Julaine Is Buying Everyone Pizza!

By Jeff Simpson

Live in Appleton?   Free next Thursday?  Like Pizza?  Hungry?  Know someone who is Hungry?  Come one, come all to Pizza Ranch for free pizza for all!  

You know the Wisconsin Family Council wants nothing more than to feed the homeless and hungry of Appleton!   Show them the way.  

Thursday May 25 from 6-8 pm, at Pizza Ranch.


Come hear Julaine Appling, President of Wisconsin Family Council, as she looks forward with optimism to the makeup of our newly elected state legislature and:

Discusses its agenda for the 2017-2018 session;
Delves into some very important gambling issues—especially internet gambling—that could put a virtual casino in every home—and on every smart phone—in Wisconsin;
Discusses our legislative agenda related to marriage, family, life and religious freedom; and,
Supper is included! There is no charge for the event or the food—however, we will be taking a freewill offering at the end of the evening. 

That’s “What Now?” an event about you and your involvement in your Wisconsin government and culture on Thursday, May 25, from 6-8 p.m. at Pizza Ranch, N139 Eisenhower Dr Appleton WI 54915.

Special guest: 
Lorri Pickens, Exec. Director
Wisconsin Citizens Against Expanded Gambling

Tell Them CogDis Sent you!  

Abele Leaves Homeless Out In The Cold

As anyone in Wisconsin can attest to, the state is in the middle of a second dangerous cold snap.  In Milwaukee, the severe cold has already claimed the life of a young woman who was not dressed appropriately for the weather.

Can you imagine what it would be like to have to try to survive outside in this cold weather, day in and day out?

Sadly, too many Milwaukeeans have to do just that.

Despite Abele's outlandish claims that he has cured homelessness, there are still scores of homeless people that have no escape from the dangerous cold except for homeless shelters.  Yet Abele had refused to restore hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund these homeless shelters.  Fortunately, the adults on the Milwaukee County Board overrode Abele's greed and restored the funding themselves.

Yet even that is proving to be not enough and groups are scrambling to open more shelters to deal with the growing number of homeless.

Unbelievably, denying funding to the homeless shelters wasn't enough for Abele.  His war on the poor continued when he sent out county workers to take away and throw out all the belongings of people living below bridges and in other homeless camps.

There has to be a better way.

Thankfully, there is.

Chris Larson has vowed to step up the county's efforts to help the homeless by creating more shelter beds.  Furthermore, Larson said he would pay for them by getting rid of Abele's Hollywood bodyguards, cutting the extravagant raises that Abele has given his cronies (just to keep them from quitting on him) and freezing the county executive's budget.

But for Larson to be able to do these things, we need to get him elected.  Please help support Larson.  You can find ways to help by visiting his website.

And remember to vote in the primary on February 16 and the election on April 5.

It is time to Toss the Boss.

The Pope Unmasks Political Leaders

By Jeff Simpson 

We all know the Pope was in Washington DC yesterday.  

The start of a very interesting visit from a Great Man.   It even got started as cool as possible, when the Pope, who left his Popemobile at home and arrived in a Fiat.

Quite possibly though, the coolest thing the Pope did yesterday was snub a bipartisan coalition of politicians.

We now know why the United States Congress absolutely did not want Pope Francis to come to America. He makes them look like the complete as*holes they are. Obviously, Congress thought Pope Francis would be honored to dine with them, and all their pomp and prestige. They were wrong.

Pope Francis says he didn’t have the time because he already had a date eating with the homeless. In fact, he is not only going to be eating with them, but serving them. The meal will take place at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington, D.C.

Rather than try to write some great prose about this situation, Ring of Fire will simply quote Eric March from the website Upworthy, because he nailed it:

Unlike some of his predecessors, Francis has reminded journalists and world leaders time and time again that the church is for the poor, blasted the global financial system which causes so much poverty in the first place, and called on Catholics across the globe to take action and start lifting up the most vulnerable among them.

He’s also spoken out forcefully against economic inequality.

Including some of the worst, most exploitative labor practices in the world, which create conditions that allow hardship and desperation to thrive.

Blowing off John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi to serve the homeless is pretty much the kind of badassery we’ve come to expect from this pope when it comes to speaking up for the world’s most hard-up.

One noticeable thing that seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle is that none of the politicians offered to join Pope Francis and help serve the homeless.   Apparently helping them become homeless is all our politicians can handle.  

Luckily, we at CogDis were able to check the calendars and realize why the leaders in Congress were too busy to join the Pope yesterday for lunch.

*  Nancy Pelosi was to busy trying to get the Trans Pacific Partnership fast tracked.  
*  Harry Reid had to work on making sure we do not raise the minimum wage.
*  John Boehner was going to spend the day trying to figure out how to end the peace treaty with Iran.
*  Mitch McConnell was too embarrassed since he has blocked to many jobs bills and helped add to our homeless veteran problem throughout his career.  

* Bonus Calendar Check:  Wisconsin's own Super Catholic, Paul Ryan would have been there to help but he is not running for Vice President anymore and he is way too busy planning his anti poverty conference to worry about the homeless.  

I imagine the conversation going like this:

McConell;  Your Holiness would you like us to take you to lunch?  We have an expense account. 
Boehner:  As long as you don'd mind if I smoke.
Pope Francis:   Sorry I have plans to head to the church and feed the homeless. We could use some help.  
Pelosi:  Yea, ummm, well, ummm, I have to wash my hair.
Reid;  O sorry I have to take this call(exits left). 
Boehner/McConell:  Dont look at us.  

Homeless Shelters Fill During Deep Cold

Wisconsin is in the grips of another polar vortex, with wind chills expected to reach 30 degrees below zero and possibly colder. Due to the extreme cold, homeless shelters are filling up every night:

Milwaukee's homeless shelters have been filling as the temperatures have dipped in recent days. And warming houses, which typically close in the evenings, are keeping their doors open overnight.

"We've been open overnight Sunday and Monday, and it looks like we'll be open again tonight," said the Rev. James West, executive director of Repairers of the Breach, a daytime warming center at 1335 W. Vliet St. in Milwaukee.

The Rev. Karen Hagen of Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church near Bay View said its Divine Intervention program has been at capacity — around 20 people — for the last few days.

"But in these temps, we're also able to bump up," she said.

Homeless guests leave during the day — the local library is a few blocks away — then return in the evening for a meal and settle in for the night.

Hagen said staff have seen some cases of frostbite, and that those individuals are diverted for appropriate medical care.

Hagen said guests were troubled Monday to learn of the homeless man's death and are waiting for authorities to release his name.

"They were very upset emotionally. They want to know if it's someone they personally know," she said.

It is important to remember that if it wasn't for the Milwaukee County Board, these people could easily end up in the morgue instead of a shelter.

During the 2015 county budget process, Boss Abele thought that because no one froze to death last year, the shelters didn't need as much money. He completely missed the fact that it was because of the shelters that there had been no deaths due to the cold:

One of the actions that Abele did was slash the funding for homeless shelters in Milwaukee County. Apparently, Abele forgot about how horrible last winter was with the polar vortexes and dangerously cold temperatures.

To show the importance of this funding, Supervisor Peggy Romo West shared this message from Joe Volk of the Wisconsin Advocacy Project:

"Even though we in Milwaukee suffered through one of worst winters in history last year there were no reports of the homeless freezing to death thanks in part to the extra funding provided by the County Board to support homeless shelters in Milwaukee County. This is something we should all be proud of. This is serious business and should not be used as just another attempt of the administration to mislead the legislative branch of County Government."

There have already been two deaths this winter which have been attributed to the cold.

One would hope that Boss Abele would take this opportunity to give a second thought to the way he treats the poor and homeless. Unfortunately, it's obvious that he's never given them a first thought.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CCVII

You know it's getting bad when there's not only a spike in the homeless population but there's not enough food to feed them:

After experiencing a decline in donations as the holidays fade into the New Year, the Guest House of Milwaukee has exhausted almost all its food resources and is in need of emergency donations.

According to Erik Koepnick, manager of volunteer services and communications for the Guest House, the nonprofit organization does not have any food to feed its residents over the next three nights.

The Guest House currently houses 86 men full time. The shelter will begin overflow tomorrow as 15 additional men move in.

“That’s a lot of mouths to feed,” Koepnick said.

Throughout the year, the Guest House relies on the generosity of families, neighborhood groups, faith communities, restaurants, organizations like the Salvation Army and other volunteers to provide meals to its residents each evening.

St. Ben’s Community Meal Program, held at St. Benedict the Moor in Milwaukee, also often feeds residents of the Guest House.

But during frigid weather, the shelter prefers to host meals in-house, according to Koepnick.

During the holidays, the Guest House typically receives an influx of food and monetary donations, followed by a significant drop-off largely due to donor fatigue, Koepnick said.

“I think part of it is that the community has given a lot throughout the holidays, and so there’s kind of that giving fatigue,” Koepnick said. “People have given what they have.”

Though it’s unusual for the Guest House to experience three nights in a row of food shortage, he said.

The nonprofit is now turning to the community for immediate help.

The worst part is things are only going to get worse. With Scott Walker and Chris Abele forcing their austerity agendas on us, we are going to see more and more homeless and more and more hungry people.

Things have to change, sooner than later.  

Republican Thugs - Paul Ryan Style

We all know what happens when you speak the truth about Paul Ryan (R- The Capitol):

 YOU MUST BE PUNISHED!!!    

We all know last weekend, Paul Ryan staged a photo op at a closed down homeless shelter, where he cleaned dirty dishes and took pictures like he cared.   The director of the homeless shelter prop that rAYN used, was not happy!

He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

 “Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans and then take a picture,” Antal said.

The Director was not interested in being anyone's political prop from any party and he let that be known.  He had a job to do after all, feeding the homeless! 

However, no one tells the truth about Paul Ryan and gets away with it!!    The Soup kitchen in Ryan's, clean the clean dishe,s photo op is now facing a major backlash!! 

Ryan may have suffered a few late-night jokes, but the fallout for the soup kitchen appears to be far more bruising. Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, confirmed that donors have begun an exodus in protest over Ryan's embarrassment. The monetary losses have been big. "It appears to be a substantial amount," Antal said. "You can rest assured there has been a substantial backlash."

Antal says he can't give an actual dollar amount. "I can't say how much [in] donations we lost," he said. "Donations are a private matter with our organization."

Antal's charity represents the kind of organization that conservative Republicans might champion. But that was before the Ryan incident went viral a few days ago. According to The Washington Post, Antal said that the moment should never have happened. He told the newspaper that the photo-op was not authorized and that the campaign had “ramrodded their way” inside.

OOPS!  This is Paul Ryan's world, where he wants to go, he goes!   So Mr. Antal(and the homeless people he serves) HAVE to be taught a lesson!! At least the republican's making the threats to the unpaid soup kitchen director and volunteers are remaining anonymous!  

Ryan supporters have now targeted Antal and his soup kitchen, Antal said, including making hundreds of angry phone calls. Some members of Antal's volunteer staff have had to endure the barrage as well, he said. "The sad part is a lot of [the callers] want to hide behind anonymity," he said, adding that if someone leaves their name and number he has tried to return their call. In addition to phone calls, people have posted a few choice words on the charity's Facebook wall, including statements like "I hope you lose your tax [sic] emempt status," Anyone who is thinking about donations to you should think twice" and "Shame on you Brian Antal!"

On the phone with HuffPost, Antal seemed worn out by all the vitriol. "Honesty, I really don't need any more attention," he said. "I really just want this to go away."

Antal said doesn't understand why donors would take out their frustration over the incident on those who can't afford to pay for their own meals. "I'm a volunteer,' he said. "I receive zero compensation. Withholding donations is only going to hurt the over 100,000 we serve annually."

Sorry Mr. Antal, that is where you have it wrong!  The Paul Ryan Goon squad has no interest in what happens to the 100,000 meals you serve or the people who so desperately need them at all.  They want to send a message to anyone else in the future.

NEVER TALK BAD ABOUT PAUL RYAN!!!


Lesson learned!  So what if a few thousand people are going hungry because of it!! 

Paul Ryan's Empty Kitchen (updated)

Yesterday, we brought you Paul Ryan's(R- The Capitol) modern day version of the Hunger Games.

Along the same vein, on Sunday, Paul Ryan wanted to show how much he cares about the homeless and hungry in Ohio and ended up doing exactly that(emphasis mine)!

 Paul Ryan visited a soup kitchen here Saturday on his way to the airport, but by the time the GOP vice presidential nominee and his family had arrived shortly before noon, the grits, sausage and doughnuts had been served, the hall was empty of patrons and the volunteers appeared to have already cleaned up.
When Ryan did talk to some men who appeared to be homeless, as he did when he left the venue, reporters were not allowed to listen in on the exchange.

The visit by Ryan came after a town hall meeting Saturday morning at Youngstown State University.
After greeting and thanking a handful of volunteers from St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Canfield, Ohio — who said they typically visit the St. Vincent DePaul Society every Saturday and serve food from 10 to 11:30 a.m. — Ryan, his wife and their young children headed to the kitchen, donned white aprons and offered to clean up some dishes.

Ryan stood at the sink and took some large metal pans that did not appear to be dirty, soaped them up and rinsed them, remarking as the cameras clicked and the TV cameras rolled that he had spent a summer washing dishes when he was younger.

“We had a Hobart, though, which was — you get calluses on your fingers because it’s so hot,” he said, referring to the Hobart industrial dishwashing machine.

A few minutes into the dishwashing, reporters were escorted out of the building and onto a press bus.

Paul Ryan(R- Ayn Rand),  waited until the homeless were fed, and gone and all the mess was cleaned up, then decided to show up for a phony photo op washing clean dishes without askin or telling anyone what he was going to do.  To top it off, reporters were not allowed to ask ANY questions, just take pictures of Paul Ryan washing clean pots and pans for all the world to see(why a reporter would stay and take pictures when told no questions are allowed is beyond me, but a topic for a different post). 

How ever it turned out to be THE perfect analogy and photo op for who Paul Ryan is as a person, an empty shell of BS cleverly disguised by careful handling of reporters and photo ops!  

VOTE ROB ZERBAN!!!  

(Edit Note Updated)

It turns out the head of the local St. Vincent De Paul Society was none to happy with Paul Ryan using his charity as a cheap photo op:

Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.

“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”

He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

 ........

 “Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans and then take a picture,” Antal said.