Sean Duffy's Fear of Public Toilets

With a tip of the hat to Illusory Tenant, who saw this gem from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel love piece on former reality TV pretty boy, brawler and Republican congressional candidate Sean Duffy:

"I don't know what it is about gay people. I don't know if they're born gay or if they go out to L.A. or San Francisco and they catch a disease and they become gay. I'm not sure. They have so many free thoughts out there in L.A., that you can be whatever you want to be. ... Gay people encourage gayness."

As Illy-T points out, it could be satire. It could also be real, which would explain any irrational phobia regarding toilets, if he has one. You can never be too careful.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mother's out there, as well as the single fathers.

The 2nd Annual Gathering of the Paranoid Sociopaths Picnic

Lance Burri* posts that the nutters in La Crosse County are going to again show that they are tougher than chipmunks by holding an open carry picnic in a low-crime, rural area.

Hopefully, if they can keep this going successfully, it might help diminish the stigma attached to mental illnesses.

That weekend, I will be cutting grass, moving brush, cooking out and other assorted activities, all without a gun on my person, showing that I am even tougher and smarter than that whole group combined.

*Burri gets demerit points for the unintentional pun: "Free drawings for prizes"

Is Scott Walker Really Concerned About MCTS?

Two words: Not really.

True Irony - BP Style

Via WBAY-TV (Green Bay), AP is reporting the latest on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blast (emphasis mine):

The deadly blowout of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation.

While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers and touched off the underwater gusher that has poured more than 3 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.

Portions of the interviews, two written and one taped, were described in detail to an Associated Press reporter by Robert Bea, a University of California Berkeley engineering professor who serves on a National Academy of Engineering panel on oil pipeline safety and worked for BP PLC as a risk assessment consultant during the 1990s. He received them from industry friends seeking his expert opinion.

Seven BP executives were on board the Deepwater Horizon rig celebrating the project's safety record, according to the transcripts. Meanwhile, far below, the rig was being converted from an exploration well to a production well.

As the workers removed pressure from the drilling column and introduced heat to set the cement seal around the wellhead, the chemical reaction created heat, destabilizing the seal and allowing a gas bubble to form inside the pipe.

The Secret to Keeping a Job

It's apparently to be the only one that knows how things work (emphasis mine):

Oneida County Clerk of Courts Gina Olson has been publicly reprimanded, after she revealed to the County that she had been having an affair with a Sheriff's Deputy for several years, according to a release from Oneida County Circuit Court Judges Mark Mangerson and Patrick O'Melia.

According to the release, the Circuit Courts received a letter from the deputy's spouse, requesting they consider removing Ms. Olson from her office as the Clerk of Courts. But they decided not to remove her because, "She is the only person in the office who is fully knowledgeable on some of the systems and procedures used in court operations." The release continues, "Removal of Ms. Olson from office at this time would result in a severe curtailment of services to the public and the need to implement emergency plans to continue proper functioning of the courts."

Comparatively Speaking, Walker Comes Up Short In His Comparisons

There has been much discussion about politicians using social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, as a tool to get their message out to a whole new group of people. Some politicians are doing very well at it and some are just really fumbling around, shooting themselves in the foot more often than not.

Scott Walker has managed to do both at the same time, especially on Twitter. His campaign team has a good system going when Walker, or more likely, one of his aides de camp, tweets something. The others retweet it, spreading it as far as they can. This gets the message out to as many people as they possibly can.

Often, a person might be following multiple people from the campaign, causing them to see the message over and over, hammering the point across.

Very effective stuff, really. That is as long as the original message is on target. But as we all know, Walker very often gets tripped up on his own spins, such as his countless flip-flops and reversals on the stimulus money.

In the last two days, there have been two more examples of this.

Yesterday, Walker (or one if his aides) pointed out an "interesting column*," and added that Tom Barrett's spokesman was wrong on whether Walker increased taxes.

In the referred to column, the issue Walker argues against is this:

But Barrett spokesperson Phil Walzak shot back, saying "In nearly every single one of the County Executive's budgets, he has proposed a higher property tax levy than the year before. ... When it comes to holding the line on taxes, Walker simply doesn't walk the walk."

When Walker first started this meme, it was that he never raised taxes. That was shot down in short order by his critics and Walker altered the meme to be that he never raised the tax levy from the year before.

And this is where Walker's comparison falls short.

Walzak was comparing apples to apples, namely proposed budget to proposed budget. Walker, on the other hand, is comparing apples to oranges, in which the apple is his proposed budget and the orange is the actual budget.

Let me explain what I mean.

Every year, Walker introduces a budget based on the previous years budget. The County Board then takes the budget, and with the exception of this year, fixes it, usually with a 2-3% increase in the tax levy. The next year, Walker introduces his new proposed budget, including the tax increase. By including that tax increase, his proposal is higher than the previous year's proposal.

By including that tax increase, Walker belies his own statement by showing that he found the previous year's tax increase to be acceptable, otherwise he wouldn't have included it in his proposal. Without fail, Walker has done this every year as County Executive.

Earlier today, Walker did his second misstep when he tweeted

"Interesting how Dane Co had a deficit & Milwaukee Co had a surplus. Both counties face similar issues."

He included a link to this article from the Wisconsin State Journal.

The article reports that Dane County's general fund was $2.8 million in the red. Since they had already had a few million in the fund, that means that Dane County actually blew through about $7 million more than they were planning.

On the surface, it looks like Walker has a valid point. But a quick reflection on events over the last 18 months shows otherwise.

While it is bad that Dane County ended up in the red as they did, let's expand that comparison:

• Walker's deficit is actually nearly $1 billion when one adds up what is due to the pension fund, the park repairs and infrastructure repairs.
• Walker's current budget has a $17 million hole in it, which will almost double if and when the UWM Foundation, the private land developers that want to ruin the county grounds, can't come up with the money to purchase the land.
• Dane County hasn't had the state take over any of its program's; Walker did with the Income Maintenance Program
• Dane County's unemployment rate in January 2010 was 6.3%; Milwaukee County's rate has been hovering near the 10% mark.
• Dane County's transportation system is doing well; Walker has already cut 20% of Milwaukee County's mass transit and this year is facing a very perilous future where a third of what is left could be cut.

The list could go on and on, including the rash of problems at the Behavioral Health Division, Walker's problems with the House of Correction before he passed it off onto Sheriff Clarke, the crumbling courthouse, dirty toilets, etc.

The question boils down to what is more important, having a surplus, or being able to meet the needs of the constituents. One can clearly see from his entire approach as County Executive that Walker does not consider the needs or desires of the people to be his top priority.

When Walker's record as County Executive is compared to Tom Barrett's record as Mayor of the City of Milwaukee, the contrasts are even clearer, and not in Walker's favor.

The question we will have to answer this fall is also a comparison or sorts. Namely, do we want to pay for tax cuts to the rich, as we would with Walker, or do we want to pay for services we would actually receive. Either way, we will pay, the question is for what.

Which do you think would be the greater value?

*Why is it that whenever an article mentions any politician, they find it "interesting?"

Weak Tea

So much for the Tea Party being the wave of the future:

Mark the first round down, shakily, for Republican incumbents and party establishment favorites.

Tea party-backed challengers and other outsiders were shut out in competitive House and Senate primaries across three states on Tuesday night, the busiest night so far in an election season of optimism for Republicans.

While some of Tuesday night's Republican primary winners struggled to prevail; former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats' comeback bid advanced with 40 percent of the vote in a five-way race; the results renewed a debate about the clout of the insurgents in the remaining primaries and on elections this fall.

H/T Wisco on twitter

ZOMG!! It Was A Muslim Involved In Times Square Bombing

When the news broke that the authorities had arrested a suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing, the whole world waited in nervous anticipation to find out who the guy was.

When it turned out that the alleged bomber wannabe was of Pakistani descent, almost the entire right side of the nation jumped on the chance to once again paint all people of Arabic descent and/or of the Muslim religion as natural born terrorists determined on destroying America.

As for me, I would rather see what they find out what his motivation was. Authorities are reporting that they can't find any ties to al-Qaeda or any other such group. It could be that he was an Muslim extremist. Or it could turn out that he was just emotionally disturbed.

What I do find ironic is that the right side, in their haste to condemn whole races and/or religions, ignore the fact that there was another Muslim involved in this story.

The street vendor that first noticed the smoke coming from the SUV and alerted the police has been rightfully named as a hero by just about everyone. The street vendor, Aliou Niasse, is also a Muslim.

It is beyond me how they can handle the cognitive dissonance of simultaneously condemning a whole race or religion, yet still praise someone of the religion that they are condemning.

The Think Progress article on this also has two good points worth noting:

As the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights notes, “South Asian, and Muslim communities may yield useful information to those fighting terrorism. Arabs and Arab Americans also offer the government an important source of Arabic speakers and translators. The singling out of Arabs, South Asians, Muslims, and Sikhs for investigation regardless of whether any credible evidence links them to terrorism will simply alienate these individuals and compromise the anti-terrorism effort.”

Reflecting on Niasse’s good samaritanism Muslim-American author Sumbul Ali-Karamali writes, “It’s somewhat consoling to know that the man who first noticed the smoking Nissan Pathfinder and sought help is also Muslim, a Senegalese immigrant. … I grew up Muslim in this country, with Muslim friends and non-Muslim friends, and there was very little difference between the two groups. We were all American.”

H/T One Wisconsin Now via Twitter

Bad News From Tosa

The Wauwatosa Common Council not only let their constituents down last night, the failed everyone in Milwaukee County.

Sad, really.

Morning Chuckle

Well, it made me laugh anyway...



Source

People Living In Park Area Complain That It's Too Park-like

In the regional briefs section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there is a short story of some West Allis residents that have filed a citizen petition calling for the city to do something about the deer:

The Common Council on Tuesday night will consider a citizen petition demanding that actions be taken to reduce the deer population in the city.

A West Allis couple, Mary and Thomas Gorski, say the petition has been signed by 175 residents.

The petition says the deer population has grown - as many as six are being seen at a time - and that the deer are doing extensive property damage.

A letter from the Gorskis that accompanies the petition say the number of deer is attracting coyotes and that the deer raise the risk of ticks and Lyme disease.

But when one looks at some of the addresses listed on the petition, one sees that most of them are living in the Root River Parkway, which is an elongated subdivision with a lot of undeveloped land around the river.

Imagine that. You live in an area with a lot of natural area and animals show up. Go figure.

I am just waiting for them to start another petition complaining that cars are driving on the roadways.

Paul Ryan Hedges His Bets In Governor's Race

From WAOW-TV in Wausau, we learn that Paul Ryan was co-hosting a fund raiser, along with Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn (insert your own joke here), in Washington, D.C. for Mark Neumann.

The story goes on to say that Ryan will also host a fund raiser for Scott Walker.

But Ryan won't endorse either of them.

Two hours later, WAOW-TV reported that the fund raisers are on the very same day, with Neumann getting the leftovers.

To make things already funnier, Ryan is dogging out both Republican gubernatorial wannabes, and won't be attending either event that he is hosting. Probably for an appointment with his hair stylist, no doubt.

He also re-emphasizes he is not endorsing either one.

How the heck can the Republicans be calling Ryan a rising star and the future of the party when he won't even stick his neck out and support someone to lose to Tom Barrett?

Related: It must be a day that ends in a "y" and Ryan opened his mouth.

And You Thought Wisconsin Politicians Were Bad

But even Jeff Wood has nothing on this guy:

Sunshine State News reports that it captured video of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, "looking at pornographic material on his state-issued computer on the Senate floor."...

Bennett defended his actions, telling Sunshine State News it was an e-mail sent to him by a woman "who happens to be a former court administrator."

"I was just sitting there, bored as they were debating the abortion bill," Bennett said.

Hat tip goes to Dean Mundy, on twitter.

Two Press Releases, Two Blunders

It was reported today that Mitchell International Airport had another recording breaking month in March. Good news all around, I think anyone would agree.

Leave it to politicians to mess it up.

Scott Walker sent out a press release touting the numbers, and accrediting it to his business buddies in the airline business. Overall, it's not a bad release, and one that would be appropriate for a community leader.

Except there is one hitch. At the bottom of his release, Walker included this language:

General Mitchell International Airport is owned by Milwaukee County and operated by the Department of Transportation & Public Works, Airport Division, under the policy direction of the Milwaukee County Executive and the County Board of Supervisors. The airport is entirely funded by user fees; no property tax dollars are used for the airport’s capital improvements or for its day-to-day operation. For more information on Mitchell International, visit www.mitchellairport.com.

Again, in itself, not bad. But it takes on a whole new light when shown in the context that he won't commit to keeping this wildly successful airport in the public sector. Instead, he is still talking about privatizing it, even though such schemes have been shown to be utter failures around the nation.

County Board Chairman Lee Holloway saw through Walker's game, and also sent out his own press release, which was a little more self-serving:

Our success should be credited to those who provide policy direction and administration for the airport, including Supervisor Michael Mayo, Sr., Chairman of the County Board’s Transportation, Public Works & Transit Committee, and Airport Director Barry Bateman. They are both doing a wonderful job. Credit should also go to AirTran Airways, Republic Airways (Midwest and Frontier) and Southwest Airlines, which have all added service during the past year. AirTran recently established a hub in Milwaukee, second only to Atlanta. Republic is moving maintenance jobs here and expects to grow its Milwaukee hub further.

“This competition, combined with steady oversight from Milwaukee County, are key reasons for Mitchell’s success. This is why I have opposed attempts to sell the airport to an outside vendor. The County Board is effectively managing the growth of our airport. I am pleased that attempts to lease the airport to a private firm have been unsuccessful, because we may not have seen the same results.”

Again, besides being on the self-serving side, Holloway missed one key reason for the success: The county workers who make the Supervisors and Directors look good and keep the airport a place where all the airlines want to do business.

Just saying.