tried in his absence if the court so decides. The initially stated charges do carry the possibility of prison sentences.

Via Stella, there is also a link to an Spanish news article on the subject (which is poorly translated).

I would also recommend that the gentle reader follow Woods Person who is also following the story very closely.

No matter which way you look at it, the story is the same.  Williams is a soulless, greedy thug that is only concerned with increasing his wealth through corruption and exploitation.  He is a poor steward of natural resources and is selling the state a maleficent bill of wares which will leave our environment in ruins and the state to pay for the mess he is being allowed to cause.

Scott Suder IS the New Wisconsin

By Jeff Simpson

One of my absolute favorite writers in WI is Ruth Conniff, who recently received a well deserved promotion to editor of The Progressive Magazine.  

I usually love her work, and make a point to read all of her columns. 

Today I vehemently disagree with what she wrote about the recent United Sportsmen controversy.  

What does United Sportsmen have to do with all that?

Since it was formed two years ago, the group has spent a lot of money lobbying for a wolf hunt, easier access to wetlands by developers, and the massive open-pit mine proposed by Gogebic Taconite in northern Wisconsin -- including a measure to keep hunters and other outdoorsmen off the land where GTAC wants to build its mine.

Doesn't sound like much of a conservation group, does it?

Oh, and it sent out a mailing, along with Americans for Prosperity, supporting Republicans in the 2011 recall elections.

Former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, who is about to start making a big salary as a Walker appointee to the Public Service Commission, carefully crafted grant language to exclude real conservation groups from getting the $500,000 state grant. If you were a chapter of a larger, national organization, you were not eligible for the money.

Suder rigged the grant for United Sportsmen. But also, by writing the rules the way he did, he jeopardized $28 million a year in federal wildlife management funds.

Talk about not upholding Wisconsin values.

This is where I disagree.  

This is EXACTLY what Wi values are now.

Until we prove otherwise in an election, reward donors, punish enemies and grab for taxpayer cash are the new WI values.  

Good Government, responsibility, fiscal conservatism, bipartisanship, wanting to benefit all, hard work and earning your pay, are all Wisconsin values of years past. 

As they say that ship has sailed.  

If you don't believe me, just do an Open Records request for a typical say in Scott Suder's life. 

The lobbyist for a self-described sportsmen group offered free fishing excursions to then-Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder just days before an affiliate of the group secured a now-canceled $500,000 grant from the state, newly released records show.

Suder, an Abbotsford Republican, went on the Lake Michigan outing with the head of the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin in August, about 21/2 months after he engineered money for the grant into the state budget. Also scheduled to be on the Aug. 22-23 trip were a lobbyist and a former lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. The former NRA lobbyist, Darren LaSorte, is also a board member of the foundation affiliated with United Sportsmen.

Don't worry Ms. Conniff, Rep. Nick Milroy agrees with you.   

"Public officials are held to a higher standard," Milroy said. "The people who elect us expect more of us than this."

No Mr. Milroy, unfortunately the people of Wisconsin no longer do.  

Beware: EcoTerrorist On The Loose!

By Jeff Simpson

Capper told us how our Beloved Governor called the goofy lady who grabbed a video camera a "ninja". We also pointed out yesterday that her behavior has a history of going unpunished in Wisconsin.  Now we find that there is an actual ecoterrorist running free in the Northwoods(Here he is in a rare picture hiding from the police):








His name is Bill Williams and he is President of Gogebic Taconite and he is a thug.   Seems that Mr. Williams grabbed a cellphone that David Joe Bates, a Bad River Tribal member, was using to record him with(sound familiar?).  Mr Bates filed a Police report and we are still waiting to see if Governor Walker approves of the Bad River Tribe hiring Rambo wanna-be's to protect themselves from employees of Gogebic Taconite.

Unfortunately though, this terrible crime will go unpunished and Mr. Williams is free to contonue to terrorize the people of WI.  

The lesson to be learned here is that in Wisconsin, the anti Mining protestor already had a strike against her, because she is a female.  We know the disdain that Wisconsin republicans have for women! 

She also made a mistake in wearing a mask, in the future if you want to be able to roam the Northwoods without fear of prosecution  -  wear a Gogebic Taconite polo shirt*.


* Does Not apply to Native Americans, African Americans, any other minority group or Females!

Be on the lookout for this man!  

al Qaeda Ninja Terrorist From Outer Space

On Thursday, my brother in dissent, Jeff Simpson, pointed out to the way that the right wing nut jobs were trying to conflate an incident in which a protester was - gasp! - yelling at the miners and make it seem like it was something more than it was.

Holy terrorism, Batman!

But this was not enough for the more whackier of the right wingers.

Charlie Sykes, with his White Wisconsin radio show, was not satisfied with just calling the protesters terrorists or eco-terrorists.  Oh, no, he had to take it to a slightly higher level by saying that the protesters dressed like al Qaeda terrorists.  Sykes kept repeating and stressing the phrase "al Qaeda terrorists."

This was not a coincidence.  Sykes kept reinforcing the false comparison of a protester yelling at the mining company lackeys to a organized, murderous terrorist group to drive the people to fear and to anger.  That way, when the people were all riled up, it would make it easier for them to justify any acts of violence from the mining company or their Pinkertons.

In a small piece of poetic justice, Scott Walker blew up all the hard work of fear, smear and propaganda the right was doing when he came out with this:

“The irony is,” Walker says, “the angst seems to be focused at the company and not at the people who came in masked like ninjas on personal property violating the law by trespassing in a place they have no right of being and physically accosting people.”

So now the protesters are not merely eco-terrorists, nor are they more fearsome al Qaeda eco-terrorists, but they are the dreaded al Qaeda ninja eco-terrorists. All we need is MacIver or Media Trackers to claim that they are also from outer space.

The paper was quick to point out that while the land was private, it also was subject to public access as the mining company benefited from lower taxes.

At the end of the article, they again cite Walker as he further buried his own cause:

In a statement Friday afternoon, the governor says these extremists — who are disrupting work and causing harm to law-abiding employees — should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Walker says he spoke with the Iron County Sheriff to offer any assistance that may be needed. He adds, the laws of Wisconsin will be upheld.

It's really odd, in a sarcastic way, that Walker would mention that the laws of Wisconsin will be upheld.

Because no where did Walker mention that the Penokee Pinkertons, up her all the way from Arizona, were illegally traipsing around the woods terrorizing people.

But even more important to remember is that the mining law, which was written by the mining company, goes against the federal laws and contracts which allow the tribe to have a say on anything that would affect their land and water.  And the Bad River Tribe has made it abundantly clear that they are very seriously opposed to this.

If Walker was really serious about want to enforce the law, he should start following the law himself.

But that's as likely as there being al Qaeda ninja terrorists from outer space.

The Penokee Pinkertons

Through the last 150 years of our country's history, some of the worst examples of mercenary violence and mayhem involved the jackboots of the Pinkerton Government Services.  Their "services" ranged from private security guards to private military work.  Their specialty was union busting and intimidating the public.

Over the years, these groups have sadly flourished, with two of the most notorious examples being Blackwater and Wachkenhut (one of Scott Walker's favorites!).

Now we can add the name of Bulletproof Securities of Arizona to that list of shame.

These are the mercenaries that the Florida mining company, Gogebic Taconite, has hired to protect their investment in the mining privileges of the pristine Northwoods area of the Pekonee Hills.

The have recently been seen haunting the woods of Iron County, running around like some wayward members of the Posse Comitatus, intimidating people who even happen to look at them the wrong way.

Besides the obvious harm that these thugs will do to the tourism business - I don't remember the threat of armed jackboots being in the Zucker commercial - there are two other major problems.

First of all, the land that the Penokee Pinkertons are protecting from the public is public land. Apparently the mining company presumed that when they bought the Teapublicans that passed their bill, they got the land included in the sale.

The other issue is that Bulletproof Services might be here illegally.  To do the kind of work that they are doing, they need to hold  Wisconsin licenses and permits first.  I have seen nothing to indicate that this has yet been looked into.

I would add to this that since this is public land, and thus accessible to the public, the gang of thugs needs to go through background checks.  I mean, the type of people these groups hire are in no way considered the most reputable.

This has, as the gentle reader might have suspected, created quite a stir, but not with just the citizenry, but with elected officials as well.  Senator Bob Jauch and Representative Janet Bewley issued a joint press release which was very measured in tone while very firm in meaning:

State Senator Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) and Representative Janet Bewley (D-Ashland) sent a letter to Gogebic Taconite President Bill Williams today calling on him to immediately remove the heavily armed masked commando security unit recently hired to protect the company’s property in the Penokee Hills.

The legislators called the images of the armed guards horrifying and the action by the company to hire this high security Arizona firm appalling. They added that “these kinds of security forces
are common in third world counties but they don’t belong in Northern Wisconsin.”

Jauch and Bewley acknowledged the company’s right to protect their property, but called the decision to hire this new security firm nothing more than an effort to intimidate citizens. “No one
in their right mind can justify the excessive force. These individuals are not deputized, they can’t arrest anyone. What they can do is unjustifiably scare people, and that appears to be your
intention.”

The Northern Lawmakers reminded the company that they do not own the Penokee Hills and urged them to make sure their security detail recognized and reflected that fact.

With only one incident reported at the site in over a month, the lawmakers questioned why the company decided to take such a “confrontational and incendiary step that will clearly do more to
intimidate local citizens and increase local tensions than it will to make you, your staff, or your equipment any safer.”

Jauch and Bewley added that reversing their decision could help improve the company’s relationship with the community. “By rescinding this very misguided decision, you can send a message to Northern Wisconsin citizens that despite the heated rhetoric coming from the company over the last several weeks, you are interested in working with your new neighbors and willing to cooperate rather than relying on intimidation and threats.”

There are two things about this whole affair that are conspicuous by their absence.

One is any reaction from the Teabublicans.

Scott Walker, Robin Vos and Alberta Darling are all publicity hounds. They cannot get enough time in front of the cameras. If they go more than a day or two without being the center of attention, I don't think that they would survive.

Yet on this issue, there is nary a peep from the lot of them.

The other thing missing is any indication that the mainstream media has even bothered to attempt to contact them, much less ask them any questions.  The closest I've seen is Wisconsin State Journal mentioning that it was the Teapublicans who rammed this bill through.

With the corporate media, the corporate-controlled Teapublican legislature and all the other signs of organized greed, is it any wonder why they tried to take the unions out first?

Mining For Trouble In The Northwoods

Three months ago, the state department of tourism came out with a lame commercial to promote the great outdoors of Wisconsin.  I pointed out that one of the issues with said commercial was that the Northwoods was again becoming the site of a lot of heated rhetoric:

The tribes are well within their legal rights to do this. The reasoning for these high declarations is also pretty clear, as blue cheddar succinctly points out:

Officially, the expanded spearing has nothing to do with
mining next to somebody’s sacred rice beds.

Officially the expanded spearing has nothing to do with the law to allow hunting of Wisconsin wolves with dog packs (the only bloodsport wolf hunt of that nature in the U.S.)

Officially the spearfishing has zero to do with disrespectful treatment of native tribes by a certain bullheaded Governor.

Unofficially we know it has everything to do with those things.

Listening to talk radio, you could hear them already ripping out a page from Tommy Thompson's playbook, stirring up the racism that is innate to their base. They already had callers ranting about those "Damn Injuns."

I have also heard reports from my friends in Northern Wisconsin that the usual suspects up there are really starting to grumble about the fact that their white supremacy isn't being observed.

Not once have I heard a conservative make the connection between their own actions and these consequences for their poor behaviors. And no, that doesn't surprise me one bit.

Sadly, in the past three months, the corporate special interests haven't slowed down one bit on their own Northwoods version of "divide and conquer" in order to advance their own agenda of raping the land.

Just last weekend, it was announced that Gogebic Taconite - the mining company who wrote the loathsome mining bill and then bought the Republicans who passed said bill - was ready to do exploratory drilling.

The sovereign people of the Bad River Band, of course, objected. The back and forth in the story was rather telling, in my humble opinion:

The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has asked state authorities to halt plans by Gogebic Taconite to conduct exploratory drilling on a proposed iron ore-mining site in northern Wisconsin.

But the Department of Natural Resources said Monday it doesn’t plan on reversing its decision to approve the company’s request to drill eight exploratory holes that will be used to evaluate the site for iron ore mining.

The tribe says the DNR failed to consult or to formally notify the tribe during a review of a drilling request by the company.

The tribe says the drilling activities may harm natural resources on ceded territories where the tribe retains certain hunting, fishing and gathering rights. Ceded territories are subject to treaties.

Ann Coakley of the DNR said attorneys for the agency do not believe that the tribe’s treaty rights come into play on the issue of exploratory drilling.

The tribes also objected to the drilling work on technical grounds and raised concerns about waste water and the effect of storm water when the work begins.

Coakley, the DNR’s top mining regulator, said that the agency believes the company is taking prudent steps to avoid environmental harm.

Egads! What a condescending and insulting approach taken by the mining company and the DNR (but I repeat myself)!

As if to draw attention to this issue, Tonette Walker decided to make one of her "Walk with Walker" stunts in Copper Falls Park which is right where the proposed mine is supposed to be.  Watching the news clip of the Tonette's little walk, one can see two obvious things:

1. The protests, albeit more mild mannered and more polite, are still going on.  No wonder Scott Walker still runs around like a thief in the night. He's still trying to avoid the very people he's supposed to be leading.
2. It's pretty obvious that no one in Tonette's group even knows how to walk through a groomed park.  If they actually went into the wilderness, they wouldn't make it a day without making some bears' tummies very happy.

But I digress.

It should also be noted that while Tonette and her paid staff hikers were trying to make it appear all was niceties, happiness and sunshine, the underlying and building racial tensions were also very much present.

At Bayfield High School, more racial tension was shown when called out by the valedictorian, Victoria Gokee-Rindal, a member of the Red Cliff Band:

Gokee-Rindal said her main concerns were about “basic human rights.”

She said she had also been influenced by the Canadian First Nations “Idle No More” movement in support of indigenous rights.

“There is a lot of cultural insensitivity at the Bayfield School District,” she said.

One of those instances of insensitivity revolves around the Native American practice of “smudging,” or burning sage and using the smoke as an aid to purify body and mind. According to Gokee-Rindal, the practice was banned for students before they came to classes in the morning.

Victoria Kokee-Rindal 

“It is a concern, but there are many other concerns that are basic human rights that we are concerned about. The whole smudging issue is just the single issue that put people over the top,” she said. “It seems to have gotten a lot of media attention, and it is giving the impression that it is the only issue at the Bayfield School, but its not.”

Gokee-Rindal said a teacher had personally belittled her in a room full of people because she was Native American.

“They had no right, it was very unprofessional, very disrespectful, and it was not handled in the right way at all,” she said.

Gokee-Rindal said that efforts by the school district to increase cultural sensitivity have not gone nearly far enough.

“Bayfield School receives so much funding because of the amount of Native students in the school. We are almost 80 percent of the school. They get money to do cultural things around the school, and if they really wanted to make an effort, they could do so much more.”

Among those efforts was an increase in the proportion of Native American staff at the school, Gokee-Rindal said.

“I would like to see the staff reflect the number of Native Americans in the school. I think it is only right that if 80 percent of the students are Native, 80 percent of our teachers should be Native American,” she said. “Hopefully as Native American teachers become more abundant in the near future, I hope that Bayfield will be able to create awareness of all the injustices that happen with teachers throughout the entire school. Don’t get me wrong; there are teachers who do support us, and they are amazing, but it needs to be a school-wide effort.

At the graduation, there was also an organized walk out by some of the members of the tribe to protest the racism and bigotry that is prevalent in the school. Yet as clear as they could be, school officials were as obtuse as they possibly could be. The most telling was this quote by the district superintendent, David Aslyn (emphasis mine):

Aslyn declined to comment specifically on Gokee-Rindal’s valedictorian remarks.

“The graduation was a day of celebration for everybody, and I’ll focus on all of those students and the good work they did and made graduation the pinnacle of their high school careers. Beyond that I don’t have any insights to share with you.”

Expect the tension in the Northwoods to continue to build.

 Walker and his Teapubligoons will continue to do what they can to maximize profits for their corporate owners, regardless of who they hurt or what rights they must trample.  They will continue to provoke the tribes and force the sovereign nations to take action to defend themselves and the land.

And speaking of the corporate overlords, expect them to continue their not-so-subtle whisper campaign and against the Native Americans, blaming them for everything from the poor fishing caused by the Republicans' disregard for the environment to the rampant, Walker-induced unemployment problems, pointing to the defensive actions taken by the tribes, whether it be through protests, educational rallies or through the courts of law.

They know nothing plays with the Teapubligoons like some old-fashioned racial fear and smear.  And given the poor economy, the high rate of unemployment and higher taxes, people are more prone to give in to their basic prejudices rather than look at the facts and admit that their votes for Walker and his Teapubligoon allies are now working against them.

For too many people, it's easier to falsely place blame on others than it it is to accept responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.

What The Frack - Part 2

As we always point out on CogDis, there is more there is always more - which leads us to write a sequel to What the Frack? which dealt with the industries attack on the documentary GASLAND!  

Now there is a movie(which I recommend) out called Promised Land w/ Matt Damon.   Just like clockwork, the industry is on the attack!  


 

Before Gus Van Sant’s latest film Promised Land even premiered, the energy industry was up in arms, gearing up to counter the film's apparent anti-fracking stance with a barrage of “community” responses (read: thinly veiled corporate PR). James Schamus, chief executive of Focus Features the distributor of the film, expressed shock about the attacks on Promised Land: “We’ve been surprised at the emergence of what looks like a concerted campaign targeting the film even before anyone’s seen it.” With blogs, astroturf websites, Facebook pages, internet ads, and theater ad buys in advance of the movie, the industry is working hard to spin the conversation in a more fracking-friendly direction.

The film chronicles the story of a gas industry salesman, played by Matt Damon, and his attempt to convince the residents of a rural Pennsylvania town to agree to fracking development. The questions raised by actors in the film mirror the debates taking place in communities across the country. What type of chemicals are used in fracking? What is the effect of fracking on air and water? While the industry may make a few struggling families rich, what is the cost for the community as a whole?

These battles hold special interest in Wisconsin, because the mining bill is the first bill the republicans want to pass.      As Representative Katrina Shankland(D-Stevens Point) says:

 I'm really disappointed in the legislators who persistently and falsely sell the mining bill to the public as a jobs bill.

If the mining bill passes, it will be held up in court for years.

Of the 700 jobs that would be created after 5-7 years of waiting and implementing the legislation, not many jobs would be for Wisconsin workers. Ask any expert on the matter and they'll tell you we don't do that kind of work right now, and don't have that training available.

This isn't a jobs bill. This is a bill to deregulate one industry (iron mining) to open the floodgates to do the same for many others.

Think about why that is. Don't let yourself be swept away by the rhetoric. We are better than this. Wisconsin is better than this.

There is a reason WI has only added about 30,000 jobs since Scott Walker was voted into office, they are not serious about adding jobs, they just want to reward their donors and rig the system.    So know, in these next few weeks when the republicans are discussing all of the mining jobs they are creating, They are being less than honest! 

Next movie for the industry to attack is Fractured Land!

What The Frack?

Anyone who has seen the film "Gasland" or has a lick of common sense, knows the damage that Fracking can do to a local environment.




As the right is want to do, when something comes out this damaging to their cause, they need to find as many people who are willing to pretend to be experts and say whatever is needed to discredit the film in the eyes of the general public.   

In our current culture of greed, and because the right pays so well(if you do what they tell you to), there is no shortage of options to repeat the cycle for this topic.  The latest is Ann McElhinney.  Remember her name as you will hear it again and again from our "friends" on the right as the rush to give Gogebic Taconite everything they ask for! 

She and her film will be paraded around Wisconsin, quoted and misquoted on the Assembly floor and a bill giving everything the Gogebic Taconite asks for will be passed.  Then Ann and her crew will collect their money and go home, some beautiful areas of Northern WI will be devastated, tourist dollars will dry up, the mining company will get what they can and leave and the republicans will blame the democrats for the devastation.  

Lather, Rinse, Repeat!  

Beautiful Lake Front Property For Sale!

So before Ann joins Robin and Scotty for the Fracking is great tour, know that she ACTUALLY said this( I expect Frank Luntz to get ahold of her and clean this quote up before she gets to far along in her tour(emphasis mine)):

 “One of the biggest lies in Gasland is that when they started fracking in your neighborhood, if you light a match, your water’s going to go on fire,” she said, explaining that in certain parts of the United States the water has always been flammable. “And you know what it means that you have flammable water? It means that you’re really, really, really, really, really, really lucky, because you have loads and loads of oil and natural gas.”

mmmmmm,  Tasty!  

Talk about winning the lottery lucky, who wouldnt want to be able to drink that on a daily basis!    


Our cows do not need tails anyway!